Sunday, November 09, 2008

到底是誰藏在噶丹松贊林寺的前廳?

州鐵上讀蔡珠兒的<饕餮書>.書已看過多次,愛不釋手.排遣無聊,乾脆連[推薦序]也細閱一番.

[推薦序]作者貝淡寧,Daniel A. Bell,牛津大學政治學博士,寫序時為北京清華大學哲學系教授.我猜序文應以英文寫成再譯為中文,因中文序後緊接著英文的 Foreword.

不愧是教授,引經據典文筆洗鍊,但是有一段話敝人連看數次還是不懂,難道有特殊「哲理」嗎?中文原文照抄如下:

... 香格里拉的本地居民多數是西藏人,但在一張達賴喇嘛的照片裡,我卻注意到,他小心翼翼地藏身在寺裡的一間前廳.

胡適說:「做學問要於不疑處有疑,待人要於有疑處不疑.」VB 雖然治學不嚴謹(混學位有,但從來不欺心!)把<饕餮書>打橫,對照英文原文:

... The local inhabitants of Shangri-La are mainly Tibetans, and I detected a picture of the Dalai Lama discreetly hidden in one of monastery's antechambers.

雖然不像(電腦)SYSTRAN 將 Power Shorts 翻譯成力量短褲那麼離譜(請參考拙作<疾走巴黎:甜點>附錄之參考文獻),但也產生了一個問題(我承認我是吹毛求疵):

到底是(或啥)藏在噶丹松贊林寺的前廳?



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6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reads like "a picture of the Dalai Lama"?

Eunice

(Allow myself to introduce myself (quoted from Austin Powers) after reading and enjoying your blog for quite some time. I'm Eunice and a friend of YMTseng's.)

11/09/2008 05:15:00 AM  
Blogger Vigo Baby said...

Hello Eunice!

Welcome to my humble abode!

Friends of friends’… Isn’t this how we connect, one at a time?

I also thought that “a picture of the Dalai Lama” was hidden in the antechamber. But the Chinese version reads (at least to me) as if Professor Bell detected, IN that picture of the Dalai Lama, a SOMEONE hiding in an antechamber… (I am such a stickler, I know, I know… XD)

Welcome again and come often!

11/09/2008 06:02:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the warm welcome VB! It must have been an error in translation since the Chinese version came about later? You should write so they'd correct it! :) Anyways... Your blog is so enjoyable because of the breadth and the depth of the subjects. Hope to get to meet you in person one of these days!

Eunice

11/10/2008 04:05:00 AM  
Blogger Vigo Baby said...

Hi Eunice!

Thanks for your kind words. Sure we should meet! If you happen to be in the area, please let me know.

I suspected if the Chinese version was a little "off" from its original... It was too minor to make any impact on Ms. Tsai’s wonderful writing. 瑕不掩瑜, but it pains a stickler (i.e., me) to see even a tiny 瑕 on such a fine 瑜...

11/10/2008 07:51:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

VB,

I was just in SF last month for the Nike (half) marathon! I'll try to find another half mary to do there in the spring and visit the lovely city of SF! Hopefully we'll be able to meet up then. Btw where do you order those interesting books in Chinese from? Living in Cleveland, we're pretty deprived, but then again I don't remember seeing anything decent when we lived in Chicago!

Eunice

11/12/2008 03:29:00 PM  
Blogger Vigo Baby said...

Hi Eunice,

Marathon in SF? Sounds fun! Please do contact ym or me when you are in town.

Speaking of Chinese books, we are probably not as deprived but definitely ripped off! And Chinese bookstores carry "popular readings" interesting to most but me :) A few good friends are very kind to order and bring them overseas... Now that there are more luggage restrictions amd no one will travel... :(

11/13/2008 07:55:00 AM  

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