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A Chinese translation of "Stray Birds," a collection
of poems by Indian Nobel Literature Prize Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, has
been withdrawn after it spawned huge controversy.
Tagore's "Stray
Birds" has long been deemed as a work of elegance and wisdom by its
Chinese fans. But the new translation by famous Chinese writer Feng Tang has
shocked readers with racy translations that are often misinterpreted.
In one sharply criticized case,
Feng translated Tagore's original line "The world puts off its mask of
vastness to its lover" into Chinese that read "The world unzipped his
pants in front of his lover."
Considering the huge
controversy sparked by Feng's translation, Zhejiang Wenyi Publishing House, the
publisher of the translation, announced on Monday that it would pull the books
off bookshelves and websites, and recall the sold ones.
Users on Chinese microblog Sina
Weibo chastised the translation as "a blasphemy against a classic."
In a widely circulated article,
children's author Zhang Hong called Feng's translation a cultural terrorist
attack against young readers.
As "Stray Birds" has
always been recommended to Chinese students, Zhang feared the new translation
would poison teenagers and called for the withdrawal of the book.
But the public is divided
regarding the publisher's decision to remove Feng's translation from the market.
Weibo user
"Chengshuliang" wrote "well done! I don't understand how this
translation got published in the first place. Such a willful translation is a
huge disrespect to Tagore."
Another user
"Miaoyemiao", however, believed there was no need to pull the book
off the shelves. "Like it or not, buy it or not, readers can make their
own choice," the user wrote.
Some blamed the publishing
house for failing to carefully edit the translation in the first place and are
now recalling it under public pressure.
The withdrawal of the book also
prompted some people to seize the last chance and rush to bookstores to buy a
copy before it disappeared from the market.
Responding to the withdrawal of
the book, Feng told Chinese media that history and the history of literature
would judge and he would let time decide.
He said he intentionally added
his personal style into the translation instead of mechanically representing the
original work.
Feng Tang, 44, is an author
most known for a series of provocative novels about life in Beijing in the
1990s.
