Reading my book

[Lu]

2. "You want me to let go of you", the thing said, "I want peace for a while..."

I don't understand the function of 蜕变 here. According to Wenlin, it means "transform" but I hardly see how it fits in here.

From the story, it seems this thing is a larvae transforming into a dragonfly. 'I want some quiet, I'm going to transform [into a dragonfly]'

然后, 它就慢慢地爬到一根伸出水面的草茎上去了.

7. After that, it reached out for the water's surface and climb onto a lilly.

What is the purpose of 根? I've encountered it many times and Wenlin just says it means "root". What is up with that?

It's also a measureword, which is what it is here.

Then, it slowly 慢慢地 climbed onto 爬到...上去了 a lily 一根草茎 that protruded from the water's surface 伸出水面.

I hope this helps! I didn't check the rest of your translations.

[SeekerOfPeace]

Ok, thanks for the input.

I'm going to wait for the rest of the translations. I did work an awful lot of that today.

[jade-]

29. 有一天，汤姆连飞虫也不去捉了，愿意是他碰巧和其中一个飞虫做了朋友，发现它是个有趣的小家伙。

One day, Tom couldn't find any insects to catch, he thought he was lucky to have made friends among the insects, he found out that the insects thoght he was one interesting little boy.

Is this 愿意 actually 原因?

-> One day, Tom even did not bother to catch any insects, the reason was that he happened to make friend with one of the insects, and found out it (the insect) was an interesting little fellow.

Sorry I did not check the rest of your translation either.

[SeekerOfPeace]

Ok thanks!

"的确很不错。“汤姆说。

"Certainly isn't bad." Tom said.

“原来你住在水底下啊？那可真是个肮脏地方。

Your home was formerly under water, wasn't it? This is really a dirty place.

可是我不甘心就这样下去，所以我拼命努力，爬了上来。现在过得很体面，特别是穿上这灰色衣服，看起来很像个上等人，你觉得呢？“

However I don't want to live that way anymore, so I'm doing everything I can to climb up, to get out of there.

[jade-]

可是我不甘心就这样下去，所以我拼命努力，爬了上来。现在过得很体面，特别是穿上这灰色衣服，看起来很像个上等人，你觉得呢？

However I don't want to live that way anymore, so I'm doing everything I can to climb up, to get out of there.

->However, I was unwilling to live like that anymore, so I worked hard to get out from there, and climbed up. Now I am living a decent life, especially with this piece of gray clothes, I look like a first-class person, what do you think?

So where is everybody else?

[SeekerOfPeace]

“对阿，一个人当然应该整齐一点，体面一点，不过我已经厌烦这些了，现在我要出去逛逛，神气一下，看看面的，花花世界，跳两个舞。

You’re right, a person should be a little tidy, have a bit of dignity, but I’m already fed up with those things. Now I want to go traveling, experience the world, enjoy the world through my senses, look around, dance and enjoy myself.

I'm under the impression that 跳两个舞 might be an expression here. Am I right?

So where is everybody else?

I don't know, but as you said, everyone is very busy and I do ask a lot of questions, so I'm sure they'll reply when they find the time.

[Lu]

Not sure if it's an expression (the dictionaries don't know it, so perhaps not), but 跳舞 means 'to dance', so 跳两个舞 literary means 'to dance two dances'.

[skylee]

I think 跳兩個舞 means 跳跳舞. The same structure as 談談情, 說説笑, 喝喝茶, 聊聊天, 聽聽歌, 寫寫日記 etc., doing something in a light/relaxed manner.

[SeekerOfPeace]

Not sure if it's an expression (the dictionaries don't know it, so perhaps not), but 跳舞 means 'to dance', so 跳两个舞 literary means 'to dance two dances'.

See, there's something I don't understand.

Why is it:

跳两个舞

Why isn't it:

跳舞两个跳舞

Ok fair enough, I realise the second version is really awkward to say but from my understanding of it, to dance is 跳舞, both the verb and the noun.

What I don't understand is why write only the first character of 跳舞？ Why not the whole thing? How do you determine when you're supposed to write the full form, or the concise form?

他听见河的上游传来阵非常古怪的声音，又是哭，又是叫，又是号，又是啼，就像有人把两只野鸽，九只老鼠，三只豚鼠，一头瞎眼的小狗放在一只口袋里，由它们狂吵乱打似的。

He heard the upper reaches of the river, it was an extremely strange sound….

I can't seem to be able to translate the rest of the sentence.

[skylee]

I think 跳舞 is a 離合詞 (liheci). In this webpage, it is called "Disyllabic Words That Can Be Separated (liheci)" . You can find an explanation for such words here, which goes, "There are many Chinese words which consist of two or more Chinese characters. Among them, there are words in which other constituents can be inserted because the connection between the two characters is weak. If two characters which make up a word, can form words individually as well as in combination, we call these words "LIHECI"."

[muyongshi]

跳舞 is a verb object combo that operates as a verb but can be split up and add things in between. There are many verbs like this such as 帮忙 （帮他什么忙）吃饭（吃了一顿饭）上网（上会网） and the list goes on. Because 跳舞 is made up as a verb and object 舞 is the object in the sentence so you can't say 跳舞几个舞. 跳舞 though does function as a verb though. 我们要去跳舞. There are some good explanations of this in many other threads but I can't find them at the moment. Sorry!

[SeekerOfPeace]

它一面上下跳跃，一面唱歌：“我跳舞呀我唱歌，一天快乐不停歇；聪明人要做聪明事，穷困烦恼别放在心上。

It jumped up and down and was singing a song at the same time, “I’m dancing and singing, I don’t want to stop being happy all day, a smart person wants to do smart things, people touched by poverty are relieved in their hearts.

就这样，它飞舞了三天三夜，最后疲倦极了，一跤跌在水里，冲了下去后来怎样，汤姆也不知道。

Just like that, he fluttered three days and nights, in the end, he was extremely tired, it fell down into the water, why it went down like that, Tom also doesn’t know.

有一天，汤姆碰到一件新奇的事。

One day, Tom came across something very unusual.

他听见河的上游传来阵非常古怪的声音，又是哭，又是叫，又是号，又是啼，就像有人把两只野鸽，九只老鼠，三只豚鼠，一头瞎眼的小狗放在一只口袋里，由它们狂吵乱打似的。

He heard the upper reaches of the river, it was an extremely strange sound….

汤姆往上游一看，看见一个大圆球从上游滚来，一会儿像是一团淡褐色的毛，一会儿像是亮晶晶的玻璃。

Tom looked uphill, he saw a big ball rolling on the upper reaches of the river, it looked like a brown hairy ball for a while, it also looked like glass for a while.

可是那东西并不是一只球，有时候它散成许多快，各自游下来，有时候又结合在一起。

However the thing wasn’t a football, at times it broke up and became a lot of parts, all of them swimming, sometimes it grouped back as a whole.

它自始至终都在叫嚷着，而且声音愈来愈高。

The whole time through it was howling, and the sound was becoming louder and louder.

汤姆觉得实在奇怪，便一头钻进水里，等走近时一瞧，才发现那只球原来是四五只美丽的水獭，身体比汤姆要大好多倍，都在水里翻滚，辗转嘻闹，汤姆从没有看见水獭这么玩过。

Tom felt really odd, he put his head underwater, waited for the right time to get closer and so discovered that the what seemed like a football originally was in fact a beautiful otter, is body was much better than Tom’s they all tumbled underwater, passed through mane places, Tom had never seen otter played like that.

可是当里面最大，最老的一只水獭看见汤姆的时候，它就从獭群中跳出来，大喊道：

However, underwater was the biggest, the oldest otter caught sight of Tom and it jumped out of the water. It yelled:

“快来，孩子们，这儿有吃的了！”

“Come here children, there food is served (or there’s some food)!”

说着就向汤姆冲过来, 眼露凶光，张开大嘴，露出两排利牙。

As he was speaking he dashed towards Tom，murder in his eyes, it opened his maw, revealing two rows of fangs.

汤姆赶快把身子藏在连根中间，然后转过身来向老獭做鬼脸。

Tom quickly got hold of himself, afterwards he turned around to face the old otter and made a face.

[jade-]

他听见河的上游传来阵非常古怪的声音，又是哭，又是叫，又是号，又是啼，就像有人把两只野鸽，九只老鼠，三只豚鼠，一头瞎眼的小狗放在一只口袋里，由它们狂吵乱打似的。

He heard the upper reaches of the river, it was an extremely strange sound….

I can't seem to be able to translate the rest of the sentence.

->From the upper reaches of the river, he heard a wave of strange noises, mixed with crying, screeching, wailing and yelling, as if someone put two doves, nine mice, three guinea pigs and one blind little dog all inside one sack, let them scream at and hit among themselves.

I am not sure about what 豚鼠is, a guinea pig or a hamster? Any experts? Thanks.

[SeekerOfPeace]

I am not sure about what 豚鼠is, a guinea pig or a hamster? Any experts? Thanks.

According to my dictionary, it's a guinea pig.

[SeekerOfPeace]

Oh before I forget,

I'm translating this merely for learning purposes. If you'd like to help, please point out my misunderstandings in the language rather than provide the proper translation.

Don't get me wrong, I really do appreaciate the help provided so far but I thought it might be a good idea to really point out what I was looking for, my purpose for doing this.

In other words, if by reading my translation you notice some misunderstandings of the language, It would be great if you could point it out.

A good example was when I thought that 有时候 meant to have time when it meant sometimes. That really helped me and I learned something new.

If the translation is not too far off from the original meaning, there's no need to comment, although I'd be glad to be corrected.

我不是水xi, 汤姆说， "水xi是有尾巴的。“

I'm not a "x", Tom said, "x" have a tails!"

What is the meaning of 水xi, I can't find the "xi" character here. I'm guessing it means some kind of fish or other underwater specie.

老獭虽然有点尴尬，不过它很固执，还是坚持自己的意见，它说：

Although the old otter was a little embarassed, it still persisted, it clung to its own idea and said:

Is there a difference of meaning between 坚持 and 固执?

老獭笑得又丑陋有残忍。

The old otter laughed in an ugly and ruthless way.

"鲑鱼是鱼中之王，我们又是鲑鱼之王。

The salmon is the king of fish...? Not sure about the rest. Something like "We once again are...???

我们把鲑鱼捉到，只咬破它们柔软的喉管，吸它们身上鲜美的汁液，美呀！

When we catch some salmon, we tear its soft flesh with out teeth, drink their bodies delicious juice, wonderful!

According to my dictionary 吸 means to "inhale" although in this context I thought it meant absorb, which is why I wrote "drink".

老獭说到这里，舔了舔自己的嘴唇接着说，

Having said that, the otter licked his lips over and over again and carried on saying:

"然后扔掉，再去捉别的。

After that we throw them away and look for some more!

"哈哈，孩子们，再来一次大水，鲑鱼就要来了，到那时，我们成天吃都吃不完。“

Ha ha! Children, once again the flood is coming (not sure), the salmon will want to come, until that time, we will eat all day long!

老獭说到得意时，接连翻了两个跟斗，

The old otter was very proud of itself at that time, it turned over and did two somersaults.

然后半个身子站在水里,咧开大嘴笑得就像一只丑陋的大野猫.

After that, with half his body out of the water, it opened it's maw and started laughing, just like an ugly stray cat.

在海里, 它们本来非常安全.

In the sea, they feel completely safe.

Don't know whether I should translate to "extremely safe" here but I'm getting tired of always translating 非常 as extremely.

可是这些蠢东西却从海里跑出来,

However these stupid things are running out.

等它们重又向海里跑时

We wait until they once again leave the sea,

Not certain here. I'm assuming that "跑时" mean the time to leave the sea, as the time to run seems a little weird.

我们也追下海去,

We also want to head to the sea,

沿着海岸快快活活过日子,

Following the seacost happily

I'm not too sure as to how I should translate 过日子 here, so I left it out as the meaning of the sentence remains sensibly the same.

晚上舒舒服服睡在岩缝里,

In the evening, we'd sleep in the cracks of the cliffs,

又暖和又干燥.

both warm and dry.

那种日子也真是快活啊.

Those kind of days would truly be happy ones.

[skylee]

我不是水xi' date=' 汤姆说， "水xi是有尾巴的。“

I'm not a "x", Tom said, "x" have a tails!"

What is the meaning of 水xi, I can't find the "xi" character here. I'm guessing it means some kind of fish or other underwater specie.[/quote']

Perhaps you could read through the replies first? I remember I answered that in my #63, which goes -

For some reason' date=' I can't find the xi character in the typing database. It's a compound both 木 and 西. [/quote']

Would the reason be that the character 栖 is pronounced qi1 in this context, not xi?

PS - My dictionaries say that 棲‘s alternative pronunciation xi is used in descriptions of being busy and/or unstable, examples are 棲棲, 棲惶.

If the translation is not too far off from the original meaning, there's no need to comment

IMHO, this is too proud for someone who wants help.

[muyongshi]

Is there a difference of meaning between 坚持 and 固执?

YES!!!!! 坚持 means to persist or press forward, press on so in this case "he was persistent in his own opinion"

固执 means to be stubborn

Although the old otter was a little embarassed, it still persisted, it clung to its own idea and said:

So it should be "although the old otter was a little embarassed, it was very stubborn, and he persisted in his own opinion and said"

I'm not paying attention to the niceness of my translations just understandability.

Just an FYI, your posts are so stinking long that I know me personally just glances over them and if something catches my eye I will respond. Sorry for being slightly ADD or PDD (patience deficit disorder)

[SeekerOfPeace]

Perhaps you could read through the replies first? I remember I answered that in my #63, which goes -

I think that's unfair.

You did post about this and I forgot about it. I don't think it's fair to say that I don't read the replies because of that. I do read them, sometimes I remember and sometimes I forget, I am guilty of that.

If the translation is not too far off from the original meaning, there's no need to comment

IMHO, this is too proud for someone who wants help.

What if I explained to you, what I meant first, and then you can judge me after?

What I meant:

If the translation is correct enough so that I understand the general meaning of what is said, then I wouldn't want to waste anyone's time to provide what the exact translation is.

My intention: Take as little time as possible from the people who help me out, to focus on the real issues.

So you see, it's not out of pride that I'm saying, but rather in consideration of others.

Just an FYI, your posts are so stinking long that I know me personally just glances over them and if something catches my eye I will respond. Sorry for being slightly ADD or PDD (patience deficit disorder)

No need to apologize. Thanks a lot for providing an explanation for the difference between 坚持 and 固执.

[SeekerOfPeace]

孩子们，它是为了你们送了命，真是可怜啊。

The previous sentence is about how the father of the children got stabbed to death.

Ah, my children! He gave his life for you, this truly is unfortunate.

[Lu]

"鲑鱼是鱼中之王，我们又是鲑鱼之王。

The salmon is the king of fish...? Not sure about the rest. Something like "We once again are...???

'and we, in turn 又, are the king of the salmon.'

According to my dictionary 吸 means to "inhale" although in this context I thought it meant absorb, which is why I wrote "drink".

吸 also means 'to suck', a straw (for drinking) is called 吸管.

Don't know whether I should translate to "extremely safe" here but I'm getting tired of always translating 非常 as extremely.

非常 means very, extremely. As long as you're clear on the meaning, you don't need to worry too much about it looking ugly in translation, after all you're not having it published.

沿着海岸快快活活过日子,

Following the seacost happily

I'm not too sure as to how I should translate 过日子 here, so I left it out as the meaning of the sentence remains sensibly the same

过日子 means 'to get through the days, to live, to pass time'. So the sentence is something like 'They lived happily along the sea coast.'

Just an FYI, your posts are so stinking long that I know me personally just glances over them and if something catches my eye I will respond.

I do the same thing (in case you didn't already notice).