[lojban] Re: The Analects

[xod <xod@thestonecutters.net>]

Pierre Abbat wrote:

> On Sunday 29 February 2004 13:15, sshiskom wrote:
>  
>
> > I translated a short sentence from The Analects,
> > a book written by Confucius. Specifically, it is from
> > Book IV, Chapter VIII.
> >
> > [Chinese original]
> > æœ?è?žé?", 夕死å?¯çŸ£.
> >
> > [My Lojban translation]
> > da ganai cilre le jetnu ti'u le cerni
> > gi zifre le nu morsi ti'u le vanci
> >
> > [An English translation]
> > http://nothingistic.org/library/confucius/analects/analects04.html
> > If a man in the morning hear the right way,
> > he may die in the evening without regret.
> >    
>
> The Lojban means "There is someone who, if he learns...", and that is true if 
> there is someone who doesn't learn, as well as if there is someone who learns 
> and is free to die. I suggest modifying it:
>
> lo'e cilre be le jetnu bei ti'u le cerni
> cu zifre le nu morsi ti'u le vanci
>  

Your heart was in the right place, but I fear we've now lost the 
conditionality. Also, I think the "zifre morsi" might be interpreted as 
a warning. Thanks for the tip, I'll avoid learning the truth; I don't 
want to die like that guy did.



--
"The war was supposed to be quick. We were supposed to be greeted as liberators. It was to pay for itself with oil revenues. And we were supposed to find chemical and biological weapons."
Col. Sam Gardiner USAF-retired, National Defense University