今日嘉言錦句 (2012-01-29)

擺明尚簡短，專記小事情，就和「雜七雜八」相同，只是標題好看得多。

1)「白腹魚」成為「白北魚」的道理和「出來講」成為「踹共」的道理一樣。
2) "Politics is a delicate game." ("The Borgias", Season 1 Episode 5, Cardinal Cesare Borgias to Ambassador Niccolo Machiavelli) -- in the same manner "what game do you play" on the table.
3) "One blade is never enough, my Eminence." (ibid. Assassin Michelletto to Cardinal Cesare Borgia in occasion of a duett practice)
4) "I see now that nobility springs from the soul..., not from the blood."   ("The borgias", S1E6, Giovanni Sforza to Lucrezia Borgia ^^)
5) "No war is just, war is chaos. Brute force mustered against brute force until one side is destroyed, utterly." (King Charles VIII to Cardinal della Rovere)

從劇中國王查理[1]的話裡，我斷章取義，說到當時義大利的戰爭只是不同主子之間雇傭兵的鬧劇；才打完的百年戰爭裡頭，基本上已經有後來民族戰爭的味道，不僅「保家為國免為奴」，還有在長期對峙裡發展出不共戴天水火不容的鬥爭，強化傳統割據版圖，也構成君主論所刻意陳述的「實力」概念背景。

戲裏面（S1E6） Cesare Borgia 有很多理由把那個某男爵[2]幹掉，這很多理由裏面也很能「合理化」其作為。尤其他選擇正面挑戰，決鬥中殺死對方，最是巧妙細緻地避開「謀殺」、「刺殺」的罪名，但顯然踩在紅線上—且這是在很多條紅線上頭。畢竟是自己動手，而自己還名義上是個樞機，藉此最直接的所得就是染指那個某男爵夫人[3]。典型的「君主」性格，讓人面對著會股竦不敢造次，乖乖只能小心自己，從而處於被動。→→→ crime & (divine) forgiveness redefined.

這一個奪人妻的戲八成是編出來的，姑狗找沒有什麼 Ursula Bonadeo，且 bon+adeo 或是戲文「好走」（誤　謅出來的名字。余以為編劇弄這一齣，主要是在「私領域」上頭刻劃 Cesare Borgia 的性格，也是為了這古裝片的「增色。」當然，古裝劇裡的「古人」面對過於先進的西莎博吉亞實在無法招架，那個某男爵夫人只好遁去塵世，從此到修院裡圖心安。


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[1] 表情看起來很滑稽的Michel Muller，但除了幾分丑氣外，總的來講國王演得很穩。
[2] Bonadeo.
[3] Ursula.

On German letter for "sz" & shift vowels (2012-01-29)

For I have recently experienced such search entries with wrongly spelled German, I would like to contribute an ABC post.

There are tons of fraud OCRs falsely recognise German letter solely stands for "sz" (i.e. "ß") and apparently there are millions of people who occasionally run into some German title (books, address, etc.) and it is thereby "misspelled" as B or even disseminated as "b" such as in *einbahnstraBe and *einbahnstrabe by someone else. Don't be fooled! An alternative, officially and pedagogically approved, for this situation in non-German-speaking countries and written typefaces, in this case, it will be transscribed as "ss" and it appeared "sz" in old times as in some classical poems, as some variant to modern orthography. For example:

Wilhelmsstraße → Wilhelmsstrasse, can also be (but outfashioned and non-standard today): Wilhelmstrasze

accordingly, the well-known book by Walter Benjamin

Einbahnstraße[1] → Einbahnstrasse, Einbahnstrasze; never valid for *einbahnstraBe or *einbahnstrabe

Yes, this trick requires a minimum knowledge in German, but anyone who would mess up a little with German would be criticized for a mistake like this forever on the web.

There is a German layout on QWER keyboard

Source description Here

By the way, many of the nomina in non-German situations are de-capitalized and this is not very seriously wrong. There is another problem, namely, the Umlaut[e] (umlauts), the -a-, -o- and -u- shift as -ä-, -ö- and -ü- respectively. There are also alternatives to muste the umlauts to write ä as ae as in Maedchen, ö as oe as in Oeler and ü as ue as in Mueller. Don't just miss them. That can cause misunderstandings and difficulties in bibliographical issues. Now you learned how to play it smart.

P.s. Greek letter for "beta" (β) is not an alternative for "ß". Things like this happened, and are still happening somewhere. Don't mistake, my readers.


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[1] Also, a Verkehrsschild/ Verkehrszeichen, a traffic sign for "one-way-street".

2012-01-28

早晨不知是什麼夢境情節裡，側著身睡的，高舉起左手，然後放鬆落下，手掌就這樣擊中被子上凹處捲著的貓兒。撞擊使我跳回現實，意識到打了貓一拳，且出手可能很重。貓只是挪挪身子也沒吭聲，大概是打在身上吧。睡著打到貓也不是第一次，只是這回很明白的在作夢，有些意思。

做的這夢主要是像個游擊隊員，本來帶著五十隻小貓要移轉陣地，卻在爬上高圍籬時一個麻袋全散了，只得下來慢慢撿拾。愈撿則貓愈大，一個袋子只裝了二十五隻，其餘的再尋不見，只好算了。續行到一座白色大宅子，走進去乾淨齊整，什麼也沒有，尋了一個大房間要放貓，又發現大房間裡邊和外頭有個弧形窄廊相通，貓肯定會全溜竄走。只得又尋了個小些了的邊間，確定了沒有其他出口。小歸小，放一堆小貓來講也還寬敞，袋子放地上打開，出來小貓裡有乳牛色的、有橘色的、有褐色的、灰黑色的、和灰藍色的。趕了牠們離開門口，人退出去就關起門來。大概接著會另派人來照顧。

我往前線去。

兵員集中在寨子裡，準備衝鋒。領頭的交代身上、背包裡紙類都取出來，什物都放在乾寨中，少帶點。本來的意思是把會浸溼的拿出來，後來則乾脆全放著只帶武器。然後集結幾個人一組涉水正面突擊敵軍的水寨。全部陣亡，我也不例外。

指揮部裡，兩個官一個跛一個攙，跌跌撞撞儘可能快的拖步子進門，進門就大嚷：「大帥，不好咧！」大將軍正在上一層樓梯，隨行還有幾個將校，全都停下腳步。「是打勝了還是打敗了？」大帥問。那邊急應著「大帥，全體陣亡！」在場無不失色。大將軍竟然一個站不穩，手撐著邊壁，要喚我回來。顯然的，我是他親戚。

（其實我給打倒了卻沒死掉，估計是中了塑膠子彈！）我可沒死，水淋淋地逃到養貓大宅那裡，見有些南丁格爾著藍白護生袍穿梭照顧貓咪，我進去，見一隻藍色的大肥貓。「乖乖，」我暗忖著，「沒幾天就給養這麼肥這麼大了！」抱起來頗吃重。

我從宅子裡摸走一隻褐色貓捧著，到了一個賣場躲在貨架間。拿了一個貓罐頭，易開罐打開，內容很輕易地掉出來落地。一開始我想我應該自己吃了活命，可一轉念，還是敲了敲罐頭，叫貓來吃。自己拿出一個手提電話，按幾個號碼想找人求救來接應。

（完）

Traumbeschreibung, NG, aliquod (2012-01-27)

好像發生在類似馬雅文化或某些文明草創的所在，見有亮色系的高臺建築，不少人在廣場上走來走去。我獲得「勳章」，類似西方勳章「帶」，不僅僅是個牌子玩意而已；可這很不正式，便就忽然也不知誰交到我手中，上頭還繫了紅絨繩。

當頭接受這禮物我其實是很慌張的不知該怎麼辦好：不知道為何要給我，不知是不是給錯人，不知是不是要遭殃，也不知道這東西怎麼佩掛起來，要不要戴起。心內掙扎一遭來，結果是放到褲子後面的口袋了，可是紅絨繩露出褲頭來，隨著有個人來，問我怎不戴上勳章，我答道不知如何佩掛。那人也不囉唆，喚我拿出勳章來給他，竟然兩端扣緊了我衣服的袍帶，枷鎖是的；另一邊來了一隊武士，抓住我架到方才那人面前，「大人」是也。

大人命人把我關進一間小屋裡。屋子是長形的，約五六坪，大多黑漆漆的，是個牢房，只有門口縫透入亮光。這門開得並不正，而是在長邊上偏一邊開，透進的光線給一邊房的兩個角落和牆壁照個半亮，牆上掛了許多幅看似空白的裱幅，有大有小。

正在觀望四周時，又有武士進來，是奉命把我全身剝光，兩邊挾著。大人走進來說交代了，限幾天之內書就所有的裱幅，不依令就殺了扔進陰溝裡餵魚。

莫名其妙，大概華人在那虛境裡是稀有動物。
*      *      *
Again, as I did in previous day, this afternoon I sat in an armchair and browsed decades-long housed National Geographic magazines. And Katschen the cat sprang up onto my thighs and rest while I read.

I found some titles interesting -- to my own -- worth leaving a note.

On computer chips, revolution on lifestyle ......... Vol 162.4 (Oct 1982), pp. 421.
On Bluefin Tuna (and its sashimi!) in Vol 162.2 (Aug 1982), pp. 220.

"The Iceman" (a feature about Ötzi) .........Vol 183.6 (Jun 1993), pp. 36-67. --
"Silence of the Songbirds" ......... ibid., 68-91. A little bit sad is the observation and rescue of songbirds being captured and eliminated in our surroundings and replaced step by step by common sparrows. (p. 74, margin note) --
Also an essay entitled "corn, the golden grain" (ibid., 92ff)

"Cotton, King of Fibers" ......... Vol 185.6 (Jun 1994), 60-87. Pp. 80-81 the report goes on chemical catastrophes in cotton / textile industries (raw material processing, dyeing), especially the manufacture of pesticides, which has been heavily relied in growing the crop and become even more deadly as insects turned to be more resistant than previous generations. An instance in India (1984) killing more than 3000 people is included in the article.

For a bit belletristic understanding "Shakespeare Lives at the Folger" ......... Vol 171.2 (Feb 1987), pp. 244.

Sofar, here are some feature releases per:
"The Peopleing of the Earth" (anthropology, ice-age) ......... Vol 174.4 (Oct 1988)
"A Broken Empire" (UdSSR), cover photo shows a red-ribbon-blind-folded bronze Stalin bust ......... Vol 183.3 (Mar 1993)
"France Celebrates Its Bicentennial" Vol 176.1 (Jul 1989)