Friday 1 November 2013

林则徐 子將父作馬,父望子成龍。On his father's shoulders, a "horse" the young son's riding


      子將父作馬, 父望子成龍。


       (以父作馬,望子成龍。)

                             -- 清 林则徐


Funny Couplet

-- (Allegedly) by (a youthful) Lín Zé Xú

-- Translated by Frank C Yue


On his father's shoulders, a "horse" the    

                                       young son's riding;

The father wishes his son would become 

                 a "dragon", the skies ascending.


from the net:

< 清人 林则徐 自幼聪明过人,人称 “神童”。据说,年少时林

赴考,父亲恐他年少远行疲惫,让他骑在自己肩上。进考场

时,主考官以 林则徐 年少,即景出一联索对,作为进考场的

条件。联曰:“以父作马”。 ... 这上联使 林则徐 的父亲很难

为情,但见 林 眼睛一转,急声应答:“望子成龙。”>

2 comments:

  1. Hello, I'm a student of MIT. I'm working on a digital humanity project for one of my courses. Can I use your translation of poems? I will attribute on every page containing the poem.

    ReplyDelete
  2. hi, ,

    o certainly with pleasure!

    my not replying to you earlier -- am just not accustomed to getting
    comments/responses from the i-readers.

    ReplyDelete