Lu Xun Diary of a Madman translation, Pt II

鲁迅 狂人日記 二

This is a sentence-by-sentence translation of the second chapter of 狂人日記 (Diary of a Madman) by 鲁迅 (Lu Xun). As always, the translation here aims to be fairly literal at the expense of sounding idiomatic in English.

今天全沒月光，我知道不妙。 Today there is no moon at all; I know this is not good.

早上小心出門，趙貴翁的眼色便怪： In the morning I went outside very cautiously, and Old Mr Zhao had a strange look in his eyes:

似乎怕我，似乎想害我。 It seemed that he feared me, or seemed that he wanted to hurt me.

還有七八個人，交頭接耳的議論我，張著嘴，對我笑了一笑； There were another seven or eight people, whispering in each other’s ears, discussing me; one spread his mouth open, giving me a grin.

我便從頭直冷到腳根，曉得他們佈置，都已妥當了。 I was then chilled from head to toe, knowing they were making arrangements, and that everything was already in place.

我可不怕，仍舊走我的路。 I was not afraid, though, and carried on on my way.

前面一夥小孩子，也在那裡議論我； Ahead was a gang of small children, and there they too were discussing me;

眼色也同趙貴翁一樣，臉色也鐵青。 the look in their eyes was the same as Old Mr Zhao’s, and their faces were ashen too.

我想我同小孩子有什麼仇，他也這樣。 I wondered what animosity I could have with small children, that they were also like this.

忍不住大聲說，“你告訴我！ ” Unable to bear it, I shouted loudly: “Tell me!”

他們可就跑了。 But they just ran away.

我想：我同趙貴翁有什麼仇，同路上的人又有什麼仇； I thought: what feud do I have with Old Mr Zhao, and what feud do I have with people on the street?

只有廿年以前，把古久先生的陳年流水簿子，踹了一腳，古久先生很不高興。 There was only twenty years ago, when I trampled on Mr Gu Jiu’s records of many years, and Mr Gu Jiu was unhappy.

趙貴翁雖然不認識他，一定也聽到風聲，代抱不平； Although Old Mr Zhao doesn’t know him, he certainly must have heard rumours, and is outraged on his behalf.

約定路上的人，同我作冤對。 He must have arranged with the people on the street to confront me about this grievance.

但是小孩子呢？ But what about the little children?

那時候，他們還沒有出世，何以今天也睜著怪眼睛， At that time, they still hadn’t been born, so why do they stare at me wide-eyed today?

似乎怕我，似乎想害我。 It seems they fear me, and it seems they want to hurt me.

這真教我怕，教我納罕而且傷心。 This really makes me afraid, and makes me bewildered and heart-broken.

我明白了。 Now I understand.

這是他們娘老子教的！ This was taught to them by their parents!

[← Part I](/3045/china/baihua/lu-xun-diary-madman-1/" rel="prev "Lu Xun Diary of a Madman translation, Pt. I") · [Contents](/china/baihua/lu-xun-diary-madman/" rel="contents "Lu Xun Diary of a Madman translation") · [Part III →](/3118/china/baihua/lu-xun-diary-madman-3/" rel="next "Lu Xun Diary of a Madman translation, III")

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Useful links

• Lu Xun ‘A Madman’s Diary’ translation (marxists.org)
• Simplified Chinese text of 狂人日记 (xys.org)
• The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun (Penguin Classics)