2018年12月25日 星期二

Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894. "A Christmas Sermon"



"A Christmas Sermon" by Robert Louis Stevenson written while he convalesced from a lung ailment at Lake Sarnac in the winter of 1887. In the short text he meditates on the questions of death, morality and man’s main task in life which he concludes is “To be honest, to be kind — to earn a little and to spend a little less, to make upon the whole a family happier for his presence.” — https://buff.ly/2CA7ynP




Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie,
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be,
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.

The second in a three-part series on writers’ epitaphs. Read yesterday’s…
THEPARISREVIEW.ORG|由 DANIEL BOSCH 上傳


Robert Louis Stevenson was born ‪#‎onthisday‬ in 1850.‪#‎DiscoverLiterature‬ with an article about Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. http://bit.ly/1B0ntWX
Image: Actor Richard Mansfield in a stage adaptation of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.Robert Louis Stevenson was born #onthisday in 1850. #DiscoverLiterature with an article about Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.  http://bit.ly/1B0ntWX

Image: Actor Richard Mansfield in a stage adaptation of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Robert Louis Stevenson celebrated in Google doodle Saturday

November 13, 2010 | 4:16 pm
Robert louis stevenson 2
Arrrrrr ye doing any Googling today? If so, you might notice Google’s got a new doodle up on its home page.
Despite the look, the Google doodle doesn’t have anything to do with International Talk Like a Pirate Day. That glorious "holiday" is celebrated in September.
The pirate-themed doodle is all about the commemoration of Robert Louis Stevenson’s birthday. If the Scottish author known for "Treasure Island," "Kidnapped" and other classics were still alive today, he’d be 160 years old.
Some people might have thought the overflowing treasure chest in the graphic could be symbolic of the salary increases that Google employees are getting.
An internal e-mail from Google head honcho Eric Schmidt said his employees would each receive 10% raises this year –- not to mention $1,000 cash bonuses on the side (with Google picking up the taxes).
Well, not every Google employee is taking home a 10% bump. Some in the upper echelon will receive a 30% increase.
That’s good because these execs were making a base salary of only $500,000 last year. Now they’ll bring home a much more respectable $650,000, about one-third of the average salary of an NFL quarterback. Plus, they’re eligible for bonuses of up to 250% of their base pay.
And then there’s the poor sap who leaked Schmidt’s e-mail to the press. Instead of a raise, he or she reportedly got the boot.
The new image on Google’s home page isn’t unprecedented, of course. Every once in a while, Google changes it up. Some of our favorites include salutes to jazz great Dizzy Gillespie, Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky and the video game Pac-Man.
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Spotlight:
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
What was the nickname the residents of Upolu gave to Robert Louis Stevenson? Born on November 13, 1850, Robert Louis Stevenson spent the last four years of his life on the Samoan island of Upolu, where the natives called him Tusitala, or "teller of tales." Stevenson suffered poor health for many years. His need for a comfortable climate brought him to the tropical islands of Samoa. He became involved in politics and began the novel that many have claimed was his best work — in spite of the fact that it remains unfinished — Weir of Hermiston. Some of his earlier books and poems have become classics of English literature, among them Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and A Child's Garden of Verses.


Quote:
"When I am grown to man's estate I shall be very proud and great. And tell the other girls and boys Not to meddle with my toys." Robert Louis Stevenson, from his Child's Garden of Verses





Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894






〈沙丘上的涼亭〉( The Pavilion on the Links) 是 Calvino 在 1973年為 Robert Louis Stevenson 這篇小說的話義大利文版前言。



這篇是英國蘇格蘭作家羅伯特 ·史蒂文生(1850 -1894 , Robert Louis Stevenson)發表在雜誌上(版本A ),之後在1882 年收入New Arabian Night(案: 此書日本有村上啓夫 (Hiroo Murakami)翻譯;『新版千一夜物語』 1947,鎌倉書房)』 。中文似乎無翻譯。在網路上很容易找到這第十篇的英文本,可以讀一下,感覺一下為什麼許多人喜歡史蒂文生之作品,甚至於說英國 19 世紀除狄更斯之外他最好。他的簡介可參考: http://www.answers.com/ROBERT%20L%20STEVENSON



Calvino 一向喜歡他:「……我一讀再讀某些作家的小說,也不知不覺將他們視為榜樣──R. L. 史蒂文生(註 3)就是其中一位。我重視史蒂文生,因為他寫下他自己愛看的書;此外,也因為史蒂文生身為一位精雕細琢的藝術家,懂得仿寫古老的歷險故事,以他自己的生命 讓這些舊作復活。對史蒂文生而言,寫作就意味著翻譯一份看不見的文本──所有的歷險情節,奧秘故事,千百作家著作裡意志與激情的衝突,都將精華匯集在這看 不見的文本之中。史蒂文生運用他那準確而幾無瑕玼的文體,以及他那舞步一般既激越又節制的韻律,將這看不見的文本其中精華加以翻譯。(在世界文壇,仰慕史 蒂文生的人少而精。仰慕者裡頭最顯要的一位是波赫士。 *) …….」( Italo Calvino 『樹上的男爵 前言』(The Baron in the Tree(IL Barone Rampante) 紀大偉譯)

* HC 注:Jorge Luis Borges很有意思,提供兩套推薦書:在 "The Library of Babel" 選 Robert Louis Stevenson的 The Island of the Voices 【此篇收入Island Nights’ Entertainments ,書名應該是 THlE ISLE OF VOICES . 】。另外,他個人的圖書館"A Personal Library." :(75 本)選Robert Louis Stevenson之 New Arabian Nights Markheim


Calvino 甚至為這篇抱不平(英國人人文庫本前言說它不好),認為它是佳作。



現在我簡單談一下此篇翻譯上的一些問題。

首先,〈沙丘上的涼亭〉( The Pavilion on the Links)之「沙丘Links 」是蘇格蘭用語。(Pavilion )是西方比較複雜的字眼,『涼亭』只是其中一義,可是本篇沒有此義,因為它是義大利樣式,裡面至少有三間臥室,餐廳等等〉。



史蒂文生的歷史小說《巴蘭特雷公子》( The Master of Ballantrae),不知道為什麼翻譯成《杜里世家》( p.187)?他的其他歷史小說有中譯,如《誘拐》、《黑箭》等等。



我一向對於所謂的 MISANTROPY之翻譯覺得不過理想:「憎世」(本書翻譯)、「厭世」。他們喜歡離群索居(一般對人不信任)。


「史 蒂文生引進威脅其筆下人物的可疑義大利秘密社團,頭戴圓錐形黑帽的燒碳黨。」( …that murky, Italiansecrete society, the Carbonari, with their black conical hats. )。我認為murky 不只是「可疑」(有此義嗎?),指「 黑暗的、陰鬱的、不易了解的……」( describes a situation that is complicated and unpleasant, and about which many facts are unclear: )。另外 contours 一般翻譯成輪廓,不過此處指地形的高低起伏( A surface, especially of a curving form. Often used in the plural. 日本語 (Japanese) n. - 輪郭 , 等高線, 形勢)。



「 …..史蒂文生開始寫作的時候,帶著非常適合冒險故事的赤裸、客觀衝勁。」( p.189 ;原文:Stevenson starting writing with his dry, objective thrust, perfectly suited to an adventure story.…… )
先說 dry 的用法,它應指「(玩笑 ,幽默 ) 一本正經表達出來的; 不露感情的」(參考:Dry humour is very amusing in a way which is clever and not loud or obvious: ) ,又, thrust 「或許」可有另外意思:「要旨 ; 目標;突出重點 ;要點」。

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