偶翻三句，竟是金玉良言

偶翻三句，竟是金玉良言

◎ 文正後　文美國‧加州

中午吃過午餐，匆匆準備上課，突然一位皮膚黝黑的居士上來，問我（用英文），說可不可以幫他翻譯幾句話？我正急，說OK，可否給我一兩天，等我上完課再說。

等我上完課，我再想找那位居士，已無蹤影。我心裏說：「你不急，我也不跟你急。」就把那張紙帶回「如來寺」（註：萬佛聖城男眾區）。晚上一躺下，一看這幾句話，呵！不多啊，我這就給你翻完。

翻譯完後，細細玩味：嗯，還真有些意思，跟修行的道理很一致，不是嗎！？我甚至都可以拿來教學生啊。這三句是哪三句？請看：

課後我從法師那兒，才知道這位居士來自加勒比海的島國──特加尼達和多巴哥；去過臺灣，對佛教與中華文化產生濃厚的興趣。這次他們夫婦帶著四歲的孩子來看我們學校，準備於因緣成熟時，把孩子送來我們學校唸書。

他在「特國」教武術；教華人孩子時，他一直想鼓勵他們上進，就在武術館門前寫著這幾句英文，他總想把它們變成中文。那天他一定是想：「看看今天有機會，逮個人來問……」沒想這下撞上我。

緣雖只一面，但給我的是一種鼓勵與鞭策，這三句可成我的座右銘！

至於翻譯，也只是拋磚引玉，希望各位大德能多多指正（尤其是第一句話，翻的不是很理想）。

As the twig bends...

◎ by Zheng-Hou Wen

I finished lunch, hurried to the teachers’ office in the Boys School, and prepared to begin teaching the AP-Chinese class. Suddenly a dark-skinned man, in his thirties, appeared in front of me. He asked me very politely, “Could you...please...help me translate these few sentences?” and handed me a piece of paper. I was in haste and answered, “...Sorry, not now, how about giving me one or two days?” (hinting that I could help him after I finished my teaching). When the class was over, he was out of sight, and could not be found. I told myself, “You were not in a hurry, why bother to hurry?” I brought the piece of paper the dark-skinned man had given me into the Tathagata Monastery and laid it aside.

After I finished a whole day's monastic schedule and retired into my quarters, I opened the paper, read it, and thought, "My goodness, just three sentences?! That being the case, I could have done it much earlier rather than waiting this late into the night. If you were here, I could give you the translation in five minutes."

I finished the translation and started to savor these three sentences, “Mmm, very meaningful, axiom-like, and pithy...” I asked myself, “Isn’t it the case that all these three sentences reflect the same principles as our cultivation? I can even use the three sentences in teaching my students.”

What are these sentences? They are as follows:

It was on Monday that this layperson approached me and it wasn’t until Thursday that he reappeared in the Great Dining Hall. I gave him the translation while he was eating and hurried to my Chinese class, in the same manner as I did on Monday, without having a chance to sit down to have a chat with him.

Later I heard from the Dharma Master that he is from a Caribbean country called Trinidad and Tobago. He had been to Taiwan and had hence developed a sincere interest in Chinese culture and Buddhism. This time he and his wife brought their four year-old son to see our schools because he was thinking of sending the son to attend our schools once he meets the age requirement. He, himself, is a martial art coach, and had some catchphrases or adages written on the outside wall of his martial art stadium.

Since he loves learning Chinese and also has some Chinese-speaking students, he had been thinking about putting these sentences into Chinese so as to have a more powerful impact on these students. So, there he was, and when he approached me, he must have thought, “Today I am going to catch someone, and ask him to help me translate these sentences.” By sheer coincidence, I was caught.

It seems I only had a nodding acquaintance with him, but his three sentences gave me a slight jolt too: I must discipline myself and be vigilant.

As far as the translation is concerned, I am just “casting out a brick” in order to “draw forth a jade.” Hopefully those greatly virtuous ones can help me improve the translation.

p.s.I am not actually 100% satisfied with the translation of the first sentence, yet at the present time, I cannot find a better one.