Last time I gave you the task of translating these snippets from a set of instructions about how to play Halma ( Chinese Chequers) .... let's see what Jennings and Harblow made of them, with their "limited" German skills ... it's both funny and sort of instructive too ...
[A] " Es kann auf diese Weise ein ganze Reihe von Steinen überspringen werden "
They translated that as .. " in this Way it can a whole Row of Stones be overturned."
I like the way they've kept the capital letters on the nouns, AND the German word order.
[B] The next bit was ....
...you can move "auch seitwärts oder rúckwärts"
They had this conversation about what it meant ....
" It means either sideways or - well, rúckwärts. I am sure "forwards" is vorwärts, and you couldn't want to move backwards, so rúckwärts must be one of these untranslatable words for the way a knight moves in chess." [ They obviously don't know where the English word rucksack comes from.... nor what it means].
[C] the next bit they have a go at is ...
" über einige und fremde Steine fortzuspringen."
...... which they turn into " over own and strange Stones to jump strongly." Hmmmm.
[D] The last bit they try to sort out is ....
" der Gegner muss natürlich wiederum danach trachten, diesen Stein womöglich
in dem eigenen Hof des Spielers einzuschliessen."
Well, they say " the obvious meaning of this is that the Against-man must naturally again after that treat, this Stone how possibly in the own House of the Player to shut in."
They did actually complete their game, but god only knows how, or what they did. It would have been nice to see it !
I hope that has made all of you out there feel much more sprightly about your own translations ...
Here then, is the music spot ...recently voted as the 2376th best German Music Spot in Nottinghamshire ... what an honour. This is top band Fotos ... " Giganten"