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I am not sure about the causative form of する verbs.
For example, while reading I found this:

小源を以て大源に作用させる、魔術師の機械。

I understand this sentence as:

The mechanism of magicians which let the big source have effect [act] through the small one.

So my guess is that it could be rephrased like this.

魔術師の機械が小源を以て大源に作用させる

Would the meaning change?

And I have troubles with ようにと.

後の世の子孫が、仮に秘奥に“達した”時。その理論を成し得るだけの基礎能力を有するようにと、何代も重ねて積み上げる“生きた遺産”だ。

My TL:

In case the future generations whill "reach" those misteries. Making sure that they will have the basic power to realize that ideal, it's the inheritance accumulated by generations of magicians.

するように=Make sure that
but
有するように=Make sure to have [Is this correct?]
And why is there と at the end?
Does it stand for と願って、と祈って or such?

Thank you

Edit. I think that a better translation for

その理論を成し得るだけの基礎能力を有するようにと、何代も重ねて積み上げる“生きた遺産”だ。

Would be:

Hoping that they have the basic power to realize [make come true] that ideal, it's the inheritance accumulated by generations of magicians.

So ようにと=ようにと願って

Is this right?

Splikie
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1 Answers1

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For your first question, I'm not sure what's the "meaning" you refer to. Of course, they have different grammar, as "the machine of magicians does something" (a clause) and "the machine of magicians that does something" (a noun phrase) obviously do, but they indeed depict the same situation.

And for your second question:

有するようにと

  • 有する
    A verb that means "have", "own", "possess", "embrace" etc., but much more formal than ordinary "have".
    It's what we call サ変複合動詞, which conjugates in the same way as する.

  • V + ように
    "In order to V"; maybe you memorized it as するように, but remember する is a placeholder for a verb here.

  • と
    The most basic definition is "that" in "say that" or "think that", but it's also usable if the verb isn't about verbal expression, in this case it'll stand as "thinking", "saying", "with the intention of" etc. on its own.
    Actually, this usage is pretty common in Japanese, and we have a bunch of questions about this "indirect" と on this site, such as:

Translations:

小源を以て大源に作用させる、魔術師の機械。
A machine of magicians that uses the smaller source to act on the bigger source.

後の世の子孫が、仮に秘奥に“達した”時。その理論を成し得るだけの基礎能力を有するようにと、何代も重ねて積み上げる“生きた遺産”だ。
It is a "living legacy" to accumulate from generation to generation, in order that they[=posterity] will have the basic ability to realize (what is in) the theory... if their posterity in the future would ever have "attained" the esotery.

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broccoli forest
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  • Thanks.
    Could you please give me a rough translation of the sentences?     – Splikie Feb 29 '16 at 12:52
  • @Splikie I added translations. – broccoli forest Feb 29 '16 at 13:36
  • Thank you.
    To be honest I still do not understand 小源を以て大源に作用させる、魔術師の機械。 It's a causative form. The agent is the one marked with に, so 大源. Shouldn't it be 大源 the one who acts? So: "A magician machine which using the smaller source let the bigger one act." Is it wrong like this? Isn't を以て similar to によって? Maybe I am understanding 作用させる wrong     – Splikie Feb 29 '16 at 13:43
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    @Splikie It's complicated. Japanese language sometimes allows the subject not to take nominative if the same entity has additional roles. Most famously there's so-called カラ主語 as in 私から話しておきます. Here, the real grammatical relation is 小源が大源に作用する → 小源を大源に作用させる, but the writer put 以て to clarify it's also an instrument. – broccoli forest Feb 29 '16 at 13:55
  • Thanks for the explanation! I would have never understood this. I knew about Xから話す=X says but I did not know it could be done with other verbs. As I understand it, the one who giving permission is the Magician Machine, and the one who is acting is the instrument which is receveing his permission, so 小源. Following this there should be no problem if I rewrote it as:"小源で大源に作用させる、魔術師の機械。" . Am I wrong?
    By my understing the に here is not identifying an agent but the receiver of the action of the instrument.     – Splikie Feb 29 '16 at 14:34
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    @Splikie Yes, your understanding seem to be perfect, and your rewriting works. Just for making sure (only because I couldn't make myself convinced from what you wrote), the sentence doesn't imply that 魔術師の機械 has its own will to do something. You work on 機械, and 機械 works on 小源, and 小源 works on 大源. Maybe you have to place 小源 and 大源 by yourself before 機械 can work. – broccoli forest Feb 29 '16 at 15:08
  • Ok, I did not consider that but I think I understood it that way. The machine does not have its will, but has the function to do something by using the small source to act upon a bigger one. Thanks for the help. – Splikie Feb 29 '16 at 16:09