Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Chinese term or phrase:
一條人生的路
English translation:
life's path
Added to glossary by
Roddy Stegemann
Jan 26, 2004 16:04
20 yrs ago
Chinese term
United States
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Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, Japanese to English, French to English, and 3 more.
一條人生的路
Chinese to English
Other
Linguistics
中文文法
人生的路，沒有一條是容易走的，可是也沒有太難的。
This is my most challenging sentence so far. I have rendered it as "Life's path is not an easily travelled one, but it is also not a very difficult one." I would like to simplify it into something more wieldly, such as "Life's path is neither so easy nor too difficult". Notwithstanding, there are some important grammatical tank blocks that have left me at a standstill.
Question: Would it have been correct and vastly simpler had the author of the sentence not written 人生的路不是容易走的，可是也不是太難的？
One explanation for the author's rendering of this somewhat simple thought might be: prove that life is never very easy, and here's the grammar to prove it!
What are your thoughts?
This is my most challenging sentence so far. I have rendered it as "Life's path is not an easily travelled one, but it is also not a very difficult one." I would like to simplify it into something more wieldly, such as "Life's path is neither so easy nor too difficult". Notwithstanding, there are some important grammatical tank blocks that have left me at a standstill.
Question: Would it have been correct and vastly simpler had the author of the sentence not written 人生的路不是容易走的，可是也不是太難的？
One explanation for the author's rendering of this somewhat simple thought might be: prove that life is never very easy, and here's the grammar to prove it!
What are your thoughts?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +5 | 'None of the paths of life is easy to walk, but neither is any one too difficult.' |
Peter Smith
|
Proposed translations
+5
15 mins
Peter Smith
Taiwan
Taiwan
Native in English
Taiwan
Accuracy with a literary polish.
Native in: English 
Works in: Chinese to English, French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
'None of the paths of life is easy to walk, but neither is any one too difficult.'
This is clearly context-sensitive, so I may be off the mark stylistically. The central problem is conceptual - Western people don't easily think of life as a discrete phenomenon with each of us individuals walking a strand of it. You might try: 'None of the paths life sets before us is easy to walk, but neither is any one too difficult.' As for your simplification of the source text, I think it rather cuts away some of the author's intended meaning.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "This is how it was finally translated:
Life's path is not one that is easily travelled, but it is one that we can all make.
Explanation:
The double negative construction with the conjunction but (or however), is simply awkward in English, and should be avoided. It is for this reason that the phrase 沒有太難的 was turned into the affirmative opposite of what is written in Chinese.
As you can see I have sought to retain the notion that there is only one path for each individual and everyone must travel it. The word "travel" could easily be replaced with "walk", but who walks the whole time? Moreover, 走 can also mean run."
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