[COMPLETE] The Dream of the Red Chamber II by Cao - availle

Minn · Post by **Minn** » February 15th, 2019, 7:49 am

Hello, I'm a new reader. Would like to try for the least word counts from this classic

May I claim section 11, Chapter 30 (Part 1) ?
Minn

Post by **Availle** » February 15th, 2019, 7:55 am

Hi Minn, welcome to LV and welcome to this project!

I saw that you already got an OK on your test, so I have given section 11 to you, enjoy!

Your catalog page is here to track all your LibriVox recordings, both finished and in progress:
https://librivox.org/reader/13148

You can change your catalog name to something else if you like. Some people say their name in the recording, this would be a good catalog name. But it's up to you, really. We can also link to a website if you like.

In any case: Have fun on here!

Minn · Post by **Minn** » February 16th, 2019, 6:14 am

Thanks Availle, very glad to be a part of this project

Thanks for the catalog page, I'll stick with my current name for now .

Nichalia · Post by **Nichalia** » February 17th, 2019, 6:25 pm

Can I please read 3 and 4, all of Chapter XXVI?

Also, I’m happy to help with any pronunciation questions! I’m actually in China.

Post by **Availle** » February 18th, 2019, 4:28 pm

Hi Nichalia and welcome to the Red Chamber!

Thanks for your interest in chapter 2... I mean, chapter XXVI - it's all yours!

You're in China, really?

It seems I have a new best friend in this project!

Have fun!

DavidReader · Post by **DavidReader** » February 21st, 2019, 7:36 pm

I would like to claim section 5, thanks.

Post by **Availle** » February 21st, 2019, 8:42 pm

Hi there and welcome to this project!

I've seen that you're a native speaker of Cantonese, wow! I'm sure you'll fit right in here.

Section 5 is yours; you will probably not have questions, but if you do, I'm around.

Ariphron · Post by **Ariphron** » February 24th, 2019, 10:45 am

I might be interested in this project, but I'd want to make some emendations based on the original where the translation appears to be in error. What would be the rules and procedures in this respect?

Post by **Availle** » February 24th, 2019, 4:06 pm

Hi there and welcome!

I'm afraid, LV policy is that we read the text as it was written by the author (or translated by the translator). We do not allow any changes to the texts.

This is a very old translation and might not be "accurate" in the modern sense. However, we are reading THIS text, warts and all.

If you can live with this and still want to contribute, you're definitely welcome!

Ariphron · Post by **Ariphron** » February 25th, 2019, 11:37 am

Availle wrote: ↑February 24th, 2019, 4:06 pm Hi there and welcome!

I'm afraid, LV policy is that we read the text as it was written by the author (or translated by the translator). We do not allow any changes to the texts.

This is a very old translation and might not be "accurate" in the modern sense. However, we are reading THIS text, warts and all.

If you can live with this and still want to contribute, you're definitely welcome!

It isn’t really that inaccurate. It is over-literal and extremely verbose, neither of which aspects I would try to do anything about. (I actually find this approach a rather congenial way to engage with Chinese prose.) But there are some real head-scratchers. I read the beginning of Chapter 28 to see if I’d be interested in recording it; here are some examples where I noticed problems:

"Ts'ui!" eagerly cried Tai-yü, "I was wondering who it was"

Ts'ui is 啐 cuì, “to spit,” here an interjection expressing disgust. I’m not sure where “eagerly” came from — the original has 便道, biàndào “then said.” When I read the English, I was really quite puzzled: was Ts'ui a nickname for Pao-yü? was there a maidservant named Ts’ui in earshot? It certainly did not suggest the disgust expressed in the next sentence. I would render “Ts’ui” as “Phooey,” or “Yuck,” or “I spit,” and delete “eagerly.”

"I didn't really see you come over," protested Pao-yü.

Is this a failure of English idiom or of proofreading? Pao-yü is doubling down on what he just said, not conceding that he had given a wrong impression. The Chinese, 實在 shízài, makes that perfectly clear. Correcting to “I really didn’t” restores the proper sense.

In short, when I was done with my emendations, the text would still be recognizably the same translation, just a little more intelligible. To my mind, anything is better than not being clear.

I always find literary translations problematic. They are rarely satisfactory as stand-alone works of literature, and only of limited value for learning to read the originals. Recording for this project seemed like a good way to get a taste of a major work that I have long found too daunting to read on my own, either in the original or in translation. But if the rule is to be “no emendations,” I’d rather stick with other recording projects, in which I can strive to get my expression 100% in harmony with the words of the text.

Post by **Availle** » February 26th, 2019, 4:48 pm

As I said, we do not allow any changes to the text. There are people who read along with it, and we'll get a lot of error messages if you do what you suggest.

I guess no translation will ever be accurate to the writer's meaning (and how would the translator know that in the first place), so maybe reading works in the original is the best option for you. (Sorry if that sounds snarky, it is not intended as such.)

DavidReader · Post by **DavidReader** » February 27th, 2019, 8:55 pm

Hi availle,
Please find section 5 for PL below:
https://librivox.org/uploads/availle/dreamredchamber2_05_cao_128kb.mp3 [22:08]

(note: I have made two adjustments to the text:
1. At 4:16, the original text was: ", and us plants in general then wither...", which does not seem to make sense; so I read the line as: ", and all plants in general then wither..."; and
2. At 6:06, the original text was: "that I don't see cousin Liu?", which seems to be a typo of 'Lin', and I read the latter accordingly.)

Also, I would like to claim section 6.

Thanks

Post by **Availle** » February 28th, 2019, 5:28 pm

Thank you very much for that extremely fast turnaround!
You can continue with section 6, enjoy!

It's perfectly fine to correct typos or mistakes in the scanning. This book seems to have many of these little errors, so... Just changing words or leaving out paragraphs is not allowed on LV.

afutterer · Post by **afutterer** » March 1st, 2019, 2:33 pm

PL NOTES:

SECTION 5

PL OK

DavidReader · Post by **DavidReader** » March 6th, 2019, 9:21 pm

Please find section 6 for PL
https://librivox.org/uploads/availle/dreamredchamber2_06_cao_128kb.mp3 [25:28]
Also, I would like to claim section 7
Thanks