Attempt to translate
I'll translate and explain some Chinese poems aperiodically, with my bad English. Well I'm both teaching and learning!
[]: Pinyin (phoneticize version)
(): My rather amateurish explanation
Title: 诗经·关雎 [shi1 jing1·guan1 ju1]
The first line:
关关雎鸠，在河之洲；窈窕淑女，君子好逑。
[guan1 guan1 ju1 jiu1, zai4 he2 zhi1 zhou1; yao3 tiao3 shu1 nv3, jun1 zi3 hao4 qiu2]
关关 Tweedle, bird call (well I don't know if the bird in question sounds this way, but I'm no biologist...)
雎鸠 A kind of water bird. In legends they have only one consort in life, so they are known as the idea of loyalty about marriage. (贞节 should translate into chastity or chasteness, but it's not about pudicity, it's about be loyal to your mate. And what is this bird anyway? Cushat? Mandarin duck?)
在 Be, at, in.
河 River.
之 Of. (Somebody 之 something means something of somebody)
洲 Means land in water here. Means continent in other place.
窈窕 Sylphlike. Beautiful and slender. Can only used on females.
淑女 Gentlewoman. 淑 means kind and gentle. 女 means woman, girl, female, but can only used on humans.
君子 Man of honour. Good name to a male. (Or ancient Chinese version of a gentleman. Here, well, can be the poet himself. :) )
好 Crave, want, like.
逑 Consort, mate, or match, matching. (This is a dead word. No one use it except in this sentence or names.)
So the whole sentence means (in my word):
Some water birds tweedle in that (small) land in the river; There's a good girl, and the good boy should court her.
P.S.
窈窕淑女: The movie My Fair Lady is translated into this name.
窈窕淑女，君子好逑。Well it's an idiom now. Say, if your friend ask you about your move to the girl you want, you can shrug and say this. Means "well she's a good girl, of course boys will want her (or of course I want her) ."
If I suck, please please please tell me! Then I can forget this attempt and work on my paper with all my heart...
[]: Pinyin (phoneticize version)
(): My rather amateurish explanation
Title: 诗经·关雎 [shi1 jing1·guan1 ju1]
The first line:
关关雎鸠，在河之洲；窈窕淑女，君子好逑。
[guan1 guan1 ju1 jiu1, zai4 he2 zhi1 zhou1; yao3 tiao3 shu1 nv3, jun1 zi3 hao4 qiu2]
关关 Tweedle, bird call (well I don't know if the bird in question sounds this way, but I'm no biologist...)
雎鸠 A kind of water bird. In legends they have only one consort in life, so they are known as the idea of loyalty about marriage. (贞节 should translate into chastity or chasteness, but it's not about pudicity, it's about be loyal to your mate. And what is this bird anyway? Cushat? Mandarin duck?)
在 Be, at, in.
河 River.
之 Of. (Somebody 之 something means something of somebody)
洲 Means land in water here. Means continent in other place.
窈窕 Sylphlike. Beautiful and slender. Can only used on females.
淑女 Gentlewoman. 淑 means kind and gentle. 女 means woman, girl, female, but can only used on humans.
君子 Man of honour. Good name to a male. (Or ancient Chinese version of a gentleman. Here, well, can be the poet himself. :) )
好 Crave, want, like.
逑 Consort, mate, or match, matching. (This is a dead word. No one use it except in this sentence or names.)
So the whole sentence means (in my word):
Some water birds tweedle in that (small) land in the river; There's a good girl, and the good boy should court her.
P.S.
窈窕淑女: The movie My Fair Lady is translated into this name.
窈窕淑女，君子好逑。Well it's an idiom now. Say, if your friend ask you about your move to the girl you want, you can shrug and say this. Means "well she's a good girl, of course boys will want her (or of course I want her) ."
If I suck, please please please tell me! Then I can forget this attempt and work on my paper with all my heart...