I Have MedicineCh452 - Parting Ways

17 comments

1. “Deference is no substitute for obedience” sounds SO odd to me. Is it actually an English idiom, or just a variant of translation that got copied across multiple sites?Regarding 恭敬不如从命, my dictionary (not English) gives me “obedience is the best (way of showing) politeness” or something along those lines.

   Thank you for the chapter!

   • Considering the importance of politeness in eastern cultures, I doubt that this originated from an English idiom. This particular phrase has come up at least one other time in the novel so far, though.
     • Not just once, a couple times, but it was used alone before, and it kinda sorta might have made sense, I thought, maybe I’m dumb and not getting it? But when it’s only a part of a sentence, which should make sense as a whole, it suddenly just screams “weird” to me.

       My problem with it is the “no substitute” part. Yes, 不 might mean no, 如 might mean substitute, but when they’re put together, 不如 means (according to both google and my context dictionary) ” not equal to, not as good as, inferior to, it would be better to “.

       I dug deeper and found the following in the notes: ” It is better to accept deferentially than to decline courteously (on accepting gifts, etc. from one’s elders).; Obedience is better than politeness.; Obedience is a better way of showing respect than outward reverence. We’d better do as he asks instead of standing on ceremony.; It’s better to do as sb. asks instead of standing on ceremony.; The best way to show respect is to obey. ”

       Given those, the way I understand 恭敬不如从命 is: 恭敬 politeness (to decline the gift so not to burden the gifter) 不如 isn’t better than 从命 obedience (to shut up and accept). Obviously only applicable in situations like that one with Tianheng.

       • Your understanding is right, but the current translation is good enough as well. It’s all variations on agreeing to whatever was proposed.

       • First of all, I greatly appreciate your enthusiasm! I can tell you put a lot of effort into this, and it makes me happy to know that there are passionate readers here.

         For the variations of this phrase, I can definitely make a change to it to reflect your concerns. And I’ll make a mental note of this in case the author uses this phrase in the future. 😀

2. Thank you for the chapter

3. Thanks for the update!😆

4. Thanks for the update 🤠

5. Thank you for translating 🙏

6. Thanks for the translation 🤣❤️

7. Gu Zuo and his doting on younger sisters lol. Hehehe, he’s thinking of Mingxia as a younger sister in law now 😆

   Somwthing about that just tickles me.

   Thanks for the update!

8. Thank you!!!!🌺❤🌷🌻🌼

9. I wanna be the fly on the wall when Prince Zhou finds out about Xi Yangyun visiting Xu Lingxiu. =P

   Translation notes:

   Ling Ziwei was the younger sibling, but… –> LZW was the younger sister-in-law (to be)

   Then, ask about a previous question. –> Then, ask another question.

   • Thanks for the corrections! ^^

10. Thank you for the chapter! 💚🤍💚🤍

11. I love this story so much! These past few days since I’ve started this story I’ve been reading crazy fast. I haven’t commented a lot, but I’d just like to say I appreciate your work very much! Thank you for sharing this story with a wider audience! 💖

12. Wow, finally caught up with the most recent chapter!

    Thanks so much for the translations Tetractys ❤

    I’m glad Xu Lingxiu will have some trustworthy familiar faces all the way in the Zhou kingdom. It was a bit sad that they had to leave him there with only Prince Zhou to depend on.