2012-01-18

Schleicher's Fable in Lojban


Here's a version of Schleicher's Fable in Lojban with word-by-word glosses (note the use of letters as pronouns).  You can see Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit versions at Memiyawanzi.

pa lanme .e ci xirma
one sheep and three horse

pa lanme poi claxu loi sunla cu viska ci xirma
one sheep such:that lack a:mass:of wool (-) see three horse

.i pa ri cu lacpu pa tilju carce
(-) one:of the:latter (-) pull one heavy cart

.i pa ra bevri loi barda
(-) one:of the:previous carry a:mass:of heavy-thing

.i pa ra sutra bevri pa nanmu
(-) one:of the:previous quick carry one man

.i ly. cusku fi ci xy. fe lu
(-) S. say to three H. (-) quote

le risna cu se cortu ri'a lo nu viska pa nanmu poi sazri xy. li'u
the heart (-) PASV hurt because:of a/some event:of see one man such:that operate H. unquote

.i ci xy. cusku lu
(-) three H. say quote

doi lanme ko jundi
O sheep you-IMPV pay:attention

.i le risna cu se cortu ri'a lo nu viska la'e di'e
(-) the heart (-) PASV hurt because:of event:of see referent:of following:utterance

.i tu'a pa turni nanmu cu zbasu lo sunla be ly. binxo lo se dasni be ny.
(-) (-) one govern man (-) make a/some wool of S. become a/some PASV wear [i.e. worn thing] of M.

.i je ly. claxu sy. li'u
(-) and S. lack W. unquote

.i ly. jimpe la'e di'u
(-) S. comprehend referent:of preceding:utterance

.i je ba bo rivbi klama le pintu'a
(-) and then (-) escape go:to the plain [lit. flat=parcel:of:land]

The Lojbanists I checked this with don't understand why the sheep flees, since he has already been shorn.  Does anyone have any idea?

4 comments:

Steve Downey said...

Perhaps if de Bruijn indecies were introduced in translating the let bindings?

Mattitiahu said...

The Fable is clearly not logical enough for Lojban.

Bob Corrick said...

1. the sheep ran away so that it would not be shorn
2. the sheep ran away (as they tend to) when released after being shorn.
3. nobody knows why sheep do things

Regret said...

The horses are saying that they are alive because the humans find use for them.
The sheep runs, because it has no wool, the humans will not see any need to keep it alive. If it stays, the humans will take its skin, flesh and bones instead.