The Broken Wings ③ is a sad story of a broken love affair of two young persons, caused by arranged marriage. To translate it literally, that is << 折断的翅膀 >>. Although it is very faithful, this version does not appeal to expressiveness, or aesthetics. What does “wings” relate to? Angel “a messenger and servant of God, usu. represented as a person with wings and dressed in white” (The Commercial Press, 1998:49) is the answer. Her image symbolizes romance love that every young person dreams for. If her wings are broken, can her accomplish her duty? And, every one can analyze what would happen to the love affair that Angel''s image symbolized. So, “Angel” should represent in target title. This author would like to translate it as << 断翅天使 >>. “ 断翅 ”can represent the denotation of the “broken wings” faithfully. And,“ 天使 ”can represent the connotation of “wings”, and what is more, this phrase can appeal to aesthetics.

V. Conclusion

The translation of a book title is just a part of the whole translation of the book. But no one could ignore the significance of this process. And to translate a source title into target title perfectly is not easy. Sometimes it may take a very long time to accomplish this process. “In the preface to his translation of Thomas Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics, Mr. Yan Fu states: It may take one several months to make sure how to translate a title into target language.” ( 陈福康 , 2000:116, with my translation) Before starting, one should acknowledge what the writer intends to express, which means one should make a good comprehension of the book’s abstract, and what the theme of the story is. While committing, some guidelines, such as cultural exchange principle, cultural recasting principle and the aesthetic principle, should be moved around one''s mind. Or, the translation of a book title will be caught on a run-away treadmill, which would absolutely run to the deep pool of failure.
 

Notes and References

① This author quotes this principle from Chinese Translation Journal (2006/2), On the English-Chinese Translation of Movie Titles.