Engine Summer

This is the third update in my ongoing series of translations of a Sui Dynasty sexual practices manual found in a mid-20th century academic text by my friend telophase. I'm translating from the Latin produced by the author of the book, since I am nearly fluent enough in Chinese to ask the way to the train station, as long as I am also allowed to use hand gestures. The previous two updates are in one entry, which may be found here (NB: explicit material); images of the pages of the text are here. My usual caveat applies-- the Latin is very beautiful and uses grammatical structures which are awkward and wordy when translated into English, so I'm going for readability rather than literalism here, although I'm sorry to deprive you of the author's plethora of perfect passive participles.

( Cut for length, extremely explicit material, and metaphors involving waterfowl. )

Here's the first set of my translations of the position descriptions from that Sui Dynasty sex manual (helpfully Latinized, as you may recall, by the author of the work on sex in ancient China that telophase has been reading). I am trying to be as true to the meaning of the text as possible, but I'm not taking the time to make the English very pretty, and I'm ignoring the fact that a lot of the Latin uses things such as subjunctives and perfect passive participles in preference for a more direct simple past and imperative style.

( Cut for being VERY EXPLICIT INDEED. )

( ETA: Second Set of Translations (the Barry Hughart edition). )

More to follow presently. I think I'll just put them in this entry and then put a link-back whenever I update it so that they're all in the same place.

If anybody wants to see the Latin, let me know, but I've got image files of photos of the text, so I can't copy-paste, and I don't want to type it all in; I'd far rather email you the image files. I am reminded that I have a photo display option, since this is a paid account, so I'll have those images up for you soon.

I love the things my classical education turns out to be good for.

telophase, in an entry locked to spare the sensibilities of her relatives, has been reading a book on sexual life in ancient China. The literary merits of this text should be obvious-- why, the light it could shed on Gensomaden Saiyuki Journey to the West alone is simply mind-boggling.

However, although the book is of fairly recent vintage (mid-1960s, I believe), the author follows the old-fashioned practice of putting any material which might be considered explicit into Latin, because as we all know every adult over the age of twenty-one is fluent in Latin and no one under the age of consent has ever studied it.

This includes Latinization of a sex manual of the Sui Dynasty, in which all of the names of various techniques have been rendered in English and all the descriptions haven't. And I, selflessly, in the interest of scholarly good, literary clarity, annoyance at prudery and better Saiyuki fanfic, have decided to translate it.

Which requires the input of the Internet.

( Cut for length and for being a poll-- no more explicit than the previous parts of the entry unless you have a very dirty mind. )

ETA: The first set of translations are up.