訊息: 9
語言: English
Miland (顯示個人資料) 2008年6月3日下午2:32:36
When I was little, my uncle had a wall carving with a picture of a path with three people on it at successive points, a young man, an older man and a very old man. Beneath was what sounded like a quote (I don't know from whom).
Before giving the passage, here are the challenges:
(a) Easier one: straight into Esperanto
(b) Harder one: express the thought in terms of the Japanese hajko tradition, a poem of three lines, which contain respectively 5,7 and 5 syllables and only this number. Alternatively, you may wish to attempt the tankao which has 5 lines with respectively 5,7,5,7 and 7 syllables - and that number only. The discipline actually serves as a container for the meaning. Try it and see!
The passage:
I shall pass this way but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.
I will award, as I do for the first successful solvers of enigmoj that I have presented, electronic green stars for the responses I feel are best, in a reasonable period, in the three categories - straight, hajko and tankao. However as they vary in difficulty, the best tankao will get two green stars, and the best hajko a very elaborate green star in a pattern that Filu originally proposed for my use in enigmoj. That will be the trophy, as it were.
Bonan ŝancon, al ĉiuj konkurantoj!
Before giving the passage, here are the challenges:
(a) Easier one: straight into Esperanto
(b) Harder one: express the thought in terms of the Japanese hajko tradition, a poem of three lines, which contain respectively 5,7 and 5 syllables and only this number. Alternatively, you may wish to attempt the tankao which has 5 lines with respectively 5,7,5,7 and 7 syllables - and that number only. The discipline actually serves as a container for the meaning. Try it and see!
The passage:
I shall pass this way but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.
I will award, as I do for the first successful solvers of enigmoj that I have presented, electronic green stars for the responses I feel are best, in a reasonable period, in the three categories - straight, hajko and tankao. However as they vary in difficulty, the best tankao will get two green stars, and the best hajko a very elaborate green star in a pattern that Filu originally proposed for my use in enigmoj. That will be the trophy, as it were.
Bonan ŝancon, al ĉiuj konkurantoj!
trojo (顯示個人資料) 2008年6月3日下午6:00:44
Oh yeah, and the text is probably a paraphrase of William Penn:
"I expect to pass through this life but once. Therefore, if there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do for another human being, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."
"I expect to pass through this life but once. Therefore, if there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do for another human being, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."
Miland (顯示個人資料) 2008年6月3日下午8:16:48
trojo:the text is probably a paraphrase of William Penn...Thanks for this, that certainly makes sense, because Penn was a Quaker, and I remember being told decades ago that my uncle had had a past interest in the Quakers and attended a few meetings.
The Quakers certainly impress me more than most religious groupings. I know of no holy wars or persecutions that they've been responsible for.
PS. Just found out from wiki that another Quaker, Stephen Grellet may have been the actual source of the quote, though it does not appear in his writings, and it has been attributed to Gandhi as well! Possibly a number of people, which may well include Penn, have expressed the same sentiment.
trojo (顯示個人資料) 2008年6月3日下午8:52:30
Miland:PS. Just found out from wiki that another Quaker, Stephen Grellet may have been the actual source of the quote, though it does not appear in his writings, and it has been attributed to Gandhi as well! Possibly a number of people, which may well include Penn, have expressed the same sentiment.It seems Grellet was born after Penn died. I know Ghandi was obviously much later than either.
Grellet's version of the quote is so similar to Penn's that I have a hard time believing that it's just a case of great minds think alike.
