tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Apr 03 12:21:07 2003

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Tao Te Ching Chp. 22

22K

bIDuy'chugh [A] vaj bInaQchoH.
bISaSchugh vaj bIchongchoH [B].
bIchImchugh vaj bIbuy'choH.
bIQopchugh vaj bIchu'qa' [C].
vay' puS Daghajchugh vaj bISuqchoH.
vay' law' Daghajchugh vaj bImISchoH.

vaj wa'na' buS yajchu'wI'
'ej qo' HochvaD DevwI' DalaH.
'ang'eghbe'mo' boch.
lugh 'e' qapbe'mo' noy.
mIy'be'mo' Qap.
naD'eghbe'mo' taH.
pagh'e' qaDmo' ghaH, ghaH'e' qaDlaH pagh.

jatlhpu' tIQwI': <bIDuy'chugh vaj bInaQchoH>
lo'laHbe''a' mu'meyvam?
bInaQchu'chugh DughoS Hoch.

22E

Be broken and you'll become whole.
Be fallen and you will stand tall.
Be empty and you will fill up.
Be worn and you'll be renewed.
Have little and you will gain.
Have much and you'll be confused.

Therefore the sage clings to the One
And serves as a guide for the world.
He does not flaunt himself, so he shines bright.
He does not insist on being right, so he is renowned.
He does not brag, so he succeeds.
He does not boast, so he lasts long.
He contends with no one, so no one can contend with him.

The ancients used to say: "Be broken and you'll become whole."
Are these but hollow words?
If you are truly whole everything will come to you.


[A]: {Duy'} is probably not the best of choices. Other words I've consired 
include {pupHa'} and {naQHa'}. Of these two, the former didn't seem to be a 
good opposite of {naQ} and the latter would introduce a play of words absent 
in the original.

[B]: This line has caused me no end of trouble. The key Chinese words here 
are "wang3"  (bent, crooked, warped) and "zhi2" (straight, straightened, 
rectified, made true). My original idea was:

        DaSIHlu'pu'chugh vaj DaSIHHa'moHlu'
         (Be bent and you will be made straight)

but the {Da_lu'} bit seemed to make the line stand out from the rest. 
Though, in the end, I decided to use {SaS} and {chong}, I'm not trying to 
make reference to the slang meanings of the two words but to exploit the 
fact that Klingons generally abhor situations which would cause them to 
assume a horizontal position (SaS), such as getting sick or lying in bed. 
Instead they prefer to remain "vertical", i.e. standing.

[C]: Sadly, a {–choH}-ed verb was out of the question as it would change the 
meaning.

'ISqu'







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