Some translation questions, help!
By Linyi118100
@Linyi118100 (36)
China
August 4, 2011 7:11pm CST
I'm trying to translate a NY Time article into Chinese, but couldn't quite catch the meaning of some sentences.
1.But the tradition of self-promotion predates the camera by millenniums. In 440B.C. or so, a first Greek author named Herodotus paid for his own book tour around the Aegean.
I don't know which of the following three choices was the information that the author wants to tell us.
a.Greek author Herodotus was the first one that toured around the Aegean to promote his book.
b.Herodotus was the first Greek author that toured around the Aegean to promote his book.
c.Herodotus was the father of self-promotion.
2.We could dress like lady Gaga and hang from a cage at a Yankees game - if any of us looked as good near-naked, that is.
On second thought, maybe there's a reason we have agents to rein in our P.R.ideas.
What does the author mean by 'hang from a cage'? Is the 'Yankees' the NY Yankees? I have little knowledge of baseball, help!
And the second sentence is the end of this article. The 'agents' means a motivation from inner deep or an intermediary that helps us promote ourselves?
Your advise will be a great help to me.
1 response
@francesca5 (1344)
•
5 Aug 11
i think the first phrase you ask about is a bit clumsy. he is suggesting there is a direct link between the existence of the camera and self promotion. i think you are right to suggest he means c) that herodotus was the father of self promotion.
on the second one i don't know much about baseball either but it is an attempt to make a joke, that some of us would take any opportunity for self promotion we could, and we need an agent to stop us. its a joke because the job of the agent is to encourage us to self promote, but what he is saying as a joke is that some of us don't need encouraging, but stopping.
hope that helps.
i find it quite interesting how hard a joke is to translate.
@francesca5 (1344)
•
5 Aug 11
none of my business really, but i might take the joke at the end and rather than translate it into chinese exactly, i might find a similar joke from chinese society, maybe a public figure who wants everyone to notice them, and create a similar joke relevant to someone chinese, rather than translate it exactly.
