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                    日期：2023年5月20日

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The Five Orange Pips（节选）翻译实践报告

摘　　要

 侦探小说自十九世纪中期发端后,在西方国家蓬勃发展起来，而国内的侦探小说发展较为缓慢。为促进中外侦探小说的交流，不少译者在此方面作出了努力。出于对该领域的兴趣，以及为检验近一年半的翻译学习成果，笔者撰写了此翻译实践报告。该实践报告的原文节选自《福尔摩斯探案集》，运用李长栓教授在《如何撰写翻译实践报告：CEA框架、范文及点评》一书中提出的“理解、表达、取舍”框架，以大量译例来分析翻译中遇到的问题，并提出相应的解决措施。

关键词侦探小说；CEA框架；问题和措施

A REPORT ON THE TRANSLATION OF TheFIVE ORANGE PIPS (EXCERPT)

ABSTRACT

Since the beginning of the mid-nineteenth century, detective fiction has flourished in Western countries. However, the development of domestic detective novels is relatively slow. In order to promote the exchange of detective novels between China and foreign countries, many translators have made efforts in this regard. Out of interest in the field and to test the results of translation learning for nearly a year and a half, I wrote this report. This report is selected from The Complete Sherlock Holmes, using the framework of “Comprehension, Expression, and Adaption” proposed by Professor Li Changshuan, analyzing the problems encountered in translation with a large number of translation examples, and proposing corresponding solutions.

KEY WORDS  detective fiction; the framework of CEA; problems and solutions

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

The source text of this translation practice report is an excerpt from the chapter The Five Orange Pips in the book The Complete Sherlock Holmes. In this report, the author uses the framework of “Comprehension, Expression, Adaption” proposed in the book How to Write a Translation Practice Report: CEA Framework, Model Texts and Comments (Li, 2020), analyzes the problems encountered in translation with some cases and proposes corresponding measures to solve them. The paper contains the following four chapters:

In the first chapter, the author will give a brief introduction to the translation activity, including background information, significance, study abroad and study at home. In the second chapter, the author will elaborate on the framework of “Comprehension, Expression, Adaption”. In the third chapter, the author will conduct specific case study based on the framework of “Comprehension, Expression, Adaption”. In the fourth chapter, the author will give a summary of the report, the insights gained during the practice and a prospect for future translation studies.

Background Information

The Complete Sherlock Holmes has gained a widespread reputation as the quintessential work of detective fiction and has been translated into 57 languages during the span of the past century, including Icelandic, Azerbaijani and Urdu. Holmes has become synonymous with the famous detective, as well as partnership with Watson, etc., have an extremely profound impact on later generations of detective novels. The famous British novelist Maugham (2016, p.110) once said, “No detective novel has ever enjoyed such a great reputation compared with The Complete Sherlock Holmes written by Conan Doyle.”

In 2000, a century after the “resurrection” of the Sherlock Holmes in this fiction, the Royal Society of Chemistry awarded him the prestigious title of Honorary Fellow as acknowledgment of his exceptional utilization of judicial science and analytical chemistry in literature. This honor is generally given only to Nobel Prize winners, and to academicians and industrialists who have made significant contributions in their respective fields. Notably, Sherlock Holmes is the sole fictitious character to have received this distinction.

There are many definitions of the book, and because the story is fully combined with the current state of British politics and economics at that time, many readers suspect that this is not simply a detective novel, but more like a detailed account of crime. The story of Sherlock Holmes was written in the late 19th century in the late Victorian era. Queen Victoria’s reign of 63 years (June 20, 1837 - January 22, 1901), is the most prosperous period of the so-called “Sunset Empire”. During her reign and after her death, until 1914, when the First World War began, England belonged to the Victorian era. Unfortunately, Britain began to decline after 1914. Although this era was prosperous, it also contained evils. While industry was strong, society was polarized, and the gap between the rich and the poor was gradually widening. Capitalists had replaced the landowners andrich squires in feudal society (before the Glorious Revolution)were regarded as the symbol of the country’s wealthy people. Under that circumstance, child labor began to appear; workshops and peasants were replaced by factories and workers; the poor became poorer and the rich became richer. The social situation was also very serious, and a working class, mainly workers, began to emerge within the factories of the capitalist bourgeoisie, which was the prototype of the Communist Party before its establishment. Hence, social tensions were higher; crime was so rampant that the crime rate was generally on the rise. The famous Jack the Ripper also appeared in this era. The reason why readers can really feel the atmosphere of that era, heavy fog that permeated the London market all day long and the vividness of the characters from all walks of life is that Conan Doyle has written that era into his works.

Study Abroad

The detective novel, as well as the mystery novel, was a genre of Western popular literature before. In short, it is kind of a procedural literature that solves the case with the necessary clues in a deductive way. The United States in the mid-19th century was the Bronze Age of the development of detective fiction. American writer Edgar Allan Poe is considered as the originator of Western detective fiction. He portrayed the first amateur detective Durbin in three famous detective novels The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841), The Secret of Marry Roget (1842) and The Stolen Letter (1844). By cracking criminal cases through observation and deduction, Durbin became the model for the detective figure in later detective novels. Although Edgar Allan Poe wrote seven detective stories in total which were only a small part of his work, he created the first model of detective fiction and had a significant impact on the development of it.

However, although the United States was the pioneer of the detective novel, it was not well received by the masses at the time. Instead, it was Europe across the ocean that brought the detective novel into the Silver Age at the end of the 19th century. During this period, a large number of excellent detective novelists emerged, such as Wilkie Collins (1824-1889), the father of the British detective novel, who published The Jewel of the Moon in 1868, which is considered to be the first real full-length detective novel for its twisted and moving plot and profound character descriptions. Austin Freeman (1862-1943), whose masterpiece is The Singing Bones, began writing mystery novels in 1891 and first used medical knowledge in his works, creating the first detective to use forensic science, Dr. John Thorndike, and pioneering the “reverse detective novel”, in which the identity of the murderer is firstly revealed to the reader and then deduced in flashbacks. The first detective to use forensic science, Dr. John Thorndike, created the “reverse detective novel”, in which the identity of the murderer is revealed to the reader and then explained in flashbacks. Baroness Oaklands (1865-1947), in her book The Old Man in the Corner, firstly created the “armchair detective” who relied on clues to solve cases without leaving his home. A.e. Woo Mason (1865-1948) shaped the detective Mr. Hannold. And this can be said to be popular around the world, is the author of the source text The Complete Sherlock Holmes of this report, Conan Doyle (1959-1930). Conan Doyle wrote a total of 60 stories about Sherlock Holmes, including 56 short stories and four full-length novels. These stories were published one after another in the Seaside Magazine over a period of 40 years. The main stories took place between 1878 and 1907, with the latest one dating from World War I. Conan Doyle’s great contribution to detective fiction is that the story structure, the core trickery and the whimsical conception of the mystery novel he created have set a model for the mystery novel, defining the model of partner between detective and assistant. He is a well-deserved literary master who developed detective novels into a new era. The Complete Sherlock Holmes can be said to be an immortal classic opening up the Golden Age of detective novels and it is the most respected detective novels around the world throughout history.

The period between World War I and World War II is called the Golden Age of the mystery novel. During this period, reading mystery stories was no longer a pastime for the middle and upper classes, but was also accessible to the lower classes. The romanticism of the earlier works faded away, and murder became an essential element of each novel. Of course, these murders were more of a clue to the main story, and people were no longer concerned with the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil, but how to solve the mystery. Most writers in the Golden Age treated their creations as a guessing game to entertain the readers, or an intellectual competition between the reader and the writer (through his fictional detective). In 1928, the Americans compiled a list of the Ten Commandments of the mystery novel, which was organized around the layout of the story, the type of characters and the description of their personalities.

Leaving aside the creation of detective novels, in terms of its research, in general, foreign countries conducted it earlier and more systematically than domestic. In the early 20th century, there were research papers in this field. For example, Wilson took the stand against detective fiction and criticized it as a whole, viewing it as sub-literature, an addictive but socially unharmful fetish; Freud analyzed the detective novel from the perspective of psychology; Sayers (2016), a well-known detective novelist and critic, strongly said that, “Of all modern fiction, only the detective novel makes virtue more intriguing than vice.” The study of detective fiction in the second half of the 20th century was more theoretical and systematic than before. For example, the authoritative Western historian of detective fiction Julian Simmons wrote Writing Sherlock Holmes as His Side Work - The Multifaceted Achievements of Conan Doyle, in addition to a biography of Conan Doyle. In his article Sherlock Holmes in China published in The Review of Contemporary Writers in 2004, Professor Leo Levan of Harvard University analyzed the failure of Hawthorne’s case investigation from the perspective of urban literature. To sum up, the development of detective novels in the West has been far-reaching, which provides a good reference for China’s creation in this field as well as Chinese translation.

Study at Home

The study of detective novels in China has a history of nearly a century, but it has gone through a very tortuous period. In the late 19th century, translators in China translated the Sherlock Holmes detective novels. In 1896, Shanghai Times Newspaper first published four detective novels translated by Zhang Kunde, which were printed by Suyin Library in Shanghai in 1899. In 1901, Huang Ding and Zhang Zaixin jointly translated seven detective novels written by Conan Doyle and published them in a collection. In 1902, the Civilization Bookstore published The Continuing Translation of Huasheng’s Detective Case, signed by a police student, containing seven detective novels. From 1904 to 1906, Zhou Guisheng and Xiruo translated The Resurgence of Sherlock Holmes, which contained 13 novels. During this period, many detective novels were translated and published in various forms. In 1916, Cheng Xiaoqing and other 10 people translated 12 volumes of The Complete Sherlock Holmes (published by Shanghai China Book Bureau), which contained 44 stories. In 1918, Liu Yanling and Chao Ganqing also translated 17 detective novels written by Conan Doyle. According to statistics, among the translated novels published between 1896 and 1916, Conan Doyle is the most numerous, with 32. Inspired by Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Cheng Xiaoqing written two fake Sherlock Holmes mysteries. These two novels were titled Dragon and Tiger, one of which was titled Diamond Collar and the other was titled Submarine Figure. Later, Cheng Xiaoqing created the Chinese Sherlock Holmes, Hawthorne, in his Hawthorne Mysteries. This shows the popularity of Conan Doyle’s mystery novels at that time.

After the Cultural Revolution, there were more translations of Conan Doyle’s detective novels than during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and they were published in more diverse forms. The early translation was published in 1978 by the Masses Publishing House, which only included A Study in Blood, The Four Signatures and The Hound of the Baskervilles (translated by Ding Zhonghua and Yuan Dihua). In 1979, the Shanghai Translation Press published the English-Chinese edition of The Devil’s Dog (translated by Shi Yanshan). In 1980, the Masses Publishing House published a five-volume edition (translated by Li Jiayun and others), followed by a three-volume edition the following year. By 2002, the translation had been printed 19 times, with a total print run of 414,000 sets, making it the largest-selling edition in China. Since 1980, many different translations have been published. According to incomplete statistics, among the four years since 2000, more than a dozen publishers have published translations of the complete version. In 2002, Beijing Press published a comic book edition in separate volumes. In addition, other editions have been published in the form of anthologies, selections, and as part of a library or series. In addition, there were two annotated volumes of A Selection of Sherlock Holmes Detective Novels by the Foreign Language Press, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Four Signatures by the Shanghai Foreign Language Press. The number of publishers involved in this period was staggering, and the number of publications was enormous and unprecedented. According to Li (2003), in the late Qing Dynasty, when relating to the early translators of the Sherlock Holmes series of detective novels translation, at that time, due to the lack of communication between translators and the profitable publishing houses of detective novels, they flocked to them, resulting in a lot of repetitive work.” “The translations of the titles of the books are very different... and the quality also varies, bringing a lot of inconvenience to the readers at that time.” Judging from the number of translators and publishers that have published, it can be said that there is an overwhelming amount of duplication of work and waste. Some of the recent translations may not follow the original titles for the sake of variation, which also causes inconvenience to readers in reading and comprehension. Moreover, the quality of translation varies. The mistakes made in the previous translations are also found in the later versions. Some translations only slightly change the sentence structure or replace some words without affecting the meaning. Some sentences are coincidentally identical.

In summary, throughout the research of Sherlock Holmes detective novels and the current situation of their translation, we can find that as a result of the “pastime” nature of detective novels as well as the marginal and non-mainstream features, though several times ushered in a boom in pursuit and translation, and the impact on the domestic literary scene considered far-reaching, they always hover on the fringes of the world’s classic novels. To this day, there is still much room for research in this field.

Significance

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, when the country was in internal and external troubles, the new genre of “detective novel” was introduced to China for the first time by the “novel revolution”, starting with the translation of Sherlock Holmes’ detective novels. Subsequently, many detective novels were translated and became popular. Not only English detective novels, but also French detective novels, and at one time there was almost no phenomenon that did not have a relationship with detective novels. At that time, the translation of Sherlock Holmes detective novels in China was even synchronized with foreign countries, earlier than Japan. As a new literary form that has not existed before, the popularity of “detective novel” is on the one hand due to its similar function to “koan novel”, which punishes evil and bullies, and is in line with people’s original expectation vision; on the other hand, it has won people’s curiosity due to its novel, strange and exotic plots and characters, and thus gained a new vision through reading. Therefore, detective novels were introduced in the late Qing Dynasty and developed rapidly. And in the 1980s, the combination with China’s national conditions promoted the emergence of local “public security literature”.

During the late Qing Dynasty, China’s modernization had already begun. The Western novel was also a concentrated manifestation of the achievements of Western civilization, and the translation of it inevitably introduced certain modernization factors, which had a certain influence on the development of China’s modernization. The traditional Chinese culture was deeply rooted in feudalism, and the translation of Sherlock Holmes’ detective novels brought the then emerging bourgeois culture of Victorian England into feudal China through the novels. Holmes’ emphasis on field investigation, careful observation, and scientific knowledge to obtain evidence, reflects “uphold the law and emphasize human rights” of the modern society. Whether it is the ideology of equality, justice and democracy for all, or the spirit of scientific investigation and evidence that speaks for itself, it is an important driving force for the modernization of Chinese culture.

China in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China was steeped in thousands of years of feudal tradition and culture, and in modern times it was invaded by the imperialist powers. Then China reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal state. The failure of the bourgeois democratic revolution made the mission of preaching the democracy fall to novels, especially to their translation. Scientific rationality and democratic rule of law are the key elements of another advanced factor in the embodiment of The Complete Sherlock Holmes, subtly influenced and stimulated readers in the late Qing and early Republican dynasties, which coincided with the social ideology of advocating science and democracy at that time.

The above examples all show that, although China is in a different era, it is undeniable that both the introduction of Sherlock Holmes into China and the translation of Sherlock Holmes played a unique role in the social progress at that time. Therefore, the author believes that we should not stop exploring Sherlock Holmes, and the translation of Sherlock Holmes should continue to move forward, too.

2. Framework Analysis

 “Translation is to convey in another language what the author clearly expresses, wishes to express, or even should express, in a way that is understandable and acceptable to the reader, on the premise of fully understanding the original text, author and its context” (Li & Shi, 2012, p.1). That is the framework of “Comprehension, Expression, adaption”.  

Comprehension

The letter “C” refers to comprehension. Comprehension is the first step in the translation process. According to Newmark (1987), comprehension of the original text requires both general reading and intensive reading by the translator. In general reading, the translator should grasp the gist of the text and have a basic understanding of the main meaning of the original text through glancing over encyclopedias, textbooks and other tools. In intensive reading, the translator should clarify the exact meaning of the word in the text through the context, instead of jumping to a conclusion; the translator should not stay on the surface of the meaning of the word or sentence but dig deeper into the hidden information; the translator should understand the author’s intention, meaning beyond the words, attitude and so on through the context.

Expression

The letter “E” refers to expression. After fully understanding the original text, the translator need to express it in another language in an authentic and natural way to accurately convey what he or she understands to the reader. “Translators should express what the author clearly expresses, wishes to express and even should express.” In addition, the expression of the translation has to satisfy the need of the target language. According to Venuti (2001), translation is a kind of writing based on the original text. In other words, translation is the translator’s re-expression of the meaning of the original text in target language, following the rules of writing. The translator is also the author. The translator should ensure accurate meaning and smooth language, avoid basic language problems such as improper grammar and collocation, grasp the rules of wording such as “preponderance of nouns over verbs” according to Simeon Potter (1969), pay attention to the coherence of the text, be logical and reasonable, respect objective facts, distinguish different styles of writing and language and reflect them in the translation.

Adaption

The letter “A” refers to adaption. The purpose of translation determines the form of the expression of translation. “The form of expression of a translation can be the same, similar or completely different from the original” (Li & Shi, 2012, p.3). If the translation follows the structure and wording of the original and meets the purpose of the translation, then the expression of the translation is close to the original. According to Nida and Taber (1982), the rules of unification of content and form between different languages are extremely complex, arbitrary and variable, so when transferring information from one language to another, the translator must retain the content without borrowing anything. While the form, except for special cases such as poetry, generally takes a secondary place. The differences between different languages are precisely reflected in their forms and structures, and in order to better preserve the content of the original work, the translator must make certain adaptions. For example, in the “expression” section, it is mentioned that English uses many nouns, but if the translator enshrines it as the Bible, it will backfire and make the translation blunt. After all, according to Pinkham (2000), authorities on English consistently condemn the use of abstract language. Therefore, this requires the translator to adapt some overly abstract nouns into other components throughout the translation.

3. Case Analysis

Comprehension

Understanding the Macro-background

The source text of the report is from a detective novel, so the translation process should check whether the wording is in line with the style of the detective novel, and the translation of some nouns should also be done accurately. The following are some examples.

Example 1:

ST: “A client, then?”

Analysis: The most common meaning of the word “client” is “顾客，客户”, but in this context, for a detective, it is clear that the above two translations are not appropriate. Therefore, the author chose the expression “client”, in line with the professional expression of detective novels.

TT: “那，会是委托人吗？”

Example 2:

ST: My wife was on a visit to her mother’s, and for a few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street.

Analysis: In the usual translation, the translation of the word “mother” would not have attracted the authors’attention at all, and would have been naturally translated as “母亲、妈妈”. However, in this context, it cannot be directly translated in this way, because this translation contradicts the statement made by Watson’s wife, Mary Morstan, in Four Signatures, in which she once said: “My mother was dead, and there are no relatives in my family in England.” Therefore, the word “母亲”should be avoided in the translation. This example triggered the author deeply - as a translator, we should never take it lightly in the process of translation, even if we encounter a common word. We should understand the context and then translate it in a proper manner. Because only in this way can we avoid some jokes caused by self-righteousness.

TT: 我的妻子回娘家了，所以那几日我再一次下榻贝克街的老窝。

Understanding the Logic of the Original Text

Logical thinking is the most basic tool in the comprehension stage. In the process of translation, the translator needs to use logical thinking to analyze the original text and understand the structure and logic of the text, so that the understanding of original text will not simply remain the level of words. The translator can understand the author’s intentions with words and phrases more clearly, and his or her understanding of the original text is closer to the author’s level, so that the reader can enjoy reading the translation like a spring breeze. Here is an example.

Example 3:

ST: While I at the other was deep in one of Clark Russell’s fine sea-stories until the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of the sea waves.

Analysis: When I first read the sentence, I could not understand what the author intended by putting the word “until” here, which led to a deviation in my understanding of the whole sentence, and I could not translate the sentence coherently. Therefore, I chose to use “until” as the boundary to understand the sentence separately and then integrate it. The first half of the sentence describes Watson’s immersion in an ocean novel, while the second half depicts both the waves in the book and the rain outside the window. It was only after several times’ understandings that I realized the cleverness of the word “until”. The above sentence says that Watson is really immersed in a novel about the sea, and it seems that there is a storm outside, so the plot of the book seems to echo with the reality. The “until” is placed here, which cleverly transitions Watson’s “immersed in the book” and “detached from the book”. In this way, the logic of the original text immediately flows smoothly. Therefore, when translating, we should not just stop at the words, for this will often lead to the trapping of ourselves in a logical circle.

TT: 我则在另一端，翱翔于克拉克·拉塞尔精彩绝伦的海洋小说，窗外狂风呼啸，书中情节仿佛历历在目，瓢泼的暴雨好似化作飞溅的海浪，二者浑然一体。

Expression

In the process of communication, translators should focus on target language readers, and they must concentrate on how to tell them what the author has said in in the text in a naturally accepted manner. After sufficient understanding, translators must clearly convey the meaning, and they both ensure that target language readers can understand the translation with using fluent expressions that target language readers can accept. Otherwise, in some cases, even if the translator’s understanding is correct, the translation can only be barely understood, and the wording of the translation is not clear to the target language readers, and the meaning of the author cannot be conveyed naturally and clearly, and the purpose of translation cannot be achieved, too.

When translating Chinese into English, for the sake of not being native English speakers and limited ability, we cannot judge whether our expressions are authentic and meaningful even if we understand them correctly. At this point, English-English dictionaries, English writing books, and the Internet are very powerful aids to help translators standardize their expressions as much as possible.

Using the Subject of the Action as the Subject of the Sentence

In terms of expression habits, English tends to be objective, therefore, passive sentences are often used in sentence construction, while Chinese expressions are tends to be subjective, therefore, active sentences are often used. When translating English into Chinese, translators have to take the initiative to adjust the expression and transform passive sentences into active sentences. Here are some examples.

Example 4:

ST: I am faced by so many which present strange and interesting features that it is no easy matter to know which to choose and which to leave.

Analysis: The subject of this sentence is “I”, and the subjective feeling of “I can’t choose” is also issued by “I”. Therefore, “I” should be turned into the subject of the sentence, so that the passive sentence can be transformed into the active sentence.

TT: 眼前怪诞而有趣的案件竟浩瀚如烟，我一时竟难以取舍。

Example 5:

ST: The year’s 87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater or less interest, of which I retain the records.

Analysis: The subject of this sentence should also be transformed from “87 years” to “we” , and the key point to complete this transformation lies in the translation of the word “furnish”. The Oxford Dictionary shows that “furnish” has the following two meanings: ① to put furniture in a house, room, etc. ② to supply or provide sb./sth. with sth.; to supply sth. to sb.. However, neither of these two meanings is appropriate here, so we should derive its meaning from the context and the style of the detective novel as “经手”. In this way, a change of tone can be achieved at the same time.

TT: 87年间我们经手过一系列或多或少令人生趣的案子，相关记录我都保留着。

Preserving the Original Imagery

In translation, translators should retain the content of the original text while preserving its imagery, in order to achieve the same effect of expression and meaning as the original text. Here is an example.

Example 6:

ST: ...we were forced to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and to recognize the presence of those great elemental forces which shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilization, like untamed beasts in a cage.

Analysis: It is a vivid sentence. “The bars of his civilization” are actually window bars, but windows do not exist in nature. The meaning here is that the wind and rain make a “swoosh” sound through the window gap, which is a very common daily phenomenon. Therefore, the author has retained this image in the translation.

TT: 一时间，我们也不由得从平日的生活中惊醒，深深折服于大自然那强大的力量。它犹如一头难以驯服的野兽，陷于牢笼之中，透过人类文明的窗栅，朝着人类咆哮。

Avoiding Euro-Chinese

Although it is the professional ethics of translators to be faithful to the original text, once the translator tends to be too much on this point, the problem of “Euro-Chinese” of the translation will arise, making the expressions hard to be understood and not authentic enough, while the most basic requirement of translation is “to be talking”. Therefore, in the process of translation, translators should measure their own expressions to achieve a better translation between the two languages. The following is an example.

Example 7:

ST: My wife was on a visit to her mother’s.

Analysis: The sentence is translated word for word as “我的夫人去拜访她的娘家”. This translation conveys the full content of the original text. However, for Chinese, such expression is not authentic at all, which is a typical phenomenon of “Euro-Chinese”.

TT: 我的妻子回娘家了。

Humorizing Expression

In order to please the readers, the translator can also add something special to the expressions, for example, making some phrases humorous on the basis of preserving the meaning of the original text, so as to boost the translation. The following is an example.

Example 8:

ST: I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street.

TT: 我再一次下榻贝克街的老窝。

Adaption

In the process of translation, translators have subjective initiative. If adopting the expression of the original text is not enough to convey the meaning of the original text, translators can translate flexibly according to the custom of Chinese. This premise is to guarantee that the meaning remains unchanged.

Addition

When translating, appropriate additions to the original text will help the reader’s subsequent understanding. Here is an example.

Example 9:

ST: WHEN I glance over my notes and record...

Analysis: This sentence is located at the beginning of the chapter, which will make the reader a bit unaware of the point of “notes and record”. So adding the word “办案”will make the positioning of “detective novel” clearer.

TT: 当我浏览......办案笔记和记录时

Restructure

Because of the great differences in the structure of the two languages, it is common for translators to reverse the order of sentence components when translating. Here is an example.

Example 10:

ST: All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of them present such singular features as the strange train of circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe taken up my pen to describe. Here is an example.

TT1 (original order of sentence): 所有这些我都可以在将来的某个日子里描绘出来，但没有一个像我现在拿起笔来描述的一连串奇怪的情况那样具有独特的特征。

TT2 (adjusting the order of sentence): 然而，我现在所要执笔描述的这个案件，有着一连串扑朔迷离的情节，它的怪诞是上述所有案件都无法比拟的。

Splitting Long Sentence

If a sentence is too long, the translator can split it from the point of view of meaning group, subject variant, etc. to realize the translation of sub-sentences. Here is an example.

Example 11:

ST: There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are points in connection with it which never have been, and probably never will be, entirely cleared up.

Analysis: The long sentence starts from the word “that”, and the subject changes from “case” to “I”, so the author chooses to break off from here to translate separately.

TT: 然而，在最后这类案件中，有一桩案子的情节令人不可思议，结局令人瞠目结舌。我不禁想动笔娓娓道来，尽管其中有些疑点至今尚未，或永远无法水落石出。

4 Conclusion

This translation practice report takes the CEA framework as the core, and makes a translation case study on the excerpt of TheFive Orange Pips from The Complete Sherlock Holmes. From this, we can deeply appreciate the differences between English and Chinese languages. At the same time, the author also realizes that there is still a great lack of knowledge in both the professional field and other extracurricular knowledge. As a translator, one should “know something of everything and know everything of something”. Therefore, the road of learning translation remains a long and arduous journey. Only through continuous learning and accumulation, taking into account both language skills and encyclopedic knowledge, can we keep moving forward to become a qualified translator.

References

[1] Maugham, W. S. (2016). Maugham’s Essays on Reading. Jiangsu: Yilin press.

[2] Newmark, P. (1987). A Textbook of Translation. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

[3] Nida, E (1982). Toward a Science of Translating. Leiden: E. J. Brill

[4] Nida, E., & Charles R. T. (1969). The Theory and Practice of [Biblical] Translation. Netherlands: Brill.

[5] Pinkham, J. (2000). The Translator’s guide to Chinglish. Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press

[6] Potter, S. (1969). Changing English. London: Andre Deutsch.

[7] Sayers, D. C. (1929). The Omnibus of Crime. New York:Payson and Clarke.

[8] Venuti, L. (2001). The Translation Studies Reader. London: Routledge

[9]韩子满,侯新飞. MTI翻译实践报告写作中的理论框架问题[J].外语电化教学,2022(05):25-30+108.

[10]李长栓. 如何撰写翻译实践报告：CEA 框架、范文及点评[M]. 北京：中国出版集团/ 中译出版社，2020.

[11]李长栓，施晓菁. 汉英翻译实例讲评[M]. 北京：外文出版社，2012: 1.

[12]卢付林.《福尔摩斯探案全集》:张坤德的翻译策略与中国侦探小说的发生[J].南华大学学报(社会科学版),2018,19(01):50-55.

[13]王剑.MTI翻译实践报告“理论框架型”写作模式的误区[J].中国翻译,2022,43(04):68-75.

[14]徐君涵,张轶前.《福尔摩斯探案集》不同汉译本的翻译批评[J].北方文学,2019(30):259-260.

[15]许勉君,邓军涛.MTI翻译实践报告写作之新模式、新路径——《如何撰写翻译实践报告：CEA框架、范文及点评》述评[J].东方翻译,2021(04):94-97.

[16]张文清,林本椿.《福尔摩斯探案集》的汉译状况及部分译本评析[J].三明学院学报,2006(01):31-34.

[17]仲媛.“中式英语”鉴误：The Translator's Guide to Chinglish翻译实践报告[D].天津理工大学,2014.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to all the people I met: my thesis advisor, Mr Huang, who helped me finish my paper; my friends, who gave me strength and power on countless nights I was about to break down; thanks to every ray of sunshine that once fell on me; thanks to every breeze that once touched me; thanks to every delicious meal. Anyway, thanks to all of you in the campus of ZYU.

Appendix

Original Text

THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS

WHEN I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases between the years ’82 and ’90, I am faced by so many which present strange and interesting features that it is no easy matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are points in connection with it which never have been, and probably never will be, entirely cleared up.

The year ’87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the British bark Sophy Anderson, of the singular adventures of the Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man’s watch, to prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time–a deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of them present such singular features as the strange train of circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe.

It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life, and to recognize the presence of those great elemental forces which shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilization, like untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the other was deep in one of Clark Russell’s fine sea-stories until the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother’s, and for a few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street.

 “Why,” said I, glancing up at my companion, “that was surely the bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?”

 “Except yourself I have none,” he answered. “I do not encourage visitors.”

 “A client, then?”

 “If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more likely to be some crony of the landlady’s.”

Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. “Come in!” said he.

The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is weighed down with some great anxiety.

 “I owe you an apology,” he said, raising his golden pince-nez to his eyes. “I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug chamber.” “Give me your coat and umbrella,” said Holmes. “They may rest here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from the southwest, I see.”

 “Yes, from Horsham.”

 “That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is quite distinctive.”

 “I have come for advice.”

 “That is easily got.”

 “And help.”

 “That is not always so easy.”

 “I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal.”

 “Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards.”

 “He said that you could solve anything.”

 “He said too much.”

 “That you are never beaten.”

 “I have been beaten four times–three times by men, and once by a woman.”

 “But what is that compared with the number of your successes?”

 “It is true that I have been generally successful.”

 “Then you may be so with me.”

 “I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me with some details as to your case.”

Target Text

五个桔核

　　当我匆匆翻阅82至90年间的办案笔记和记录时，眼前怪诞而有趣的案件竟浩瀚如烟，我一时竟难以取舍。然而，其中一些已经在报纸上广泛流传；一些则未能给我这位有着如此独特才能的朋友提供用武之地，而这样的能力恰恰是报纸津津乐道的；也有一些案件令他的分析本领毫无用武之地，于是就像有些叙述一样，有始无终；还有一些案件，他只能理清一部分，对于案情的解释更多的是建立于猜想和推测之上，并非基于其如此珍视的绝对逻辑。然而，在最后这类案件中，有一桩案子的情节令人不可思议，结局令人瞠目结舌。我不禁想动笔娓娓道来，尽管其中有些疑点至今尚未，或永远无法水落石出。

87年间我们经手过一系列或多或少令人生趣的案子，相关记录我都保留着。在这一年间记录的标题中，有如下记载：“帕拉多尔大厦案”；“业余乞丐团案”，这个业余乞丐团在一个家具店库房的地下室隐匿了一个奢靡的俱乐部；“美国帆船-索菲·安德森号失事案”；“格赖斯·彼得森之乌法岛历险记”；“坎伯韦尔投毒案”。记得在最后一个案件里，当福尔摩斯给死者的表上发条时，发现其在两小时前已被上紧，这表明死者在那时就已入睡。这一推论是理清案情的重大突破。有朝一日，我或许会将所有案件一一概述。然而，我现在所要执笔描述的这个案件，有着一连串扑朔迷离的情节，它的怪诞是上述所有案件都无法比拟的。　　

　　九月下旬，狂风大作。从早到晚，狂风怒吼，大雨滂沱，即便身处雄伟壮观、巧夺天工的伦敦市中心，一时间，我们不由得从平日的生活中惊醒，深深地折服于大自然那强大的力量。它犹如一头难以驯服的野兽，陷于牢笼之中，透过人类文明的窗栅，朝着人类咆哮。夜幕降临之际，暴风雨愈演愈烈，仿佛孩童的哭喊和啜泣从烟囱中传出。夏洛克·福尔摩斯神情低落地坐在壁炉一端，交叉索引他的案件记录。我则在另一端，翱翔于克拉克·拉塞尔精彩绝伦的海洋小说，窗外狂风呼啸，书中情节仿佛历历在目，瓢泼的暴雨好似化作飞溅的海浪，二者浑然一体。我的妻子回娘家了，所以这几日我再一次下榻贝克街的老窝。

　　“喂，”我抬头看了看我的搭档，“刚才门铃肯定响了。谁会大晚上来拜访呢？会不会是你的哪个朋友？”

　　“我只有你这一个朋友。”他答道，“我从不主动邀请他们。”

　　“那，会是委托人吗？”

　　“如果是，那估计是个大案子。否则，谁会在这种鬼天气里，还在这个点儿出门。不过，我倒觉得这个人更有可能是房东太太的闺蜜。”

 福尔摩斯猜错了，走廊里传来脚步声，紧接着，敲门声响起了。他伸出修长的手臂，将原本对着自己的那盏灯转向客人的专座，说道：“请进！”

　　进来的是一个年轻人，看起来大约二十二岁左右，衣着整洁，举止优雅。手中水泄如注的雨伞和身上闪闪发光的雨衣均表明了他一路上所经历的风吹雨打。他在明亮的灯光下焦急地环顾四周，这时我才发现他脸色苍白，眼神凝重。这样的神情往往出现在被巨大的焦虑压垮之人的脸上。

　　“我理应向您道歉”，他戴上金丝夹鼻眼镜，“希望我没有打扰到您！我怕暴风雨里带来的泥水玷污您的雅室。”“把您的雨衣和伞都给我，”福尔摩斯安慰道，“把它们挂在钩子上，一会儿就会干的。我看，您是从西南方向来的吧。”

　　“是的，从霍舍姆而来。”

　　“您鞋尖上沾的粘土和白垩的混合物很有特色。”

　　“我是来咨询的。”

　　“显而易见。”

　　“并且想要寻求帮助。”

　　“那就并不总是那么容易了。”

　　“福尔摩斯先生，我已久闻您的大名。我听普伦德加斯特少校说过您是怎样救他于坦克维尔俱乐部丑闻的水火之中。”

　　“那是自然，人家诬告他用假牌行骗。”

　　“他说您能解决任何问题。”

　　“他的话太满了。”

　　“他还说您是常胜将军。”

　　“我曾失败过四次——三次输给几个男人，还有一次败给一个女人。”

　　“可是，这同您无数次的胜利是不可同日而语的。”

 “的确，大概率我还算是成功的。”

 “这次您大概率也会成功。”

 “请您把椅子挪近壁炉一些，同我讲一讲这件案子的一些细节。”