吴兴华致宋淇书信集：1940—1952

一九四〇年七月十八日

C：

我在你信未来之前，已经梦到《西洋文学》之略见眉目了，所以你的信并未使我惊奇，不过证明了我梦境之真实性而已。你说的创刊号目录使我颇有monstrous之感，篇幅能有多大，而容得下如此多的译品？至于Symonds那篇文，我记得看过，多半是很不错的。Milne，ah，he is my favourite！截至写信时书一本还未收到，八月十号截止收稿恐怕要糟。我现在被Finnegans Wake缠得丝毫没有wake之感——而，你知道我是不太喜欢午觉的人，可是我现在总得每天睡三小时午觉，just think about that！

“Adonais”是雪莱译品中的ideal choice，当然难一点。Spenserian stanza我毫无办法，实在不好移植到中文来，有之则只好用十三字代替他的iambic pentameter，用十五字代替Alexandrine了，然而我觉得那并非太好的办法，rhyme是不能改的。“Prometheus Unbound”你只可以译几段dialogue或（尤其好的）其中的几首短歌，我不太喜欢那篇作品，Arnold批评雪莱所说的一些不favourable的remarks，所指的准是这种诗。我只想译一些他的lyrics得了。After all，lyrics是支持着他声名最大的柱石啊！

你所说的关于Inferno的话，这个“难”我不是不能“勉”，你知道我与其写一篇凑数的书评，宁可不写，所以我实在不敢动笔批评一本我自己认识不清的书，不过你寄来我再看吧。By the way，你在“意大利文第二”六字下加的点，经我用特别的speculation察视后认为是一种恶意的“讽刺”！

Čapek我是一定要译的，也许本期也许下期我就起始（后者可能性较大，因为我现在太忙了）。他的童话我要到北京去找，因为本校无有，你可否替我在上海留意一下他的作品，不要剧本或者短篇的serious小说，切记！

Wilder的中篇，我最欣赏的仍然是（ah，mon ami，il me semble que mon goût n’est plus à la mode）他的成名作The Bridge of San Luis Rey，那本实在美，可是已有过几种译本了，《大地的叹息》也经××译过，il ne me reste rien，que faire？

Auden和Isherwood的剧本是我极想译的，不过这是更远的事了。

你知道，我应该对你很生气，因为你未提到我们的汪诗人，他要到上海了，你们许可以见面。

书寄来后再谈，我等书等死了。

Yours

兴华

十八日

希代问好。

P．S．我正在写一个中文的sonnet sequence，inspiré par Astrophel and Stella，你来时大概可以看见一些了。

一九四一年七月二十四日

C：

我这次写信给你是为了打听你一件事，张东荪前几天忽然把我找去，说要改你的稿子。我原先以为是你有译遗漏了或译得和他原意不合的地方，他给改了一下，要我polish一下他的英文，所以冒然答应了。后来才知道他对你的style有不满的地方，屡次要把你较简单的句子，改为他所谓的“复句”，反对你用thus和however，及其他不通的objections，我当时拒绝了。我说我既不懂哲学，也不能改你的东西。他答道：要是宋奇在，我仍是找他的，现在他不在，我又要在八月底前赶完全书，所以不得不找别人。同时（这就是我要问你的）他说已写信给你获得你的同意了。我勉强给他作了一点（约四十个typed页），后来实在太麻烦了，每篇差不多他要改一半，留一半，我整天忙还忙不过来，于是我托辞推开了（说我要到北戴河去，完全胡说）。改时明知你的句子很好，可是他总想用一个which clause把两句联为一句等，结果句子弄得奇形怪状，我也没法子办。昨天他又要我改你的translator’s preface，第一：不要冯友兰的名字，他认为你说胡、冯二人较张fortunate为骂人的话，要我改fortunate一字。我觉得他改译稿尚情有可原，改人家原作他没有权利，所以我写信问你。

芝联得奖金太好了，你替我向他道一句喜。我明天就回家了，以后你写信到我家最好，地址是：东单西裱褙胡同廿四号。

我没看甚么书，觉得很没意思。

兴华

一九四一年七月二十四日

一九四一年七月三十日

C：

来信收到了，你说的鲁迅几本俱都查过，一本都没有，简直气死人。《新文学大系》有，其余你说的几人，徐志摩有《自剖》《落叶》都不好，朱自清有一本《踪迹》还凑合，其余也不见佳。李广田我没有看，不过就以往的印象看，似乎还可以。又：我觉得何其芳的《画梦录》有几篇也行。你在上海看看徐訏的东西有可翻的没有？林语堂的呢？又：邵洵美《一个人的谈话》里有否论及翻译的，记不得了。

我觉得我们现在起手的有点突兀，这些材料都不是第一学期可以用的。第一学期要讲各种basic的句法，及翻译的方法，我们扯出太多文艺作品来，人家一定不赞成。我老想一定是journalistic派或practical的人才来选这门，真欣赏文学的恐怕很少。

我明后日就去天津，你信仍往我家寄好了，因为他们会替我转的。

张东荪的东西，我推辞以后，他说要找Shadick，我想我们的boss准不干。

我游泳很没劲，就是晒得挺黑。

芝联他们甚么时候到？我八月中旬也许可以到学校看他们去。

我希望你能早点到燕京来，因为这门翻译实在叫人摸不着头脑，不谈谈不行。

宋希代问好。

吴三

七月三十日

一九四一年八月一日

C：

读了你的信，我很别扭。这真是“无妄之灾”，我本来还以为是在替你帮忙，（不然，我大热天才不干那倒霉的工作呢）现在才知道内幕是这样，太叫人生气了。

这是我所作的：

他从头至尾看了一遍，把不满意的地方全用铅笔标出，并加以评语如“连起来”，“去掉头一半”，“太中国味”之类，有时他把你的一大段（他认为译错了的）全改了，他的英文错误百出，我只好替他大改一气。我且对他声明过：说照他这种改法（比如他老爱叫我用which etc．把两句并作一句），我敢担保改过之文字还不如原文，他说不要紧，固执己见，我没办法，他的ideal似乎是每句必过一行，而且必须involved。我跟他辩也辩不清，好在我只改了四十页，其中许多地方他说太中国味，我就用橡皮把他评语擦了，不加修改，他也看不出来。你的原文我真动手改动的很少（有些实是他坐在我旁边，非叫改不可，没法办），差不多全是他改了，然后我改他改过的文。译者序我是用铅笔在另纸改的，他认为冯友兰必去，我只有设法把整段改一下，我还认为你已同意了，fortunate我留着不动，他很不高兴，我说英文不行，想不出别的字。此外他认为书单（你替他列的著作表）有自作该去之嫌，亲手钩掉了。

他说我“欣然”接受，已经很不该了，再说到“钱”更是岂有此理。我一向以为是替你作，怎肯要他那点钱？后来是我藉词百般推脱，更不会拿他的报酬了。你不要听他胡聊。我卸责之后，他很抓瞎，据说要请Shadick看。

吴关说你打听我明年住在哪里？要没变动的话，我多半住Banker家，因为已经有点说定了的意思，现在也不好反悔。我每到他家玩牌，汪太太就问我何时搬入，那是东房共有三间，要是我一人住，给我两间，要是你也来则三间可以全给我们。家具恐怕是没有，有也很少，我贪的是他们有电话、洗盥，甚至连澡盆全有，而且离校也不算远。房钱还没说，反正多不了那里去。北房是Albert廖住，也由明年起。饭在他们那里包，大概也可以。我最近才知道，他房子多半不退了，不然我早就可以告诉你了。

我想“句法等”有一个办法，不知行不行。拿Foreigners’ Chinese教本第一本来可以找到一些最普遍的句法，如“因为——所以”“不是——就是”之类，然后我们仔细研究一下每条有几个possible的译法。不过这些全等你来，两人商量再办好了。

你见着胡绪鉴了，是不是？他怎么样？子×是否也在？

大慈没考上研究院，你听见了么？他一气，也不告别，就走了。直到如今，音信全无。

诗，我还等你的意见，大热天我也懒得动手挑，过几天再说吧。

兴华

八月一日

一九四一年十一月二日

C：

There isn’t anything special to inform you，except that we are pushing along as of old．Kê Yin and I Liang gave that play of Labiche’s，adapted by Tsáo Yü and it turned out a great success．We laughed all the time until the curtain dropped．I do not know where they found such a lot of practical jokes and witty dialogues．But the result of the ticket-selling is not very gratifying，an income of no more than $200．I suppose we really should be contented with that，but as you know that can only pay off our debts and nothing else．This number of Yenching Literature，I am afraid，again won’t come out in time．We are awfully short of manuscripts，so much so that we even went as far as deciding to take whatever came from the other literary group，but they apparently were neither too prosperous．So we are now hopelessly fixed.

The translation course is getting along not badly．Mr．Porter has come back and has kindly consented to help．I have reminded to all the faculty members of you．Mr．Loehr when he heard you had some troubles with your lungs cried “Heavens”and seemed thunderstricken．Very much moved he was，and he asked me to communicate his love to you.

We have watched several ball matches of late．One in special，that between Fu Yu and Yenching combined team was exciting beyond words．Fan Cheng Táo and Chao Ya Wen etc．all came．We also had some games with the marines．Lost all，as far as I can remember.

I and Chih Lien entered the paddle tournament，and have won two other teams already．Another two and we shall be the champion team．As Chih Lien puts it，“There is a small，small hope.”

O，yes，where the dickens have you put the key to the bathroom box．I ransacked the room ＆ couldn’t find it．I have no way to go and take bath.

Did you see Hu Hsü Chieh etc．in Shanghai？How is he？

Hsing Hua

一九四一年十一月十六日

C：

I’m so glad to hear from you．And thanks for that key.

As you hoped and we predicted，we got the championship of doubles．Chih Lien got so excited that he wanted to issue a public challenge in the News．I’ve been reading Chinese poetry ＆ tz’u recently，and intended to put some scraps of note which I’ve jotted down together to form something towards a formal essay．I’ve got a lot of fantastic （being of a humble nature，I can’t very well say brilliant） ideas，but organizing them is the bête noire for me．I may publish them in note form after all．As I was re-reading Chinese poetry （＆ that means going thru a lot of dusty-yellowed books），I purposely abstained from reading anything which had the remotest resemblance to the darned thing we call literary criticism．I want to sort things out thru my own head，＆ not be told as to who is good ＆ who is not．And my memory is a good enough bibliography for me，so that I found constantly cross-references，surprising coincidences，exceptions etc．in poems when compared with poems I know very well．I enjoy the work so much．Why I should not have started the thing earlier is to me incomprehensible．But it’s not too late yet．And I have taken up the great resolution of tackling Rilke，from whom I got out something．He has an exquisite style，and the music of his verse nearly overturned my theory of the question as to whether German is a language for poetry or not．And he gave me the impression as being the only modern poet I know of who put his Dante to good use．Valéry is，as I have found him before，intolerable，＆ he confirms my belief of Liang Tsung Tai being a blockhead．I also lay out a plan of writing some off-hand sketches，but I have abandoned this idea，for fear of （no joke that is） stifling my fragile muse.

O，yes，everybody is deteriorating，＆ Shih Peu especially，i.e．if he still has some place to deteriorate to．But this number will enliven you a bit，I zink.Because Kuo has written a story，（in her usual vein．The title Anna！Deathgives me rather an unpleasant feeling of some shreds from Li Ni or Hsü Yü．I hate such pseudo-foreign names．Russian in special） and Lao Kuai has squeezed out something in the shape of dialogues between two or more people，which he ＆ his friends managed to call a play．Quite funny I was told．And I wrote something like a declamatory essay，besides two poems．One of which I dearly prize （ to quote “O sole mio”） and will never have given to the magazine had it not been for the fact that you have contributed to it.

Having rounded off this successfully directed flattery，I proceed to tell you several things about the school．The problems of rice，flour，coal，stove-pipes are raging．People were known to have drawn Tsái in the form of a great turtle in Bashford．Right on the floor，with a sort of red paint．I was gratified beyond words．Marines came ＆ played ＆ won all the time．To our great annoyance．Once the Fujen people came，including Roger Liang ＆ Fan Cheng Táo Chao Ya Lin etc．They won，but in the course of the game，Roger fell，while endeavouring to retrieve a ball which persists in trying to go outside，on the knees of two spectators，＆ they turned out to be the two illustrious Wei．K．A．was very angry，＆ later he told me that had a mind to disqualify Roger，because he was sure he did that on purpose．“Sitting on pretty girls’ knees！”he grunted，“he certainly chose nice places！”

I have heard about Chi Túng’s adventure．Serve her right．The collected edition of Yenching Literature will be out soon，nothing else to write．Excuse my bad grammar etc．I was in a hurry，and you know writing to Chi Túng ＆ other people in English corrupts my style in a way beyond words.

Hsing Hua

一九四一年十一月三十日

C：

Did you receive my letter？

I suppose you have seen already the recent number of Yenching Literature．What do you think of it？The short play，put down as being written by Lao Kuai，and in reality collaborated （I Liang and Kê Yin both had a hand in it，I believe），was supposed to be the main feature of this issue．They actually played this．Yesternight．Occasion：Mr．Porter’s sixtieth birthday．I didn’t go，but people told me it was very well done，which，by the way，did not succeed in shaking my belief as to the rottiness of the whole thing，artistically speaking．Shiu Peu has received your letter and looked （to me，I mean） very sad and perplexed．Sad，because he has always regarded you （no wonder！） as a most competent judge of literary compositions as a whole（or should I say“the”？）．Perplexed，because he and Kê Yin and all the bunch，not excepting me，was at a loss in comprehending the phrase “sureness of touch”．I mean，really，you shouldn’t be up to things like that，whipping out a term or a phrase，throwing it at somebody without explaining what you mean by it．This sort of off-hand remarks will do them next to no good．With those people，you can only tell them not to do this，not to write phrases like this，do definite things．High-flown criticism is to them，Greek．I am so glad to hear that you are going to read carefully some Chinese things．Of course there is no need for me to tell you that you are not late，though you will certainly not be worse off if you had started earlier，and that with your intelligence and the kind of inborn talent，you can achieve in one year what others will sweat to get in ten．I have only one advice to make，that is，I would like you to read only original compositions，and no，absolutely none，criticism，and works about some other works．You have swallowed enough，if not too much of them for the time being，and this it is ＆ no other has made your critical essays a bit like sounding boards of other people’s voices．I am surer than anybody else，even yourself，if you come to that，that you can shake off everything ＆ be a good，original thinker as well as critic，like Coleridge，shall we say．And with your genuine love for literature，a thing so rare now，what can you not achieve？Look at a poem，and jot down how it appeals to you．No padding，no borrowed phrases and such，and I am certain you will write good criticism．Won’t you promise to try？You don’t know how envious I am of your orderly，systematic mind which grasps at things easily．You shouldn’t let it run to pieces．We are very well here，and apart from the fact that we missed you a good deal，quite content．The record of 接龙 has now reached up to 102 points，kept jointedly by me ＆ Kuo Hsin Hui．I still don’t know how I sent so many cards to ship．So long，and write to me quick.