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Sample translations submitted: 1
English to French: 6th ProZ.com Translation Contest - Entry #4652
Source text - English Eroticism has this in common with an addictive drug: that there is a coercive element to its pleasure with which part of us is in complicity, and part not. Thus ever since time began men have been trying to enjoy eroticism without being destroyed by it. Societies, religions can be defined in the way they deal with this conundrum. Polygamy, monogamy with repression, monogamy with affairs, monogamy with prostitutes, serial monogamy. Not to mention individual solutions of great ingenuity, or desperation: Victor Hugo with the door knocked through the wall of his office, to let in a girl each afternoon. Auden's flair for finding call-boys in every town. Picasso who simply refused when wife and mistress demanded he choose between them. Then there is always the hair-shirt of course. But perhaps the thing to remember when you wake up with a life full of fresh paint and tortuous complications is that eroticism wasn't invented for you, nor merely for the survival of the species perhaps, but for a divinity's entertainment. Nothing generates so many opportunities for titillation and schadenfreude as eroticism. Which is why it lies at the centre of so much narrative. How the gods thronged the balconies of heaven to see the consequences of Helen's betrayal! And your friends are watching too. Your antics have put the shine on many a late-night conversation.
On the borders between mythology and history, that wily survivor Odysseus was the first who learnt to trick the gods. And perhaps his smartest trick of all was that of lashing himself to the mast before the Sirens came in earshot. There are those of course who are happy to stand at the railings, even scan the horizon. Otherwise, choose your mast, find the ropes that suit you: sport, workaholism, celibacy with prayerbook and bell... But the kindest and toughest ropes of all are probably to be found in some suburban semi-detached with rowdy children and a woman who never allows the dust to settle for too long.
Translation - French Eros, un essai de Tim Parks.
Tel une drogue, l’érotisme, procure un plaisir tyrannique capable de nous faire complice ou ennemi. Ainsi, depuis toujours, les hommes cherchent à jouir de l’érotisme sans se laisser détruire. Sociétés et religions peuvent être définies par leur réponse à cette énigme. Polygamie, monogamie répressive, monogamie et amantes, monogamie avec des prostituées, monogamie en série. Sans oublier les solutions individuelles témoignant d’une grande ingéniosité, ou détresse : Victor Hugo abattant un mur de son bureau pour y installer une porte par laquelle une fille pénétrait chaque après-midi. L’instinct d’Auden pour trouver des call-boys dans chaque port. Le refus péremptoire de Picasso quand femme et maîtresse exigeaient qu’il choisisse. Et, bien sûr, l’intemporelle mortification. Mais peut-être que la chose à ne pas oublier dans cette vie aux possibilités infinies et aux complications tortueuses est que l'érotisme n'a pas été inventé pour vous, ni probablement pour la survie des espèces, mais pour le plaisir d’une divinité. Rien n’est autant source de titillations et de joies malignes que l’érotisme. C’est pourquoi il est au cœur de tant d’histoires. Regardez comment les dieux se sont pressés aux balcons du paradis pour se délecter des conséquences de la trahison d’Hélène ! Et vos amis vous épient également. Vos cabrioles enflamment de nombreuses conversations tardives.
À la frontière entre mythologie et histoire, Ulysse le survivant habile fut le premier à découvrir comment piéger les dieux. Et sa plus grande ruse fut sûrement de s’attacher au mât avant que le chant des Sirènes ne l’envoûte. Bien sûr certains se contentent de regarder depuis la balustrade, ou d’admirer l’horizon. Mais pour les autres, choisissez votre mât et trouvez les cordes qui vous conviennent : le sport, l’ergomanie, le célibat muni d’un bréviaire et d’une cloche... Mais les cordes les plus douces et résistantes à la fois sont probablement une maison jumelée en banlieue, des enfants dissipés et une femme qui ne laisse jamais la poussière retomber.
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Bachelor's degree - University of Portsmouth
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Years of experience: 22. Registered at ProZ.com: Dec 2005.
Spanish to French (University of Barcelona) English to French (University of Portsmouth) German to French (University of Portsmouth) French to English (University of Portsmouth)
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