Quotes in other languages

[HerenIstarion]

Legolas, considering possibilities of tracking kidnapped Pippin and Merry

Maybe,' said the Elf; 'but a heavy boot might leave no print here: the grass is deep and springy

so, elf is tünde, is it?

[Althern]

6 minutes! I see I am going to have to dust off some very rusty Japanese or think of some serious agglutination to stay interesting. You are right of course, on both counts. Tünde is elf (with very strong overtones of fairy, törpe is dwarf, with strong overtones of smurf).

[HerenIstarion]

smurf? You mean, all of the Hungarian dwarves are in money-loundering business ?

Ma sha'i tu'rid anta? Hal anta turid li anna as-sabaha-l khair, av anta tufaqqir sabahi haza al-khair, duna ta'rif maza ufaqqir ana?

It is Arabic (or at least, I prefer to believe so) It has to be short, since I do not have my dictionary with me. Next time I guess, it will be something really long and hard, he-he (teach you right and proper for frightening me with Japanese )

As for clues, I reckon you all figured out my Hobbit-centrism with quotes in foreign

[Althern]

I searched for arabic dictionaries that took latin transliteration as input, but without success. I searched for transliteration guides so I could write in arabic to use the standard dictionaries, but without success. I also read a few 'teach yourself' arabic courses. But in the end, after failing linguistically, I rejected all of this knowledge, took another look at the sentence structure and guessed. Gandalf to Bilbo.

"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it not?"

[HerenIstarion]

You judged wisely (what with my pidgin Arabic and all ). The answer is correct, so over to you

[Althern]

Your arabic, pidgin or not, made little difference. The only things I managed to translate were anna/ana = I, me; haza = this; sabaha/sabahi = morning. The rest was pure guesswork. Unfortunately, my quote is more Hungarian, because I don't have a Japanese dictionary handy.

"Ma már kevés emlékeznek rájuk", dünnyögte ___, "de néhány még vándorolják, elfelejtett királyok fiai, egyedüllétben járnak, óvják a figyelmetlen embereket a gonosztól."

[The Saucepan Man]

This thread has stretched over the 10 page limit, so it's time it was closed.

Althern, please could you post the rules for the game and your latest question on a new thread.

Thanks.

[Althern]

According to LePetitChox, the rules for this game are to find a quote and translate it literally into another language. That is, not just selecting a quote from, say, the German translation, but to actually translate it yourself. Any language is fine, but if they use a different alphabet (e.g. Cyrillic) then you also have to transliterate it into latin characters. Dead languages also count.

The current quote is Hungarian:

"Ma már kevés emlékeznek rájuk", dünnyögte ___, "de néhány még vándorolják, elfelejtett királyok fiai, egyedüllétben járnak, óvják a figyelmetlen embereket a gonosztól."

[HerenIstarion]

Well, however I try, I can not come up with something articulate:

*** already scarcely remember the rays, chanted ____ , *** several *** wondering forgotten king *** alone *** *** *** mindless people to evil

does not make much sens, eh? Be so kind, and give up some clues, please

[Althern]

Well! I thought this thread was as dead as Dinaan's cat. I was actually thinking of trying to put the quote into French to generate some interest.

Your guess is not too bad actually. It is from FoTR. For rájuk, use 'them', and for fiai, use 'sons of'. Also, I used 'dünnyögte' for mumbled or murmured. And if you change 'people to evil' to 'people from evil' then you will have it solved.

[HerenIstarion]

that did it! thanks! (as I thought dünnyögte to mean 'chant' I was after singing species in all the books. But all guessed riddles are so easy in an afterthought, and so hard to break from the start )

That was Tom Bombadil, reflecting sad story of the Kings of Arnor:

Few now remember them,' Tom murmured, 'yet still some go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness, guarding from evil things folk that are heedless

PS Who is Dinaan and why is his car dead?

[Althern]

Spot on. Over to you.

As for Dinaan, I once read the phrase 'as dead as Dinaan's cat' in a book by Jack Vance. In context it meant something quite dead. According to Google (the final word in our times), there is no such thing as Dinaan or his cat. So, it just remains a phrase that I steal from time to time, because I like the way it sounds. Who knows? If more people use it, it could become colloquial language.

[HerenIstarion]

Allrighty than. Another quick search showed dinaan to mean 'date' ins sanscrit. What is has to do with dead mammals, remains obscure

As for the next, it will be french for a change:

Si vous souhaitez savoir, je vous dirai que ces portes ouvrent en dehors. De l'intérieur vous pouvez pousser les ouvre avec vos mains. De l'extérieur rien ne déplacera les mais le charme d'ordre

[The Saucepan Man]

... I can see that one.

If you wish to know, I will tell you that these doors open outwards. From the inside you may thrust them open with your hands. From the outside nothing will move them save the spell of command.

Gandalf to the Fellowship outside Moria, concerning the Doors of Durin.

[HerenIstarion]

Absolutely. Over to you

[The Saucepan Man]

Thanks, H-I. But, as I said, I'm no linguist (I'm English, after all ). So any attempt by me at translation would most likely be doomed to failure.

I will therefore turn the thread over to anyone who wants to post the next quote.

[HerenIstarion]

Not to let it die, Russian for now:

- Uh! Vot i oni, - skazal on loshadiam, - Na vid, vrode, ne opasnie. Mojete idti!

[Guinevere]

Could you give a hint, please? I haven't been able to find out any of the words...

[HerenIstarion]

well, of course:

loshadi - horses
opasniy - dangerous

[HerenIstarion]

East of Misty Mountains, west of Mirkwood

[Guinevere]

Thank you for the hints! The last one helped a lot.

It can only be Beorn, at the arrival of Gandalf and Bilbo:
"Ugh! here they are!" he said to the horses. "They don't look dangerous. You can be off!"

[HerenIstarion]

corrrrect! your shot, my lady

[Guinevere]

Thank you, HerenIstarion!

Aber es gibt viel zu lesen in diesem Buch, und ich kann nicht behaupten, mehr gesehen zu haben als eine oder zwei Seiten.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I recognize this quote, but haven't found it in the book yet, so this is an approximate translation:

But there is much to read in this book, and I cannot claim to have seen more than one or two pages.

It speaks of Gandalf, and the speaker could be Aragorn, though I'm not sure of that...

[Guinevere]

You're right that it is about Gandalf, but it isn't Aragorn who says it.

[HerenIstarion]

T'was Pippin to Beregond in Minas Tirith. I suppose it is better to give the whole of the passage, for I like it very much (it is wonderful feeling, after loads of time being smallest of the company and not even out of twins, to be treated as prince of halflings and person of great importance, eh?):

I am named Beregond son of Baranor. I have no duty this morning, and I have been sent to you to teach you the pass-words, and to tell you some of the many things that no doubt you will wish to know. And for my part, I would learn of you also. For never before have we seen a halfling in this land and though we have heard rumour of them, little is said of them in any tale that we know. Moreover you are a friend of Mithrandir. Do you know him well?’

‘Well, I have known of him all my short life, as you might say; and lately I have travelled far with him. But there is much to read in that book, and I cannot claim to have seen more than a page or two. Yet perhaps I know him as well as any but a few. Aragorn was the only one of our Company, I think, who really knew him

[Guinevere]

Exactly, Heren Istarion
As I recently said in another of these Quote threads: I think the real reason why we play these games is not only the fun of guessing, but to have a pretext to post those sentences we're fond of...

But it's a pity that there are only so few that frequent this thread nowadays... I loved the variety of posters and languages!

[HerenIstarion]

Very true. And the founder being missed for some months too. Latest investigarions show that LePetitChoux've been here not so long ago, in May, that is, so it gives us hope she'll show up one day

Well, watching grey light of dawn creeping along the floor of my room, I have no chance rummaging with languages I have no great mastery of, so its Russian again:

Da vi vse tut v zagovore! skazal ___ roniaa ___ na stenu. Nikogda bolshe ne budu imet del s volshebnikami i ix priateliami! Chto skajesh, potomok kris?

not to make it too complicated, let me tell you that:

krisa = rat

dare your luck

[HerenIstarion]

in The Hobbit, nearer to its end, if the hint is qhat's required

[Guinevere]

I had been looking at all the orc speeches in the LotR (remembering some such insult somewhere) but of course in vain.
Well, thanks to your hint I guess I've found it now; it must be Thorin to Bilbo, after Bilbo had confessed about the arkenstone.

"You seem all in leage!" said Thorin dropping Bilbo on the top of the wall. "Never again will I have dealings with any wizard or his friends. What have you to say, you descendant of rats?"

[HerenIstarion]

correct

[Guinevere]

Thank you! Let's try some French again:

La longue vie qu'ils étaient garantis les deçoit , et ils lambinent dans le monde, des enfants en esprit, jusqu'à ce que la vieillesse les trouve, et alors beaucoup d'entre eux abandonnent seulement les jeux de dehors par des jeux dans leur maisons.

[HerenIstarion]

Be ashamed those who blame Tolkien of inability to describe gender relationships. That'd be Erendis, in her complaint about men in general, but particularly aimed at Aldarion:

The long life that they were granted deceives them, and they dally in the world, children in mind, until age finds them – and then many only forsake play out of doors for play in their houses

[Guinevere]

and somehow it isn't only applicable to Númenoreans only...

[HerenIstarion]

But I do not feel very much inclined to fetch my dictionaries right now (it is so cozy in this chair, if you only knew...), so it is one of the two I need no lexicon with for the next serving, that is, Russian:

'Ti chto, xochesh skazat, chto uje bival v etoi dire? skazal ____, Fu! No, navernoe, von' tebe nipochem.'

[Mariska Greenleaf]

Could you perhaps provide a little hint? I'm completely clueless here...

[HerenIstarion]

dira = hole
von' (with a softened n in the end) = smell, especially, bad smell
nipochem = expression implying that something has no effect on someone, may be translated as 'don't care'

[Mariska Greenleaf]

Aaah, that makes it a lot clearer, thank you very much!

D'you mean to say you've been through this hole before? said Sam. Phew! But perhaps you don't mind bad smells.

Sam to Gollum.

[HerenIstarion]

Exactly Do go on

[Mariska Greenleaf]

I most certainly will.
And being "le quatorze juillet" today, national feast in France, I will make up a french one...

" C'est bon d'apprendre qu'il sont encore vivants" disait -------- " parce qu' ils ont causé grand effort à nous dans notre march à -------, et je ne veux pas que ces efforts seront pour rien."