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insight -

Hi, all!
I came accross these two verses in Chinese. Could anybody help me to translate it?



1) 善似青松惡似花，看看眼前不如它；有朝一日遭霜打，只見青松不見花.

2) 不怕念起，只怕覺遲

These two verses appear in Chinese philsophy books.


Thanks in advance,

Michelle



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helenlee -

1, it means that at the first sight, the flower is nicer than the pinetree. when the frost is
coming,the flower is withered but the pinetree is standing there still. now in Buddhism,they
compare good and bad in one's nature to pinetree and flower.










insight -

Thanks Helen,

But you still haven't told me how to translate 有朝一日遭霜打，只見青松不見花?

And 不怕念起，只怕覺遲 . Does it mean " do not be afraid of the arousal of thoughts but
the late perception"? But I think this translation does not sound good.

Have you got a better suggestion?

Rgds,
Michelle










gougou -



Quote:

But you still haven't told me how to translate 有朝一日遭霜打，只見青松不見花?

Actually, she did. The part before the semicolon describes how the pine tree compares to the
flower on first sight, while the part after the semicolon describes what happens once it freezes.










insight -

And how about the second one?

不怕念起 只怕覺遲?


This one is tough to translate.


ITD,

Michelle










gato -



Quote:

不怕念起 只怕覺遲

How about "Be not afraid of perceiving, only afraid of perceiving too late"?

Not entirely sure that 念起 is "perceiving". It could also mean "opening one's perception" or
"remembering."

See http://140.111.34.46/cgi-bin/dict/Ge...yString=%A9%C0
(1)惦記、想念。如：思念、掛念。唐˙白居易˙傷遠行賦：惟母念子之心　，
心可測而可量。
(2)憶念。佛教指將心清楚放在對象上而不忘失。如：念佛、念施。大安般守�
��經˙卷下：念出入息。










insight -

Hello, Gato!

Thanks a lot for the suggestion!




Quote:

How about "Be not afraid of perceiving, only afraid of perceiving too late"?

As regarding to 念起, I think you should not separate 念 and 起. Since 念起means every
emergence of thought ( in Spanish : surgimiento de pensamiento).

So, what do you think if we make it like this:

Be not afraid of the thoughts, only afraid of perceiving too late


Sincerely yours ,

Michelle










studentyoung -



Quote:

1) 善似青松惡似花，看看眼前不如它；有朝一日遭霜打，只見青松不見花.

Goodness is a pine tree and evil is a flower.
A flower pleases you more than a tree.
But once it freezes,
the flower will fade while the tree still green.



Quote:

2) 不怕念起，只怕覺遲

The matter is not what comes to your mind but whether it comes too late.

Thanks!










insight -



Quote:

Goodness is a pine tree and evil is a flower.
A flower pleases you more than a tree.
But once it freezes,
the flower will fade while the tree still green

This is a nice translation. But how about :

Wholesomeness is like a pine,
unwholesomeness is like a flower.
At first sight, the pinetree is not compared to the flower;
but once the frost heats them,
the pinetree remains and not the flower.

But as regarding to the second verse:

[quote]The matter is not what comes to your mind but whether it comes too late/QUOTE]


I think in the verse, it does not mention matter. What do you think?


Michelle










HashiriKata -



Quote:

不怕念起 只怕覺遲

Please stand back and let me have the last words on this :
Don't be afraid of having bad thoughts, do be afraid of not recognizing them soon enough!












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