Googlese

This is really funny.  OK, first, my Chinese has deteriorated  so much over the years. I tried to translate the prologue of my WIP (you heard me, I wrote a prologue. Bwhahaha) from English to Chinese, and it took me over two hours. It's hilarious. But I rather liked the result.

Here's the Chinese version of the opening paragraph:


馬來亞, 一九四三年四月

 男孩死了只近三小時, 屍體已發了臭,蒼蠅在享受漂亮的大餐。另外的一個年青人待着屍體旁邊,啪走面上的蒼蠅。他已慣了腐爛和屎尿的臭味。其他的大漢不是睡着了就是望著黑黑的空間,跟隨貨運列車搖盪。他不知道他們的名字:他們只在兩天前見面的。在這地方及環境,名字是太親切了,他不要跟誰友好。其實,他也不在乎:他不須要再跟那個在彭亨來的農民男孩談話了。



Confused? Don't know Chinese? Here's the English version:




The boy had been dead for three hours, but in the thick heat his body was already reeking, the flies busy partaking in their beautiful meal. The young man hunched over the corpse and swatted the flies from his own face. He had gotten used to the miasma of rot and human waste. The other men were either sleeping or staring blankly at the dark space as they shook with the motion of the freight train. He did not know their names; they had barely met two days ago. Out here, knowing someone's name would become too intimate a gesture, and he needed no attachments. In a way, he was glad he no longer had to talk to the peasant boy from Pahang.


So far so good.... but here's the kicker. I ran the translated Chinese through Google-Translate again, and here's what came out of that:

The boy died only last three hours, the body has made a foul fly in to enjoy a beautiful meal. Another button next to the body of a young, black flies walking surface. He has used the decay and the smell of urine to suppress. The other man is not asleep is looking at the dark space, follow freight trains sway. He did not know their names: they are only two days ago informative. In this place and the environment, the name is too warm, and whom he should not friendship. In fact, he did not care: he does not need to talk to the security of farmers in 100 boys conversation.


Now, that's just funny.


Comments

June Kramin said…
OMG! That's great! : roll :
Pug and Sue said…
I love to translate stuff from English, to another language, and back. Always a funny result. :D
Ray Wong said…
It certainly is. Or the other way around. Find something written in a foreign language and translate it back and forth... LOL. I can do that all day.

Popular Posts