(173) 葉李華、王君儒：〈衛斯理書名英譯芻議〉

葉李華、王君儒：〈衛斯理書名英譯芻議〉，

載施仁毅主編：《倪學：衛斯理五十週年紀念集》，
香港：豐林文化傳播有限公司，2013年，頁65-68。

（按：輯者增訂星加坡亞太出版社之英譯，詳見下文。）

編號	書名	英譯	亞太
01	鑽石花	Diamond Flower
02	地底奇人	Underground Legends	The Return of the Hermit
03	妖火	Monstrous Fire
04	藍血人	Blue-Blooded Being
05	透明光	Transparentizing Light
06	地心洪爐	Furnace inside the Earth
07	蜂雲	Cloud of Bees
08	奇玉	Mysterious Jade
09	原子空間	Atomic Space
10	天外金球	Golden Globe from the Heaven	The Mystery of the Golden Sphere
11	支離人	Detachable Man
12	不死藥	Immortality Drug
13	紅月亮	Red Moon
14	換頭記	Head Transplant
15	蠱惑	Bewitched, Bewildered
16	奇門	Uncanny Gate
17	屍變	Zombified
18	合成	Synthesis
19	筆友	Pen Pal
20	叢林之神	Deity in the Jungle
21	再來一次	One More Time
22	盡頭	The End
23	湖水	In the Lake
24	消失	Vanishing
25	影子	The Shadow
26	多了一個	The Extra One
27	仙境	Wonderland
28	狐變	A Transmuting Fox
29	古聲	Archaic Sound
30	虛像	Virtual Image
31	訪客	The Visitor
32	風水	Feng Shui
33	環	The Ring
34	聚寶盆	Treasure Bowl
35	雨花台石	Rain Flower Stone
36	石林	Stone Forest
37	創造	Creation
38	鬼子	Jap
39	老貓	Aged Cat	The Old Cat
40	具殼	Seashell
41	地圖	The Map
42	規律	Pattern
43	沉船	Shipwreck	The Sunken Ship
44	大廈	Mansion
45	新年	New Year
46	頭髮	Hair
47	眼睛	The Eyes
48	迷藏	Hide and Seek	Hide and Seek
49	天書	Hieroglyphic Book
50	木炭	The Charcoal
51	玩具	Toys
52	連鎖	Interlocking
53	尋夢	In Search of a Dream
54	第二種人	Human of the Second Kind
55	後備	The Backup
56	盜墓	Tomb Raiding	Raiders of the Tomb
57	搜靈	Soul Seeking
58	茫點	Blurred Spot
59	神仙	Immortals	The Deity
60	追龍	Tracking the Dragon
61	洞天	Tunnel to the Heaven
62	活俑	Deathless Terracotta Warrior
63	犀照	Rhino Illumination	The Magical Rhino Horns
64	命運	Destiny
65	十七年	17 Years
66	異寶	A Peculiar Gem
67	極刑	Extreme Penalty
68	電王	Home Electricus
69	遊戲	The Game
70	生死鎖	The Key to Life and Death
71	黃金故事	Story of Gold
72	廢墟	The Ruin
73	密碼	The Cipher
74	血統	Bloodline
75	謎蹤	Mystifying Tracks
76	瘟神	The Plague Demon
77	招魂	Evocation
78	背叛	Betrayal
79	鬼混	A Hybrid Ghost
80	報應	Retribution
81	錯手	Err
82	真相	The Truth
83	毒誓	Death Oath
84	拚命	Bet on it
85	怪物	Monsters
86	探險	Probing
87	繼續探險	Probing Deeper
88	圈套	Pitfall
89	烈火女	Female in Flame
90	大秘密	The Great Secret
91	禍根	Canker
92	從陰間來	From the Netherworld
93	到陰間去	To the Netherworld
94	少年衛斯理	Young Wesley Chronicles
95	陰差陽錯	Errand and Errancy
96	陰魂不散	Lingering Soul
97	許願	Make a Wish
98	還陽	Resurrection
99	運氣	Living Atmosphere
100	開心	Open Core Surgery
101	轉世暗號	Reincarnation Signs
102	將來	The Future
103	改變	The Change
104	暗號之二	Reincarnation Signs II
105	闖禍	A Fatal Deed
106	在數難逃	Doomed
107	解脫	Extrication
108	遺傳	Inheritance
109	爆炸	The Explosion
110	水晶宮	Palace under the Sea
111	前世	Past Life
112	新武器	New Weapon
113	病毒	Virus
114	算帳	Do the Accounts
115	原形	The True Form
116	活路	Way out
117	雙程	Two-way
118	洪荒	Primeval Chaos
119	買命	Life Quota Wanted
120	賣命	Life Quota for Sale
121	考驗	The Trial
122	傳說	A Tale
123	豪賭	The Big Gamble
124	真實幻境	Concrete Cloudland
125	成精變人	Metamorphosing into Mankind
126	未來身份	Future Identity
127	移魂怪物	Body Snatching Monsters
128	人面組合	Combination Face
129	本性難移	Inherence Dies Hard
130	天打雷劈	Lightening of Justice
131	另類複製	Different Kind of Clone
132	解開密碼	Deciphered
133	異種人生	Alternative Life
134	偷天換日	An Immeasurable Fraud
135	閉關開關	In and Out of the Retreat
136	行動救星	Act for the Planet
137	乾坤挪移	Knowledge Transplant
138	財神寶庫	Mammon’s Treasury
139	一半一半	Half and Half
140	身外化身	Replicant Surrogates
141	非常遭遇	Extraordinary Incident
142	一個地方	Somewhere
143	須彌芥子	A World in a Gain of Sand
144	死去活來	Hovering between Life and Death
145	只限老友	For Old Pals Only

衛斯理影視作品（香港）：

《原振俠與衛斯理》(1986) – The Seventh Curse

《衛斯理傳奇》(1987) – The Legend of Wisely

《衛斯理之老貓》(1992) – The Cat

《衛斯理藍血人》(2002) – The Wesley’s Mysterious Life

《衛斯理》(2003) - The ‘W’ Files

星加坡亞太出版社（Asiapac Books）於1994至2000年曾推出「卫斯理传奇」（The Adventures of Wiseley）系列漫畫，黄展鸣（Wen Tian Beng）繪製，Shen Siqin、Carrie Sim、Clara Show等人翻譯。按“The Return of the Hermit”（地底奇人）序言，本系列原定十冊（a ten-volume series），最後只有八冊。黃展鳴曾在雜誌訪問中表示“we ran into problems with copyrights in Hong Kong”[1]。

1. The Return of the Hermit (1994)

Join Wisely, the dashing daredevil, as the embarks on a thrilling and perilous adventure. A strange request from a blind man leads Wisely to a deadly encounter with the powerful 25 triads. This culminates in a journey to the notorious bandit hideout, Daselle Island, to uncover a secret that has been left buried for years.

Amid danger, Wisely romances with the beautiful daughter of the triad leader, while his gregarious cousin lends some light-hearted moments to this fast-moving suspense thriller with her zany character

The Return of the Hermit is the first part of a ten-volume series written by Ni Kuang（倪匡） and illustrated by sci-fi cartoonist Wee Tian Beng（黄展鸣）[2].

About the Author[3]

Ni Kuang倪匡, nicknamed “the king of pocket books”, is Hong Kong’s most famous writer as well as the author of Hong Kong’s bestselling titles. His works, mainly novels, include adventure stories, science fictions, and stories of detectives, ghosts and Chinese Kung fu. Of these, the most representative and bestselling work is The Adventures of Wisely, a series loved by both young and old.

About the Illustrator[4]

Born in 1966 in Singapore, Wee Tian Beng was trained in advertising art. Presently he works as a director of NCA Graphics, a local design firm.

Since 1989, he has been producing sci-fi comics, including titles suc as The New Frontier, Dream Allegory and Escapist Choice. His works have won him many fans among young comic lovers.

A Taiwanese youth comic magazine soon discovered his talents and serialized his new work entitled Astronotics. At present, his illustrations on The Adventures of Wisely are being serialized in Hong Kong.

About the Translator[5]

Clara Show is a freelance translator. She has translated the following titles in Asiapac Comic Series: Mr. Petty, Outlaws of the Marsh, In Search of Deities, Uptown Singles and The Return of the Hermit.

2. The Mystery of the Golden Sphere (1997)

THE MYSTERY OF THE GOLDEN SPHERE by Ni Kuang, illustrated by Wee Tian Beng, translated by Clara Seow (Asiapac): On the last day of her Paris vacation, Bai Su gets a strange request from two visitors - retrieve the Golden Sphere, symbol of the highest authority. But the ousted government and the military junta also have their eyes on the God-given object. The search takes Bai Su to Mysteryland, where, with the help of fiance Wisely, a battle of wits and weapons is fought out.[6]

3. Hide and Seek (1998)

HIDE-AND-SEEK by Ni Kuang, illustrated by Wee Tian Beng, translated by Clara Show (Asiapac): Spooky old castles are ideal for playing hide-and- seek, Rainbow thought. Strangely, the one at Endoa, a country wedged between France and Spain, bans that game. She writes to Bai Su and Wisely about the prohibition. Intrigued, the duo seek the help of historian Wang Jufeng. Their quest puts them on the track of a mystery that involves disappearing people and things.[7]

Hide and Seek – Innocent child’s game that takes on a bizarre twist[8]

An ancient castle with an unusual regulation – the game of hide-and-seek is prohibited. A bronze plaque with the rule inscribed on it is discovered by Rainbow during an eeries one-night stay in the empty castle. The discovery is made even stranger by the unexplained phenomenon experienced by historian Wang Jufeng.

Not one to give challenges a miss, Wisely jumps into the act and investigates the reason behind the prohibition. Somewhere in a dark corner of the castle is the key to the deep mystery surrounding the strange appearance and disappearance of people and things.

Is Jufeng’s creepy experience just a fragment of his own imagination or is it more real than anyone could have imagined? Wisely and Bai Su could well be on the brink of a starting, but exciting discovery…

Hide and Seek – a very common game that dates back to the Tang Dynasty in China. It is also believed that the history goes back even way before that. There are two ways to play the game. One, a player is blindfolded while the others hide themselves. The blindfolded player has to seek them out. Two, one or more players hide themselves within a stipulated area. The others will seek them out.

The best place to play the game using the second method is in a big house. There is more space for the players to hide and hence, more difficult for them to be found.

The following story is connected to the game of hide-and-seek and it takes place in an enormous old castle…

4. The Old Cat (1998)

THE OLD CAT by Ni Kuang, illustrated by Wee Tian Beng, translated by Carrie Sim (Asiapac): Old Zhang never stays put for long - no thanks to neighbours who complain about his incessant banging and knocking, and his strange pet. The black cat understands human language and is supposedly 3,000 years old! After breaking into the house of someone who had bought two vases from Zhang and destroying the purchase, it kills a police- trained dog. Where did this creature come from and what more havoc will it cause?[9]

Zhang, an old man who lived alone with his pet cat, was a great nuisance to his neighbours. He kept banging and knocking away in his house day and night, even until the wee hours of the morning. Nobody living near him could go to sleep. He shifted his house every time the neighbours started complaining. Nobody knew what he was doing…

Zhang’s cat was a big black cat. When Zhang sold away a pair of vases, the cat broke into the buyer’s house specially to destroy them. But that was not all. It also killed a police-trained German Shepherd, and understood every single word of the human language. Test conducted on a sample of its bone composition suggested that it was more than 3,000 years old…

Find out the mystery of this old cat in this comic edition of Wisely;s adventures written by Ni Kuang（倪匡）, the king of Chinese pocket books, and illustrated by sci-fi cartoonist Wee Tian Ben（黃展鳴）[10].

About the Author & the Illustrator[11]

Ni Kuang倪匡, nicknamed “the king of pocket books”, is Hong Kong’s most famous writer as well as the author of Hong Kong’s bestselling titles. His works, mainly novels, include adventure stories, science fictions, and stories of detectives, ghosts and Chinese Kung fu. Of these, the most representative and bestselling work is The Adventures of Wisely, a series loved by both young and old.

WEE TIAN BENG黃展鳴, born in 1966 in Singapore, was trained in advertising art.

In 1989, he started producing sci-fi comics, including titles such as The New Frontier, Dream Allegory and Escapist Choice. In 1993-94, he became the first Singaporean to successfully launch his comic book series Astronautics in Taiwan and The Adventures of Wisely in Hong Kong. Subsequently in 1997, he repeated this feat in Mainland China when China magazine Ke Huan Da Wang decided to serialize his work entitled The New Frontier.

Famous for his martial-art comics series entitled Return of the Condor Heroes, Wee is an avid reader of comics and enjoys swimming and sword play.

About the Creative Assistants

Jack CHEONG張開振, born in 1971, is a Malaysian artist. After graduating from Malaysia Institute of Art (MIA) in 1992, he was worked at various times as a display artist, illustrators and comic artist.

Jack is interested in drawing, music, movies, novels and playing games. Endowed with artistic talent, he aspires to be a reputable cartoonist.

PUAY JIN黃培仁, born in 1971, is a Malaysian artist. After completing his secondary education, he began his career working as a model maker.

Pauy Jin enjoys travelling and drawing comic characters. His ambition is to pursue his career in the field of arts.

5. The Sunken Ship (1998)

THE SUNKEN SHIP by Ni Kuang, translated by Carrie Sim, illustrated by Wee Tian Beng (Asiapac): Captain George Moore shifts course suddenly, causing his ship to crash onto rocks and his crew to perish. He says he was blocked by phantom vessels, but no one buys that. To salvage his career, he takes Wisely and aquanaut McAllen out to the Atlantic Ocean, where dark secrets drive McAllen to suicide, and push Wisely and Moore to the brink of insanity. What's up?[12]

6. Raiders of the Tomb (1999)

RAIDERS OF THE TOMB by Ni Kuang, illustrated by Wee Tian Beng, translated by Shen Siqin (Asiapac): Tomb raiders, those stealthy figures who dig up graves under the cover of darkness, are considered thieves who rob the dead of buried treasures. But there are people who applaud the fact that they unearth ancient rich cultures. Wisely receives a tape from Cibe who, together with Dan Si, had been sent by Virus to raid an Egyptian tomb. Soon after, Dan Si is killed and Cibe goes into hiding. Wisely heads for Eygpt to solve both mysteries.[13]

Foreword[14]

These days we live in a world where nothing, literally nothing, can be taken for granted. Now, more than ever, change is of the essence and we are witnessing change on a scale never before experienced. Literature, because it often reflects the ethos of its creative space, has had to find ways and means to cope and come to terms with change. Hence, the old certitudes about literature have themselves undergone change.

Once upon a time, people assumed they knew everything there was to know and certainly in the case of literature we had terms which were definitive. These days, however, the definitions tend to be explorative rather than definitive. Hence, the literary writings which we classify under genres like fantasy and science fiction; these offer us a perspective markedly different from the real world around us. By suggesting alternative frames of reference, our reality is transformed and we are persuaded, sometimes seduced, to move out of ordinary into the realm of the extraordinary. The natural becomes supernatural; the commonplace, bizarre. The “givens” which we take for granted become fired with a passionate, searching newness that leads us to contemplate startling revelations.

The Adventures of Wisely invites us to participate and experience radically surprising and refreshing realities, to see but with different eyes, to know but with a different kind of wisdom and understanding.

Once we appreciate the genres which such books belong to, we become pleasantly engaged in the stories and journey together with the characters portrayd. Our reading then becomes much more sustained and interactive. Of course, the vivid and interesting illustrations enhance our enjoyment of the texts even more as we realise just how much talent has gone into their creation.

The Adventures of Wisely is a lively sci-fi comics series with interesting tales to tell. Moving across historical and geographical boundaries, the stories render insights which tease and challenge us at the same time.

Associate Professor Kirpal Singh

Nanyang Technological University

Singapore

There are people in this world who make a living out of digging up ancient graves and taking away the treasures buried within. Although these people are thieves, they make significant contribution to mankind by unveiling the rick cultures of ancient times.

Cibe and Dan Si, two of the three most outstanding tomb raiders of the world, were Wisely’s friends. Under the instruction of Virus, the king of tomb raiders, they headed for an ancient tomb in Egypt…

About two months after the commencement of the project, Wisely received two audio tapes from Cibe. The tape recordings contained a series of unusual noises and some strange sppech made by Cibe. Subsequently, Dan Si was murdered and Cibe went into hiding…

In his quest for the truth, Wisely made a trip to Eygpt where he unveiled the secrets associated with Dan Si’s death, and underwent one of the most extraordinary experiences of mankind…

Find out what happened to Wisely in this comic edition of Wisely’s adventures written by Ni Kuang（倪匡）, the king of Chinese pocket books, and illustrated by sci-fi cartoonist Wee Tian Ben（黃展鳴）[15].

7. The Magical Rhino Horns (2000)

THE ADVENTURES OF WISELY: Magical Rhino Horns by Ni Kuang, illustrated by Wee Tian Beng, translated by Shen Siqin (Asiapac): Wisely's friend Zhang Jian, a scientist residing in Antarctica, sends marine biologist Hu three ice cubes. They hold the secret to life forms and the origin of life. When the cubes begin to melt, Hu summons Wisely. Their search for answers takes them back in time, to encounters with unusual creatures trapped within glaciers. These confirm an ancient belief that when you burn rhino horns, strange things are revealed.[16]

It is believed that burning rhino horns enables us to see things which could never be seen with the naked human eye.

Today, over at Antarctica, Wisely stumbled upon a ghostly world, trapped within the glaciers of the South Pole were all kinds of extraordinary creatures which the human race was seeing for the first time.

What were these creatures? Monsters? Or life forms frozen in time over the last three glacial epochs?

Step back into time with Wisely and unravel the mystery of a lost world…[17]

8. The Deity (2000)

Jia Yuzhen was a 69-year-old renowned antique dealer. He bought an ancient screen for US$3 million. A year later, jet black hair sprouted on his previously bald head, and he looked 30 years younger…

Did Jia Yuzhen discover an anti-ageing agent? Or, did he transcend time and space to reverse the process of ageing? What was the secret behind the antique screen? What had Jia Yuzhen’s experiences to do with detities?

Find out how Wisely discovered Jia Yuzhen’s secret in this comic edition of Wisely’s adventures![18]

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[1] “Cartooning is his Life and Career”, Books, 51. Accessed August 2, 2018, http://www.tczstudio.com/profile/wtb/newspaper/Books.pdf

[2] Kuang Ni, The Return of the Hermit, trans. Clara Show, (Singapore: Asiapac Books, 1994).

[3] Ibid..

[4] Ibid..

[5] Ibid..

[6] Gim-Ean Tan, “Fresh on the shelf”, News Straits Times, Nov 15, 1997.

[7] Gim-Ean Tan, “Fresh on the shelf”, News Straits Times, July 29, 1998.

[8] Kuang Ni, Hide and Seek, trans. Clara Show, (Singapore: Asiapac Books, 1998).

[9] Gim-Ean Tan, “Fresh on the shelf”, News Straits Times, Oct 7, 1998.

[10] Kuang Ni, The Old Cat, trans. Carrie Sim, (Singapore: Asiapac Books, 1998).

[11] Kuang Ni, The Old Cat, trans. Carrie Sim, (Singapore: Asiapac Books, 1998).

[12] Gim-Ean Tan, “Fresh on the shelf”, News Straits Times, Dec 9, 1998.

[13] Gim-Ean Tan, “Fresh on the shelf”, News Straits Times, May 12, 1999.

[14] Kuang Ni, Raiders of the Tomb, trans. Siqin Shen, (Singapore: Asiapac Books, 1999).

[15] Kuang Ni, Raiders of the Tomb, trans. Siqin Shen, (Singapore: Asiapac Books, 1999).

[16] Gim-Ean Tan, “Fresh on the shelf”, News Straits Times, Jan 3, 2001.

[17] Kuang Ni, The Magical Rhino Horns, trans. Siqin Shen, (Singapore: Asiapac Books, 2000).

[18] Kuang Ni, The Deitiy, trans. Siqin Shen, (Singapore: Asiapac Books, 2000).