Glad you liked it! “Boods” was my solution for 佛奴 Fónú.
On a character-by-character reading this is something like “Buddha’s Slave,” which is how Wilt Idema translates the name, but I understand 奴 nú here to behaving more like a diminutive suffix -- something along the lines of “-ling” in English -- so I was aiming for a cute, nickname-y variant of “Buddha/Buddhist.”
Oh, that's excellent -- but I have to agree with the second poster: being a cat at a Buddhist temple is not at all a bad life! Can't post images in comments, but the last time I was back in the PRC I took pictures of all the little cat houses at the temple I visited: at Dazhong Si in north Beijing, someone had built a dollhouse version of the temple, complete with roof tiles, for the karmically compromised little carnivores.
I love this story, knowing that cats, people, and cat-people haven't changed.
But I must know, what was "Boods" actual name (phonetic transliteration)?
Glad you liked it! “Boods” was my solution for 佛奴 Fónú.
On a character-by-character reading this is something like “Buddha’s Slave,” which is how Wilt Idema translates the name, but I understand 奴 nú here to behaving more like a diminutive suffix -- something along the lines of “-ling” in English -- so I was aiming for a cute, nickname-y variant of “Buddha/Buddhist.”
It really works.
I can't imagine any cat being called someone's slave, but you retain a slight possessive sound (homophone for being Bood's).
Saw this and thought of Boods: https://www.tumblr.com/thesaltofcarthage/708254257500012544/meanwhile-the-cat-is-like-i-am-living-my-best
Oh, that's excellent -- but I have to agree with the second poster: being a cat at a Buddhist temple is not at all a bad life! Can't post images in comments, but the last time I was back in the PRC I took pictures of all the little cat houses at the temple I visited: at Dazhong Si in north Beijing, someone had built a dollhouse version of the temple, complete with roof tiles, for the karmically compromised little carnivores.