Jia Dao (poet)

[dust]

I noticed that fellow member Chang's location is listed as "Cloud hidden, whereabouts unknown", which I recognised as from a poem I recently tried translating (but gave up, because Lin's translation is just fine as it is).

 

For those who don't know, the poet was named 贾岛 Jia Dao, and he...did poems. I thought he might make for some interesting 'light' translation (light compared to the DDJ, I think) and appreciation.

《尋隱者不遇》

松下問童子
言師採藥去
只在此山中
雲深不知處

Seeking the Master but not Meeting

I asked the boy beneath the pines

He said: the Master’s gone alone
herb picking somewhere on the mount
cloud-hidden, whereabouts unknown

_{- tr. Lin Yutang}

Failing to Find the Hermit

Beneath the pine, I asked of the child.
"My master's gone for herbs grown wild;
He should just be in the mountain there,
Deep, way deep in the clouds somewhere

_{- tr. Frank C Yue}

?

Beneath a pine I asked a little child

He said the Master went to gather herbs.

Alone was he upon this mountainside,

The clouds so deep he knew not where he was

_{- tr. ?}

 

 

 

 

 

《剑客》

十年磨一劍
霜刃未曾試
今日把示君
誰有不平事

The Swordsman

For ten years I have been polishing this sword;

Its frosty edge has never been put to the test.

Now I am holding it and showing it to you, sir:

Is there anyone suffering from injustice?

_{- tr. James J.Y. Liu ?}

 

The Swordsman

Ten years sharpening one sword

Its frosty blade thus untested

Today I present it to my lord

Who has an injustice?

_{- tr. me}

 

 

 

Please feel free to add poems and/or your own translations. And/or comments on such.

Edited September 1, 2014 by dustybeijing

[soaring crane]

Hey Dusty, this is so beautiful, thank you :-)

 

It should definitely be moved out of this forum and into its proper home, the Taoist Textual Studies.

 

I can do that for you if you'd like.

[dust]

Hey Dusty, this is so beautiful, thank you :-)

 

It should definitely be moved out of this forum and into its proper home, the Taoist Textual Studies.

 

I can do that for you if you'd like.

 

Sure. I didn't know if it was Tao-related enough to be there, but I'm happy if it's considered such

[soaring crane]

Sure. I didn't know if it was Tao-related enough to be there, but I'm happy if it's considered such

 

more tao-related than most things, imo

 

but I think Zanshin or another mod should be the one to decide to move it ... That was premature on my part.

[dust]

《尋隱者不遇》

松下問童子
言師採藥去
只在此山中
雲深不知處

Seeking but not Meeting

I asked the boy beneath the pines

He said the master’s picking herbs
Alone here upon the mount
Cloud-hidden, I know not where

_{just playing with Lin's translation}

[dawei]

I know Jia Dao's works from Hinton's translations. I own this (as well as several others by Hinton):

 

Tao Chien By Hinton

 

 

Like some other chinese poets, I was attracted to them due what seemed their love of wine more than poetry

[Taoist Texts]

 

 

《剑客》

十年磨一劍

霜刃未曾試

今日把示君

誰有不平事

For ten years I have been honing this sword,

Quoth the strange wandering guest.

Look at the frosty edge milord,

It had never been put to test.

 

Now think hard and deep my liege,

While feeling the blade so cold,

Whether the justice is now served,

For those whom you have wronged.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Taoist Texts

[dust]

For ten years I have been honing this sword,

Quoth the strange wandering guest.

Look at the frosty edge milord,

It had never been put to test.

 

Now think hard and deep my liege,

While feeling the blade so cold,

Whether the justice is now served,

For those whom you have wronged.

 

Aha. So, you've interpreted it slightly differently. That's what I like to see..

 

May I ask, why "For those whom you have wronged" ?

[Taoist Texts]

Aha. So, you've interpreted it slightly differently. That's what I like to see..

 

May I ask, why "For those whom you have wronged" ?

oh its just one way to look at the story. A stranger comes up to you with a sharp object in hand, asks to look at it and recall anything untoward. The implication could be that he came for you. methinks the poem intentionally leaves that open,no?

[dust]

oh its just one way to look at the story. A stranger comes up to you with a sharp object in hand, asks to look at it and recall anything untoward. The implication could be that he came for you. methinks the poem intentionally leaves that open,no?

It does indeed, I just hadn't seen it. Sometimes, I guess, however many meanings something contains, we interpret something in our own strict way...

 

Which is one of the reasons I started this thread: to see what other people found...

[Taoist Texts]

《尋隱者不遇》

 

松下問童子
言師採藥去
只在此山中
雲深不知處

 

To gather herbs is the teacher gone

Said a lad under the pines

Somewhere he is in the mountains yon’

He told me with a sly smile.

 

I gazed at the clouds deep in the sky,

Then once more into the lad’s eyes,

There was the old teacher young again,

Under his new youthful guise.

[dust]

《尋隱者不遇》

 

松下問童子

言師採藥去

只在此山中

雲深不知處

 

To gather herbs is the teacher gone

Said a lad under the pines

Somewhere he is in the mountains yon’

He told me with a sly smile.

 

I gazed at the clouds deep in the sky,

Then once more into the lad’s eyes,

There was the old teacher young again,

Under his new youthful guise.

Wow. Beautiful interpretation.

 

Do you write your own?

[Taoist Texts]

Wow. Beautiful interpretation.

 

Do you write your own?

thanks, i do sometimes. its a thing of beauty to see how a bunch of characters decodes itself into a story that is both comprehensible and poetic.

[ion]

Awesomeness is present within this thread