Italian to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Italian term or phrase:e sia giudice pur l'istesso Buona pakte
This is a poem read to Admiral Nelson in Italian by an unknown person in a historical novel.
The entire poem looks like this:
Chi di Guerriero il vanto altri che Marte
Contrastar ti potra, Nelson? e sia
Giudice pur l'istesso Buona pakte.
The text may be somewhat corrupted (e.g., "Buona pakte" should probably "buona parte" or "Buonaparte"). The question is, how should the second part read in Italian? What does it mean? Most importantly, is there an intended pun here (buona parte/buonaparte), or is this space just a typo?
writeaway: 14:29 Sep 25, 2005: See it here (az.lib.ru/a/aldanow_m_a/text_0020.shtml -)I'd say it's definitely a typo and a play on words. anyway, it rhymes with Marte - writeaway: 14:31 Sep 25, 2005: pls read: Seeing it here - Vladimir Demidov: 14:32 Sep 25, 2005: Yeah, that's where I got it from. So, what should it be: Buonaparte or buona parte? How would translate the second sentence into Enlish? silvia b: 14:33 Sep 25, 2005: Vladimir, have you checked the English translation by A.E.Chamot? Do this typos appear in both the 1925 and 1995 editions of the novel? - Vladimir Demidov: 14:33 Sep 25, 2005: Yeah, that's where I got it from. So, what should it be: Buonaparte or buona parte? How would translate the second sentence into Enlish? silvia b: 14:36 Sep 25, 2005: I would check the published translation (The devil’s bridge, by M.A. Aldanov. Translated from the Russian by A. E. Chamot. New York, London, A. A. Knopf, 1928), after checking the original - Vladimir Demidov: 14:36 Sep 25, 2005: Silvia - Actually, what I have is the Russian text from above-mentioned site. To answer your question, no — and I don't have a way to check the English translation right now.
Explanation: I do not see any pun here. I can't resolve your doubt about Buona parte / Buonaparte, because I do not know the text you're referring to; but the alternance between those 2 forms was rather common in Italy in that period, and there wasn't necessarily a word play or pun intended. What matters here, I'd say, is the rime with Marte. You may notice, however, that the poem says Buonaparte even if Napoleon had changed the spelling of his surname to read Bonaparte long before Trafalgar (check it! I'm almost sure, but...). As he did this to make it sound more French and less Italian, many Italians at the time resented it, and a lot of them kept calling him, out of spite, Buonaparte (or Buona parte).
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 6 hrs 45 mins (2005-09-25 21:10:00 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
surely, at any rate, it cannot read "buona parte", without a capital B. Te form of the sentence requires a proper person's name here - and "parte" as a common noun is feminine whereas l'istesso (= lo stesso, himself, BTW) is masculine
Explanation: I do not see any pun here. I can't resolve your doubt about Buona parte / Buonaparte, because I do not know the text you're referring to; but the alternance between those 2 forms was rather common in Italy in that period, and there wasn't necessarily a word play or pun intended. What matters here, I'd say, is the rime with Marte. You may notice, however, that the poem says Buonaparte even if Napoleon had changed the spelling of his surname to read Bonaparte long before Trafalgar (check it! I'm almost sure, but...). As he did this to make it sound more French and less Italian, many Italians at the time resented it, and a lot of them kept calling him, out of spite, Buonaparte (or Buona parte).
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 6 hrs 45 mins (2005-09-25 21:10:00 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
surely, at any rate, it cannot read "buona parte", without a capital B. Te form of the sentence requires a proper person's name here - and "parte" as a common noun is feminine whereas l'istesso (= lo stesso, himself, BTW) is masculine
Alfredo Tutino Italy Local time: 18:45 Specializes in field Native speaker of: Italian PRO pts in category: 12
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +1