Chunk 17
liansuo
July 31, 2008, 07:39 AM posted in General Discussion
Well then, if my newly-learned magic on the computer works, I am ready to put my head on the block, too:
石头听了,感谢不尽.
When the stone heard this, he did not know how to thank him enough.
那僧便念咒书符,
The monk (began) to recite prayers and to draw mysterious symbols
大展幻术,
a great show of magic!
将一块大石登时 变成一块鲜明莹洁的美玉
and turned (变成), the big rock (将一块大石)in no time flat into a neat shining piece of jade
且又缩成扇坠大小的可佩可拿.
which he then shrunk down to the handy size of a fan pendant.
那僧托于掌上,笑道:
The monk held it in his palm and said laughing:
'形 体倒也是个宝物了!
From a point of view of physical appearance you are a real gem now!
还只没有,实在的好处,
But that alone is not yet a real advantage (I am pretty sure this comma is in the wrong place – my book does not have it)
须得再镌上数字,使人一见便知是奇物方 妙
So I will also engrave some numbers (not characters?) on you, so that people know at first glance what a rare and wonderful thing you are.
liansuo
July 31, 2008, 06:39 PMChangye sensei, thank you very much for all the care and thoughtfulness invested to make my sloppy post into a learning experience for any potential reader. I think that Henning will be above all extremely pleased to find you turning this site into a (in my eyes) high-light of Chinese-pod. I would not have hung around had you not continued to offer your insights and solutions and -- most of all-- your enthusiasm!
henning
August 01, 2008, 02:05 PMWow, you have been busy - thank you guys. Some catching up to do now before I can actively join again...
henning
August 07, 2008, 06:43 AMEventually catched up until here and yes, this is turning pretty awsome. I hope we can drive this forward together.
By the way: it was very important for my wife that both of my sons and their cousin in China share one character in their Chinese names.
changye
July 31, 2008, 01:46 PMHi liansuo,
看样子你们轮流承担翻译，太好了！我相信henning一定高兴死了，希望以后都这样继续下去。 Liansuo 女士, let me just add some supplemental notes to your translation, for the sake of other possible readers of this thread. 你干得好！
那僧便( = 就) 念 (recite, read out) 咒 (spell) 书符 (card)
大展幻术 = 大大 展开 (show) 幻术
将一块大石登时变成一块鲜明莹洁的美玉
They changed the big stone into a neat shining jade in no time.
….which is why the names of three central characters, 賈宝玉, 林黛玉, 薛宝釵, all have “玉” in them. Furthermore, they are all cousins (i.e. in the same generation in a family), and therefore their names have one Chinese character in common (in this case, 玉), which is one of traditional Chinese customs, although I’m not so sure about that. I heard something like that before…..
笑道 ( = 笑着说) 形体 (figure) 倒也 (= 却, 竟然) 是个宝物了
须 ( = 必须) 得 (need to) 再 (still) 镌上 (engrave) 数 (some) 字 (characters).
使人一见便 ( = 就) 知是奇物方妙 = 让人一看就知道它是奇物方妙。
In this phrase, the character 方 is worthy of attention. There are words such as 方士 (necromancer) and 方术 (supernatural arts, magic) in Chinese.