Als die Raben noch bunt waren

English translation: When the Crows were Multicolored

11:02 Nov 14, 2001

German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary

German term or phrase: Als die Raben noch bunt waren

A company that is designing CD roms for children, around various themes.
This one is around a book by Edith Schreiber-Wicke

i searched the web, and refernce was made to : When the Crows were Multicolored, but apparently it hasn't been published in English.

Whast do I do in this case? Leave it in German, or provide theEnglish title, although it is not yet officially in print -some people suggest putting the English in brackets after the German, but this is a brochure, describing their product, and it wouldn't look good

Kyra KudoZ activity Questions: 307 (none open) (1 without valid answers) Answers: 2 United States
Local time: 13:09

English translation:When the Crows were Multicolored

Explanation:
Very context sensitive.

Case 1. CD-Rom in English, and you need to refer to the German book.
In that case if an English title appears to have been chosen, I would use that one, regardless of what I think of it. (This is the case shown above.)

Case 2. If this is a brochure in English about a CD-Rom which is in German, use the German title and a bracketed translation as in case 1.

Case 3. If all you need is a title for the brochure, with no further implications, then make your own translation. I like
"When crows were brightly colored" or one of the others put forward.

Case 4. Are you actually choosing the title for the CD-Rom?
That would seem odd. I'd still shoot for a lively translation of the German title in that case.

hope there's something helpful in there ...

Selected response from:

Abu Amaal (X)

Grading comment

Thank you very much for the detailed help. Yes, I asked the client, and they said to leave it in German, with an Engish equivalent in brackets behind it.
Thanks!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +2

Add English title

Kim Metzger

4 +1

When Crows had colors

Nancy Schmeing

Long, long ago, when the crows were still of many colors

Dr. Fred Thomson

When the crows were of many colors...

Annette Aryanpour

When the Crows were Multicolored

Abu Amaal (X)

When ravens were of many colours

Mats Wiman

when there were multi-coloured ravens

patpending

Als die Raben noch bunt waren

Patrick Hubenthal

Answers

11 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

Add English title

Explanation:
I would use the English title and in parenthes add *working title*

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 14:09
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 22192

1 hr confidence:

Long, long ago, when the crows were still of many colors

Explanation:
The problem with a straight translation is that (to the best of my knowledge) we have no counterpart in English for the German idiom.
So, we need to provide more information in order to carry the meaning.
If this is a book for children (or a title for children) then "of many colors" works better than "multi-colored."
You might even say "before the crows had lost there many colors," but this is probably too long.
Anyway, good luck!

Dr. Fred Thomson
United States
Local time: 14:09
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 5861

2 hrs confidence:

When the crows were of many colors...

Explanation:
I suggest a simpler translation of the title such as this one. There is a children's book in English that is called "Where the Wild Things Are". This title reminds me of it. The title seems to be part of a text that will repeat itself within the book. So it is okay to leave it as an unfinished sentence. "When the crows were" already imply that is was once upon a time. Multi-colored doesn't sound very good. I agree. I wouldn't put working title or any parentheses, but rather offer the options to the client. It's better to ask than to guess.

Annette Aryanpour
United States
Local time: 13:09
PRO pts in pair: 8

4 hrs confidence:

Als die Raben noch bunt waren

Explanation:
It would help if we knew who the potential readers of this brochure are, but based on the info you've given, I'd say, leave it in German. I'm assuming the brochure is aimed at English-language publishers who might want this company to create CD-ROMs of their books too; if so, they're probably going to be more interested in how the CD-ROM looks and works than in how the book's title translates into English.

Patrick Hubenthal
Local time: 14:09
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 40

4 hrs confidence:

When the Crows were Multicolored

Abu Amaal (X)
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 24

Grading comment

Thank you very much for the detailed help. Yes, I asked the client, and they said to leave it in German, with an Engish equivalent in brackets behind it.
Thanks!

9 hrs confidence:

When ravens were of many colours

Explanation:
Building on Eivind's comment I feel the indefinite form is better.

CCP1

Mats Wiman
Sweden
Local time: 22:09
Native speaker of:

Swedish
PRO pts in pair: 1498

16 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

When Crows had colors

Explanation:
Give it an English title. They already know the German and can use it if they wish.

It doesn't matter whether you use the exact literal meaning of the work bunt. The word for bunt in English is probably pied, as in the poem Pied Beauty, by G M Hopkins. What does matter a lot is the punchy, off-hand way it is said. That goes down the drain with wordiness. It also doesn't matter that Krahen are crows and Raben are ravens. In one quick second the listener gets the feel of the fabled world if you say: When crows had colors...
Or, if you prefer, When ravens were rainbows...

Nancy Schmeing
Canada
Local time: 16:09
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 328

1 day 4 hrs confidence:

when there were multi-coloured ravens

Explanation:
the use of "colour" automatically brings into question whether this is for the home or overseas market!

I would call this the "Grass dilemma" where the argumentative pigeons (Tauben) on Danzig town hall are compared to peaceful doves (Tauben)...

patpending
Local time: 21:09
PRO pts in pair: 51

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations