Ambermoon.net German Translation Help

[alexh]

Hi,

In Ambermoon there are these "STONE HEADS" also known as riddlemouths because they ask a rhyming clue and expect a one word answer.

In Amberstar all the translations were done by people who understood the game but for Ambermoon German->English translation was outsourced and they did quite a few literal translations that don't work in English or at least not as well and most of the time they don't rhyme.

Can any German native players have a look at some of these riddles and help us create better translations. Ones that work and also rhyme?

I'll start off with this one :

ICH HAB ZWEI FLšGEL UND KANN NICHT FLIEGEN
I HAB EINEN RšCKEN UND KANN NICHT LIEGEN
ICH HABE EIN BEIN UND KANN NICHT STEHEN
I TRAG EINE BRILLE UND KANN NICHT SEHEN

Here is the English:

I HAVE TWO WINGS AND CANNOT FLY
I HAVE A BACK AND CANNOT LIE
I HAVE A LEG AND CANNOT STAND
I WEAR SPECTACLES AND CANNOT SEE

The answer is "NOSE". I don't get the first 3 clues in English. (A nose has two wings? a back? a leg?)

The third clue is ok, I understand the reference to nose, but the last two lines do not rhyme like the German version.

Any suggestions?

I'll post some more if I get good feedback.

[alexh]

The feedback I got from Pyrdacor was :

"FLÜGEL" (english WINGS) are the nasal wings so this exists in english as well.
"RÜCKEN" (english BACK) is the nasal bridge in english. So maybe you should use "BRIDGE" in english.
"BEIN" (english LEG) is the nasal bone in english. So maybe you should use "BONE" here somehow.The german riddle uses terms like "wings", "back" and "leg" in another context. So maybe you should do this with "bridge" and "bone" as well.

So maybe :

I HAVE TWO WINGS AND CANNOT FLY
I HAVE A BRIDGE YOU CANNOT TRY
I HAVE A BONE TO A DEGREE
I WEAR SPECTACLES BUT CANNOT SEE

[alexh]

The clues to the next one are much better in English but it doesn't rhyme at all :

ICH HAB EIN LOCH UND MACH EIN LOCH
UND SCHLšPFE AUCH DURCH DIESES NOCH
KAUM BIN ICH DURCH, SO STOPFT IM NU
ES MEINE LANGE SCHŽRPE ZU

I HAVE A HOLE AND MAKE A HOLE
AND ALSO SLIP THROUGH THIS HOLE
HARDLY AM I THROUGH, IT IS BLOCKED IN A SECOND
BY MY LONG TAIL.

The answer is SEWING NEEDLE

[alexh]

Hmmm, I'm not very literary

I HAVE A HOLE AND MAKE A HOLE
GOING THROUGH THINGS IS MY ROLE
NO SOONER AM I THROUGH
MY TAIL CLOSES IT LIKE GLUE

One more :

ICH BIN AM FASS EIN FESTES BAND
EIN SPIELZEUG BIN ICH IN KINDERHAND
EIN SCHMUCK AM FINGER EINER BRAUT
EIN FLOR IM FELD, BEVOR ES TAUT

The translation is good but again it doesn't rhyme.

I AM A FIRM BAND ON A BARREL
A TOY AM I IN THE HAND OF A CHILD
JEWELLERY ON THE FINGER OF A BRIDE
AND THE SOUND OF THE BELL

I think this is as close a riddle as I can get to rhyme

I AM THE BARRELS BAND
A TOY IN A CHILDS HAND
JEWELLERY ON THE FINGER OF A BRIDE
THE SOUND A BELL MAKES INSIDE

[dlfrsilver]

I have processed the riddles in french Alex, because even from english it was not great, or unsuited.

Can you tell me the text number where those are ?

[alexh]

2Map_texts.amb sub-file 1A0/416

J'AI DEUX AILES ET NE PEUT PAS VOLER
J'AI UN DOS ET NE PEUT PAS M'ALLONGER
J'AI UNE JAMBE ET NE TIENT PAS DEBOUT
JE PORTE DES LUNETTES ET NE PEUT PAS VOIR

DOTEE D'UN TROU, CELA M'HONORE
GLISSE ET GLISSE ENCORE
A PEINE ENTREE, DEJA BLOQUEE
MA TIGE EST LONGUE ET EFFILEE

SUR LE TONNEAU, SOLIDE ET CERCLANT
DANS LA MAIN D'UN ENFANT, QUI Y JOUE EN COURANT
AU DOIGT D'UNE FIANCEE, LIE DEUX AMES SOEURS
SUR LA FLEUR DU SOLEIL, SES RAYONS, SON ARDEUR

[dlfrsilver]

Originally Posted by alexh

2Map_texts.amb sub-file 1A0/416

My translations are great right !

[alexh]

I can't read French enough to tell. They rhyme. Not sure about the last one. Flower of the sun?

[dlfrsilver]

Originally Posted by alexh

I can't read French enough to tell. They rhyme. Not sure about the last one. Flower of the sun?

yes because the flower makes a perfect circle