Hoang Ngo <ngohoang@gmail.com>
date Apr 15, 2007 3:06 PM
subject [Vsg] Translation of proverb
Dear list,
Could anyone give me a good translation of the proverb, “Đi một ngày đàng, học một sàng khôn”? The ones I’ve come across, such as “one day of travel will bring you a wealth of wisdom,” and “traveling gives you knowledge” do not seem to convey the measure word “sàng.” Maybe, I’m just being picky. Thank you.
hoang
MA student, University of Washington
Eric Henry <henryhme@bellsouth.net>
date Apr 15, 2007 10:04 PM
subject Re: [Vsg] Translation of proverb
With regard to “Đi một ngày đàng, học một sàng khôn,” how about “A day on the road gains you a sieve’s-worth of wisdom” – the idea of the sieve, I suppose, is that the smaller bits of wisdom are allowed to drop through the holes, but the larger, more precious bits are retained by the sieve. Or is there some meaning of “sàng” that I’m not aware of? It can mean “bed,” but that certainly doesn’t fit here. A variant of this proverb is: “Đi một tấc đàng, học một sàng khôn”: “Each hand-span of road is a sieve’s-worth of wisdom.”
Nhu Miller <trantnhu@gmail.com>
date Apr 15, 2007 7:09 PM
subject Re: [Vsg] Translation of proverb
John Balaban, the poet from his book “Remembering Heaven’s Face translates this as:
“Go out one day, and come back with a basket full of wisdom.”
He continues: “Leave the safe, unsurprising village, the proverb says, take to the road,
discover something new. Bring it home.”
Dinh Lu Giang <lugiangdinh@gmail.com>
date Apr 15, 2007 8:07 PM
subject Re: [Vsg] Translation of proverb
Dear list, Sàng does not mean “bed” here, even though Long sàng is Bed of King. Sàng, sieve is a tool used to screen rice. Viet people also use sàng to contain cooked rice and dry it with sunlight.
I like this translation “”Go out one day, and come back with a basket full of wisdom.”
“Adam @ UoM” <fforde@unimelb.edu.au>
date Apr 15, 2007 8:57 PM
subject RE: [Vsg] Translation of proverb
The road teaches shrewd winnowing? I see sang as verbal …
Somebody as a rapper how they would put shrewd winnowing into something pithier, and with fewer consonants!
Adam
Hoang Ngo <ngohoang@gmail.com>
date Apr 16, 2007 2:03 AM
subject Re: [Vsg] Translation of proverb
Thank you all for your help on the translation of the proverb, especially Prof. Henry, whose elaboration on the idea of the sieve makes me wonder why one must “sa`ng” his wisdom gained from traveling. Is there a second-rate kind of wisdom gained from traveling that one must discard? Or does “sa`ng” refer to the process of localizing the wisdom gained from traveling since not all “foreign” ideas are suitable for the local sphere? I’m curious because I’m writing a paper on Phan Boi Chau’s traveling and the traveling of his ideas gained from his trips abroad. Thank you all once again.
hoang
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