L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux, Comparing Chinese versions

How do Chinese translators tackle L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux ('What is essential is invisible to the eye'), from 'The Little Prince'?

Here I look at 48 translations of Le Petit Prince into Chinese -- excluding adaptations and the plagiarised version of Liǔ 2004. Of these, 24 appear to be translated from the French, 23 from the English of Catherine Woods, and one is unclear.

We'll break variation into two types: Grammatical structure and expressive content, with a section on an exceptional pattern. In this sentence variation is dominated by grammatical considerations -- in particular the use of the enigmatic 是 ... 的 shì ... de construction.

1. GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE

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The problem of invisible

The key word in this sentence is invisible ('invisible'), an adjective meaning 'which cannot be seen'. This is the pivot on which the sentence hinges.

In its most basic form, the sentence can be understood as meaning Les yeux ne voient pas l'essentiel 'The eyes do not see what is essential'. By using invisible, Saint Exupéry catapaults l'essentiel into subject position, like this:

les yeux	ne voient pas	l'essentiel

l'essentiel	est invisible	(pour les yeux)

In other words, invisible acts like passive voice, and l'invisible becomes the topic of the sentence.

The problem is that Chinese lacks an adjective equivalent to invisible. True, there are a couple of words that appear to provide a good fit, but they are not really suitable.

不可视 bùkěshì means 'unobservable' or 'invisible' but is a specialised term confined to scientific or academic contexts.
無形 / 无形 wúxíng 'formless' is mainly used for palpable things that can't be seen because they lack a perceivable shape.

To express the actual meaning of the sentence in Chinese, we must go back to basics and say 'The eyes cannot see what is essential'.

The obvious choice here is 看不见 kàn-bu-jiàn 'unable to see'. This is the negative potential form of the resultative verb 看见 kàn-jiàn 'to see'. So logically speaking, our sentence would look like this:

BASIC SENTENCE, WITH 'EYES' AS SUBJECT
Subject	Verb	Object
眼睛 yǎnjing 'the eye'	看不见 kàn-bu-jiàn 'cannot see'	本质的东西 běnzhì de dōngxi 'essential things'

Note: 本质 běnzhì is Mainland Chinese standard. Taiwan standard is 本質, pronounced běnzhí.

"The eyes cannot see essential things"

But there is NOT A SINGLE TRANSLATOR who uses a sentence like this.

There are three main ways in which translations vary from this hypothetical norm. Unfortunately for our analysis, these variations occur both singly and in combination.

a. 'Eyes' as an instrument

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More than half of the 47 translators don't treat 'eyes' as the subject, they treat them as an instrument. That is, the basic sentence looks more like this:

BASIC SENTENCE, WITH 'EYES' AS INSTRUMENT
Subject	Prep. phrase	Verb	Object
(人 rén 'person')	用眼睛 yòng yǎnjing 'use the eye'	看不见 kàn-bu-jiàn 'cannot see'	本质的东西 běnzhì de dōngxi 'essential things'

"A person cannot see essential things with the eyes"

The instrumental interpretation may find favour with translators because it allows parallelism with the previous sentence (On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur), which uses the instrumental 'using the heart'.

In Chinese, the clause 用眼睛 yòng yǎnjing 'use the eye' comes before 'cannot see' instead of after it. Moreover, 用 yòng itself is usually regarded as a verb, so that the sentence becomes a double-verb sentence.

Although the subject of the sentence is theoretically something like 人 rén 'people', in fact no translation actually has an explicit subject.

Only one translator uses this simple sentence pattern, although with somewhat more elaborate vocabulary:

TRANSLATION BASED ON THE BASIC SENTENCE
Subject	Prep. phrase	Verb	Object
Omitted	單是透過雙眼 dān shì tòuguò shuāngyǎn 'just through the two eyes'	看不見 kàn-bu-jiàn 'cannot see'	事情的真像 shìqíng de zhēnxiàng 'true image of things'

b. The 是 ... 的 shì ... de construction

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With one exception (see below), all other translators use a structure that I'll call the 'shi ... de construction'. In this construction, the words 是 shì and ... 的 de act as a 'frame' around a particular part of the sentence, with 的 de concluding the sentence.

The shi ... de construction may be one of the most poorly explained phenomena in Chinese grammar. Its broad range of uses, one shading into another, defies simple categorisation. We won't try and describe them here. What we can say is that:

是 shì stresses or emphasises what follows it;
的 de concludes the sentence with a sense of affirmation, explanation, or assertion.

Here, 是 ... 的 shì ... de is used in a contrastive and emphatic sense. Applying it in a straightforward way to our two basic sentences, we get this:

ADDING 是 ... 的 shì ... de
	Subject		shi	Verb + Object	de
	眼睛 yǎnjing 'the eye'		是 shì	看不见本质的东西 kàn-bu-jiàn běnzhì de dōngxi 'cannot see essential things'	的 de
	Subject	'With the eyes'	shi	Verb + Object	de
(instrumental)	Omitted	用眼睛 yòng yǎnjing 'with the eye'	是 shì	看不见本质的东西 kàn-bu-jiàn běnzhì de dōngxi 'cannot see essential things'	的 de

Here shi ... de places contrastive emphasis on 'cannot see essential things'. The contrast is with the previous sentence:

CONTRASTIVE COMPARISON OF CONTENT IN THE TWO SENTENCES
Sentence	Means	Result	Yes/No
1.	with the heart	can see (essential things)	YES
2.	with the eyes	can see essential things	NO

The key point emphasised is that, in contrast with the heart ,which CAN SEE CLEARLY, the eyes CANNOT SEE ESSENTIAL THINGS.

Nine translators (one-fifth of the total) use this particular sentence pattern.

But while the pattern is perfectly adequate for expressing the meaning, it suffers from one drawback: it doesn't match the order of the original English and French. To achieve this, 'essential things' must be brought to the head of the sentence. To do this, it's necessary to make it the topic of the sentence.

c. Topicalisation

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In the French original, the sentence opens with l'essentiel as the theme, and then makes a statement about that theme.

ORDER OF ELEMENTS IN FRENCH AND ENGLISH
	Subject	Copula	Adjective plus Prep Phrase
French	L'essentiel	est	invisible pour les yeux
English	What is essential	is	invisible to the eye

All in all, 34 translators (three-quarters of the total) make l'essentiel into the topic of the sentence.

This is how our sentence above looks after l'essentiel has been catapulted to the start of the sentence to serve as its topic:

TOPICALISATION
	TOPIC	Subject		shi	Verb	de
	本质的东西 běnzhì de dōngxi 'essential things'	眼睛 yǎnjing 'the eye'		是 shì	看不见 kàn-bu-jiàn 'cannot see'	的 de
	TOPIC	Subject	Prep. phrase	shi	Verb	de
(with instrumental)	本质的东西 běnzhì de dōngxi 'essential things'	Omitted	用眼睛 yòng yǎnjing 'with the eye'	是 shì	看不见 kàn-bu-jiàn 'cannot see'	的 de

The topicalised versions mean:

"Essential things, the eyes cannot see" or
"Essential things, (a person) cannot see with the eyes"

These two sentence patterns are used by 23 translations (about half of the total). Sixteen are based on 用眼睛 yòng yǎnjing ('with the eyes'), seven are based on 眼睛 yǎnjing as the subject of the sentence. As we will see, below, however, 11 translators topicalise 'essential things' but frame other elements in the sentence.

The reason for favouring this sentence pattern is obvious. Framing 看不见 kàn-bu-jiàn with shi ... de places it in exactly the same position as invisible in French. The sentence thus follows the order and elements of the original French. Indeed, it may even be something of a habit among translators to translate French or English predicative adjectives, such as invisible, using the shi ... de construction. Shi ... de is very commonly used with predicative adjectives in Chinese (e.g., see here), and it provides a very natural equivalent to predicative adjectives in Western languages.

(Interestingly, more than two-thirds of translators using this pattern follow the original French/English by treating the eyes as an instrument. The tendency is most notable in translations from the English. One could not be blamed for suspecting that direct translation of 'to the eyes' may be involved.)

In addition, one translator deletes the topic altogether as being understood from the previous sentence.

OMITTING THE TOPIC
TOPIC	Prep. phrase	shi	Verb	de
X	光凭眼睛 guāng píng yǎnjing 'only with the eyes'	是 shì	看不到 kàn-bu-dào 'cannot see'	的 de

Framing other elements

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Apart from 看不见 kàn-bu-jiàn 'cannot see', 是 ... 的 shì ... de is also used by a number of translators to frame other segments of the sentence.

1. Invisible to the eyes: Seven translators move 眼睛 yǎnjing 'the eyes' inside the frame, virtually treating 'invisible to the eyes' as a single unit:

'INVISIBLE TO THE EYES'
TOPIC	shi	Subject	Verb	de
本质的东西 běnzhì de dōngxi 'essential things'	是 shì	眼睛 yǎnjing 'the eyes'	看不见 kàn-bu-jiàn 'can't see'	的 de

For some reason this pattern is found only with 'eyes' as subject. It isn't found with the instrumental.

2. Not visible to the eyes: Four translators take the negative element outside the frame and use 不是 bú shì ('is not') instead of 是 shì. As a result, the content inside 是 ... 的 shì...de is positive. The content inside the frame is 眼睛看得见 yǎnjing kàn-de-jiàn 'the eyes can see'.

PUTTING THE NEGATIVE OUTSIDE THE FRAME
	TOPIC	bu shi	Subject		Verb	de
	本质的东西 běnzhì de dōngxi 'essential things'	不是 bú shì	眼睛 yǎnjing 'the eye'		看得见 kàn-de-jiàn 'can see'	的 de
	TOPIC	bu shi	Subject	Prep. phrase	Verb	de
(with instrumental)	本质的东西 běnzhì de dōngxi 'essential things'	不是 bú shì	Omitted	用眼睛 yòng yǎnjing 'with the eye'	看得见 kàn-de-jiàn 'can see'	的 de

所 suǒ

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所 suǒ is a particle, somewhat difficult to use for non-native speakers. It indicates that the following verb takes an object. For example, in this phrase:

我所爱的人
Wǒ suǒ ài de rén
'The person that I love'

所 suǒ indicates that 爱 ài takes an object, and that object is 人 rén.

In this case, the structure is similar, except that the object has been omitted.

最主要的要点是眼睛所看不见的。
Zuì zhǔyào de yàodiǎn shì yǎnjing suǒ kàn-bu-jiàn de.

'The most important key point is (what) the eyes can't see.' It can be understood as: 眼睛所看不见 ( 的东西 ) yǎnjing suǒ kàn-bu-jiàn (de dōngxi) '(thing) that the eyes can't see'.

Other translations using 所 suǒ .... See more...

所 suǒ

Five translations use the grammatical particle 所 suǒ, a feature of the Classical language and modern written literary style. This 所 suǒ is used when the verb is understood as taking an object. An example is the following sentence:

最主要的要点是眼睛所看不见的。
Zuì zhǔyào de yàodiǎn shì yǎnjing suǒ kàn-bu-jiàn de.
'The most important key point is (what) the eyes can't see.'

In this example, the particle 的 de can be regarded as the object of the verb 看不见 kàn-bu-jiàn. 的 de here stands in for a noun that is not expressed, e.g. 事情 shìqing 'thing, matter, affair'.

The other translations using 所 suǒ are:

事物的本质，恰恰是眼睛所无法看到的。
Shìwù de běnzhì, qiàqià shì yǎnjing suǒ wúfǎ kàndào de.
'The essence of matters, is exactly what the eyes have no way of seeing.'

这是我们的肉眼所看不到的。
Zhè shì wǒmen de ròuyǎn suǒ kàn-bu-dào de.
'This is what our naked eyes can't see.'

本质的东西是肉眼所看不到的。
Běnzhì de dōngxi shì ròuyǎn suǒ kàn-bu-dào de.
'Essential things the naked eye cannot see.'

重要的东西，并非眼睛所见。
Zhòngyào de dōngxi, bìng fēi yǎnjing suǒ jiàn.
'Important things, the eyes do not see.'

The final example is written in a literary or pseudo-classical style.

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Significance of variation

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Despite the existence of variation among sentence patterns, the net result in a majority of cases is to reproduce something very close to the sentence pattern of the original French and English, with l'essentiel as the topic, and the focus of shi ... de placed on either invisible, invisible pour les yeux, or visible pour les yeux (negated).

The exception is that set of sentences that we saw above where l'essentiel has not been topicalised. However, this sentence pattern is accepted in Chinese as being completely interchangeable with the topicalised version and, while not reproducing the word order of the original French or English, is regarded as quite normal and natural.

What is truly intriguing is the fact that the range of variation and distribution of types is very similar between translations from the English and the French! For a full list of sentences of each type as translated from the French:

Translation of est invisible pour les yeux

The following table classifies the grammatical patterns in Chinese translations of est invisible pour les yeux, from Le Petit Prince.

WITH 是...的 FRAME
GROUP ONE: With Eye as Instrument			GROUP TWO: With Eye as Agent
I. Frame around [Vneg + Object] -- Object in Place
With eye [can't see essential things]			Eye [can't see essential things]
10	Lín 2003	用眼睛是看不见本质的东西的。 Yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn běnzhì de dōngxi de. 'With the eyes can't see essential things.'	8	Zhāng 2001	眼睛是看不到重要的東西的。 Yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-dào zhòngyào de dōngxi de. 'The eyes can't see important things.'
13	Táng 2004	用眼睛是看不见事物的本质的。 Yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn shìwù de běnzhì de. 'With the eyes can't see the essence of matters.'	15	Guō 2005	眼睛，是看不见本质的。 Yǎnjing, shì kàn bu jiàn běnzhì de. 'Eyes, can't see the essential.'
19	Liǔ 2006	光靠肉眼，是不可能看到本质的东西的。 Guāng kào ròuyǎn, shì bù kěnéng kàndào běnzhì de dōngxi de. 'Just relying on the naked eyes, can't see essential things.'
II. Frame around [Vneg] -- Object Topicalised
Essential things with eye [can't see]			Essential things eye [can't see]
2	Mǎ 2000	本質的東西用眼睛是看不見的。 Běnzhì de dōngxi yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'The essential things the eyes can't see.'	6	Mǎ 2001	本質的東西眼睛是看不見的。 Běnzhì de dōngxi yǎnjing shì kān-bu-jiàn de. 'Essential things the eyes can't see.'
11	Zhōu 2000	事物的本質用眼睛是看不出來的。 Shìwù de běnzhí yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-chūlái de. 'The essence of things with the eyes cannot make out.	16	Huáng 2005	真正重要的东西，眼睛是看不见的。 Zhēnzhèng zhòngyào de dōngxi, yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'Truly important things, the eyes can't see.'
4	Translator unknown 2000	实质性的东西，用眼睛是看不见的。 Shízhì-xìng de dōngxi, yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'Essential things, with the eyes can't see.'	17	Xiāo 2005	真正重要的东西肉眼是看不见的。 Zhēnzhèng zhòngyào de dōngxi ròuyǎn shì kàn-bu-dào de. 'Truly important things the naked eye can't see.'
9	Zhōu 2002	本质的东西用眼是看不见的。 Běnzhì de dōngxi yòng yǎn shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. Essential things with the eyes can't see.'	20	Zhōu 2006	本质的东西肉眼是看不到的。 Běnzhì de dōngxì ròuyǎn shì kàn-bu-dào de. 'Essential things the naked eye can't see.'
12	Lóng 2004	实质性的东西，只用眼睛是看不见的。 Shízhì-xìng de dōngxi, zhǐ yòng yǎnjing shì kàn bu jiàn de. 'Actual things, only with the eyes can't see'.	22	Wáng & Qián 2008	内在的东西，眼睛是看不到的。 Nèizài de dōngxi, yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-dào de. 'Inherent things, the eyes cannot see.'
21	Zǐ 2006	真正重要的东西用肉眼是看不见的。 Zhēnzhèng zhòngyào de dōngxì yòng ròuyǎn shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'Truly important things with the naked eye can't see.'
III. Frame around [Vneg] -- Object Omitted
With eye [can't see]			Eye [can't see]

IV. Frame around [Eye + Vneg] -- Object Topicalised
Essential things [with eye can't see]			Essential things [eye can't see]
			1	Yáo 1994	真正重要的東西是肉眼無法看見的。 Zhēnzhèng zhòngyào de dōngxi shì ròuyǎn wúfǎ kàn-jiàn de. 'Truly important things the naked eye no way can see.'
			5	Ài 2001	真正重要的东西是肉眼无法看见的。 Zhēnzhèng zhòngyào de dōngxi shì ròuyǎn wúfǎ kàn-jiàn de. 'Truly important things the naked eye no way can see.'
			11	Xū 2003	本质的东西是肉眼看不见的。 Běnzhì de dōngxi shì ròuyǎn kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'Essential things the naked eye can't see.'
			18	Chén & Huǒ 2006	本质的东西是肉眼所看不到的。 Běnzhì de dōngxi shì ròuǎn suǒ kàn-bu-dào de. 'Essential things the naked eye cannot see.'
V. Frame (neg) around [Eye + V] -- Object Topicalised
Essential things not [with eye can see]			Essential things not [eye can see]
7	Wú & Dǒng 2001	真正的東西不是用眼睛看得到的。 Zhēnzhèng de dōngxi búshì yòng yǎnjing kàn-de-dào de. 'True things are not with the eyes can see.'
23	Translator unknown ND-1	真正的東西不是用眼睛可以看得到的。 Zhēnzhèng de dōngxi bú shì yòng yǎnjing kěyǐ kàn-de-dào de. 'True things are not with the eyes can see.'

WITHOUT 是...的 FRAME
GROUP ONE: With Eye as Instrument	GROUP TWO: With Eye as Agent
	3	Máo 2000	重要的东西，并非眼睛所见。 Zhòngyào de dōngxi, bìng fēi yǎnjing suǒ jiàn. 'Important things, the eyes do not see.'

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For a full list of sentences of each type as translated from the English:

Translation of 'is invisible to the eye'

The following table classifies the grammatical patterns in Chinese translations of 'is invisible to the eye', from The Little Prince.

WITH 是...的 FRAME
GROUP ONE: With Eye as Instrument			GROUP TWO: With Eye as Agent
I. Frame around [Vneg + Object] -- Object in Place
With eye [can't see essential things]			Eye [can't see essential things]
4	Chén 1998	光憑肉眼是看不到事物的精髓的。 Guāng píng ròuyǎn shì kàn-bu-dào shìwù de jīngsuí de. 'Just relying on the naked eye can't see the quintessence of things.'	19	Ài 2005	肉眼是永远无法看清楚事物的本质的。 Ròuyǎn shì yǒngyuǎn wúfǎ kàn qīngchu shìwù de běnzhì de. 'The naked eye forever cannot see clearly the essence of things.'
17	Wú 2004	用眼睛是看不见事物的本质的。 Yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn shìwù de běnzhì de. 'With the eyes can't see the essence of matters.'	20	Bā 2006	眼睛是看不到事物的本质的。 Yǎnjìng shì kàn-bu-dào shìwù de běnzhì de. 'The eyes can't see the essence of matters.'
II. Frame around [Vneg] -- Object Topicalised
Essential things with eye [can't see]			Essential things eye [can't see]
7	Lǐ & Yè 2000	重要的東西用肉眼是看不見的。 Zhòngyào de dōngxi yòng ròuyǎn shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'Important things with the naked eye can't see.'	2	Sòng 1992	要緊的東西眼睛是看不見的。 Yào jǐn de dōngxi yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'Important things the eyes can't see.'
7	Dù 2002	事物的精髓用眼睛是看不到的。 Shìwù de jīngsǔi yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-dào de. 'The essence of things with the eyes can't see.'	11	Zhèng 2003	精华的东西，眼睛是永远看不见的。 Jīnghuá de dōngxi, yǎnjing shì yǒngyuǎn kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'Things of the essence the eyes forever can't see.'
8	Lǐ-1 2002	真實的事情用眼睛是看不清楚的。 Zhēnshí de shìqing yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-qīngchu de. 'True things with the eyes can't see clearly.'	22	Hóng 2006	重要的东西眼睛是看不见的。 Zhòngyào de dōngxi yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'Important things the eyes can't see.'
12	Bái 2004	一切事物的本质，用肉眼是看不到的， Yīqiè shìwù de běnzhì, yòng ròuyǎn shì kàn-bu-dào de. 'The essence of all things with the naked eye can't see.'
13	Cāo & Féng 2004	珍贵的东西，用眼睛是看不见的。 Zhēnguì de dōngxi, yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'Valuable things, with the eyes can't see.'
16	Lǚ 2004	本质的东西用眼睛是看不见的。 Běnzhì de dōngxi yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'Essential things with the eyes can't see.'
18	Yáng 2004	事物的精髓，光憑眼睛是看不到的。 Shìwù de jīngsǔi, guāng píng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-dào de. 'The quintessence of things, just using the eyes can't see.'
23	Mǎ 2006	最根本的东西用眼睛是看不见的。 Zuì gēnběn de dōngxi yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'The most basic thing with the eyes can't see.'
III. Frame around [Vneg] -- Object Omitted
With eye [can't see]			Eye [can't see]
10	Xuē 2000	光凭眼睛是看不到的。 Guāng píng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-dào de. 'Only with the eyes can't see.'
IV. Frame around [Eye + Vneg] -- Object Topicalised
Essential things [with eye can't see]			Essential things [eye can't see]
			9	Lǐ-2 2002	最主要的要点是眼睛所看不见的。 Zuì zhǔyào de yàodiǎn shì yǎnjing suǒ kàn bu jiàn de. 'The most important key point the eyes can't see.'
			10	Chéng 2003	事物的本质，恰恰是眼睛所无法看到的。 Shìwù de běnzhì, qiàqià shì yǎnjing suǒ wúfǎ kàndào de. The essence of matters, is exactly what the eyes have no way of seeing.'
			14	Dài 2004	内中本质是眼睛看不到的。 Nèizhōng běnzhì shì yǎnjing kàn-bu-dào de. 'Internal essence the eyes can't see'
			21	Dà 2006	这是我们的肉眼所看不到的。 Zhè shì wǒmen de ròuyǎn suǒ kàn-bu-dào de. 'This is what our naked eyes can't see.'
V. Frame (neg) around [Eye + V] -- Object Topicalised
Essential things not [with eye can see]			Essential things not [eye can see]
			5	Wú 1999	真正重要的東西不是眼睛可以看得到的。 Zhēnzhèng zhòngyào de dōngxi búshì yǎnjing kěyǐ kàn-de-dào de. 'Truly important things are not the eyes can see.'
			24	Translator unknown ND-2	凡是本質的事都不是眼目能看得見的。 Fán shì běnzhì de shì dōu bú shì yǎnmù néng kàn-de-jiàn de. 'All essence are not the eyes can see.'

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For a full list of sentences of each type in translations of unknown provenance:

Translation of 'is invisible to the eye'

The following table classifies the grammatical patterns in Chinese translations of 'is invisible to the eye', from The Little Prince (translation which it is not possible to identify as being made from either the French original or Katherine Woods' English).

WITH 是...的 FRAME
GROUP ONE: With Eye as Instrument			GROUP TWO: With Eye as Agent
I. Frame around [Vneg] -- Object Topicalised
Essential things with eye [can't see]			Essential things eye [can't see]
6	Chén 2001	真正重要的東西用眼睛是看不見的。 Zhēnzhèng zhòngyào de dōngxi yòng yǎnjing shì kàn-bu-jiàn de. 'Truly important things with the eyes can't see'.

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2. EXPRESSION

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L'essentiel / 'what is essential'

Translators use two patterns to translate the word l'essentiel 'what is essential'. (There are two translators who don't use any word to translate 'essential' in this sentence, because it already appears in the previous sentence.)

Type I	ESSENTIAL THINGS	本质的东西 běnzhì de dōngxi 'essential thing'
	or
Type II	THE ESSENCE OF THINGS	事物的本质 shìwu de běnzhì 'essence of things'

Despite the rather large conceptual gap between the two, in actual use the difference is not large.

Much more significant is the difference within Type I between translations that mean essential things and those that mean (very) important things. See more...

L'essentiel

Translators use two patterns to translate the word l'essentiel ('what is essential').

Type I	ESSENTIAL THINGS
	or
Type II	THE ESSENCE OF THINGS

Despite the rather large conceptual gap between the two, in actual use the difference is not large. Much more significant is the difference between translations that mean essential things and those that mean (very) important things. (Two translators don't translate 'essential' in this sentence, because it already appears in the previous sentence.)

1) Type I: 'Essential things' (32 translations).

Accounts for two-thirds of translations. L'essentiel is analysed as 'essential things', i.e., 'things that are essential'. The word essentiel itself is translated in several different ways. Most cluster around one of the two key concepts of 'philosophically essential' and 'very important'.

EXPRESSING L'ESSENTIEL AS 'THINGS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL'

Most, Truly

Essential
的
Thing

'IMPORTANT THINGS' (14)

真正 / 真正
zhēnzhèng 重要 / 重要
zhòngyào 'important' 的
de 東西 / 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
7

重要 / 重要
zhòngyào 'important' 的
de 東西 / 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
4

要緊
yàojǐn 'vital, important, essential' 的
de 東西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

最 zuì
'most' 根本
gēnběn 'basic, fundamental, essential, cardinal' 的
de 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

最 zuì
'most' 主要
zhǔyào 'main, major, primary, principal' 的
de 要点 yàodiǎn 'main points, essential, gist'
1

'ESSENTIAL THINGS' IN A PHILOSOPHICAL SENSE (14)

本質 / 本质
běnzhí / běnzhì 'essence, nature, innate character' 的
de 東西 / 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
10

凡是...都
fán shì ... dōu
'all' 本質
běnzhí 'essence, nature, innate character' 的
de 事 shì 'matter, affair, thing'
1

实质性
shízhì-xìng 'substantial, actual' 的
de 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
2

内在
nèizài 'inherent' 的
de 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

精华
jīnghuá 'cream, pick, essence, quintessence' 的
de 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

'REAL, AUTHENTIC THINGS' (3)

真正 / 真正
zhēnzhèng 'real, true, actual, authentic' 的
de 東西 / 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
2

真實
zhēnshí 'real, true, actual, authentic' 的
de 事情 shìqing 'affair, matter, question, business'
1

'VALUABLE, PRECIOUS THINGS' (1)

珍贵
zhēnguì 'precious, valuable, rare' 的
de 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

TOTAL
33

The most common words used for 'essential' are 重要 zhòngyào meaning 'important' (11 occurrences), and 本質 / 本质 běnzhí / běnzhì meaning 'of the essence' (11 occurrences).

'Thing' is mostly 東西 / 东西 dōngxi 'thing' (30 occurrences), the normal everyday word for 'thing' in Chinese. It's not a particularly refined term and referring to people is pejorative.

2) Type II: 'The essence of things' (13 translations).

This pattern speaks of the 'essence of things', i.e., the essence that lies inside things.

'Essence' is expressed as follows:

EXPRESSING L'ESSENTIEL AS 'THE ESSENCE OF THINGS'

Things'

Essence

事物的
shìwù de
'things' 本質 / 本质
běnzhí / běnzhì 'essence, nature, innate character'
6

一切事物的
yīqiè shìwù de
'all things' 本質 / 本质
běnzhí / běnzhì 'essence, nature, innate character'
1

本質 / 本质
běnzhí / běnzhì 'essence, nature, innate character'
1

内中本质
nèizhōng běnzhì 'internal essence'
1

事物的
shìwù de
'things' 精髓
jīngsuì 'marrow, pith, quintessence'
3

事物的
shìwù de
'things' 真像
zhēnxiàng 'real situation, facts, truth'
1

TOTAL
13

'Things is mostly translated as 事物 shìwù 'things' while 'essence' is most commonly 本質 / 本质 běnzhí / běnzhì

Taking the two different patterns together, the word 本質 / 本质 běnzhí / běnzhì 'essence, essential' is used in 19 translations, less than half the total number.

In addition, in some translations words meaning l'essentiel also appear in the preceding sentence (On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur):

Previous sentence

This sentence

事物的本质
shìwù de běnzhì
'essence of things' 真正重要的东西
zhēnzhèng zhòngyào de dōngxi
'truly important things' 3

-- 1

这
zhè
'this' 1

真實的東西
zhēnshí de dōngxi
'true things' 真正重要的東西
zhēnzhèng zhòngyào de dōngxi
'truly important things' 1

事物的真偽和重要性
shìwù de zhēnwěi hé zhòngyào-xìng
'the truth or falseness and importance of things' 事物的精髓
shìwù de jīngsuì
'the quintessence of things' 1

Five of them use 事物的本质 shìwù de běnzhì 'essence of things'. So putting it all together, a total of 24 translations use the word 本質 / 本质 běnzhí / běnzhì, about half the total.

This is still well ahead of the total 11 occurrences for the second most common expression, 重要 zhòngyào 'important'.

English and French originals

In translating l'essentiel, there is a very interesting difference between translators working from the original French and those working from the English of Katherine Woods.

Expressions meaning 'essential things' (本質的東西 / 本质的东西 běnzhí de dōngxi / běnzhì de dōngxi, etc.) are favoured by translators from the French (20 in French-based versus 11 in English-based translations).

'ESSENTIAL THINGS' AS FOUND IN TRANSLATIONS FROM THE FRENCH

Most, Truly

Essential
的
Thing

真正 zhēnzhèng 重要 / 重要
zhòngyào 'important' 的
de 東西 / 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
5

重要 / 重要
zhòngyào 'important' 的
de 東西 / 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
2

本質 / 本质
běnzhí / běnzhì 'essence, nature, innate character' 的
de 東西 / 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
9

实质性
shízhì-xìng 'substantial, actual' 的
de 東西 / 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
2

内在
nèizài 'inherent'
的
de
东西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

真正 / 真正
zhēnzhèng 'real, true, actual, authentic' 的
de 東西 / 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
2

TOTAL
21

Within the 20 occurrences, there is not a huge variety of expression. Compare this with the variety in translations from the English:

'ESSENTIAL THINGS' AS FOUND IN TRANSLATIONS FROM THE ENGLISH

Most, Truly

Essential
的
Thing

重要 / 重要
zhòngyào 'important'
的
de
東西 / 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
2

真正zhēnzhèng 重要
zhòngyào 'important'
的
de
東西 / 东西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

本质
běnzhì 'essence, nature, innate character'
的
de
东西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

本質
běnzhí 'essence, nature, innate character'
的
de
事 shì 'matter, affair, thing'
1

要緊
yàojǐn 'vital, important, essential'
的
de
東西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

精华
jīnghuá 'cream, pick, essence, quintessence'
的
de
东西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

珍贵
zhēnguì 'precious, valuable, rare'
的
de
东西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

最 zuì
'most' 根本
gēnběn 'basic, fundamental, essential, cardinal'
的
de
东西
dōngxi 'thing'
1

最 zuì
'most' 主要
zhǔyào 'main, major, primary, principal'
的
de
要点 yàodiǎn 'main points, essential, gist'
1

真實
zhēnshí 'real, true, actual, authentic'
的
de
事情 shìqing 'affair, matter, question, business'
1

TOTAL
11

Although only 11 translations from the English use Type 1, there are 8 different ways of expressing 'essential'!

The second pattern, that of 事物的本質 / 事物的本质 shìwù de běnzhí / shìwù de běnzhì 'the essence of things', is more common in translations from the English.

'ESSENCE OF THINGS' AS FOUND IN TRANSLATIONS FROM THE ENGLISH

Things'

Essence

事物的
shìwù de
'things'' 本質 / 本质
běnzhí / běnzhì 'essence, nature, innate character'
4

一切事物的
yīqiè shìwù de
'all things'' 本質 / 本质
běnzhí / běnzhì 'essence, nature, innate character'
1

内中本质
nèizhōng běnzhì 'internal essence'
1

事物的
shìwù de
'things'' 精髓
jīngsuì 'marrow, pith, quintessence'
3

事情的
shìqing de
'situation's' 真像
zhēnxiàng 'real situation, facts, truth'
1

TOTAL
10

Compare this with only three in translations from the French:

'ESSENCE OF THINGS' AS FOUND IN TRANSLATIONS FROM THE FRENCH

Things'

Essence

事物的
shìwù de
'things'' 本質 / 本质
běnzhí / běnzhì 'essence, nature, innate character'
2

本質 / 本质
běnzhí / běnzhì 'essence, nature, innate character'
1

TOTAL
3

The reason for this difference can only be surmised. Could it be due to a difference in how l'essentiel and 'what is essential' are grasped or perceived? Could it be that l'essentiel is much more likely to be interpreted as 'essential things', while 'what is essential' is more likely to be interpreted as 'the essence of things'?

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'The eyes'

Although most translators use 眼睛 yǎnjing 'eye' to translate 'eyes', there is some variation in translation. There is also some variation in the word used to render 'with' (where translators use an instrumental). Some translators add a word meaning 'only' ('only with the eyes'). See more...

Les yeux / 'the eyes'

The word for 'eye(s)' shows unexpected variety:

THE CHINESE WORDS USED FOR 'EYE(S)'
Eye(s)		Literal meaning	Occurrences
眼睛	yǎnjing	'eye(s)'	32
肉眼	ròuyǎn	'naked eye(s)'	13
雙眼	shuāngyǎn	'pair of eyes'	1
眼目	yǎnmù	'eye'	1
眼	yǎn	'eye'	1
Total			48

眼睛 yǎnjing is the normally expected word for 'eye'. It is interesting how many translators use 肉眼 ròuyǎn meaning the 'naked eye' or 'physical eye'. Normally 肉眼 ròuyǎn means 'naked eye', unaided by instruments such as telescope or microscopes. Here, it means the physical eye, as opposed to the 'heart'.

One translator uses 我们的肉眼 wǒmen de ròuyǎn 'our naked eye'.

In Chinese, of course, eyes are not expressed as plural. 眼睛 yǎnjing could be 'eye' or 'eyes'. The only translator to even hint at duality is the one that uses 雙眼 shuāngyǎn 'both eyes'.

With

As we saw, 23 translations make 'eye' into the agent of the sentence, slightly less than the 25 that use the instrumental 'with the eye'.

Most of these use 用 yòng, although there are few others:

INSTRUMENTAL VERBS/PREPOSITIONS
Preposition	Romanisation	Meaning	Occurrences
用	yòng	'use, with'	20
憑 / 凭	píng	'based on'	3
靠	kào	'relying on'	1
透過	tòuguò	'through'	1
Total			25

Only

A few translations use words meaning 'only', i.e., 'only with the eyes'. Specifically, these are (in combination):

'ONLY WITH THE EYES'
Preposition	Romanisation	Occurrences
光憑 / 凭	guāng píng	3
只用	zhǐ yòng	1
單是透過	dānshì tòuguò	1
光靠	guāng kào	1
Total		6

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'Cannot see'

37 out of 48 translations use a straightforward negative potential 看不見 / 看不见 (or 看不到) kàn-bu-jiàn (or kàn-bu-dào) to translate 'invisible'. However, there is some variation in this.

A few translators use 无法看见 wúfǎ kànjiàn 'no way to see' or 'not possible to see' in preference to the negative potential. 不可能看到 bù kěnéng kàndào 'not possible to see' is also found.

In addition, there are, of course, a few translations, as we saw above, where the negative element is paired with 是 shì, as in 不是能看得到的 bù shì néng kàn-de-dào de 'is not able to be seen'. In addition, there is the pattern dealt with below using 非...所见 fēi ... suǒjiàn 'cannot see'. See more...

Invisible

Resultative used

Unlike the great variety of resultatives in the preceding sentence used to render on voit bien 'one can see rightly', in translating invisible this sentence features mostly simple resultatives like 看見 / 看见 kànjiàn or 看到 kàndào, meaning 'to be able to see'.

COMPLEMENT OF RESULT USED
'To see'	Nuance	Occurrences
看見 / 看见 kànjiàn	'to see'	26
看到 kàndào	'to see'	17
看清楚 kàn-qīngchu	'to see clearly'	2
看清 kàn-qīng	'to see clearly'	1
看出来 kàn-chūlai	'to make out'	1
TOTAL		47

One translator doesn't use a resultative. The verb used is 见 jiàn, 'to see'.

Negative

Although the vast majority of translations use the normal negative resultative pattern (看不见 kàn-bu-jiàn 'cannot see'), there are enough alternative patterns to make it interesting.

EXPRESSING THE NEGATIVE POTENTIAL ('CAN NOT')
'To see'	Nuance	Occurrences
看不見 / 看不见 (or 看不到) kàn-bu-jiàn (or kàn-bu-dào)	'cannot see'	37
無法看見 / 无法看见 (or 看清) wúfǎ kànjiàn (or kàn-qīng)	'no way to see (clearly)'	5
(不是) 可以看得到 (bù shì) kěyǐ kàn-de-dào	'(not) can see'	2
(不是) 能看得见 (bù shì) néng kàn-de-jiàn	'(not) can see'	1
(不是) 看得到 (bù shì) kàn-de-dào	'(not) can see'	1
不可能看到 bù kěnéng kàndào	'not possible to see'	1
非...所见 fēi ... sǔo jiàn	'... cannot see'	1
TOTAL		48

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3. EXCEPTIONAL PATTERNS

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Translation not using 是 ... 的 shì ... de

One translator doesn't use 是 ... 的 shì ... de at all. This translator uses a more classical-sounding construction.

	TOPIC				Subject		Verb
	重要的东西 zhòngyào de dōngxi, 'important things'		并 bìng	非 fēi 'is not'	眼睛 yǎnjing 'the eye'	所 suǒ	见 jiàn 'see'

This uses 非 fēi 'not', a classical-sounding form, in preference to modern 不是 bú shì 'is not'.

The form 非眼睛所见 fēi yǎnjìng sǔo jiàn stands out from the rest for its use of Classical-style Chinese.

Negation is by 非 fēi, not by 不 bù.
见 jiàn is a fully fledged verb in its own right, not a part of an expression such as 看见 kànjiàn or 见到 jiàndào.
The formal or literary particle 所 suǒ is used (see below).
And there is no use of 是 ... 的 shì ... de, which is a vernacular expression.

并 bìng is an emphatic form used before a negative. Using 并 bìng serves to emphasise that the eyes can NOT see essential things, forming a contrast with the previous sentence stating that only the heart can see clearly.