tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jun 18 14:39:20 2003

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Tao Te Ching Chp. 56



56K

Sovchugh vay' jatlhbe'. [A]
jatlhchugh vay' Sovbe'.

'ochmey tISoQmoH,
lojmIt tIngaQmoH,
HeH jej tIjejHa'moH.
vay' baghlu'pu'bogh tIbaghHa'moH.
bochqu'wI' yIbochHa'moH.
lamHom yIrurchoH.
Dotlhvam DelmeH jatlhlu': <wa' Dol Dotlh peghqu'>

vaj DuparHa'lu'meH DuHbe'
'ej Duparlu'meH DuHbe'.
DuQaHlu'meH DuHbe'
'ej DuQIHlu'meH DuHbe'.
DuquvmoHlu'meH DuHbe'
'ej DutuHmoHlu'meH DuHbe'.

vaj qo' Dotlh nIvqu' Dachav.

56E

Those who know do not speak.
Those who speak do not know.

Shut the passageways,
Lock the entryways,
Blunt the sharp edges,
Untangle the knots,
Dim the bright light,
Become like dust.
This is called the secret unity.

Then there will be no way to like you
And no way to dislike you.
There'll be no way to assist you
And no way to harm you.
There'll be no way to honor you
And no way to shame you. [A]

You'll then achieve the highest state in the world.


[A] Another way to render the first two lines would be:

          jatlhbe' SovwI'.
          Sovbe' jatlhwI'.

I have to admit though that I like the –chugh clauses here because they 
allow me to "structure" information the way I want: first the reader learns 
of "someone who knows", then s/he is informed of (and possibly surprised by) 
the essential feature of that someone, namely that that someone does not 
speak. I may be wrong here but my feeling is that if the first two lines are 
rendered in a way that is closer to the English version in terms of syntax 
the element of suspense (and surprise) would be lost:

          jatlhbe' Sovbogh nuv.
          Sovbe' jatlhbogh nuv.

[B] {wa' Dol Dotlh}: This is how unity is currently translated in Chapter 39 
(These achieved unity in days of old… ). However, if I rephrase Chapter 39, 
I'll need to use something else here, for instance: <naQchu'ghach> or 
<tay'chu'ghach>.

[C] These lines remind me of the old Klingon adage "If you cannot be shamed, 
you cannot be honored" {bItuHlaHbe'chugh bIquvlaHbe'}


'ISqu'
http://www.geocites.com/taoteching_klingon

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