KudoZ home » German to English » Poetry & Literature

Es ist schön, den Augen dessen zu begegnen, den man soeben beschenkt hat

English translation: There is a delight in meeting ...

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.

13:15 Dec 15, 2010

German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

German term or phrase: Es ist schön, den Augen dessen zu begegnen, den man soeben beschenkt hat

Quote by Jean de la Bruyere. Anyone know of an official translation of this?

Lesley Robertson KudoZ activity Questions: 135 (3 open) (2 closed without grading) Answers: 141 Austria
Local time: 14:20

English translation:There is a delight in meeting ...

Explanation:
From Characters by Jean De La Bruyère (1688)

45. There is a delight in meeting the eyes of one to whom one has just done a kindness.

http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/bruyere/chap4...

45 (I)
Il y a du plaisir à rencontrer les yeux de celui à qui l’on vient de donner.
http://ebooks.gutenberg.us/Ebooks_Libres_et_Gratuits/html/la...

Selected response from:

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 07:20

Grading comment

Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +5

There is a delight in meeting ...

Kim Metzger

5 +1

There is a pleasure to meet the Eyes of a Person whom we have lately obliged.

adamgajlewicz

It is a joy to look into the eyes of one to whom one has just given pleasure.

Ramey Rieger

There is pleasure to meeting the eyes of him to whom one has of late been giving.

Horst Huber

Summary of reference entries provided

Original

Kim Metzger

Answers

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

There is a delight in meeting ...

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 07:20
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 201

Grading comment

Thank you!

2 hrs confidence:

It is a joy to look into the eyes of one to whom one has just given pleasure.

Explanation:
No offense, I just have trouble with "meeting eyes", reminds me of a fist fight!

Ramey Rieger
Local time: 14:20
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 8

15 hrs confidence:

There is pleasure to meeting the eyes of him to whom one has of late been giving.

Explanation:
I am sure most may not like this: not modern, not PC, even leaves it up to you to sense what may be meant.

Horst Huber
Local time: 08:20
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 3

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

There is a pleasure to meet the Eyes of a Person whom we have lately obliged.

Explanation:
The Works of Mons. de la Bruyere p. 114

I hope you enjoy it....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 hrs (2010-12-16 08:18:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I agree that the translation dicovered by Kim sounds modern and is probably more acceptable to the modern reader. However -

(1) I provided the older translation not because I fell in love with it, but because the asker requested "an official translation", not necessarily a modern one. Actually, I do not know for what purpose the asker needed the translation. The asker is a native speaker of English, an expert translator, perfectly capable of evaluating the quality of the language and the translation provided. To suggest that something is incorrect, old-fashioned, better or worse is to treat the asker not as a professional, but as a learner, incapable of sensing an aesthetic vice. Correct me if I am wrong, but my role as the answerer is to help the asker by proposing a solution to the problem. Whatever we say or write, the asker will decide herself if the translation proposed is exactly what she is looking for.

(2) To argue that an aphorism is "rather incorrect" is - in my humble opinion - neither convincing nor justifiable, because at the time it was translated it was probably correct. Otherwise, it would not have been published.

(3) To argue that an aphorism (poem) is written in old-fashioned English (argumentum ad antiquitatem) does not disqualify it, either. The language used in Beowulf is even older. If we accepted Niccole's line of thinking ("old fashioned"), the works of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton would not meet our standards today. With aphorisms as with poetry (in the original or translated), we, honestly speaking, adopt only one criterion, we either like them or not. (Sorry for the typos if there are any).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 20 hrs (2010-12-16 09:28:00 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The most recent translation of Bruyere's Characters (Nabu Press, 2010) is available on amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Characters-Jean-Bruyère/dp/1177156490/...
It offers the most recent and modern translation of the aphorism. It may be more accurate than anything proposed by any one of us here.

Reference: http://www.archive.org/stream/worksmonsdelabr00rowegoog#page...

adamgajlewicz
Local time: 14:20
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Polish

Reference comments

32 mins

Reference: Original

Reference information:
Il ya du plaisir à rencontrer les yeux de celui à qui l'on vient de donner.

http://tinyurl.com/2ecz3ph

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 201

Return to KudoZ list

Changes made by editors

Dec 15, 2010 - Changes made by Ingo Dierkschnieder:
Term asked	\"Es ist schön, den Augen dessen zu begegnen, den man soeben beschenkt hat => Es ist schön, den Augen dessen zu begegnen, den man soeben beschenkt hat

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.

Overview

Latest translation questions

Ask a translation question

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

Es ist schön, den Augen dessen zu begegnen, den man soeben beschenkt hat

English translation: There is a delight in meeting ...

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

Answers

Reference comments

Sign in to your ProZ.com account...

Or create a new account

ProZ.com ideas

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.

Es ist schön, den Augen dessen zu begegnen, den man soeben beschenkt hat

English translation: There is a delight in meeting ...

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

Answers

Reference comments

Sign in to your ProZ.com account...

Or create a new account

ProZ.com ideas

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

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.