toki!
I have attempted to translate the beginning of the book of Job, for practise. I would love to get some feedback on this. There are some things I am unsure about. See questions below.
1
1. mije li lon ma Usu. nimi ona li Jope. jan Jope li pona mute li pali ala e ike. ona li olin e jan sewi Jawe.
2. jan Jope li kama jo e jan lili mije tu tu tu wan e jan lili meli tu wan.
3. ona li jo e soweli mani mute e jan pali mute. ona li suli mute lon ma pi kama suno.
4. tenpo mute la jan lili mije pi jan Jope li moku li pali e musi lon tomo. ona mute li toki tawa jan sama meli: 'o kama! o moku lon poka pi mi mute!'
5. moku en musi ni li pini la jan Jope li toki e nimi sewi tawa ona mute. kama suno la ona li moli e soweli tawa jan sewi Jawe li toki e ni: 'ken la jan lili mi pali e ike li weka e sewi tan pilin ona'. jan Jope li pali e ni lon tenpo ale.
6. tenpo suno wan la jan lili pi jan sewi Jawe li kama tawa ona. jan sewi Satan li lon poka pi ona mute.
7. jan sewi Jawe li toki tawa jan sewi Satan: 'sina kama tan nasin seme?' jan sewi Satan li toki: 'mi kama tan ma.'
8. jan sewi Jawe li toki tawa jan sewi Satan: 'sina lukin e jan mi pi nimi Jope? jan ala li sama ona lon ma. ona li pona mute li pali ala e ike.
9. taso jan sewi Satan li toki: 'jan Jope li olin e sina tan seme?
10. tenpo ale la sina awen e ona e tomo ona e ijo ona anu seme? sina pona e pali ona. soweli mani mute ona li lon ma ale'.
...
- I am a bit unsure about how to use 'ona' unambiguously. Ex., in 3., does it refer unambigously to Job, since he is the subject of the preceding sentence? Or can it be seen as referring to the children, since they were mentioned last? How about in 6.?
- How would you say 'to bless (someone)'? I have used 'toki e nimi sewi tawa' in 5., but it feels a bit unclear/awkward. I also tried just using 'pona' transitively in 10. Thoughts?
- Can 'tan seme' mean 'from where', or would it rather be taken as 'why' in any context? I try 'tan nasin seme' in 7 to avoid that ambiguity.
- 'my servant' - 'jan mi'...?