Page 22 of 37 FirstFirst ... 121314151617181920212223242526272829303132 ... LastLast
Results 421 to 440 of 733

Thread: Kung Fu by Giddens Ko (功夫-九把刀)

  1. #421
    Senior Member deathblade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    China
    Posts
    1,026

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by FuSpu View Post
    Thanks deathblade!

    ...I leaped forward to escape...
    >
    ...I leapt forward to escape...
    I made the other change, but actually leaped is a correct spelling of the past tense of leap. Leapt is more common outside of America, and leaped more common in America. Since I'm American I'll stick with leaped. ;-)

    Here's an article about it: http://grammarist.com/spelling/leaped-leapt/
    Current Translation: I Shall Seal the Heavens
    Recommended Translation: Heroes Shed No Tears

  2. #422
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Ni Yang Realm ATM
    Posts
    1,974

    Default

    Appreciate you continuing with this interesting novel.
    Thanks!

  3. #423
    Senior Member deathblade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    China
    Posts
    1,026

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ycb5959 View Post
    Appreciate you continuing with this interesting novel.
    Thanks!
    Glad you're enjoying it. Slow and steady wins the race. I'm super busy so for now my goal is one update per week.
    Current Translation: I Shall Seal the Heavens
    Recommended Translation: Heroes Shed No Tears

  4. #424
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Ni Yang Realm ATM
    Posts
    1,974

    Default

    Error:

    Im fine, he said weekly.
    ...
    Didnt you go there already yesterday? I said weekly.

    Should be "weakly"
    Last edited by ycb5959; 11-02-14 at 11:46 PM.

  5. #425
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    213

    Default

    Maybe they do have this conversation every week

    Thank you very much for all the updates!

  6. #426
    Senior Member deathblade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    China
    Posts
    1,026

    Default

    Paper Airplane (6)

    Do you know who I am? asked the eyeless man coldly, his hands gripping our necks.

    My back stiffened.

    Lan Jin? I forced the words out of my mouth.

    The eyeless man stood behind me. Then you should know how I do things, he said emotionlessly.

    So it was Lan Jin . Suddenly, I could smell the stench of urine on both myself and Ah Yi.

    Lan Jin, the ruthless monster, planned to decapitate us as a battle sacrifice before his fight to the death with Master.

    For the first time, I felt the true power of evil.

    It was a type of dread that could dash all hopes.

    You your eyes? asked Ah Yi, breathing raggedly. It seemed he was trying to buy us some time.

    I dug them out myself. His reply was as cold-blooded as his sharp fingertips.

    He slowly dug his fingers into our necks. He seemed as if he were enjoying some appetizers before a banquet.

    I looked at the gaping hole, but could not sense Masters aura of death.

    Perhaps Master was still on Bagua mountain gathering vegetables.

    Farewell forever, Master.

    Hope did not exist.

    All was crisis.

    Death.

    Emptiness.

    And then I thought of Yi Jing.

    Bam!

    I fell forward, launching a palm strike at Ah Yi.

    Ah Yi fell along with me to the ground.

    Lan Jin could never have anticipated that I would secretly break through the seals on my acupuncture points. And he could never have foreseen my palm strike against Ah Yi.

    Just when he was about to reach out and grab us, a wave of Cherub Markers [132] flew out of the giant hole, flying straight toward Lan Jin!

    Flying right behind the cloud of Cherub Markers, was a mighty hero wielding a diabolo stick!

    Dozens of markers slammed into the road, sending chucks of asphalt flying everywhere.

    But Lan Jin was nowhere to be seen.

    He was shooting up into the air!

    A green light descended.

    Darkness ascended to meet it.

    Blood spattered onto the shadows cast by the murky light of the streetlamps.

    Bang!

    Master alighted next to me, smiling.

    He laughed.

    Lan Jin slammed into the tall, curved streetlamp on the other side of the street and then slowly slid down.

    He never opened his eyes.

    Because he didnt have eyes.

    But sticking out between the holes, was half of a diabolo stick.

    The other half was clasped tightly in his hand.

    A long streak of blood streaked down the streetlamp.

    And it was finished.

    I swore that I would get a new quilt.

    Having wrapped up two corpses, it no longer was a quilt but a shroud, or perhaps even a crude coffin.

    Master buried Lan Jin in a remote part of Ba Gua mountain. When he returned to the hole, he saw Ah Yi and I sitting on the bed, both of us in a stupor.

    Today was truly a thrilling day. He held a few wild pheasant eggs. We need to eat up tonight!

    I sighed. Lan Jin was really scary.

    Ah Yi didnt want to say anything. His mind was still fixed on that moment just before our necks were nearly split open.

    It is good that you unsealed your acupuncture points, praised Master. I really was not sure which moment to make my move.

    Ah Yi finally opened his mouth. If Yuan Zai His eyes were blank.

    Master rapped him lightly on the head. Call him senior apprentice!

    If senior apprentice hadnt unsealed his acupuncture points, would we have been killed by your marker attack?

    Master shook his head and said, If you had remained hostage, I would have been forced to chop off one of my arms and give it to Lan Jin in exchange for your little lives.

    I was somewhat moved, but then Master continued: However, Lan Jins cruelty knows no bounds. Who is to say he might not have sliced off your heads just to make a point.

    Thinking back, I realized that we really had just narrowly escaped death.

    Master cracked open the pheasant eggs. The thick yolk flowed into the cold hotpot.

    I lifted it up and handed it to Master. Im dead tired. First running around and jumping, then getting my acupuncture points sealed by Lan Jin. I think my inner force has been completely used up.

    Master took the hotpot. His hands seemed to be trembling slightly.

    Master, I said, alarmed. Were you injured?

    Both yesterday and today, Master had faced off against top-notch experts. How could he not have sustained injuries?

    Master coughed lightly. Last nights injury was inconsequential. But just now I was worried he would hurt you, so I was a bit distracted. Lan Jin hit my chest with a palm. I almost lost my life.

    Ah Yi and I looked at each other, and then strangely, at the exact same moment, stretched out our hands and placed them on Masters back, imparting healing inner force into his body.

    He didnt object to our good intentions. But, he said with a note of suspicion, Why would Lan Jin dig out his own eyes?

    Ah Yi closed his own eyes. Was the eyeless assassin from last night the same one as today?

    Master nodded. Definitely not.

    I didnt think so either.

    Yet, eyeless people are not very common.

    Eyeless master killers are even more rare.

    And in the space of two days, we had encountered two.

    Last nights assassin was very powerful, Master muttered. But he was not as good as tonights. To be honest, I am really confused as to whether or not tonights killer really was Lan Jin.

    Could it be that Lan Jin dug out his eyes so that Master wouldnt recognize him?

    This really was the most bizarre part of it all.

    Lan Jin was incredibly conceited. Why would he disfigure himself only to conceal his identity?

    Also, if the first eyeless assassin wasnt Lan Jin, then who was he?

    A lackey trained by Lan Jin?

    A disciple trained by Lan Jin?

    No. This was Masters explanation: Lan Jin always operated alone. He never gave a single thought to passing on his martial arts to anyone else.

    **

    [132] I assume this is a brand of markers popular in Taiwan during the 80s. I couldn't find any information about it.
    Current Translation: I Shall Seal the Heavens
    Recommended Translation: Heroes Shed No Tears

  7. #427
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Miami and sometimes Bentre
    Posts
    1,211

    Default

    Thanks Deathblade

  8. #428
    Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    199

    Default

    thanks Deathblade

  9. #429
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Ni Yang Realm ATM
    Posts
    1,974

    Default

    xie xie again!!

  10. #430
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    1,075

    Default

    Thanks deathblade

  11. #431
    Senior Member deathblade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    China
    Posts
    1,026

    Default

    Hi everyone,

    I want to apologize for disappearing again. A lot has happened in the past weeks and months. I got a promotion at work with tons of added responsibility, I started a business, I took on two more part time jobs, plus I started focusing on working out regularly to get in shape AND got involved with a Dungeons and Dragons campaign (just about my only form of entertainment).

    Needless to say I've been super busy and exhausted. However, I don't want to give up on this translation, and will not! I may have slown down a lot but I will continue working, especially on some of the vacation times I have coming up. So please remain patient, and again I apologize. I will see this one through to the end even if it takes longer than I originally anticipated.
    Current Translation: I Shall Seal the Heavens
    Recommended Translation: Heroes Shed No Tears

  12. #432
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Miami and sometimes Bentre
    Posts
    1,211

    Default

    Thanks a lot for letting us know.

  13. #433
    Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Los Angeles, CA
    Posts
    67

    Default

    Thanks a lot deathblade. We appreciate all the effort.

  14. #434
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    3,580

    Default

    Hah thanks man, but you've just reminded me I need to start hitting the gym again and pushups in the morning aren't sufficient...

  15. #435
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Ni Yang Realm ATM
    Posts
    1,974

    Default

    Congratz on your promotion!

  16. #436
    Senior Member deathblade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    China
    Posts
    1,026

    Default

    Paper airplane (7)

    Masters suspicions were hard to dispel, although Ah Yi and I were quite happy.

    That nights hotpot meal was punctuated with a lot of big question marks.

    Luckily, the third day did not have a third eyeless person.

    Thanks to Ah Yis and my rigorous protestations, Master finally switched our lightness arts practice time to night.

    Ah Yi and I wanted to train in high level martial arts, not train in how to submit to shaming.

    No, it wasnt how to submit to shaming, it was how to embrace it!

    And so, in the dead of night, Ah Yi and I, dressed up in ninja costumes, jumped from telephone pole to telephone pole in the city center and flew about amidst the sea of trees that blanketed Ba Gua mountain.

    And of course, one starry night, we actually were able to reach the top of the Giant Buddha.

    Because the secrets of martial arts studies are not to be advertised, I cant reveal how exactly Ah Yi and I flew to the top of the Buddhas head. But I can tell you, it was an amazing feeling to stand up there and gaze at the stars.

    After some time, when our lightness arts had begun to progress, Master tied lead weights onto our legs and required us to jump around the telephone poles without relying on strength generated by using our knees. Simply put, we werent allowed to bend our legs, and had to jump around like the stupid zombies from the movie Mr. Vampire. [133]

    Why cant we bend our knees? protested Ah Yi. We cant even jump that way!

    If you use your inner force, you can jump, insisted Master. Then if you add your muscle strength, youll be able to jump even higher.

    What we mean is, what kind of martial arts will this help us train? In my opinion, the training method was pointless.

    By training your leg strength to a high level, you can increase the stamina of your inner force. Having said that, Master threw us onto the telephone poles.

    Jumping without bending your knees really was a son of a *****.

    It took four nights before we could succeed. We constantly fell, and actually damaged quite a few cars and caught the attention of patrolling police on several occasions.

    The failures really put a damper on the relationship between master and us disciples. In fact, our Snake Venom Expelling Qi Training, and In-room Sword Technique Creation, went on with barely a word spoken.

    Thankfully, after several days, our hopping vampire jumping worked, and we were able to successfully leap a succession of ten poles. Master embraced us tearfully, and the hard feelings dissipated.

    Studying martial arts was really great.

    Many years later, after countless nights of shouldering chunks of cement and practicing Hopping Vampire techniques on Ba Gua mountain, a folk tale emerged: a group of hopping vampires had come from mainland China to haunt the mountains of Taiwan!

    My training on Ba Gua mountain was how the legends of hopping vampires in Changsha came to be.

    My training on Ahli mountain in Chiayi county was how legends of hopping vampires in Chiayi came to be. [134]

    My training in East China was how the legends of fearsome hopping vampires all over the region came to be.

    But that happened maybe three or four years later.

    **

    [133] Mr. Vampire was a Hong Kong hopping vampire movie: http://tinyurl.com/ygvanfd. Heres some info on hopping vampires: http://tinyurl.com/m34csc9
    [134] Chiayi, a county in south Taiwan. http://tinyurl.com/3hecde. Ahli mountain or Alishan is a mountain preserve there: http://tinyurl.com/mu7s7za
    Current Translation: I Shall Seal the Heavens
    Recommended Translation: Heroes Shed No Tears

  17. #437
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    273

    Default

    Deathblade

    Thanks. With such hectic schedules, you still manage to make time to post. Really appreciate. Looking out for more.


    Quote Originally Posted by deathblade View Post
    Paper airplane (7)

    Masters suspicions were hard to dispel, although Ah Yi and I were quite happy.

    That nights hotpot meal was punctuated with a lot of big question marks.

    Luckily, the third day did not have a third eyeless person.

    Thanks to Ah Yis and my rigorous protestations, Master finally switched our lightness arts practice time to night.

    Ah Yi and I wanted to train in high level martial arts, not train in how to submit to shaming.

    No, it wasnt how to submit to shaming, it was how to embrace it!

    And so, in the dead of night, Ah Yi and I, dressed up in ninja costumes, jumped from telephone pole to telephone pole in the city center and flew about amidst the sea of trees that blanketed Ba Gua mountain.

    And of course, one starry night, we actually were able to reach the top of the Giant Buddha.

    Because the secrets of martial arts studies are not to be advertised, I cant reveal how exactly Ah Yi and I flew to the top of the Buddhas head. But I can tell you, it was an amazing feeling to stand up there and gaze at the stars.

    After some time, when our lightness arts had begun to progress, Master tied lead weights onto our legs and required us to jump around the telephone poles without relying on strength generated by using our knees. Simply put, we werent allowed to bend our legs, and had to jump around like the stupid zombies from the movie Mr. Vampire. [133]

    Why cant we bend our knees? protested Ah Yi. We cant even jump that way!

    If you use your inner force, you can jump, insisted Master. Then if you add your muscle strength, youll be able to jump even higher.

    What we mean is, what kind of martial arts will this help us train? In my opinion, the training method was pointless.

    By training your leg strength to a high level, you can increase the stamina of your inner force. Having said that, Master threw us onto the telephone poles.

    Jumping without bending your knees really was a son of a *****.

    It took four nights before we could succeed. We constantly fell, and actually damaged quite a few cars and caught the attention of patrolling police on several occasions.

    The failures really put a damper on the relationship between master and us disciples. In fact, our Snake Venom Expelling Qi Training, and In-room Sword Technique Creation, went on with barely a word spoken.

    Thankfully, after several days, our hopping vampire jumping worked, and we were able to successfully leap a succession of ten poles. Master embraced us tearfully, and the hard feelings dissipated.

    Studying martial arts was really great.

    Many years later, after countless nights of shouldering chunks of cement and practicing Hopping Vampire techniques on Ba Gua mountain, a folk tale emerged: a group of hopping vampires had come from mainland China to haunt the mountains of Taiwan!

    My training on Ba Gua mountain was how the legends of hopping vampires in Changsha came to be.

    My training on Ahli mountain in Chiayi county was how legends of hopping vampires in Chiayi came to be. [134]

    My training in East China was how the legends of fearsome hopping vampires all over the region came to be.

    But that happened maybe three or four years later.

    **

    [133] Mr. Vampire was a Hong Kong hopping vampire movie: http://tinyurl.com/ygvanfd. Heres some info on hopping vampires: http://tinyurl.com/m34csc9
    [134] Chiayi, a county in south Taiwan. http://tinyurl.com/3hecde. Ahli mountain or Alishan is a mountain preserve there: http://tinyurl.com/mu7s7za
    lawwoo
    Bonus. A new day.

  18. #438
    Senior Member deathblade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    China
    Posts
    1,026

    Default

    Forgot to mention I also moved apartments and took a trip to Hong Kong. I'm back, settled, and hope to get back into the rhythm of translating. Wish me luck
    Current Translation: I Shall Seal the Heavens
    Recommended Translation: Heroes Shed No Tears

  19. #439
    Senior Member deathblade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    China
    Posts
    1,026

    Default

    Part 5

    Yi Jing looked me in the eyes. If you really think that, why do you kill people? In your heart you should know, our world and Masters wuxia world are totally different. Totally different!

    Because nobody has the power to decide who lives and dies, I continued, bastards who end others lives cannot be allowed to continue on in this world.


    Justice and the Law (1)

    I wish I could have stretched out time to allow more chances for practicing martial arts. Those days were full of sweat and happiness.

    Throughout the following two years, Master would go out during the day to carry out acts of chivalry. In the evening, after we got off of school, we would practice sword arts and palm techniques. When Yi Jing wasnt taking cram lessons, she would join me and Ah Yi and listen to some of Masters strange stories about the martial world. How we would laugh! Late at night, underneath the silver moonlight, Ah Yi and I would put on masks and fly over the rooftops and walls in the city center, or practice our hopping vampire jumping on the telephone poles.

    When vacation times came, Master would take us to the seaside for walks.

    Or rather, Master and Yi Jing would go for walks while Ah Yi and I picked up trash on the ocean floor. We picked up trash and practiced sword forms in the roiling current.

    Actually, it was really fun. The seafloor truly is incomparably marvelous. Once we ran into a cuttlefish [135] which had come up from the super deep sea. I got really excited, and started to fight it with a Mahjong tile rack [136], thinking I could drag it up to the beach for a tasty meal. But it blasted my face with a bunch of ink, nearly blinding me.

    Ah Yi wasnt as lucky. The giant cuttlefish latched onto him with its suckers and dragged him down toward the deep ocean trench. I couldnt see anything, so I had to determine their location by listening to the changes in the currents. I chopped off its tentacles and dragged half-dead Ah Yi to the shore. He threw up a bunch of seawater, but then we realized that he was still gripping the cuttlefish tentacles that Id chopped off. We cooked them with our inner force, and then the four of us sat happily on the beach, munching them for dinner.

    During that seemingly endless summer, other students went on stupid China Youth Corps camping trips [137]. But our four member kung fu team underwent special training in the jungle. We forged our way deep into Taiwans Eastern Rift Valley [138] to practice martial arts among the vipers and wild beasts.

    While the stupid China Youth Corps was performing its Number One dance, Ah Yi and I were bamming out unforgettable memories atop moss-covered boulders.

    By the way, why did I call it a Four Member Kung Fu Team? Because Master accepted Yi Jing as his first female disciple, which was also a first for the Heaven Reaching sect.

    However, Yi Jing didnt undergo as much training as us. I dont think it was because Master was a chauvinist or something. No, it was because he couldnt make himself use the more horrific training methods on her, like having poisonous snakes bite her. He did have a soft side after all.

    Ah Yi and I used lightness arts to fly like swans around the jungle and catch our meal for the day. Yi Jing would train with Master in inner force circulation techniques. Actually, the scariest part of the jungle was all the poisonous snakes and plants. But, we got used to it. Even if we got bitten by a banded krait, we could expel the poison in two minutes or less.

    Compared to the seafloor, the jungle wasnt very frightening at all. The most dangerous animal I ran into was a Formosan black bear. [139]

    One day, Yi Jing and I were hiding from a colony of bees when suddenly we saw two black bears. They snuggled there, holding a beehive that I had accidentally kicked while carrying Yi Jing during my lightness arts practice. (Please note: a beehive is one of many dangerous things that one might accidentally step on when practicing lightness arts)

    This black bear couple swooped down and chomped up the honey-filled beehive together. Yi Jing and I felt happy for them. Smiling, we squatted to the side and watched them enjoy their feast.

    The black bears were kings of the jungle, and I had actually fought them before on two different occasions but I wasnt scared of them in the least, and eventually Yi Jing and I became close friends with them.

    Even though they arent pets, said Yi Jing, I think we should give them names. One is a bit bigger and one is a bit smaller. Lets call them Biggy and Smally!

    Yeah, we named them, even though they werent pets. Because Biggy and Smally had picked names for me and Yi Jing as well. I was Huffy and she was Sniffy. So it was fair.

    Suddenly it started raining. Biggy and Smally nuzzled each other and curled up together next to us. The circumstances were very stirring. I held up a lotus leaf to shield Yi Jing from the rain, then leaned toward her and kissed her soft lips.

    In the summer vacation between my second and third years of middle school, I held Yi Jing in the rain. Her face glowed red.

    For the rest of my life, I will never forget that kiss.

    We said farewell to Biggy and Smally. We said farewell to the poisonous snakes. And then, our four person kung fu teams happy and sweaty summer vacation came to an end. We had no choice but to return to check in for our third year of strenuous middle school work.

    Because poisonous snakes werent very easy to collect, they couldnt provide us with the quality practice we needed. And so we began to train against Masters palm strikes. Ah Yi could withstand eleven before falling down, whereas I could stand up against sixty-two.

    As for sword technique, it is much more difficult to gauge. There is no way we could withstand Masters shockingly fast lightning attack.

    And yet, Master seemed to be quite pleased with us. In a few days, he said, Master will accompany you as you take your first step into the true Jianghu. You will slay corrupt officials and evil tyrants!

    The day I had looked forward to with dread was finally approaching.

    Night darkened. A group of men with crew cuts and black suits filed out of a massage parlor.

    In the middle of them was an enormously fat man. A glossy smile covered his face as he pulled along a young woman with him. She looked at the ground.

    The girls eyes were red and swollen.

    Thats him. Masters slipped a mask onto his face.

    Ah Yi and I were wearing a plastic Astroboy mask and a plastic Gundam mask respectively. [140]

    Punitive justice cannot be hidden away.

    Inner torment cannot be hidden away.

    Fear cannot be hidden away.

    The purpose of studying kung fu is justice.

    We had been waiting for this exact moment.

    But, now that the moment had arrived, I could not help but ask myself: what is justice?

    If what we were about to do really could be called justice, then why was my entire body shaking?

    Master and disciples, the three of us, hid in the dark little alley next to the massage parlor, waiting for the right moment to strike.

    The big fatty placed his sick fingers onto the young womans buttocks and rubbed her.

    Surrounding him were about eight burly men, covered with tattoos of dragons and tigers. I could fell them easily.

    But, the two standing closest to the fat man had bulges at their waists. I was pretty sure they were handguns. That was definitely a problem.

    **

    [135] Heres what a cuttlefish looks like http://tinyurl.com/pme8v8q
    [136] Heres some images of what hes talking about, the Mahjong tile rack. Not sure if theres a better translation. http://tinyurl.com/m2cdk4h
    [137] A Taiwanese youth organization http://tinyurl.com/k2vrzss
    [138] The Eastern Rift Valley is also known as Huatung Valley. Article: http://tinyurl.com/mymzaxt. Official website: http://tinyurl.com/lbwqsfy
    [139] The Formosan black bear is native to Taiwan. The literal translation from Chinese is Taiwan black bear http://tinyurl.com/lwqot79
    [140] He actually specifically refers to Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, but Im just saying Gundam for simplicitys sake.
    Last edited by deathblade; 01-30-15 at 12:54 AM. Reason: forgot to include Part 5 introduction!!!!, fixed footnote error, spelling error
    Current Translation: I Shall Seal the Heavens
    Recommended Translation: Heroes Shed No Tears

  20. #440
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Ni Yang Realm ATM
    Posts
    1,974

    Default

    Thanks for update!

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 118
    Last Post: 12-18-19, 05:26 AM
  2. Giddens Ko (九把刀) - Kung Fu (功夫)
    By WesY2K in forum Wuxia Translations
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: 12-24-14, 05:03 AM
  3. Effort Qianlong 功夫乾隆
    By swtaznlaydee in forum Mainland China TV Series
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 06-20-12, 12:24 AM
  4. Replies: 1
    Last Post: 08-11-07, 05:27 AM
  5. 功夫足球 | Kung Fu Soccer
    By richardfu2005 in forum Episode Guides
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 07-14-06, 07:57 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •