In reality, translation is akin to working for peanuts, since the corresponding meaning of something in one language is often hidden in some deep and impenetrable recesses of the other. As a result, the translator is forced to search all over... Never mind that the picky reader is very difficult to fool.
Subject headings, as an access point, have two functions: to give appropriate subjects to relevant information; and to let readers manage to find information of relevant subjects.
There are some who believe that Bei Dao has not demonstrated a clarity of thought in this book; I will leave that to the reviewers and critics. However, for ordinary readers like me, this kind of writing was sufficient to keep me totally enraptured.
Mandarin
刊行以来,这本书在港、台及世界各地的华人中始终拥有广大的读者群。
刊行以來,這本書在港、台及世界各地的華人中始終擁有廣大的讀者羣。
kān xíng yǐ lái , zhè běn shū zài gǎng , tái jí shì jiè gè dì de huá rén zhōng shǐ zhōng yōng yǒu guǎng dà de dú zhě qún .
Since publication, this book has acquired a large readership in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Chinese communities the world over.
Since publication, this book has consistently had a large readership in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Chinese communities the world over.