tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Jan 08 02:26:46 2000
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RE: KLBC: another Zen story: <Dargh HIvje' teblu'bogh>
- From: "Andeen, Eric" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: another Zen story: <Dargh HIvje' teblu'bogh>
- Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2000 03:28:30 -0700
jatlh De'vID:
> ... latlh <Zen> lut vIja'.
>
>
> *Dargh HIvje' teblu'bogh*
> = *A Cup of Tea*
>
> [Yes, that's the reason I asked how to translate "cup of
> tea". While not referring to the cup, this title doesn't
> exactly refer to the tea either. Hence my translation,
> lit. "A Tea Cup Which Has Been Filled Up", which I hope
> captures the spirit of the original.]
>
>
> qaStaHvIS <Meiji> poH, yIn ghojmoHwI''a'
maj.
> ghaHbogh <Nan-in>'e'.
OK, this doesn't quite work. The best thing to do is simple break it into
two sentences and say <... yIn ghojmoHwI''a'. ghaHvaD *Nan-in ponglu'.>.
> ghaH Such DuSaQ'a' ghojmoHwI'.
> = During the Meiji era, there lived a great teacher
> named Nan-in. A university professor came to visit him.
maj.
> DuSaQ'a' ghojmoHwI'vaD Dargh qang <Nan-in>.
maj.
> buy'ta' HIvje' 'ach qangtaH.
<buy'> is something the cup is doing, not the teacher, and the cup can't
really accomplish a goal, so <-ta'> is not appropriate, and I really don't
think <-pu'> is either. The suffix you want here is <-choH> - the cup became
full. It didn't start that way, but got that way as a consequence of the
action. It changed state. That is what <-choH> is for.
buy'choH HIvje' 'ach qangtaH *Nan-in.
> = Nan-in served tea for the professor. He poured the
> cup full, but kept on pouring.
> vIHtaHbogh Dargh 'e' bej DuSaQ'a' ghojmoHwI',
vIHtaHbogh Dargh bej ...
vIHtaH Dargh 'e' bej ...
Pick one or the other, but not both.
> vaj jotHa' 'ej qagh.
Again, <jotHa'> would be a good place for <-choH>.
> "buy'qu' HIvje'.
maj.
> 'ellaH pagh!" jatlh.
This is "nothing can enter", but I don't think it applies very well to the
teacup and the tea. I can't think of a good way to express "more" in Klingon
right now. <latlh> works for discreet objects like eggs (e.g. <latlh QIm
DaneH'a'?>), but there is no indication that it works for mass nouns like
water or tea. This might just be worth asking Okrand about.
In any case, I would probably use <chel> instead of <'el> here: <Dargh
DachellaHbe'> - "You cannot add (more) tea".
> = The professor watched the overflowing tea, until
> he just had to speak up. "It's too full. Nothing
> (more) will go in!"
> "Dargh HIvje'vam bIrur," jatlh <Nan-in>.
Darur.
> "nItebbej vuDlIj law' qechlIj law' je.
I almost chided you for putting a verb suffix on the adverbial <nIteb>, but
you're really using it as a verb. majQa'!
> HIvje'lIj Dabuy'Ha'moHbe'chugh vaj
> qaghojmoHlaHbe'."
<chIm> would be much better than <buy'Ha'>.
> = "Like this cup," said Nan-in, "you are
> full of your opinions and ideas. Unless
> you first empty your cup, I cannot teach you."
>
> [In the original Nan-in actually asks, "Unless you first empty your
> cup, how can I teach you (Zen)?" but I felt a direct statement to
> be more appropriate in the Klingon translation.]
vInoHlaHbe' jIH. That's a subtle enough decision to be beyond my scope.
> Perhaps a simile (KGT p. 127) that might be used to describe the
> professor is:
> <buy'; Dargh HIvje' rur> "full as a tea cup"
> implying that he is unable to learn because he is already full
> of his own opinions.
Oh, my. I have the feeling that one will stick.
Another good post. Keep it up!
pagh
Beginners' Grammarian