Section of Letter from Hattie

Section of Letter from Hattie

Musicians; Chinese language--Studying and teaching--Foreign Speakers; Servants; English language--Studying and teaching--Chinese Speakers; Bible--Translations; Mail steamers; Correspondence

Harriet writes about the missionaries' Chinese language speaking skills and her Chinese lessons. Then, she explains certain complications they had getting and sending mail.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

Loose, The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection

Unpublished

n. d.

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_655

He is very anxious to return but I
presume the Board will not send him
back. They certainly would not if they
were fully informed with regard to
him. I was quite surprised to learn
that Dr Happer [u] very [/u] [u] seldom [/u] spoke to a
Chinese audience. Although he will
not admit it I have not much doubt
that one reason he could not get it
better was because he had no musical
ear to distinguish the tones. I often
think how very easy it would be for
you to tell them. Mr Folsom however
is something of a musician so that
it dont always follow but I'm sure it
would be easy for you to get it Dr Kerr
in his business can get along with a
very small vocabulary and [u] does [/u].
He was much amused when in England
some one asked him how long he
was here before he learned [u] all [/u] the language
Mr Preston as I have often mentioned speaks
it very nicely far better than any one
else here. The ladies do not many
of them attempt to learn only enough to get
along with the servants. The Chinese say
that Mrs Preston speaks very well but Mrs
Kerr they cannot understand at
all. She told me coming over that
the tones had never troubled her at all
to get, but I have found now that the

reason is because she has never got
them & it is useless to attempt talking
Chinese without This report includes
all of our Mission except Mr & Miss Noyes,
who are studying away & cherishing
the hope that sometime they will
be able to "talk Chinese." I am sure
I do not know whether I shall ever speak
it [u] well [/u] but I hope that bye & bye I will
be able to talk so that they can
understand me. To-morrow I am
going to commence reading an hour
a day with "Li Sin shang" Henry's
teacher I do not believe I am learning
to speak as fast as I would if Aho
did not speak English but I think
likely this disadvantage[--s--] is balanced
in other ways. I have read a sort
of easy translation of the Old Testament
in six volumes by Mrs French &
the New Testament [--bi--] in one volume
by Mr Piercy and some other little
books. These are translations in
colloquial. To-morrow I am going to
begin with Li Sin shang & read them
over again. I wish you could see
Li Sin shang. I think he is the
nicest looking Chinaman I have
seen so perfectly gentlemanly & so
very neat & nice about his dress
& manners. He is studying English

and Henry teaches him a little
while everyday. He is a very well
educated Chinaman & I have not
the slightest doubt that if he had the
chance would stand high in
any English or American college.
I wrote thus far and then thought
I would leave the rest of this sheet
to answer your letter that was to
come by the October steamer. But
alas alas the October steamer brought
us no letters from [u] home [/u]. We were
at Conference at Mr Prestons when
the steamer came in with the Stars &
Stripes raised telling us that the
American mail was on board
Mr Preston sent a servant off
immediately for the missionaries
letters and when Conference
adjourned there was a general
distribution and a general rejoicing
in which however we could not
participate very much as we only
had letters from Mrs Folsom & Dr
Happer. However after our return
in the evening a letter was brought
in from the dear ones in Jackson
which consoled us very much & now
that we know that "All is well" I suppose

we must [u] try [/u] and wait patiently
for the next steamer from "Fa ka kwok"
("The country of the flowery flag" as the
Chinese have it.) We conclude you
must have been a little too late in
writing as the steamer left San Francisco
the 1st instead of the 3d of the month
& I presume it will do so hereafter.
If the letters come all right next time
we shall be so glad I should be so
sorry to miss a mail. And now
I must tell you how very [u] very [/u] glad
I am that you have learned to know [u] my [/i]
[u] star [/u]. Whenever I see it it turns my
thoughts to the days when I have
watched it in [u] America [/u]. I often "hunt
up the stars that belong to each one.
It will seem funny to you to receive
congratulations for the success of your
music on the Fourth in the middle
of winter so perhaps I had better say
nothing about it. I am glad Loda Daily
can sing so well. Her folks will be so glad.
How I would enjoy just one little sing
with you as in days past. Tell me
something about the choir sometimes
Do Em & Sarah & Clara all sing alto in
the choir. And now I must say
good-bye with ever so much love to all
from Your own loving sister Hattie.

他着急回中国
但我猜传教组织不愿意让他回去。
如果他们知道关于他的一切，
那么他们绝对不会让他回到中国。
我很惊讶地发现
Happer医生很少向中国听众传教。
虽然他从不承认，
但我怀疑他不会中文
是因为
他听不懂声调。
因为你学过音乐，
你一定会很容易听懂中文的声调。
但是，
尽管Folsom先生学过音乐
他的声调说的不清楚，
所以这个逻辑说不通。
尽管Kerr医生不会说很多中文，
他说的足够开他的诊所。
有一次，
他在英国，
有人问他学中文用了多久，
但是他感觉到还没学够。
正如我已经提到的，
Preston先生的中文说得最好。
这里的外国女人只学了
足够多的中文来和她们的仆人交谈。
中国人来说Preston太太的中文说得好，
但是Kerr太太说着听不懂的中文。
有一次Kerr太太向我吹嘘
中文的发音很简单，
但我现在发现了

她觉得中文发音很容易的原因
是因为她不管发音！
除了我和Henry以外
我刚才告诉你
所有的传教士的语言进步。
我和Henry还在学习
/
因为我们希望有一天能说一口流利的中文。
我不知道我的中文是否会流利，
但我希望说得足够好，
人们会理解我。
从明天开始，
我要跟着Henry的老师李先生学习。
我学中文的速度慢是因为
我的中国朋友Aho的英语说得很好，
我不需要和她一起练习我的中文。
/
我读了一本French太太翻译的
六卷旧约译本简本，
我还阅读了Piercy先生对新约的一卷翻译，
除此之外，
我还看了一些中文小书。
这些是口语翻译
而不是书面翻译。
明天与李先生在开始看。
我想给你介绍李先生，
对我来说，
他是我见过最帅的中国男人，
他真的是个绅士，
衣着整洁，
举止端庄。

他正在学英文，
每天Henry 教他一点点中文。
他受过很好的教育，
我相信他会在任何美国或英国大学中表现出色。
/
/
我打算用这封信的其余部分来回答你的来信,
/
/
不幸的是，
10 月的轮船没有带来来自家乡的信件。
我们在Preston先生家开会时
轮船到了，
轮船升起一面美国国旗，
表示来自美国的信件已抵达。
Preston 先生先生派了一个仆人
去取回传教士的信件。
开完会，
其他传教士高兴地收到了他们的信件，
但我们没有收到我们来自家的信件，
我们只收到了
另外两位在中国的传教士的信件：
Folsom 太太和
Happer 医生。
但是，
晚上我们终于收到
一封来自Jackson【地名】的信件，
那封信说，

家里的每个人都很好，
所以我们很放心。
现在我们不会那么焦急地等待下一艘轮船从家里带来消息。
我们猜你写信太晚了，
因为现在轮船在每个月的 1 号
而不是 3 号离开旧金山，
从今往后，
轮船将永远在每月一号出发。
下个月
收到大家的来信我会很开心。
我很高兴你学会了
识别天空中
我最喜欢的星星。
每当我看到它，
我就会想起
我在美国看同一颗星星的时候。
我很高兴你在 7 月 4 日成功地演奏了音乐，
但也许你会觉得当你收到这封信时已经是冬天了，
收到关于 7 月 4 日的消息很奇怪，
也许我根本不应该提及。
我很高兴Loda Daily唱得这么好，
她的父母一定为她感到骄傲。
下次写信，
请告诉我更多关于合唱团的事情，
Em，Sarah，和Clara
都还唱中音吗？
现在，我必须说再见
我非常爱你们大家。
你亲爱的姐姐，Hattie。

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