striving for perfection
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Striving for perfection- M. HahnTRANSCRIPT
123
Striving for Perfection: On the Various Ways of Translating Sanskrit into Tibetan
Michael HahnPhilipus Universität, Marburg
IN 1976 OR 1977 I HAPPENED to meet the Swiss Indologist Heinz Zimmermann in his home in Basel, Switzerland. In 1975 he had published his doctoral thesis bearing the ornate title Die
Utilizing Tibetan Translations”)1
review.2
. The
,3 and no
124
.4
mentions that he consulted its Tibetan translation; however, he came
5
outside Tibet. It was particu
Tibetan
|
|| 161 ||
6
|| ||
|| ||
|| ||
125
Tibetan
things to be mentioned. First, the relative construction was not maintained. Both the relative pronoun ,
one. Both words would then be included in the agent (“he who
. This
and is the agent and which is the instru has
126
at
based on the assumption that the translators might have understood
; however, I am sure that not even an educated Tibetan
points to an interesting variant reading that is worth consideration
in line
in the Tibetan -
127
|
|| 161 ||
|| ||
|| ||*
7 two
, in a section called , which
.8
unsolved riddle to me how the translators could assume that their
|yat ke cid eva
That just some
|| ||
||
128
gang dag lha ’dra’i || ||
||
(“in
sensical rendering (“
o , o , and
gang dag lha ’dra’i
od eva in
9
.
10
4
129
with, since this is the usual case when a modern scholar (or amateur)
ruption did I became able to restore what I believe the translator origi
11
bogs med tshong dang ’khor ldan dag la ’tshe ||||
|| ||
(47a) bogs ( med tshong dang ’khor ldan dag la ’tshe
130Fi
gure
1. I
nte
rfer
ence
an
d th
e T
ran
smis
sion
of
Tex
ts
Orig
inal
mes
sage
of t
he au
thor
(Lan
guag
e: S
ansk
rit)
: Tra
nsm
issio
n of
the o
rigin
al te
xt (S
ansk
rit m
anus
crip
t)
Corr
ect (
C)
Inc
orre
ct (I
)
: Tra
nsla
tion
into
Tib
etan
Corr
ect (
CC) I
ncor
rect
(CI)
Cor
rect
(IC)
Inco
rrec
t (II)
: Tra
nsm
issio
n of
the T
ibet
an tr
ansla
tion
Corr
ect I
ncor
rect
Co
rrec
t Inc
orre
ct
Corr
ect I
ncor
rect
Co
rrec
t Inc
orre
ct
: Tra
nsla
tion
into
mod
ern
lang
uage
s
CCCC
CCC
I C
CIC
CCII
CI
CC C
ICI
CIIC
CIII
IC
CC IC
CI
ICIC
ICII
IIC
C IIC
I I
IIC II
II
131
he who begs and is proud,
897, which 8.14 (as edited in ), and it is
also 1.115.16 and 65. 12 1
| a b c ||
(a)
A careless tradesman and an arrogant servant,
we have to read or
we have to read where renders and .
we have to read . This seems to be a bold and and dis
all we have to assume is that * we have
to read . The term where it renders
65 represents
132
“courtesan,” and (“to a
had the variant reading
65 where we read
to 14
, the
One has to decide what one is going to establish, to translate, or to
in the
criticism.
133
15
the
)
where
134
,16
17
the
curs again, this time as
be given in Tibetan transliteration. In that particular scene two tribal
are 18
|| |
135
| |
|
Ha, ha,
me that
ter over and over again I realized that
word,
that the two words *
(“little
136
sages the whole scene becomes logical and coherent and we see that
20
(11) | | |
|
be achieved ( ), then one
»good language« ( ) within one stanza (
| ).21
(12) |
thing to be achieved ( ), however one
137
).22
(20) | | | |
| | |
|
are particle (), the method ( ) to achieve correspondence with the
meaning (
or
add ( ), to the meaning (
one should translate ( ) according to the meaning ().
spread” (
and the
(entitled ( ); the three oldest epis
(“Letter to a Disciple,”
138
beginning.24
the
25
, “to honor,
Tibetan , (or ), (“to please”),
,
139
ing tog 6.27+)
yul 9.0, 9.16+, 9.21+)
rin po che (“topaz”) 14.17+).
, which was
tions missed the point while the Tibetan rendering is correct. In stanza
|
S26
27 Both interpret in 2.12a
||
|
28
zas29 In the other 60 percent we
; , and ; ;
ten the principle is used, that is, using two Tibetan words
140
(“being used”),
belonging to the old language (
, , or
and or and .
|
|| ||
||
, which, as a rule, represent an older and more authentic
141
.
|
|| ||
||
-
, “to
as ( ) 35
in translated
(“
nice linguistic not clear whether
142
|
|| 2.42 ||
However, he who is reluctant
and being aware that man will have to bear
under no circumstances he will commit a bad deed
| |
| | 2.42 |
deeds
) 38 and
, “under no cir,
143
ence or readership, that he wished to write Tibetan, not translationese.
ignored. Among the
, and the
meters.
144
and the isolation particle . translated he
or double entendres.
incompatible parts. Nevertheless, as a whole his translations are to 95
the are ob
Tibetan translations as a whole.
39 |
| | | 40
| | 41
| | (vol.
145
brocade that has been turned and then does not appear on its re
146
NOTES
1. Heinz Zimmerman, , Freiburger Beiträge
, ed.
4. Michael Hahn,
’
7. Siglinde Dietz,
1984).
ibid 67 and 65.
147
10.
, vol. 1, Bibliotheca ori
is now lost.
is to be
.
1974), 192; and Michael Hahn, trans.,
21. Nils Simonsson,
22. Ibid , 249.
148
,”
25. Albrecht Hanisch, , Indica et Tibetica Philologische
28. The incomplete
-
(e.g., and ).”
to
|| | | in the
,
instead . In line
, and in line (d) we have emended the transmitted readings and as and . The emendation *
149
o
reading *
i
.