Chinese Pwns Shakespeare？

by John Pasden in language

I discovered this little gem of translation magic in my WeChat feed the other day under the title 中文远比英文美 (“Chinese is far more beautiful than English”). The poem quoted below is widely attributed to Shakespeare online, so the attribution is reasonable. (More on that later.)

I’ve tried to maintain a 4-line structure to make comparisons easier, but in a few cases it was inappropriate to break the Chinese poem structures, so I left them as is, since the 4-part structure is obvious anyway.

Original English Poem

> You say that you love rain, but you open your umbrella when it rains.

You say that you love the sun, but you find a shadow spot when the sun shines.

You say that you love the wind, but you close your windows when wind blows.

This is why I am afraid–you say that you love me too.

― William Shakespeare

普通版 (“Normal” Version)

This is the “normal” version, a straight translation of the English above into modern Chinese. (This is also the second most accessible version if you want to try reading the Chinese.)

> 你说你爱雨，但当细雨飘洒时你却撑开了伞；

你说你爱太阳，但当它当空时你却看见了阳光下的暗影；

你说你爱风，但当它轻拂时你却紧紧地关上了自己的窗子；

你说你也爱我，而我却为此烦忧。

文艺版 (“Artsy” Version)

文艺 literally means “literature and arts,” but these days it’s often closely associated with the phrase 文艺青年, a young person who pursues artistic beauty (especially of the literary nature), but may often come across pretentious to normal people.

You’ll immediately notice how difficult the following translation is compared to the first one; it’s chock-full of hard words.

> 你说烟雨微芒，兰亭远望；后来轻揽婆娑，深遮霓裳。

你说春光烂漫，绿袖红香；后来内掩西楼，静立卿旁。

你说软风轻拂，醉卧思量；后来紧掩门窗，漫帐成殇。

你说情丝柔肠，如何相忘；我却眼波微转，兀自成霜。

诗经版 (“Book of Songs” Version)

This one is written in the style of the 诗经, the “Classic of Poetry,” AKA “The Book of Songs.”

You’ll notice a dramatic reduction in length, plus a classical style.

> 子言慕雨，启伞避之。

子言好阳，寻荫拒之。

子言喜风，阖户离之。

子言偕老，吾所畏之。

离骚版 (“Departing in Sorrow” Version)

离骚, also known as “Departing in Sorrow,” is a famous Chinese poem from the Warring States period, written by 屈原, the poet commemorated by China’s “Dragon Boat Festival.”

> 君乐雨兮启伞枝，君乐昼兮林蔽日，

君乐风兮栏帐起，君乐吾兮吾心噬。

七言绝句版

七言绝句 is a Tang Dynasty poem structure using seven characters in 4 “sentences.”

> 恋雨却怕绣衣湿，喜日偏向树下倚。

欲风总把绮窗关，叫奴如何心付伊。

吴语版 (Wu Version)

吴语 is a “topolect” of Chinese; it’s the family that Shanghainese belongs to.

Shanghainese friends tell me that this version is a little forced and not very poetic (it doesn’t do Shanghainese justice). Seems like it just got tacked on later after a 文艺青年 did the other versions.

> 弄刚欢喜落雨，落雨了么搞布洋塞；

欢喜塔漾么又谱捏色；

欢喜西剥风么又要丫起来；

弄刚欢喜唔么，搓色唔霉头。

女汉子版 (“Strong Woman” Version)

女汉子 is difficult to translate, but 汉子 normally refers to a man. So 女汉子 refers to a “manly” woman, or more appropriately a “strong woman,” the type that takes no crap from nobody. “你有本事” (literally, “[if] you have the ability”) lends an air of direct challenge to the whole thing, kind of a “what are you gonna do about it?” feel.

This one, like the 吴语 version above, also seems tacked on, since the phrase 女汉子 is trendy these days.

> 你有本事爱雨天，你有本事别打伞啊！

你有本事爱阳光，你有本事别乘凉啊！！

你有本事爱吹风，你有本事别关窗啊！！！

你有本事说爱我，你有本事捡肥皂啊！！！！

七律压轴版

七律压轴 is an 8-line poem format, 7-characters per line. (I don’t know much about this, and my Googling didn’t turn up any definitive results, so if anyone wants to help out in the comments, feel free!)

> 江南三月雨微茫，

罗伞叠烟湿幽香。

夏日微醺正可人，

却傍佳木趁荫凉。

霜风清和更初霁，

轻蹙蛾眉锁朱窗。

怜卿一片相思意，

犹恐流年拆鸳鸯。

The Original Original Poem (in Turkish)

OK, so here’s the thing… That “original” English poem was not by Shakespeare, and it’s actually a translation into English from Turkish. There’s a reason it doesn’t see too “Shakespearean” (especially in word choice). Below is the original word choice:

> Yağmuru seviyorum diyorsun, yağmur yağınca şemsiyeni açıyorsun…

Güneşi seviyorum diyorsun, güneş açınca gölgeye kaçıyorsun…

Rüzgarı seviyorum diyorsun, rüzgar çıkınca pencereni kapatıyorsun…

İşte,bunun için korkuyorum; Beni de sevdiğini söylüyorsun…

Source: http://www.turkishclass.com/poem_136

Conclusion

This little experiment certainly doesn’t prove any superiority or “pwnage,” and the English translation was clearly chosen because it matches existing Chinese poem forms, but… Chinese is still pretty awesome.

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