BCP Social Sciences & Humanities HADC 2023 Volume 22 (2023) 19 The C-E Translation Strategies of Verbal Yue in Classical Literature from the Perspective of Relevance Translation Theory -- Comparison on English Versions of The Legend of Curly-bearded Man Jiayi Li a, Chaoju Tang b School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, 611730, China a 450752272@qq.com, b 10069466692@qq.com Abstract. The full text of the Tang Dynasty the Legend of Curly-bearded Man is short and pithy, but the plot is wonderful and full of ups and downs. A large number of dialogues in the text play an extremely important role in promoting the plot of the story and enriching the characters. There is no doubt that verbs will be used in the dialogue of the characters, and the ancient Chinese verb "Yue(曰)" is of high frequency. In the full text of more than 2000 words, there are 52 words "Yue" to start the dialogue and shape the character. Therefore, it is a challenge to deal with the translation of "Yue" in ancient Chinese in different contexts. From the perspective of relevance translation theory, this paper makes a comparative analysis of the translation strategies and expressive effects of the word "Yue" in the English versions of Zhou Jinsong, Wang Jing, Yang Xianyi, and Gladys Yang, as well as Birch's version of Qiu Yan Ke Zhuan, so as to explore the different translation treatments of the same Chinese in different contexts and demonstrate their justifications. It hopes to provide some references for the translation of "Chinese culture going out" and related classics. Keywords: Relevance Translation Theory; The Legend of Curly-bearded Man; "Yue"; Translation Strategy. 1. Introduction The Legend of Curly-bearded Man is a legendary literary, which takes the political pattern of the late Sui Dynasty and the early Tang Dynasty as the narrative background, tells the legendary stories of legendary figures, mainly describes the story of Qiu Yan Ke, a chivalrous figure who aspires to be a king in the late Sui Dynasty, who is convinced by Li Shimin— the "Son of God". The story reflects the people's hatred of war and their desire for peace and stability in the world. The full text takes the love story of Hongfu girl and Li Jing as a clue, and successfully depicts the characters of "three swordsmen of the wind and dust"-Li Jing, Hongfu and the bearded man. The bearded man: a hero and swordsman who is generous with a lot of money, jealous of evil and has the temperament of a leader. Li Jing: a "commoner" with "courtesy", full of "talent" and "courage and insight", calm, elegant and considerate. Hongfu girl: a beautiful, brave, resourceful, straightforward and cheerful swordswoman in troubled times. There are many versions of the legendary story, and the original author is uncertain. Thus, the Chinese source text of The Legend of Curly-bearded Man recorded in various documents may be different because of different versions, and there are many versions of translations of The Legend of Curly-bearded Man, among which the English version is of a large number. There is a lot of relevant literature on the study of The Legend of Curly-bearded Man, among which the existing literature on the analysis of the translation is also discussed from various theoretical perspectives, such as the discussion of the translation of culture-loaded words based on Skopos theory [1]. Other literature has also been analyzed from different theoretical perspectives. This paper makes a contrastive analysis of the speech verb "Yue" in four English versions: (1) Zhou Jinsong's version, abbreviated as "Zhou version"[2]; (2) Wang Jing's version, abbreviated as "Wang version"[3]; (3) Yang Xianyi's and Gladys Yang's versions, abbreviated as the "combined version"[4]; (4) Birch version [5]. Because these translations are based on roughly the same BCP Social Sciences & Humanities HADC 2023 Volume 22 (2023) 20 translation of the original text of The Legend of Curly-bearded Man. Details of each translation are shown in Table 1: Table 1. Brief introduction of The Legend of Curly-bearded Man and its translation Chinese title Author Document carrier English title Translator Press and year of publication "虬髯客传" unknown 12 Lectures based on Translation No title Zhou Jinsong University of Electronic Science and Technology Press, 2016 "虬髯客传" Du Guangting Selected Legends of the Tang Dynasty The Man with Curly Beard Yang Xianyi, Gladys Yang Foreign Languages Press, 2007 "虬髯客传" Du Guangting Tang dynasty tales: a guided reader. Qiuran Ke Zhuan (The Tale of the curly-bearded guest) Wang Jing World Scientific, 2010 "虬髯客传" Du Guangting Classical Chinese literature: an anthology of translations: from antiquity to the Tang dynasty. The curly- bearded hero (Ch′iu jan k′o chuan) Birch, C. Columbia University Press, 2000 2. Relevance Translation Theory and its Application Relevance Theory proposed by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson is based on the theory of conversational implicature and the theory of communication. On this basis, the relevance theory of translation is developed. Relevance translation theory emphasizes that verbal communication is an ostensive-inferential act. First of all, translation is the communication between the translator and the target audience. For the target reader, the translator is the communicator [6]. The process of translation mainly involves three subjects, namely, the author, the translator and the target reader, who have undergone two "ostensive-inferential" processes in the process of intralingual and interlingual translation. In the process of translation, the translator should not only accurately grasp the explicit meaning of the author of the original text, but also analyze the style, tone and background of the author of the original text to infer the implicit purpose of the author. At the same time, the translator should also consider the language and cultural habits of the target language, that is, the target readers, so that the target readers can get the core information with the least effort— to find the optimal relevance, that is to say, the purpose of the author of the original text and the requirements of the target readers are similar to those of the original text in cognitive context. What's more, relevance translation theory is more suitable for the context of dialogue, emphasizing the role of cognitive context in translation. Cognitive context mainly includes (1) the information of the physical environment, which mainly includes the information of the scene of discourse and dialogue. (2) Memory information, including previous dialogue content, cultural information and knowledge reserves [7]. The translator should regard language as a continuous process of response to an action and should not be separated. The expression of language must be triggered by a thing or action, and the current or subsequent results of language expression should be considered. So Cognitive context is very important for the translator to grasp the driving factors and ways of expression under the speech. Relevance translation theory holds that contextual effect and processing effort are the abstract dimensions of mental processes. The closer to achieving the optimal contextual effect, the less processing effort is spent to understand the text, and the stronger the relevance is [8]. BCP Social Sciences & Humanities HADC 2023 Volume 22 (2023) 21 Because the word "Yue" is a dialogue prompt word that is closely related to conversational translation, it has a strong pragmatic function on the content of the conversation. Therefore, it is helpful to explore the translation skills of the ancient Chinese verb "Yue" by exploring the hidden meaning behind the conversation of "Yue" from the perspective of relevance translation theory, transferring it to the language receiver, and finally reaching a consensus on understanding between the two sides. 3. The Translation Strategy of "Yue" and Case Analysis In ancient Chinese, the word "Yue" is often used as a verb to express the meaning of "say, the name" and so on, and has a variety of textual functions: (1) Expressive function: to express the meaning of "say" and "name". From the perspective of relevance theory, the word "Yue" can be regarded as the expression of action, which can express the speaker's approval, recognition or presumption of the stated facts or opinions. Through the use of the word "Yue", the speaker regards the content as credible, persuasive, or authoritative, thus strengthening the credibility of the discourse. (2) Statement function: In ancient Chinese, "Yue" can also be used to state facts and express opinions. From the perspective of relevance theory, a statement means the description and display of facts, opinions, ideas, etc. When the word "Yue" is used in a statement, it can be used not only to describe one's views and opinions but also to quote other people's views and opinions. In language communication, the declarative function is the core of information transmission and the basic element of language communication. (3) Questioning function: to express the questioning of a certain viewpoint or statement. From the perspective of Relevance Theory, an interrogative is a pragmatic act of raising doubts and asking for information from the other party. The interrogative sentences with the word "Yue" are used to express doubts, doubts, and verifications about a certain point of view or statement, thus triggering dialogue and thinking between the two sides of the communication. (4) Citation function: In ancient Chinese, "Yue" can also be used to cite an authoritative or classical document. From the perspective of relevance theory, the citation is a kind of citation and recognition of authority, classical literature, etc. The use of the word "Yue" can not only quote experience, knowledge and wisdom but also quote the research results of contemporary experts and scholars, thus increasing the credibility and persuasion of the discourse. (5) Indicative function: Sometimes, "Yue" can also be used to indicate or emphasize a certain thing or point of view. From the perspective of relevance theory, a deixis is a linguistic act of pointing to an object. The indication of using the word "Yue" can be used to point to a certain concept, viewpoint, or fact, so as to enhance the explanatory and expressive power of discourse. These functions can be used alone or in combination to achieve more accurate, vivid, and rich language expression. According to the theory of relevance translation, the textual functions of "Yue" in The Legend of Curly-bearded Man are various, which can be divided into three categories: (1) word "Yue" connects with a large amount of information. (2) word "Yue" connects with a small amount of information. (3) word "Yue" connects with a moderate amount of information. Among them, large amount units need to use an amplification strategy, small amount units also need "shrinkage" or omission strategies, and moderate-amount units mainly adopt literal translation or omission strategies. 3.1 Word "Yue" Connects with a Large Amount of Information Word "Yue" in ancient Chinese is connected with a large amount of information in many contexts. When the sentence in which the word "Yue" is located has dense information, the "amplification strategy" is generally adopted. At this time, according to the specific discourse function, it can enrich the expression of information by adding corresponding scenes, using phrases, adverbs, or using multiple language points to describe together, so as to increase the connotation of the word "Yue". 3.1.1 Adding Scenarios Adding a scene mainly means that the dialogue takes place after a certain scene. In order to better integrate the dialogue into the background, the corresponding scene information can be added to form BCP Social Sciences & Humanities HADC 2023 Volume 22 (2023) 22 a larger information unit by means of related information vocabulary, tense, voice, or discourse, so as to better connect the scene and the dialogue. For example: Example 1:[原文]公既去,而执拂者临轩,指吏曰:“问去者处士第几？住何处？” [周本]Seeing him off, the whisk holder drew close to the window and urged the errand boy: "Hurry up to ask the man just left who he is. Where he stays?" [合译本] When he was leaving, she said to the officer at the door, "Ask him his name and where he lives." [Wang本]After Li Jing had left, the singing girl with the red whisk stood by the window, pointed [at his back], and asked an official, "What is the rank of the gentleman who is leaving? Where does he live?" [Birch本]When Li had taken his leave this girl followed him into the anteroom and pointed him out to an attendant, whom she asked to ascertain Li's position, family situation, and address. In Example 1, the original text shows the alertness and extraordinary courage and insight of the Red Buddha woman. She judges from her cognition that the visitor is not an ordinary person, but a talented and knowledgeable person, so she is eager to make friends with him. The original text “指 吏曰:'问去者处士第几？住何处？'" reflects her eagerness to know the relevant information of the guests, laying the groundwork for the follow-up story." However, if the word "Yue" simply shows the direct statement function of "speaking" at this time, a lot of information will be lost, especially the highly concentrated semantic text of ancient Chinese, which needs to be dealt with strategically when translated into other texts. Therefore, how to deal with the English translation of the word "Yue" here is very important. From the above four versions, we can see that each version has translated the direct meaning of the word "Yue". The Zhou version uses "urged", the combined version uses "said to", the Wang version uses "asked", and the Birch version uses "asked to". However, different versions deal with its indirect or implied pragmatic meaning in different ways. As far as the large information unit is concerned, in terms of tense, when it is used to describe the state of the guest's departure, although the grammatical expression skills of the Zhou version and the combined version are different, they both use the continuous tense, the Zhou version "Seeing him off", the combined version "When he was leaving". Both the Wang and Birch versions use the perfect tense. In terms of context and semantic relevance, Zhou's version and the combined version express the eagerness of the Red Buddha woman by adding the continuous tense context, and Zhou version adds the information of "hurry up" "on this basis. From the view of the scene information increment, the use of a series of verbs and tenses in Zhou Ben undoubtedly embodies the modality of the characters in the scene: "Seeing him off"-> "drew close to the window"-> "urged the errand boy"-> "hurry up to ask". It expresses the feelings of the Hongfu girl who loves and cherishes talents and is eager to make friends with visitors to the greatest extent. Although the combined translation also uses the continuous tense, there is almost no other incremental information. And the translation— "she said to the officer at the door" causes ambiguity to the original understanding. Wang and Birch versions are more faithful to the semantic association with the original text, so they use the perfect tense, which is more in line with the reality of the scene from the perspective of relevance theory. Thus, readers can understand its meaning less through hard reasoning. Except for a series of verbs similar to Zhou Ben: "After Li Jing had left"-> "stood by the window"-> "pointed [at his back]"-> "and asked an official", Wang version also adds "the singing girl" to clarify the identity of the Hongfu girl, and in the specific content of the word "Yue", the Wang version accurately translates the original text "处士第几" (What is the rank of the gentleman). Similarly, Birch used "Li's position". In the choice of words, the word "gentleman" in Wang version also implies the cultivation of the Hongfu woman, which is not the general "the singing girl". This is not achieved in other versions. Birch version also adds the information of "family situation" "to the original text, which further reduces the reader's reasoning efforts. Birch version also adds the information of "family situation" "to the original text —"处士第几", which further reduces the reader's reasoning efforts. When translating the original text "执拂者临轩", Birch has handled it very BCP Social Sciences & Humanities HADC 2023 Volume 22 (2023) 23 well: "This girl followed him into the anteroom and pointed him out to an attendant". From the perspective of relevance translation theory, it achieves the maximum relevance, and the definition of the identity of the Hongfu girl also adopts the vague meaning of "this girl" ", which shows the translator's respect for her personality. From the perspective of relevance translation theory, the addition of scenes helps to better connect the context, make the logic more reasonable, make the picture switching more natural, and make readers understand the implied meaning of the original text with less reasoning effort. 3.1.2 Adding Semantic Content of Mentality and Action As a language bridge, the translator should try his best to adapt to the psychological world of the original author and the characters. Mentality mainly involves the personality, emotions, beliefs, intention, and other psychological factors of the communicator [9]; action mainly involves the potential purpose and mind expression of the communicator. On the basis of a thorough understanding of the content of the original text, the translator adds the semantic content of the character's dialogue mentality and action, which can highlight the tone, expression, intention, desire and other states of the character's dialogue, reflect the way or purpose of speaking, enrich the character and make the dialogue more vivid. From the perspective of relevance translation theory, such additional translation can reduce the translator's effort to understand and make it easier to understand the core meaning of the original text. Example 2:[原文]公曰:“杨司空权重京师,如何？”曰: "尸居余气,不足畏也......” [周本]Lijing spoke out his worries: “How about Premier Yang? He’s almighty all over the capital area, after all.” The girl assured him: “There’s no need to be afraid of a walking skeleton......” [合译本] “But Councillor Yang has great power in the capital; how can it be done?” said Li. “Never mind him — he’s an old imbecile,” she replied. “Many maids have left, knowing that he will fall......” [Wang本] Li Jing said, “Minister Yang has absolute power in the capital. What to do about that?” She said, “He lives like a corpse with only one breath left and is not to be feared......” [Birch本]“But what can I do,” Li Jing asked, “when Councilor Yang has such power now in the capital?” “There is little to fear from him. He is the corpse in which a little breath remains.......” Example 2 is the dialogue between Hongfu Girl and Li Jing. By discussing the content of the article in depth, we can understand that Li Jing's question reflects his concern, while Hongfu girl's answer is mainly to appease Li Jing. Because it contains the character's psychology of speaking, if the word"Yue" only shows the function of speaking, it may lose its connotation. Thus, the translation of the word "Yue" here is also worth exploring. As for the two words "Yue" in the question and answer in Example 2, the four translators have different ways. Zhou version is translated as "spoke out his worries" and " assured". The combined translation is "said", "replied". Wang version is translated as "said" in both places. The first word "Yue" in the Birch version is translated as"asked", while the second is omitted. From the perspective of relevance translation theory, Zhou translation carries out the incremental translation of the psychological activities of the characters, which can better reflect the mentality of the characters in the dialogue and help to highlight the character. The translation of the word "Yue" in other versions respects the literal meaning of the original text and carries out the literal translation. But they also reflect the psychological activities and action intentions of the characters to varying degrees in the specific content of the dialogue. As far as relevance translation theory is concerned, it reduces the difficulty of readers' reasoning. Example 3:[原文]卧客答曰:“姓张。” [周本] “Zhang,” answered the man lying in bed. [合译本]Still lying on the bed, he answered that it was Zhang. [Wang本]The reclining guest answered, “My last name is Zhang.” [Birch] “My name is Zhang,” said the stranger without shifting his position. BCP Social Sciences & Humanities HADC 2023 Volume 22 (2023) 24 Example 3 is a dialogue between a bearded man and Hongfu girl. When translating the word "Yue" in the two question-and-answer dialogues, Zhou version added the action—"lying in bed" showing the character of the sleeping guest" who is informal, careless and not easily changed by the outside world. However, it omitted the word "Yue" from the Hongfu girl's words. The other versions all have translated two words "Yue", in which the combined version uses indirect speech —" he answered that it was Zhang" when translating the first" Yue", and Wang version uses "answer" and "replied" for the aim of distinguishing. Although Birch version uses a "said", it also translates the incremental action "without shifting his position" based on the first word "yue". From the perspective of relevance translation theory, adding semantic content of mentality and action is helpful to better understand the speech content behind the word "Yue", which makes the logic more reasonable. 3.1.3 Adding the Necessary Information in the Social World The social world includes social occasions, social environment, and normative communicator speech [10]. When translating dialogue, it is necessary to add some potential social rules information in the original text and consider the influence of the social environment and social and cultural system on the discourse. Therefore, in order to make the content of ancient Chinese dialogue more reasonable, it is sometimes necessary to add the content expression of social ritual sense to the connotation of the word "Yue". Example 4:[原文]公前揖曰:“天下方乱, 英雄竞起。公为帝室重臣,须以收罗豪杰为心,不宜踞 见宾客。” [周本]Seeing this, Lijing bowed and came up with the words as the following: “Your Honor, heroes rise against the times of turbulence and the Premier, as the backbone of the empire, is supposed to be the model in canvassing for talents instead of distancing them by such a reception." [合译本]Li approached and said with a bow, "The empire is in turmoil and the bold are contending for power. As chief councilor to the imperial house, Your Highness should be thinking of how to rally good men, and should not receive visitors sitting.” [Wang本] Li Jing stepped forward, bowed to him, and said, "The world is in turmoil at this moment and the heroic fellows all have risen to compete for the throne. You, sir, are a mighty minister of the imperial court, with heavy responsibilities. You ought to occupy yourself with thoughts of congregating and collecting extraordinary people. It is inappropriate to receive guests while reclining on a couch." [Birch本]But LiJing came forward, bowed and said, “The whole empire is now in turmoil, as would-be leaders strive for mastery. Your Highness is supreme in the service of our imperial house. Your first concern should be to win the respect of men of heroic mettle, and this you are hindering by remaining seated to receive those who seek an audience." In Example 4, what the original text wants to show is that Li Jing is brave and resourceful, and willing to offer advice in front of Yang Su with reason and evidence. At the same time, it lays a foreshadowing for the subsequent story. If the original text information of the word "Yue" is translated equally here, it will make the dialogue illogical. Therefore, it is very important to add some necessary social hidden rules here. When translating the word "Yue", the four versions all show its declarative function. Zhou version is translated as "came up with the words as the following", while the other three versions are translated as" said". The treatment of the word "Yue" is reflected in the social hidden rules and actions when speaking, as well as the increment of social information when speaking. Except for Zhou version, the other versions all use the serial verb structure, which is a series of interlocking actions to increase the continuity of actions, among which Wang version is the best— "Li Jing stepped forward, bowed to him, and said, "series of actions are displayed side by side." It shows Li Jing's wisdom and sincerity. From the perspective of Relevance Theory, this translation method more clearly explains the social environment of speech, makes the dialogue more logical, reduces the reader's reading doubts, and allows the reader to understand the implied meaning of the original text with less reasoning effort. BCP Social Sciences & Humanities HADC 2023 Volume 22 (2023) 25 3.2 Word "Yue" Connects with a Small Amount of Information At this time, translation mainly adopts"narrowing processing", and can use strategies such as omission to reduce redundant information. Example 5:[原文]问其姓,曰:“张。”问其伯仲之次。曰: "最长。" [周本] Lijing felt a bit relaxed and the talk was soon geared into a pleasant chatting, by which, not only was the girl known to be surnamed Zhang and the eldest daughter in her family...... [合译本]Asked her name, she told Li it was Zhang, and that she was the eldest in her family. [Wang本] Li Jing asked for her family name. She answered, “It is Zhang.” He also asked her rank in the family and she replied, “I am the eldest.” [Birch本]Li Jing asked about her surname and her position in her family, and she replied that she was the eldest child of the Zhang family. In Example 5, the original text is about some quick questions and answers for Li Jing to understand the family situation of the Hongfu girl. The quick conversation and same category information which include a small amount of information makes a weaker manifestation of the expression function of the word "Yue". Therefore, it is a low-condensed semantic text of ancient Chinese, which needs to be dealt with strategically when translated into other texts. It can be seen from the above version that, except for the Wang version, the other three versions all adopt the reduction of information. Among them, Zhou version strategy is to refine the key information of the dialogue and change its form into the third person narrative sentence, and compress the information after the word "Yue". However, the information about scene switching has been added before, and the natural switching of the picture has been carried out. Wang version is more faithful to the original text, and still literally translates the function of the word "Yue" as "asked"— "answered" and "asked" —"replied", highlighting the response function of the word "Yue" in the expression function. However, it is too rigid and redundant. Birch version has also tried its best to convert indirect speech, that is, to reduce it. From the perspective of relevance theory, the use of "narrowing processing" can help readers quickly grasp the core short information of the dialogue content, instead of being entangled in a large number of meaningless dialogue expressions, and readers can also reduce the reasoning steps and shorten the reasoning process to achieve the best relevance. 3.3 Word "Yue" Connects with a Moderate Amount of Information The word "Yue" in The Legend of Curly-bearded Man sometimes links up a moderate amount of information. At this time, there are two kinds of translation situations: First, in the absence of a large number of continuous dialogues, we can adopt the translation strategy of literal translation of the word "Yue", which can be translated as said, explained, spoke, queried, answered, questioned, etc. If the sentence contains multiple meanings, it can be divided into two parts. Example 6:[原文]曰:“靖之友刘文静者与之狎, 因文静见之可也。兄欲何为？” [周本]“My friend Liu Wenjing keeps an intimate relationship with him because Liu thinks highly of him,” Lijing queried: “Why should you ask for a visit like that?” [合译本]“I have a friend named Liu Wenjing who knows him well,” said Li. “We can arrange an interview through Liu. But why do you want to see him?” [Wang本]Li Jing said, “My friend Liu Wenjing(劉文靜) knows him intimately. It is possible to see him through Wenjing; however, my elder brother, what do you want to do?” [Birch本]“I have a friend named Liu Wenjing, who knows him well,” answered LiJing. “I can arrange an introduction through him. But what is it you want of him?” In Example 6, the original text appears here in the question and answer between the bearded man and Li Jing. There is no large number of continuous questions, and the content of Li Jing's answer is also moderate in information content, without more implied physical environment information or BCP Social Sciences & Humanities HADC 2023 Volume 22 (2023) 26 memory information. Therefore, the translation strategy of the word "Yue" here is mainly to show its declarative function. As for the translation of the word "Yue", Zhou version adopts "queried "; Birch version adopts "answered" and "said" is adopted in both the combined version and Wang version. Among them, the Zhou and Birch version mainly embody the function of reply in the statement function, while the combined version and Wang version only show the function of prompt words in speech. Generally speaking, the literal translation of the word "Yue" is reflected in the four versions. In the layering of sentence meaning, as the original sentence contains two layers of meaning, Zhou version, combined version and Birch version all use commas and quotation marks to break the sentence, and insert the English translation expression of the word "Yue", and then translate the next meaning group. Although Wang version does not make such an obvious break in form, it also uses a semicolon to break two meaning groups in the sentence. From the perspective of relevance theory, when the word "Yue" is used to connect a moderate amount of information, it is helpful for the reader to directly understand the equivalent information of the original text by expressing its declarative function through literal translation. At this time, the translator does not need to make additional translation processing, so as not to outsmart himself. Also, it is significant for the reader to grasp the information of the translation better and faster, to shorten the reader's reasoning process, and to achieve "optimal relevance". Second, when there are a large number of continuous dialogues, we can adopt the strategy of omitting the word "Yue" and directly using punctuation marks to introduce the content of the speech. 例7:[原文] 曰: "年几？"曰: "近二十。"曰: "今何为？" [周本] “How old is he?” “Nearly 20.” “How about him for the moment?” [合译本] “How old is he?” “Only twenty.” “What is he now?” [Wang本]The guest said, “How old is he?” Li said, “He is almost twenty years old.” The guest said, “What is he doing now?” [Birch本]“How old is he?” “Nineteen only.” “And what is his position at present?” Example 7 takes place in the conversation between the bearded man and Li Jing. The main content is that the bearded man asks Li Jing about Li Shimin. It is characterized by intensive dialogue and moderate amount of information. In this case, the word "Yue" appears frequently, mainly as a dialogue prompt, and has no other implied meaning, so the translation of the word "Yue" is worth studying. In the above four versions, Zhou version, the combined version and Birch version all adopt the omission of the word "Yue", and directly use quotation marks to introduce the content of the speech, so as to avoid repetition and ensure fluency of the dialogue. Wang version directly translates the word "Yue" and uses the same word "said", which is rather stiff, not only monotonous in content but also redundant in information and interrupts the fluency of dialogue and loses the vitality of dialogue between characters. From the perspective of relevance theory, when dealing with a large number of continuous dialogues in which the word "Yue" connects with a moderate amount of information, omitting the English translation of the word "Yue" and directly using quotation marks instead of its indicative role is not only conducive to the fluency of writing but also conducive to reducing reading barriers, shortening reasoning time and directly understanding the meaning of the original text. 4. Conclusion As a cohesive device to connect the speaker and the content of speech, the word "Yue" appears very frequently in ancient Chinese. In order to accurately translate the connotation of the word "Yue", we need to deal with it from different translation perspectives. The translator's different approaches can be discussed, and the translation effect of the target text can be seen with the maximum relevance to the original text and the minimum inference effort of the reader. Under the guidance of the ostensive-inferential principle, optimal relevance principle and cognitive context, the translator needs to fully consider the sense of picture and information of the BCP Social Sciences & Humanities HADC 2023 Volume 22 (2023) 27 dialogue and dig deeply into the implication of the original text. In addition, the translator needs to maintain the maximum equivalence between the original text and the translation, so that the language features and styles of the original work can be fully displayed in the translation. In the four selected versions of The Legend of Curly-bearded Man, the translator's different translation methods of the word "Yue" in ancient Chinese can be summarized as follows: (1) When the word "Yue" connects with a large amount of information, the "amplification strategy" can be adopted to add the necessary information of the dialogue situation, mentality, action and social world. (2) When the word "Yue" connects with a small amount of information, we can adopt "narrowing treatment" — change the dialogue into the third person or narrative sentence. (3) When the information content of the sentence is moderate and there is no continuous dialogue, the word "Yue" can be translated literally; when there is continuous dialogue, the word "Yue" can be omitted and the content of the speech can be introduced directly with punctuation marks. Therefore, the translator should choose appropriate translation strategies according to the information content of the original text, so that the language features and characters of the original text can be displayed as much as possible. At the same time, the translator should pay attention to the flexible use of various translation techniques of the word "Yue", so as to avoid making the reader feel bored and lose the enjoyment of the picture when reading the translation. References [1] Tang Chaoju, Lv You, Li Qin. On the Purpose of English Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Legendary Novels --Based on the Analysis of Five English Versions of Qiu Yan Ke Zhuan [J]. 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Novel Dialogue Translation under the Guidance of Relevance Theory [D]. Shanghai Jiaotong University, 2019. [8] Guo Xia. A Study on the English Translation of Dialogues in Jin Ping Mei [D]. East China Normal University, 2019. [9] Shen Kelin. Translation of Fictional Dialogue under the Guidance of Adaptation Theory [J]. Journal of Taiyuan City Vocational and Technical College, 2013 (11): 180-181. [10] Chen Shouwei. Dialogue Translation from the Perspective of Speech Act Theory. South Wind, 2014 (6): 46-46.