User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Going to Church
May 12, 2009 at 6:05 AMBigotry: The self-righteousness of the ignorant
Posted on: The Brocade Zither -- 锦瑟
May 12, 2009 at 4:10 AMHi darylk
You've made some wonderful points. I was particularly interested in your comment that
Language that seems so certain and fixed—as hard as a piece of jade—is revealed to be as insubstantial as smoke...
We could call this "meta-poetry"-- a poem we can't fully grasp, describing the impossibility of understanding (language or love or what have you.)
Hi obitoddkenobi,
You reminded me that one commenter said that the terrible, bittersweet focus of the poem is the 已 in the final line. Even as he felt these emotions, he was already overwhelmed, baffled, lost. As you said,
If we couldn't account for the mystery already when it was happening, do we really think we are going to account for it later?
I wondered whether there might be a poddie backlash against the difficulty and obscurity of the piece. But judging by the excellent quality of the discussion so far, it's clear that you are ready for the worst that the poets and I can throw at you.
Posted on: The Brocade Zither -- 锦瑟
May 12, 2009 at 3:14 AMHi effie612 and mike
Thanks for your kind words.
Mike, this lesson was by far the hardest to prepare. I kept feeling that I was on the verge of understanding it, and then some little detail wouldn't quite fit into a tidy explanation. It's sort of how the smoke on the jade seems to disappear when you get too close.
I have never read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I think it's time to fix this gaping hole in my reading!
Posted on: Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs
May 12, 2009 at 3:08 AMHi sushan,
This is a tricky phrase. I like your description of the fragrance as "funky."
I had a buddy who was deathly allergic to fish, and so he always avoided this dish on the off chance that it actually included some fish.
Back in my carnivorous days I definitely ran into a good deal of cabbage in supposedly 魚香 dishes. Especially when the price of pork rose more than 50% in a single year, this was a popular way to cut costs.
Posted on: City: Mumbai
May 12, 2009 at 1:48 AMHi bababardwan,
There are also some fixed phrases where the words 街 and 路 are not interchangeable:
highway 高速公路 ,
going for a stroll， window shopping 逛街
Chinatown 唐人街
Posted on: 小太监进宫
May 12, 2009 at 1:46 AM朱老师所提到的郑和是我偶像之一。福建泉州有一所博物馆专门介绍他著名的下西洋，很值得研究。
Posted on: Big Bed
May 12, 2009 at 1:41 AMHi bababardwan,
Connie and Jenny confirm that Chinese do not describe bed size in terms of royalty. They just say 几尺, how many feet.
Posted on: The Brocade Zither -- 锦瑟
May 12, 2009 at 1:11 AMHi all,
Here is today's poem:
锦瑟无端五十弦 ， 一弦一柱思华年。
jǐnsè wúduān wǔshíxián , yīxián yīzhù sī huānián
庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶，望帝春心托杜鹃。
zhuāngshēng xiǎomèng mí húdié , wàngdì chūnxīn tuō dùjuān
沧海月明珠有泪，蓝田日暖玉生烟。
cānghǎi yuèmíng zhū yǒulèi , lántián rìnuǎn yù shēngyān
此情可待成追忆，只是当时已惘然。
cǐqíng kědài chéng zhuīyì , zhǐshì dāngshí yǐ wǎngrán.
錦瑟無端五十弦，一弦一柱思華年。
莊生曉夢迷蝴蝶，望帝春心托杜鵑。
滄海月明珠有淚，藍田日暖玉生煙。
此情可待成追憶，只是當時已惘然。
Posted on: 《杜拉拉升职记》
May 12, 2009 at 8:20 AMHi bettine
很佩服你，已经能看懂中国小说，实在不容易啊。
我阅读速度也不算高。 一般，我先不查词典。不认识的词要在下面画一条线。看完了一个单元或十几个页面我才回去查莫生词。这样又不觉得烦，又可以学会新的词。
中文有一个特点-- 你从一个字的形象看不太出来它的读音，不像其他更有规矩的语言。于是你第一次读的时候，不知道怎么念一个字，可能会觉得有些别扭。查了之前，不要乱想读音，说不定实际读音跟你想的完全不一样。