Since my first post about "untranslatable" passages in La Sombra del Viento led to such an interesting discussion, I thought I'd start another one. This is another passage about Adrián Neri, the piano teacher, and it appears in part 2 (Miseria y Compañía), chapter 7.
"Lo tiene un tal Adrián Neri. Músico. A lo mejor le suena."
"No me suena de nada, y eso es lo peor que se puede decir de un músico."
The verb "sonar" can mean to make a sound, often a ringing sound (bells and telephones both suenan, for example). Other objects that might sonar include alarm clocks and other electronics.
But it also has a meaning that could be translated in English as "to sound familiar" or, more figuratively, "to ring a bell".
Taking the first line of the passage in isolation, I think the most natural-sounding translation would be: "A guy named Adrián Neri has it. He's a musician. Maybe you've heard of him."
But that doesn't work, because the second line plays on the double meaning of sonar: "It doesn't sound like anything to me, and that's the worst thing you could say about a musician".
This one lends itself a bit better to translation into English than the falling piano analogy, but it's still somewhat awkward. I can think of two possible options, neither of which are perfect:
1. "A guy named Adrián Neri has it. He's a musician. Maybe his name rings a bell for you."
"It doesn't ring anything for me, and that's the worst thing you could say about a musician".
The problem with this translation is that most musical instruments don't "ring" in English. Pianos certainly don't. So I'd probably go with the second option instead.
2. "A guy named Adrián Neri has it. He's a musician. Maybe his name sounds familiar to you."
"It doesn't sound like anything to me, and that's the worst thing you could say about a musician".
It doesn't flow as nicely as the original Spanish, but I think it's passable. I'm curious to know if this phrase causes translation difficulties in other languages? Or if you've come across other "untranslatables" in your target language, feel free to share those too!
Hi Wendy! Thanks for this new gem! So in Romanian it was translated like your second option, except that "sounds familiar" is literally "tells you something". So the connection with sound and musician is lost in the last part: "O are unul pe nume Adrian Neri. Muzician. Poate că asta vă spune ceva. — Nu-mi spune nimic, şi ăsta-i lucrul cel mai rău care se poate zice despre un muzician."
As I'm not sure, I'll ask it here: Is it right to write a question mark after "I'm curious to know if this phrase causes translation difficulties in other languages"?
@eco-erich Ah, it's a shame that the Romanian translator wasn't able to work the same magic this time as they did with the falling piano analogy. But it's a good example of how the translation problems that come up are unique to each target language.
I checked the French translation and I'm delighted: "C’est un dénommé Adrián Neri qui l’a. Un musicien. Ce nom est peut-être parvenu à vos oreilles ? — Pas du tout, et, pour un musicien, c’est mauvais signe." Here the "sound" is translated by "maybe his name reached your ears?" (which is a common way to say "you heard of" in French. Music being enjoyed by the ears, the connection to that being bad for a musician, works.
Now in German: the translation was avoided ;-) »Ein gewisser Adrián Neri hat es. Musiker. Vielleicht sagt Ihnen sein Name etwas.« »Mir sagt er nur, daß du ihn wahrscheinlich erfunden hast.« Translated: "A certain Adrián Neri has it. Musician. Maybe his name tells you something. - It tells me only that you probably invented him"
@edufuga I think either a period or a question mark would work, depending on how you want the intonation to be read. Although grammatically speaking, I suppose it's not technically phrased as a question. But it would be quite natural to say it like this with a rising tonation as a question.
@eco-erich Well, I think the German translation is kind of clever in its own way. I suppose if there's no way to retain the original play on words, then sometimes it's better to just create something new.
Suggestion for a German translation: "Ein gewisser Adrián Neri hat es. Musiker. Vielleicht haben Sie von ihm gehört. - Von ihm gehört? Nein, überhaupt nicht, und das ist das Schlechteste, was man von einem Musiker sagen kann." There is a flaw, however: for the second meaning of sonar, it ought to be "überhaupt nichts" instead of "überhaupt nicht". Does anyone have a better idea?
In Portuguese the translator used something similar to the German translator. "Quem o tem é um tal Adrián Neri. Músico. Se calhar o nome diz-lhe qualquer coisa. – Não me diz nada, e isso é o pior que se pode dizer de um músico. Tens a certeza que não inventaste esse tal Adrián Neri?" Ruiz Zafón, Carlos. A Sombra do Vento (p. 52). Grupo Planeta. Kindle-Version. This would be literally translated to: "Who has it is a certain Adrian Neri. Musician. Maybe this name tells you something. - No, it doesn't tell me anything, but this is the worst you can say about a musician. Are you sure that you didn't make up this certain Adrian Neri?" So the Portuguese translation still uses the part "this is the worst thing you can say about a musician" which doesn't make any sense due to the translation. And then they also added the part about making up the name, which also happens in the German translation. Very interesting and thanks for sharing and explaining the Spanish original. I probably woudn't have noticed the wordplay while reading it in Spanish.
Wow, what an interesting discussion! I'll have to read the other post. As for this exchange, I think the pun would have to be worked in deliberately AS a pun in order for it to work... A: Apparently, a certain Adrian Neri has it. A musician. Does that name "strike a chord," if you'll pardon the pun? B: Not at all, which doesn't say much for him as a musician.
I checked the Italian version and it says:
@Giulia, why is the wordplay lost? "heard his name" vs. "heard his music"? Isn't that very similar to the original wordplay? Or can't you use sentire with respect to music?
@Harald For music, it is more correct “ascoltare” than “sentire”. But you are right, in some ways it can be considered a wordplay.
@LindasLinguas: the part about making up the name is, I believe the next sentence in the original and all other translations. The "originality" of the German translation is that both sentences of the answer were merged into one (with the part about "it's bad for a musician" being skipped). This is not the case in the Portuguese translation.
I don't read the book in my native language but those translation related discussions are so interesting that I've decided to check selected phrases in Polish. It seems that polish translator noticed the wordplay of the original and reflected it nicely in the other language: "- Ma ją niejaki Adrian Neri. Artysta muzyk. Może jego nazwisko obiło się panu o uszy.
Thanks everyone for another great discussion! So it seems that the French and the Polish translators win this round. I also like @CocoPop's "strike a chord" invention. It's a good example of the kind of creativity needed to be a good translator.