第一回 - Chunk 13
derek
July 24, 2008, 02:47 AM posted in General DiscussionI was confused by the next few sentences until I realised that the stone was still talking to the two masters. The stone seems to be talking about its unworthy qualities and praising the two masters, then asking them to take it into human society. Here are the next three sentences.
适闻二位谈那人世间荣耀繁华,心切慕之. 弟子质虽粗蠢,性却稍通,况见二师仙形道体,定非凡品,必有补天济世之材,利物济人之德. 如蒙发一点慈心,携带弟子得入红尘,在那富贵场中 , 温柔乡里受享几年,自当永佩洪恩,万劫不忘也.
Translation:
After hearing [you] two discussing the human worlds flourishing glory, [I] eagerly yearn for [this world]. [This] disciples nature, although unrefined, [its] character however [has] a little knowledge; besides, seeing the celestial form and substance of [you] two masters, [your] certain outstanding qualities, surely have the ability to repair heaven and aid the world, a virtue of benefit to the people. If [you] are able to provide a little kindness, carry [this] disciple into human society, [to] enjoy a few years at that wealthy and gentle place, [this disciple] would be eternally grateful and never forget [this kindness].
Breakdown:
适闻二位谈那人世间荣耀繁华,心切慕之. -> After hearing [you] two discussing the human worlds flourishing glory.
弟子质虽粗蠢,性却稍通 -> [This] disciples nature, although unrefined, [its] character however [has] a little knowledge;
(This is a "虽然....却...." clause, meaning "although....however....", but I am still not sure about the meaning of 稍通)
况见二师仙形道体, -> besides, seeing the celestial form and substance of
[you] two masters
定非凡品, -> [your] certain outstanding qualities
(not sure about the meaning of this, just did a literal translation)
必有补天济世之材, -> surely have the ability/talent to aid heaven and earth.
利物济人之德. -> a virtue of benefit to the world and people
如蒙发一点慈心, -> if receiving a little kindness?
(not sure about this 蒙 and 发 here, they seem to have opposite meanings?)
携带弟子得入红尘 -> carry [this] disciple into the human world/society
在那富贵场中 -> at that wealthy and honourable place
温柔乡里受享几年 -> enjoy a few years in this gentle town/place
自当永佩洪恩 -> oneself would be eternally grateful
(literally: I would be forever hugely grateful?)
万劫不忘也 -> never forget.
sanptest111
July 24, 2008, 07:11 AMthanks derek
liansuo
July 24, 2008, 07:35 AMYes, thank you! I am very happy watching you two unravel the mysteries of the stone. But I would like to ask a question because it seems like such a good opportunity to approach a really tricky area of Chinese:
Changye sensei – how does one understand the grammatical nature of 蒙 ? I fully agree with your translation – that is not the problem. But what strange function does this word have here– is it a verb, an adjective, a cross-breed of the two or even something like the representative of the speaker in this sentence?? What is the most basic meaning which lends itself to such varied use? Actually, I normally try to suppress such analytical attempts and just intuit and usually this works just fine. But maybe you, precisely because you do not naturally think along such hard and fast Western lines, have a word of deep wisdom? Don't go to too much trouble, but thank you in advance for any enlightenment.
changye
July 24, 2008, 08:42 AMHi liansuo,
Thanks for your question. In this case, 蒙 (meng2, receive) is a verb. One of the reasons why it is difficult to read old Chinese is that subjects are frequently omitted, and one-character words are more commonly used in old texts than in modern ones.
Furthermore, two consecutive verbs are often used both in ancient and in modern Chinese, such as 爱看，喜欢吃 and 蒙发, which easily makes us learners grammatically confused.
If you omitt words in black in (A) or (B), you would get the sentence (C) in the original text. On second thought, example (B) might be better than (A).
(A) 如果我能承蒙你们发给我的一点慈心 or
(B) 如果我能承蒙你们发给我一点慈心
(C) 如蒙发一点慈心
liansuo
July 24, 2008, 09:46 AMChangye sensei, thank you so much. That's splendid and helps. 万劫不忘也 and will be back for more... :)
henning
August 06, 2008, 06:02 AMI still have some problems with the
心切慕之
what does the 切 mean here?
changye
August 06, 2008, 06:14 AM切 = 切切，殷切 = earnestly
changye
July 24, 2008, 05:31 AMHi derek,
Haha, I also had the same difficulty when I read this part yesterday. It is actually a tough job to read a Chinese text without quotation marks.
适 (just) 闻 (heard)
稍通 = 稍微通达 In this case, I think it probably means "I'm not stupid" or "I'm passably smart".
如蒙发一点慈心 = 如果我能承蒙你们发给我的慈心
洪恩 = a huge favor