Bon Roy Stanislas

English translation: Good King Stanislaw

08:20 Feb 16, 2007

French to English translations [PRO]
History / Émile Gallé circa 1880

French term or phrase: Bon Roy Stanislas

'Cette recherche des symboles est encore plus marquée dans le service à dessert Allégories ou du Bon Roy Stanislas, orné de dicts de Lorraine, de fleurs et sujets allégoriques'.
Is 'Roy' an old spelling of 'Roi'?
Is 'Roy Stanislas', 'Stanisław Leszczyński'?
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislas_Leszczyński

David West KudoZ activity Questions: 105 (2 open) (2 without valid answers) Answers: 14
Local time: 00:16

English translation:Good King Stanislaw

Explanation:
It refers to Stanislas Leczinski. He was King of Poland and came to Lorraine as a Duke of Lorraine. His daughter married Louis XV, King of France.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislas_Leszczyński

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Note added at 57 mins (2007-02-16 09:17:58 GMT)
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He was Stanislaw 1rst, King of Poland, then Duke of Lorraine.
"Stanislas" is the translation in French of "Stanislaw", and in English, it would be "Stanislaw"...

Selected response from:

Pierre POUSSIN
France
Local time: 01:16

Grading comment

Thanks irat56.
I'm now quite sure that in English he is Stanislaw.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +12

Good King Stanislas

Tony M

4 +4

Good King Stanislaw

Pierre POUSSIN

Discussion entries: 4

Answers

15 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

Good King Stanislaw

Pierre POUSSIN
France
Local time: 01:16
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in category: 24

Grading comment

Thanks irat56.
I'm now quite sure that in English he is Stanislaw.

15 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +12

Good King Stanislas

Explanation:
Well, certainly "roy" is found as an archaic spelling for "roi"

As for the actual personality involved, the fact that the figure you suggest was indeed Duke of Lorraine, and the period is about right, seems to me fairly conclusive evidence that it is indeed that particular Stanislas who is being referred to

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-02-16 09:32:02 GMT)
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Not one of the figures traditionally referred to as "Great" (like Catherine the Great, Tsar Peter, etc.), and this is much more in line with "Good King Wenceslas" and of course "le bon roi Dagobert"

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-02-16 09:37:24 GMT)
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There are all sorts of variants of the spelling out there, but personally, I find the "Stanislas" version the least jarring to the eye, and there are plenty of uses of it in English; in this particular instance, it does nicely evoke Good King Wenceslas too, so I don't think I'd be inclined to slavishly translate the name for the sake of it.

Tony M
France
Local time: 01:16
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 73

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Natasha Dupuy: http://www.stanislasurbietorbi.com/stanislas/stanislas-hier-...

1 min

-> Merci, Natasha !

agree

MikeGarcia: And so it is, that was what I was taught and told as story when I was a tiny tot, by my French mom....

5 mins

-> Gracias, Miguel!

agree

cjohnstone

27 mins

-> Thanks, CJ! :-)

agree

writeaway: However Irat does have the correct spelling used in English, King Stanislaw: http://www.thepeerage.com/p10315.htm. So Stanislas is a bit of a faux ami.

42 mins

-> Thanks, W/A! / There is no, one "correct" spelling in English, lots of variants (including Stanislaus) are found, and it is a common surname with variant spellings. I vote for leaving it alone; as Carol says, anything else makes it sound even more foreign

agree

PB Trans: Le bon roi Dagobert a mis sa culotte à l'envers ... :-) Now that song is stuck in my head! :-)

1 hr

-> Thanks, Pina!

agree

Carol Gullidge: Yes! "Good King Wenceslas" is the 1st thing that springs to mind, and no point in translating Stanislas AWAY, ie, to st that sounds even more foreign to English ears

1 hr

-> Thanks, Carol! Exactly!

agree

Ritu Bhanot

2 hrs

-> Thanks, Ritu!

agree

Cervin: Leave it as 'Stanislas' for all the reasons pointed out above!

2 hrs

-> Thanks, Cervin! :-)

neutral

Pierre POUSSIN: But it is definitely foreign! And you call "Lyon" "Lyons", Marseille "Marseilles" and le Golfe de Gascogne" "the Bay of Biscaye", or am I mistaken? ;-)

2 hrs

-> Yes, but the big difference is, it is foreign in the first place; so how far do you go? Back to the Polish? "Stanislas" is one of the perfectly acceptable alternative spellings in EN, so no need to complicate life!

agree

Richard Benham: Somehow I can't help thinking of the sculpture (in a shopping arcade in Prague) of Good King Wenceslas riding his horse upside-down. Have you seen it?//Some kind of deliberate irony, I think. It is suspended from the roof, which worries me....

3 hrs

-> Thanks, RB! Sadly, no: was this bad horsemanship, or bad sculpting?

agree

Christopher Crockett: Yes, not just to the Anglophone Eye, but Ear as well: Wenceslas/Stanislas/Santaclas.

4 hrs

-> Thanks, CC! I hope we won't be asked to St Nicolaw next!

agree

Conor McAuley

4 hrs

-> Thanks, Conor!

agree

jean-jacques alexandre: 100%

1 day 54 mins

-> Merci, J-J !

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