d'une légèreté très sensible comparativement à
English translation: is noticeably lighter in weight than that of other mirrors
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| 18:02 Jun 5, 2017 |
| French to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Archaeology / ancient art | |||||
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|  Selected response from: Christopher Crockett Local time: 12:57 | ||||
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| Summary of answers provided | ||||
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| 3 +1 | lightness (etc.) |
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| 3 | is noticeably lighter in weight than that of other mirrors |
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| Discussion entries: 1 | |
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Answers
2 hrs confidence: 
peer agreement (net): +1
peer agreement (net): +1| d\'une légèreté très sensible comparativement à lightness (etc.) Explanation: I think lightness is a better choice than flimsiness because (1) the meanings of the word lightness can include flimsiness and (2) the preceding sentence about straightening by hand, etc. already tells us it is flimsy, so there would be no need to say "en meme temps" it is flimsy. |
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18 hrs confidence:
| d\'une légèreté très sensible comparativement à is noticeably lighter in weight than that of other mirrors Explanation: Bronze, plated with pewter or iron [sic??]. The completely flat disk, despite its relative thickness, is noticeably lighter in weight than that of other mirrors, possessing a certain amount of flexibility which allows it to be adjusted by hand. I've done considerable damage to the syntax of the original, partly in order to try and make sense out of some apparent contradictions within the description. And I'm still not sure that I understand how what he appears to be saying is possible with the object he is describing: Lessee, the disk has a bronze core, plated with pewter or iron[??], and is thicker than some/most of the others, yet it is thin enough to be flexible enough to be deformed/distorted/adjusted by hand? (And yet, presumably, the other, thinner disks were *not* capable of being so adjusted?? Makes no sense, to me.) Plus, it is not at all clear to me why B. cannot make the (relatively easy?) distinction between a plating over the bronze of pewter (which polishes relatively easily, but only tarnishes with oxidation) and iron (which polishes with some difficulty and *rusts* with oxidation). The only way I can see that the disk can be thicker, and yet *lighter* in weight is if the bronze core is relatively thin and the (lighter weight) pewter (surely not iron) plating is relatively thick. This might account for the fact that the disk is capable of being "distorted" by hand --pewter is certainly more malleable than bronze (or, for that matter, iron). -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 18 hrs (2017-06-06 12:51:39 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- As a purely practical matter (and not at all relevant to the problem of translation), is it really possible to polish either pewter or iron to a high enough degree to serve as a *cosmetic* mirror (i.e., capable of reflecting a face)? On the other hand, if the purpose of the mirror is to reflect/replicate/capture the disk of the sun in the disk of the mirror --in a "liturgical" context-- then I should think that either one of these metals (or, for that matter, bronze) would do the job. |
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