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English to Chinese: The Runes of Elfland - A Rune of Protection General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Folklore
Source text - English There is a shard of a story, still told among the marsh-folk, of a young girl come to claim her father’s sword. He had lain long in his barrow and his bones were clean and gleaming in the earthlight, and his sword was there with him, cold and waiting. He was longed for by his people, loved and revered by his daughter, but all the land was on fire in his absence. This is why she had come; enemies from beyond the sea, a land defenseless. This much could be guessed at, for it is the beginning of a hundred tales. But here is something strange. The sword she sought was not forged by men. Even in her father’s father’s father’s time, that sword was already an old thing, for it had come from within the hollow hills, forged by fair hands in the dark backward and abysm of time.
So she came to the marsh, where strange lights move above the waters and polished trunks of trees attend the ground like bones. Following the lights she came to the barrow mound and found the dead were waiting for her. The sword was hers, they said, but she would need to know how to wield it. She would save the land, they said, if the sword was held aright. There were voices among the long sharp reeds and they told to her a very great secret, a thing fit for only her to know. But I’ll tell you now, and who knows? Perhaps some good may come of it. This sword must never be raised in anger and must never strike a foe. On that day the sword will break and sink again into the earth. The weapon must be held aloft, borne in silence by ancestral blessing.
And so it was done.
She returned to her land and did as she was bid. And the armies saw the sword of Elfland raised and heard the sword begin to sing. And her enemies withdrew in silence and the fires on the land were quenched, for who can stand against the will of Elfland when it is roused by the hands of a clever girl? Thus the sword found its keeper. She would, as it pleased her, lend this great gift to men who swore to keep the land in peace, but always the sword fell away from them and found its way back into the earth and back to her hand. So at last she left it to her daughter, and she to hers. So even now if you wish to learn the secret of the sword (for she is loath to lend it of late), you must seek the Woman of the Marsh – though you may know her by another name – and promise not to use it.
Translation - Chinese 有個關於少女前來取回她父親寶劍的故事,沼地族至今仍片段流傳。那位少女的父親沉眠塚陵,骨骸給大地清潔得發亮,冷冷的寶劍隨侍在側,等待著。他為子民所懷念,為女兒所愛戴尊敬。失去了他的國土,正陷入火窟。這是少女歸來的原因:海外襲來的敵人,和失去保護的土地。這樣的故事開頭,對你也許沒什麼稀奇。但奇特的事在這裡。少女尋找的劍,不是人類鑄造的。即使在她曾曾祖父的年代,那把劍也已不可考,因它來自丘陵的暗穴,精靈的巧手,時間的深淵。
I am an English to Traditional Chinese translator based in San Francisco with a master's degree at Stanford University in Management Science & Engineering.
My expertise is in design, consumer products, business, and marketing. I have also worked with topics of travel, spirituality, foods, and medical fields.
I translate documents, articles, books, website copy, and subtitles, and have occasionally done transcreation and bilingual writing for ad copy, etc. I have years of experience helping businesses grow their markets in the U.S. and in Asia, and have worked as content strategist, editor, project manager, product strategist, film producer, journalist, and researcher.
Keywords: Mandarin, Traditional Chinese, English, Taiwan, San Francisco, coworking, design, business, content, content marketing. See more.Mandarin, Traditional Chinese, English, Taiwan, San Francisco, coworking, design, business, content, content marketing, culture, travel, spirituality, wellness. See less.