Chancer Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 I am reading a childrens classic, L'isle de tresor, as I thought it would be relatively easy reading but it turns out to be much harder than a translated fiction novel by one of my favorite authors, nonetheless I struggle on.The first time I saw the word "well" I unconsciously read it as in English as it fitted with the rest of the text (I cannot now refind it) and made a mental note to check my dictionaries and it was not in either.Last night I found another paragraph starting with "well" which I am struggling to understand unless they forgot to translate it to French, it is as follows/- Redruth, dis-je en interrompant ma lecture, le docteur Livesey n'aimera pas beaucoup cela, Le squire a parlé en fin de compte.Well, qui donc a raison? bougonna le garde-chasse. Où allons-nous, si le squire doit se taire le Docteur Livesey!Can anyone explain it to me please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tancrède Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Well, qui donc a raison? bougonna le garde-chasse. Où allons-nous, si le squire doit se taire le Docteur Livesey!Well, who's a better right?" growled the gamekeeper. "A pretty rum go if squire ain't to talk for Dr. Livesey, I should think.Well is simply a bit of English left in for local colour. The more important question is why the translator chickened out so feebly on A pretty rum go… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 Fascinating, thank you GG.I hope that you didnt have to skim through the whole book to find the passage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 If you had to really translate well, you would say: "Alors, qui a donc raison?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 That is what confused me, its not hard to translate I think it was just a slip up as the book was written and translated long before it became trendy to throw in a few words of English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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