Those Foreign Celestial on England and Englishmen: by Yuay-ustane Translated by W. H. Wilkinson, of H.M. Consular Service in China. London: The Leadenhall Press, 50 Leadenhall St. E. C. ribner's Sons 743-745, The Intter part of the first the Confucian analects reads meets a friend from " distant region not delightful?" The saying holds good when the distance is measured in mouths }and not in miles. So we greet this book with pleasure, spite vf its rather inappropriate name, having already seen a great deal of it in the coluums of the North-China Daily News. We greet it with threefold pleasure first because Mr, Wilkinson has added an excellent preface which was new to us. Secondly because the book itself forms a tout ensemble, and a useful book of Chinese etiquette and customs to which we can easily refer, being aided thereto by ital index, and thirdly because the won has the art, which is European students of Chinese, of translating in a crisp mann la Eng: Ish is simple and pleasant, it too many so-called literal trai an indigestu moles with heaps of Chinese words interlarded—it is not as many s0- called free translations are, treacheries where the author merely suggests to the translator a few ideas, and the translator's personality veils the author's, Mr. Wilkinson gives the right kind of translation—if he uses quaint expression because the idea in the author's mind was quaint. In the observations added by Mr. Wilkinson accuracy of information is as apparent as the quick sense of the humorous. He has succeeded in writing a most amusing book without any farce or exaggeration. Certain portions of his author which treat of our vices and sanitary arrangements he has wisely omitted. The utter want of reticence with which Chinese treat such subjects would rendered the book unfit for the drawing-room table if he had translated all his author had said.
A book should be a friend and our reticence on certain subjects with friends struck Yuan Hsiang-fu so much that ho says:—
"When friends are sitting talking together they mention nothing nasty; if a man were to speak of ordure, filth or the like in company, his hearers would ba astounded, Some would perhaps getup and leave without looking at him, wondering how the man could so behave."
On this Mr, Wilkineon observes very truly:
tenths of s Chinese, jest-book rendered literally be impounded by the Lord Chanberlain; and untranslateable and unspeakable filth takes quite adequately the place of our Whitechapel blasphemy, The want of social intercourse between the sexes has been blamed for this, but the women as far as we are able to judge are as bad in these particulars as the meu."
Every one who understand Chinese has only to walk about the streets of a Chinese city to find this true. If he listens to the coiwversation of the people he will find ninety-nine per cent. of it is of money or food, and that at least thirty per cent. is interlarded, even when women and children are the speakers, with the most filthy expressions.
Mr. Wilkinson wrote this book for home readers who are supposed to know nothin, of China, but his explanations are short an never tedious, and will be found most ami ing to men, women, and children in Chinn, and many of them will con useful information to students of Chinese.
The book is published at the moderate sum of half-a-crown, Book Worm, @utports.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.