Peeps into China . CHAPTER XXVI. FIRST ATTEMPT AT TRANSLATION INTO HAD been in China some four years and ahalf, and was living in a provincial capital,the city of Chi-nan-fu. An English sur-veyor and civil engineer had been engagedby the governor to make a survey and inspection of asection of the Grand Canal that passes through theprovince of Shan-tung. He had come with a nativeinterpreter, but after some three months of trial theman had proved incapable. The Englishman returnedto the city, after the completion of his task, to reportto the governor. It was desirable to send a written
Peeps into China . CHAPTER XXVI. FIRST ATTEMPT AT TRANSLATION INTO HAD been in China some four years and ahalf, and was living in a provincial capital,the city of Chi-nan-fu. An English sur-veyor and civil engineer had been engagedby the governor to make a survey and inspection of asection of the Grand Canal that passes through theprovince of Shan-tung. He had come with a nativeinterpreter, but after some three months of trial theman had proved incapable. The Englishman returnedto the city, after the completion of his task, to reportto the governor. It was desirable to send a writtenreport to the governor prior to a personal English copy was made, but this was unintelligibleto the mandarin. The Englishman, furthermore, wasunskilled in the Chinese language. His interpreterwas incompetent. The accompanying Chinese officialswere anxious to hurry up ths work, as the governorwas demanding a copy of the report, notwithstandingall impossibilities. Being a friend of the Englishman,I one day remarked that if I could do anything to 149 150 Peeps
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectmissions, bookyear189
