Re: Beginners attempt at translation

[John Hodges <jbhodges@USIT.NET>]

At 01:41 AM 5/16/98 +1200, Chris Double wrote:
>I'm just learning lojban so I thought I'd ask if my attempts at
>understanding the 'lo se pensi' thread were correct. I've broken it out of
>the original thread so as not to get in the way of the conversation. I'd
>appreciate comments on how close I am. Thanks!
>
>>John Hodges:
>> > lo se pensi
>'Some thoughts' or 'some things being thought about' or 'something to think
>about'
>
>>John Hodges:
>> >ro le nu kusru cu se rinka le ka ruble
>'All events of something being cruel to something are caused by the property
>of weakness" or
>'All cruelty is the result of some form of weakness'
(snip)
>So in essence, John said 'All cruelty is the result of some from of
>weakness' and Jorge is saying 'are you saying the all cruel people have a
>weakness'.
>
>Close? Far Away? In the ballpark?
>
>Thanks for any help!
>
>Chris.
>
Greetings- John Hodges here- I was once very active in Lojban but have been
largely inactive for several years- my skill with the language is very
rusty. I remain a supporter and attend the yearly business meeting and
Lojfest. I signed onto this list day before yesterday to brush up a little
before attending this year's Lojfest, to get back in touch. Recalling from
past years the lengthy discussions and arguments (in English) about fine
points of grammar, I have the intent to make short daily posts in lojban,
one or two sentences, in the hope that (1) it will provide practice for me,
(2) it may provide practice for other beginners, in using the language.

But, I have not yet made the time to compose any sentences myself. So far I
have taken two sentences from a list I had on hand, of translation exercises
we did at a previous Lojfest. "lo se pensi" is my attempt to say "a
thought"; "ro le nu kusru cu se rinka le ka ruble" is the translation
someone else made of a quote from Seneca (ancient writer, I believe Roman):
"All cruelty springs from weakness."

Please understand that nothing I write is "expert use", much less "native".

Today's "lo se pensi":

lo sidbo cu na fuzme le prenu poi krici ri