Aside from being the closest thing to real school I have here in Alexandria, I’d have to say that the biggest perk of my Translation class is reading my first drafts. Sure, it means that I have more work to do when I go back and turn the text into real, comprehensible English, but I’ll take my kicks when I can get them.
Most of the time when I’m working with written Modern Standard Arabic, there’s just not that much of an opportunity for my initial reading to take a dramatic and hilarious departure. But this week is an Egyptian comedy in ‘Amiyya (dialect), and if you’ve ever seen Egyptian TV, you know that they really could say anything.
Anyway, after a particularly ridiculous fact-checking session with my neighbor, I thought I’d share the love and put a first draft up for all my fellow proto-translators out there. The actual translation is a little boring, so I’ll leave it out, but the video is below.
F: It’s good to see you, Bibo.
S: I’m a sesame.
F: It’s good to see you, Bibo.
P: I’m the Prince.
F: What prince? You are all my Indian thinkers.
P: And, in turn, who are you?
F: Ah yes, the virtuous grace of an Indian.
P: Is a personality with you?
F: Um… It’s just a feeling.
P: Raise your hand.
F: Okay.
P: Alright, father. I don’t like this nightingale…
And that is why we check our work. But look at this movie, and then try to tell me this version is that out of the realm of possibility…
1 Comment
December 2, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Just went from reading an article about _Waiting For Godot_ to reading your blog post.
It was kinda surreal.