4.3.5 Gestalt characteristic of symmetry
According to the principle of proximity in perceptual organization，images conceptually autonomous to the symmetric extent mean that they are accessible to be conceptualized as image-G without imposing additional psychological informativity of Gestalt to translators'core construal on its own.Take an example from the translation of Yue Fei's writings“The River All Red”（岳飞《满江红》）：[8]
怒发冲冠，凭阑处、潇潇雨歇。
Nufa chongguan,pinglan chu,xiaoxiao yuxie.
抬望眼，仰天长啸，壮怀激烈。
Taiwang yan,yangtian changxiao,zhuanghuai jilie.
三十功名尘与土，八千里路云和月。
Sanshi gongming chen yu tu,baqian li lu yun he yue.
莫等闲、白了少年头，空悲切！
Mo deng xian,bai le shaonian tou,kong beiqie!
靖康耻，犹未雪。
Jingkang chi,youwei xue.
臣子恨，何时灭。
Chenzi hen,heshi mie!
驾长车，踏破贺兰山缺。
Jia changju,tapo helan shanque.
壮志饥餐胡虏肉，笑谈渴饮匈奴血。
Zhuangzhi jican hulu rou,xiaotan keyin xiongnu xue.
待从头、收拾旧山河，朝天阙！
Dai congtou shoushi jiu shanhe,chao tian que!
Wrath sets on end my hair,
I lean on railings where
I see the drizzling rain has ceased.(https://www.daowen.com)
Raising myeyes
Towards the skies,
I heave long sighs,
My wrath not yet appeased.
To dust is gone the fame achieved at thirty years;
Like cloud-veiled moon the thousand-mile land disappears.
Should youthful heads in vain turn grey,
We would regret for aye.
Lostour capitals,
What a burning shame!
How can we generals
Quench our vengeful flame!
Driving our chariots of war,we'd go
To break through our relentless foe.
Valiantly we'd cut off each head;
Laughing,we'd drink the blood they shed.
When we've reconquered our lost land,
In triumph would return our army grand.
(Translated by Xu Yuanchong)
Semantically speaking,there are three pairs of symmetric groupings of descriptive imagery combination in the translation.In the first pair,the full symmetry is displayed between“I lean on railings where I see the drizzling rain has ceased”(which describes that Yue Fei is filled with grief and indignation for his lofty aspirations of fighting the enemy unrealized)and“Driving our chariots of war,we'd go to break through our relentless foe”(which creates a scene that Yue's soldiers are brave and skillful in warfare).Yue Fei's low morale at present contrasts starkly with the optimism of his soldiers at the front line in the past.The comparison between the present time and the past as well as the mood of Yue and his soldiers has been rendered symmetrically and conspicuously with respect to temporal discrepancy and spatial variation.In the second pair,a fierce contradistinction is made between the symmetrically composed lines:“To dust is gone the fame achieved at thirty years”indicates Yue Fei is indifferent to high official positions and riches,whereas“Like cloud-veiled moon the thousand-mile land disappears”describes that Yue fei's aspiration to return to the battlefield and repay the country with supreme loyalty.In the third pair,an intense coupling relation is established between two lines matched ideally with each other:“Should youthful heads in vain turn grey”involves Yue Fei's bitterness and resentment for having no way to serve his motherland and“When we are reconquered our lost land”implies that Yue Fei looks forward to resuming lost territory and having his victorious army return in triumph.
It should be clear that the translator's comprehension of artistic conception starts by identifying symmetric imagery groupings,as maintained by the principle of proximity,in a holistic perception.He becomes aware of four images groupings of symmetric disposition in the image-G perception.It is the very underlying foundation that makes holistic image-G being actualized out of the integration of four images groupings possible.It is also the very reason why artistic conception of the original reoccurs in his translation.