Still photography and camcorder videography

Shutter speed issue

Unlike the stills camera, a camcorder records a continuous set of images. When they're played back at the right speed, they trick the brain into thinking that what you see is a moving picture, in the same kind of way as the zoetrope years ago. When the camcorder records an image, it's put together in two halves, known as fields. These fields make up alternate parts of the picture, making - in total - one frame. Camcorders usually record at the rate of 50 fields per second, though this depends on the television standard used by the camcorder. For instance, this is the case in the UK (which uses PAL) and France and Russia (which use SECAM), but the US and Japan employ NTSC, which records 60 frames per second.

Now if your camcorder is set to record at, say 1/250 second, the camcorder will still supply 50 charges per second to the CCD, but these will only last for 1/250th second each. This leaves 4/250th sec where the CCD doesn't register a charge. When the camcorder transfers the image to tape, the missing section causes a kind of 'hiccup' when the images are replayed, also making the picture look jerky.

Apparently, the higher the shutter speed, the more jerky the result sequence will look like.

So what is the usage of it? It is only useful when you need to render the fast motion sharper and can compensate in some sort of way the hiccups.

So the slow shutter speed is used for what, blurring effect? Yes, but also, for better exposure.

The problem is with the DOF. When you manually select a fast shutter, such as a sports mode, the camcorder will open up the iris to compensate for the reduction in light reaching the CCD. The result will be that the depth of field is reduced. In most cases, this is fine, but if you want the majority of your scene to be sharp, ie using a wide depth of field, you would need to shoot in much brighter light.

Zoom

The reason why today’s camcorder can afford such a high ratio zoom length is that their CCD size is relatively small. With a smaller area of pixels needed to convert light into an electrical signal, the lens itself can become smaller too. The first camcorders used 1/2in and 2/3in CCD chips, today 1/4in CCDs are the norm.

This relative size ratio needs to be applied to the nominative focal length in order to really understand their effect. For APS-c size CCDs, this conversion factor is 1.5, thus the 50mm used on APS-c can have actually the optical effect of 75mm. Reversely, in order to have the effect of 50mm in an APS-c model, the focal length of the lens should be around 36mm.

This reverse side is more critical since today’s camcorder is more than adaquete in their telephoto end. But due to their small CCD size, in order to have a wide angle shot, the focal length of the lens has to be really small. You should look for camcorders with a focal range starting at 3.6mm or less (if they have a 1/4in CCD). Recently, it has been Panasonic that has done best in this department, offering a range of cameras with minimum focal lengths of 2.9mm, equivalent to using a 28mm wideangle on an SLR.

Lets take a look at the Tech Specs of Canon XL H1, flagship HD machine compared with Nikon D50.

	Canon XL H1	Nikon D50
Size of CCDs	1/3 inch, 16:9 widescreen	23.7 x 15.5 mm
Pixels on CCD	1.67 megapixels per CCD	5.1M
Video Effective Pixels	1.56M HD	3008 x 2000
Shutter Speed	1/15,000-1/4	1/4000-30sec
Lens F-Stop	f1.6-3.5	Depend on the lens
Focal Length	5.4mm-108mm(20x)	Depend on the lens

So how big is 1/3 inch?

Sensor Type Designation

Sensors are often referred to with a "type" designation using imperial fractions such as 1/1.8" or 2/3" which are larger than the actual sensor diameters. The type designation harks back to a set of standard sizes given to TV camera tubes in the 50's. These sizes were typically 1/2", 2/3" etc. The size designation does not define the diagonal of the sensor area but rather the outer diameter of the long glass envelope of the tube. Engineers soon discovered that for various reasons the usable area of this imaging plane was approximately two thirds of the designated size. This designation has clearly stuck (although it should have been thrown out long ago). There appears to be no specific mathematical relationship between the diameter of the imaging circle and the sensor size, although it is always roughly two thirds.

Common Image Sensor Sizes

In the table below "Type" refers to the commonly used type designation for sensors, "Aspect Ratio" refers to the ratio of width to height, "Dia." refers to the diameter of the tube size (this is simply the Type converted to millimeters), "Diagonal / Width / Height" are the dimensions of the sensors image producing area.

			Sensor (mm)
Type	Aspect Ratio	Dia. (mm)	Diagonal	Width	Height
1/3.6"	4:3	7.056	5.000	4.000	3.000
1/3.2"	4:3	7.938	5.680	4.536	3.416
1/3"	4:3	8.467	6.000	4.800	3.600
1/2.7"	4:3	9.407	6.721	5.371	4.035
1/2.5"	4:3	10.160	7.182	5.760	4.290
1/2"	4:3	12.700	8.000	6.400	4.800
1/1.8"	4:3	14.111	8.933	7.176	5.319
1/1.7"	4:3	14.941	9.500	7.600	5.700
2/3"	4:3	16.933	11.000	8.800	6.600
1"	4:3	25.400	16.000	12.800	9.600
4/3"	4:3	33.867	22.500	18.000	13.500
1.8" (*)	3:2	45.720	28.400	23.700	15.700
35 mm film	3:2	n/a	43.300	36.000	24.000

(*) Also called "APS-C". Many variants exist. APS-C film measures 25.1 x 16.7 mm, Sony's APS-C measures 21.5 x 14.4 mm, Nikon "DX" sensors measure 23.7 x 15.7 mm, while Canon has several (smaller and larger) variants, e.g. 22.2 x 14.8 mm and 28.7 x 19.1 mm.

It is fairly easy to see that the CCD size of Nikon D50 is 1.8 inch, which is roughly 21.5 times the size of a 1/3 inch CCD. This small size is a key reason for the image quality difference, especially in terms of noise and dynamic range. And here is why even the best camcorder today cannot be compared to real 35mm film. On the other hand, DSLR is quickly approaching the 35mm line of size. Some of high-end cameras is already equipped with a full frame CCD (Kodak DSC-14n, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II). It is not improbable that in a few years major compact cameras will be equipped with 35mm sized CCD and professional cameras will be equipped with CCDs whose size mount to traditional 120 (645) or even 5x7, 8x10.

Here is a list of the size of other canon less expensive camcorders. 2006-7

Specification Sheets
	CCD Size	# of CCD's	Optical Zoom	Still Res.	LCD Size	Lowest Price
Canon Elura 70	1/4.5	1	18 X	1280 x 960	2.5"	$394.88
Canon Optura Xi	1/3.4	1	11 X	1632 x 1224	3.5"	$1499.00
Canon Optura 30	1/3.4	1	12 X	1632 x 1224	2.5"	$469.99
Canon ZR80	1/6	1	18 X	640 x 480	2.5"	$284.00
Canon ZR65MC	1/6	1	20 X	1024 x 768	2.5"	$259.99
Canon ZR90	1/6	1	22 X	1024 x 768	2.5"	$284.99
Canon ZR70	1/6	1	22 X	1024 x768	2.5"	$309.99
Canon ZR85	1/6	1	20 X	1024 x 768	2.5"	$300.18
Canon Optura 10	1/4	1	16 X	1280 x 960	2.5"	$419.95
Canon Elura 65	1/4.5	1	16 X	1280 x 960	2.5"	$399.95
Canon Elura 60	1/4.5	1	14 X	1280 x 960	2.5"	$309.99
Canon Optura 40	1/3.4	1	14 X	1632 x 1224	3.5"	$499.95
Canon Optura 400	1/3.4	1	10 X	1632 x 1224	2.5"	$465.95
Canon Optura 500	1/3.4	1	10 X	1632 x 1224	2.5"	$588.99
Canon ZR85	1/6	1	20 X	1024 x 768	2.5"	$300.18
Canon ZR200	1/6	1	20 X	1024x768	2.4"	$278.00
Canon Elura 80	1/4.5 inch	1	18 X	1280 x 960	0.0"
Canon Elura 85	1/4.5	1	18 X	12180x960	2.5"
Canon Elura 90	1/4.5	1	20 X	1280x960	2.5"	$579.99
Canon Elura 80	1/4.5	1	18 X	1280 x 960	2.5"	$319.99
Canon Optura 60	1/3.4	1	14 X	1632x1224	2.5"	$592.99
Canon ZR-400	1/4.5	1	14 X	1152x864	2.4"	$362.99
Canon Optura 50	1/3.4	1	10 X	1632x1224	2.5"	$438.95
Canon Optura 600	1/2.8	1	10 X	2340x1736	2.5"
Canon ZR500	1/6	1	25 X		2.7"
Canon ZR700	1/6	1	25 X	1024 x 768	2.7"
Canon Elura 100	1/5	1	20 X	1152 x 864	2.7"

Kagi (键):A comparative analysis

Junichiro Tanizaki was one of the major writers of modern Japanese literature after Natsume Soseki (夏目漱石). Born to a rice merchant family in Tokyo in 1886, Junichiro ended his study in university of Tokyo in 1910 and published in the same yar his first short story, the tatooer, in which the influence of western culture, notably Edgar Allen Poe, is obvious. In 1923 he moved to Kyoto where he started to immense himself with traditional Japanese literature, particularly the regional culture of the Kansai region comprising Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. His famous masterpiece Sasameyuki ("A Light Snowfall", also called The Makioka Sisters), is considered a rewriting of the eleventh-century classic The Tale of Genji. After World War II Tanizaki emerged into literary prominence. He was first nominated Nobel literature prize in 1964, four years ahead of Yasunari Kawabata(川端康成) and one year ahead Yukio Mishima(三島由紀夫)[1] .

Most of Junichiro’s works are of a subtle sensuality which mount to eroticism. KAGI (1956, The Key) was such a story where the protagonist, Kenji Kenmochi, an old professor and ‘authority of classical objects’ is using diary to both fight senility and to liberate the sexual desire of his wife, Ikuko. Apart from writing in the diary stimulating phrases which is meant to be discovered later by his wife, he also willingly exposed the body of his wife in front of his young protégé, Kimura, in order to provoke the necessary emotional response of jalousie to help him accomplish sexual acts. This obsessive erotic desire is soon proved to be dangerous as he is finally paralysed out of cerebral apoplexy. Many of these elements reappeared in another novel, Diary of a Mad Old Man (1962), which depicts an aged diarist who is struck down by a stroke caused by an excess of sexual excitement. He records both his past desires and his current efforts to bribe his daughter-in-law to provide sexual favors in return for Western baubles.

Kagi was first adaptated in 1959 by the renowned japanese director Kon Ichikawa (市川昆), who is recognized for depicting japanese traditional life and explorering the depth of human nature[2]. The film won the jury prize in Cannes film festival, tied with L’aventura of Antonioni. The following passage is only a brief analysis of how the narrative is reconstructed in the filmic medium. Lack of space forbids further treatment of the topic here.

Major differences of the novel and film narration

Sexuality at Junichiro is foremostly and fondamentally a psychological matter. It is only depicted when it serves to reveal the hidden interrelationships of characters. Like other psychological motives, it is a subject to be discovered, not directly in our view. This approach is illustrated by the fact that the novel bear the title of ‘key’ which leads to the actual central object, the diary. And the diary itself is figuratively speaking a key to the sexual interaction between the diary keepers, the protagonist and his wife, Ikuko. Diary is choosen probably because of its immediate connotative intimacy – it is the key to a private and personal world – yet it is explicitly written for the other party, no longer for oneself. This literary device generates an unusual ‘textual’ relationship where the description of daily events are read and commented reciprocally. These textual actions, carried not on their conventional level in the real world but parrelle to them, created on purpose a rejuvenating energy source.

In the film, however, the importance of diary is almost totally eliminated. The narrative does not rely on such an object and adopts on the other hand the usual omnipresent mode. while this arrangement is not necessarilly problematic, it makes the key useless.

The film also made substantial modification on the character themselves. The role of Kimura, in particular, is considerablly strenthenged. He is no longer the passive props used by the two diary keepers but becomes an explicit opportunist. The point is made clear several of his added appearances. The first is the opening passage, when Kimura is seen addressing to the spectator (to Kenji), lecturing about the issue of senilty. Second, we notice that Kimura is an active seducer who sucessfully made the daughter, Toshiku, agreed to come to that hotel room in Osaka. Thirdly, near the end of film, by means of internal monologue, he actually confessed that he is now thinking of how to get rid of this – this means both the marriage and the relationship with Ikuko.

Another signification structual change is the murder. In the end of the film, both Ikuko, Toshiko and Kimura are poisoned by the old maid, Baya, whose confession is then refused by the investigating police. Obviously, this sense of tragical trivialness or black humour can be found nowhere in the original novel. As if suddenly, the whole structure of sexual perversity is covered with a black veil. This moral condemnation is definitely strange(Baya confessed that she killed them because they are ‘wicked’).

Pehaps in order to give more reasons to Kimura’s unfaithfullness, the film modified the financial situation of the Kenmochi family so that when Kenji died, the family is literally ruined – everything was taken by antique dealers who have already purchased them but agreed to leave them as long as Kenji lives.

Apart from these significant narrative reconstructions, the film differs from the novel in various visual elements. One shoot, the bamboo forest at night, is repeated several times. A buddha statue is also emphasized by making Kenji carried it from his study to bedroom. However, in terms of visual expressiveness, the sensuality typical of Junichiro is almost completely ignored. In this respect the film is insufficient, adhering to an almost natualist view. Although it is a color film, it gives me the impression of lacking anying noticable color. In the most recent adaption of this novel by Toshiharu Ikeda, this insufficiency is largely compensated (or even consider the Tinto Brass version, with its characteristic depicting of female flesh). For example, when Kimura is developing the film, he sees that the image of Ikuko emerge from the negative. But as they are black and white photos, the effect is totally unconvincing. Toshiharu Ikeda made this emergence visually annexed to the real body rising from the hot water, which is highly effective and fidel to Junichiro’s general line. A stern moral judgement, such as the one found in Ichikawa’s version, is not compatible with Junichiro’s aestheticism and is a most grave error.

A brief overview of the influence of Junichiro on Japanese Pornos

One of the unique phenomenon of Japanese cinema is its affinity with pornography. Many active and important figures of contemporary Japanese cinema, before they ‘officially’ started their career, had almost always already made some Pinkeiga or Pinkfilm[3]. Due to an explicit sensualism and controversial moral stance, Junichiro has always been a favorable object for filmic adaptation, especially Pinkfilm. The following list of japanese directors are all directly connected to Junichiro:

Tetsuji Takechi (武智鉄二), whose The daydream (Hakujitsumu, 1964), adapted from the homonymous novel of Junichiro, was regarded as the first important Pinkfilm. This film was also remade in 1981.

Two of the four internationally acclaimed great porno makers[4] have made their tribune to Junichiro: Tatsumi Kumashiro (神代辰巳) did the second adaptation of Kagi (1974) and Koji Wakamatsu (若松孝二) did the third (1983). The most recent fimic adaptation (1997) of this novel came from Toshiharu Ikeda (池田敏春).

Yasuzo Masumura (増村保造), the representative Japanese Nouvelle Vague figure and the ultimate admirer of Junichiro made Manji (1964, remade in 1983), Irezumi (1966) and Love for an Idiot (痴人之爱, 1967) from Junichiro.

Kaneto Shindô (新藤兼人) is another prominent figure of japanese new cinema. He made Acuto (1965) and Sanka (1972) from Junichiro.

Katsumi Nishikawa (西河克己), who did the famous Izu no odoriko[5] (the dancer of Izu, 1974), adapted from Yasunari Kawabata, did Junichiro’s Shunkinsho (1976).

Junichiro’s themes are of course not only of domestic interest: the notable foreign adaptation are La chiave(1983), the loosely adaptation of Kagi by Tinto Brass (well known softcore) and The Berlin affair (1985) of Liliana Cavani.

Conclusion

We have seen that extensive modifications are made to accomendate the specificities of film medium. In the case of Kagi it is even more challenging due to its original form of diary. This mode of narration is completely literary and need to be rebuilt into the film. But this same need of reconstruction gives an extra degree of freedom on the part of the film maker. That is one of the reasons that this kind of novel is always adapted more than once and every new generation sees new potentiality in it[6].

As Ruth Bennedict pointed out, the Chrysanthemum and the Sword coexist in a japanese society. Junichiro is an important symbol because he manifest one of these two polarities of japanese culture. Along with Yasunari Kawabata, he represents the ‘good’, peaceful way of aestheticism, which is constantly contradicted, subverted by the ‘bad’, perversity and agressiveness.

---

[1] Yukio Mishima got another nomination at 1967. But like Junichiro he did not win.

[2] The homage of Kon Ichikawa to Junichiro is better illustrated by his version of The fine snow (1983), arguably Junichiro’s chef d’oeuvre.

[3] Strange enough, Nikkatsus Corporation, one of the most important base of such activities, refered to these people ‘Roman’ and today their DVD release are categorized under the title of ‘Roman Porno series’.

[4] The other two are Nagisha Oshima (大岛渚), favored by French producer, who supported his In the Realm of the Senses (1977) and Shuji Terayama (寺山修司) known by Fruits of Passion(1981).

[5] Played by two extremely popular stars and dominant figures of early 80s TV show in China, Momoe Yamaguchi(山口百惠) and Tomokazu(三浦友和).

[6] Consider Les liasons dangereuses, it is also adapted by Roger Vadim and Stephen Frears, with totally different focuses.

Augustine的几个句子，觉得翻译的不够准确，在此提出

Quid mihi es? Miserere ut loquar.
Quid tibi sum ipse, ut amari te iubeas a me?
你对我算什么？求你怜悯我使我能够说出。我对你算什么，而你竟命我爱你？（现行中译）
你对我意味着什么？怜悯我使我能够说出。我对你又意味着什么，你竟命自己被我所爱？(拙译)
What art thou to me? Have mercy that I may speak. What am I to thee that thou shouldst command me to love thee（outler version）

Dic animae mea, ‘salus tua ego sum’.
Sic dic ut audiam.
请告诉我的灵魂说：“我是你的救援。”请你说，让我听到。（现行中译）
告知我的灵魂，我是你的救赎。如是说以便我懂得倾听。(拙译)
“Say to my soul, I am your salvation.” So speak that I may hear.

Quid enim est quod volo dicere, domine, nisi quia nescio unde venerim huc, inistam dico vitam mortalem au mortem vitalem?
主，我的天主，我想说什么呢？我只能说我不知道从那里来到此世，我要说，来到这死亡的生活中，或是生活的死亡中。（现行中译）
我还有什么可说，我的天主，除了，我不知自己从何处来到这速朽的生机或勃发的毁灭中。
For what do I wish to say, O Lord my God, but that I know not whence I came hither into this life-in-death. Or should I call it death-in-life?

作者电影

Arnaud Desplechin曾说自己受Seinfeld及Woody Allen影响很大。什么！阿诺明明是正宗知识分子，大学教授，怎么会对肥皂剧青眼有加？
陆陆续续看了一些Seinfeld，明白为什么了。Seinfeld和Friends，以及后来的Sex and City实在有很大区别---后面这两个才真是为工业社会不明真相的消费者炮制的。
而Larry David所搞的，其实和Woody Allen是一个路线，只不过受个人才能，社会经历的限制，显得没有Woody那么上档次。
首先，Larry曾是个loser，他不需要像Woody那样，伪装出一个inferiority complex. Woody明明已经是富得流油了，却还喜欢装瘪三；Larry本来已经是瘪三，所以从来没想过要装瘪三 --- 这样一来，少了不少《层次》。
其次，Larry大部分时间和人民群众混在一起，自然谈不上引经据典，嘴里经常冒出来要让人查字典的东西（但也不能说他不好学，个别词的正确发音他还是知道的）--- 这样一来，又少了不少文化。
但若说Woody Allen搞的是作者电影，那我要说，肥皂剧也可以是作者电影。
建立这一类比意在将多余的，非必需的精英式关怀从作者电影中剔除。
因为作者电影不是别的，而就是反映一个作者的生活及情感。
这个作者不一定要是学者，而这个追求也不一定是要形而上的追求，简而言之，《作者》不等于《知识分子》。

学—识

辜鸿铭这个老古董在全民学英语的热浪中居然又被翻出来作为楷模。据说他养父深得中式私塾之三昧，让他通过背诵浮士德全剧来学习德语---而全然不提供释义。此法我乍听之下颇有狐疑，如果小辜在德国长大，这倒和背论语有异曲同工之妙，但难道在英国乡下也是遍地讲德语的人士？
德语虽和英语在构词法上较为接近，但语法与句法上均差距甚大，决不是可以背着背着就通了的。
这种耸人听闻之法也许可以吓倒乡下人---反正城里的事都是那么不可思议！
另者，据说之后为学好英语，小辜又再接再厉连背莎剧37部。
老莎的语言固然是反映了一个时代的风气，但如何就那么楷模，直到现在还要奉为金科玉律？单就语言来看，他那实在是算不得什么典范，唯一特色就是文白夹杂，上至公卿九族，下至贩夫走卒，他都是张口就来，见人说人话，见鬼说鬼话。
戏剧有这个需要，因为这样一来你的舞台一下子就伸展到宫廷之外了（就在这里领先法德浪漫派整整两百年），但其他文体则并非如此。
之所以他的东西长盛不衰，恐怕还是他的剧作内容新，也就是我们常说的《思想艺术性》了。
如此说来，小辜花那么大力气是不是有点本末倒置？要学书法，结果学的一手笔墨纸砚制造术！
最好笑的是老辜晚年有云 :
《今人习西语终生无所成，皆因幼时未能则以则以真正有根基之作品为发蒙之用。》
不知辜先生这么根基扎实，最后又倒腾出来个什么东西？

Some interesting phrases I came across learning latin :

Propter mores humanos pacem veram non habebimus
It is human nature that deprives us of real peace.

Nil sub sole novum.
Nothing is new under the sun.

Popolus stultus viris indignis honores saepe dat.
Stupid people often give credit to unworthy kind.

Otium sine litteris mors est.
Leisure without literature is death.

Nihil sine magno labore vita nortalibus dat.
Nothing without great effort will give life to a mortal.

Numquam periculum sine perculo vincemus.
We never conquer danger without any loss.

Virtutem enim ulius viri amamus.
We love other’s virtue

Poena istius unius hunc morbum civitatis relevabit sed periculum semper remanebit.
Penalty will relieve the disease of state, but danger will always remain.

蔡明亮回顾展 （二）旧稿

《你那边几点？》确系百分之百固定镜头，因此这部片子考究的不是别的，就是演技。
蔡和法国方面的合作开始浮出表面（《洞》是第一次），因此要扯上巴黎，杨贵媚出了趟国，大家都跟着出国。
拍巴黎没什么不好，但这一段的情节根本没有支撑点，没有自己独立的发展，纯粹为台北方面提供一个《时间上的参考点》，则完全是编剧的失败。
小康对时间的执著，源于在那个《往前拨七小时》的城市里有一个他所认识的女孩子（几乎算不上认识），但那又怎样？他又不是没交过女朋友。我最看不惯什么事情扯上巴黎总是要大惊小怪一番，要是那个城市不是巴黎，而是任何其他欧洲城市，亚洲城市，甚至是纽约，还会有人对你念兹在兹吗？
因为这里的主旨是失去父亲后家人所感到的巨大空洞，这是创作的原动机，也是真正有根基的地方，女孩去法国干什么？不知道，也想不出来。在巴黎走来走去，旅馆房间，咖啡馆，餐厅，电话亭，小卖部，无非就是想表达一个文化隔阂，初到贵地的心境。干什么，这能算是故事吗？
至于与香港女孩的邂逅，未遂的同性爱，又是仓促收尾。
向特吕佛致敬，向让皮埃尔致敬，怎么看着都别扭，蔡的电影跟特吕佛有何共通之处？一说起法国电影就是新浪潮，一说起新浪潮就是特吕佛，我怎么就看不出特吕弗的电影能够如此代表法国呢？
那个顺水漂下的旅行箱，怎么看也是有根白线在旁边牵着。
但蔡在这部片子里所展现的指导演员的能力真是惊人，特别是他们之间的互动，肢体语言，我就不信这些演员都这么出色？全凭自己的悟性？
一个场景的力量来自多方面，导演所能想到的顶多只是一半，这个片子里最出色的一场无疑要数陆奕静在鱼缸前说《想不想我？》冲击力真实。但写在本子里，恐怕看不出什么名堂。
那个角度，那个鱼缸的照明，那条鱼的体型，动作，当然还有陆说话的方式，赋予这个场景真正的生命力。

临摹者

诗的语言要有新意，意象也是如此，这两个手段都是为了达到同一目的，这个目的不是别的，就是所谓的诗意。可是某些译者往往忘了这种诗意才是真正的目的，却费尽心机试图同时保留原诗之韵格及意象，就好像临摹者高价购得大师当年作画时所用的同一种笔，同一种纸，以力求某种“表面的真实”和权威。这样做出来的东西可以很像，但是不会有同样的神韵，这个神韵是什么？就是创作动机，因为你不是在同样的创作动机下拿起画笔的，你也就不可能画出同样的一笔，况且，临摹者根本没有创作动机，就好像译诗者不是在写诗一样。人家一辈子才出一本诗集，每首诗后面都有一种感情境况，也就是所谓的动机，这个看不见的东西，译者没有，也就当做不存在了，于是一两个月就把别人一辈子的工作“翻译”了过来，这可能吗？译诗，绝对是个重新创造的过程。正因为原始的意象和韵之间的配合需要在目标语言中重新建立，舍弃某些韵，或者舍弃意象，都应该是合理的。这就要求译者把自己摆到和原作者同样的高度，而不仅仅是两种语言都只识皮毛的“译者”。

L'albatros

Souvent, pour s'amuser, les hommes d'équipage
Prennent des albatros, vastes oiseaux des mers,
Qui suivent, indolents compagnons de voyage,
Le navire glissant sur les gouffres amers.

A peine les ont-ils déposés sur les planches,
Que ces rois de l'azur, maladroits et honteux,
Laissent piteusement leurs grandes ailes blanches
Comme des avirons traîner à côté d'eux.

Ce voyageur ailé, comme il est gauche et veule!
Lui, naguère si beau, qu'il est comique et laid!
L'un agace son bec avec un brûle-gueule,
L'autre mime, en boitant, l'infirme qui volait!

Le Poète est semblable au prince des nuées
Qui hante la tempête et se rit de l'archer;
Exilé sur le sol au milieu des huées,
Ses ailes de géant l'empêchent de marcher.

信天翁(郭宏安 译)

水手们常常是为了开心取乐，

捉住信天翁，这些海上的飞禽，

它们懒懒地追寻陪伴着旅客，

而船是在苦涩的深渊上滑进。

一当水手们将其放在甲板上，

这些青天之王，既笨拙又差惭，

就可怜地垂下了雪白的翅膀，

仿佛两只桨拖在它们的身边。

这有翼的旅行者多么地靡萎！

往日何其健美，而今丑陋可笑！

有的水手用烟斗戏弄它的嘴，

有的又跛着脚学这残废的鸟！

诗人啊就好像这位云中之君，

出没于暴风雨，敢把弓手笑看；

一旦落地，就被嘘声围得紧紧，

长羽大翼，反而使它步履艰难。

（拙译如下）

常常，为了取乐，水手们

捕来信天翁，这海上的巨鸟

这懒洋洋的旅伴

追随在苦涩深渊上滑行的夜船

一朝置身甲板之上

这青天之王，笨拙而又羞惭

只能将雪白的大翼

拖在身旁仿似无用的双桨

往昔鲲鹏之态而今安在？

而今蹒跚学步

饱受宵小戏弄

将其郁郁之色饱览

诗人啊！你也曾是云中翱翔

傲视风雨，笑看弓手

落入平川不也是为嘘声所困

鸿鹄之志徒增烦恼！