Middle school student translates new children's book

The cover of Su Hanting's translated version of King Arthur and His Knights. [Photo/Xinhua]

A Chinese version of classic children's literature, King Arthur and His Knights, released recently in Beijing was translated by a middle school student.

The author is Su Hanting, a 15-year-old boy from Guangdong. He's been dedicated to studying English since childhood and so far has won first prize in national English contests four times. He keeps reading original English literature in his spare time and says that British writer Oscar Wilde's work impress him a lot.

King Arthur and His Knights has been translated into many languages around the world. It also has dozens of Chinese versions, and the translation this time is the first from a middle school student.

For this book's translation, Su spent much of his time in libraries searching for materials and reading the original piece again and again.

He's also translated other children's literature, such as the Magic Tree House series. Another translation will be published soon.

According to Xinhua, the Phoenix Publishing and Media Group chose to publish Su's version as the boy translated the work from a child's perspective, which will be better for children to understand. At the same time, He Keyong, a professor from Minzu University of China, said that Su's translation is professional and smooth, and shows his deep understanding of the original work.