Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Beautiful in Latin: Pulcher

Before I begin I would like to thank those people who have commented on my posts. Those people consist of my brother in law Jake Munson and some mysterious person known as Emma. Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. Anywho this is the last Song translated into Latin that I have completed, maybe I'll do more later, if I want to. It is Christina Aguilera's: Beautiful from her Stripped album. I thought it was a good one for everyone out there who thinks that they are hideous freaks, such as those who translate songs into Latin for fun. People can't bring me down for translating these songs into Latin. Thanks Chritina for the encouragement and if you're reading this be sure to e-mail me(after all we're probably made for each other, ok I have nothing to offer you but I think you are as hot as the sun's core and will obey your every whim). Anyway that's about all I have to say for now. My translation will follow the standard format which I have been folowing for the other Songs. Oh and another translational note: I am unable to put macrons(lines over vowels indicating lengthening) in my words(ok I guess I could but I'm too lazy), so people will just have to guess whether certain forms are ablative or dative(usually its not hard to figure out), and other grammatical things determined by macrons. I figure it's ok though becuase the Romans didn't use macrons. You should just be glad I'm not following other Roman conventions such as writing all in capital letters or writing without punctutaion. At any rate just keep in mind that some vowels should have macrons, but they don't(this goes for my other translations also). Also concerning the gender of certain words, since Christina is obviously female(and superhot by the way) I used the female form of pulcher-pulchra when the singer was referring to herself. I also assumed that the you Christina was talking to was female and so used feminine forms in reference to the "you", as well. However for the reference to "we" I used masculine forms because I thought that some males could be included in the "we" to whom she refers, and Latin is a language in which the default gender for groups of people is masculine (which means if there is a man in the group, the group is masculine). I apologize to any females who may be offended by this slightly chauvanistic aspect to Latin, but that's just the way it is. If you would rather assume all people in the "we" Christina refers to are feminine you can replace the pulchri(masculine plural nominative form) with pulchrae (feminine plural nominative form). That being said here's my translation:

Beautiful:
Pulcher:

[spoken:]
Don't look at me
Noli spectare me

Everyday is so wonderful
quaeque dies est ita mirabilis
And suddenly, it's hard to breathe
Et subito, est dure spirare
Now and then, I get insecure
Nunc et tum, Fio instabilis
From all the fame, I'm so ashamed
De omne fama, sic pudet me

I am beautiful no matter what they say
Sum pulchra nulla materia quid dicunt
Words can't bring me down
Verbi me deorsum ferre non possunt
I am beautiful in every single way
Sum pulchra in quoque uno modo
Yes, words can't bring me down
Ita, verbi me deorsum ferre non possunt
So don't you bring me down today
Sic, me deorsum hac die ferre noli

To all your friends, you're delirious
Omnibus tuis amicis, es delirus
So consumed in all your doom
Sic consuma es, in omne tuo fato
Trying hard to fill the emptiness
Inanitatem implere dure conaris
The piece is gone and the puzzle undone
Pars est amissa et nodus peritus
That's the way it is
Ille est modus est

You are beautiful no matter what they say
Es pulchra nulla materia quid dicunt
Words won't bring you down
Verbi te deorsum ferre non poterint
You are beautiful in every single way
Es pulchra in quoque uno modo
Yes, words won't bring you down
Ita, verbi te deorsum ferre non poterint
Don't you bring me down today...
Me deorsum hac die ferre noli...

No matter what we do
Nulla materia quid facimus
(no matter what we do)
(nulla materia quid facimus)
No matter what they say
Nulla materia quid dicunt
(no matter what they say)
(nulla materia quid dicunt)
When the sun is shining through
Ubi sol lucet per
Then the clouds won't stay
Tum nubes non manebunt

And everywhere we go
Et ubique imus
(everywhere we go)
(ubique imus)
The sun won't alway shine
Sol semper non lucebit
(sun won't always shine)
(sol semper non lucebit)
But tomorrow will find a way
Sed cras viam inveniet
All the other times
Omnia alia tempora

We are beautiful no matter what they say
Sumus Pulchri nulla materia quid dicunt
Yes, words won't bring us down
Ita, verbi nos deorsum ferre non poterint
We are beautiful no matter what they say
Sumus pulchri nulla materia quid dicunt
Yes, words can't bring us down
Ita, verbi nos deorsum ferre non possunt
Don't you bring me down today
Me deorsum hac die ferre noli

Don't you bring me down today
Me deorsum hac die ferre noli
Don't you bring me down today
Me deorsum hac die ferre noli

A more literal translation with translational notes:

Don't look at me

Every day is so wonderful
and suddenly, it is hard to breathe
Now and then, I become unsteady
from all the fame, I am so ashamed

[the following is more or less the chorus, but it is slightly modified each time,
so I will call it the chorus and indicate any changes when it is repeated]
I am beautiful, no matter what they say
Words are not able to bring me down
I am beautiful in every single way
Yes, words are not able to bring me down
So don't bring me down on this day

To all your friends, you are crazy
you have been so consumed in all your doom
You are trying hard to fill the emptiness
The part is lost and the knot (there is no exact equivalent to puzzle in Latin) undone
That's the way it is

["chorus" with you as subject and the "being able" verb in the future tense; i.e. words will not be able to bring you down]

No matter what we do
(no matter what they say)
No matter what they say
(no matter what they say)
When the sun is shining through
Then the clouds will not remain

And everywhere we go
(everywhere we go)
The sun won't always shine
(sun won't won't always shine)
But tomorrow will find a way
All the other times

["Chorus" with we as subject and including first the be able verb(possum, posse, potui-{courtesy my trusty Collins Gem Latin dictionary} ) in the future followed by the same verb in the present; i.e. words will not be able to bring us down, and words are not able to bring us down]

Do not bring me down on this day
Do not bring me down on this day

1 Comments:

Blogger Dyany said...

WHAT, NO OTHER COMMENTS?! well I put a link for this on the family newsletter this time so maybe you will get some visits from family members now, like your sister, who likes to sing songs that just say, "Joey Joey Joey, Joey Joey Joey..."
Dang now I've got that stuck in my head.
:)

4:42 PM  

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