Comment

Comment by Bernard Cleary on August 27, 2009 at 3:38pm

Hehehe--time zones never occurred to me!

Comment by Michelle Lin on August 27, 2009 at 3:35pm

4 times - Eastern Time, Mountian Time, Pacific Standard Time and Central Time... hahah..

3 times needs to be fixed somehow. Or it will become one time yesterday, or one time in the past, but that doesn't reflect it..

But you guys are great..

Comment by Bernard Cleary on August 27, 2009 at 3:29pm

Actually, to play up the word play on "time in English", mimicking--though not entirely replicating--the word play on 天in Chinese, I'd probably change "yesterday, today and tomorrow" to "the past, the present and the future." What do you think?
José: Is there a way for users to edit their previous comments?

Comment by Bernard Cleary on August 27, 2009 at 3:14pm

So here's a stab at it, using time﹔
我對佛說...

我對佛說:讓我所有朋友永遠健康快樂~!
佛說:只能四天~!
我說:好,春天、夏天、秋天、冬天。
佛說:三天。
我說:好,昨天、今天、明天。
佛說:不行,兩天。!
我說:好,白天、黑天。
佛說:不行,就一天~!
我說:好~!

佛茫然問到:哪一天？
我說:在我所有朋友活著的每一天 ~! ?

佛....笑了.

To Buddha, I said…

To Buddha, I said, “Let all of my friends be healthy and happy forever!”
Buddha said, “They can only have four times!”
I said, “All right. Springtime, summertime, autumn time, and wintertime.”
Buddha said, “Three times.”
I said, “OK. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”
Buddha said, “No. Two times.”
I said, “Fine. Daytime and nighttime.”
Buddha said, “No. Just one time!”
I said, “All right!
Puzzled, Buddha said, “Which time?”

I said, “All of the time that my friends are alive!”

Buddha…laughed.

Comment by Michelle Lin on August 27, 2009 at 3:09pm

Maybe just to interpretate the sublety, and recreate an English versions - Buddha said 7 days, Little Monk says: Sunday..Monday, Tuesday... Saturday..

If you guys can come up more... Wow, you 2 really love Chinese :) Have fun!

Comment by Bernard Cleary on August 27, 2009 at 3:02pm

Very tricky. I thought of that, too, but it still seems problematic to me."Springtime," summertime" and "wintertime" are all fine, but is "autumn time"? "Fall time"? And how about "yesterday time," "today time" and "tomorrow time"? "Daytime" and "nighttime" are okay, but in the final sentence, "every time" doesn't work, so it would have to be "all the time." Overall, though the gist of the story could be preserved, the playfulness of the word play would be lost if you wanted the piece to read naturally in English.

Comment by José Balido on August 27, 2009 at 2:59pm

Like a Zen riddle, perhaps...

Comment by Michelle Lin on August 27, 2009 at 2:54pm

I think it's very smart suggestion. The last question for 1 day will be a bit challenging.. but I think you guys will find a solution! :)

Comment by José Balido on August 27, 2009 at 2:44pm

Would it work if, when the Buddha speaks, you translated 天 as "times," e.g., 三天 = "three times," etc.?

Comment by Bernard Cleary on August 27, 2009 at 2:04pm

Michelle--Very difficult, if not impossible, to convey the subtlety of the message, because of the play on various usages of the word 天 in Chinese. But I admire the sentiment behind it!

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• …
• 10
• Next ›
• Page