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El misterio es magia y la magia es mito

English translation: Mystery makes magic, and magic makes myths.

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:El misterio es magia y la magia es mito
English translation:Mystery makes magic, and magic makes myths.
Entered by: Ion Zubizarreta

12:48 Nov 26, 2013
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Spanish term or phrase: El misterio es magia y la magia es mito
This extract belongs to a documentary that I'm subtitling so I don't have too much space.

Thanks!

"Ellos eran muy celosos de su vida interior y ese misterio les hacía aún más interesantes: lo poco transparentes que eran, lo opacos, ¿qué sucederá ahí detrás? ¿Ese espíritu de grupo cómo transcurre? Y eso, que duda cabe, pues multiplica el interés. Yo creo que una de las causas de la decadencia del rock actual es que ha perdido todo el misterio que tenía. @@El misterio es magia y la magia es mito@@."
Ion Zubizarreta
Spain
Mystery makes magic, and magic makes myths.
Explanation:
OR:
Mystery leads to magic, and magic is the stuff of legends.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2013-11-26 15:33:48 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I agree with Charles' comment below that "myth" is to be avoided here (for the reason I explain in my response to him). So I'm rescinding my posted response but standing by the second option that I've offered.
Selected response from:

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 08:13
Grading comment
Thank you all for your help. I agree with Charles and Robert that "myth" should be avoided when translating "mito" in these kind of contexts.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3Mystery makes magic, and magic makes myths.
Robert Forstag
4 +2Mystery is magic and magic is myth
Florencio Alonso
4In mystery lies magic... and from magic comes myth
Pablo Julián Davis
3Mystery is magical and the magic is legendary
Carol Gullidge


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Mystery is magic and magic is myth


Explanation:
Pretty straightforward, but I don't see what's wrong with it

Florencio Alonso
Uruguay
Local time: 09:13
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard: Nor do I, especially as space is short.
1 hr
  -> Exactly. Thanks Phil.
agree  Phoenix III
5 hrs
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Mystery is magical and the magic is legendary


Explanation:
"legendary" alludes to the legendary magic of the past that has been lost with "... que ha perdido todo el misterio que tenía"

Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:13
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 138
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
In mystery lies magic... and from magic comes myth


Explanation:
I think a slightly different construction for each half of this phrase might work better in English, than the uniform 'A es B y B es C' of the Spanish source text.

"In mystery lies magic..." could appear on its own for, say, 2.5 secs
Then "and from magic comes myth" for 2.5 or 3 secs
Just a suggestion, obviously depends on timing of narration.

Pablo Julián Davis
Local time: 07:13
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
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13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Mystery makes magic, and magic makes myths.


Explanation:
OR:
Mystery leads to magic, and magic is the stuff of legends.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2013-11-26 15:33:48 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I agree with Charles' comment below that "myth" is to be avoided here (for the reason I explain in my response to him). So I'm rescinding my posted response but standing by the second option that I've offered.

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 08:13
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 92
Grading comment
Thank you all for your help. I agree with Charles and Robert that "myth" should be avoided when translating "mito" in these kind of contexts.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Charles Davis: For me, "magic is the stuff of legend" (preferably singular) is perfect for the second half. For the first, I'd prefer Carol's "mystery is magical". I would avoid the word "myth" entirely.
33 mins
  -> Upon reflection, I agree that "myth" should be avoided. The Spanish often uses *mito* and *mítico* to mean "legend" and "legendary" respectively. Thank you, Charles.
agree  EirTranslations: Really nice...
5 hrs
  -> Thank you, Aqua.
agree  Lucy Phillips
6 hrs
  -> Thank you, Lucy.
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