順口溜: 辛辛苦苦四十年 一朝回到解放前 For forty long hard years of sweat and tears, We're back to the pre-Liberation years.

"辛辛苦苦四十年"  順口溜 -- 佚名 

              辛辛苦苦四十年，
              一朝回到解放前。
              既然回到解放前，
              当年革命又为谁。



"For forty long hard years of sweat and tears"
-- Shunkouliu* by Anon
-- Translated by Frank C Yue


For forty long hard years of sweat and tears,
We're back to the pre-Liberation years.
Now that pre-Liberation days are here,
For whom the great Revolution was fought?


*shunkouliu: 順口溜  According to David Bellos:

"These are satiric rhythmical (New China) sayings, often consisting of quatrains of seven-syllable lines. The regularity of the form is audible and also visible in writing, because each Chinese character corresponds to one syllable."

The above "jingle" or "barbed rhyme" is quoted by the prize-winning author and translator, David Bellos, Professor of French and Comparative Literature and Director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication at Princeton University on page 133 of his book "Is That A Fish In Your Ear? -- Translation and the meaning of everything" (Particular Books, England, 2011)

And the following 3 different translations are excerpted (from a total of 12) from David Bellos' same book for your enjoyment. His witty book -- "a whirlwind tour round the highways and byways of translation in all its glorious forms" -- is highly recommended. Thanks to his attacking the above shunkouliu from all directions, my "second-creation" (if indeed I could still call this mine) came out almost effortlessly. Hehee!



辛辛苦苦四十年，
一朝回到解放前。
既然回到解放前，
当年革命又为谁。


"Selected"... Translated Versions by David Bellos
-- vide page 133 of his book "Is That A Fish In Your Ear?" (Particular Books, England, 2011):

.....
("7. Adding rhyme")
 
"Forty long years crack our spine
Back we go to ’forty-nine
Since we go to ’forty-nine
Back then who was it all for?"


("8. First polish")
 
"Forty years we bend our spine
And just go back to ’forty-nine
And having gone to ’forty-nine
Whom back then was this for?"
 

("9. Adaptation, with double rhyme")
 
"Blood sweat and tears
For forty long years
Now we’re back to before
Who the hell was it for?"

.....