Poetical update

[muckefuck]

Finally found a decent translation of the Li Bai poem, "Viewing Lushan waterfall", I was working on last Sunday! First, the Chinese original (in Arial Unicode):

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Now, the translation (from The Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry-from Early Times to the 13th Century):

Sunlight streaming on Incense Stone kindles violet smoke.
Far off I watch the waterfall plunge to the long river.
Flying waters descending straight three thousand feet,
Till I think the Milky Way has tumbled from the ninth height of Heaven.

Of course, you know me, I still have problems with this version. The name of the mountain peak, here translated as "Incense Stone", is literally "Incense Stove"--what we normally refer to as an "incense burner". I'm not sure whether "Stone" is a typo or a liberty. I also can't say whether the peak got its name from its shape or the fact that mist rising from it looks like incense, nor what the relationship is between the name of this peak and the larger mountain, Lushan ("pot mountain"; the lú meaning "pot" and that meaning "stove" are homophones; they are near homonymns as well, differing only in the presence of the fire radical in "stove").

In any case, Monshu will probably take advantage of the holiday break to revise the online catalog of his scroll collection. [Corrections welcome, btw.] The calligraphy itself is interesting, though a bit wobbly for my taste

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I tried to find a picture of Incence Sto[v|n]e, or an illustration of it, but Google was not my friend. Any pointers?

- Patishel

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Try spelling it "incense".

[(Anonymous)]

Bitez moi!

I was spelling it right in my Google search, I swear.

-Patishel

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Here's a site with pictures of the scenic wonders of Lushan, including Huangyan Falls, but there's no picture specifically of Xianglu ("Incense Burner") Peak.

[(Anonymous)]

From that site I gathered that the transliteration is Xianglu Peak. Through Google, this led me to:

http://www.chinatravel1.com/english/destination/huangshan/highlights/highlight-zz.htm

It also led me to: “The sun shines over a roast duck restaurant on Xianglu Peak, chicken, duck, fish and meat are all in front of me. The saliva runs 3,000 yards, but when I feel my pocket, I find not a single coin.” Says it's just kiddie doggerel, and I'm sure you have problems with this translation, but I thought I'd mention it. (Sounds an awful lot like "The entire world is a very strange carrot...")

- Patishel