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Kind Salutations from France

Migrated topic.
L

Laure

Rising Star
Bonjour,

In my native country, France, most people speak nothing but French.
Unfortunately, this means that they are prevented from accessing most of the material from current research, including research about power plants.

I'm in love with entheogens, in particular Morning Glory and Salvia. On my path, Dale Pendell's trilogy has been quite helpful. It significantly contributed to moderating my consumption, and enlarged my field of experiment. I'd like to pass these riches on to others here in France, so I've started translating it. I'm not very advanced yet - about 50 pages, which means I've got 200 more to go just for the first volume. But I don't mind, I know I can do it - even if it takes months or years.

One of the reasons why I'm so slow, is that the book is quite poetic. I can afford to be uncertain when I read it for myself, but not if I translate it. With poetry, it's so easy to believe you're getting it, while wandering entirely.

I'd like to be allowed to post - In the hyperspace tavern I think - in order to get feedback on some portions of Pendell's text. Would that be feasible?

Salutations Estivales

Laure
 
I know what you are talking about... since I do a lot of translations from English to Spanish (also about psychedelic plants).
And I agree that one must be very careful when doing it!

I think you will be promoted soon, Laure.

Welcome to the DMT-Nexus.
 
Bonjour a toi! Si tu as besoin d'aide pour la traduction je pourrais peut-etre de rendre service. I am an anglophone living in Montreal who is completely bilingual. PM me with some phrases if you are stuck - I am a writer as well, so I have a good grasp of the nuances of poetic language. Glad to have you aboard!!

JBArk
 
Hi and thanks for the kind welcome,

If it's ok with you, I'll start asking my questions. I'll quote in italic the specific sentences that bother me, plus a few sentences before them. If you want to check the full context, the text is available on http://www.scribd.com/doc/7351059/Dalependell-PharmakoPoeia-Plantpowerspoisonsand . I'll put my translation down too, but if you don't speak french, it would be just as great if you could tell me what you make of the sentences, in english. Thanks!

Right now, I'm reviewing my translation of the first chapters, and here is where I get stuck:

Page 5,
Better to start
with poison your own
than all the laurels of your
friends or dreams —
the first settles accounts,
the latter compounds note


Mieux vaut pour commencer
compter sur ton poison
Que sur tous les lauriers
des amis, ou des rêves –
L'un peut régler tes dettes/le premier règle de comptes
Les autres mijotent l'addition/quand les seconds prennent notes



Page 19, §4
In the lunar realm, sulphur moistens, genitals engorge. The poisonous sulphur struggles with its own inertia. Corporeally, the body lusts.
But the static tendency is more like a Pythagorean dodecahedron than like, say, a pencil or any mineral crystal, or any piece of living flesh.

Dans le royaume lunaire, le soufre se fait humide, les organes génitaux s’engorgent : le soufre vénéneux lutte contre sa propre inertie. Physiquement, le corps se prend à désirer. Mais disons que la tendance homéostatique est plus au dodécaèdre pythagoricien qu'au crayon ou au cristal minéral, ou à n’importe quelle part de chair vivante.

Thanks in advance

Laure
 
Salut Laure,

T'apprends vite pour quelqu'un qui connais pas les "forums"! Moi non plus je me compte pas amateur de forum - le nexus est mon premier et a date le seule aussi!

I will do my best to help you out. I can also post this in the thread as well - it will help keep it active. let me know if you want me too.
So here is yours, copied and pasted:

Page 5,
Better to start
with poison your own
than all the laurels of your
friends or dreams —
the first settles accounts,
the latter compounds note

Mieux vaut pour commencer
compter sur ton poison
Que sur tous les lauriers
des amis, ou des rêves –
L'un peut régler tes dettes/le premier règle de comptes
Les autres mijotent l'addition/quand les seconds prennent notes


I'll just take a quick crack at it myself - take what you want from it!

Mieux vaut commencer
avec ton propre poison
Que sur tous les lauriers
d'amis ou de rêves –
le premier règle les comptes
le dernier complique les notes (ou billets, voir en bas)

"Notes" i take to mean: bank notes (settling accounts/debt), possibly musical notes, and even less possibly, but still worth considering, written notes. keeping the word "notes" conserves the full meaning, but I am not sure if it is only in Quebec that "les notes" for paper money is current. Ohterwise billets is appropriate, but sounds a little more awkward and doesn't conserve all the possible interpretations or the cadence. Compromises!Wink


Page 19, §4
In the lunar realm, sulphur moistens, genitals engorge. The poisonous sulphur struggles with its own inertia. Corporeally, the body lusts.
But the static tendency is more like a Pythagorean dodecahedron than like, say, a pencil or any mineral crystal, or any piece of living flesh.

Dans le royaume lunaire, le soufre se fait humide, les organes génitaux s’engorgent : le soufre vénéneux lutte contre sa propre inertie. Physiquement, le corps se prend à désirer. Mais disons que la tendance homéostatique est plus au dodécaèdre pythagoricien qu'au crayon ou au cristal minéral, ou à n’importe quelle part de chair vivante.


And mine:

Dans le royaume lunaire, le soufre s'humidifie, les génitaux s’engorgent : le soufre vénéneux lutte contre sa propre inertie. Corporellement (sp??), le chair désire. Mais la tendance statique est plus au dodécaèdre pythagoricien qu'au crayon ou au cristal minéral, ou à part de chair vivante quelconque.

I know genitaux (sorry no accents on this computer...) is not a perfect translation, but dropping organes maintains the rhythm and remains clear, I believe. You're the expert, though - you'll have to decide on your end, as a native francophone, if this, and other minor changes and dropped words, makes sense. To me, unless there are errors:) it seems clearer cadence and meaning wise. And why change static to homéostatique? Statique is acceptable, no? or does it refer only to static electricity? How about CONSTANT, FIXE, IMMOBILE, STAGNANT, ADAMANT (to evoke crystals as well).

Hope this helps!!!

JBArk
 
Thanks !

I'm still uncertain about the second sentence.

"In the lunar realm, sulphur moistens, genitals engorge. The poisonous sulphur struggles with its own inertia. Corporeally, the body lusts. But the static tendency is more like a Pythagorean dodecahedron than like, say, a pencil or any mineral crystal, or any piece of living flesh."

Should I try to paraphrase the sentence that bothers me, I'd say that what he means is
The body lusts, but somehow it lusts towards a totalizing/transcendental ideal, not towards anything real or specific.

I was also wondering - given the fact that the previous paragraph begins with "solar sulphur burns", I was wondering if "sulphur moistens" should be understood as "sulphur gets wet" of as "sulphur makes things wet"

Thanks in advance

Kind Regards

Laure
 
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