Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Bicycle Review #19


A small snowy white and a large blue heron on right.  This is Oooka River near Kamioooka.


My short story "Estimates" has appeared on The Bicycle Review #19.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Vara-Dundubhi-Svara


On page 106 of the previous book by Professor Ueki, I pointed out to him that "vara-dundubhi-svara (the most excellent drum owner)" reminded me of American rocks.  I was particularly thinking of the songs by Niel Sedaka or Paul Anka in 60s.  The backup singers’ chorus sounded like "dundubhi dowa dowa" or something.  He said it was interesting. We talked more about さ行 (sa, shi, su, se, soof Japanese letters.

I posted the above paragraph on FB and received some comments.  I guess my spelling of yabadabadoo as goodbye threw some people off.  It was “Yabadava-du!”  But I thought more about it.

Then, I made a discovery!  Vara and svara ended up in our word, subarashii (すばらしい).  Subarashii means splendid.  It’s always something.

Well, folks.  Dundubhi-Yabadabadoo!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Sad-dharma-pundarika sutra



On 法華経: Professor Ueki Masatoshi pointed out that Sad-dharma-pundarika sutra means "white-lotus-like-most-splendid-and-right-teaching 白蓮華のように最も素晴らしい正しい教え" and not "Right teaching white lotus 正しい教えの白蓮" which was translated by the most authoritative paperback and Tokyo University scholars by Iwanami publisher.

He elaborated the grammar and usages, analyzed and fixed the problems, and I agreed he was right about it. But what is our reality?

Most books, even the books I like and consider pretty good contain errors and often very serious kinds. That goes to both E to J, and J to E. And I'm talking about major books like Shakespeare translation and so on.

I know this post does not help you right away, but I just want you to be aware
.

Below is translated by Rosetta Savelli in Italian.


MoKeiko Amano
Il法華経: Professore Ueki Masatoshi ha sottolineato che Sad-dharma-pundarika sutra significa "bianco-loto-come-più o maggiore -splendido-e-diritto-insegnamento 白 蓮華 の よう に 最も 素晴らしい 正しい 教え" e non "Destra insegnamento loto bianco 正しい 教え の 白蓮 ", così come è stato tradotto dal vocabolario tascabile degli autorevoli studiosi dell'Università di Tokyo per editore Iwanami.

Esso ha a elaborato la grammatica e gli utilizzi, analizzato e risolto i problemi, ed ha accertato la propria ragione. Ma qual è la nostra realtà?

La maggior parte dei libri, anche i libri che mi piacciono, possono contenere degli errori, alcuni poco gravi, mentre altri molto gravi e di vario genere. Questo vale sia per E a J, e J per E. E sto parlando di libri importanti come la traduzione di Shakespeare.

So che questo non ti sarà di grande aiuto, ma ti aggiungerà consapevolezza.

Traduzione in Lingua Italiana di Rosetta Savelli