May 28, 2006

Part 17 (A Thousand Leagues of Wind)

Chapter 68

The stirrup of a crossbow is the D-shaped metal strap attached to the nose to hold the crossbow down while the bowstring is drawn back.

Chapter 67

The guard tower described in this chapter follows the same design as those found on the Great Wall of China. Note the alternating merlons and crenels lining the roof.

建州 [けんしゅう] Ken Province

Chapter 65

I've changed my mind several times about the translation of shishi (師士), a nonstandard kanji compound. Etymologically, it means "master samurai" or "teacher samurai." ("Shishi" is also a homophone for "lion.") Based on the context, I've translated it as "praetorian." To quote from Wikipedia: "The term Praetorian came from the tent of the commanding general or praetor of a Roman army in the field—the praetorium. It was a habit of many Roman generals to choose from the ranks a private force of soldiers to act as bodyguards of the tent or the person. For the praetorians, saving Shoukou is a matter of self-interest, as opposed to the provincial guard, who aren't eager to get killed propping up a corrupt governor.

An allure or wall walk is the walkway behind the parapet of a castle wall.

Chapter 64

籍恩 [せきおん] Seki On

1. 主恩 [しゅおん] shuon, a gift from one's master
2. 殊恩 [しゅおん] shuon, a very special gift
3. 誅恩 [ちゅうおん] chuuon, lit. "executioner's gift"

There's some clever punning going on with the kanji in these words. The constant is the second character (on), meaning "gift." 2 is the kanji left on the walls of Shoukou's residence. Shoukou reads these kanji to mean 3.

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Comments
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
6/13/2006 4:05 AM   
Boy, they really changed Shoukou for the Anime, didn't they.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
6/20/2006 10:27 AM   
Could you please tell how many chapters are there in this novel?
# posted by Blogger Eugene
6/20/2006 1:07 PM   
Assuming I've counted correctly (the author doesn't number the chapters sequentially, but by book/part/chapter; the sequential chapter numbers are for my own convenience), it comes to 80 chapters, an afterword, and a short postscript, or a total of 81.1 chapters.
# posted by Blogger Tracy1Laiyen
1/20/2012 7:53 PM   
i hope someone answers after 6 years... xD
So the chapters are not originally from the book, but for your own convenience? (i was just wondering why SO many chapters in only one book o.0) xD... can you tell us how did the author separated the book? (especifically :) )
# posted by Blogger Eugene
1/21/2012 12:19 PM   
In the books, the chapters are numbered starting from 1 within each new section or part. This is noted on the first line of each chapter (other than chapters that begin new sections). The chapter breaks and the total number of chapters are the same as the books.
# posted by Blogger Tracy1Laiyen
1/21/2012 2:26 PM   
thanks for answering :D