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石室詩士施氏, 嗜獅, 誓食十獅。
氏時時適市視獅。 十時, 適十獅適市。是時, 適施氏適市。 氏視是十獅, 恃矢勢, 使是十獅逝世。 氏拾是十獅屍, 適石室。 石室濕, 氏使侍拭石室。 石室拭, 氏始試食是十獅屍。 食時始識是十獅屍實十石獅屍。 試釋是事。 |
Translation:
Stone chamber poet Mr Shi was addicted to lions. He pledged to eat ten lions. Shi frequently visited the market to look for lions. At 10 o'clock, ten lions arrived the market. At the same time, Mr Shi was at the market. Shi stared at those ten lions. In an archery posture, Shi killed the ten Lions. Shi picked up those ten lion corpses and returned to his stone chamber. The stone chamber was wet. Shi ordered a servant to swab it. With the room swabbed, Shi attempted to eat those ten lion corpses. Only then did Shi realize that those ten lion corpses were actually ten lion corpses masonry. Tell me what's going on. |
Every single word in this piece of Chinese text is pronounced as "Shi" (in 4 tones in Mandarin Chinese). In other words, the Romanization of this essay would be "Shi Shi Shi Shi Shi ..." throughout.
Chao Yuen Ren was a linguist. He used this text to show the disaster of
Romanizing Chinese characters.
Interestingly enough Chao was actually commissioned to Romanize Chinese characters!
He designed the "Gwoyeu Romatzyh" ("國語羅馬字") system, which is no longer used today.
I can think of plausible reasons why Chao argued against himself. Firstly, he was a true scholar. He did not value winning a debate more than having a good debate. Secondly, he heard no good arguments against his support for Romanizing Chinese characters. (He might even be disappointed about that.) So he made a strong one, for fun and for intellectual pleasure.
In fact, Chao is more than a linguist. He was a composer as well as a singer. He composed 《教我如何不想他》 and sang it. I don't know how Chao sees the fact that people remember his song (《教我如何不想他》) and satire (《施氏食獅史》) more than his "proper" work (as a linguist and desginer of Gwoyeu Romatzyh). I can see a wry smile on his face, and say "so be it" in 17 languages/dialects.
** I have put music to 《施氏食獅史》in the style of 《教我如何不想他》 for fun: score / sound
Edward Tsang
2010.03.24; last updated 2017.10.17
PS: here is my sentence with 24 different "Shi"s:
詩士史氏使侍恃石矢弒師﹐視是濕屍十時﹐始釋勢﹐誓飾事實。
Translation:
Poet Mr Shi ordered a servant to kill his teacher with a masonry arrow.
He watched the wet corpse for ten hours before relaxing.
He swore to conceal the facts.
南極星 version 4.33 列出 SHI 的同音字111個
(I don't know half of them, some are simply different ways to write the same word):
是十時使事實市史什世 式師失視示識士室始石
食勢施試適詩釋氏誓濕 尸逝駛拾飾蝕嗜侍虱恃
拭獅噬仕兙矢豕屎屍柿 舐匙塒弒溼筮軾奭蝨螫
戺迉邿唑烒祏絁媞寔崼 徥揓湁湜湤詍貰戠溡溮
葹跩鈰鉐鳲榯蓍蒔鉽箷 翨褆銴澨螄諟諡褷謚遾
簭鼫鼭鯷齛襫鰣鰤鶳衋 襹
那還不是最多﹐南極星 version 4.33 列出﹕
YI 的同音字 249 個
JI 的同音字 208 個
ZHI 的同音字 154 個