182365438+February 22nd, Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre, French entomologist, animal behaviorist and writer. Born in Provence, France, a farmer in the village of Saint Rennes. In the following years, Fables spent time with his grandparents in Malaval, not far from the village. At that time, he was attracted by lovely insects such as butterflies and slugs in the country. At the age of seven, Fables returned to St. Rennes to start school, but that childhood has been deeply engraved in his heart. 1833, fabrice's family came to rodez, and his father made a living by running a coffee shop. Four years later, the family moved to Toulouse Fables entered the seminary in Toulouse, but dropped out of school, went out to make a living, worked on the railway and sold lemons in the market. Later, he passed the selection examination of avignon Normal School, won a scholarship, and obtained a diploma from an institution of higher learning after three years' study. After graduation, Fables, then 19 years old, began his teaching career in Cabentra. His course was the history of natural science. 1849 was appointed as a physics teacher in ajaccio, Corsica. The beautiful natural scenery and rich species on the island ignited his enthusiasm for studying animals and plants. Le Quinn, a botanist in avignon, taught him knowledge. After that, he followed Mocan-Tang Tong to collect flowers and plants everywhere. This knowledgeable tutor laid a solid foundation for Fabres to become a naturalist and embark on the road of scientific research. 1853, fabrice returned to the French mainland, was hired by a school in avignon, and moved his family into a simple house in the Rue Saint Dominique. 1857, he published "Observation on the Habit of Ophiuchus argus", which corrected the wrong view of Leon dufour, the founder of entomology at that time, thus winning the praise of French research institute and being awarded the experimental physiology prize. During this period, Fabers also devoted himself to the study of natural dye madder or alizarin. At that time, the red color on French soldiers' trousers came from madder powder. In 1860, Fabres obtained three patents for this kind of research. Later, at the invitation of Victor Durui, Minister of Education, fabrice was in charge of the organization and teaching of an adult night school, but its free teaching method caused some people's dissatisfaction. So he quit his job and settled in Orange with his family for more than ten years. In this decade, Fabres completed the first volume of ten volumes of Insects. During this period, he and his friends went to Wandu several times to collect plant specimens. In addition, he also met the British philosopher Mill, but Mill died young and their plan of "The Grand View of Vacrus Vegetation" died. At the same time, a great misfortune befell Fabres: he had six children, among whom Jules, the only son, shared the same interests with his father and loved observing nature, and died at the age of sixteen. Since then, Fables has dedicated several plants he discovered to Jules who died young to express his memory. The study of fungi has always been one of Fables' hobbies. 1878, he wrote many wonderful academic articles on the theme of Vacruzzi's fungi. He also made a detailed study of Kuaizi and described his fragrance in detail. Gourmets claim that they can taste all the flavors described in his works from real chopsticks. 1879, fabrice bought a barren stone garden in Ang, cellini, and lived there until his death. This is a barren land, but it is a land that insects love. In addition to living for their families, there is also his study, studio and testing ground, which allows him to concentrate on quiet thinking and devote himself wholeheartedly to various observations and experiments. It can be said that this is the world he has always dreamed of. It was here that Fabres finished the last nine volumes of Insects while observing and experimenting, while sorting out the observation notes, experimental records and scientific notes of insects in the first half of his life. Today, this former residence has become a museum, quietly located in a botanical garden with strong Provence style. Fabers insisted on self-study all his life, and successively obtained bachelor's degree, bachelor's degree in mathematics, bachelor's degree in natural science and doctor's degree in natural science. He is proficient in Latin and Greek and loves the works of Horace, an ancient Roman writer, and Virgil, a poet. He almost taught himself painting and watercolor painting, and many of his exquisite illustrations of fungi were praised by the Nobel Prize in Literature winner and French poet Frederic mistral. In his later years, Fabres's success in insects earned him the reputation of "Homer of Insects" and "Poet of Science", and his achievements were widely recognized by the society. Although fabrice has won many scientific titles, he is still as simple, shy and humble as ever, and leads a poor life. His talent was admired by scholars at that time, including British biologist Darwin, Belgian playwright maeterlinck, Nobel Prize in Literature winner of 19 1 1, German writer Jung, French philosopher Bergson, poet Malamei, Provence writer Roumani, and so on. Because Fables' experiment was accurately recorded in Insect Tales, which revealed many secrets of insect life and habits, Darwin called Fables an "imitative observer". When he lived in Cerini, many scholars and writers visited him in succession. Fabres had received Pasteur, British philosopher Mill and other scholars in his own residence, but his correspondence with them was not frequent. Victor Durui, Minister of Education, recommended Fables to Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte, who awarded him the Medal of Honor. French politician Raymond Poincare paid tribute to him by making a detour through Cerini. Fabres's works with multiple identities are varied: as a naturalist, he left many academic works on animals and plants, including Madder: Patents and Papers, Animals in avignon, Cuckoo, Mushrooms on Olive Trees, Grape Root Aphids and so on. As a teacher, he has compiled many textbooks of chemical physics. As a poet, he wrote many poems in Provence in southern France, and was affectionately called "Gadfly Poet" by the local people. In addition, he translated the works of some Provencal poets into French. In his spare time, he also creates some ditties with his small mouth. However, among Fabres's works, Insect is the longest, the most important and the most widely known one. This work not only shows his talent and literary talent in scientific observation and research, but also conveys his humanistic spirit and incomparable love for life to readers. 19 15, Fabers, a scholar who devoted his life to insect research, died at the age of 92. Accompanied by his beloved insects, he was quietly buried in an abandoned stone garden. However, his few photos and simple and beautiful words let readers catch a glimpse of this scholar: a kind old man with a fair face and a southern French style. Needless to say, he always has a comfortable smile on his lips, as if inviting you into his insect world. The original title of entomology can be directly translated into memories of entomology, and the subtitle is "Research on Insect Instinct and its Customs". * * * Ten volumes, each consisting of several chapters, most of which were completed in the waste rock garden. The first volume was published in 1878, and then it will be published about every three years. Original content, as its name implies, is the first and most intuitive record of insect research. For decades, the author has not been limited to the traditional methods of dissection and classification, but has directly observed a wide variety of insects in Provence, southern France, or brought them back to his home for breeding, vividly and in detail recorded the physical characteristics, feeding habits, preferences, survival skills, metamorphosis, reproduction and death of these small creatures, and then combined the observation records with his own ideas to write detailed and accurate notes. However, insect stories are different from ordinary scientific sketches or encyclopedias, and they exude a strong literary flavor. First of all, it does not aim at providing insect knowledge comprehensively and systematically. In addition to introducing natural science knowledge, the author also uses his own knowledge to skillfully connect the life of insects with human society through vivid description and anthropomorphic rhetoric, and move the moral and cognitive system of human society into the insect world in his works. He reflects on society through insects endowed with humanity, conveys his views on human society through personal experience and thinking in observation, and invisibly guides readers to re-understand the principles of human thought, morality and cognition in the "ethics" and "social life" of insects. This is not found in general academic articles, but it is very common in literary creation. Different from many literary works, entomology is not a world created by the writer, and the events described all come from his direct observation of insect life, and sometimes even some details of insect habits. Secondly, although the full text focuses on the life habits of insects with a lot of pen and ink, it is not as boring as academic works, and this book is an excellent literary work with beautiful writing. The author's language is concise and fresh, lively, with a relaxed and humorous tone, full of interest and poetry. The author's description of the sound, color, shape and taste of natural animals and plants makes readers integrate into the charming pastoral scenery of Provence in southern France in the19th century. The author used many vivid metaphors in his description. In addition, on the basis of Latin and Greek, he quoted Greek myths, historical events and allusions in the Bible, and sometimes there were provence or Latin poems between the lines. Fabers is known as "Homer of insects" and was nominated by Nobel Prize in Literature. Apart from the huge space and all-encompassing content of Insect, the beautiful and poetic language must be one of the reasons. Entomology combines science and literature, which means that it has both scientific rationality and literary sensibility. From time to time, the book reveals the truth, puts forward deep thinking on the value of life, and tries to integrate deeper meaning into science. The rational elements in the works are embodied in the author's research and thinking. In the observation and research of insects, Fabres repeatedly experimented and researched various materials, dared to question mainstream academic viewpoints, sought truth, pursued truth, tried his best to constantly explore and supplement knowledge structure, and did not easily draw conclusions from his own observation results, but also showed his skepticism and limitations. When expressing his feelings after observing insects, he clearly realized the arrogance of human beings and the barbarity of mechanized society, and often mocked the stereotype of human beings in his words, and seriously and calmly thought about the current social situation. The perceptual elements in this work are not only reflected in the content and language expression of the work, but also in the author's research and thinking. From the perspective of writing, the works are full of anthropomorphic insect life. From depicting the external characteristics of insects with human clothes, to symbolizing the courtship and mating process of insects with weddings, and then praising their contributions in nature, the author's mood changes with the fate of insects. In addition, in addition to the research records, the author also mentioned his poor and happy rural life, the courtyard where he lived, and the experience of catching insects outside, and introduced his children and even his domestic dog to the readers, which is in line with the word "memory" and full of human touch. In the process of research and thinking, the author adopts the methods of field experiment and observation to study living insects and observe life carefully, which is more perceptual than anatomical classification. His thoughts after many observations are all related to life, based on respect and love for life. It can be said that the emotional tone and motivation of this work is a kind of awe and concern for life and a clear understanding of survival; Deep feelings about life. Scientific rationality can last only under the support of this sensibility. Out of love for nature and life, the author is curious about life, so he carefully experiences every manifestation of life in observation and enjoys it, which in turn supports the scientific spirit of scholars' single-minded pursuit of truth. If Parr's Insect Story is beyond the reach of general literary works or general scientific works, strictly speaking, it also has its own limitations. According to professional standards, fabrice is a naturalist and an "unprofessional" entomologist. His literary techniques could not surpass all the outstanding literary works at that time. In the works, people, as observers, make insects with "humanity" in literary style, but it is not enough to become a monograph of sociology or ethics. In a word, this work is limited from any angle of entomology, sociology or ethics. At the same time, we should admit that Fabres was not the only person who combined scientific research with literary writing in history. However, insect stories have gained great influence and reputation with their own characteristics. Entomology is not deliberately written, but the result of the author's observation and writing. This sets the tone of the work: seemingly dull, it always reflects the author's feelings of cherishing and loving life, just like his simple and poor, but quiet and beautiful rural life. The observation record he left is unchanged, but his thinking to readers is flexible and changeable. He didn't force others to accept his point of view, but only brought readers knowledge, interest, aesthetic feeling and ideological enjoyment. The original Insect Tale has been translated into many languages since its publication, and there was a Chinese translation in the 1920s, which aroused great interest of readers at that time. By the end of 1990s, there was once again a "Fabres fever" in China's reading circle, and various versions, abridged versions and even full versions of Insects appeared. This translation selects some chapters from the ten volumes of the original. The protagonists are all insects familiar to domestic readers, such as ants, butterflies, crickets and spiders. , pay special attention to the literary and readable fragments in the original work. The original book Insects is ten volumes long, and each volume consists of many chapters. Each insect occupies a different space, and there is no inseparable connection between chapters about different insects, so it is different from novels and is not limited by the plot. This structure determines that the selected version can still retain the style and interest of the original. In addition, extracting the concise length of this book can also make readers enjoy reading with a relaxed mood under limited time and energy. The translation of this book was done by two translators. Liu Yingying translated chapters such as Locust, Crab Spider, Ribbon Spider, Cricket, Wasp, Green Goose, Scorpion of languedoc and Firefly. Wang Qi translated the Palace Spider, Crodo Spider, Wolf Spider with Black Belly, Cicada, Red Ant, Mantis, Big Peacock Butterfly and Small Striped Butterfly. All the translations have been carefully revised by Mr. Chen Wei, striving to be faithful to the overall style and expressive features of the French original to the greatest extent.