Mar 4, 2010 03:01
14 yrs ago
Spanish term
soñaban atardeceres
Spanish to English
Art/Literary
Tourism & Travel
From a tourism text singing the praises of a coastal village in Andalusia and speaking of a Roman-era salted fish works there:
Júpiter, Juno y Minerva, y la diosa Isis, hace siglos, soñaban atardeceres en las playas de Bolonia, mientras ascendía por el aire el agrio olor de los salazones
Does this mean that these entities were dreaming of the twilight beaches of Bologna, or were dreaming on them in the dusk, or what? I am perplexed.
Júpiter, Juno y Minerva, y la diosa Isis, hace siglos, soñaban atardeceres en las playas de Bolonia, mientras ascendía por el aire el agrio olor de los salazones
Does this mean that these entities were dreaming of the twilight beaches of Bologna, or were dreaming on them in the dusk, or what? I am perplexed.
Proposed translations
(English)
References
About Playa de Bologna | Mónica Algazi |
Proposed translations
+3
6 hrs
Selected
dreamily whiled away the sunset/dusk
being horribly prosaic, there was probably no need to dream of sunsets or even dream them up, as these were probably in plentiful supply. And the "agrio olor" wafting up suggests that the deities were actually there to experience it - and it hasn't been made to sound too appetising either: not the sort of thing any gods might want to dream of or conjure up. So it sounds as though they were spending dreamy dusks on the beach - despite the 'orrible stench of the fish... :) (which, incidentally, I'm not suggesting you should over-emphasise!)
By the way, I feel the wording of the text rather implies that Isis was the only goddess amongst those listed, but in fact Juno and Minerva were also goddesses
By the way, I feel the wording of the text rather implies that Isis was the only goddess amongst those listed, but in fact Juno and Minerva were also goddesses
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Mónica Algazi
: Poético, Carol.
1 hr
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many thanks Mónica!
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agree |
Jenny Westwell
: Yes, I agree with your reasoning! :)
3 hrs
|
many thanks la acequiera! I can't help thinking that if they were going to dream of/up a sunset, they would omit any sort of "agrio olor".. :)
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agree |
Lucy Williams
1 day 46 mins
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Many thanks Lucy!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Whatever the writer meant, this sounds the best choice to me for a tourism text. "
+6
6 mins
dreamed up sunsets
that's one way of saying it. I think it is implying a creative ability to produce the sunsets. Perhaps I am mistaken. In that case it would be dreamed of sunsets
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Rosa Paredes
34 mins
|
thanks
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agree |
franglish
5 hrs
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thanks
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agree |
Evans (X)
: I think this is more likely the idea; if they were dreaming of sunsets I would have expected "soñaban con" to have been used.
5 hrs
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thank
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agree |
Eileen Banks
8 hrs
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thanks
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agree |
Bubo Coroman (X)
: yes, there was and is a belief in nature spirits who produce phenomena like sunsets
9 hrs
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thankss
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agree |
bcsantos
: Yes.
9 hrs
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thanks
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1 hr
dreamt of sunsets
another option
Peer comment(s):
disagree |
Lourdes Sanchez
: I feel your version too stiff for the topic
7 mins
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ok, your choice, but I don't feel it stiff at all
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agree |
Gloria Rivera
: I like your option since it conveys the same formality of the original text. :)
38 mins
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thank you very much....on the same wavelength
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25 mins
woolgathered sundowns
for a poetic touch
wool·gath·er (wlgr)
intr.v.
To engage in fanciful daydreaming.
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Note added at 1 hr (2010-03-04 04:13:50 GMT)
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I think it can go either way
wool·gath·er (wlgr)
intr.v.
To engage in fanciful daydreaming.
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Note added at 1 hr (2010-03-04 04:13:50 GMT)
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I think it can go either way
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
Carol Gullidge
: even allowing for poetic licence, this sounds odd in EN - perhaps because "woolgathering" is an intransitive verb, and therefore cannot take an object. But in any case, I fear that few EN speakers would get the meaning
8 hrs
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7 hrs
dreaming of the perfect sunset
As these are the dreams of gods and goddesses, surely their sunsets should be nothing short of perfect?
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
Carol Gullidge
: but what about the "agrio olor" - doesn't sound very perfect to me :)
2 hrs
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Reference comments
8 hrs
Discussion