Please read my previous short post first - otherwise this won't make any sense. Press HERE
Suppose Shakespeare had this facility available for him to present his masterpieces to non English speaking countries.
As in my last post I translated from English to French and back to English.
Let's see what emerges when I apply this to the Bard's very well known piece from Richard III Act 5, Scene 4. lines 7-10
SCENE IV
Another part of the Field.
[Alarum; excursions. Enter NORFOLK and forces; to him CATESBY]
Another part of the Field.
[Alarum; excursions. Enter NORFOLK and forces; to him CATESBY]
CATESBY
Rescue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue!
The king enacts more wonders than a man,
Daring an opposite to every danger:
His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights,
Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death.
Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost!
Rescue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue!
The king enacts more wonders than a man,
Daring an opposite to every danger:
His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights,
Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death.
Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost!
[Alarum. Enter KING RICHARD]
KING RICHARD
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
CATESBY
Withdraw, my lord! I'll help you to a horse.
Withdraw, my lord! I'll help you to a horse.
KING RICHARD
Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die:
I think there be six Richmonds in the field:
Five have I slain to-day instead of him.
--A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
[Exeunt.]
Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die:
I think there be six Richmonds in the field:
Five have I slain to-day instead of him.
--A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
[Exeunt.]
. . . . sorry to all Shakespearean buffs but here is the result!
Did I hear a few of you shouting, "Heresy"? LOL
SCENE IV
Another part of the field.
[Alarum; excursions. Write the NORFOLK and the forces; with him CATESBY.]
CATESBY
Delivery, my lord of Norfolk, delivery, delivery!
The king issues more wonders than a man,
Audacity opposite each danger:
Its horse is massacred, and all with foot it fights,
Recherche for Richmond in the throat of death.
The delivery, the lord right, or the day are lost!
[Alarum. Introduce KING RICHARD.]
KING RICHARD
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
CATESBY
Withdraw you, my lord! I'll help of you with a horse.
KING RICHARD
Slave, I placed my life on cast iron,
And I will hold the risk of the matrix:
I think there is of six Richmonds in the field:
Five have I massacred today instead of him.
-- A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
[Exeunt.]
Well it did get, "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse" right. Well done Babelfish - you have done Shakespeare proud, in part!
Just time for another well known quote, again from Richard III but this time from Act 1, Scene 1, lines 1-4, the opening of the play. I wonder what Shakespeare would have thought!! I can feel his bones shaking in his winter of discontent!! LOL
RICHARD:
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York;
And all the clouds that low'r'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
CATESBY
Delivery, my lord of Norfolk, delivery, delivery!
The king issues more wonders than a man,
Audacity opposite each danger:
Its horse is massacred, and all with foot it fights,
Recherche for Richmond in the throat of death.
The delivery, the lord right, or the day are lost!
[Alarum. Introduce KING RICHARD.]
KING RICHARD
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
CATESBY
Withdraw you, my lord! I'll help of you with a horse.
KING RICHARD
Slave, I placed my life on cast iron,
And I will hold the risk of the matrix:
I think there is of six Richmonds in the field:
Five have I massacred today instead of him.
-- A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
[Exeunt.]
Well it did get, "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse" right. Well done Babelfish - you have done Shakespeare proud, in part!
Just time for another well known quote, again from Richard III but this time from Act 1, Scene 1, lines 1-4, the opening of the play. I wonder what Shakespeare would have thought!! I can feel his bones shaking in his winter of discontent!! LOL
RICHARD:
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York;
And all the clouds that low'r'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
I know a battle is coming but Babelfish does a pretty good demolition job too.
English to French and back to English.
RICHARD:
Now is the winter of our glorious dissatisfaction
Made by this wire with York;
And all the clouds which low'r'd on our house
In the deep chest of the ocean buried.
Now is the winter of our glorious dissatisfaction
Made by this wire with York;
And all the clouds which low'r'd on our house
In the deep chest of the ocean buried.
Not sure where 'the son' went! Perhaps to York or to the battle!
But what about the other languages?
From English to German and back to English.
RICHARD:
Now is the winter of our discontent
Education of splendourful summers by this son of York;
And all clouds the low'r' d to our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean bury.
Now is the winter of our discontent
Education of splendourful summers by this son of York;
And all clouds the low'r' d to our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean bury.
. . . . . and Russian:
RICHARD:
Now depends on this son of the yoke
Which is the winter of our dissatisfaction and can do beautiful summer;
And all clouds low' r' d in our houses
Of the chest where the ocean which is buried is deep.
Now depends on this son of the yoke
Which is the winter of our dissatisfaction and can do beautiful summer;
And all clouds low' r' d in our houses
Of the chest where the ocean which is buried is deep.
Hmm! Lost a bit of the Bard's original intention! Something sadly amiss here. Will would most certainly be not amused!
. . . but what about Traditional Chinese:
RICHARD:The present is in the winter our discontent
The brilliance summer which does by York's this son;
And all cloud low' r' d in ours house's
The sea profound bosom which buries.
The brilliance summer which does by York's this son;
And all cloud low' r' d in ours house's
The sea profound bosom which buries.
'Wong' again, Mr Wong! Doesn't quite have the same 'ring' as the original does it?
I shall spare you the torture of what Babelfish does in Greek, Polish and Spanish.
And just imagine what would emerge if I discussed Macbeth's meeting with the three witches, his wife's sight of the dagger before her, Burnham Wood marching, Juliet's rendition of, "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
The mind boggles!
Shall I treat us to some more one day?
That was hilarious! What a clever post Eddie, I want one every day!!
ReplyDeleteOh man that is too much.
Babelfish... hope they don't charge for this translation.
I'm a translator myself, and so much work has been lost to these automated services, you have no idea. The human is obsolete, they say.
Well, apparently not. My spirit just lifted!
Ciao
Lola xx
haha. that is amazing. i saw the matrix...wonder if the play is done in slow motion action sequences. smiles. nicely done eddie.
ReplyDeleteA kingdom for a better translation! :-)
ReplyDeleteFun post, thank you!
Just wonderful - loved the first "retranslation" of the opening lines from Richard III. Would have made studying it in Form 5 way more fun.
ReplyDeleteHope you're both getting on okay and that you have a very Happy Easter,
Michelle, xxxx, and Zebbycat (blissfully snoring his way to the next feed!)
Incredibly funny, my dear sir...Almost as confusing as the original Babel itself!!!! Loved this! You have such a terrific wit...And that you would think to do this? Bravo! You've set the bar for comedy very high once again! Wonderful post! Hugs, Janine
ReplyDeleteLOL at "winter of our glorious dissatisfaction"
ReplyDelete