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國際譯經院譯經會議記錄
Translation Meeting at the International Translation Institute

一九九二年五月十七日 May 17, 1992

上人:以後每月第三週日下午一時半作為開會的日期。所出版的書,都以一頁中文一頁英文來對照。譯經是一項千秋萬世不朽的聖業,以我們凡夫來荷擔聖人的工作。這是義務兼有意義的,可利人及立功德。在賺錢維持生活之餘,忙裡偷閒,做一些有價值的事。

實法師:若有國家也在從事翻譯的,我們也收他們的稿子。

來法師:我們很需要有真正才華的人從事排版工作;所以若有內行的人,都請獻出力量。

律法師:聯絡和組織非常的重要。若你不懂得翻譯,也可以來幫忙安排組織及聯繫工作。

貴法師:我們也需要訓練一些有興趣但沒經驗的工作人員。

明法師:有些從錄音帶作的英文翻譯,跟中文內容有不同。

胡大文:計劃上我們要先完成一份正確的中文稿,翻譯人員就省下時間不用重聽錄音帶。

上人:以前有些人要標異現奇出風頭,把自己的意見寫在出版的中文經典裡頭,刪除了我原來所講的。

比如《楞嚴經淺釋》,本對初機人講的,我稱為《楞嚴經》小兒科,方果悟用圓瑛大師的註解改了原意,裡邊很多都不是我講的。所以也需要聽錄音帶來對照這些書。

胡果護:有些年久錄音帶壞了,也有的錄音雜聲掩蓋了上人的聲音,能否請師父重講?

上人:我講經要聚精會神,一遍也要費很多精神的,不是容易。保存不好是你們的責任,我不再講了!再講被弄壞又有什麼意思呢?

劉果銘:一些經文解釋漏掉的小段落,師父可否再重講?

上人:沒的就照意思補上去。

劉果銘:那再請師父認可?

上人:少少還可以的。我對我的錄音帶根本沒意見。你們要推而廣之,擴而充之,或要埋在地底藏起來,我不管的,我絕不注意自己的事情。因為如果我教你們怎樣做,就像往自己臉上貼金;我不教而你們願意做,我也擋不住你們,也不能教你們不做。我不像其他人總把自己的東西宣傳、宣傳、又宣傳,宣傳品越多越好。你們跟我多少年了,沒一個了解我的志願,都是在那兒看著、看著,咦!怎麼回事…怎麼一回事的!到現在也莫名其妙。

居士:翻譯要照職務來分組,誰做初步翻譯或接下的步驟,校正排版等,最好先安排好。

實法師:有一些中文程度高的退休老年人,大家的父母親戚等,可以告訴他們有這份工作,我相信他們也願意做的。

上人:寫稿子及聽錄音帶的人,中文一定要好,不寫白字。老年人不抽煙,不喝酒,身體健康的都可以參與。若抽煙喝酒喝醉了,就出毛病的。

陳士中:現在的科技進步,可以糾正舊及壞的錄音帶及去掉雜音。最近也有一些自動翻譯的語言軟體片,不會太貴,這方面可否試一試?

上人:那就好了嘛!電腦什麼都會做,就不需要人,可省人手了!我們人做電腦不會的事情,電腦可以的就讓它做去!

果傑:我曾試過把雜音弄掉,效果很好,我會再研究看看。有個問題,流程圖是要順步進行工作?還是做一部分呢?

上人:這回一定要一步接一步地完整翻譯,不能弄一點就出版,也不能翻譯一半就停了。

鄭果溫:我們先要安排,要進行哪些經典錄音帶?目前有不同的電腦軟體設備,可否充份地使用電腦來減輕人力負擔?我們開會前,要訂出時間表及組織圖,有聯絡及作報告。

上人:以後開會到三點半,不可延長時間,拖幾小時還沒完沒了。今天沒時間選人了。下一次要事先研究自己部分的情形,看看那個人適合做什麼,最好有會雙語的,不然單中或英文也可以。一次吃飯吃太飽,肚子也會爆的。以前有些人開會,一開就五,六小時,白天晚上也開會,這是不行的。

張順光:人才召集很重要。我建議把資料表登在通訊及雜誌上,以告知有興趣工作的人。

上人:以後不論通訊或雜誌,都要用雙語,目前還是很少有這種中英對照雜誌。還有誰沒講話?一個一個挨著講。

陸大任:我所想到的已有人講了,就是如何開始進度表?先譯哪一部經及彼此間的協調。

孫志揚:這個翻譯流程應與一般工廠的製造流程相像的。譬如在流程旁邊寫下簡單的指示,可使人容易了解工作及選擇項目。

胡大文:有一種軟體,裡頭有進度、時間、執行任務等管理,有很好的計劃來處理專職。

王鴻義:我們莫忘過去的努力,就是可拿以前所譯的名相作為參考,就不須從新開始了。

上人:以前的人也有功勞的。不過那時他們不懂翻譯,可說是生拉硬鑽很勉強地做,不能做的也要做,會中文的不懂英文,會英文的不懂中文,不像現在人才濟濟,也會中英文。

胡大文:以前印的英文譯經,可以把它掃描進電腦,就不用重新再打字了。

上人:我們要維新改良,不能固步自封。

張果蓉:有些佛教的名相,在翻譯時有困難。

上人:可以查字典。

實法師:我們可以事先溝通用統一的名詞。

上人:以前沒電腦也翻譯得那麼好,現在有電腦了,為什麼還往後退?人只知道用電腦,不知自己的神腦,要活動神腦,別那麼古老。

姜曉明:剛提到描及洗雜音等機器,我們有無充足經費?

孫志揚:我們需要有很多人手來做電腦輸人,我要先調查電腦設備。目前我們有三千元的基金,和幾台電腦。如果組織得好,每台電腦有各人工作時間表,電腦就不會不夠了。

上人:多少個人已會電腦,不會的也學一學。

頤法師:剛才說到聽錄音帶校對已出版的書,但書的內容已改得太離譜,把上人講解前後顛倒刪改,與原意大不相同,這樣花的時間會更多,不如重新謄稿會更快,也比較可靠。

是法師:翻譯工作或可分為近程、中程、遠程的計劃,遠程計劃有包括培養及廣召人才等。計劃先要做得具體及仔細周到,這樣翻譯人員才可以深人及專注地做同一樣工作。

法法師:月刊上有幾部經典,以前是依照書本文字來刊登的。但因這些書和上人原本所講的有出入,所以我們必須要重新謄稿。還有,上人近期給了很多的開示,我們需要有人負責盡快聽錄音帶謄出來,以便出版或者登在月刊上。

優法師:現在有很多已譯好的越南文經典,是不是完全按照上人的中文註解作翻譯,還是從英文或其他語言翻譯的?

上人:翻譯經典最重要是正確,不能和原文相反。你要用我幼稚園的解釋也可以的,但因為我們現在才剛開始,要先把基礎打穩才推展及翻譯其他的,不能這裡弄一點,那邊弄一點,太多了!貪多嚼不爛。

仲法師:翻譯組若需要萬佛城錄音室提供錄音帶的話,我們就要作一些準搆工作。剛才有人提到錄音帶背後的雜音,可以用機器洗掉,是否有人願意到聖城教我們?還有,一些已出版的帶子,效果不是很好,它是否事先有經過核准才出版?我在萬佛聖城也看到一個傳單,是關於聖荷西及三藩市的鼎新傳播公司,播放上人的開示錄,我不知道他們這個組織有沒有先和譯經院聯絡?但我以前聽說洛杉磯曾播放過上人的錄音帶,評語就是背後有雜音,很難聽到上人所講的經典。我希望以後若要播放上人的錄音帶,應先通知錄音室,以便我們提供最好的帶子。

魏果正:我希望在最後的時刻,能把翻譯的工作安排一下,決定要翻譯那一些經典。

上人:《楞嚴經》、《法華經》、《華嚴經》。

果摩:誰願意幫忙的,請盡快填好此表,然後伸出你的手來幫忙。

Ven. Master: In the future, we will meet every third Sunday of the month at 1:30 p.m. The books we publish should all be formatted with alternate pages of Chinese and English, facing each other. This kind of sagely work will last for thousands of generations. We are common people doing the work of sages. This work is done on a volunteer basis and it is something meaningful to us. We can establish merit and virtue and benefit people, not only make a living to support ourselves. We want to use the spare time in our busy lives to do something worthwhile.

D. M. Sure: We will also accept translations from any country, too.

D. M. Lai: We really need people with true skill to do layout work. So I hope that people skilled in this area will contribute their efforts.

D. M. Lyu: Communication and organization are extremely important. Even if you don't know how to translate, you still can help with the task of organizing and communicating.

D. M. Gwei: We also need to train people who are interested in translation but have no experience.

D. M. Ming: Some of the English translation which was done by listening to the tape didn't match the Chinese text.

Darwin Hu: Our original idea was to finalize the Chinese draft in the first step, so that the translators could save time and not have to go back and listen to the tape again.

Master: In the past, some people, wanting to act special and be in the spotlight, inserted their own opinions in the published Chinese sutra text, and left out my original explanation.

For instance, for the sake of beginners I had originally spoken "the Simple Explanation of the Shurangama Sutra," which I call 'the Kindergarten Shurangama Sutra.' But Fang Gwo Wu used Dharma Master Yuan Ying's explanation to alter the original meaning, so much of it is not my own explanation. So, you need to take a look and see if these books match what's on the tape.

Hu Gwo Hu: Some of the very old tapes are already ruined. Some of the tapes have a lot of background noise covering up the Master's voice. Could the Ven. Master lecture them again?

Master: It takes a lot of concentration for me to give a lecture. To have even one copy is not so easy and I have to use a lot of energy. If you didn't know how to take care of them, that is your responsibility; I won't do it again. If I did again and you didn't protect them any better this time, then what would be the use?

Liu Gwo Ming: I found that some parts of the sutra are missing some sentences of the sutra explanation. Can the Master just give a few sentences for the sutra explanation?

Master: If there's a part missing from the tape, just go ahead and add it in according to the meaning of the text.

Liu Gwo Ming: We then read it to the Master for approval?

Master: If it is just a little bit, that's okay! If the tapes have been destroyed, it is because of your irresponsibility. Basically I have no opinion about my tapes. Whether you people want to spread them far or bury them in the ground, it doesn't matter to me, for I don't pay any attention to my own affairs. If I told you to do this, it would be like I was praising myself. If you like to do it, I can't stop you and ask you not to do so. I'm not like other people who advertise their own things, the more the better.

I've been teaching you for so many years and not a single person understands my vows and my heart. You stare at me, wondering as you scratch your head, what's he doing, what's he doing? You have no clue at all.

Speaker: We can form groups to carry out the different steps of the translation work, and figure out who will do the primary translation, who will do editing, proofreading, layout, and so on. But we should first organize it properly.

D. M. Sure: There are also some retired seniors--everyone's parents and relatives. If their Chinese is good, you can also tell them about this work, and I believe they will be willing to help.

Master: The people who listen to and transcribe the tapes must have good Chinese, and not write incorrect words. If those seniors don't smoke or drink, and are in good health, that's fine. If they smoke and drink, they will have problems.

Chen Shr Jung: With today's advanced technology, we can restore damaged tapes and get rid of background noise. Recently, there have also been some automatic language translation programs, which are not too expensive. Can we try out these sorts of things?

Master: Certainly! If the computer can do it all, we won't need to use people anymore, and we can save some labor. We people will do the work that computers cannot do, and let the computers do what they can do.

Gwo Jye: I had tried to get rid of background noise. It worked really well. I will investigate and see if we can use it. Following the flowchart, are we going to proceed one step at a time, or will we work on it part by part?

Master: This time around we will definitely go step by step to completely finish the translation. We cannot publish if we are still missing a bit, or just stop after translating only half of it.

Chen Gwo Wen: We need to decide what Sutras and tapes we should start work on first. At present we have different computer and software configurations. Can we increase our usage of computers in order to reduce the human workload? During our meetings, we should post the meeting timetable and organizational chart, and have a system for contacting people and making reports.

Master: In the future, we can meet until 3:30. We cannot prolong the time past that, meeting for several hours. Today we don't have time to select people.

Next time, everyone should first check their own area, and see who can do what work. It's best to have people good in both Chinese and English. If they are good in just one, that's OK too.

If you eat too much food at once, you will feel as though your stomach will burst. In the past, some people had meetings that lasted five or six hours. They met during the day and at nighttime as well. That is not right.

Chang Syun Kwang: It's very important to attract talented people. I suggest we print this volunteer data sheet in the newsletter and magazine. Then all those who are interested can help, too.

Master: In the future, the newsletter and magazine will both be bilingual. Currently, very few magazines have this kind of format with the Chinese and English on facing pages. Who hasn't spoken yet? Speak out one by one.

Lu Da Ren: The three things I have thought about have been mentioned by others already. First, how do we begin from the progress chart? Second, which sutra shall we translate first, and how do we coordinate among ourselves?

Syun Jr Yang: About the translation flow chart. I feel that it will be very similar to the flow charts used by business managers. For example, we can write simple instructions on the side, making it easier for people to understand and make choices about the work.

Darwin Hu: We can use a kind of software which will monitor progress, duties, deadlines, and inspection times. It is designed to take care of these specialized jobs.

Wang Hung Yi: We should not forget about the hard work done in the past. For special terms in Buddhism, we can refer back to our past translations, so we won't have to do it over.

Master: People in the past did work hard and earn merit. Although they didn't fully understand translation then, they are forced it. They didn't know how to do it, but they did it anyway. Those who knew Chinese didn't understand English, and those who knew English didn't understand Chinese. Now, people's talents are up to standard, and they know both Chinese and English.

Darwin Hu: We can scan the English Sutra texts we've already published into the computer, so we don't have to type them in by hand.

Master: We will try to use what's new and improved. We can't stubbornly stick to old ways.

Chang Gwo Rung: There are some Buddhist terms which are difficult to translate.

Master: We can look them up in the dictionary.

D. M. Sure: We can come to an agreement first on what terms we should use in common.

Master: There were no computers in the past but they still did such good translations. Now that we have computers, why are we falling behind? People know only to use the computer, and don't know how to use their own brain. You've got to liven up your brain, and not be so old-fashioned.

Jyang Syau Ming: The use of scanners and noise eliminating machines was mentioned. Can we afford them?

Syun Jr Yang: We need many people to type things in the computer. I will see what computers we have. At present, we have a fund of three thousand dollars, and several computers. If we organize well, every computer will have a timetable, and there will be enough computers to go around.

Master: How many people have learned to use the computer? Those who haven't should learn too.

D. M. Yi: Somebody said that we could make corrections from the text, but the text differs much from the Master's original talk. Since it takes more time to do correction, it would be better for us to just transcribe the tape again.

D. M. Shr: We need to plan the translation work both for the present and the future. For example, looking to the future, we need to start training and gathering talented people now. We need to have a detailed and concrete plan. This will help people focus on their work.

D. M. Fa: Currently, the sutras we publish in our magazine are taken directly from the book. But, since we found out that they differ so much from the Master's original talk, we have to transcribe it again from the tape. Furthermore, the Master has given many instructional talks recently. We need people to transcribe the talks and publish them as soon as possible.

D. M. You: At present, many sutras have already been translated into Vietnamese. Were they translated directly from the Master's words or from others' English translations?

Master: What's important is to get the translation work correct. It can't differ from the original text. If you like to use my "kindergarten explanation", that's fine. But since we are just beginning now,we must get our foundation solid first. We don't want to grab from the left and from the right, from here and there. If you eat too much, you will not be able to chew it.

D. M. Jung: If the translation work needs tapes from the CTTB tape room, we must prepare for it. As we discussed just now, we can use a machine to get rid of the noise in the tape. Is there anybody who can come to the City to teach us about it? Other than that, some of the tapes already out are not good in quality. Had they been approved before being published? I received a document about people from San Jose and San Francisco who wanted to play the Master's lecture on All Star Radio Station. Did they receive permission from ITI? Somebody said that the tapes which they play in Los Angeles have background noise and it is difficult to hear the Master's instruction. Next time if anybody wants to play the Master's tape, please contact us, so we can give you a good copy.

Wei Gwo Chen: I hope in the last minute, we can decide which sutra to do first.

Master: The Shurangama Sutra, the Dharma Flower Sutra and the Flower Adornment Sutra.

Marion Robertson: If you would like to volunteer, please hurry and fill out the form and lend your helping hand.

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