Computer Fair at Convention Centre

I went to the Computer Fair on the very last day held at the Convention & Exhibition Centre, Wanchai, on the spur of the moment. I took the cross harbour tunnel bus there. By the time I reached the main entrance, it was already 3:00 p. m. The Fair was going to end by 6:00 p.m. but I could see a lot of people still moving up the escalators to enter the halls.

As expected, the hall was fully packed with people, and I could hardly get the chance to move closer to any stall there. Judging from past experience, even if I did manage to come any nearer to a stall, I knew the merchandise displayed there would be disappointingly unattractive.

As I wandered around, I saw a counter with few people in front of the desks. It was a stall selling printers. On one of the display samples was attached a price tag in bold letters: HK$599. It's a B/W home office laser printer. The original RSP was HK$899. I was tempted, and I asked the sales lady there whether the price was truly what it said for that particular model.

"Yeah," said she. "But we just run out of stock now."
"How about this last model? " I asked. "Is it for sale as well?"
"Oh, you don't have to buy this display model," she promptly reassured me. "We've got brand new ones coming. My peers are just going to pick up fresh stock from the storeroom. Come back in an hour's time."


"In an hour's time?" I looked at my watch. It was almost 3:50 p.m. Anyway, since it was pointless to linger there, I walked away and continued with my window- (or strictly speaking, distance-) shopping.

So I drifted along the fully packed aisles, almost to the point of coming to a standstill as I was being pushed by people from all directions at the same time. Then I found myself pushed in front of a stall where the same brand of laser printers as the previous stall's was on sale. Only this time, the price tag showed HK$499.

I couldn't believe my eyes. So I asked the sales staff there,"Is this printer selling for HK$499?"

"Yes," said the salesman. "But it's own pick-up price. If you wanna home delivery, an extra HK$100 applies."

I looked at the outer box. It was about 2' x 1.5' x 2', quite sturdy a carton box. I tried the weight. It was manageable. But to carry this outer box and cut through the crowd would dictate the determination and the prowess no less than Moses' in splitting the Red Sea.

"Do you accept credit cards?" I probed, since I had no planned purchase at all I did not come fully loaded, half-heartedly expecting a negative response.

"Sure," answered the salesman gleefully. "For just one or two items, I'll waive any surcharge this time provided it's a Visa or MasterCard."

So up I gave my last line of defence and ended up with a buying spree just within a duration slightly shorter than an hour.

When I came home and began to think about all my unbudgetted purchases, I thought I'd vote for the GST now more than ever. A hefty GST would surely salvage me from such financial havoc!

History of the Peloponnesian War

Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War is one of the Great Books recommended by M. Adler. For centuries, it has received very high acclaim in the Western world of classics; however, its influence on the minds of Asian readers does not seem to match that on the Europeans.

I read the Penguin classics edition which is translated by Rex Warner (1954) with an Introduction and Appendix by M. I. Finley (1972). All in all, this edition is a very good translation -- its English is very lucid, simple, and sufficiently clear. One doesn't need to consult too frequently a dictionary to find out the words Warner used in order to understand what originally Thucydides was trying to portray about the causes and consequences of the war. Yet, when I came across the speeches and the debates (e.g. Pericles' famous Funeral Oration), I found it hard to share emotional effects intended by such great orator.

Luckily, I had an opportunity to find out that there are at least 4 English translation versions:
1. Thomas Hobbes (1628)
2. Richard Crawley (1876, 1910)
3. Benjamin Jowett (1881, 1900)
4. Rex Warner (1954)

In the complete set of Adler's The Great Books, the one translated by Richard Crawley was adopted. I don't know whether his choice was purely out of convenience, or after much deliberation. So I decided to compare Crawley's version and Warner's version, using Pericles' Funeral Oration as a sampler. Here's what I've found:

1)
Warner's version:
"Let me say that our system of government does not copy the institutions of our neighbours. It is more the case of our being a model to others, than of our imitating anyone else. Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people. When it is a question of settling private disputes, everyone is equal before the law; when it is a public responsibility, what counts is not membership of a particular class, but the actual ability which the man possesses. No one, so long as he has it in him to be of service to the state, is kept in political obscurity because of povery. " (Book II, 37)

Crawley's version:
"Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; not again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition."

On this part I think both of them are equally good.

But let me show another part, arguably the most famous sentence in Thucydides, to compare the two translators:


2)
Warner's version:
"Our love of what is beautiful does not lead to extravagance; our love of the things of the mind does not make us soft. We regard wealth as something to be properly used, rather than as something to boast about. As for poverty, no one need be ashamed to admit it: the real shame is in not taking practical measures to escape from it." (Book II, 40)

Crawley's version:
"We cultivate refinement without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than for show, and place the real disgrace of poverty not in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle against it. "

Jowett's version:
"For we are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes; and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness. Wealth we employ, not for talk and ostentation, but when there is a real use for it. To avow poverty with us is no disgrace; the true discgrace is in doing nothing to avoid it."

How concise and sharp Crawley is! On this count, I would have to vote for Crawley. But Jowett's versionn is equally succinct.

Here I quote another paragraph to illustrate which translator's work is better:

3)
Warner's version:
"When you see other people happy you will often be reminded of what used to make you happy too. One does not feel sad at not having some good thing which is outside one's experience: real grief is felt at the loss of something which one is used to." (Book II, 44)

Crawley's version:
"You will constantly be reminded by seeing in the homes of others blessings of which once you also boasted: for grief is felt not so much for the want of what we have never known, as for the loss of that to which we have been long accustomed."

And how about Paul Woodruff's version:
"You will often be reminded by the good fortune of others of the joy you once had; for sorrow is not for the want of a good never tasted, but for the loss of a good we have been used to having."

Which one is better? Well, honestly I really can't tell now...

Lastly, let me quote the sentences concerning the Greek's expectations about woman:

4)
Warner's version:
"Perhaps I should say a word or two on the duties of women to those among you who are now widowed. I can say all I have to say in a short word of advice. Your great glory is not to be inferior to what God has made you, and the greatest glory of a woman is to be least talked about by men, whether they are praising you or criticizing you."(Book II, 45)

Crawley's version:
"On the other hand, if I must say anything on the subject of female excellence to those of you who will now be in widowhood, it will be all comprised in this brief exhortation. Great will be your glory in not falling short of your natural character; and greatest will be hers who is least talked of among the men, whether for good or for bad."

Paul Woodruff's version:
"And now, since I must say something about feminine virture, I shall express it in this brief admonition to you who are now widows: your glory is great if you do not fall beneath the natural condition of your sex, and if you have as little fame among men as is possibloe, whether for virture or by way of reproach."

Here's yet another, a 4th, version:
"To a woman not to show more weakness than is natural to her sex is a great glory, and not to be talked about for good or for evil among men."

See? Different versions of translation of the identical sentences can and do project different moods and even slightly different meanings.

Therefore, one must be careful in selecting one's choices in any translated work of masterpieces.

Great Books and Great Ideas

Recently I came across a book by Mortimer J. Adler: 'How To Think About The Great Ideas' (edited by Max Weismann, Open Court, 6th edition, 2003). It is in fact a collection of 52 TV interviews given by the philosopher Adler (1902 - 198?), whose name is always associated with The Great Books, The Great Ideas, and the University of Chicago.

It has been a wide known fact that Adler, together with the then university president Robert Maynard Hutchins, introduced a compulsory reading scheme to the students of the University of Chicago, asking each and every undergrad to read some classics to enhance their liberal education. What I didn't know is that Adler et al had encountered so much opposition, not only from the students, but also from their peers there.

In one of the 52 episodes of this TV series, Adler advised the viewers on "How to Think about Learning". In this episode, Adler states very clearly that 'the student's interests should not govern learning', a concept which ran contrary to most educationists and philosophers. Adler thinks that the child-centered schools have a misconception: they believe that the child comes to school with certain interests and we (the educators) ought to take those intersts as dictating to us what the child should learn and what the child should be taught.

In fact, Adler says that it is up to the teachers and the educators to decide what should be taught. And then having decided what the student should learn, their duty, their task, is to arouse a deep and lively interest in the very things that should be learned. "If there are certain things fundamental to human life, if there is a body of wisdom which all persons should have, if there are certain kinds ofknowledge, certain arts that all persons should acquire, then they should be in the possession of all, regardless of their individual differences, regardless of what their talents or their interests may be."

I guess this is the cornerstone of his ideas of The Great Books, which Adler believes everyone of us should read, young or old, child or adult, in our life time.

OK, I shall start such reading scheme now, in this Year of the Dog (2006), 'cause I was born in a Year of the Dog many decades before. Would I be finishing the entire Great Books collection by the next Year of the Dog (2018) ?

I don't know, but I'd certainly hope to have finished at least half of them by then.

On reading someone's diaries

Many years ago I watched a movie "Thief of Hearts"（港譯：用愛將心偷）which tells of a burglar who stole away the diaries of a handsome married woman together with some valuables and a beautiful portrait of herself. Reading her diaries page by page, the thief was then able to read the mind of the woman, and all her fantasies for a dream-lover as opposed to her husband whom she felt increasingly dull over her marriage years.

The thief was soon captivated by the secrets of this pretty woman. Without letting her know of his true intention, he decided to present himself to her as an attractive, vibrant entrepreneur appreciative of her talents in interior design. Most of all, he projected an image of her ideal lover with all the admired traits and matching qualities fantasized by her. He succeeded in seducing the woman, and the movie ended with a twist with a shade of sadness.

Would I do the same if I had the chance of reading someone's diaries, especially those belonging to someone I aspired?

It would be very hard to resist the temptation indeed. When I was young, I did come across such an occasion -- I failed the test and I flipped through some pages of my then girl friend's diaries. Before soon, I regretted doing it - not because I was noble but because I felt ashamed of myself. I found out something I didn't want to know, some remarks I wasn't supposed to know, some secrets that would do nobody good if divulged.

I never realised it was so burdensome to come to know someone's deepest secrets, especially those belonging to the one you loved.

So now, I can say for certain: if I had the chance to peep into someone's diaries, I'd choose not to. I'd put them in a box, tie it up, and return the entire box to the owner, saying "You may find it light reading, but it's too heavy for me."

Why another blog?

This blog is the second one that I open with www.blogger.com within a month's time.

It differs from my first one www.myWYKposts.blogspot.com in that it contains my inner thoughts which may not be suitable for publishing in my alma mater's News Forum, an open forum to the public domiciled at news://news.wyk.edu.hk/wyk.forum.

Some of the posts 'published' here -- if 'published' is the proper word at all -- are meant for capturing my honest inner feelings at the moment of my writing. So strictly speaking, they may be too revealing to be disclosed at all.

The very thought of disclosing my innermost feelings always sends a chill up my spine -- it feels like revealing my diary to strangers, and, though I ain't a girl, I share with Oscar Wilde's comment that a diary is 'simply a very young girl's(?) record of her own thoughts and impressions, and consequently meant for publication.' (The Importance of Being Earnest)

Oh yeah, Oscar, what you said has come true indeed!