第六届“海伦?斯诺翻译奖”竞赛
“英译汉”部分
One thing I could mention is this. Around 1939 or 1940 two Priests from Spain were refugees in the Philippines and they looked us up, having heard of Indusco. I cannot remember names or what denomination but I gave them many papers and they were really interested in getting producer co-ops going in some part of Spain – maybe among the Basques where a Catholic priest did start Mondragon. We had been friends of Teilhard de Chardin in Peking and maybe they knew this. In any case, this may be the origin of Mondragon which is now the showplace for our producer type of co-op, and has American connections.
To sum it all up: I think it likely that this Niveous Snow experience for four years never happened before or since, for various reasons. I mean that two young Americans (or any kind of Westerners) have never had so much influence of the kind in the third world or maybe anywhere else. There were reasons for this beyond filling the vacuum. In 1933- 36 I used to debate with Teilhard de Chardin as we walked on top of the Peking city wall. He became all but deified as his idea was so successful. It was in brief that the individual could develop as one person higher up the evolutionary process, “a phenomenon of man”, until reaching the omega point of high spiritual power and influence. His idea was that all elements had to be developed by physical culture, deep learning in various branches of science and history, with maximum use of brain, out of which this “spiritual power.”
My idea was “marriage power”, meaning that the male-female relationship in this social contract could increase influence and effectiveness, not twice, but exponentially. We did in four years prove that this idea is valid and it has actually happened – that once, anyway. I had to organize the whole thing, as Ed had no wish to be a model or a digit raised to a higher power. I kept him under a “reign of terror” he called it, but he always was very proud of himself and his work and he realized that I was the energizing force and emotional strength that made it possible. The marriage lasted from 1932 to 1949, seventeen years. Divorce is part of the success of this “nuclear marriage”, as the psychology is part of the success. We had the mid-life divorce, age forty or so, which is the normal way to do it. This is a crossroads. Either you go on like Darby and Joan, or you have another life experience. The longevity of marriage does not mean it was a wonderful, socially valuable experience, but only
that the two people kept going in tandem along the same path. You judge a marriage by its success while it lasts, or in its prime, so to speak, not in old age, and not by being happy or not. We never used such words. We were not trying to be happy but to do and think worthwhile things in the right time and the right place. Had we not existed we would have had to be invented - by the history of Chinese-American Special Relations.
Edgar Snow was a big success and also appreciated in China, which reflects upon me and my big investment in building him up and his career. But the magic is due to several things, one of which is that the woman HAS TO MAKE THE MAN FEEL THAT HE HAS ALL THIS WONDERFUL POWER WITHIN HIMSELF, in other words, to build up his morale at all times and make him feel that his work is worthwhile and worth the risk of life and death or whatever the cost may be. When we got the divorce, Ed wrote a letter to me which I still have. It said: if you think you are always right as you always have, I am tired of it. I want to have my own ideas now.
He always supported me in my “ideas” but I had to do all the leg-work and endless arranging. I have my own ideas about “A Thesis for women”, not for the peasantry. It is the essence of the special “work-ethic”, which is that work is good for its own sake”, and “knowledge is good for its own sake” all that. I have never been depressed and I keep on writing like the fabled Parnassian spring at Delphi (a place I love, along with the Parthenon). I have published only eight trade books, but I have around fifty copyrighted unpublished books, and I did at least 22 booklets of genealogy (68 boxes were sent to my family in Denver). This is a remarkable thing about me - that I am naturally productive, progressive and my ideas are also possible. But I have never done the “one good book” I should have done. Only the body of my work tells the story. I am totally original, prolific and versatile. I even had a high quality literary gift from the quarter Welsh that my mother gave me genetically.
-- Excerpt from Four Years by Helen Foster Snow
第六届“海伦·斯诺翻译奖“大赛竞赛英译汉赛题真题
