Translate to Spanish, advanced students, Natives allowed!!
Ray is a master of figurative speech , no wonder he received like 20 Valentines 
...he starts talking and that is it...we all fall for him
This text was posted here 
jeje
Anyway, that is those of us who understand more or less what he is saying, like here (for example) 
Cogumela said, hey, this is lovely, but what does it mean? 
jeje, so let's do it.
Translate to Spanish: This is a difficult translation excercise so only advanced students please!!
Natives allowed, even though no bilingual guys like Gekko or usarenzo Green man, you are out
I am still asking myself...what is the rabbit thing all about
I am bereft, bemused , besotted with stultifying gut wrenching grief, sad even.
Heartbroken maybe , but definitely mortifyingly mystified as to why I was left
hanging by my epaulets ,forsaken and lonely like an abandoned birds nest in the
snow. Shocked shaken and shattered ,but not stirred , well maybe less ice and
grenadine and more vodka next time , supposing there is a" next time", perhaps
because we are a little wet and windblown down here I am being given a gentle nudge
in the ,well, you know , we do live in the nether regions , but you should not let
nethers come between friends . Maybe I should put it down to a communication
gaff, after all you do speak a rather strange language up there top-side, so I shall
forgive you ,just put me in next time , oh and thank your mom for the Rabbits
24 Answers
Mi intento
Me siento privado de cariño, me pasmo, me siento perplejo por una pesadumbre que me parece más pesada de lo que pueda aguantar. Temo que me haya entristecido, quizás hasta tal punto que ya me quedo con el corazón roto. De todas maneras, no puedo creer, ni mucho menos empezar a comprender por qué razón fui abandonado por todo el mundo, olvidado y dejado solo, tan solo como un nido abandonado en la nieve más frígida del mundo.
Destrozado, perturbado, agitado pero sin mover, ni mucho menos, revuelto...pues, en el próximo cóctel quizás deberíamos añadir menos hielo y jarabe, y más vodka, eso será suponiendo que para mí, haya "una próxima vez." Es decir que no estoy tan seguro de que tenga otra oportunidad --- ya que porque nos azota el viento y la lluvia por aquí abajo y la verdad es que (me siento un poco presionado a fugarme???) es como si me dieran una patadita en los...pues, ya lo sabéis que sí, vivimos en el trasero del mundo pero nunca debería ocurrir que nuestra amistad se vea afectada por eso
Tal vez, debería anotarlo como una brecha en las comunicaciones, después de todo, está visto que habláis una idioma tan raro por allá arriba, y por eso, os perdonaré, pero, por favor, invitadme la próxima vez, ah sí, y por cierto, yo también os quiero
I'm sure that this is probably riddled with errors, but I tried my best. In any case, this somewhat disjointed and humorous diatribe reminds me a lot of that translation exercise you once posted a while back by that Spanish comedian (whose name slips my mind right now...or maybe it was just written in his disjointed style—I can't quite remember). In any case, I am sure that I will probably be sitting under the dunce corner after this one. 
So, as Ray said,
G'day Heidi, I think your idea to use my post about being left out of the chat, just brilliant , I would like to award Izzanoni the" Golden Rabbit " for the best translation in both Spanish and English . Ray.
Here it is
Bueno, esto ha sido simplemente, genial. Ahora por lo menos lo he entendido. Voy a intentarlo ' a lo Quijote' y a ver qué sale:
Me siento abatido, atónito, desnortado so inmensa pena, diríase que cabizbajo. Con el corazón hecho añicos, más aún, presa del desconcierto que me provoca el haber sido abandonado, relegado cual nido de pájaros desamparado en la gélida nieve. Vacilante mi espíritu, vencido y aniquilado, mas no sublevado, en grado tal que se le antoja acaso oportuno que se privare de hielo y granadina el próximo lance en beneficio del vodka, presumiendo que tal lance aconteciese.
La sola idea me infunde recelo y vitupera mi alma como ingrato golpe rastrero en los susodichos, pues bien sabéis que mi morada no es sino un abismo azotado por cruentas inclemencias atmosféricas. Cierto es, que habitamos las posaderas de este mundo, mas dicha suerte no debiera ser el germen impulsor del demoronamiento de la nuestra camaradería.
Lo achacaré tan solo al insolente capricho de las modernas telecomunicaciones, al cabo vuestro verbo es de tan excéntrica naturaleza que, excepcionalmente, me inclino a concederos el perdón siempre y cuando el convite a la próxima velada se desenvuelva oportunamente. A vuestra reconocida merced quedo.
Ok, then. Let me please start by saying that this is definitely the finest piece of whining I've ever read in my life.
This is one of those cases where I am really happy to be able to understand the original text, because it is just so deliciously well written! I hesitate to even attempt a translation, because I know I lack the language mastery required to faithfully reproduce the wonderful alliterations, the delightful word play, and the exquisite sense of irony that the whole piece distills.
Hats off to you, Sir Ray, an thank you for a most excellent and entertaining piece of writing.
Before I proceed with my humble effort, I'd like to make a comment on a couple of the decisions I felt compelled to make in translating this text. I decided to use the "vos" form, because I think it gives a more formal and dramatic tone to the piece in Spanish. I wish I were able to reproduce the alliterations that Ray used. It may be possible, but I truly don't have the skill or the vocabulary to be able to attempt it in a reasonable amount of time. I consider it a big loss in my translation.
Finally, even as I write, I've been debating what to do about the "rabbit" line at the end. I can't think of a suitably equivalent expression in Spanish, or at least one that wouldn't cause the same level of confusion as the original did in English. Clearly it is very much a regional expression that does not make much sense outside its cultural context. So in the end I believe I'll do the same as the others who offered a translation, and render it literally. I can't help feeling it is a bit of an "easy" or lame solution, and I consider it another big loss. Be as it may, here's what I came up with:
"Encuéntrome desolado, estupefacto y anonadado con una aflicción desgarradora al punto del embrutecimiento; hasta triste, diría yo.
Desconsolado, tal vez, y sin duda, mortificadoramente desconcertado en lo concerniente a las razones por las cuales me habéis dejado aquí, colgando de mis charreteras, sólo y abandonado como un nidillo en la nieve.
Conmocionado, sacudido y destrozado, mas no agitado; bueno, tal vez menos hielo y granadina, y más vodka para la próxima, suponiendo, eso sí, que hubiere una "próxima vez".
Tal vez sea por encontrarnos un tanto mojados y abatidos por el viento, que se me ha propinado un ligero empujoncillo en mis... y bueno, despúes de todo vivimos en las regiones bajas, ¿no?, pero no debemos permitir que las bajezas se cuelen entre amigos.
Tal vez debería atribuirlo a un lapsus en las comunicaciones; después de todo vosotros habláis un extraño lenguaje allá, en lo alto del mundo, así que he de perdonaros. Tan solo incluídme la próxima vez, y de paso agradeced a vuestra madre por los conejos."
Wow, great, so nobody dares to at least give it a try???
¡¡Cobardes!!
Gekko, esto son algunas de las joyas en el Café
Ray es el rey..en fin, ¡¡hasta rima!! jeje
There are many stories explaining the phrase "thank your mom for the Rabbits",
it is always a throw away line as you say goodbye,and is not cynical but very
friendly and comical, below is one explanation but by no means the only one.
Years ago, pregnancy tests were performed by injecting rabbits with the woman's urine. In order to see if the woman were pregnant the rabbit had to be killed, and its ovaries examined. Although the rabbit ALWAYS died, it became common for a woman to tell someone she was pregnant by saying "the rabbit died"
So, thank you mother for the rabbit means to thank your mother that you are alive.
This is not the story that I believe explains it , but it is an amusing one.
Too hard for a beginner like me
. . .but I do understand the bit about the rabbit 
Oh my god this is impossible, I will try of course with my dictionary in hand.
Estoy perdido, perplejo, atontado con sofocante pena desgarradora, incluso triste. Con el corazón roto quizás, pero en definitiva mortíferamente desconcertado por el por qué fui abandonado colgando mis charreteras, abandonado y sólo como un nido de pájaros abandonado en la nieve. Perplejo, sacudido y destrozado, pero no agitado, quizá menos hielo y granadina y más vodka la próxima vez, suponiendo que habrá una "próxima vez", tal vez por que estamos un poco mojados y pega el viento aquí abajo estoy recibiendo un pequeño codazo en el, bueno, ya sabes(n), vivimos en las regiones bajas, pero no deberías dejar venir a un "bajo" venir entre amigos. Quizá debí ponerlo como un garfio de comunicación, después de todo hablas(n) un lenguaje muy raró por allá arriba, así que he de perdonarte, sólo méteme la próxima vez, a, y agradece a tu mamá por los conejos.
So so so so sick, maniac, frustrating, I don't like English anymore, from now I am spending all my spare time learning "Deutsch". Please don't correct this, I will cry if you do jaja, I know this is completely wrong.
Alright, what with all the whimsical metaphors and its disjointed nature, I thought this passage (a masterpiece, by the way) probably deserved an English translation as much as it did a Spanish one. In any case, here is my best shot:
I am beside myself with grief. I feel sad, lonely and left out, possibly even heartbroken. In any case, I certainly can't understand why I was excluded. It made me feel shunned and alone. It left me feeling like one of those drinks in those old James Bond films, "Shaken, not stirred." Well the next time you decide to have another of those fancy shindigs, before giving me the cold shoulder, please just don't forget who always brings the vodka to spice up the party. That is to say if there ever is a "next time." Being left out coupled with all this nasty weather we've been having down here, I feel like someone is trying to tell me something. Oh well, we do live "down under," so I guess I shouldn't let circumstances bring me down even more, and I certainly shouldn't let such an oversight come between friends. Maybe I should just chalk it up to being a communication breakdown. After all, there is quite a bit of difference between the way we speak English down here and the way that it is spoken in other parts of the world. So I guess all that's left to say is that I forgive you, that and please don't leave me out of the next chat. Get 'er done! (just another meaningless throwaway phrase).
OK one quick question for you Ray...I understand that metaphorically speaking, you are the vodka that adds life to the party (as only you can, of course ), but I would like to know whether you are specifically calling someone out as being "cold as ice" or was the ice a metaphor simply used to describe the general way in which you felt left out in the cold? I suppose this would characterize the rest of the participants as "syrupy sweet" like grenadine? 
Estoy pasmado, confundido, anonadado, con una pena muy honda que me desgarra las entrañas, hasta triste. Descorazonado, quizá, pero en definitiva desconcertado hasta la médula por saber por qué me dejaron colgado de las charreteras, solo y abandonado como un nido vacío en la nieve. Sacudido y hecho trizas, pero no agitado, bueno, quizá un poco menos hielo y granadina y más vodka para la próxima vez, suponiendo que haya una próxima vez, quizá porque estamos un poco llovidos y mojados acá abajo me dan una patadita en los... bueno, ya saben dónde, vivimos en las simas, pero no deberían dejar que las simas se interpongan entre los amigos. Quízá debería achacarlo todo a un problema de comunicación, después de todo ustedes hablan un idioma más bien raro allá arriba, en cubierta, así que voy a perdonarlos, sólo inclúyanme la próxima vez. Ah, y denle las gracias a mamá por los Conejos.
I took one look at
"bereft, bemused , besotted with stultifying..." and I just gave up. I need a drink.
I would like to award Izzanoni the" Golden Rabbit " for the best translation in both Spanish and English . Ray.
Such an undeserved honor deserves a fitting response:
I am staggered, astonished, astounded and stunned with ponderous periphrastic perplexity, perhaps permanently so. Knocked for six or maybe even seven, or perhaps I was simply caught standing beside that befuddling baker’s dozen when the loop came through; all the same (give or take an expression or two) I could not have been more stupified had those six that enlisted been of such exceeding and extravagant fortitude that the master upon word would have been steamed, stilted, stymied and stunned, and possibly even snubbed for not knowing nor knowing naught of proper knuckle wrapping technique. At the very least and in less words (lest I lose laudation for lack of less is more)—I was surprised!
Of course now that I have most grandiosely and graciously garnered that much maligned yet surreptitiously sought after most holy of holies, the grail of gael passed topsy turvy from head to tail, or rather from tail to head—may I utter “al revés?” Dare I claim the throne? Would my nethers reasonably or regionably conform or yet fittingly find convenient that most coveted of coventries sought yet shunned, envied yet loathed, both world and wide by the very interlingual renditioners and wranglers, who discovering that talent dug deep in my depths might lift me up high atop shoulders to but dash me down deftly from the hill, pail left lying feet from my crown?
If I may speak so frankly, or even ostentatiously as a purified Aussie—though it may be that it come out more putrified than purified; that is to say barely better than bodgy—if I might be so blunt, then Yes! I accept.
And with all due respect to the trio of nearly triumphant yet tragically less tin-arsed than I. Aye! I will excuse you if you feel the need to bellow or yet rather belch out a technicolor salute to my technical yet tantalizing travesty of the tongue or possibly two tongued, yet never forked. So yes I will eat what you have put on my plate, everything but the turnips, for I am allergic to all roots, unless, of course, they happen to be conjugated, but just don’t expect me to go back for seconds. Oh yes….and I almost forgot: Please thank your mother for the rabbits!
P.S. I will be posting a video of myself along with this note just to show you all that **the award has not gone to my head**.
Oh and P.P.S To all those who triumphantly terrorized, plucking at my Southern roots (or canopy to some), while caterwauling cantankerously like certified loons, chanting with maleficent odium that most odious of odious tunes, "Hey Southern boy! Ain't ain't gonna be in no dictionary no time soon!" To all of you, I have but one thing to say.....Ha!
Oh my word!!! Yes three exclamations, wonderfully written and Oh! so humorous.
I don´t think I know anyone that could retain the ¨color¨in translation.
During the depression of the 1930s Australia suffered greatly, many families were
short of money and food A lot of the large families with sons would have them
go into the paddocks to catch Rabbits which were plentiful and free. Having an
oversupply the mothers would send off their surplus to those in need , when
the recipients of this largess would meet up with them , at the market ,or
down at the pub they would always say to them on leaving ,( to avoid embarrassment)
" Thank your mother for the Rabbits) it gradually over time morphed into a phrase
that would be said on departing like ," Hoo roo mate, thank your mom for the Rabbits"
it had no real meaning other than perhaps ,"hey we are all in the same boat and
we appreciate and understand each other" , it is an affectionate saying , not cynical
or ironic , merely a friendly gesture of sharing and caring.
The happiest moment of reading this thread was when I realized that nobody else was going to try to translate it to Spanish!
The funniest was when I saw that Izanoni translated it to English!
Izan, amazing, jeje, I did not expect anybody to dare. I certainly couln't have put it any better way.
Ray, but the nudge in the....in the where? I would have thought the ...you know what , hmmm, down there?? lol, well not culo anyway, or was that it?
me siento un poco presionado a fugarme???)
Why did you say this?
I chose the last sentence as we often say this when somebody kicks us right in the butt...we are sarcastic about it and say: yo también te quiero...jeje
I only corrected the parts with mistakes and tildes...and some small parts I understood through context, jeje
All this was about leaving him out on the Saturday chat Which we did not do actually, he simply did not turn up!!
