Saturday, July 5, 2014

Translation

First, let me show you an English poem that Vivian drew my attention to recently:

You say that you love rain, but you open your umbrella when it rains.
You say that you love the sun, but you find a shadow spot when the sun shines.
You say that you love the wind, but you close your windows when wind blows.
This is why I am afraid – you say that you love me too.

When my wife finds interesting is its Chinese translation in the style of the Classic of Poetry (詩經):

子言慕雨,啟傘避之。
子言好陽,尋蔭拒之。
子言喜風,闔戶離之。
子言偕老,吾所畏之。

Sounds good, eh? But I suppose it could be further polished:

君言慕雨,啟傘避之。
君言好陽,尋蔭遠之。
君言喜風,閉戶拒之。
君言偕老,奴有慮焉。

PS. The origin of this English poem is unclear. It is widely claimed to be written by William Shakespeare, which seems rather obviously not the case.

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