《新小儿语》:吉卜林童话的早期方言译本研究

New Children's Tales: Study on the Early Dialect Translation of Kipling's Fairy Tales

英国作家吉卜林的童话故事集《原来如此》,1912年由美国长老会费启鸿师母最早译介到中国,题为《新小儿语》。《原来如此》是现代童话的典范之作,它以儿童的思维方式创作,同时又把成人的智慧、体验、思考和愿望熔铸于其中的奇幻故事。《新小儿语》的翻译为中国现代童话的写作提供了文体和语体的范式。为了契合原著口语化的特征,译者采用上海方言进行翻译,传神地表现了人物的语气、口吻和神态,译文也更为简明易懂,适合儿童阅读。这一译本不仅有助于中国儿童文学的发展,而且对推动白话文运动进程也不无助益。

British writer Rudyard Kipling＇ s fairy tale collection Just So Stories for Little Children was first translated into Chinese by Sister Mary McLellan Fitch of the Presbyterian Church of America, with the title of Xin Xiao Er Yu （ New Children＇ s Tales）. It is a masterpiece of modern fairy tale, created with children way of thinking yet combined with the wisdom, experience, reflection and desire of adults in its fantastic stories. New Children＇s Tales provides a sample of genre and language its original colloquial feature, the translator uses Shangh style for modern Chinese fairy tale. In order to keep ai dialect in her translation, vividly represents the tones and moods of the figures. The translation is clear and easy for children to read and understand. This translated version not only helped in the development of China＇ s children literature, but also promoted the movement of vernacular movement in general.