第一回: Chunk 18
henning
August 07, 2008, 04:32 PM posted in General Discussion然后携你到那昌明隆盛之邦,诗礼簪缨之族,花柳繁华地,温柔富贵乡去安身乐业 ."石头听了,喜不能禁,乃问:"不知赐了弟子那几件奇处,又不知携了弟子到何地方? 望乞明示,使弟子不惑."那僧笑道:"你且莫问,日后自然明白的."说着,便袖了这石, 同那道人飘然而去,竟不知投奔何方何舍.
“Afterwards we will carry you to that flourishing and prosperous country, which is the home of educated and important people, a place bustling and lively [lit: place of flowers and willows of all sorts], a lush and rich country. We will go and make it your peaceful home for content work”
The stone heard this and was unceasingly happy, so he asked:
“I don’t know why you give this disciple such exceptional favors and I also do not know to which [exact] place you [plan to] carry this disciple? [The stone] begs for an explanation to become less confused”
The monk replied smiling: “Do not ask any further. After the day you will naturally understand.” Saying that he put the stone in his sleeve and - together with the Daoist monk - floated away in the sky. It is not known to what border [they will] travel, at which place and what residence shelter will be taken.
然后携你到那昌明隆盛之邦
Afterwards carry (携) you to that flourishing (昌明), prosperous (隆盛) country (邦)
-> 昌明 and 隆盛 obviously mean more or less the same according to erong
诗礼簪缨之族
The folk (族) of book of songs (诗礼) [-> educated?] and of “hat and ornaments” (lit: 簪: hairpin:缨hat decoration, 簪缨 hat and ornaments, here I interpret it as “rich&important people”)
花柳繁华地,
A place of flowers (花柳) and willows of all sorts (繁华) -> I think I turn this into “bustling and lively”
温柔富贵乡
Soft and gentle, rich country
去安身乐业
Go and make [it] home (安身) for "happy working" (乐业)
["happy working" - hello?]
石头听了,
The stone heard that
喜不能禁,乃问
Was endlessly happy [note the double negation with 不禁]
乃问
so (乃) he asked:
不知赐了弟子
Don’t know (不知) [why] give (赐了) Disciple
那几件奇处,
Those few exceptional (奇) favours / gifts / advantages (处)
又不知
also do not know
携了弟子到何地方?
carry this disciple to which place?
望乞明示,
I beg / desire (望乞) an explanation (明示)
使弟子不惑
To make the disciple “unconfused” [“less confused” sounds better to my ears]
那僧笑道
The monk replied smiling
你且莫问,
Do not ask (莫问) further (且)
日后自然明白的
After the day you will naturally understand
说着,.
Saying that
便袖了这石,
Then taking the stone in the sleeve (袖 can be a verb!!!)
同那道人飘然而去,
Together with the daoist monk floated in the sky (飘然而去)
竟不知投奔何方何舍
Border not know go to and take shelter (投奔) at which place (何方) and what residence (何舍)
henning
August 08, 2008, 07:53 AMThanks for the helpful corrections & additions, Changye.
Actually I like your 飘然而去 much, much better than the one I found ("floating in the sky"). I am not that fond of flying monks and godesses, although China sometimes seems to be obsessed with such fantasies. I would be less sceptic if they had a pseudo-scientific explanation of the anti-gravity devices they use for this transportation mode.
I hope I will remember the 竟 and the 日后 - maybe I will start a collection of those old function words after I come back from Canada in 2 weeks. I guess we will also re-encounter the 族 in the family sense.
安身: in erong I found the meaning "settle down" "make a home" which to me seems to fit in better here than "take care for your body".
liansuo
August 08, 2008, 08:19 AMHenning, that was a short appearance! Does the Qin Guan quote also hold good for translation groups? ;) But you know -- I always hoped you would start a dictionary for our novel and make us aware of special usage, variations etc. of specific terms.
changye
August 08, 2008, 08:42 AMHi henning,
You are right. There is the chengyu 安居乐业 that means "settle down and work happily", or 安身立命 that also has a similar meaning. And therefore 安身乐业 might be one of variations of these 成语. Please be noted that 安身 also has the meaning "安静身体，保全自身" in old Chinese.
henning
August 08, 2008, 09:23 AMliansuo,
no holiday this time, but a conference in a city called 多伦多.
We should seriously beg John to implement a group-vocab-feature / group dictionary.
liansuo
August 08, 2008, 10:28 AMI just saw your post on "features". You did get into action! Maybe today's ultra-lucky date will help? :)
(And it is true -- it takes me a long time to retrieve older chunks and comments already now. It will be hopeless in a hundred years...)
Have fun (careerwise, of course) in duolunduo and see you!
changye
August 08, 2008, 03:31 AMHi henning,
楼主总算回来了，那我们慢慢儿开始吧！
诗礼 (education) 簪缨 (hat decoration 冠饰 implies bureaucrat)
诗礼簪缨之族 = educated bureaucrat’s family
花柳 (busy, alive, bustling) 繁华 (= 繁华街, downtown)
安身 (take care body) 乐业 (work happily)
Don’t worry. Bureaucrats NEVER work hard…..hehe.
喜不能禁 = can’t help but be pleased
那(= 哪)几件 奇处 (strong points, features)
I don’t know what kinds of features you bestowed (赐) me.
你且(= 姑且, for now)莫问, Don’t ask for now.
日后 = later
飘然而去 = stroll off sedately, leisurely
竟(= 竟然, 终于) 不知 (don’t know) 投奔 (proceed to , go to)
Be noted that both 何方 and 何舍 means “which direction”.
In China, there is a traditional concept called 二十八宿 (or 二十八舍). It is very complicated and profound, so please look into this page if you are interested. In short, you divide 360 degree into 28 parts (二十八宿), and every part indicates a direction such as east, west, etc.
http://baike.baidu.com/view/7896.htm