第一回 : Headline
henning
July 10, 2008, 05:54 AM posted in General DiscussionThe headline of the first chapter is already a major roadblock:
第一回 甄士隐梦幻识通灵 贾雨村风尘怀闺秀
First Chapter / Act (第一回):
I identified 2 proper names:
- 甄士隐 Zhēnshìyǐn
- 贾雨村 Jiǎyǔcūn
So here is my try:
1. part: 甄士隐 has a dream/vision about the afterworld (?); in a vision he experiences / connects with the afterlife
2. part: 贾雨村 lives an ordinary life / life of a peasant (风尘) but dreams of / longs for (怀) the society ladies (闺秀 guīxiù)
Any other suggestions? If not I will continue with the actual story in the coming days - maybe it is easier than its title...
henning
January 15, 2009, 07:27 AMloveeu,
first of all thanks a lot for joining this effort! The more users participate the better the insights.
Regarding the translations: I personally do not really strive for nice English translations - as you mentioned someplace else, there are already good English versions out there. What interests me more are insights into the language - even at the cost of a very clumsy English.
The more direct, literal translations uncover the particularities better. I learned a lot already (e.g. the 故 that doesn't mean "story" at all).
BTW: I plan on continuing with this as soon as I worked through my backlog (probably in around 4 weeks).
lovveu
January 15, 2009, 07:08 AMIt is too hard to traslate. My girlfriend majored in English, I ask she to traslate it, but she can't.