Re: About Some Questions about LB101

From: John Hughes <nysalor_at_primus.com.au>
Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 18:13:47 -0700


Terra:

>I eventually have almost managed to
> complete the translation of Lozenge Building 101 from English to Japanese
> which I mentioned during the travel in USA. But some of English Words are
> still beyond my understanding.

I will try to explain. 'Lozenge Building' was a very informal, cheeky piece. I realise that some of my typically Australian irony and sense of humour may be difficult to translate. Don't worry - many others on the list, even English speakers, have the same problem. Even my wife (who is English) is baffled at times :).

Humour is very difficult to translate! :)

> >Duck Fornicators of Gor

The "Gor" books are an infamous series of sado-masochistic fantasy novels by John Norman about scantily-clad slave women in chains who apparently love to be whipped. I *think* they are out of print, but sadly, stained and dog-eared copies seem to be a staple of second-hand book stores. It has spawned a very silly Internet (and real life?) cult.

> >Babylon 5-CoC

Babylon 5 is/was a wonderful science fiction tv series. (Surely you have seen it in Japan?) COC is 'Call of Cthulhu', Chaosium's horror roleplaying game based on the works of HP Lovecraft. There is a link. Larry DeTillio, the series editor in some early seasons of Babylon 5, wrote some COC modules for Chaosium in the 1980s. There are a number of Lovecraftian themes and stories in Babylon 5.

> >MGF
> Maximum Game Fun? (MIchael O'brien)

Yes. MOB is the prophet and chief priest, but we are all believers.

> >Eight Uses For Trollkin Urine
> Which Thread in GD?

An ancient thread from January 1995. The Digest search engine picks it up if you search for "trollkin urine".

> >creche rhymes
> creche? creche poem?

nursery rhymes - songs and poems for young children.

> >mixmaster slice&amp;dice milk churners
> Trademark Product?

'Mixmaster' is a kitchen appliance for mixing food. "it slices, it dices" is a television ad for such an appliance, and in general means "can do anything". But wait, there's more... In Orlanthi society (and in many human societies) churning milk into butter is tedious, repetitive manual labour. (Of course, as Peter Larsen once picked me up on, I'm not above inventing Orlanthi kitchen appliances of my own: I just try and cover the fact by calling them 'sampos').

> >SCA
The Society of Creative Anachronism is a group dedicated to recreating noble life of the ancient and medieval world, though the politics and customs of the group can be very twentieth century. "Better Living (and Dying) With Ratann" :) There are others on the list who can explain the SCA much more clearly (and fairly) than I.
>
> >Anyong ha shimnika?
> Which Language?

]This section appears only in the Digest draft that appears on Nick's website, but was later dropped when I rearranged and cleaned up the essay for glorantha.com. As translator, of course, you can pick and choose. The language is Hangul (Korean) and says, in the Seoul dialect, "are you at peace?', or "hallo". I guess a suitable substitution for a Japanese audience might be "Geddaybruceowyagoon? Bloodiotaintit?" Or perhaps not. :)

>
> >Richard the Tiger-Hearted. King Brien - before or after the respelling.
> Leonardo the Scientist.
> Richard Lion-Hearted (British King) Bryan or Broyan....Are there RW
> Analogue? Leonardo da Vinch.
> IMHO, I cannot say Richard and Leonardo are the subject to Ethnic
humour...

These are not the historical figures, but Gloranthan identities portrayed in RQIII. This section attempted to look humourously at regional differences in the humour of English speakers. I'm not sure how you might translate it. There was an English film by the monty python team called "Life of Brien", which had as its tag line, "He's not the messiah, he's just a naughty boy". One of my jokes refers to this.

 >I
> hope my humble translation is accurate and good as both Japanese Text and
> faithful translation.

When it comes to translation, I always value accessibility and poetry over literal or technical accuracy. For instance, I *loved* the often technically-inaccurate Seamus Heaney translation of Beowulf, and would rather read Christopher Logue's 'War Music' than any literal translation of the Iliad. If your translation reflects a little of my love for Glorantha, your love for Glorantha, and entertains your readers, then you will have succeeded. Add to or adapt my script as you see fit. I am honoured that you are making the attempt.

Cheers

John



nysalor_at_primus.com.au John Hughes

Aussie Zen

"No worries": The Australian Zen utterance for Yes. "Galah": No mind or detachment of mind, complete  freedom from focused thinking.
"She'll be right": An Australian Zen mantra, pointing to  a state of mind beyond the apparent dualities  of good and evil.
 Vegemite: nine ingredients combined into a state of  foodlessness. An edible koan. "We are happy little vege-mites".


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