2019 推句 05 - 07
Original Script
5.
春水滿四澤이요
夏雲多奇峯이라.
秋月揚明輝요
冬嶺秀孤松이라.
6.
日月籠中鳥요
乾坤水上萍이라.
白雲山上蓋요
明月水中珠라.
7.
月爲宇宙燭이요
風作山河鼓라.
月爲無柄扇이요
星作絶纓珠라.
Translation
Poem 5 : Ethan
Spring water fills ponds everywhere.
Summer clouds abound in sublime peaks.
Fall's moon casts bright light far and wide
Winter hills' lonely pine tree stands out.
- Discussion Questions:
(YO) How should we translate 奇峰? "Strange peaks" seems a bit off. That 奇 intends to mean the kind of stunning sight that makes us go "awww," I think. Something out of the ordinary. Marvelous? Astounding? Amazing? This is when we realize many of our words may carry connotations or feels different from their etyma, and make us hesitate to use.
(Stella) Maybe 'sublime'?
Poem 6 : Olga
Sun and moon are birds in a cage;
Sky and earth are like duckweed over water.
White clouds cover the top of the mountains;
The moon is like a pearl in the water.
- Discussion Questions:
Poem 7 : Canan
The moon is the candle of the universe
Wind makes mountains and rivers drum
The moon is a fan without a handle
Stars are scattered pearls of a hat string
- Discussion Questions:
How do we translate 作 in the last line? Since it is a poem does it have to be parallel to 爲? If so, maybe: "Stars make [the sight of] scattered pearls of a hat string"
(YO) This is an interesting thing to notice. Both 為 and 作 have the same meaning of "make" in the registered senses, but they also often function as a copula ('is'). Perhaps it was intentional to use them in either sense, switching their meaning like in a game? By the way, shouldn't it be "scattered pearls from a broken hat string?
