primalsoup Posted July 30, 2004 at 05:52 PM Report Posted July 30, 2004 at 05:52 PM Translating a passage in a poem that refers to a women: "hard on the outside, soft in the middle" "Your soft brown eyes reveal your true nature, and the beauty within" ANY help at all is greatly appreciated. Thanks! Quote
skylee Posted July 31, 2004 at 09:49 AM Report Posted July 31, 2004 at 09:49 AM "hard on the outside, soft in the middle" = wai gang nei rou (sorry can't type Chinese at this machine). Quote
amperel Posted July 31, 2004 at 02:19 PM Report Posted July 31, 2004 at 02:19 PM wai gang nei rou = 外剛內柔 some peopel also use 外堅 instead of 外剛. "Your soft brown eyes reveal your true nature, and the beauty within" i think an exact word-by-word translation to chinese won't work as well in conveying the "romantic" nature of the original sentence. maybe i'd use something like 靈 魂 之 窗 (= windows of soul) to represent eyes. as for the other words, try searching for them in zhongwen.com. Quote
39degN Posted July 31, 2004 at 05:03 PM Report Posted July 31, 2004 at 05:03 PM Your soft brown eyes reveal your true nature, and the beauty within 你温柔的黑眼睛透出你如水的性灵，而美蕴含其中。 或者“你浅棕色的眼睛”？ BTW, what do you think about chinese people's eyes? do you think they are black or dark brown? a friend of mine(american) insists it should be dark brown, not black. what's your opinion? Quote
Claw Posted July 31, 2004 at 06:09 PM Report Posted July 31, 2004 at 06:09 PM a friend of mine(american) insists it should be dark brown, not black. what's your opinion? They should be brown. Look at them closely and you'll see that they're brown. In fact, I don't think black is a valid choice for many forms where you have to fill out your eye color. Quote
Quest Posted July 31, 2004 at 08:18 PM Report Posted July 31, 2004 at 08:18 PM brown, look at your eyes under day light, but Chinese call that "black". Quote
skylee Posted August 1, 2004 at 08:29 AM Report Posted August 1, 2004 at 08:29 AM I think mine are "close" to black. But I know a Chinese guy who has fairly light-brown eyes, and they make him look strange/special. Quote
39degN Posted August 1, 2004 at 09:56 AM Report Posted August 1, 2004 at 09:56 AM most are close to black, but i m so curious about the real general discribtion in english speaking countries. Quote
primalsoup Posted August 3, 2004 at 03:42 PM Author Report Posted August 3, 2004 at 03:42 PM the translation provided for "hard on the outside, soft in the middle" comes back as" outside is supple" am i missing something? BTW - her eyes are a light brown, although her family has very dark to black eyes... Quote
shibo77 Posted August 4, 2004 at 07:15 AM Report Posted August 4, 2004 at 07:15 AM wai4 gang1 nei4 rou2 = 外剛內柔 (exterior)(strength)(interior)(gentleness) some people also use "外堅wai4 jian1 (exterior)(firm,steadfast)" instead of "外剛wai4 gang1"(exterior)(strength,solid). Quote
primalsoup Posted August 4, 2004 at 04:48 PM Author Report Posted August 4, 2004 at 04:48 PM Should have read through first set of postings and my question would have been answered. Thanks to you all for the help, this is really a great forum Quote
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