It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.
This week, I’m going to again use the new book I freshly bought in Germany, Lockwood & Co: Die Seufzende Wendeltreppe, known as The Screaming Staircase in English. Last time, I left off on page 9 in English, Seite 17 auf Deutsch. I’m still in the middle of Chapter 1, Der Geist.
Here’s the first sentence of the next section:
“When entering a house occupied by a Visitor, it’s always best to get in quick.”
= Sobald man ein Haus betritt, in dem sich ein Besucher eingenistet hat, sollte man sich ranhalten.
[Google translate: “As soon as you enter a house where a visitor has taken up residence, you should hurry up.”]
“Never hesitate” = Kein Zögern [“No hesitation”]
“linger” = unschlüssiges Verweilen [“indecisive lingering”]
“threshold” = Schwelle
“turn and run” = kehrtzumachen und wegzurennen
Hmm. This colorful description was translated differently.
“your willpower starts draining away through your boots, and the terror starts building in your chest”
= versickert der eigene Mut, das Herz beginnt zu rasen, die Kehle schnürt sich zu
[“your courage disappears, your heart starts racing, your throat tightens”]
“hall” = Diele
“the walls were palely papered” = helle Tapeten zierten die Wände [“light wallpaper decorated the walls”]
“kink” = Knick
“Doorways opened on either side: gaping and choked in darkness.”
= Die Türen auf beiden Seiten des vorderen Teils standen klaffend offen wie schwarze Mäuler.
[“The doors on either side of the front section stood gaping open like black mouths.”]
“It dulls the senses and makes you weak and stupid.”
= Sie beeinflusst die sinnliche Wahrnehmung negativ.
[“It negatively influences sensory perception.”]
“The air had that musty, slightly sour smell”
= Es roch muffig und ein bisschen säuerlich
[“It smelled musty and a bit sour”]
“a china bowl of potpourri”
= eine Porzellanschale mit getrockneten Blüten
They’re paraphrasing much more than most translators I’ve covered. Look at this one:
“photographs of rolling hills and gentle seas”
= Landschaftsfotos
[“landscape photos”]
“innocuous” = alltäglich [“everyday”]
“pleasant” = einladend [“inviting”]
“skewed coffins”
= schiefe Särge
“shut out morbid thoughts”
= verscheuchte die morbiden Gedanken
“listened” = lauschte
“arteries and airways” = Adern und Atemwege
“Echoes of the past, echoes of hidden things”
= Es sind Echos aus der Vergangenheit, der Nachhall verborgener Geschehnisse
[“They are echoes from the past, the reverberation of hidden events”]
“little knocking sound” = Klopfen
I always like when things are shorter in German:
“I can’t tell where it’s coming from.”
= Ich kann es nicht orten.
[“I can’t locate it.”]
“death-glow” = Todesschein
“tripped” = gestolpert
“tumbled down” = heruntergestürzt
“steep” = steil
“I bent low” = Ich ging in die Hocke. [“I went into the squat.”]
“tiles” = Fliesen
“jarred my teeth”
= mein Zähne aufeinanderschlugen
[“my teeth on-one-another-struck”]
“rapier” = Degen
“eyes staring wildly side to side”
= mein Blick huschte panisch umher
[“my view scurried panicked around”]
“banister” = Geländerpfosten [“railing posts”]
Here’s a nice long phrase:
“a watch with a luminous dial”
= eine Uhr mit fluoreszierendem Zifferblatt
[Ha! Zifferblatt is “digit-leaf,” so I think it’s specifically a watch dial]
“drops in temperature”
= Temperaturschwankungen
“ectoplasmic shock” = ektoplasmische Erschütterungen
And the last sentence of the chapter:
“Then we find ourselves a ghost.”
= Und danach schnappen wir uns den Geist.
Okay, I’m done with Chapter One. These translators, Katharina Orgaß und Gerald Jung, seem to not be doing as strict a sentence-by-sentence translation as some of the other books I’ve covered. That’s why I’ve done more full sentence comparisons, because it’s a little harder to pull out individual words. But I hope it still has the effect of making you wonder what the book is about! (It’s wonderful! They’re still getting ready to try to neutralize a ghost.)
Meanwhile, enjoy! Here’s hoping you never have any need to use the phrase schiefe Särge or ektoplasmische Erschütterungen. Though I kind of want to find a reason to say fluoreszierendem Zifferblatt.
bis Bald!