Thursday, March 27, 2008

Two-handed salute/greeting/farewell

While Indy was working on chapter 3, I noticed that some Chinese phrases are not easy to translate. For example,  关羽说:“小将愿。。。”, "小将" is literally meant "little general" or "young (inexperienced) general".  In this case, it's a self-deprecating or humble way to introduce himself. She simply used "I", which is appropriate, I think; but you couldn't sense the drama. 

The second one is "抱拳”. It literally means that you move your hands in front of your chest, with one (right) palm holding the other fist (left) and with a little bowing movement. It's mainly used in greeting people or saying goodbye. She translated it as "bowed", which is not bad. 

I thought it a little and discussed with her. We thought this translation of "抱拳” is a good one: "two-handed salute", "two-handed greeting" or "two-handed farewell" :-) depending on the context.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

第二章 曹操献宝刀

One good point about this comic book is character repetition: names, places, and titles. Hopefully it will help Indy to retain many of the characters.

第二章 曹操献宝刀
Chapter 2: Cao Cao Presents the Treasured Blade

中平六年初夏,汉灵帝驾崩。大将军何进立汉灵帝的小儿子刘辩为皇帝,自己掌握了朝中大权。何进想铲除宦官,就密诏并州刺史董卓率兵进京。
It was the early summer of the sixth year of the Zhong Ping Era,Emperor Ling of Han passed away.He Jing, the commander-in-chief, appointed Emperor Ling of Han's youngest son Liu Bian to become the new emperor,and he quickly took authority of the government. He Jing wanted to get rid of the eunuchs,so he secretly issued an edict to Dong Zhuo, BingZhou's Inspector to bring his army into the capital.

曹操是何进的部下。在与黄巾军作战时,曹操立了战功,被封为骁骑校尉。
Cao Cao was He Jing's subordinate.While they were fighting with the Yellow Bandanas,Cao Cao won many battles,and was promoted to the calvalry commander.

曹操听了何进的话,说:“用一个狱官杀掉宦官头目就够了,何必召外兵呢?”
After Cao Cao heard of He Jing's plan,he said, "Using a jailer to kill the head eunuch is enough,why do you want to use other troops?"

何进不听,结果宦官们听说这件事后,便先下手为强,设计杀掉了何进,洛阳城陷入一片混乱中。奉命率兵进京的董卓趁乱掌握了朝中大权。
He Jing ignored him,and after the eunuchs heard about this,they took the initiative and was the first to make a move,and plotted and killed He Jing,and the city of LuoYang was in chaos. Dong Zhuo, the one who had received the order to come to the capital took advantage of this turmoil and gained control of the royal government.

董卓想废掉刘辩,立陈留王刘协为帝,却遭到荆州刺史丁原等人的反对。
Dong Zhuo wanted to strip Liu Bian of his power,and to appoint Prince of ChengLiu, Liu Xie, as emperor,yet the Inspector Ding Yuan of JingZhou and others opposed this descision.

丁原有个义子叫吕布,英勇无比,董卓派人用“赤兔”宝马和大量财宝去收买他。
Ding Yuan had a godson called Lu Bu,he was brave and courageous as no other man,Dong Zhuo sent a red horse AKA red rabbit and riches to bribe him.

吕布见利忘义,收下礼物,第二天就杀了丁原,拜董卓为义父,董卓的势力更大了。
Lu Bu forgot all his honor at the sight of this "treasure"he accepted the gift,and killed Ding Yuan the next day,and accepted Dong Zhuo as his godfather,and Dong Zhuo's political power grew.

不久,董卓废掉刘辩,立九岁的刘协为帝,即汉献帝。董卓自己做了相国,从此更加无所顾忌,甚至带剑上殿,大臣们一点儿办法都没有。
Shortly after,Dong Zhuo took away Liu Bian's royal power,and the nine-year old, Liu Xie, became emperor,namely Emperor Xian of Han.Dong Zhuo himself became Prime Minister,and from then he became more arrogant,so much that he even took a sword into the royal palace,the officials couldn't do anything about it.

董卓为人残暴。他让人将刘辩毒死,将后妃都绞死,此外还放纵士兵残害百姓。
Dong Zhuo frightenend them with his tyrany.He told his henchman to poison Liu Bian to death,and hanged all of Liu Bian's wives,he also let the soldiers harass the peasants.

司徒王允把一些大臣请到家里,哭着说:“汉朝要亡在董卓的手里了。”
Wang Yun, the deputy prime minister, invited some officials over to his house,and cried, "The Han dynasty is going to crumble in Dong Zhuo's hands."

大家急得放声大哭,可是曹操却仰面笑道:“你们这些人啊,哭能把董卓哭死吗?”
Everyone else was so scared that they started bawling,but Cao Cao chuckled and said, "You people,will your tears drown Dong Zhuo?"

曹操说:“我愿借大人的七星宝刀,刺杀董卓。”王允这才转悲为喜,答应下来。
He continued, "I am willing to borrow the treasured seven-starred blade,and kill Dong Zhuo."Wang Yun turned from sad to overjoyed,and agreed to the plan.

第二天,曹操佩刀去见董卓。董卓把曹操视为心腹,叫吕布挑选一匹好马送给他。
The next day,Cao Cao brought the sword to meet Dong Zhuo.Dong Zhuo had always thought of Cao Cao as a loyal subordinate,and ordered Lu Bu to give him a good horse.

董卓坐久累了,面向里躺了下来。曹操拔刀去刺,却被董卓从镜子中看到了。
Dong Zhuo soon became tired,and lay down facing the wall.Cao Cao drew his sword to kill Dong Zhuo,but Dong Zhuo saw this through the mirror.

这时,吕布刚好牵马到了门外。惊慌中,曹操只好举刀跪地,说自己想要献宝刀:“我有宝刀一口,想献给恩相!”
Just then,Lu Bu had just brought the horse outside.In the madness,Cao Cao could only kneel and raise the sword,and said that he wanted to present the treasured sword,"I have a treasured blade,and want to present it to Your Majesty!"

董卓收下宝刀,然后带曹操去看马。曹操连连夸赞这是匹好马,还要求骑上试试。
Dong Zhuo accepted the blade,and walked with Cao Cao to admire the horse.Cao Cao praised the horse,and begged him to ride it.

就这样,曹操骑马跑了。董卓回想半天,才明白曹操要行刺,便下令捉拿他。
And like this,Cao Cao fled.Dong Zhuo thought about this for awhile,and finally realized that Cao Cao had come to kill him,and gave an order to capture Cao Cao.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Style?

Indy finished Chapter one. I noticed one style issue. The Chinese generally place more emphasis on the title, while English on the name of the person.

For example,

汉灵帝刘宏腐败无能
Emperor Ling of Han,Liu Hong, was useless incompetent moronic fool

幽州太守刘焉担心自己兵少
The governor of YouZhou, Liu Yan, worried that he didn't have enough soldiers

A good style is probably

汉灵帝(Emperor Ling of Han)刘宏(Liu Hong)腐败无能
Liu Hong, Emperor Ling of Han, was useless incompetent moronic fool

幽州(YouZhou)太守(governor)刘焉(Liu Yan)担心自己兵少
Liu Yan, the governor of YouZhou, worried that he didn't have enough soldiers


Wednesday, March 5, 2008

第一章 桃园三结义



Each paragraph has a corresponding comic drawing to it, which I'm not going to scan. To get the text from the book in was a relatively simple process, the pen scanner is a big help. It takes about 5 seconds to scan each paragraph, you then proofread it after each chapter. Since Indy is going to spend only 10-15 min each weekday, it may take her 2 weeks to finish each chapter. Yes, I also spend time with her to make suggestions and corrections. I'll update this post when I get around to it.

第一章 桃园三结义
Chapter One: Three Sworn Brothers in the Peach Garden

东汉末年,汉灵帝刘宏腐败无能,整天不理朝政,只知道吃喝玩乐。他非常信任宦官,致使宦官专权,天下大乱,终于爆发了历史上有名的黄巾起义。
It was the last years of the Eastern Han dynasty,Emperor Ling of Han,Liu Hong, was useless incompetent moronic fool,he didn't care for the state affairs,and all he did was eat, drink, and party.He trusted his eunuchs very much,which caused the eunuchs to monopolize power to govern the country,everything was a mess, finally a famous group of rebels, the Yellow Bandanas, started.

起义军的首领是巨鹿郡的张角、张宝、张梁兄弟三人。他们率领四五十万黄巾军,所向披靡,杀得官军望风而逃。
The leaders of this rebellion were Zhang Jiao, Zhang Bao, and Zhang Liang of JuLuJun.They led a group of forty to fifty thousand Yellow Bandanas,ever triumphant,even the royal troops fled with their tail between their legs.

汉灵帝命各地加强防守。幽州太守刘焉担心自己兵少,于是出榜招募士兵。
The emperor ordered more reinforcements from every place.The governor of YouZhou, Liu Yan, worried that he didn't have enough soldiers,so he posted recruitment announcements.

榜文在涿县张贴时,引来无数人观看。有个肩背草鞋的人进城也看到了榜文
While the enlistment was posted in ZhuoXian,it attracted many different people.There was one man who carried some straw shoes saw this poster.

他是中山靖王刘胜的后代,叫刘备,因家里贫穷,靠贩卖草鞋、织草席为生
He was the descendant of the Prince Jing of ZhongShan, Liu Sheng. Liu Bei was his name,and because his family was poor,he sold straw shoes and weaved straw mats for a living.

看完榜文,刘备不由得叹了一口气。忽然背后有人大声和他搭起了腔:“大丈夫不为国家出力,叹什么气?”
After he saw the announcement,Liu Bei sighed loudly.Suddenly the guy behind him and started hollering loudly, "Men should help the country,why are you sighing?"

此人身高八尺,黑脸膛,络腮胡子。刘备忙问他姓名。那人说自己叫张飞,字翼德。“我一直想建功立业,幸会英雄!”。
The man was eight feet tall (in the old days, 1 ft=23cm),with a dark skin tone,and a beard from ear to ear. Liu Bei hurriedly asked for his name.That man said his name was Zhang Fei,and his friends called him Yi De."I've always thought of helping the country, becoming a hero! and am so very fortunate to meeting a hero like one such as yourself!"

他们志向相投,便去酒馆继续商谈。不久,有一大汉推着一辆车在店门口停下。
Their ambitions were the same,so they went to a pub to talk.Soon after,a big man pushing a cart stopped in front of the pub.

这人身高九尺,胸前长须飘飘,面如红枣,丹凤眼,卧蚕眉。刘备见他相貌不凡,便邀他一起喝酒。那人说自己叫关羽,字云长,见了榜文,特来参军。
This man was nine feet tall,and had a big long beard hanging on the front of his chest,his face was a red date,and had red phoenix eyes,with silkworm like eyebrows.when Liu Bei saw his extraordinary looks,he invited him for a drink.The man said his name was Guan Yu,and his friends called him Yun Chang and saw the announcement,and came especially to enlist.

刘备说:“今日幸会二位英雄,干杯!”。 三人谈得投机,于是约定酒后一起到张飞庄上商谈如何报效国家。
Liu Bei said,"Today I have a very good fortune to meet you two heroes,CHEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The three soon became very good friends,and decided that after drinking they would go to Zhang Fei's house and discuss how to repay the country.

张飞说:“我庄后有座桃园,明天我们在园中祭拜天地,结为兄弟,共图大事。我们兄弟齐心协力、必能成就大事。” 刘备说:“如此甚好。”
Zhang Fei said, "There's a peach garden behind my house,tomorrow we can go there and pay our repects to the heaven and earth,and swear to become brothers,and go on many great adventures together.We brothers must concentrate on our efforts to accomplishing great achievments."Liu Bei said, "Amen."

第二天,三人在桃园盟誓,结为兄弟。刘备做了大哥,关羽是二弟,张飞是三弟。
The second day,The three men sat in the peach garden,and became brothers.Liu Bei was the Big Brother,Guan Yu was the middle brother,Zhang Fei was the little brother.

三人招募勇士,备好兵器。刘备使剑,关羽使青龙偃月刀,张飞使丈八蛇矛。
The three brothers enlisted warriors,and prepared the weapons.Liu Bei used a sword,Guan Yu wielded the Long Green-dragon-halting-Moon Broadsword,while Zhang Fei used the Long Serpent Spear.

一切备齐,三人率五百壮士投奔刘焉。刘焉是汉室宗亲,与刘备以叔侄相称。
Everything was set,The three brothers led an army of 500 to join LiuYan.Liu Yan was a royal relative,and was distantly related to Liu Bei, who called him "uncle."

从此,刘备、关羽、张飞率兵征战,杀得黄巾军四散溃逃,兄弟三人连立战功。很快,黄巾军被镇压了,刘备只被封为安喜县县尉的小官。
From this point on,Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei led the army to fight,and slaughtered the Yellow Bandanas and forced them to retreat,the brothers received many merits awarding their accomplishments.Very soon,the Yellow Bandana rebellion was crushed, but Liu Bei was only appointed as a police chief of AnXiXian.

不久,清廉的刘备因没钱贿赂督邮而遭陷害。“竟敢欺负我哥哥!”张飞气得找到督邮,将他一顿暴打。
Soon after,because Liu Bei was honest and didn't bribe the superintendent he became persecuted."Who dares to bully my big bro?!??!"Zhang Fei stormed angrily at the superintendent,and beat him up very badly.

定州太守知道后,命人捉拿刘备。刘备只好带着关羽、张飞投奔代州太守刘恢去了。
When the governor of DingZhou knew of this, he ordered him arrested.so Liu Bei had to bring Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to go to the governor Liu Hui of DaiZhou.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Names, Places, Titles and Weapons

One of the daunting challenges in reading San Guo Yan Yi is that there are so many names, places, titles and weapons. I'm giving Indy some head start by standardizing on some of the names. Please help me to correct any mistakes or misunderstandings on my part.
  • 刘备 Liu Bei (family name + given name)
  • 曹操 Cao Cao
  • 幽州 YouZhou (name+territory. Han dynasty had 13 Zhou 州)
  • 巨鹿郡 JuLuJun (each Zhou had a few Jun 郡)
  • 涿县 ZhuoXian (each Jun had a few Xian 县)
  • 汜水关 SiShui Pass
  • 汉献帝 Emperor Xian of Han
  • 宦官 Eunuchs (they had no official titles, but when an Emperor placed his trust in them, they started to mess around with other official "royal officials".)
  • 皇亲(国戚,国舅...) Royal Relatives or Royal Pain (they may or may not have official titles, but when an Emperor placed his trust in them, they started to mess around with other official "royal officials".)
  • 大将军 Commander-in-Chief
  • 大都督 Commander-in-Chief
  • 大将(将军)General
  • 相国 Prime Minister
  • 丞相 Prime Minister
  • 司徒 Deputy Prime Minister
  • 太守 Governor (of a Zhou)
  • 刺史 Inspector (generally to check and report back to the royal court on the governor of a Zhou. Each Zhou had one Inspector, who grew more powerful in Eastern Han than the governor of Zhou. BTW, variations of such "check and balance" mechanism is still in place in present day of China.)
  • 督邮 Superintendent (generally to check and report back to the governor of a Zhou on governors of Xian. Each Superintendent was snooping around on a few Xian.)
  • 县尉 Police Chief (of a Xian)
  • 参军 Chief of Staff
  • 青龙偃月刀 Long Green-dragon-halting-Moon Broadsword
  • 丈八蛇矛 Long Serpent Spear
  • 方天画戟 Long Heavenly Double Lance-Ax
  • (长)枪 Long Spear
  • 大刀 Big Long Broadsword (Big Head Chopper) :-)

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Romance of the Three Kingdoms


Indy is getting bored with these lame jokes. She's willing to take on more challenges. I found this comic book fancinating. She's going to read it and translate it. We figure that it will take about 8-10 months to finish this project. So stay tuned ...




三国演义
ISBN 978-7-5301-1608-1


原著 明 罗贯中
北京出版社出版集团
北京少年儿童出版社

总策划邢涛
主编纪江红

第一章 桃园三结义
第二章 曹操献宝刀
第三章 三英战吕布
第四章 巧施连环计
第五章 煮酒论英雄
第六章 千里走单骑
第七章 官渡败袁绍
第八章 三请诸葛亮
第九章 大战长坂坡
第十章 孙刘共抗曹
第十一章 蒋干盗书信
第十二章 草船巧借箭
第十三章 孔明借东风
第十四章 赤壁败曹操
第十五章 刘备做新郎
第十六章 三气周公瑾
第十七章 张飞擒严颜
第十八章 挑灯战马超
第十九章 关羽单刀会
第二十章 计夺天荡山
第二十一章 奇谋夺荆州
第二十二章 兵败走麦城
第二十三章 张飞遭暗害
第二十四章 陆逊烧连营
第二十五章 托孤白帝城
第二十六章 七擒南蛮王
第二十七章 马谡失街亭
第二十八章 空城计退敌
第二十九章 智困司马懿
第三十章 三国终归晋




Quit smoking

某公患有心脏病,医生劝他戒烟,并且说,如果不能一下子戒掉,可以先改成每天饭后抽一支。一月后,他又去看医生,医生检查后发现他又有了胃病,大惑不解,问:“这是怎么回事?”“可能是因为我为了遵守您饭后一支烟的建议,每天吃饭次数过多而且不规律吧...”

Da Man went to see the doctor again,and after the doctor examined him he told him he had a stomach disease,and was greatly puzzled,"How did this happen?" he asked.Probably because I wanted to keep the promise of me smoking after every meal,and I was eating multiple times everyday so I guess I wasn't really breaking my promise..."

Saturday, March 1, 2008

New set of ears

Indy didn't quite get the punch line.

有个男人在一次事故中失去了两只耳朵,于是医生给他做了移植。一个月以后他回来找医生,抱怨说:“您给我移植的是女人的耳朵!”“是啊!可是,您是怎么知道的?”“嗯,我什么都听到了,可是我什么都不明白!”

Da Man lost both of his ears due to an accident,so the doctor gave him an ear transplant.A month later Da Man came back to the doctor,and complained, "You gave me girl ears!""Of course!but,how did you know?""Oh,I can hear everything fine,but I don't get it at all!"