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Message de babyscot59 posté le 2004-08-09 16:27:05 (S | E | F | I)
this is a question for highly motivated people yearning to help me, I have a text from from Boris Vian "l'écume des jours" and I have some difficulties to get a proper translation:
"La pièce était petite, carrée. Les murs et le sol étaient de verre. Sur le Sol, reposait un gros massif de terre en forme de cercueil, mais très épais, un mètre au moins. Une lourde couverture de laine était roulée à côté par terre. Aucun meuble. une petite niche, pratiquée dans le mur renfermait un coffret de fer bleu. l'homme alla vers le coffret et l'ouvrit. Il en retira douze objets brillants et cylindriques avec un trou au milieu, minuscule."
May the force be with you,
Cheers
Babyscot
this is a question for highly motivated people yearning to help me, I have a text from from Boris Vian "l'écume des jours" and I have some difficulties to get a proper translation:
"La pièce était petite, carrée. Les murs et le sol étaient de verre. Sur le Sol, reposait un gros massif de terre en forme de cercueil, mais très épais, un mètre au moins. Une lourde couverture de laine était roulée à côté par terre. Aucun meuble. une petite niche, pratiquée dans le mur renfermait un coffret de fer bleu. l'homme alla vers le coffret et l'ouvrit. Il en retira douze objets brillants et cylindriques avec un trou au milieu, minuscule."
May the force be with you,
Cheers
Babyscot
Réponse: re:Translation de lucile83, postée le 2004-08-09 17:12:31 (S | E)
I may suggest this translation, as following:
The room was small and square. The walls and the ground were made of glass. On the floor laid a big soil clump looking like a coffin, but very thick, one metre at least. A heavy woollen blanket was rolled up beside on the floor. No pieces of furniture, a small niche built in the wall was containing a blue iron casket. The man went to the casket and opened it. Out of it he took twelve shiny and cylinder shaped things with a hole in the middle, a tiny hole.
see you soon
Réponse: re:Translation de traviskidd, postée le 2004-08-09 19:10:01 (S | E)
I don't think I could translate from French to English as well as you did, Luclie, but I offer the following tweaks to make the English version a little better:
The room was small and square. The walls and floor were made of glass. On the floor lay a big clump of soil in the shape of a coffin, but very thick, a meter at least. A heavy woolen blanket was rolled up beside it on the floor. No furniture. A small niche built into the wall contained a blue iron casket. The man went to the casket and opened it. Out of it he took twelve shiny cylindrical shaped things with a hole in the middle, a tiny hole.
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Edité par traviskidd le 2004-08-09 19:10:54
Réponse: re:Translation de lucile83, postée le 2004-08-10 15:43:04 (S | E)
Thanks a lot traviskidd for your help, I find it great !
Can you explain why you say "lay" instead of "laid" as a past tense?
And anyway I had a problem with the "cylindrical shaped things", I couldn't find the natural way of saying it.
Babyscott is a happy boy now !!!!
See you soon
Réponse: re:Translation de traviskidd, postée le 2004-08-10 18:09:22 (S | E)
"Lay" is the past tense of "to lie" (not in the sense of mentir but in the sense of reposer, se trouver, être (couché)).
To lie - lay - lain.
Not to be confused with: To lie - lied - lied (mentir)
Nor to be confused with: To lay - laid - laid (laisser/mettre (qqch sur qqch)).
In fact some English speakers often have this last confusion. For "Je vais me coucher" they will say "I'm going to go lay down" when they should say "I'm going to go lie down."
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Edité par traviskidd le 2004-08-10 18:13:26
Réponse: re:Translation de willy, postée le 2004-08-10 18:35:15 (S | E)
Shouldn't they say : I'm going to go AND lie down ?
Réponse: re:Translation de traviskidd, postée le 2004-08-10 19:12:02 (S | E)
AND or TO (in the sense of pour faire) would both make sense. But we usually omit it.
Réponse: re:Translation de lucile83, postée le 2004-08-11 15:46:03 (S | E)
Thanks traviskidd !!!
in fact I got confused with
to lay-laid-laid and
to lie-lay-lain
not with to lie(mentir) which is a regular verb;
Next time I will check my translation in a dictionary!!!!
See you soon
Réponse: To Traviskidd de mariet, postée le 2004-08-11 16:09:02 (S | E)
"AND or TO (in the sense of pour faire) would both make sense. But we usually omit it."
If I may add a word : in American English you omit it. But in British English, I don't think they do.
Réponse: re:Translation de lucile83, postée le 2004-08-11 16:17:30 (S | E)
yes mariet, that's why traviskidd said "English speakers";
I think too American people omit it, but not English people.
Bye
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