Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

y un inmenso manto de silencio y tristeza.

English translation:

under a cloak of silence and sorrow

Added to glossary by Cecilia Gowar
Sep 10, 2021 10:15
2 yrs ago
33 viewers *
Spanish term

y un inmenso manto de silencio y tristeza.

Non-PRO Spanish to English Other Poetry & Literature Fable.(Fiction)
I would like to know the best translation of this phrase from Spanish into American English. Translator colleagues from Spain, feel free to send me your suggestions as well.

This is from the story about The flautist of Hamelin.

Here is the full paragraph:

En la ciudad sólo quedaron sus opulentos habitantes y sus bien repletos graneros y bien provistas despensas, protegidas por sus sólidas murallas y un inmenso manto de silencio y tristeza.

Y esto fue lo que sucedió hace muchos, muchos años, en este desierto y vacío........
Change log

Sep 14, 2021 18:38: Michele Fauble changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Sep 15, 2021 11:28: Cecilia Gowar Created KOG entry

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (3): Toni Castano, philgoddard, Michele Fauble

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Discussion

José Patrício Sep 11, 2021:
Yes, I know, but metaphorical come from reality.
Carol Gullidge Sep 11, 2021:
José A literary translator would know that this “mantle of…” is purely metaphorical
José Patrício Sep 11, 2021:
a huge covering to protect from cold​. 1. See answer. Unlocked badge showing an astronaut's boot touching down on the moon
yugoslavia (asker) Sep 10, 2021:
Hi Miss Kristina and Carol,

Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.

Yugoslavia
Kristina Love Sep 10, 2021:
I don't know which Answer to agree with because I would combine them. I think it's important to include "and" because the mantle/cloak of silence and sorrow, along with the solid walls, make up part of what is protecting the city. Even though that doesn't make the most sense, it is what the author said.
Carol Gullidge Sep 10, 2021:
Agree with Phil “A huge covering” does not work in EN :((
It is quite meaningless!
yugoslavia (asker) Sep 10, 2021:
Thanks Jose Patricio.
philgoddard Sep 10, 2021:
No.
José Patrício Sep 10, 2021:
And a huge covering of silence and sadness

Proposed translations

+7
41 mins
Selected

under a cloak of silence and sorrow

You could also say "wrapped in deep silence and sorrow"
Note from asker:
Muchas gracias Cecilia.
Peer comment(s):

agree philgoddard : I think you should say immense/huge/whatever.
4 mins
Thanks Phil!
agree Toni Castano : Don´t forget the "immensity" of the cloak.
4 mins
Thanks Toni! I would not add a superlative to cloak. I considered "deep sorrow" but the whole phrase sounded too verbse in English.
agree Sergio Kot
24 mins
Thanks Sergio!
agree Orkoyen (X)
3 hrs
Thanks Okoyen
agree Michele Fauble
7 hrs
Thanks Michele!
agree David Hollywood : add "immense" and it's a go
16 hrs
Thanks David!
agree neilmac : Maybe "great cloak" (am not keen on huge/gigantic/immense etc.)... And "great cloak of silence" gets some relevant hits...
19 hrs
Thanks Neil!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Muchas gracias Cecilia."
+1
45 mins

and a gigantic mantle of silence and sorrow

suggestion
Note from asker:
Thanks Miss Peters.
Peer comment(s):

agree Kristina Love : I'd change the word "gigantic," probably to "immense" or "vast," but otherwise I like this translation.
1 day 4 hrs
thank you, Kristina! My first instinct was to use immense but I tried not to bee too literal...
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

Enveloped in silence and sorrow

Enveloped covers (haha) the notion of completely / blanket
Note from asker:
Thanks Ormiston.
Something went wrong...
4 hrs

blanketed by a great cloud of silence and sadness

An idea.
Note from asker:
Thanks Orkoyen.
Something went wrong...
5 hrs

shrouded in an impenetrable great wall of silence and deep sorrow

Not literal, but such texts allow for poetic licence and it has greater dramatic impact as a result;

All that remained of the city were its opulent inhabitants and their well-stocked granaries and larders, shrouded in an impenetrably great wall of silence and deep sadness.

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Note added at 5 hrs (2021-09-10 15:25:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or turn 'impenetrable' into an adverb, thus : " an impenetrabLY great wall";
Note from asker:
Thanks Mr. Oliver.
Peer comment(s):

neutral Kristina Love : The metaphor of "shrouded in a wall" doesn't work for me...
1 day 41 mins
Yes, " shrouded BEHIND a wall..." would have been better, I agree;
Something went wrong...
+1
6 hrs

and a vast panoply of silence and sadness

I assume the problem is with manto.

One meaning of panoply is an array, the other a complete suit of armour, sd in s manto.

To forestall and anticipate predictable objections of 'this doesn't work', the example sentence combines both ideas of a noisy and silent panoply.

BTW, it's not the flautist, but the Pied Piper of Hamelin, as we oldies - coincidentally from the era of Yugoslavia under Marshall Tito - will know from the 1960s' hit single, inter alia by the English singer Crispian St. Peters.

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Note added at 6 hrs (2021-09-10 17:12:21 GMT)
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armour, as in manto .....
Example sentence:

Further to the BBC spokesperson’s observations, one of the sources of the film’s strength is the way that so far from hearing nothing, the moments of silence assembled here make audible a vast panoply of noises that are often obscured

Note from asker:
Thanks Miss Adrian.
I apologize Mr. Adrian.
Peer comment(s):

agree Kristina Love : I'm not sure I like "panoply" because I was only aware of the "array" meaning and don't know if most readers would know the other meaning either. Checks out as correct, though!
22 hrs
Thanks. Kristina. I also checked out that the answer works metaphorically and, crucially, includes the 'immenso' idea - which the answer chosen doesn't.
Something went wrong...
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