A Comparative Analysis Of Two Chinese Versions Of "The Californian's Tale" In The Late Qing Dynasty And The Republican Period Of China

"The Californian's Tale" is a short story written by Mark Twain.It relates a story of a man who was out of his mind after losing his life,satirizes those gold fanatics who are also out of their minds after their dreams have been broken.The story was translated respectively into "Shan Jia Qi Yu" by Wu Taoin 1906,"Qi" by Zhou Shoujuan in 1915.This thesis compares the two Chinese versions from various perspectives,analyzes the linguistic features,historical background and the progressiveness of two versions.The thesis compares the two versions from three aspects and provides a full-round interpretation.Through a profound analysis on the linguistic elements,differences between the two versions in textual styles,translational strategies and reasons beneath are summarized.Discussion as regards social and personal aspects may restore the translation ecosystem of the two versions in multi-dimensional ways.It also provides explanation or support for the linguistic phenomena in question.The two versions can not only represent the translators' personal styles and aesthetic levels of their own translations,but also reflect the spirit of exploration of those advanced scholars in the evolving trajectory of Chinese literary translation.The modernity and progressiveness of Chinese literature is also manifests itself by means of innumerable excellent literary translations such as the two versions discussed in the thesis.