jmx624

Chinese Mandarin :Chinese Mandarin Level
Registered on : 2010-11-20
Language : None
Posts : 1
Responses : 8
Comments : 1

From :   jonson

Date : 2010-11-20 / 10:34AM

I want to know how to tanslate the anciet Chinese poem into English
like:
    夜宿山寺
危楼高百尺,手可摘星辰.
不敢高声语,恐惊天上人.

By the way,i’m a Chinese,i want to express the wonder of Chinese poem to my friend,but i can’t get the right way to the expression….

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benny

Chinese Mandarin :Chinese Mandarin Level
Registered on : 2007-01-01
Language : English, Mandarin Chinese
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 Benny the Mandarin Teacher askbenny.net 
2010-11-21 / 01:46PM

Dear Johson,

Do you know who is poet of the poem? Is it Li Bai 李白?

Benny



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lulanke

Chinese Mandarin :Chinese Mandarin Level
Registered on : 2007-11-08
Language : English
Posts : 111
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 Roland Parijs yahoo.com 
2010-11-21 / 09:01PM

你好JOHNSON

这首诗非常漂亮,我快快地翻译它但是我也
找到最好的翻译

That is a beatiful poem, I translated it quickly as:

Evening in a mountain-temple

Tall pagoda hundred meters high,
a hand can pluck the stars
not dare to speak in loud voice,
fearing to frighten the angels

But on http://blog.wykontario.org/?p=96

I found better translations.

Overnight at a Mountain Temple tr. SL Kong (1953)

High on the cliff the dangling temple stands
Where I can pluck stars with my hands
Deep at night I dare not speak aloud
Else I wake the dwellers above the cloud

Passing the Night in a Mountain Temple tr. By F Y. Yu (1961)
The temple rears to a precipitous height.
My hand, it can pluck the stars!
I speak not a word loud
For fear of distracting the heavenly beings.

Lodging at a Mountain Temple tr. By Y K Chan (1965)
In the towering temple at staggering height,
Stars in heaven can be plucked.
Dare not to raise a voice,
For fear of startling those high up.

Staying the Night at a Mountain Temple tr By Arthur Cooper
The high tower is a hundred feet tall,
From here one’s hand could pluck the stars.
I do not dare to speak in a loud voice,
I fear to disturb the people in heaven.

万事如意

陆蓝克

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Responses Owner
 jmx624 hotmail.com 
2010-11-22 / 11:15PM
To : Benny the Mandarin Teacher

是李太白的诗,也只有他能写的这么牛!哈哈。
Yes,the poet is just Li Bai.Only he could write such a superb poem…HAHA.

我们形容李白的诗豪迈,洒脱,张狂。。。这些形容词用英语这么表达?

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benny

Chinese Mandarin :Chinese Mandarin Level
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 Benny the Mandarin Teacher askbenny.net 
2010-11-24 / 09:20AM

jmx624,

我觉得可以这样子说:

豪迈: someone with heroic spirit

洒脱: someone with free and easy spirit/ easy and relax

张狂: wild/ insolent

Benny



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benny

Chinese Mandarin :Chinese Mandarin Level
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 Benny the Mandarin Teacher askbenny.net 
2010-11-30 / 03:24PM
To : Benny the Mandarin Teacher

Hi Johson,

What do you think of this translation:

The Summit Temple

A hundred feet high the Summit Temple stands,
Where I could pluck the stars with my own hands.
At dead of night I dare not speak aloud
For fear of waking dwellers in the cloud.



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Responses Owner
 jmx624 hotmail.com 
2010-12-07 / 10:57PM
To : Benny the Mandarin Teacher

I think your translation is very good. especially the word like “stands” , “dead of night”.
These words just like the Verb which is very important to express the situation of the writer’s very feel, in Chinese poem. HaHa, I’m sure you are aware of the story about “push” and “knock” in Chinese culture!!!

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