译者这样介绍这个“无政府”的江南:统治江南的不是政府的法律和秩序,而是 “一个常年习武的社群”(a proud community of men and women who have trained for years in the martial arts);他们的世界叫“江湖”。“江湖”也可以理解为“江”和“湖”这种自然景观的一种象征性意义;或者叫做“武林”,意思是“功夫的森林”,这是对他们这个社群的隐喻。
Many have considered Jin Yong’s world too foreign, too Chinese for an English-speaking readership. Impossible to translate. And yet this story of love, loyalty, honor and the power of the individual against successive corrupt governments and invading forces is as universal as any story could hope to be. The greatest loss that can occur in translation can only come from not translating it at all.