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Es ist schön, den Augen dessen zu begegnen, den man soeben beschenkt hat

English translation: There is a delight in meeting ...

13:15 Dec 15, 2010
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
German term or phrase: Es ist schön, den Augen dessen zu begegnen, den man soeben beschenkt hat
Quote by Jean de la Bruyere. Anyone know of an official translation of this?
Lesley Robertson MA, Dip Trans IoLET
Austria
Local time: 19:14
English translation:There is a delight in meeting ...
Explanation:
From Characters by Jean De La Bruyère (1688)

45. There is a delight in meeting the eyes of one to whom one has just done a kindness.

http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/bruyere/chap4...

45 (I)
Il y a du plaisir à rencontrer les yeux de celui à qui l’on vient de donner.
http://ebooks.gutenberg.us/Ebooks_Libres_et_Gratuits/html/la...
Selected response from:

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 11:14
Grading comment
Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5There is a delight in meeting ...
Kim Metzger
5 +1There is a pleasure to meet the Eyes of a Person whom we have lately obliged.
adamgajlewicz
4It is a joy to look into the eyes of one to whom one has just given pleasure.
Ramey Rieger (X)
2There is pleasure to meeting the eyes of him to whom one has of late been giving.
Horst Huber (X)
Summary of reference entries provided
Original
Kim Metzger

  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
There is a delight in meeting ...


Explanation:
From Characters by Jean De La Bruyère (1688)

45. There is a delight in meeting the eyes of one to whom one has just done a kindness.

http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/bruyere/chap4...

45 (I)
Il y a du plaisir à rencontrer les yeux de celui à qui l’on vient de donner.
http://ebooks.gutenberg.us/Ebooks_Libres_et_Gratuits/html/la...


Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 11:14
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 213
Grading comment
Thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Nicola Wood: Having just found the same translation how can I do anything but agree!
9 mins
  -> I spent an hour on it.
agree  writeaway: great research. looking things up for a translation can be so time consuming. lucky thing Kudoz exists
21 mins
  -> And other places for pros, which we take in our stride.
agree  hazmatgerman (X): @KMetzger: sneaky.
24 mins
  -> riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.
agree  Nicole Backhaus
12 hrs
agree  Michael Hess
1 day 11 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
It is a joy to look into the eyes of one to whom one has just given pleasure.


Explanation:
No offense, I just have trouble with "meeting eyes", reminds me of a fist fight!

Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
Local time: 19:14
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 77

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Nicola Wood: This must be a use of "meeting eyes" I have not encountered. In BE "meeting the eye" of someone is a common expression for looking directly into someone's eyes and a is often connected with a level of honesty.
4 hrs
  -> okay, thanks for the explanation - it still sounds odd to me, but BE sometimes does that to us AE speakers!
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15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
There is pleasure to meeting the eyes of him to whom one has of late been giving.


Explanation:
I am sure most may not like this: not modern, not PC, even leaves it up to you to sense what may be meant.

Horst Huber (X)
United States
Local time: 13:14
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 3
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
There is a pleasure to meet the Eyes of a Person whom we have lately obliged.


Explanation:
The Works of Mons. de la Bruyere p. 114


I hope you enjoy it....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 hrs (2010-12-16 08:18:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I agree that the translation dicovered by Kim sounds modern and is probably more acceptable to the modern reader. However -

(1) I provided the older translation not because I fell in love with it, but because the asker requested "an official translation", not necessarily a modern one. Actually, I do not know for what purpose the asker needed the translation. The asker is a native speaker of English, an expert translator, perfectly capable of evaluating the quality of the language and the translation provided. To suggest that something is incorrect, old-fashioned, better or worse is to treat the asker not as a professional, but as a learner, incapable of sensing an aesthetic vice. Correct me if I am wrong, but my role as the answerer is to help the asker by proposing a solution to the problem. Whatever we say or write, the asker will decide herself if the translation proposed is exactly what she is looking for.

(2) To argue that an aphorism is "rather incorrect" is - in my humble opinion - neither convincing nor justifiable, because at the time it was translated it was probably correct. Otherwise, it would not have been published.

(3) To argue that an aphorism (poem) is written in old-fashioned English (argumentum ad antiquitatem) does not disqualify it, either. The language used in Beowulf is even older. If we accepted Niccole's line of thinking ("old fashioned"), the works of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton would not meet our standards today. With aphorisms as with poetry (in the original or translated), we, honestly speaking, adopt only one criterion, we either like them or not. (Sorry for the typos if there are any).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 20 hrs (2010-12-16 09:28:00 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The most recent translation of Bruyere's Characters (Nabu Press, 2010) is available on amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Characters-Jean-Bruyère/dp/1177156490/...
It offers the most recent and modern translation of the aphorism. It may be more accurate than anything proposed by any one of us here.


    Reference: http://www.archive.org/stream/worksmonsdelabr00rowegoog#page...
adamgajlewicz
Local time: 19:14
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in PolishPolish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: the translation showS up nowhere, which is not too surprising because it's rather incorrect English/that is called a typo in English. my compliments too.
9 mins
  -> Thank you, writeaway
neutral  Nicola Wood: I have found the same translation, so acknowledge its existence- sorry writeaway. However, it does sound very old fashioned and I prefer Kim's more modern version. Would work better without the capitals and with meeting nstead of meet
13 mins
  -> Thank you, Nicola
agree  Horst Huber (X): The "old fashioned" often shows sensitivity to meanings, here in "donner", which cannot be thinned down to modern notions.
13 hrs
  -> Thank you, Horst
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Reference comments


32 mins
Reference: Original

Reference information:
Il ya du plaisir à rencontrer les yeux de celui à qui l'on vient de donner.

http://tinyurl.com/2ecz3ph

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 213
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