I know an old lady
She swallowed a fly
But I don't know why
She swallow the fly
I guess she'll die 何為吞蠅
蠅永同音一
化驚腸內舞
雙義笑開顏
歸路際無定
蠅永同音一
What is this “swallowing flies”?
“Fly” and “shadow” share the same voice, always.
In a flash it’s startled -- inside it dances like starlight.
The double pun draws us to smile.
Homeward the light finds no single course.
“Fly” and “shadow” -- one and the same sound.
燕過非武裝地帶
鐵雲如網隔青川
碧波照影尋舊隱
長空一點寫歸年
寥寥邊聲人未到
惟有飛羽訴和平
Barn swallows slip over the de-armed border.
Iron-barbed clouds fence off jade riverbanks.
Green waters cast their shapes -- seeking the homes of memory.
A lone dot in endless blue writes our season of homecoming.
At the silent frontier no footsteps fall.
Yet wings alone carry the plea for peace.>化驚腸內舞
>In a flash it’s startled -- inside it dances like starlight.
Where did "flash" (or "in a flash") or "starlight" come from? Neither appear in the line. You could maybe translate the line as 消化，它受惊而在场内飞舞: "digested, it is startled and dances in the intestines (~stomach)". But you generally can't tell with Classical Chinese without contextual research, since characters have multiple meanings.
Where did the poems and translations come from?
…something something current affairs
Some submissions are really worth reading. Others are worth more as conversation starters. Of those, some are submitted (and upvoted) intentionally to be the latter.
And there you go with the bird puns!
It's pleasing how many militarised zones are also oasis for wildlife. British SSI abound on tank practice areas, the fortified border with the FSU and neighbouring states has become a wildlife superhighway, the DMZ (such an odd name when the sole occupants are .. military) likewise.
Wildlife as metaphor. Hope springs eternal.
That would indeed be remarkable if it were true, do I just not understand what this is supposed to mean?
Let me fact check on my etch-a-sketch…
Yep, water still flows downhill.
When you mix salt water and freshwater together, you don't get more freshwater - you turn freshwater into salt water. Replace "fresh" with "clean" and "salt" with "dirty" to make it more obvious.
So up to a point they keep salt water from fully encroaching.
You seriously underestimate human stupidity. People stand on cliff edges to take selfies, pose precariously next to works of art, walk into people's home to have a look,....
You are literally paid to live there and be a human flagpole through a tax-free salary of $82,000 USD for agriculture (as of 2013, likely higher now), as well as free education, agricultural incentives and preferential tax treatment. [1] On top of that, there's only a handful of homes, effectively amounting to an artificial housing scarcity.
[1] https://modernfarmer.com/2013/11/guarded-growing-farm-centri...
So the market of potential buyers is quite limited. (Unless they allow absentee landlords-i.e. you can buy this house, it is illegal for you to live in it, but you can legally rent it to someone who can legally live in it.)
Although I imagine “former residents and their descendants” may be a much larger group of people than the current population. Not sure how many might want to move back to their (great) grandparents village though
Does that mean like 'a quick search' but with ChatGPT or similar? Haven't come across that before and I don't think I like it...
i first thought it was about the birds only, not knowing any history of the region really, but its nearly tied into eachother via metaphors, weaving them together to describe a single thing (human experiences within this conflict zone, i think?).
Likely i understand only half of it, knowing nothing about Korea or Koreans, but from what i taste in the article, i'd like to learn more.
1317•7mo ago