文
man-4
Essay
Caution: This story is an unusal mixture
of past and present tense. Though the Chinese past tense can
be easily conveyed with English past tense, much of what is rendered
in the Chinese simple present tense must be converted into English
past tense to be meaningful.
張先生的兒子今年讀完中學，他要請所有的朋友吃飯。本來，兒子讀完中學不是甚麼大事，不用請那麼多人吃飯，可是他的兒子下個月要去美國讀書。他真的要人知道他的兒子要讀大學了，所以他告訴朋友們他會請他們到他家裡去喝酒，吃飯。
因為他的朋友多，住的地方不大，所以他到一個酒家去要了四桌酒菜。晚上，寫了很多信，請朋友七日後到那裡去吃飯。寫完了，給兒子第二天去寄。
到了那天，他跟家人很早到了酒家，可是等來等去，一個朋友也沒有來。他想：天氣不是不好，怎麼他們都不夾呢﹖他們會不會都到我家去了呢﹖這樣，他告訴兒子，請他快到家裡去看看。一會兒，兒子從家裡來說：「那裡也是一個人都沒有。可是我知道為甚麼朋友們都不來了，因為，那天你給我的信，我還沒有寄呢！
characters: 314
翻譯
fan-1 yik-9
Translation
Mr. Cheung's son is completing secondary school
this year and wants to invite all of his friends for dinner.
Graduation from secondary school is not such a big deal, and
does not usually require inviting so many people to have dinner.
Nevertheless, Mr. Cheung's son is supposed to leave for studies
in the United States next month, and he wants everyone to know
that his son has made it into a university. As a result, he tells
his friends that he will invite them to his house for a celebration
with food and drink.
As his dwelling is not big and he has many friends,
Mr Cheung goes to a restaurant and reserves four tables of food
and drink. In the evening he writes many letters inviting his
friends to go to the restaurant in a week for dinner. Having
completed the invitations he gives them to his son for mailing
on the next day.
On the day of the party he goes with his family
to the restaurant very early, but after waiting a long while
not a single friend arrives. He thinks, "Isn't the weather
good? So why don't they come? Has everyone gone to my home instead?"
With this in mind he tells his son to please hurry home and have
a look around. After a while his son returns from the house and
says: "There is no one there either, but I know why no one
has come. I still have not mailed the letters you gave me last
week."
words: 258
Notes
Note 1: The phrase 讀完中學 means to complete secondary
school. This appears to be an idiomatic expression where 中學 indicates
where the completed reading 讀完 has taken place. In this sense
the expression 讀完 also appears idiomatic for completing one's
studies.
Note 2: The pronoun 他 in the first sentence is
misleading, because one could easily believe that it refers to
Mr. Cheung's son, rather than Mr. Cheung. It is not until the
third sentence that we learn that it is Mr. Cheung -- not his
son -- who wants to invite his friends.
Note 3: In this case 請 means the same as invite
and assumes the pattern Ａ人請Ｂ人Ｃ where Ｂ人 is the person invited
to engage in activty Ｃ.
Note 4: 所有的朋友 refers to all of Mr. Cheung's
friends. In this case 所有的 is a prepositional phrase used as an
adjective to describe 朋友.
Note 5: 本來 can probably be translated as usually,
in the sense of being how things have always been since one can
remember.
Note 6: Though 甚麼 usually has the meaning of "what",
in this context it appears to mean "what a" or "such
a", as in 不是甚麼大事 or "not such a big thing".
Note 7: 那麼多人 probably means "so many people",
as 那麼 is apparently the Mandarin for
咁.
Note 8: 下個月 means "next month". The counter
個 appears necessary!
Note 9: The 讀 in 讀書 is the same as the 讀 in the
phrase 讀完中學. In both contexts it means "study". Apparently
"read books" is synonymous with "study" in
the Chinese mind.
Note 10: 真的 is an adverbial phrase meaning "truly"
or "really". Here it describes the degree to which
Mr. Cheung wants others to know.
Note 11: The phrase 讀大學 is of the same construction
as 讀中學. Obviously it is idiomatic! One can probably also say
讀小學, but I have yet to see this construction.
Note 12: The construction 要Ａ了 as in 要讀大學了 apparently
refers to a desire on the part of Mr. Cheung's son that has been
finalized in some way. In other words it is not just a matter
of him wanting to go, but also a matter of his having decided
to go.
Note 13: The 們 in the phrase 朋友們 is used in the
same way as in the phrase 我們 or 你們. It indicates the plural for
a person.
Note 14: The base pattern for the phrase 他告訴朋友們他會請他們到他家裡去喝酒，吃飯 appears to be Ａ告訴ＢＡ會請ＢＣ
where Ｃ is what Ａwill inviteＢto do, but has not yet done. In
effect Ａannounces to Ｂhis intention to invite Ｂto do Ｃ. In this
case Ａis Mr. Cheung and Ｂ are his friends. Ｃ is 到他家裡去喝酒，吃飯.
Note 15: 到他家裡去 is of the standard pattern 到Ａ去 which
means to go. 他家裡 means "his home" and is of the form
Ｂ裡, which is the destination of the verb phrase 到Ａ去.
Note 16: 住的地方 is the "place, where he lives"
-- namely, his "dwelling" or "residence".
It may be that the phrase 他家裡 in the previous note can be more
generally construed as "his family", rather than his
house per se. Alternatively, he promises that he will invite
them to his home, only to realize later that not everyone will
fit.
Note 17: 一個酒家 literally means "one restaurant".
Why the author did not simplywrite 酒家 is not understood.
Note 18: The verb construction 要了 in the phrase
要了四桌酒菜 appears to indicate an expressed demand or want. In this
case a reservation for four tables of food and drink. It appears
to differ both in meaning and construction from that used in
the phrase 要讀大學了in note 12 above.
Note 19: The verb form 寫了in the phrase 寫了很多信 appears
to be quite standard and simply means that Mr. Cheung had completed
his writing.
Note 20: Although pretty straight forward with
regard to meaning the temporal construction 七日後
is new and thus worthy of mention. Here it must mean seven days
after the day the invitation is written or "one week from
today".
Note 21: 那裡 apparently
refers to the 酒家 where the food and drink were ordered.
Note 22: The only difference between the verb forms
寫了 and 寫完了 in the verb phrases 寫了很多信 and 寫完了 appears to be grammatical.
In the first instance appears a direct object and in the second
there is none. The meaning appears the same and indicates that
the writing has been completed.
Note 23: 等二天 literally means "second day".
Here it appears to mean "the next day".
Note 24: The direct object in the phrase 給兒子第二天去寄 is understood, as what he gives
his son to go and mail must be the invitations that he has just
completed writing. 去寄 means "go and mail".
Note 25: 到了那天 appears literally to mean "that
day arrived" and refers to the day of the celebration for
which the invitations were sent out. Thus, I have translated
it to mean "on the day of the party".
Note 26: 跟家人 apparently means "with members
of his family". Literally 跟家人means "follow family",
but here it is placed between the subject 他 and the principal
verb 到了and employed as a prepositional adverb indicating with
whom. Thus, there should be little reason for confusion.
Note 27: 等來等去 indicates waiting in both directions.
One cannot be sure if it is the person, who is waiting, who is
coming and going, or passers-by whom the person sees while he
waits. In any case it appears to indicate some element of frustration,
disappointment, or worry associated with the waiting.
Note 28: One mightwonder why the author wrote 天氣不是不好
instead of 天氣好不好. After all, 好 is a quality of the weather not
the weather itself.
Note 29: One might also wonder why 我家 is used in
the phrase 到我家去了, but 他家裡 in the phrase 到他家裡去渴酒，吃飯 (see note
14 above). Is it because 他家裡 is both a destination and
a place where something else occurs, rather than just a destination?
Note 30: 這樣 can be used in either of two ways. In this context it appears to mean
"in this way", "in this manner", or merely
"so, ...".
Note 31: 從家裡 indicates the direction from which
the boy comes -- in this case his father's home. Thus, 從 is used
as a prepositional adverb indicating "from where".
Note 32: 那裡 refers to his father's home from where
the boy just returned.
Note 33: Until now, we have been taught that 也
and 都 mean the same thing. We have also been taught that 都 can
have different meanings in different contexts. In the phrase
也是 ...都沒有 each expresses a different meaning. Could one rewrite
the phrase as 都是...也沒有, 都是...都沒有, or 也是...也沒有?
Note 34: 那天 in the phrase 那天你給我的信
obviously refers back to the day when the boy's father gave him
the invitations
Note 35: 還沒有 in the phrase 還沒有寄 means that the
boy (has yet / still has not) mailed the letters.
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