警告：本文含粗口。閱讀與否請自行斟酌。
Other than high school chemistry and biology, my first contact with Latin is from a Unix command "fortune -o". Once upon a time, it spilled out "Coito ergo sum." My classmate explained to me Rene Descartes said "Cogito ergo sum." which is "I think, therefore, I am." As to "Coito" is "to screw."
除了高中生物、化學之外，我跟拉丁文的第一次接触是由Unix的"fortune -o"指令。它曾經曰過："Coito ergo sum." 我同學告訴我笛卡爾曾經曰過："Cogito ergo sum."那是“我思故我在”的意思。而"Coito"呢，則是“幹”的意思。
Penny asks Sheldon about Coitus:
註：“幹”不是髒話。臺灣馬總統曾經曰過：“幹得要死”。
My second contact with Latin is once again from "fortune -o". This time, it reads "Vidi, vici, veni." With my limited exposure to Italian and French, I figured out it was "Vēnī, vīdī, vīcī" reordered. One of Emma Shapplin's song is titled "Verdi! Maria!" Hence I guessed "Vidi" is "I saw." "Ici" is "here" in French. "Venir" is "to come" also in French.
我跟拉丁文的第二次接触，還是來自"fortune -o"。這次是："Vidi, vici, veni."用我接觸過的那點破法文跟破意大利文，我猜到這是重組過的"Vēnī, vīdī, vīcī"。艾瑪夏普蘭的一首歌“Verdi! Maria!"。因此猜到"Vidi"是“我見”。"Ici"是法文的”這裡“。法文的“來”是"venir".
With these limited experience, I was able to join the conversation when Latin became the topic of conversation. From someone, I picked up "In vino veritas." From the name of a perfume, I learnt the meaning of "Dolce Vita." As I attended York University, I learnt its motto: ""Tentanda Via, the way must be tried."
就這樣，當拉丁文成為話題時，我就不用裝聾作啞了。也因此，我學到了"In vino veritas"。那是“酒後吐真言”。後來從痞子蔡那兒學到“Dolce Vita”是”甜蜜人生“。在約克大學鬼混時，約克精神是："Tentanda Via",說的是“必需得嘗試這道路”。
One day, in October of 2005, on a street in Budapest, Hungary, I found I could read.
說了這麼大一篇廢話，正題來了。2005年十月的某一天，當我漫步在匈牙利布達佩斯街頭時，我突然發現，我認字啦！
"I am the way, the truth, and the life."
“我是道路、真理、生命。“
Afterwards/後記：
Saw a bumper sticker on the net/在網上看到個後保險桿貼紙：
Si hoc adfixum in obice legere potes, et liberaler educatus et nimim propinquus ades!
If you can read this bumper sticker, you are both very well educated and much too close!
如果你能讀懂這張保險桿貼紙，那你一定受過良好的教育，而且跟車跟得太近！
Since 2010/07/22:
No comments:
Post a Comment