天下•译事 | 探访隐士、追寻桃花源，美国翻译家请中国古诗人喝Whisky

作为智库型研究与资讯平台，译世界【官方微信号译·世界（YEEWORLD）】现推出“天下·译事”（原名“环球·译事”）栏目，聚焦全球语言服务行业，以专业的视角、前沿的眼光，通过双语译介、原创策划等多种形式，评述行业现象、观察业态发展，欢迎关注！本期为第二十一期，Yee君将带你走近一位不走寻常路的美国翻译家。

终南山下，活死人墓。

神雕侠侣，绝迹江湖。

在金庸笔下，终南山中，隐居着绝世高手、神仙眷侣。那么现实里的终南山，真的有隐士吗？一位名叫比尔·波特的美国人给出了答案。

1989年，波特与他的摄影师朋友一起走进终南山，前后共拜访了200多名隐士，集结成书——《空谷幽兰》（没错，就是热播剧《欢乐颂》里，赵医生读的那本书，已于2009年出版），销量超过20万册，引起了国内外一股探讨隐士文化的热潮。

如今，已经75岁的汉学家、翻译家、作家比尔·波特再次来到中国。这一次，他试图追寻中国人心中千百年以来的理想世界——桃花源。他踏着陶渊明与苏东坡的足迹，经扬州一路向南至惠州、雷州，直到天涯海角的儋州、琼州，再回溯到陶渊明的故里庐山。从陶渊明、苏东坡、王安石等人遗留至今的遗迹、当时当地的处境、心态，到随之而生的诗歌、理想，这位美国汉学家通过文字把我们带入古代文人的世界。

A 75-year-old American man and a reclusive Chinese poet who lived 1,600 years ago have come together in an unlikely literary romance.

一位75岁的美国男子与一位1600年前的中国归隐诗人之间展开了一场不可思议的文学情缘。

On a visit to China earlier this month, Bill Porter, a translator and writer who has dedicated himself to Chinese culture, introduced to the Chinese readers his new book "Paradise of the Mind."

5月初，比尔·波特中国之行中向读者推介了他的新书《一念桃花源》。波特是一位致力于中国文化的翻译家、作家。

The book records a tour Porter made last year of eastern China, during which he traced the footsteps of his favorite poet Tao Yuanming and another ancient poet Su Dongpo, who was a follower of Tao.

这本书记录了波特去年游历中国东部的经历，他一路追寻他最喜爱的诗人陶渊明和另一位古代诗人苏东坡的足迹，苏东坡也是陶渊明的追随者。

"I love him as a poet, but I like him more as a person," said Porter. The idyllic lifestyle advocated by Tao is what he has been pursuing for his whole life.

“我喜欢他的诗，但我更喜欢他的为人。”波特说。陶渊明所倡导的田园诗般的生活方式是他一生所追求的。

Porter has translated over 1,600 Chinese poems and written a series of books about his pilgrimages in China over the past thirty years.

在过去的30年里，波特翻译了1600多首中国诗歌，写了一系列关于他在中国的朝圣之旅的书。

He is best-known in China for his signature work The Road to Heaven, a book about his times in China's mountains looking for hermits. Since it was published in 2009, the Chinese version of the book has sold over 200,000 copies.

在中国，他最著名的作品就是代表作《空谷幽兰》，这本书记载了他在中国山间寻找隐士的时光。自2009年出版以来，该书的中文版已售出20多万册。

For his years of efforts in translating Chinese poems, he was awarded a prize for translation by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in February.

多年来，他在中国的诗歌翻译方面做出了不懈努力。今年2月，他被美国艺术暨文学学会授予翻译奖。

"Chinese culture is like a treasure chest, and I want to share with people the treasure I have discovered," he said.

“中国文化就像一个宝库，我想和大家分享我发现的宝藏。”他说。

In 1972, when he was a doctoral student, he ran into a Chinese monk in New York's China Town, and was introduced to meditation and Buddhist scripture.

1972年，波特还是个博士生的时候，他在纽约唐人街偶遇了一位中国和尚，向他介绍了冥想和佛经。

"I felt that was exactly the lifestyle I wanted to have. Be a Buddhist practitioner!" said Porter. So he quit school and moved to Taiwan China, hiding in temples tucked away deep in the mountains. At first he was attracted only by Buddhism, but later on he found himself lost in the beauty of Chinese poetry and philosophy.

波特说：“我觉得做一名佛教徒正是我想要的生活方式！”于是，他离开学校搬到了中国台湾，隐居在藏于深山中的寺庙里。起初，他只是被佛教吸引，但后来，他发现自己深陷于中国诗歌和哲学的美妙中。

Porter's first encounter with Tao Yuanming was in 1975 when he found a collection of Tao's poems in a bookstore.

波特第一次了解到陶渊明是在1975年，当时他在书店里发现了一本陶渊明的诗集。

"I was attracted by the thread-bound book and its calligraphy style," he said, "But when I read it I was mesmerized by the lines that carry such a beauty, serenity and simplicity."

波特说：“这本线装书及其书法风格吸引了我。当我读这本书时，我对如此美丽、宁静、朴素的诗句着了迷。”

Porter ended his three years in temples as a lay Buddhist when he met his wife, who was studying Chinese philosophy. His passion for China grew so strong that he decided that it was something worth a lifetime of devotion.

在遇到学习中国哲学的妻子后，波特结束了三年的寺庙居士生活。他对中国的热爱如此强烈，甚至认为值得为之奉献终身。

Under the pen name of Red Pine, he has published some translations of Buddhist scripts and Chinese poems in the United States.

在美国，他以“赤松”为笔名，出版了一些佛经译本和中国诗歌译本。

Though appreciated by professionals and critics, the works did not sell well. He took a series of part-time jobs, including as a tour guide taking groups to China.

尽管他的作品得到了专业人士和评论家的赞赏，但并不畅销。他做了各种各样的兼职工作，包括当导游带旅行团去中国旅游。

"Translating is not a way to make a living, but a way to enjoy myself," he said. "When I translate poems, the world stops around me."

波特说：“翻译不是谋生手段，而是自我享受。当我翻译诗歌时，周围的世界都静止了。”

He said he prefers to live a frugal and simple life just like Tao Yuanming did, because "from simplicity, mindfulness arises."

波特说，他喜欢像陶渊明那样过俭朴的生活，因为“正念从简”。

Fascinated by the hermit lifestyle depicted by Tao, Porter decided to set off on a pilgrimage looking for real life hermits.

出于对陶渊明描绘的那种隐居生活的向往，波特决定来一次朝圣之旅，寻找现实生活中的隐士。

In 1989, with a photographer friend from the United States, Porter travelled to the Zhongnan mountains in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and wrote "The Road to Heaven" based on interviews with the hermits in the mountains.

1989年，波特和一位美国摄影师好友一起来到位于陕西的终南山，结合对山中隐士的采访写成了《空谷幽兰》。

"The Chinese publisher sent me a big sum of money and I was a bit surprised by its popularity in China," he recalled, and that was when he started his three decades as a pilgrim, traveling around China tracing the footsteps of ancient poets, writers and philosophers.

他回忆道：“中国出版商寄给我一大笔钱，我对这部作品在中国如此受欢迎感到有点惊讶。”从那以后波特就开始了长达30年的游历，追寻古代诗人、作家和哲学家的足迹游遍中国。

During his most recent Tao Yuanming-inspired trip he visited the grave of Tao in Jiangxi Province. He poured three cups of liquor, proposing a toast to the poet.

在最近一次的陶渊明灵感之旅中，波特祭拜了位于江西省的陶渊明之墓，在墓前倒了三杯酒，向这位诗人敬酒。

"I was about to cry. It felt as if Tao was standing right in front of me, within my easy reach," he said.

他说：“我差点哭了，感觉仿佛陶渊明就站在我面前，触手可及。”

It was not the first time he toasted to ancient poets.

这并非他第一次向古代诗人敬酒。

In 2012, he travelled along the Yangtze and the Yellow rivers, and visited the graves of 36 Chinese poets. Knowing many of them were drinkers, he brought with him two bottles of whisky from the U.S., as he wanted to wake them up with foreign alcohol.

2012年，波特沿长江、黄河一路游历，祭拜了36位中国诗人。他知道很多诗人爱喝酒，于是从美国带来两瓶威士忌，希望通过洋酒将他们唤醒。

Considering his old age, Porter has decided to settle down and stop his wanderings. Together with some friends, he is preparing to open a meditation center in Seattle.

考虑到年事已高，波特决定定居下来，不再游历，准备和几个朋友在西雅图开一家冥想中心。

"The best things in life are things that can make the world stop," he said, "I found it in Chinese culture, and I would like to share that."

他说：“生活中最好的事物就是那些能让世界静止的事物，这是我对中国文化的感悟，希望将这种感悟分享出去。”

英文来源：新华网

编译：Yee君

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