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伊万卡写了句“中国谚语”,结果却让人意外(双语)
2018-06-15 11:23
来源:沪江
作者:
Ivanka Trump may want to double check her sources the next time she tweets, after a message about a ‘Chinese proverb’ led to a frantic - and unsuccessful - search to find its origins.
在一条关于“中国谚语”的消息引发了一场疯狂而失败的搜索以寻找它的起源后,伊万卡·特朗普可能会在下次发Twitter时再三核实她的消息来源。
President Donald Trump's daughter and White House senior adviser posted the message to her Twitter account just before President Donald Trump's historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
就在美国总统唐纳德·特朗普与北朝鲜领导人金正恩进行历史性峰会之前,美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的女儿和白宫高级顾问将这一消息发布到了她的Twitter账户上。
She wrote: “Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those doing it,” attributing the quote to a Chinese proverb.
她写道:“那些说不能做的人,不应该打断那些做它的人,”这句话源于一句中国谚语。
It doesn't appear her tweet actually derived from ancient Chinese scriptures — rather, it may have originated in the United States during the early 1900s.
她的推特并不是源自中国古代经文——而是起源于20世纪初的美国。
After hours of searching, it appeared no one had located the original proverb, as multiple experts and historians of East Asian cultures told The Independent they could not confirm its authenticity.
经过数小时的搜寻,似乎没有人找到最初的谚语,许多东亚文化的专家和历史学家告诉《独立报》,他们无法证实它的真实性。
“Nothing immediately comes to mind,” said Moss Roberts, professor of East Asian studies at New York University.
纽约大学东亚研究教授Moss Roberts表示:“我没有立刻想到什么。”
Chen Gao, senior Chinese language lecturer at New York University said that the post led to plenty of jokes from China.
纽约大学高级汉语讲师陈高(音)说,这篇博文引发了来自中国的大量笑话。
“Many Chinese started joking about their own Chinese language skills, because they can't think of any old sayings with the English equivalents,” Ms G said.
“许多中国人开始拿自己的汉语技能开玩笑,因为他们想不出任何与英语对等的谚语,”G女士说。
“Later when people found out the ‘Chinese proverb’ Ivanka quoted doesn't exist, they didn't take it too seriously... Some said, ‘maybe Ivanka saw it on a fortune cookie,’ which despite the name isn't of Chinese origin either.”
后来,当人们发现伊万卡所引用的“中国谚语”不存在时,他们就不会太认真了……有人说,“也许伊万卡在幸运饼上看到了它,”尽管它的名字并非源自中国。
注:幸运饼干是美国中餐馆的一种常见小点心,每个饼干里有一个写着谚语的小纸条
Several Weibo users posted Chinese proverbs that appeared to be at least somewhat similar to the quote in Ms Trump's tweet.
一些微博用户发布了一些中国谚语,这些谚语至少看起来与特朗普在推特上的言论有些相似。
“It's better to knit a fishnet instead of standing by the river and hoping for fish,” one read.
其中一条写道:“与其站在河边垂钓,不如织一张鱼网。”
”Don't give advice while watching others playing a chess game,” said another.
另一个网友说:“不要边看别人下棋边给别人建议。”
Still, a quick Google search of the quote yields investigative research debunking claims that it was translated from a Chinese proverb.
尽管如此,谷歌的快速搜索还是产生了对这句话的调查研究,驳斥了有关这句话是从一句中国谚语翻译过来的说法。
The first link comes from QuoteInvestigator.com, and explores the statement being printed in American newspapers as early as 1903.
第一个链接来自quoteinvestigative ator.com,它早在1903年就在美国的报纸上刊登了这份声明。
Meanwhile, researchers have been exploring the quote for decades, often finding claims that it was created by playwright George Bernard Shaw.
与此同时,研究人员已经对这句话进行了数十年的探索,他们发现这句话是由剧作家萧伯纳创作的。
However, it is unclear whether he ever actually used it in his writings.
然而,尚不清楚他是否真的在他的作品中使用过它。
“Because of the deep, profound and mysterious cultural messages attached to Chinese proverbs, casually referencing them can make one sound wise,” Ms Gao said.
高女士表示:“由于中国谚语所附带的深刻而神秘的文化信息,随意提及它们可以让人听起来更明智。”
“Chinese proverbs are often presented using simple language, but convey complex ideas.
中国谚语通常使用简单的语言表达,但是其中蕴含着复杂的思想。
Chinese people welcome and usually give credit to foreigners for their efforts to learn or use Chinese language, even if some quotes are not of Chinese origin.”
中国人民欢迎并经常赞扬外国人为学习或使用汉语付出的努力,即使一些引用并非起源于中国。
Others were less than impressed.
其他人则不以为然。
This was perhaps summed up best by Chinese literature scholar Brendan O’Kane who tweeted shortly after Ms Trump's post went viral: “You can call any old s*** a Chinese proverb on the internet.”
中国文学学者Brendan O’kane或许对此做出了最好的总结,在特朗普的推特走红后不久,他就在推特上写道:“你可以把网上的任何一句老话称为中国谚语。”