Atonement in Chinese · 10:42pm Apr 26th, 2014
No one but me might ever care, but care I do: Atonement has been translated into Chinese. It's been done in two parts, which I found here:
As far as my Google Translate fu takes me, someone going by dm187356429 performed the translation, with Crystoleet assisting in editing and proofreading the Chinese version. RiceArista seems to collect various translations on her blog; for instance, you can find a translation of From Sweet to Sour by Draconian Soul on their site as well.
Knowing precisely zero Chinese, I can't comment on the accuracy of the translation, but I'm confident they did a good job. For one, this is the google translation for the summary they've given:
When the three months Advent, Xi Hui Shuoshuo back pony country, and then with the Princess and the evening twilight came a long talk story.
That's it.
"Long talk story. That's it" brilliantly summarizes not just Atonement, but all the stories I've got on the site so far - These guys get it! But more strikingly: I had Sunset Shimmer refer to Celestia's judgment as "a slap on the wrist", an idiom that doesn't work in Chinese, but can't really be exchanged for another because of the context - so the translators added an explanation of the idiom in a foot note that, as far as I can tell, gets it exactly right. I'm really curious about the rest, but of course google translate will turn even the most beautiful prose into Mad Libs.
I really like the sound of Xi Hui Shuoshuo, though.
The trick now is to backtranslate and do a dramatic reading of the Engrish. :B
2050640
Making fun of google translate is like shooting fish in a barrel with a bazooka. Though parts of what it produces don't just work, they take on a poetic melody of sorts despite (or because of?) the absolute gibberish they're placed next to.
In all seriousness, I would rather do a proper dramatic reading of the story first.
2055947
Well of course!
But you also get stuff like this:
2056187
Now, to what extent did you do this because you just really wanted to use that gif of Soviet Pinkie?
The accent is hilarious, but I abandoned hopes of comprehending any part of what's going on at an early stage. Not sure if being a native speaker would improve my chances overmuch, but it certainly didn't help that I'm not.
Been getting a kick out of reading your old fanfic recommendations. (Felt old when I realized a lot of the stories I recognize from there are the old ones. I don't read enough anymore, it seems.) Should have started properly following the blog ages ago. Keep fighting the good fight!
2058861
I shall! :D And actually, I had no idea you could even use gifs like that until I tried! But really, nothing else would have fit.