Stephen Mitchell, the translator of the edition acquired by Harper & Row
노바당
2015. 1. 2.
Translation of Ancient Tao Text Brings $130,000
By EDWIN McDOWELL
Published: February 16, 1988
After a spirited auction involving eight publishers, Harper & Row has agreed to pay $130,000 for a new translation of a Chinese book of philosophy and religion written more than 2,000 years ago. The amount is one of the highest ever paid to a translator, and it is certainly the most for a work in the public domain that has already been translated into English dozens of times.
The book is ''Tao-te-ching,'' which is usually translated as ''The Way and Its Power.'' Stephen Mitchell, the translator of the edition acquired by Harper & Row, is a biblical scholar whose translations of Rainer Maria Rilke were published by Random House and Simon & Schuster and whose translation of the Book of Job was published last fall by North Point Press.
''Tao-te-ching'' is the book from which the philosophical system of Taoism chiefly derives, and its authorship is traditionally ascribed to Lao-tze (sometimes written Lao-tzu), the Chinese philosopher who lived in 600 B.C., although there is some question that he wrote it at all. The political doctrine reflected by the Taoists, according to the New Columbia Encyclopedia, is that the duty of a ruler is to protect one's subjects from experiencing material wants or strong passions and to impose a minimum of government. In his State of the Union message last month, President Reagan quoted Lao-tze as saying, ''Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish; do not overdo it.''
25,000 to Be Printed William M. Shinker, publisher of Harper & Row, said the company paid the unprecedented amount of money ''because of Stephen Mitchell's consummate skill as a translator and the feeling he has for the material.'' But the house looks upon the book as a long-term investment, he said, and accordingly will publish 25,000 hard-cover copies next fall, priced at $14.95, then publish it in trade paperback a year later.
''Our plan has always been to make our money in paperback,'' Mr. Shinker said, ''but it's possible it will have a much longer life than one year in hard cover.'' Like all spiritual books, he said, this should have broad appeal to college students, to people interested in Eastern religions and in so-called new age books.
Mr. Mitchell - who lives in Berkeley, Calif., and works out of what he described as ''a dark and cold garage'' - said that ''Tao-te-ching'' was the first birthday present he ever gave his Chinese-American wife.
''I have been meditating on the book for many years, and in a sense living it for many years,'' Mr. Mitchell said in a recent telephone conversation. ''That's what allowed me to translate it in about two months.'' A student of Zen Buddhism for 14 years, Mr. Mitchell is the author of ''Dropping Ashes on the Buddha'' (Grove Press, 1976), an account of the Zen master with whom he has studied.
''Our plan has always been to make our money in paperback,'' Mr. Shinker said, ''but it's possible it will have a much longer life than one year in hard cover.'' Like all spiritual books, he said, this should have broad appeal to college students, to people interested in Eastern religions and in so-called new age books.
Mr. Mitchell - who lives in Berkeley, Calif., and works out of what he described as ''a dark and cold garage'' - said that ''Tao-te-ching'' was the first birthday present he ever gave his Chinese-American wife.
''I have been meditating on the book for many years, and in a sense living it for many years,'' Mr. Mitchell said in a recent telephone conversation. ''That's what allowed me to translate it in about two months.'' A student of Zen Buddhism for 14 years, Mr. Mitchell is the author of ''Dropping Ashes on the Buddha'' (Grove Press, 1976), an account of the Zen master with whom he has studied.
Unfamiliar With Chinese
Mr. Mitchell does not read or speak Chinese. He said he worked with a text that contained every Chinese character, as well as their English equivalents.
Mr. Mitchell added that it is not unusual for a translator of poetry not to read the language in which the poem was written. For example, he said, Alexander Pope worked from Latin and French versions in translating Homer's epic poems, the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey,'' while Thomas Merton worked from an English and French version for his translation of ''The Way of Chuang-Tzu.''
''Samuel Johnson said in his 'Lives of the Poets' that the only way to judge the value of an English translation,'' Mr. Mitchell noted, ''is to judge it first of all as an English poem.''
What also enhanced his own translation, Mr. Mitchell added, is that none of the other translators of ''Tao-te-ching'' had personal experience of the inner tradition of Lao-tze. ''The true descendants were the Zen masters,'' he added, ''and I underwent many years of intensive training with a Zen master in the U.S. I felt this experience allowed me a kind of insight into the mind of Lao-tze, rather than just the words of Lao-tze.''
Mr. Mitchell does not read or speak Chinese. He said he worked with a text that contained every Chinese character, as well as their English equivalents.
Mr. Mitchell added that it is not unusual for a translator of poetry not to read the language in which the poem was written. For example, he said, Alexander Pope worked from Latin and French versions in translating Homer's epic poems, the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey,'' while Thomas Merton worked from an English and French version for his translation of ''The Way of Chuang-Tzu.''
''Samuel Johnson said in his 'Lives of the Poets' that the only way to judge the value of an English translation,'' Mr. Mitchell noted, ''is to judge it first of all as an English poem.''
What also enhanced his own translation, Mr. Mitchell added, is that none of the other translators of ''Tao-te-ching'' had personal experience of the inner tradition of Lao-tze. ''The true descendants were the Zen masters,'' he added, ''and I underwent many years of intensive training with a Zen master in the U.S. I felt this experience allowed me a kind of insight into the mind of Lao-tze, rather than just the words of Lao-tze.''
How Auction Started
The auction was conducted about six weeks ago by Michael Katz, a Berkeley literary agent and book packager, but was just made public. He and Mr. Mitchell had been introduced by a mutual friend in the Zen community, and when Mr. Mitchell said he was translating ''Tao-te-ching,'' they decided to see how well the best-known translations had sold.
Eventually they decided that on the strength of Mr. Mitchell's unique background as well as the praise his previous translations received from Stephen Spender, Denis Donoghue and William Arrowsmith, they could position his translation as definitive, in much the way Princeton University Press has positioned as definitive its edition of ''I Ching,'' translated from the Chinese to German by Richard Wilhelm, and from German to English by Cary Baynes. That book, published in 1967, has sold some 600,000 copies in hard cover.
Eight houses made initial bids, Mr. Katz said, including at least one house that already has a ''Tao-te-ching'' translation, and four houses remained in the auction after the bidding hit $100,000. Although the entire translation was completed in time for the auction, publishers were sent only 15 of the 81 brief chapters, as well as copies of the reviews praising Mr. Mitchell's previous translations.
One of the first things Mr. Mitchell plans to do with the money from his advance, he said, is move to a workplace with heat. He also has ideas for other books, but not translations. ''I only translate things I'm almost magnetically drawn to,'' he said, ''and after Rilke, the Book of Job and this, I can't imagine any others.''
The auction was conducted about six weeks ago by Michael Katz, a Berkeley literary agent and book packager, but was just made public. He and Mr. Mitchell had been introduced by a mutual friend in the Zen community, and when Mr. Mitchell said he was translating ''Tao-te-ching,'' they decided to see how well the best-known translations had sold.
Eventually they decided that on the strength of Mr. Mitchell's unique background as well as the praise his previous translations received from Stephen Spender, Denis Donoghue and William Arrowsmith, they could position his translation as definitive, in much the way Princeton University Press has positioned as definitive its edition of ''I Ching,'' translated from the Chinese to German by Richard Wilhelm, and from German to English by Cary Baynes. That book, published in 1967, has sold some 600,000 copies in hard cover.
Eight houses made initial bids, Mr. Katz said, including at least one house that already has a ''Tao-te-ching'' translation, and four houses remained in the auction after the bidding hit $100,000. Although the entire translation was completed in time for the auction, publishers were sent only 15 of the 81 brief chapters, as well as copies of the reviews praising Mr. Mitchell's previous translations.
One of the first things Mr. Mitchell plans to do with the money from his advance, he said, is move to a workplace with heat. He also has ideas for other books, but not translations. ''I only translate things I'm almost magnetically drawn to,'' he said, ''and after Rilke, the Book of Job and this, I can't imagine any others.''
