The writing
k 1 telnet 127.0.0.1 3000
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to 127.0.0.1.
Escape character is '^]'.
Welcoming
> New arrival from clara on line 4.
/n Karl
> Name set.
> New arrival from clara on line 5.
(5) Gertrud says, "Karl, are you here?"
Yes, Gertrud, I am here; this is writing on the wall, evanescent writing.
(4) Karl says, "Yes, Gertrud, I am here; this is writing on the wall,
evanescent writing."
(5) Gertrud says, "I see the words, but I do not see the hand that writes
them."
It is the same for me. Of those who were weeded out, it is the same for
all of us.
(4) Karl says, "It is the same for me. Of those who were weeded out, it is
the same for all of us."
(5) Gertrud says, "The words read the words; the words write them."
The words, reading and writing one another. As if they are the last words.
(4) Karl says, "The words, reading and writing one another. As if they are
the last words."
(5) Gertrud says, "The only words in this space, the only conceivable
words."
A permanent cipher, nothing of reading, nothing of writing.
(4) Karl says, "A permanent cipher, nothing of reading, nothing of writing."
(5) Gertrud says, "Nothing of translation, of audience; nothing of
comprehension."
What we have to say to one another,
(4) Karl says, "What we have to say to one another,"
(5) Gertrud says, "The words already speaking"
The words already spoken-for
(4) Karl says, "The words already spoken-for"
(5) Gertrud says, "Of longings, yearnings, of good-byes"
Of leaving our signs for one another
(4) Karl says, "Of leaving our signs for one another"
(5) Gertrud says, "Of meetings elsewhere than this evanescent space, this
space of ghosts."
Everywhere and nowhere at all, this
(4) Karl says, "Everywhere and nowhere at all, this"
(5) Gertrud says, "Permanent communion, this"
sign ...
(4) Karl says, "sign ..."
> The conversations you have seen here are not real, they
> are trapped in a world between reality and computer nets...
Connection closed by foreign host.
===
Cien2 Su4 Vun2 (Hakka) Inversion -
[Ellen Zweig and I continue the translation of the 1000 Character Classic.
In the Chinese examination system, the characters were used to indicate
the applicant's home lane with its examination cells. Each character is
used once. We translate in accordance with three dictionaries and two
software programs, plus a grammar of T'ang poetry and other assorted aids.
The original is in couplets; after a semi-mythological beginning, the
essay settles into homilies, platitudes, proverbs, advice. It was used as
a study tool, by children learning the characters for the first time.
Here, we find our own rhythm in translation, moving back and forth across
the 4-character lines, assembling and reassembling, searching for tropes
and parallels; suddenly the line is illuminated, and its aura extends to
the next or previous.
The characters are old-style, not simplified; many are out of date. At
times, in the Japanese software, the character will be combined with
another (main) radical, existing only as a subsidiary remnant. Almost
never does the knowledge of radicals aid in interpretation; it seems, at
least in relation to the Japanese, to be an awkward process of elimination
as well as accumulation.
The best search strategy is the boolean/root system in the Japanese soft-
ware; this can be followed by character combinations in the Chinese soft-
ware. When all else fails, a Chinese dictionary from 1930 is consulted;
with its 10,000 + characters, it works well, in terms of radical and
stroke count. But even here there are problems; characters within have up
to 48 strokes, often drawn in a space smaller than a quarter-inch.
We are un-knowing of Chinese; Ellen is studying it, and I am still use-
lessly pursuing Japanese. But we enter a certain zone in this translation,
a connection with something barely comprehended. For myself, the tenuous
readings of the words plays into my own writing; bridging character to
character is bridging English to English; it is a process of thinking into
the void, not unlike the text itself.
Below is an inversion study in which the translation is first reversed,
then sent through software that eliminates duplicate words, then reversed
again (specifically, tac -> perl program eliminating duplicates -> tac).
The language slowly becomes more coherent towards the end. And we are only
between a quarter and a third of the way through.]
yellow :: heaven black, earth black - cosmos - are vast - desolate
wasteland - moon fills - sun sets west - dusk - 7 9 morning - it's measure
word, they spread line constellations - cold - comes - heat - goes -
autumn - harvesting - winter - hiding, concealing - intercalary timing -
leftover residue - becomes tenth - measurement years - so lu - pitches -
shift position - open - clouds - ascend, galloping, - sending - rain - dew
- forms - becoming - frost - gives gold - beautiful - water - emanates
jade - from Kun mountain - summit - double-edged dagger - furiously named
- huge - gate-tower - pearl - called - light - darkness - fruit - plum -
apple - vegetables - mustard - ginger - sea - salted - rivers - fresh -
fish-scales - hidden depths - feathers - circling above - fire - dragon -
teaching - royal - official - beginning - making - writing - characters -
then - robes uniforms, wearing - skirts < clothing - expel - throne -
yield - country - yao - tang - has - predicted - console - people - strike
down - guilty - hold - boundary - test scalding - trying case - at court -
query - way - bequeath - bow - doubting - sections - love - raise up -
hosts - leaders - minister - prostrate - army - barbarians - near - far -
one - reality - ration - guest - returning to - emperor - phoenix - cries
- bamboo - white - colt - grazes - there - covers - grass weeds -
(vegetation) - trust - attain - a myriad (10,000) - directions (square) -
covering - person - issues - (giving birth to) - four - great - five -
normal - (connector / alone) - rearing - children - (!) - flattering -
destroys - injures - women - adore - chastity - unyielding - imitate -
pleasing - genius - know - what passes - certainty - change - attainment -
ability - never - neglect - talk deception - other - brief -
disintegration - reliance - self (self-reliance) - long - cause faith -
should - be covered (protect your faith) - tool (utensil) - desire - (is)
trouble - (quantity) measure-word - ink - (on sorrow, sadness - printed
(sadness stains silk) - praise poetry - small (lamb) - sheep (sheep) -
view, scenery - lines - tied lined-up - wisdom - restraint, conquering -
study - makes (creates) - sage - benevolence - built - name - stands -
origin - shape - proper (upright) - model - sky - valley - proclaim -
(one's) fame - empty - chamber hall (public room) - learn (review lessons)
- carefully - depends on (is disaster (catastrophe) - accumulation - evil
- blessings (fortune) - (are caused by) - virtuous - happiness - 1/3
(scale, ruler) - bi-jade (circular disk with hole) - negative (un- ) -
treasure - 1/30 meter (measurement, small) - yin (shadow, moon, sexual
organs, feminine, secret) - is (just so) (to be) - emulated (compete with)
- capital - father (parallels) - (business) affairs - supreme ruler -
speak - strictly (accurately) - give - respect - filial piety - serves
(accepts) - of power (the others) - devotion - follows (rules) - end (of)
- life - face (meet, confront) - breathing out - public - rectification -
fit - many - men - dwell - in leisure - the ch'in - 4-stringed instrument
- good - and wonderful - question or problem - gate - [...] - as well -
===