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Thomas
A translation of a Tang detective novel
Hello all, I am currently trying to translate one chapter from a Tang dynasty detective novel 武则天四大奇案
I am hoping that I can have help with a few paragraphs that I am finding hard to translate. Thanks.
1. 那人道:“小人姓孔,名叫万德,就在昌平县南门外六里墩居祝家有数间房屋,只因人少房多,故此开了客店,数十年来,安然无事。
2. 今早天色将明,他两就起身而去,到了辰牌时分,忽然地甲胡德前来报信,说:
3. ‘不然这两人,是由你店中出去,何以就在这镇上出了奇案?这不是你移尸灭迹!’因此小人情急,特来求大老爷伸冤。
4. 汝既说是本地的良民,为何这地甲不说他人,单说是你?
5. 想见你也不是良善之辈,本县终难凭信。
6. “小人乃六里墩地甲胡德,见太爷请安。
很感谢你们的帮忙!
Feb 21, 2016 1:41 PM
Answers · 5
1
哈哈, Thomas在做大学作业,想请枪呢! 我们应该做枪手,还是应该鼓励他自己做作业呢?
Ted说得对,有个别的词语不容易,但说难,这份作业不算难,英国大学的中文系,就是要做这种作业。
小提示: 地甲就是地保(neighbourhood officer), 是中国封建时代保甲制度(district administration)下的一个很低的位置。在唐代,四家(four households)为“邻”,五邻为“保”,一保就是二十家。地甲就类似今天中华人民共和国城市里的"街道办事处"的一名人员。我也不一定说得对,最好自己查询一下。
这里中英俱佳的同学,我想还是有的。但我认为,Thomas应该自己做这个作业。假手于人,真的很丢脸。而且,没经过自己努力,那知识是记不牢的。
February 21, 2016
Some words can be hard to understand even for Chinese, e.g. 辰牌时分(although baidu can tell us), 地甲(for this word, baidu let me down, although I have a rough idea of what it is). Even the target language is modern English, it’s also challenging.
February 21, 2016
...Oh a lot ,can you add me wechat or Skype? if you have any problem like this ,i can help you to understand ,i love Such kind of books !
February 21, 2016
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!
Thomas
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Welsh
Learning Language
Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Italian, Portuguese
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