A step into the past - 寻秦记 - by Huang Yi

[Eagle]

Jean,

Thank you for continuing this wonderful translation. I read the story and was a bit confused by the characters in the text.

to continue...

Ji Yanran’s pretty eyes can’t help but light up on seeing him; Zhao Ya turned her head away after staring at him angrily, obviously still upset; Zhao Ya has been waiting for his appearance all along and her pretty face beamed as she said happily, “Mister Dong come quickly, we were just discussing a very interesting question!”

Should the character be Zhao Zhi and not Zhao Ya?

Guo Xiu’er and Zhao Min were the most familiar, sitting together on a large, smooth rock a short distance away and they looked like they were admiring this pretty garden filled with lanterns. The former is eyeing him right now.

Han Chuang and Guo Kai were accompanying Zhao Ya and standing on the middle of the bridge, behind Ji Yanran and Li Yuan.

Xiang Shaolong walked towards the stone bridge and first greeted Guo xiu’er and Zhao Zhi. Zhao Zhi forced herself to return the greeting while Guo Xiu’er gave him an additional sweet smile.

Should this be Zhao Zhi again instead of Zhao Min?

[gqonmars2]

This is good. Time to see XSL in action again with the ladies.

Thanks Jean.

[slyphiad]

Awesome update. Just got a job so been busy for awhile. When I saw what Jean's been up to since, I was like wow so much already.

[Jean]

nope.... it's Zhao Ya. Remember he offended her by leaving the house just before the feast?

hmm... I was thinking back... and how time flies! My baby is going to be 1 at the end of the week and I remembered the same time 1 year ago I was in the hospital posting that I will be out of action in translating. haha.... hopefully I can manage to finish this novel before she legally becomes an adult. :P

[Eagle]

nope.... it's Zhao Ya. Remember he offended her by leaving the house just before the feast?

hmm... I was thinking back... and how time flies! My baby is going to be 1 at the end of the week and I remembered the same time 1 year ago I was in the hospital posting that I will be out of action in translating. haha.... hopefully I can manage to finish this novel before she legally becomes an adult. :P

Thank you for clarifying. I thought Zhao Zhi was still upset from XSL teasing.

I believe you will prepare a nice party for the baby's birthday. Can see a happy mummy smile. Is the baby walking already?

[balikpapan]

Yeah, time flies like cloud in the sky. Your little princess name is Sheryl, right?
It could be that we would use the same currency when you are done with the translation, Jean.

[shadow8899]

nope.... it's Zhao Ya. Remember he offended her by leaving the house just before the feast?

hmm... I was thinking back... and how time flies! My baby is going to be 1 at the end of the week and I remembered the same time 1 year ago I was in the hospital posting that I will be out of action in translating. haha.... hopefully I can manage to finish this novel before she legally becomes an adult. :P

Oh my god. I can't believe it has been that long. Happy Birthday to your little Princess.

[Shi-Potian]

honestly me neither.. . .I have absolutely no sense of time seeing as I figured[though I didn't really think about it lol] that she would be about 6-8months lol

Thanks for all the updates Jean really appreciate it!

[Shi-Potian]

Also I must throw my heartfelt thanks out to Sylphiad if he is still trucking away in obscurity I really appreciate and any all translations which are out there.

If you are still trying to get the translation done then all I can sy is thank you for continuing while probably very few in this forumn even know your helping to translate it.

[Jean]

Yeah, time flies like cloud in the sky. Your little princess name is Sheryl, right?
It could be that we would use the same currency when you are done with the translation, Jean.

A little off target, it's Sherylyn, but you've got good memory nonetheless!

She's gonna be 1 this sunday.

This is her with my dog. On occasion she likes to pluck his fur, poke his mouth, take his toy or attempt to eat his ears or tail.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2466/...cd8e2ee5_o.jpg

But they still love each other

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3323/...480de8c1_o.jpg

ok... and now to continue....


************************************************** *********

Although Xiang Shaolong’s heart was stirred, he knows that he must never touch this girl for after all the Wu family and the Guo family are arch enemies.

When he stepped up to the stone bridge, Ji Yanran ignored Li Yuan and turned around, saying with a smile, “Mister Dong! We were just discussing about the meaning of life and death, I wonder what your thoughts on this are?”

Xiang Shaolong knows that this pretty lady loves a discussion, from ruling a country to things like this, whether life has any meaning. And this is an era where everyone is fighting for a chance to speak and where ideologies are expanding like an explosion.

The mood for such idle discussions are mostly found in the noble and scholarly circles, just like Confucius and his peers not too long ago who loved to talk about life and philosophy all day long. A pity that he’s not too knowledgeable in this area so although he knows that Ji Yanran is giving him a chance to show off so that he can smoothly start his pursuit of her, there is nothing he could do. He replied with a wry smile, “I’m just an unrefined man, how would I understand such profound ideologies?”

Ji Yanran thought that he was pretending to be modest before expounding his ideas but before she had a chance to reply, Li Yuan interrupted, “A pity that Mister Zou is not here, otherwise he will certainly give a very remarkable view. Heh! Why don’t we seek Mister Dong’s advice on rearing horses!”

Anyone with a brain would know that he was putting Xiang Shaolong down, implying that besides horses, he knows nothing else. And in this era, rearing horses is considered a lowly occupation so he was deliberately jabbing at Xiang Shaolong’s status.

Xiang Shaolong was secretly furious but he was even more worried that he’ll press on to ask questions about horses. Although he had crammed some knowledge in this area, his expertise is still very limited. He pretended to be nonchalant and said, “I’m sure you’ve come out with a conclusion after discussing for so long, why not enlighten me on this.”

Guo Kai, the conniving Confucian scholar said, “I still believe in Confucius’s words ‘if you cannot serve men, how can you serve spirits’, so I might as well not think about anything beyond life and death.”

Zhao Ya was apparently in high spirits as she laughed, “Scholar Guo is really wily, only knowing how to avoid and refusing to face this most important lesson in life.”

Li Yuan said proudly, “Whatever we do, there must be a goal so why do we only choose to ignore the question of our existence. Since heaven has given us precious life, we should burn brightly and warmly just like the colorful lanterns hanging high on the trees, only then will our lives not be lived in vain.”

Xiang Shaolong has to admit that there is some truth and imagination behind this person’s words. He looked at the ladies around, Zhao Ya’s eyes revealed a look of intoxication, Ji Yanran was concentrating very hard on his words too while Zhao Zhi and Guo Xiu’er paused in their private talk to listen intently.

Xiang Shaolong secretly thought that this doesn’t look well so after searching through his mind, he said, “What Brother Li said is just an attitude towards life, but it’s not a conclusion about the meaning of life and death.” Guo Kai and Han Chuang both revealed a look of surprise for they did not expect this unrefined man’s mind and observation skills would be so intricate.

Li Yuan chortled and said, “Well said Mister Dong, but just like what Zhuang Zi said, ‘when man take what is small and try to fill up what is great, they will end up confused and will not achieve their end’. As long as we’re being restricted within life and death, we can never find the answer about life and death, just like the snake in summer will not know what is the snow and ice of winter. So the only thing we can do is to have an attitude to achieve something so that we will not waste our short lives.’ He spoke flowingly, melodiously and with such feelings that he really has the charisma of a debater that will stun others into admiration. No wonder even Ji Yanran is looking at him differently. For the moment Xiang Shaolong was speechless.

Li Yuan saw his expression and was secretly laughing. There’s no way he will let him off so he pretended to be humble and sought his opinion, “And what is Mister Dong’s attitude towards life?”

Of course Xiang Shaolong can randomly find some words to say but if he wants make it sound even more impressively than this person, there’s no way he could even if he wanted to.

Han Chuang is now on the same side as him so he helped ease the situation by saying, “Tonight’s discussion is really unique and interesting, why don’t we pause for now and continue during the feast!” Zhao Ya said unhappily, “It was such an exciting discussion yet you’re in such a hurry to start the feast. Zhao Ya still wants to hear more of Mister Li’s excellent theories!”

Ji Yanran said gently, “We haven’t given Mister Dong the chance to speak?”

Looking at Ji Yanran’s expectant eyes, he remembered his mission to pursue her publicly so how can he make himself look so useless? Just as he was lamenting, he suddenly had an idea and remembered that he once heard of a story in his era, and maybe he can use it to reflect the situation now. He walked to the bridge and came next to Ji Yanran. He first looked deeply into her eyes before revealing his white and perfect teeth to Zhao Ya in a slight smile before he turned around and placed both his hands on the side of the bridge, lifting his head to look at the night sky. The moon up in the sky was pure and bright, round and so far away.

Everyone knows that he has something to say but they have no idea what kind of insight he could give that can be better than Li Yuan’s so they all breathed steadily and quietly, getting ready to concentrate on his words.

************************************************** *

What modern story will he be using? Harry potter, transformers, hidden dragon crouching tiger or.... ???

[kamensilver]

Thanks for feeding us our addiction and a happy birthday to your daughter.

hmmmm I don't think he'll use any movies theme to answer the question, perhaps a religous one?

[Han Solo]

He's gonna use Li Bai's poems?? Perfect setup with beauties and moon.

Btw, Jean, cute little kiddo that you got there. Her head is smaller than the dog's. hehe.

Thanks for the translation.

Han Solo

[SkyWalker]

Awwwww....your daughter & your dog are both soooo adorable!!!!

Thanks for the great work on the translation Jean! Much appreciated.

I agree w/ Han Solo...I think he's going to use the Li Bai's famous poem. Once he started to look at the sky and the moon, the first thought that came to mind was Li Bai. Can't wait for the next translation!

[ROI]

Awwwww....your daughter & your dog are both soooo adorable!!!!

Thanks for the great work on the translation Jean! Much appreciated.

I agree w/ Han Solo...I think he's going to use the Li Bai's famous poem. Once he started to look at the sky and the moon, the first thought that came to mind was Li Bai. Can't wait for the next translation!

can't be li bai if it's a story from the modern era.

[gqonmars2]

Well, he should whip out some Shakespeare, that would do it.

-- quote

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.

gosh, how people write like that

Thanks Jean.

[smurf120]

such a cute baby! I thought she was only 6-7 months too. Probably since I associated the story hiatus to December/winter vacation.


Can't believe XSL invocation on philiosopy will make for a cliff hanger also!

[nexus]

Hi Jean,

You sure got a lovely baby and nice irish setter.

Thanks for the translations, you are doing a superb job.

Nex

[akolaw]

something much more profound than that

[Shi-Potian]

Thanks jean appreciate the updates!

[Jean]

Hi Jean,

You sure got a lovely baby and nice irish setter.

Thanks for the translations, you are doing a superb job.

Nex

Haha Nexus, he's a golden retriever actually.... just on a deeper gold color.