tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-738113247606980586.post4418780180972708734..comments2024-02-09T20:54:51.131-08:00Comments on Jeffinous: A Japanese Koan (公案)jeffyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05421291893109806678noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-738113247606980586.post-55540842935270248652023-07-02T22:12:25.402-07:002023-07-02T22:12:25.402-07:00Hopefully, this is an improvement after all these ...Hopefully, this is an improvement after all these years...<br /><br />京都綢商兩嬌娃,<br />大女雙十次十八.<br />兵將利刃可殺人,<br />姐妹雙目斬千雄.<br /><br />Sunday, July 02, 2023jeffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05421291893109806678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-738113247606980586.post-33944980897282349472015-10-02T12:07:08.068-07:002015-10-02T12:07:08.068-07:00You are absolutely correct. I had forgotten the i...You are absolutely correct. I had forgotten the intented meaning in the too concise Chinese version. Thank you for your correction. However, we can safely assume the father's permanent home is in the same city.jeffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05421291893109806678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-738113247606980586.post-54039026667668859952015-10-01T21:42:26.439-07:002015-10-01T21:42:26.439-07:00Two daughters of a silk merchant live in Kyoto =/=...Two daughters of a silk merchant live in Kyoto =/= Two sisters of a Kyoto silk merchant<br />2 girls live in Kyoto. They are daughter of a merchant. We don’t know where the merchant lives...Cyrilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17015938880296840507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-738113247606980586.post-52257597211473684662012-01-05T22:13:48.871-08:002012-01-05T22:13:48.871-08:00Being a perfectionist, I knew my nagging was telli...Being a perfectionist, I knew my nagging was telling me that there are more rough edges to be polished. So in the end, the poem evolved, though retranslated back into English will result in different wording but not its meaning. <br /><br />京都綢莊姐妹花 Two sisters of a Kyoto silk merchant, pretty as flowers <br />年華二十與十八 One aged twenty, the other eighteen. <br />兵將刀劍殺眾生 Swords of militia can kill multitudes of life, <br />雙嬌媚視斬萬軍. Seductive glances from these two beauties can slay entire armies.jeffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05421291893109806678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-738113247606980586.post-85604394764411673412012-01-05T22:07:00.592-08:002012-01-05T22:07:00.592-08:00On this Christmas day, I have a bit more time to l...On this Christmas day, I have a bit more time to look at the translations of the poem into Chinese. Originally, it was translated on the fly and is more of a direct translation. Now here is a more polished version,<br /><br />京都綢莊姐妹嬌<br />年華二十與十八 Thanks lxf for suggesting 與,"and" <br />兵將刀劍殺眾生<br />此女媚視斬萬軍.<br /><br />If I were to retranslate back into English, it would be quite different from the original version.<br /><br />Two sisters of a Kyoto merchant store.<br />One aged twenty, the other eighteen.<br />Swords of the militia can kill multitudes of life,<br />Glances from these girls can slay entire armies.jeffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05421291893109806678noreply@blogger.com