Message-Id: <199607262310.TAA20981@locke.ccil.org>
Date:         Fri, 26 Jul 1996 17:46:06 +0100
Reply-To: Steven Belknap <sbelknap@UIC.EDU>
Sender: Lojban list <LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET>
From: Steven Belknap <sbelknap@UIC.EDU>
Subject:      may the wind be always at your back
To: John Cowan <cowan@LOCKE.CCIL.ORG>
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The fastest tack is directly across the wind, not downwind. Tacking was
made possible by the invention of the keel, which is at least a thousand
years old. If this is a nautical phrase, it must either be very old or
infelicitous. Running downwind is a rather nervous tack, as there is the
danger of an unintentional jibe, which can capsize the craft. Conveying
wishes to be slow and nervous seem more like a curse than a blessing. Is
there a reference for the assertion that this is a natical term? I am
familiar with this phrase from a plaque that my grandmother had in her
parlor, which was titled "An Irish Blessing May the road rise to meet you,
may the wind be always at your back...may the Lord hold you in the hollow
of his hand." It was set to verse by some composer, possibly Virgil
Thompson.

Translation of allegory, metaphor, and simile is an art; there is no
"right" translation between natural languages. Each of the strategies
suggested seem defensible.

Perhaps to convey the flavor of the simile one could use a <peha>...<poha>
group signifying figurative spech, then specify from which
culture/language/tradition you are borrowing using <selahu>. I think I
would try something like this if I were trying to retain the poetic sense
of the phrase.

As to the usefulness of figurative speech in lojban; figurative speech is
certainly a common speech behavior in natural languages, and thus ought
(IMHO) be straighforwardly expressible in lojban. A short cmavo pair for
doing this seems reasonable to me.

-Steven