hola,

i'm reading 'La Montaña del Alma' by Gao Xingjian (Soul Mountain,
(é�ˆå±± / ç�µå±±, lÃ*ng shan), and in pag. 374 [Ediciones del Bronce,
2004, isbn:84-8453-959-8] it says:

"La pequeña hermana de la montaña recoge el té,
en la llanura tu prometida ha cortado los juncos,
provocando que los patos mandarines emprendieran el vuelo hacia ambos
lados,
pronto una pareja formarán la pequeña hermana y su prometido."

regards from madrid, spain
bonifacio barrio hijosa
http://worldoftea.webcindario.com/
... site in progress

I will try to translate this so our english speaking forum can read it:
The passage reads something like:

"The younger sister of the mountain gathered the tea,
in the plains your betroathed cut the reeds,
which caused the mandarin ducks to undertake flight alongside (each
other),
quickly the little sister and your betroathed formed a couple."

I'm completely sure of the first two lines, but the last two lines
confuse me (especially why the word "ducks" appears), however, this
seems to be a translation from chinese to spanish, so it might make
more sense in context. My translation probably isn't perfect either,
I'm not exactly fluent, and this may have some words different from the
south american spanish I'm used to.

> I'm completely sure of the first two lines, but the last two lines
> confuse me (especially why the word "ducks" appears), however, this
> seems to be a translation from chinese to spanish, so it might make
> more sense in context. My translation probably isn't perfect either,
> I'm not exactly fluent, and this may have some words different from the
> south american spanish I'm used to.

Nothing wrong with the ducks part. Patos mandarines, or mandarin ducks.
In Chinese, it should be 鸳鸯 yuan yang. These birds symbolize the
love of a couple. And basically, it's synonomous with a couple, because
they are birds that mate for life. So they represent unchanging love -
which is seen as the ideal type of love in China.

I now the group is english speaking, i didn't want to provoke, just
sharing this short text, it's a poem a old man sings in a village.

I didn't dare to translate as this used to change a lot in different
editions. I apologise anyway if anyone felt uncomfortable with non
english texts

maybe i only put "soon" for "pronto" in spite of "quickly", they will
be a couple for sure, but in a undefined future, maybe tomorrow, maybe
next year...

still looking for spanish [or in spain] tea drinkers
regards from madrid, spain
bonifacio barrio hijosa
http://worldoftea.webcindario.com/
.... site in progress

TeaDave wrote:
> I'm completely sure of the first two lines, but the last two lines
> confuse me (especially why the word "ducks" appears), however, this
> seems to be a translation from chinese to spanish, so it might make
> more sense in context. My translation probably isn't perfect either,
> I'm not exactly fluent, and this may have some words different from the
> south american spanish I'm used to.