comme s'ils mettaient dans la lumière ce qui ne supportait que la nuit

English translation: as though (they were) dragging things into the light which could only tolerate darkness

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

French term or phrase:	comme s'ils mettaient dans la lumière ce qui ne supportait que la nuit
English translation:	as though (they were) dragging things into the light which could only tolerate darkness
Entered by:	laurawheeler

15:53 Dec 10, 2003

French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary

French term or phrase: comme s'ils mettaient dans la lumière ce qui ne supportait que la nuit

Il y avait quelque chose de gênant dans ces mots comme si...

talking about when his father was rather awkwardly discussing religion

laurawheeler KudoZ activity Questions: 91 (none open) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 37 France
Local time: 10:18

as though (they were) dragging things into the light which could only tolerate darkness

Explanation:
Partly inspired by some earlier efforts.

The original text has a bit of a literary ring to it, which I have tried to reproduce. I am aware of the potential syntactic ambiguity, but I don't think it really detracts much.

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Note added at 2003-12-10 16:49:26 (GMT)
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To avoid the syntactic ambiguity, one could go for \"dragging into the light things which could only tolerate darkness\". I don\'t like this as much.

One could also stick with the almost literal:
\"as though (they were) dragging into the light that which can only tolerate darkness\".
There is nothing wrong with being literal (despite a certain obsessive phobia it evokes in unintellectual and anti-intellectual FR>EN translators) where it works. This is particularly so in the case of literary texts...of which our present object of interest is surely an example.

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Note added at 2003-12-10 17:00:32 (GMT)
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I have just taken a closer look at the question, and it appears that we have the two halves of a single sentence, but in the wrong order.

\"Il y avait quelque chose de gênant dans ces mots comme s\'ils mettaient dans la lumière ce qui ne supportait que la nuit.\"

So I whall attempt a translation of the whole sentence:
\"There was something embarrassing about these words, as though they brought/dragged into the light that which could only tolerate/stand darkness.\" Of course, other variations, as above, are possible.

I have changed from continuous to simple past because it makes more sense. Previously, I had thought \"ils\" referred to the father and son, but this now seems unlikely, assuming the original sentence is as I have reconstructed it.

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Note added at 2003-12-10 17:08:42 (GMT)
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Oops! In response to Rita\'s comment, that should be \"expect something\". @#$% sexydial, uh, lsdexiyal, I mean lysdexia....

I am honorary president of the DNA: the National Dyslexics\' Association.

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Note added at 2003-12-10 17:20:52 (GMT)
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(Or instead of \"that which\", \"something which\".)

Selected response from:

Richard Benham
France
Local time: 10:18

Grading comment

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +2

as though they were shedding light on things meant to remain in obscurity

Jean Harper (X)

5 +1

as if they were flinging something into daylight which could only bear darkness

Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X)

3 +3

as if they were bringing into light things that should remain

toubabou

4 +2

as though (they were) dragging things into the light which could only tolerate darkness

Richard Benham

4 +1

as though forcing a cave-dweller out into the sunshine

William Stein

4 +1

as if they were casting light on things that were better off in the dark

Jean-Luc Dumont

3 +1

as if he were highlighting points which were better left in the dark

RHELLER

as if they were pouring some light over something born for the dark

Pierre POUSSIN

as if they were bringing a bat into blazing sunshine.

jbc

Answers

2 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

comme s'ils mettaient dans la lumière ce qui ne supportait que la nuit as if he were highlighting points which were better left in the dark

Explanation:
-

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Note added at 4 mins (2003-12-10 15:58:00 GMT)
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or
underlined ideas which should have remained in the background

illuminated views which thrived in darkness

RHELLER
United States
Local time: 02:18
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 1582

4 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

as if they were flinging something into daylight which could only bear darkness

Explanation:
flinging into or thrusting into

is better IMO than bringing into

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Note added at 2003-12-10 16:22:19 (GMT)
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missed a word:

FINAL: as if they were flinging into daylight something which could only bear darkness OR the dark

Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X)
Native speaker of:

English,

Portuguese
PRO pts in pair: 8576

5 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

comme s'ils mettaient dans la lumière ce qui ne supportait que la nuit as if they were bringing into light things that should remain

Explanation:
in the dark (unspoken for)

toubabou
Local time: 04:18
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in pair: 187

5 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

comme s'ils mettaient dans la lumière ce qui ne supportait que la nuit as though forcing a cave-dweller out into the sunshine

Explanation:
or
forcing a noctural creature out into the light of day

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 mins (2003-12-10 16:00:18 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

sorry: nocturNal

William Stein
Costa Rica
Local time: 02:18
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 1737

7 mins confidence:

comme s'ils mettaient dans la lumière ce qui ne supportait que la nuit as if they were pouring some light over something born for the dark

Explanation:
Just a suggestion

Pierre POUSSIN
France
Local time: 10:18
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in pair: 400

30 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

as though (they were) dragging things into the light which could only tolerate darkness

Richard Benham
France
Local time: 10:18
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 614

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

agree

Laurel Porter (X): I really like "tolerate" here

26 mins

-> Thanks.

neutral

RHELLER: dragging? how did you come up with that one?

28 mins

-> It works. "Putting" doesn't. You would expecting something which couldn't stand light to resist, and so need to be dragged.

agree

sarahl (X): great rendition. Do you think they're talking about vampires here?

49 mins

-> Thanks. My original thought was slaters.... Certainly not bats.

neutral

Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X): I agree with most of what you say but it's not things it's something...let's be faithful to the text where possible; also dragging..prefer something more sudden

1 hr

-> I offered "something" as an alternative. I find "dragging" works better than "flinging" or "thrusting". De gustibus non disputandum.

35 mins confidence:

as if they were bringing a bat into blazing sunshine.

Explanation:
- may be more vivid than required, but since a bat normally prefers darkness or low light levels, it seemed appropriate.

jbc
Local time: 09:18
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 24

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

as though they were shedding light on things meant to remain in obscurity

Explanation:
I think "obscurity" is a good alternative to the more literal "darkness".

Jean Harper (X)
Local time: 09:18
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 4

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

comme s'ils mettaient dans la lumière ce qui ne supportait que la nuit as if they were casting light on things that were better off in the dark

Explanation:
as if they were casting light on things that
fared better in the dark

as if they were exposing to the light of day things that fared better in the obscurity

like the darkness inside churches

Jean-Luc Dumont
France
Local time: 10:18
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in pair: 1108

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comme s'ils mettaient dans la lumière ce qui ne supportait que la nuit

English translation: as though (they were) dragging things into the light which could only tolerate darkness

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comme s'ils mettaient dans la lumière ce qui ne supportait que la nuit

English translation: as though (they were) dragging things into the light which could only tolerate darkness

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