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Discussion in 'Vocabulary & Translation Help' started by dzurisova, Jun 3, 2009.

  1. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    So I decided to tranlate a fun Nohavica song into English. There were some things I could not get. Let me know how I did.

    Když mě brali za vojáka
    stříhali mě dohola
    já vypadal jsem jako blbec
    jak i všichni dokola-la-la-la
    jak i všichni dokola

    When I became a soldier
    They cut me down bare (cut me to nothing)
    I looked like I was stupid
    and all around-la-la-la
    and all round
    (meaning I looked stupid in every way?)

    Zavřeli mě do kasáren
    začali mě učiti
    jak mám správný voják býti
    a svou zemi chrániti-ti-ti-ti
    a svou zemi chrániti

    They shut in the barracks
    began to teach me
    How to be a proper soldier
    and defend our country-ti-ti-ti
    and defend our country

    Na pokoji po večerce
    ke zdi jsem se přitulil
    já vzpomněl jsem si na svou milou
    krásně jsem si zabulil-lil-lil-lil
    krásně jsem si zabulil

    In the room after bedtime
    to the wall I snuggled
    I remembered my beloved
    beautiful (could not translate)
    beautiful (could not translate)

    Když přijela po půl roce
    měl jsem zrovna zápal plic
    po chodbě furt někdo chodil
    tak nebylo z toho nic nic nic nic
    tak nebylo z toho nic

    When she arrived after a half year
    I had then pneumonia
    after someone walked in the corridor (don't know the word furt)
    Of it was nothing - nothing nothing nothing
    So it of it was nothing.
    (I think this means because someone walked in the room, they couldn't make love or do anything of that sort)

    Neplačte vy oči moje
    ona za to nemohla
    protože mladá holka lásku potřebuje
    a tak si k lásce pomohla-la-la-la
    a tak si k lásce pomohla

    Weep not my eyes
    she on it could not (not sure what that means)
    as a young girl needs love
    and so to love she helped -la-la-la
    and so to love she helped
    (don't know what that means)

    Major nosí velkou hvězdu
    před branou ho potkala
    řek jí že má zrovna volný kvartýr
    a tak se sbalit nechala-la-la-la
    a tak se sbalit nechala

    The Major wears a big star
    She met him before the gate
    He said to her that he just now has free time to hang out
    and so she gave up packing -la-la-la
    and so she gave up packing

    Co je komu do vojáka
    když ho holka zradila
    nashledanou pane Fráňo Šrámku
    písnička už skončila-la-la-la
    jakpak se vám líbila-la-la-la
    no nic moc extra nebyla

    What is a soldier to whom
    when a girl betrayed him.
    Goodbye sir Fráni Šrámka
    The song is already over-la-la-la
    How you like it -la-la-la
    Well, there was nothing much extra
    (I think that means there wasn't anything else interesting to sing about)
     
  2. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Good job, it is not easy to translate songs :). Try some other Nohavica's songs, I like them very much.
     
  3. wer

    wer Well-Known Member

    Well, but how to translate “krásně”?

    Perhaps something like:

    I took the pleasure of crying/weeping.

    She’s not to blame for it.

    moci za něco = to be responsible for something, to be to blame for something

    That’s correct literal translation. But I’m not sure it is the English way to describe the rank insignia.

    Is it correct to say “McArthur wore five stars” meaning “McArthur was a five-star general”?

    Because this Major was an one-star Major:

    [​IMG]

    “Pick up”, “chat up” according to my dictionary.

    Yes, it’s difficult. But maybe you could choose a song which was not translated already.

    The translation of “Když mě brali za vojáka” is not literal, but still you can use it to check your work.
     
  4. wer

    wer Well-Known Member

    And of course, a link to Youtube to make the picture complete.
     
  5. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    Ok, next I'll pick a song that's not translated already. I didn't look though, I swear. 8)

    I chose that song because I want to remember it. Usually, at one of our parties with all the Czech people here, a discussion gets going where one drunk man gets angry at another. The other guests try to get them to change the subject but they don't (usually politics). Well last weekend, when we couldn't get my friend Mita to stop arguing the death penalty with someone, I just started singing "Kdyz mi brali..." He loves to sing when he's drunk so I knew it would work. However, since I only knew the first verse, everyone else got to keep singing except me. :( :) So I want to learn the whole song and I thought one way to commit it to memory is to try to translate it.
     
  6. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    Did they know it's anti-army song? ;)
     
  7. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    Since I don't understand them very well, perhaps they started arguing about the army afterwards. :wink: Just kidding.

    Most of them there had defected Czechoslovakia and prior to defecting had served in the Czechoslovakian Army so perhaps they were in agreement about that song. Perhaps it happened to them, who knows. :) I do know they all knew the song because they all started singing immediately.
     
  8. wer

    wer Well-Known Member

    The females and their tricks! :roll:

    Is it?
     
  9. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    Yeah, we are wise as serpents and harmless as doves :wink:
     
  10. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    Ok, next Nohavica translation. This one was much more difficult than the last one:

    Divoké Koně

    Já viděl divoké koně běželi soumrakem
    vzduch těžký byl a divně voněl tabákem

    I saw wild horses running in the twilight
    The air was heavy with a strange tobacco scent

    Běželi běželi bez uzdy a sedla krajinou řek a hor
    sper to čert jaká touha je to vedla za obzor

    They ran and ran without bridle and saddle through a region of rivers and mountains.
    (ok, now the next sentence must mean something different than how its translated. It must be an idiom or something. )
    Sperm it devil how craving(yearning, desire) is it beside the horizon

    Snad vesmír nad vesmírem snad lístek na věčnost
    naše touho ještě neumírej sil máme dost

    Perhaps the universe beyond the universe, perhaps a ticket to eternity
    our desire still "don't die", we have enough energy (or force as in "the force be with you)

    V nozdrách slábne zápach klisen na břehu jezera
    milování je divoká píseň večera

    In the nostrils the scent fades klisen (can't translate) on the lake shore. Love is a wild song this evening.

    Stébla trávy sklání hlavu staví se do šiku
    král s dvořany přijíždí na popravu zbojníků

    A blade of grass bows its head building into siku (can't translate)
    Kings with courting arrive on execution zbojniku (can’t translate)

    Chtěl bych jak divoký kůň běžet běžet nemyslet na návrat
    s koňskými handlíři vyrazit dveře to bych rád
    I would like how wild horses run and run without thinking about returning
    with knoskymi (can't translate) horse trading to drive out the door. I would like it. (I'm sure that's all wrong)

    Já viděl divoké koně
    I saw wild horses
     
  11. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    It is for me.



    Je to hnus
    Zelené mozky
    Čajík s bromem do termosky
    Je nápojem božským

    Těžká puška úzká torna
    Pěšákova uniforma
    Boty menší o dva palce
    Blechy lezou zpod kavalce
    Plat a stravu erár ti dává
    Co chceš víc ? Armádě sláva
     
  12. Karel_lerak

    Karel_lerak Well-Known Member

    *
    sper to čert = word-for-word translation: "let the devil beat it"
    here: "nobody knows"
    in another context:
    let anything happen, I don't mind, etc.
    **
    klisna = mare
    ***
    šik - line, file of soldiers, organised (military) group, array (as in battle array)
    ****
    zbojník = outlaw, forest robber
    *****
    vyrazit dveře s někým (idiom) - word-for-word: push by force somebody through the (shut) door
    bowl out, eject
     
  13. Ctyri koruny

    Ctyri koruny Well-Known Member

    that is a really beautiful song thanks dzurisova for starting it and everyone who helped with the translation!



    hee hee hee that sounds exactly like a certain friend of ours! I must remember the trick!

    I only know bits and pieces of songs though... it's scandalous
     

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