“三言二拍”英译史料辨析和底本辨明

Historical Data Analysis and Source Text Identification in English Translation History of“Sanyan and Erpai”(“三言二拍”)

"三言二拍"代表中国古典白话小说的最高成就,18世纪以来被相继翻译成各国文字在海外传播。对"三言二拍"英译史料进行细致梳理和文本细读,发现"三言二拍"英译所依据的原文底本复杂,甚至存在以讹传讹现象。早期主要以《今古奇观》为底本,而中后期有些是依据其相关前世蓝本和后世选本,虽然故事情节类似,但相去甚远,不能归于"三言二拍"英译范畴。澄清这些误传,对于"三言二拍"翻译史研究和英译研究具有重要意义。

"Sanyan and Erpai"("三言二拍")is regarded as the representative anthology of Chinese classic short stories and it has been translated into different languages overseas since the 18 th century.On the basis of a comprehensive analysis of its historical materials and close reading of its English renditions,we find that its source text information is complicated,some of which even wrongly informed with second-hand messages.In the early English translation period of"Sanyan and Erpai",Jingu Qiguan(《今古奇观》)is mainly used as the source text in fact,and in the later period some English renditions are based on the relevant former blueprints and later collections,not on the original of"Sanyan and Erpai"itself.Unfortunately,the source texts of some English versions are mistaken by later researchers as they share the similar stories,which can not fall into the category of translation data of"Sanyan and Erpai".This article aims to clarify some existing misunderstandings and mistakes by investigating into the translated English versions and their historical materials,so as to lay foundation for the further English translation studies and translation history research.