An article in a_recent. issue of the Novi Kral" gives goma interesting facts regarding the translation of the Russian classics into Japanese.
"Soon after the successful campaign of 1894-95," says that article, "the interests of Japan and Russia came involuntarily into contact thanks to a great many causes, and the Japanese began to take up with a good deal of zeal the study of our country. In the beginning the acquaintance was superficial and did not go further than Viadivostock and Kuantung if we do not take into considera tion the small number of Japanese who went across the Urals to prosecute their study of the Russian language, that is who went to great towns like Petersburg, Kieff, and Odessa. The Japanese first became interested in Russian literature through translations from that literature into French and Bnglish: then they began to study translations directly made from Russian into Japanese. A transla tion of Tolstoi's Anna Kurenina was received in Japan with great. enthusiasm. 'Then the 'Tokio Nichi-Nichi" attempted a translation of Gogol but the translation did not. show. Gogol's humour and fell far below the original. Gogol's 'Tarass Bul-ba' was next translated (it is difficult to explain, by the way, why the Japanese translation is entitled Primitive In-stiners), but strange to say, some great Russian authors like Dostovsky are quite neglected.
"Both Tolstoi and Gorky were carefully translated and well annotated some time back and the Sapanese were greatly taken by the original philosophy of the Tie Russian Language in China.
The Chinese do not read the Russian classics at all but, owing to a series of events that do not need to be recapitulated, they are now in better position, in the Manchurian Provinces at alt events, to learn colloquial Russian than the Japanese. It must be added that they have profited by this circumstance. The Russian journal in Port Arthur boasted the other day that whereas when the Russians came here first they experienced great difficulties on account of the Chinese knowing no Russian, almost, every Chinese one now meets with in Port Arthur has a sufficient acquaintance with that language to understand and to make himself understood.
This statement has been confirmed by own experience which has made it clear to me that if we take the proportion of Chinese in Port Arthur who know Russian and the proportion of Chinese in hongkong er Singapore who know Eng-Esh we find that, in spite of the comparatively recent arrival of the Russian, the proportion in the former case is larger than it is in the latter.
The explanation of this lies, I suppose, in the colder nature of the Englishman. The Russian treats the Chinese more as a man and a brother. The other day I a Chinese emerge from a sailors"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.