Quotes in other languages

[HerenIstarion]

That must be Gimli, as three hunters spoke with Gandalf and learned that Pippin and Merry were alive, but I was not able to locate the exact quote as yet. Would it suffice? If yes, please provide an original too, ok?

[HerenIstarion]

Ah, not in the forest, but later. Ninny-willy I am!

It is Gimli, and he talks to Legolas, but in the Minas-Tirith, much later than my first guess.

It is good to learn that they are still alive,’ said Gimli; ‘for they cost us great pains in our march over Rohan, and I would not have such pains all wasted

Sorry for wasting your time

[Mariska Greenleaf]

Sorry for wasting your time

Haha, don't worry about it!
The floor is yours again...

[Mariska Greenleaf]

Dear Heren, would you be so kind to make up a new one?

[HerenIstarion]

My apologies for a delay, sorry.

Dear Mariska,

Would you be so kind to take it over again? Just I find myself a tiny bit busy of late (the drop of freqency of my posting may have been noted ). I will certainly come back when circumstances elswhere take the grip off me

thanks and cheers

[Mariska Greenleaf]

I will gladly do so.
This next one is in Dutch, good luck!

"Het is lang geleden sinds ik een kind was. Ik heb nu een wil en wijsheid van mezelf, maar tot op heden heeft het de jouwe niet gekruist. Ik ga mee met je."

[Guinevere]

Ah, something easier than Russian !

"It is long since I was a child. I have a will and wisdom of my own, though until now it has not crossed yours. I go with you."

Nienor to Morwen

[Mariska Greenleaf]

Well, I knew it wouldn't be hard for you, well done!

[Guinevere]

Thank you.
How about some Swiss-German again ?

"Da häsch es!" isch d'Antwort cho. "Es isch alles ganz nutzlos. Er hät's sälber gseit. Du bisch dä Narr, wo imme wiiter hofft und sich abmüet. Ihr hetted chöne abligge und zäme iischlafe scho vor Tage, wänn du nüd so störrisch gsii wärsch. Aber ihr wärded grad glich stärbe oder na schlimmer. Du chönntisch grad so guet abligge und ufgää."

[Mariska Greenleaf]

I've been pondering about this one for a long time now, determined to solve it, but alas, this Swiss German proves to be too hard for me without a hint (or two)...

[HerenIstarion]

Don't count that as pride and arrogance, Mariska, I do not intend to show off I simply forgot about it. I suppose I know the answer - it is Sam and Sam's inner voice in Mordor:

There you are!’ came the answer. ‘It’s all quite useless. He said so himself. You are the fool, going on hoping and toiling. You could have lain down and gone to sleep together days ago, if you hadn’t been so dogged. But you’ll die just the same, or worse. You might just as well lie down now and give it up. You’ll never get to the top anyway

Antwort (answer), Narr (Fool), hofft (hopes) and Tage (days) gave it away, and 'alles ganz nutzlos' sounded like 'all came to zero=nothing=useless

cheers

[Guinevere]

Well done indeed, Heren Istarion!
(I had been hesitating whether I should give some hints...)

[HerenIstarion]

Russian to go on:

"Redko v techenii moey jizni xot' kakaia-libo lodka prixodila s severa, a na vostochnom beregu mnojatsa orki" - skazal _____, - "Esli vi poidete vpered, opasnost budet rasti s kajdoi milei, daje esli vi smojete naiti put' "

lodka = boat
redko = rarely
sever = North
opasnost = danger

[Mariska Greenleaf]

"Seldom in my life has any boat come out of the North, and the orcs prowl on the east-shore, " said Boromir, " If you go forward, peril will grow with every mile, even if you find a path."

Boromir to Aragorn.

[HerenIstarion]

Spot on. Take it over

[Mariska Greenleaf]

Thanks!

The next one will be in dutch...

"Hij mag dan wel van schepen houden, mijn dochter, omdat ze gemaakt zijn door het verstand en de handen van mannen; maar ik denk dat het niet de winden of de grote zeeën zijn die zijn hart in vuur zetten, en ook niet de aanblik van vreemde landen, maar een warmte in zijn hoofd, of één of andere droom die hem achtervolgt."

[Mithalwen]

"Ships he may love, my daughter, for those are made by men's minds and hands; but I think that it is not the winds or the great waters that so burn his heart, nor yet the sight of strange lands, but some heat in his mind, or some dream that pursues him." Nuneth to Erendis, Aldarion and Erendis, Unfinished Tales.

[Mariska Greenleaf]

Good job!! Your turn.

[Mithalwen]

With many apologies since it is a very long time sinceI attempted a French prose piece and my "serieux" dictionary has disintegrated - and I am afraid - you will have to manage without accents :

"Mais, pour tout cela, La Mort ne partit pas du pays. Au contraire elle venait plus tot et plus souvent et en catamini. Antan, les hommes viellissaient lentement et se coucherent a reposer finalement, quand ils se lassaient enfin du monde, alors la folie et la maladie les assaillaient, pourtant ils avaient peur de mourir, d'entrer dans le noir, le royaume du seigneur qu'ils avaient pris, et ils se maudissaient dans leur agonie."

[HerenIstarion]

It's from AKALLABÊTH. Technically it is not a quote, but a description of a decay that befell the men of Westernesse in the time of last kings:

But for all this Death did not depart from the land, rather it came sooner and more often, and in many dreadful guises. For whereas aforetime men had grown slowly old, and had laid them down in the end to sleep, when they were weary at last of the world, now madness and sickness assailed them; and yet they were afraid to die and go out into the dark, the realm of the lord that they had taken; and they cursed themselves in their agony

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by HerenIstarion

It's from AKALLABÊTH. Technically it is not a quote, but a description of a decay that befell the men of Westernesse in the time of last kings:

Sorry .... lost track of the rules ..was thinking quote from book rather than quote of person .. but you are quite right....... so silly of me ... I could have done without the past historic!!! It is all yours HI

[HerenIstarion]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Sorry .... lost track of the rules ..was thinking quote from book rather than quote of person

No worries . Make sure you make it clear next time, though - that is, mark it with 'author's narrative' flag or something

Well, well, well. It seems we haven't had obscure languages for a while. Let it be Arabic:

A’mallu an la eestaruhhu abadan ar-reehee t-tufahee

Not to make it impossible right from the start, here's the clue:

At-tufah=apple

PS And I hope there are no Arabs proper around to mock out my pathetic attempts

[Guinevere]

Hm, I can only think of two instances where apples are mentioned, and all three sentences somehow don't fit this arabic quote. In two of them, the apples aren't at the end , and the third sentence is too short.

[HerenIstarion]

The original the quote is translated from has the apples not exactly in the end, but one word prior. I don't know the proper grammatical term in English, but in Arabic, if something belongs/proceeds to/from something else, the 'owner/originator' has to be put in the end of the construction, if you follow my meaning

Clumsy paragon: in English, 'Donny's book' and 'book of Donny' are equally correct forms, in Arabic only 'book of Donny' may be used

Another hint: Quoth the Dwarven (Nevermore)

[Mithalwen]

And yet they are not quite interchangeable ... and now I know exactly what it is - it is the dwarf who grumbled about his barrel smelling of apples and he was hungry but now out he could eat anything for hours on end - but not an apple ... and I don't have the Hobbit with me and I can't remember the dwarf's name - but it wan't Quoth!

So are you an Edgar Allen Poe fan or is that just from TP?

[HerenIstarion]

'Mithalwen, say I, 'My Lady, my applauses for your lore;
For the fact is it was Fili and so grumbling he came nagging,
With his empty belly sagging, soaked on the barrel floor,
That he scarce was sure he heard him- Bilbo opening freedom's door!'

Exact quote is the following:

I hope I never smell the smell of apples again

Nevermore (in this case, never + again) = abadan

Now you serve, and nothing more!

[Mithalwen]

Why thank you kind sir ... I rather hoped someone might produce the exact quote and spare me the unequal struggle a little longer.... at least I can spare myself teh past historic if I quote speech ... but the perfect tense has all those horrid agreeements ... Alors ...... it will alas be French again .... unless I find a short and simple quote......

Quoth the raven was a bit of a joke even before Mr Pratchett ..... someone famous, after a especially disagreable stay wrote in the Visitor's book of some hosue or hotel "Quoth the Raven..."

[HerenIstarion]

Um, seems you forgot to give us a quote, my lady

[Mithalwen]

Didn't forget.... still puzzling over verb tables and lexicons.. ...tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow..

[Mithalwen]

"Le destin ne tient toujours qu' a un fil" Of course there should be an accent on the a

[Mithalwen]

Is my French so bad or is a clue required? It is the kind of cheerful thing he would say...

[Guinevere]

Your French is excellent, but the sentence hasn't rung a bell yet... Is it in LotR ?

[Mithalwen]

Since this has been so long, I shall be more specific... it is in the Two Towers and you have a little clue as to who..

[Guinevere]

Found it at last ! It's Gandalf to Théoden :

"Doom hangs still on a thread"

[Mithalwen]

Yes thats it - Hooray!!!!! It is tricksy - I find it hard to locate and I chose it!!! Well done!!!

[Guinevere]

Thank you, Mithalwen!

How about some Italian ?

Un uomo che fugge della sua paura puó trovare che ha soltanto preso un abrevviazione per incontrarla.

[Mithalwen]

I always meant to learn italian properly ... hmm can make out a few words but so far a bit beyond my coffee ordering, room booking skills combined with a fondness for opera and a small pinch of latin

[Guinevere]

But in fact, Italian is rather similar to French... ( My Italian is founded on my knowlegde of French! perhaps you try looking at it from that viewpoint.
Fuggire = fuir, paura = peur

[Mithalwen]

I guessed fugge from tempus fugit "Time flies" and uomo is man trovare to find... maybe so hmm "A man who flees his fear may find that ..... hmmmm abbreviation... shortened ..... no funghi so not a short cut to mushrooms.... *goes to find Italian dictionary*

[Guinevere]

You've got everything right so far, Mithalwen.
abbreviation does stand for shortcut!
further hints: ha = (he) has, incontrare = to meet
( And it's not in the LotR )