Thus Spoke Abraham Lincoln:A New Interpretation and Chinese Translation of The Gettysburg Address

School of Foreign Languages,Dianchi College of Yunnan University,Yunnan,China Email:regalqingguowang@qq.com

[Abstract]Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is recognized at home and abroad,not just as a key political document in the U.S.history,but also as a gem of the English language.To date,there have appeared at least 25 Chinese translations.The major versions,however,have not translated the meaning and represented the style of the source text in a satisfactory manner,out of which arises the necessity to retranslate it.Considering that there is still room for improvement,this paper attempts to reinterpret this speech sentence by sentence or phrase by phrase so as to have a better understanding of what Lincoln intends to express,and then a new Chinese translation will be provided for academic reference.

[Keywords]The Gettysburg Address;meaning;style;interpretation;retranslation

Introduction

Seven score and seventeen years ago(in 1863),at the dedication ceremony for the National Cemetery of Gettysburg,Pennsylvania,the U.S.President Abraham Lincoln delivered the world-famous speech —The Gettysburg Address.Despite its brevity,the whole speech fully displays Lincoln’s strong determination to reunite the nation and finish what the founding fathers have started;it also conveys such illuminating thoughts as freedom,equality and democracy.Wills(1992,p.147)ever observed,“The Gettysburg Addresshas become an authoritative expression of the American spirit — as authoritative as theDeclarationitself,and perhaps even more influential.”Apart from its political significance,this speech is a gem of the English language because of its lofty style and well-crafted sentences.The literary value secures its popularity with readers at home; meanwhile,it recognizes no national borders and has been rendered into other languages all over the world.In China,there have appeared at least 25 Chinese translations.In reviewing the major translations,it should be acknowledged that many scholarly attempts have been made at the translation work of the speech.However,the major versions have not translated the meaning and represented the style of the source text in a satisfactory manner.Therefore,it is necessary to retranslate it so as to faithfully convey what Lincoln intends to express.

Considerations about the Overall Style

Before approaching the overall style,we need to know that there exist five copies ofThe Gettysburg Address,whose providers are Bliss,Nicolay,Hay,Everett and Bancroft(Basleret al.,2020).These versions differ from one another in dictions,paragraphs,spellings,punctuation marks,etc.Given that Bliss’s copy is the version inscribed on the wall of the South Chamber of Lincoln Memorial and the one widely quoted in the circle of academia,it is,therefore,advisable to choose it as the source text for interpretation and translation.In terms of its overall style,the most striking stylistic features are conciseness,majesty and intertextuality.

as for conciseness,the speech is composed of 3 paragraphs,10 sentences,or 271 words in total.Most of the words are monosyllabic and the sentence lengths vary significantly,ranging from 10 to 82 words.In the major translations,there is one common flaw:the long English sentences are“faithfully”translated as long Chinese sentences,which goes against the common practice of Chinese writing,thus failing to convey the concise style of the source text and reducing readability of the target text.For the sake of faithfulness,the style of conciseness should also be represented in translation.In dealing with the long English sentences,translators should keep the Chinese sentences as concise as possible and reorganize them in a logical way.

apart from conciseness,majesty is also an aspect of the overall style of the speech,just as Carnegie(1968,p.174)ever put it,“It is an unconscious prose poem,and has all the majestic beauty and profound roll of epic lines.”However,most translations are expressed in vernacular Chinese,thereby failing to convey the intended meaning in an elegant style.To achieve this effect,we can choose classical Chinese,the standard form of written Chinese before the May Fourth Movement in 1919.Furthermore,considering thatThe Gettysburg Addresswas delivered in 1863,which was roughly the era of Emperor Tongzhi(who reigned 1862-1875)of the Qing Dynasty,classical Chinese is definitely a better alternative.

a third striking feature of the speech is intertextuality.Elmore(2009,p.10)noted,“Lincoln grew up reading theKing James Bibleand echoed this great work in the greatest of his speeches,theGettysburg Address.”Moreover,the motto“All men are created equal”is taken from theDeclaration of Independence.The expression“government of the people,by the people and for the people”may date back to 1384,when John Wyclif wrote in the prologue to his translation of theBible,“TheBibleis for the Government of the People,by the People,and for the People.”Unfortunately,almost all the translations failed to represent the feature of intertextuality.If the translation is associated with Bible,it is hard to strike a chord with Chinese readers,just because of the differences in religious beliefs.On the contrary,translators should make the full use of intertextuality to establish some textual relationships with Chinese classics so as to increase the expressiveness and readability of the Chinese translation.

a New Interpretation

after discussing the issues of the overall style,we can shift to the in-depth interpretation of the speech.For the sake of clarity,we will list the source text sentence by sentence and then address the major misinterpretations.

①Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,a new nation,conceived in Liberty,and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

1)four score and seven:This expression is an imitation of the Bible,which resonates among the audience at the very beginning of Lincoln’s delivery.The two words“four”and“score”share the long vowel/?:/,which,along with the use of conjunction“and”,slows down the tempo of the speech,creates a solemn atmosphere,and brings the audience to a remote past.As for the translation,some put this part into“在八十七年以前”,which goes against the concise style of the source text,because“在”and“以”are a bit redundant,while some employ the Arabic numeral“84”in Chinese,which seems less solemn.Worse still,all the existing translations follow the expression order of the source text,which sounds mundane to Chinese audience.Actually,translators can narrate the facts in the first place and highlight the time in the second place.This technique was employed by Zhuge Liang,a well-known statesman and war-strategist during the Three Kingdoms Period of China(220-280).By imitating this technique,we can intensify the effect of narration and achieve the effect of intertextuality.Moreover,the insertion of“有”between the whole number“八十(four score)”and the remainder“七(seven)”can slow down the tempos of the speech,achieving the same effect as the source text does.

2)… conceived in Liberty…:This part involves two figures of speech:metaphor and personification.Lincoln compares the new nation to a newborn baby,whose father is the founding fathers and whose mother is Liberty.It is worth noting that the initial letter of“Liberty”takes the form of upper case,so it should be interpreted as the goddess of freedom.As regards the order of expression,all the Chinese versions follow the syntactic order of the source text:translating“bring forth”first and then“conceived”.This way of expression seems logically awkward in Chinese,because“conceived”comes before“bring forth”in terms of the sequence of embryonic development.For the sake of coherence,the Chinese can be expressed like this“尊奉自由之神為國母”.

3)… dedicated to the proposition…:The word“dedicated”translates as“致力于”，“奉行”，“獻(xiàn)身于”，“奉獻(xiàn)”,etc.All of the Chinese expressions are acceptable,but“篤行”might be a better choice.As for the word“proposition”,the common translations are“主張”，“宗旨”，“公理”，“目標(biāo)”，“原則”，“理想”，“理念”，“信念”etc.The first one“主張”is more faithful to the original meaning,but it can be put into“大道”,the highest political ideal,which is consistent with the following principle“All men are created equal.”

4)all men are created equal:This quote comes from the fundamental documentDeclaration of Independence.It is commonly rendered as“(人)人生而平等”,while a few translate it as“人(受)造而平等”.In Chinese,the latter is syntactically unacceptable,whereas the former does not convey the religious implications and does not echo the word“God”in the last sentence of the speech.Moreover,it is worth noting that this expression uses the simple present tense to indicate truthfulness.To make this point clear enough for Chinese readers and convey the religious implications,translators can put this sentence into“人乃神造天生，由來皆屬平等”.

②Now we are engaged in a great civil war,testing whether that nation,or any nation so conceived and so dedicated,can long endure.

1)…we are engaged…:The personal pronoun“we”serves as the subject of the sentence,suggesting that President Lincoln speaks in the interest of the whole nation.In other words,the word“we”refers to not only the northern states(or the Union),but also the Confederate states of the South.However,the Chinese equivalent“我們”is so vague a term that it is hard to define who the referents are.Syntactically,the use of the passive voice indicates that“we”are forced to get involved in the Civil War.

2)…great…:This is a pun:it highlights both the scale and the significance of the war.The existing translations are“偉大的內(nèi)戰(zhàn)”or“大內(nèi)戰(zhàn)”,only to convey one of the double meanings.According to the context of the expression and the historical background,the former part of the sentence can be translated as“而今，南北深陷內(nèi)亂，幾將另立新國…”.The expressions“深陷”and“幾將”highlight the scale and the significance of the war respectively:The former indicates that the whole nation was forced to get involved in a large-scale war,and the latter implies that the Battle of Gettysburg serves as a decisive battle of the American Civil War.

③We are met on a great battle-field of that war.

… are met…great…:Just like the previous sentence,this one employs the passive voice and serves the same function.What might be the agent of the passive sentence? It might be God or the war,or something else.To represent the justice and significance of the war,this part can translate as“聚義”and the whole sentence can be reorganized and rendered into“怎奈大軍兵戎相見于茲……（吾等來此）聚義……”.

④We have come to dedicate a portion of that field,as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.

… a final resting place…:This phrase is a euphemism for the grave and is indicative of Lincoln’s reverence for the dead.Most translate this phrase as“最后的安息地”or“長眠之地”.Faithful as the translations are,they are not as expressive as“在天英靈”.

⑤It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

…fitting and proper…:As for the two synonyms,the common translations are“合適和正當(dāng)”，“合情合理”，“理所應(yīng)當(dāng),恰如其分”，“義不容辭,理所當(dāng)然”etc.Regrettably,these translations fail to make a distinction between the two words.According toOxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary(Hornby,2018,p.817),“fitting”means“suitable or right for the occasion”and“proper”means“socially or morally acceptable”.It is better to translate the whole sentence as“實(shí)乃合乎情而近乎禮也”.

⑥But,in a larger sense,we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground.

1)But,in a larger sense：Almost all the translators render this part as“從更廣泛/深刻的意義上來說”.However,this way of expression seems too empty and lacks expressiveness.It can be translated as“然傍及吾眾”.

2)…dedicate… consecrate… hallow…:This is one of the most difficult sentences to translate,because it involves three figures of speech:parallelism,asyndeton and climax.Some translate“dedicate”as“奉獻(xiàn)”.It is obviously unacceptable,because it has no direct logical bearing on“consecrate”and“hallow”and it is not consistent with“We have come to dedicate a portion of that field”.As for the last two words,most translate them as“圣化”or“神化”,whose objects,however,should be someone instead of something like“the ground”.According toOxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary(Hornby,2018,p.553),“dedicate”means“to hold an official ceremony to say that a building or an object has a special purpose or is special to the memory of a particular person”.Basically,Both the words“consecrate”and“hallow”mean“making something holy”,but the latter is stronger in degree.To convey the religious implications and represent the stylistic features,we can translate this sentence as“名之莫能垂青史，奠之不足為圣地，祭之難以成神所”.

⑦The brave men,living and dead,who struggled here,have consecrated it,far above our poor power to add or detract.

1)The brave men,living and dead,who struggled here…:The phrase“the brave men”is placed at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis and is reinforced by the post-modifier“l(fā)iving and dead”.The whole sentence contains a lot of information and is organized in a rather loose way.If we follow this way of expression,the Chinese translation will lack expressiveness.

2)… add or detract…:These two words are intransitive verbs.Some translate them as“褒揚(yáng)”and“詆毀”,while others put them into“增(加)和“減(少)”.However,in Chinese,the missing of the objects of verbs leads to vagueness of expression.

On the basis of full understanding of the source text,the information conveyed in this sentence should be reorganized and translated as“眾將士鏖戰(zhàn)疆場，或有生還，或有陣亡，盡皆豪情萬丈，血染熱土，英魂流芳。吾等倍感無力，尚不可減其本色，又不能增其圣光?！?

⑧The world will little note,nor long remember what we say here,but it can never forget what they did here.

…what we say here… what they did here:Lincoln deliberately employs the simple words“what we say here”and“what they did here”so as to highlight the phrase“poor power”in the previous sentence.In terms of meaning,there is nothing wrong with the Chinese translations“這里說的話”and“這里做的事”.However,the Chinese translations sound too empty.The word“here”is repeated two times for emphasis,but it does not necessarily refer to the place twice.The first one may indicate“time”and this usage can be found inOxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary(Hornby,2018,p.1021).The whole sentence can be translated as“吾等今日之片言，世人或不聞其詳，亦不會永志不忘，而勇士此地之壯舉，定能與國無疆”.

⑨It is for us the living,rather,to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thusfar so nobly advanced.

…so nobly advanced…:For this part,some translators leave it out;others put it into“如此高貴地推動著”or“崇高地向前推進(jìn)”,either of which sounds so awkward that readers may feel confused about what the speaker is driving at.It can be translated as“煌煌偉烈，浩蕩向前”.

⑩It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us —(1)that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion —(2)that we here highly resolve(3)that these dead shall not have died in vain —(4)that this nation,under God,shall have a new birth of freedom—and(5)that government of the people,by the people,for the people,shall not perish from the earth.

1)that：This long sentence contains 82 words and involves 5“that-”clauses(indicated by Arabic numerals).The last three serve as the object clauses of the transitive verb“resolve”,because they share the same auxiliary verb“shall”.The first“that-”clause is an appositive of“the task”,and the second one expresses a hope or wish,which can be justified in the authoritative referenceOxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary(Hornby,2018,p.2237).

2)…government of the people,by the people,for the people…:This part is also very tricky to translate.As far as“government”is concerned,the common translations are“這個政府”,“政府”,and“政府模式”.It is noteworthy that the word“government”does not have such pre-modifiers as“the”or“this”,while it is post-modified by three prepositional phrases,clarifying the three most important aspects of American democracy.Therefore,the word“government”here functions as a mass noun,meaning the system by which a state or community is governed,and its Chinese equivalent is“政體”.In terms of the translation of this part,the most common rendering is“民有、民治、民享”.Because of its faithfulness and conciseness,this translation has gained widespread popularity among translators.However,the phrases can be interpreted in a new way:“of the people”is concerned with the essence of“Liberty”,which means that the state sovereignty belongs to the people,instead of the British colonists;“by the people”addresses the issue of election on the basis of equality,as is stated at the very beginning of this speech; and“for the people”is about the function of the government,namely,for the wellbeing of the American people.It cannot be ignored that Lincoln places“by the people”in the middle as a connector“of the people”and“for the people”,which suggests that“of the people”is the fundamental premise of democracy,and“for the people”is the ultimate goal of democracy,while“by the people”is the only way to democracy.The prepositional phrases“of the people,by the people,for the people”can be translated as“權(quán)歸民有,官由民選,利為民求”.Considering the expressiveness in Chinese,the order of expression may be modified.

3)…shall not perish from the earth:Some translate“not perish”as“永世長存”.However,such kind of translation cannot express the style of the speech.In the source text,Lincoln intends to contrast“not perish”with“l(fā)ong endure”.The two expressions share the same meaning,but the former employs a negative expression for emphasis.Therefore,it is better to translate“not perish”as“不朽”,contrasting with“l(fā)ong endure(長存)”.

a New Chinese Translation

The part above mainly focuses on the misinterpretations and reinterpretations of the speech.For a better understanding of the speech as a whole,it is necessary provide a full-text translation for academic reference.It runs like this:

葛底斯堡獻(xiàn)辭

遙想先祖來此開辟大陸，締造新邦，尊奉自由之神為國母，篤行“人乃神造天生，由來皆屬平等”之大道，爾來八十有七年矣。

而今，南北深陷內(nèi)亂，幾將另立新國，自由、平等之大道可長存乎？此誠存亡攸關(guān)之際也。怎奈大軍兵戎相見于茲，將士紛紛舍身救國。吾等來此聚義，且將一隅敬獻(xiàn)忠烈，以告在天英靈，實(shí)乃合乎情而近乎禮也。

然傍及吾眾，今日所踏之土，名之莫能垂青史，奠之不足為圣地，祭之難以成神所。眾將士鏖戰(zhàn)疆場，或有生還，或有陣亡，盡皆豪情萬丈，血染熱土，英魂流芳。吾等倍感無力，尚不可減其本色，又不能增其圣光。吾等今日之片言，世人或不聞其詳，亦不會永志不忘，而勇士此地之壯舉，定能與國無疆?；突蛡チ遥剖幭蚯?，可恨邦國尚不一統(tǒng)。然則吾等皆幸存之人，當(dāng)繼承未竟之大業(yè)，傳習(xí)英烈之精神：盡忠竭力，共濟(jì)世業(yè)，鞠躬盡瘁，死而后已。愿吾等齊立誓言：丹心碧血，豈可白流？天助雄邦，必復(fù)自由；權(quán)歸民有，利為民求；官由民選，定得千秋；三民政體，垂世不朽。

Conclusion

Since its delivery in 1863,The Gettysburg Addresswas made public to the world.It still remains one of the greatest speeches in human history and continues to have far-reaching influences across the U.S.and throughout the world.In the critical review of the major Chinese translations,there are many misinterpretations in the existing versions.When it is found that there is still room for improvement,there arises the necessity to retranslate it.Accordingly,a new version is provided for reference.Hopefully,this new version will inspire enthusiasts to make further academic inquiries and scholarly attempts.