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Por favor leer explicacion

English translation: Yes, but with quite a bit of retooling, here's an option

22:48 Apr 25, 2008
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / La Naturaleza en Ingles
Spanish term or phrase: Por favor leer explicacion
I'm translating a fiction novel (not for children) (Spanish-English). In many parts of the story, I come across with phrases such as ' ...mientras el sol se preparaba para ser acunado en el fondo de rio' or 'la luna alcahuetera escuchaba atentamente...' As far as I understand, I cannot really have the moon/sun performing human actions in English. Does anyone have an opinion about this? I tried to get access to the forum but couldn't. Thanks
Carolyn Dorrell
Local time: 10:12
English translation:Yes, but with quite a bit of retooling, here's an option
Explanation:
"Catalina seemed to remember that Master Ambrosio must have come to the riverside sometime around the end of the summer when the tired sun was falling into the river’s watery bed, when the toads were performing their first annual concerto, after the herons, mbiguas(?), and king-fishers had all gone to sleep."

(If he really did come to a financial institution I recommend replacing riverside with bank. Otherwise, bank seems too ambiguous to me.)
Selected response from:

Clayton Causey
Grading comment
Thanks a lot to you all!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +18of course they can
Lynda Tharratt
5Yes, but with quite a bit of retooling, here's an option
Clayton Causey


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +18
of course they can


Explanation:
Looking for more examples from adult stories:

Stories of the Moon Clan-- An Amazon TribeThe moon listened and watched and waited. The moon stared down in cool splendor at the madness, pleased by it all. The goddess' face was inscrutable as she ...
www.icubed.com/~ljg/moonclan_08.html - 41k - Cached - Similar pages

My BlogAs the moon listened to the words left unsaid. January 10, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0). tula ni dumlao na nagpatulo ng baldeng luha isang gabing ...
bolpenatpapel.blogs.friendster.com/my_blog/ - 18k - Cached - Similar pages

Never index your own book.: The moon listens carefully to little boys.Kevin screamed something indecipherable at it a few times while jumping a little, and then, after the last time, said “Hey, the moon listened to me that ...
bugsbeetlesbootsbrail.blogspot.com/2006/03/moon-listens-carefully-to-little-boys.html - 22k - Cached - Similar pages

Xinggan's Naivete'With salt-tasted drops streaming down my cheeks, I divulged the only thing that has been kept so long inside me. But only the moon listened. ...
renah_14.blogs.friendster.com/wenski/ - 61k - Cached - Similar pages


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 20 mins (2008-04-25 23:09:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I forgot to add above that this is called "personification". Here is an explanation;
PERSONIFICATION


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Personification is giving human qualities to animals or objects.

Example:
a smiling moon, a jovial sun

In "Mirror" by Sylvia Plath, for example, the mirror--the "I" in the first line--is given the ability to speak, see and swallow, as well as human attributes such as truthfulness.

I am silver and exact.
I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful--

In John Keats' "To Autumn," the fall season is personified as "sitting careless on a granary floor" (line 14) and "drowsed with the fume of poppies" (line 17.)
See Anthropomorphism for more.



Lynda Tharratt
Local time: 10:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jennifer Levey: Yes, almost anything can be personified in English (even my mother-in-law!).
3 mins
  -> lm*o, thanks!
agree  Marian Martin (X): Examples on the internet are not hard to find. http://vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.blogspot.com/2008/03/...
8 mins
  -> thanks!
agree  RichardDeegan: Also common in the trashy novels I read :-)
12 mins
  -> of course, eh-hem, so I've heard...:)
agree  Nelida Kreer: The towering cliffs, the menacing forest, the welcoming lake, etc. ad infinitum. Nice work.
24 mins
  -> thanks Niki!
agree  Ximena P. Aguilar: of course! it's also part of the figurative language, it adds interest to the literature...
24 mins
  -> ...and (I might add) is an important feature of the magical realism genre of Latin American literature...thanks Ximena!
agree  Marcelo Gonçalves
24 mins
  -> thanks Marcelo!
agree  margaret caulfield
55 mins
  -> thanks Margaret!
agree  Margarita Gonzalez: Indeed, and as Mediamatrix says, even the unthinkable!
4 hrs
  -> thanks MargaEsther!
agree  Patrice
5 hrs
  -> thanks Patrice!
agree  Carol Gullidge: definitely (although this should perhaps have been posted in English-English...? Or perhaps that's what Carolyn meant by "the forum")
8 hrs
  -> thanks Carol!
agree  Bubo Coroman (X): very nice references
9 hrs
  -> thanks Deborah!
agree  Gary Smith Lawson: I find metaphors used more frequently in spoken Spanish than in English, but there's an infinity of examples in English literature. Shakespeare being but one.
10 hrs
  -> thanks Gary!
agree  Egmont
11 hrs
  -> thanks AVRVM!
agree  Victoria Porter-Burns: definitely
16 hrs
  -> thanks Victoria!
agree  jude dabo: ok
17 hrs
  -> thanks jude!
agree  Sandra Rodriguez: YES, THEY CAN!!!
17 hrs
  -> thanks Sandra!
agree  Gert Sass (M.A.)
4 days
  -> thanks Gert!
agree  Abraal
7 days
  -> thanks Rain!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 days 17 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Yes, but with quite a bit of retooling, here's an option


Explanation:
"Catalina seemed to remember that Master Ambrosio must have come to the riverside sometime around the end of the summer when the tired sun was falling into the river’s watery bed, when the toads were performing their first annual concerto, after the herons, mbiguas(?), and king-fishers had all gone to sleep."

(If he really did come to a financial institution I recommend replacing riverside with bank. Otherwise, bank seems too ambiguous to me.)


Clayton Causey
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Thanks a lot to you all!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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