在给翻译家汪榕培的信中，约翰·登特-杨表达了自己的翻译理念:The translation had the specific aim of introducing this Chinese classic to a new audience. I mainly wanted to produce an English version which did not sound too obviously like translation and which was reasonably modern without being glaringly anachronistic.
《水浒传》简介《水浒传》是我国历史上第一部以农民起义为题材的章回体小说。作者是元末明初的施耐庵。它的原型是北宋末年山东人宋江领导的农民起义。在民间传说和说书人、文人创作的基础上，作者对材料进行选择加工并进行再创作，写出了这部小说。作品描述了起义从发生、发展到失败的全过程。
我国四大名著之一的《水浒传》是一部描写北宋末年农民起义的长篇小说，讲的是北宋末年以宋江为首的108位好汉组织的起义从发生、发展直至失败的故事，满腔热情地歌颂了起义英雄的反抗斗争和他们的社会理想，备受广大读者的喜爱，这广大读者说的可不仅仅是中国读者，老外们喜欢中国名著的也是大有人在。
The Romance of Three Kingdoms written in the fourteenth century is a famous historical novel in China. Based on the history of the Three Kingdoms period， this literary history describes the war between Wei， Shu and Wu from the second half of the second century to the second half of the third century. The novel portrays almost a thousand characters and countless historical events. Although most of these characters and events are based on real history， they are romanticized and dramatized to varying degrees. The Romance of Three Kingdoms is regarded as a literary masterpiece. It has attracted generations of readers since its publication， and it also exerts a widespread and lasting influence on Chinese history.
在刚刚过去的2025年研考中，英语二卷的作文题“向外国朋友介绍中国古典小说”难倒了不少考生。“满脑子都是四大名著，就是不知道怎么翻译！”“《西游记》我直接写成了‘Two people ,a monkey and a pig’！
