Re: NATLANG/TRANS/ETC: The Daode Jing (Tao Te Ching) of Laozi (Lao Tzu)
| From: | Philippe Caquant <herodote92@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Tuesday, May 4, 2004, 10:02 |
|---|
How great if would have been if Lao-Tzu had used a
logical conceptual language in his time ! There is so
to say not one sentence if the Tao-Tö-King that cannot
be interpreted at least half a dozen different ways.
For ex:
"That the social world knows to deem the beautiful as
'beautiful' simply creates the 'ugly. ' "
I've read several French translations for that
sentence. The first one I read in my life is still the
one that I love best, while all the other ones said
something different.
"Tout le monde tient le beau pour le beau, c'est en
cela que reside sa laideur"
(something like: everybody takes the beautiful for
beautiful, hence its ugliness)
This idea I like very much, because it means that the
majority is always wrong; and also that the majority
makes what is beautiful, ugly. This is exactly my
opinion. Just look at what tourists make out of a
country.
Alas, we shall never know what Lao-Tzu, or whoever
wrote this, really meant by it. He probably didn't
think of tourists. Well, anyway this brings mystery
and poeticity.
--- J Y S Czhang <czhang23@...> wrote:
> In a message dated 2004:05:03 08:22:52 PM,
> jcowan@REUTERSHEALTH.COM writes:
>
> >J Y S Czhang scripsit:
> >
> >>
>
http://www.hku.hk/philodep/courses/EWEthics/ttc.htm
> >
> >I gotta say, I think this translation is absolutely
> detestable: it makes
> >"words easy to understand" into impenetrable and
> cacophonous jargon.
>
>
> In a message dated 2004:05:03 08:48:26 PM, Kou
> (latinfrench@SAGESCHOOL.ORG)
> writes:
>
> >I quite agree. I don't think it resonates on a
> literal translation
> >level, a
>
> >translation level, or any combination thereof. And
> it certainly
> >doesn't capture the zing of the original. What the
> hell is
> >'deem-acting"?
[...]
=====
Philippe Caquant
"High thoughts must have high language." (Aristophanes, Frogs)
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs
http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover