Sunday, January 06, 2013

Some translations

A well translated poem looks something like this. I take as an example the foreword to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, as translated from the Chinese by Moss Roberts:

滚滚长江东逝水,浪花淘尽英雄。是非成败转头空。
青山依旧在,几度夕阳红。
白发渔樵江渚上,惯看秋月春风。一壶浊酒喜相逢。
古今多少事,都付笑谈中。
              ——调寄《临江仙》

On and on the Great River rolls, racing east.
Of proud and gallant heroes its white-tops leave no trace,
As right and wrong, pride and fall turn all at once unreal.
Yet ever the green hills stay
To blaze in the west-waning day.

Fishers and woodsmen comb the river isles.
White-crowned, they've seen enough of spring and autumn tide
To make good company over the wine jar,
Where many a famed event
Provides their merriment.

                                                         - From ershiwu shi tanci

Moss attributes the authorship of the poem to a collection of works "ershiwu shi tanci" (二十五史弹词??)  rather than specifically to 调寄《临江仙》.It is interesting in that this provides a wider context for people unfamiliar the genre (or the language).

A search into "ershiwu shi tanci" reveals that it is "a collection of popular songs on historical themes compiled during the Ming dynasty by Yang Shen (d. 1559)". Personally I had to look up what 调寄 means.