* * * * *

       November is already upon us and that can mean only three things

Thanksgiving is in the air. It's time for National Novel Writing Month [1].
And it's time for National Novem Generation Month [2]. I was dreading this.

I thought I had no ideas for NaNoGenMo (National Novel Generation Month) this
year, but I checked my NaNoGenMo ideas folder and oh look! I do have some
notes for 2019. Oh. It only has one line in it: “Translate a book into Toki
Pona.”

Well. There it is. Translate a book into Toki Pona [3] (which literally
translated means “talk good”).

It should be simple, right? Toki Pona only has at most 120 words. How hard
can that be?

Let's take a look at some Toki Pona:

> mama pi mi mute o, sina lon sewi kon.
>  nimi sina li sewi.
>  ma sina o kama.
>  jan o pali e wile sina lon sewi kon en lon ma.
>  o pana e moku pi tenpo suno ni tawa mi mute.
>  o weka e pali ike mi. sama la mi weka e pali ike pi jan ante.
>  o lawa ala e mi tawa ike.
>  o lawa e mi tan ike.
>  tenpo ali la sina jo e ma e wawa e pona.
>  Amen.
>

That happens to be the Lord's Prayer, which appears twice in the Bible
(Matthew 6:9-13 [4] and Luke 11:2-4 [5]). Let's translate it back and see
what I might be in for.

What follows will be:

* original line in Toki Pona
* literal translation into English
* Matthew 6:9-13
* Luke 11:2-4

So without further ado …

> mama pi mi mute o, sina lon sewi kon.
>  parent of many [command], you at high air.
>  Our Father which art in heaven, (Ma 6:9)
>  Our Father which art in heaven, (Lk 11:2)
>
> nimi sina li sewi.
>  name you [predicate] high.
>  Hallowed be thy name. (Ma 6:9)
>  Hallowed be thy name. (Lk 11:2)
>
> ma sina o kama.
>  land you [command] come.
>  Thy kingdom come, (Ma 6:10)
>  Thy kingdom come, (Lk 11:2)
>
> jan o pali e wile sina lon sewi kon en lon ma.
>  person [command] do [object] want you at high air [and] at land.
>  Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Ma 6:10)
>  Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. (Lk 11:2)
>
> o pana e moku pi tenpo suno ni tawa mi mute.
>  [command] give [object] eat of time sun this to me many.
>  Give us this day our daily bread. (Ma 6:11)
>  Give us day by day our daily bread. (Lk 11:3)
>
> o weka e pali ike mi.
>  [command] away [object] do bad me.
>  And forgive us our debts, (Ma 6:12)
>  And forgive us our sins; (Lk 11:4)
>
> sama la mi weka e pali ike pi jan ante.
>  same [context] me away [object] do person different.
>  as we forgive our debtors. (Ma 6:12)
>  for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. (Lk 11:4)
>
> o lawa ala e mi tawa ike.
>  [command] head no [object] me to bad.
>  And lead us not into temptation, (Ma 6:13)
>  And lead us not into temptation, (Lk 11:4)
>
> o lawa e mi tan ike.
>  [command] head [object] me from bad.
>  but deliver us from evil: (Ma 6:13)
>  but deliver us from evil. (Lk 11:4)
>
> tenpo ali la sina jo e ma e wawa e pona.
>  time all [context] you have land [object] strong [object] good.
>  For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. (Ma
> 6:13)
>  (not in Luke 11)
>
> Amen.
>  Amen.
>  Amen. (Ma 6:12)
>  (not in Luke 11)
>

Um … okay … perhaps I better come up with a better idea.

[1] https://nanowrimo.org/
[2] https://github.com/NaNoGenMo/2019
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toki_Pona
[4] http://bible.conman.org/kj/Matthew.6:9-13
[5] http://bible.conman.org/kj/Luke.11:2-4

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