The Real Story of Ah Q

47 Pages·2011·0.92 MB·English

The Real Story of Ah Q
这个版本的《阿Q正传》是美国学者W. Michael O’Shea在绍兴一所外国语学院任教期
间，在本人及众多热心人士的帮助下，历时2年，反复修改后完成的大作。W. Michael O’
Shea 的治学精神我非常的敬佩，他到绍兴来任教，主要目的就是为了完成他的作品。对于
文章里面我觉得非常微不足道的细节，他都会化上很长时间——几天甚至数月探个究竟。在
他的不懈最求完美的过程中，绍兴鲁迅博物馆馆长成了他的挚友，并且他连绍兴话都说的非
常的地道了。
杨宪益的《阿Q正传》英文译本，被国内奉为经典。而W. Michael O’Shea的看法杨的
版本过于“经典”，言语晦涩拗口，out of date了，该版本在西方很不受欢迎。所以 W. Michael
O’Shea决定用更现代通俗简明流畅的语言把这部国内经典奉献给西方读者，促进中西方文
化交流，共享人类精神财富。
而我本人则认为他这个版本也是国人学习英语学习翻译的绝佳材料。所以在这里奉献出
来给大家，希望大家能好好珍惜，品味揣摩。
Preface(1)
《阿Ｑ正传》序
This is something I should be very grateful for, and about which I also feel very glad and
appreciative. That is to say, because of the translation of that master of Chinese literature, Mr.
Wang XiLi(2) (B.A.Vassiliev), a little work of mine will, to my surprise, be able to unfold right
before the eyes of Russian readers.
这在我是很应该感谢，也是很觉得欣幸的事，就是：我的一篇短小的作品，仗着深通中
国文学的王希礼（B.A. Vassi-liev）〔２〕先生的翻译，竟得展开在俄国读者的面前了。
Although I’ve already tried, in the end I still can’t be too confident about whether or not I’m
really able to describe the essence of a contemporary man from our country. I’m unable to
understand other people. I have always seemed to feel that there is a tall wall which separates us
from each other (T1) and which makes all of us unable to know how to be compatible with each
other. This is precisely what wise men from ancient times – namely the so-called sages and men
of virtue who divided all men into ten categories (3) – said about those who are superior having
nothing in common with those who are inferior. Although the names they gave to these
categories are not used now, nevertheless they still exist in spirit. Moreover, this has intensified
so that there is now even a social hierarchy for a person’s body, which makes it unavoidable not
to think that the feet are a different and inferior species than the hands.
我虽然已经试做，但终于自己还不能很有把握，我是否真能够写出一个现代的我们国人
的魂灵来。别人我不得而知，在我自己，总仿佛觉得我们人人之间各有一道高墙，将各个分
离，使大家的心无从相印。这就是我们古代的聪明人，即所谓圣贤，将人们分为十等〔３〕，
说是高下各不相同。其名目现在虽然不用了，但那鬼魂却依然存在，并且，变本加厉，连一
个人的身体也有了等差，使手对于足也不免视为下等的异类。造化生人，已经非常巧妙，使
一个人不会感到别人的肉体上的痛苦了，我们的圣人和圣人之徒却又补了造化之缺，并且使
人们不再会感到别人的精神上的痛苦。
The Creator produced man and made an individual man unable to feel the physical pain of
other men, which is already extremely ingenious. However, our sages and the followers of these
sages compensated for one of The Creator’s deficiencies; they also made it so that men would no
longer feel the mental pain of others.
我们的古人又造出了一种难到可怕的一块一块的文字；但我还并不十分怨恨，因为我觉
得他们倒并不是故意的。然而，许多人却不能借此说话了，加以古训所筑成的高墙，更使他
们连想也不敢想。现在我们所能听到的不过是几个圣人之徒的意见和道理，为了他们自己；
至于百姓，却就默默的生长，萎黄，枯死了，像压在大石底下的草一样，已经有四千年！
Our forefathers also created a kind of word by word written language which is frightfully
difficult(T2). Nevertheless, I’m not really very angry at them, because I believe that what they did
wasn’t actually done on purpose. Many people, however, are unable to use this written language
to express themselves. In addition, the tall wall built around people by those ancient precepts
causes them all the more not even to dare to think. What we’re able to listen to now are only the
opinions and principles of a few followers of those wise men which benefit only themselves. As
for the common people, they just grow up silently, become sallow and withered, dry up and die –
just like grass crushed under the bottom of a large rock. We’ve had four thousand years of this
already!
要画出这样沉默的国民的魂灵来，在中国实在算一件难事，因为，已经说过，我们究竟
还是未经革新的古国的人民，所以也还是各不相通，并且连自己的手也几乎不懂自己的足。
我虽然竭力想摸索人们的魂灵，但时时总自憾有些隔膜。在将来，围在高墙里面的一切人众，
该会自己觉醒，走出，都来开口的罢，而现在还少见，所以我也只得依了自己的觉察，孤寂
地姑且将这些写出，作为在我的眼里所经过的中国的人生。
If one wants to depict the soul of this kind of silent citizen, it’s really a difficult task in China
because, as I’ve already said, we are people of an ancient country which, when you get right
down to it, hasn’t yet been reformed. As a result of this we still have nothing in common with
each other, and, furthermore, even our own hands barely understand our own feet. Although I’ve
done my utmost hoping to probe the soul of our people, I’m always, in the end, regretful that I’m
somewhat at a loss. In the future, these great masses of people who are surrounded by high
walls should be able to awaken on their own, walk out, and all begin to speak, but now that’s still
seldom seen. Therefore, I’ve had to rely on my own perceptions, and for now have written them
out on my own and look on them as life in China as it’s passed in front of my eyes.
要画出这样沉默的国民的魂灵来，在中国实在算一件难事，因为，已经说过，我们究竟
还是未经革新的古国的人民，所以也还是各不相通，并且连自己的手也几乎不懂自己的足。
我虽然竭力想摸索人们的魂灵，但时时总自憾有些隔膜。在将来，围在高墙里面的一切人众，
该会自己觉醒，走出，都来开口的罢，而现在还少见，所以我也只得依了自己的觉察，孤寂
地姑且将这些写出，作为在我的眼里所经过的中国的人生。
After my story was published, what I received first was denunciation from a youthful critic(4).
Later there was a critic who thought the work was sick, and there was one who believed it to be
amusing. There also was another one who considered it to be sarcastic; perhaps he also thought
it was freezing irony(5). It went so far that it put me on the verge of suspecting that my own heart
was actually concealing a frightening chunk of ice. However, I also thought that there are
different ways of looking at life because authors are different, and there are also different ways of
looking at written works because readers are different. So perhaps in the eyes of Russian readers
- who completely lack “our traditional thinking”(T3) - this work of mine will meet with a different
kind of reception. This is something which I would really find very significant.
我的小说出版之后，首先收到的是一个青年批评家〔４〕的谴责；后来，也有以为是病
的，也有以为滑稽的，也有以为讽刺的；或者还以为冷嘲〔５〕，至于使我自己也要疑心自
己的心里真藏着可怕的冰块。然而我又想，看人生是因作者而不同，看作品又因读者而不同，
那么，这一篇在毫无“我们的传统思想”的俄国读者的眼中，也许又会照见别样的情景的罢，
这实在是使我觉得很有意味的。
A Short Autobiographical Sketch of the Writer
著者自叙传略
I was born into a family with the surname Zhou in the prefectural city of Shaoxing in
Zhejiang Province in 1881. My father was a scholar; my mother, whose surname was Lu, was
from the countryside. Through self-study she had learned how to read. I’ve heard people say that
when I was young, our family still had forty or fifty mu(T4) of rice fields, and we really didn’t have
to worry about supporting ourselves. However, when I was thirteen my family suddenly
encountered a great unforeseen misfortune(6)(T5), and we had practically nothing. I lived away
from my family in the home of a relative, and sometimes I was even called a beggar. As a result, I
made up my mind to return home, but on top of this my father fell seriously ill, and about three
or more years later he died(T6). Gradually there was no way I could hope for even the smallest
amount of money for education. Then my mother made arrangements for a small amount of
traveling expenses for me and told me to look for a school that didn’t require tuition, because I
had never been willing to learn to be a merchant or a private assistant to government officials ---
these being the two paths which were usually taken by children of scholars on the decline in my
hometown.
我于一八八一年生在浙江省绍兴府城里的一家姓周的家里。父亲是读书的；母亲姓鲁，
乡下人，她以自修得到能够看书的学力。听人说，在我幼小时候，家里还有四五十亩水田，
并不很愁生计。但到我十三岁时，我家忽而遭了一场很大的变故〔６〕，几乎什么也没有了；
我寄住在一个亲戚家，有时还被称为乞食者。我于是决心回家，而我的父亲又生了重病，约
有三年多，死去了。我渐至于连极少的学费也无法可想；我的母亲便给我筹办了一点旅费，
教我去寻无需学费的学校去，因为我总不肯学做幕友或商人，——这是我乡衰落了的读书人
家子弟所常走的两条路。
At that time I was eighteen years of age. Soon afterwards I travelled to Nanjing, took an
exam, was admitted to the Naval School(7), and assigned to the department of marine
engineering(8). After spending about half a year there I left(T7) and switched to the School of
Mines and Railways(9) to study mining. After graduation I was sent to Japan to study, but by the
time I graduated from the Kōbun School in Tokyo(10), I had already made up my mind to study
medicine. One of the reasons is because I knew for sure that the new medical science had been
of great help to Japan’s reformation(11). As a result I entered Sendai’s Specialized School of
Medicine and studied there for two years. This just happened to be at the time of the
Russo-Japanese war(12), and by chance I saw in a film a Chinese man who was about to be
beheaded because he had been a spy. Because of this I also felt that before anything else I should
promote new literature and art in China. Soon afterwards I abandoned my studies, once again
went to Tokyo, and drew up some small projects(13) with a few friends. However, one after
another they all failed. I wanted to go to Germany, and that also failed. Finally, because my
mother and some other people(14) were really hoping for financial help from me, I returned to
China. At the time I was twenty-nine years old.
其时我是十八岁，便旅行到南京，考入水师学堂〔７〕了，分在机关科〔８〕。大约过
了半年我又走出，改进矿路学堂〔９〕去学开矿，毕业之后，即被派往日本去留学。但待到
在东京的豫备学校〔１０〕毕业，我已经决意要学医了，原因之一是因为我确知道了新的医
学对于日本的维新〔１１〕有很大的助力。我于是进了仙台（Ｓｅｎｄａｉ）医学专门学校，
学了两年。这时正值俄日战争〔１２〕，我偶然在电影上看见一个中国人因做侦探而将被斩，
因此又觉得在中国还应该先提倡新文艺。我便弃了学籍，再到东京，和几个朋友立了些小计
画〔１３〕，但都陆续失败了。我又想往德国去，也失败了。终于，因为我的母亲和几个别
的人〔１４〕很希望我有经济上的帮助，我便回到中国来；这时我是二十九岁。
As soon as I returned to China, I worked as a chemistry and physiology teacher at Zhejiang
province’s two level teacher-training school(T8) in Hangzhou. In my second year I left and went to
the Shaoxing Middle School to become the dean of studies. In my third year I again left, but there
was no place to go. I wanted to go and work as a translator-editor in a bookstore, but in the end I
was rejected. However, then the revolution also occurred, and, after the recovery of Shaoxing, I
became the principal of the teacher-training school. The revolutionary government was
established in Nanjing, and the Minister of Education invited me to become a member of the
department. We moved to Beijing, and I’ve been here ever since(15). In recent years I’ve also
been, concurrently, a lecturer in the departments of Chinese language and literature at Beijing
University, the Normal College, and the Women’s Normal College.
我一回国，就在浙江杭州的两级师范学堂做化学和生理学教员，第二年就走出，到绍兴
中学堂去做教务长，第三年又走出，没有地方可去，想在一个书店去做编译员，到底被拒绝
了。但革命也就发生，绍兴光复后，我做了师范学校的校长。革命政府在南京成立，教育部
长招我去做部员，移入北京，一直到现在。〔１５〕近几年，我还兼做北京大学，师范大学，
女子师范大学的国文系讲师。
While I was studying abroad, I only published a few second-rate articles in magazines(16).
The first time I wrote fiction was in 1918. At the urging of my friend, Qian XuanTong, I wrote a
piece(T9) which was published in New Youth. It was at this time that I first used the pen-name
“Lu Xun”; in addition, I often wrote some short essays using other names(T10). Now, as far as my
works that have been collected and published in book form are concerned, there is only the one
volume collection of short stories, NaHan – the others are still scattered among several kinds of
magazines. As for other works, besides the translations - which we’ll disregard - there is also one
volume, A Brief History of Chinese Fiction, that has been published.
我在留学时候，只在杂志上登过几篇不好的文章。〔１６〕初做小说是一九一八年，因
了我的朋友钱玄同的劝告，做来登在《新青年》上的。这时才用“鲁迅”的笔名（Ｐｅｎｎ
ａｍｅ）；也常用别的名字做一点短论。现在汇印成书的只有一本短篇小说集《呐喊》，其
余还散在几种杂志上。别的，除翻译不计外，印成的又有一本《中国小说史略》。
Notes
Editor’s Notes:
1. This piece was first published on June 15,1925 in the thirty-first issue of the weekly
publication, Threads of Talk. It was written in response to the request of Wang XiLi, the Russian
translator of The Real Story of Ah Q. After its Preface to The Real Story of Ah Q was translated
into Russian, it was included in The Real Story of Ah Q, a book (Russian language edition of an
anthology of Lu Xun’s short stories) published in 1929 by Leningrad’s Turbulent Waves Press.
2. Wang XiLi: His original name was B.A.Vassiliev (??? - 1937), and he was from the Soviet
Union. In 1925 he was a member of the Russian advisory group to Henan’s Second People’s
Revolutionary Army.
3. the sages and men of virtue who divided all men into ten categories: In the seventh year
of the reign of Duke Zhao in Zuo’s Commentary: “Heaven has ten celestial beings, and there are
ten categories of people. The lowest classes serve the highest, and the highest offer sacrifices
and memorials to the gods. Therefore (the servant of the ruler is the duke, the servant of the
duke is the physician, the servant of the physician is the scholar, the servant of the scholar is the
(yamen runner), the servant of the (yamen runner) is the (sedan chair carrier), the servant of the
(sedan chair carrier) is the (?????), the servant of the (???????) is the (assistant to the official),
the servant to the (assistant to the official) is the ordinary servant, the servant to the ordinary
servant is (??????) - 王臣公, 公臣大夫, 大夫臣士, 士臣皂, 皂臣舆, 舆臣隶, 隶臣僚, 僚臣
仆, 仆臣台)”.
4. a youthful critic: This refers to Cheng FangWu. In his article A Review of “Nahan”, which
was published in the second volume, second issue(February, 1924), of Creativity Quarterly, he
said: “The Real Story of Ah Q is a biography that is a superficial record of actual events” ,and
“although the description is good, nevertheless the structure is extremely bad”.
5. After The Real Story of Ah Q was published, there appeared some critiques like this: As
Zhang DingHuang in his Mr.Lu Xun said: “The way that the author of Nahan looks at things is a bit
sick, as a result the human life that he sees is also a bit sick. Actually, real human life isn’t like this.”
(see Modern Commentary, Volume One, Issue Eight, of April 13,1925). Feng WenBing’s Nahan
said: “You may run into the stinging laughter from the tip of Mr.Lu Xun’s writing brush
anywhere, …….as for Ah Q, that would cause people to laugh even more heartily.” (see the
Morning News Supplement of April 13,1924). In Zhou ZuoRen’s(T11) The Real Story of Ah Q he
says: The Real Story of Ah Q is a satirical novel…….because it’s mostly irony, and it’s the so-called
cold satire --- ‘freezing irony’.” (see the Morning News Supplement of March 19, 1922).
6. unforeseen misfortune: This refers to the grandfather of Lu Xun, Zhou FuQing(JieFu) who
was put in prison because of a case involving the imperial examinations.
7. Naval School: This is the JiangNan Naval School, which was a naval school established by
the Qing government in 1890. At first it was divided into two areas of study – piloting marine
vessels and marine engineering. Soon a department of torpedos was added.
8. department of engine mechanisms: This was the department of steamboat control, now
called marine engineering.
9. School of Mines and Railways: This was the School of Mines and Railways which was
attached to the Jiang Nan Army School.
10. the Kōbun School in Tokyo: This refers to the Kōbun Academy, which was established in
1902. It was a school which a Japanese man – Kano Jigoro(12) – opened to offer supplementary
Japanese language and other basic courses.
11. Japan’s reformation: This refers to the reform movement which occurred in Japan’s Meiji
period(1868 – 1912). Prior to this, a group of scholars in Japan introduced and lectured about a
large amount of Western medical science. They publicized Western science and technology and
actively advocated innovation. This was definitely effective in the rise of Japan’s reform
movement.
12. the Russo-Japanese war: This refers to the imperialist war that was carried on from
February of 1904 to September of 1905 between czarist Russia and imperialist Japan in order to
vie with each other to encroach upon our rights and interests in the northeast area of our
country and Korea.
13. small projects: This refers to the magazine New Life and the translating and writing of an
introduction for a book about the literature of an oppressed people and other things which Lu
Xun, Xu ShouShang(T13), Zhou ZuoRen and others made preparations for doing. See Nahan –
Preface, Preface to “A Collection of Tales from Abroad”(T14), etc.
14. This refers to Zhou ZuoRen and his wife,Habuto Nobuko, and others.
15. In January of 1912 the provisional government of the Republic of China was established
in Nanjing, and Lu Xun, in response to a request from the Minister of Education, Cai YuanPei,
went to hold a post in the Ministry of Education. In May of the same year he followed the
provisional government which moved to Beijing and assumed the position of section chief of the
second section of the department of Public Education. Before long, the first section was
transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the second section became the first section, and on
August 26 of 1912 Lu Xun was appointed as section chief of the first section.
16. This refers to The Spirit of Sparta and Explaining Radium which were included in this
book(T15), and The History of Man, A Guide to the History of Science, An Honest Discussion of
Cultural Bias, Explaining the Satanic Poets as Best I Can and others which were included in The
Grave(T16).
Translator’s Notes:
T1: a tall wall which separates us from each other: This is a recurring metaphor used by Lu
Xun to describe what he believed was the inability of Chinese people to be concerned about each
other or to even think about being concerned about each other. He attributed this inability to the
rigid precepts set down long ago by the Confucian “wise men and sages”. Lu Xun is quoted in
Voices from the Iron House: “I always feel there is a great wall surrounding us: its materials are
made of old bricks from ancient times and the new bricks which have been added to reinforce it.
These two kinds of things have combined to form a new wall which hems us in. When shall we
stop reinforcing the great wall with new bricks? This magnificent, but damnable, Great Wall!”
T2. a kind of word by word written language which is frightfully difficult: Lu Xun came to be
an outspoken advocate of using the vernacular – known as “Bai Hua”(pronounced “buy hwah”) –
when writing rather than the traditional classical style so that the ordinary person could
understand what was being said. He also advocated doing away with the traditional Chinese
characters, which must be, for the most part, memorized one at a time; in fact, he was an ardent
supporter of the Esperanto movement. Today’s simplified Chinese characters, while easier to
write than the old full-form characters, are still quite difficult, especially when it comes to writing.
T3: “our traditional thinking”: This refers, for the most part, to the Confucian precepts which
Lu Xun believed prevented people from seeing the need for real change in society.
T4: mu: (pronounced “moo”). This is a traditional unit of area, equivalent to one-sixth of an
acre.
T5: unforeseen misfortune: Lu Xun’s grandfather, Zhou FuQing, had reached the highest
level in the old civil service exam system – that of 进士(jin shi) – but in 1893 he made the
mistake of trying to bribe the head examiner so that a group of wealthy candidates could be
assured of passing the mid-level exam – that of 举人(ju ren). Unfortunately, he was arrested,
tried, imprisoned and sentenced to death by decapitation. Before he was arrested, however,
Zhou FuQing went into hiding, which made things difficult for the other males in the family,
because they all – including Lu Xun – had to also go into hiding or face the danger of being taken
into custody in the place of the accused. After he finally turned himself in, the family was forced
to pay costly bribes from year to year to prevent his execution. This began the impoverishment of
Lu Xun’s family. He never mentioned his grandfather in his writings.
T6: Lu Xun’s father had only been able to attain the lowest level degree in the civil service
exam system – that of 秀才(xiu cai). He was an opium addict and a heavy drinker. He fell ill
shortly after Lu Xun’s grandfather was arrested, and lingered on for three years, at great expense
to the family, which was already burdened with the bribes required to prevent the execution of
Zhou Fu Qing.
T7: After he left the Naval School he went back to Shaoxing and apparently spent the next
few weeks preparing for the local district’s exam in the three step process towards the lowest
level civil service degree – that of 秀才(xiu cai). In late 1898 he took the exam, along with his
brother, ZuoRen, and two of their uncles; they all passed. The day after the district exam,
however, his youngest brother, the five-year old QunShou, died suddenly. It is said that Lu Xun
was so upset by this occurrence that he had no heart to continue with the other two steps in the
秀才 process. He returned to Nanjing.
T8: As soon as I returned to China, I worked as a chemistry and physiology teacher at the
Zhejiang Provinces Two-Level Teacher Training School: He is referring to the second time that he
returned to China after he left medical school in Japan. This was in 1909. However, Lu Xun failed
to mention that he had returned to China in 1906 at the request of his mother. When he arrived
in Shaoxing, he married a woman – Zhu An – whom he had never met and whom his mother had
picked out to be his wife.
T9: a piece: This was “Diary of a Madman”. It is said to be Lu Xun’s first short story and is still
one of his most famous works, as well as one of China’s first modern short stories. It was Lu Xun’s
first work in the “bai hua” style, and is said to be the first story written in that style in China.
However, in Lu Hsün’s Vision of Reality, Remembrances of the Past, which was written in 1911 in
the classical style, is called his first short story.
T10: the pen-name Lu Xun: Lu Xun’s real name was Zhou ShuRen. His mother’s surname was
Lu. He also used many, many other pen-names. See The Origins of “The Real Story of Ah Q”, (T5).
T11: Zhou ZuoRen: He was Lu Xun’s younger brother and was a famous writer in his own
right. The two brothers, who were very close when they were young, lived together with their
respective families in Lu Xun’s house in Beijing at the time The Real Story of Ah Q was written.
They had a falling out in 1923, with Lu Xun moving into another home with his wife and mother.
It is said that a bad relationship between Lu Xun and Habuto Nobuko was the cause of the split.
T12: Kano Jigoro: He was a famous master of martial arts who is said to have founded
modern day judo. In 1902 he founded the Kōbun Academy as a school for Chinese students to
learn enough Japanese to enter institutions of higher learning in Japan. The other “basic courses”
included science and extensive training in judo.
T13: Xu ShouShang: He was a native of Shaoxing, a writer and lifelong friend of Lu Xun.
Although they may have known each other in their early days in Shaoxing – Xu was born there in
1882, just one year later than Lu Xun – they became friendly in Japan. He was assassinated in
Taiwan in 1948, supposedly by agents of the Guomindang(KMT).
T14: A Collection of Tales from Abroad: This was a collection of stories which Lu Xun and his
younger brother, Zhou ZuoRen, translated. It was published in Tokyo in 1909. However, the
stories were translated into a very difficult style of classical Chinese, and few copies were sold. In
later years Lu Xun wrote that the tales in the collection should be translated into the colloquial
style so that more people could read them.
T15: this book: This is A Collection of Uncollected Literary Works(集外集), which is one of
the volumes of The Complete Works of Lu Xun(鲁迅全集).
T16: The Grave(坟): This is the name of one of the sections of Collection of Essays (杂文集)
in The Complete Works of Lu Xun (鲁迅全集).

The Real Story of Ah Q(1)
Chapter One – Introduction
第一章 序
I’ve wanted to write the real story of Ah Q for more than a year or two already, but, while I
should be writing, I’ve also been thinking about what happened. This goes to show that I’m not
one who will become a famous writer(2), because in the past an immortal pen was needed to tell
the story of immortal people. Knowledge about these immortal people is passed on by written
works, but the written works get passed on because of the fame of the people. In the end, it
becomes gradually less clear who depends on whom. However, just as though his ghost was in
my thoughts, I’ve finally returned to telling Ah Q’s story.
我要给阿Ｑ做正传，已经不止一两年了。但一面要做，一面又往回想，这足见我不是一
个“立言”⑵的人，因为从来不朽之笔，须传不朽之人，于是人以文传，文以人传——究竟
谁靠谁传，渐渐的不甚了然起来，而终于归接到传阿Ｑ，仿佛思想里有鬼似的。
Yet, if I was going to write this far from immortal work, I had to first start writing, and I felt
that this was extremely difficult. First, what would the title of the work be? As Confucius said, “If
the name isn’t correct, then the words won’t ring true”(3). This, therefore, was something that I
had to be extremely careful about. There are many kinds of biographies: official biographies(LX1),
autobiographies, biographies of immortals(4), unauthorized biographies, supplementary
biographies, family histories, biographical sketches……it’s a pity that none of these names were
suitable! If I were to call it an “official biography”, this work definitely wouldn’t be placed with
those stories of the many rich people in the “authorized histories”(5). It can’t be an
“autobiography” because I’m certainly not Ah Q. If I were to call it an “unauthorized biography”,
then where is his authorized biography? If we use the term “biography of immortals”, Ah Q
definitely wasn’t an immortal. As for “supplementary biography”, there really has never been a
president who issued an edict telling the Academy of National History to write a “basic
biography”(6) of Ah Q. Although in England’s authorized histories there is no “Official Biography
of Gamblers”, nevertheless the great writer Dickens(7) wrote a book called “Supplementary
Biography of a Gambler”(T1)(LX2). Great writers may do this, but people such as I can’t. Next we
have “family histories”, but then, not only don’t I know whether Ah Q and I have a common
ancestory, I also haven’t been entrusted with this request by his children or grandchildren.
Perhaps we can call it a “biographical sketch”, but then there isn’t even a “full biography” of Ah Q.
In short, what I’m writing is a “basic biography”. However, if you think about my writing, because
my style is so crude - it’s the language used by “the sort of people who pull carts and sell
paste(8)(LX3)” - I therefore don’t dare presume to call it a “basic biography”. So, from the
so-called conventional phrase of a novelist whose profession is not even a member of the three
religions and nine schools(9), “let’s stop this idle talk and return to the real story”, I have
selected the two words 正传(“Real Story”)(T2) to be my title. Even if there is some confusion
between my “正传” and the literal meaning of “正传” in “The Correct Teaching of Calligraphy”
(书法正传)(10) (T2), written by the ancients, it can’t be helped.
然而要做这一篇速朽的文章，才下笔，便感到万分的困难了。第一是文章的名目。孔子
曰，“名不正则言不顺”⑶。这原是应该极注意的。传的名目很繁多：列传，自传，内传⑷，
外传，别传，家传，小传„„，而可惜都不合。“列传”么，这一篇并非和许多阔人排在“正
史”⑸里；“自传”么，我又并非就是阿Ｑ。说是“外传”，“内传”在那里呢？倘用“内传”，
阿Ｑ又决不是神仙。“别传”呢，阿Ｑ实在未曾有大总统上谕宣付国史馆立“本传”⑹——
虽说英国正史上并无“博徒列传”，而文豪迭更司⑺也做过《博徒别传》这一部书，但文豪
则可，在我辈却不可。其次是“家传”，则我既不知与阿Ｑ是否同宗，也未曾受他子孙的拜
托；或“小传”，则阿Ｑ又更无别的“大传”了。总而言之，这一篇也便是“本传”，但从我
的文章着想，因为文体卑下，是“引车卖浆者流”所用的话⑻，所以不敢僭称，便从不入三
教九流的小说家⑼所谓“闲话休题言归正传”这一句套话里，取出“正传”两个字来，作为
名目，即使与古人所撰《书法正传》⑽的“正传”字面上很相混，也顾不得了。
The second difficulty is that, according to the usual procedure for writing a biography, at the
beginning, generally speaking, we should state “a certain person”, with “a certain courtesy
name(T3)”, who came from “a certain place”, but I really don’t know what Ah Q’s surname was.
There was an occasion when it seemed as if his surname was Zhao, but the next day it wasn’t so
clear. This was at the time that the son of Zhao TaiYe(T4) became a Xiu Cai(T5). The “tang,tang”
sound of gongs announced this news to the village. Ah Q had just finished two bowls of yellow
wine. Then, dancing for joy, he said that this was also an honor for him, because he and Zhao
TaiYe actually were members of the same clan. If you carefully arranged the generational list, he
was also three generations older than Xiu Cai. At that time a few people who overheard this were
unexpectedly filled with deep respect. How could one know that the next day the Di Bao(T6)
would order Ah Q to go to Zhao Tai Ye’s home. As soon as the Tai Ye saw Ah Q, his whole face
became bright red and he shouted:
第二，立传的通例，开首大抵该是“某，字某，某地人也”，而我并不知道阿Ｑ姓什么。
有一回，他似乎是姓赵，但第二日便模糊了。那是赵太爷的儿子进了秀才的时候，锣声镗镗
的报到村里来，阿Ｑ正喝了两碗黄酒，便手舞足蹈的说，这于他也很光采，因为他和赵太爷
原来是本家，细细的排起来他还比秀才长三辈呢。其时几个旁听人倒也肃然的有些起敬了。
那知道第二天，地保便叫阿Ｑ到赵太爷家里去；太爷一见，满脸溅朱，喝道：
“Ah Q, you’re such a stupid fool! You say that I’m a member of your clan?”
“阿Ｑ，你这浑小子！你说我是你的本家么？”
Ah Q didn’t open his mouth.
阿Ｑ不开口。
The more Zhao Tai Ye looked, the angrier he became. He rushed forward a few steps and
said, “You dare to talk rubbish! How could I have a family member such as you? Is your surname
Zhao?”
赵太爷愈看愈生气了，抢进几步说：“你敢胡说！我怎么会有你这样的本家？你姓赵么？”
Ah Q didn’t open his mouth. He wanted to get out of there. Zhao Tai Ye leaped across and
slapped his face.
阿Ｑ不开口，想往后退了；赵太爷跳过去，给了他一个嘴巴。
“How could your surname be Zhao? How could you deserve to have the surname Zhao?”
“你怎么会姓赵！——你那里配姓赵！”
Ah Q didn’t deny that he was actually named Zhao. He just used his hand to rub his left
cheek while he backed out of the house with the Di Bao. Once outside he was also reprimanded
by the Di Bao and had to apologize to him with two hundred copper cash for wine money. People
who knew about this situation all said that Ah Q was really outrageous. He had invited the
beating(LX4). He probably wasn’t named Zhao. Even if he was named Zhao, he really shouldn’t be
speaking so foolishly as long as Zhao Tai Ye was living here. After this no one ever again
mentioned his clan. Therefore what it comes down to is that I don’t know what his surname
actually was.
阿Ｑ并没有抗辩他确凿姓赵，只用手摸着左颊，和地保退出去了；外面又被地保训斥了
一番，谢了地保二百文酒钱。知道的人都说阿Ｑ太荒唐，自己去招打；他大约未必姓赵，即
使真姓赵，有赵太爷在这里，也不该如此胡说的。此后便再没有人提起他的氏族来，所以我