eran manzanas

Question

Yo creía que las brujas lo que llevaban este pastel a las casas ajenas, eran manzanas… ¡Ha de ser una nueva moda!-

The fragment above comes from a Mexican telenovela. A jealous maid is complaining because the woman next door brought over a cake for her boyfriend (the maid's boyfriend) . So it translates as,

"I was thinking that the witches that brought this cake to other people's houses were "manzanas". It must be some new style...."

So I'm thinking the maid is referring to the neighbor who brought her the cake as a "blockhead" or something similar, but I hadn't encountered that useage before. Just curious if anyone else has other thoughts on this?

J

Probably should be...las brujas*, las* que llevaban ... not that that answers your question. - webdunce, Oct 4, 2010

this fragment is not correctly copied...can you correct it? - 00494d19, Oct 4, 2010

I agree with Heidita. The way it is transcribed doesn't quite make sense. I can guess at what the original was, and I have a fair idea of what the woman meant, but the bit about "este pastel" kind of throws things off. - Gekkosan, Oct 4, 2010

Answer 1

Juanita -¿Así que trajo pastel? Yo creía que las brujas lo que llevaban a las casas ajenas, eran manzanas… ¡Ha de ser una nueva moda!-

Juanita - So she brought a cake / pie? I thought that what the witches brought to other people's homes were apples. It must be some new trend!

Juanita is obviously jealous and wary of this rival woman who took to trouble to bake a cake or pie and bring it in. To Juanita, she's an evil witch, and therefore"should" be bringing (poisoned) apples. Instead - to Juanita's chargrin- this (probably most appealing) witch brought a home-made pie. Still "evil and poisonous", no doubt, but a departure from the apple tradition.

Gracias G. Mi traducción no era la igual de tuyo, pero es lo que entendí. - Jeremias, Oct 5, 2010

Answer 2

Are you sure that it was a cake? pastel de manzana=apple pie

Yes I'm sure. - Jeremias, Oct 4, 2010

But I'll let you know after I speak with my friend Norma in DF who sent me the DVD. Thanks. - Jeremias, Oct 4, 2010

Bien divinido! Mira mi nota abajo. Gracias. - Jeremias, Oct 5, 2010

Answer 3

How about poisoned apples, from the fairy tale?

You thought the cakes were poisoned?

Just guessing, by the way! - LateToDinner, Oct 3, 2010

Gracias por tu idea... Voy a hablar con mi amiga mexicana que ya la ha visto - vamos a ver! - Jeremias, Oct 4, 2010

Bien divinido! Mira mi nota abajo. Gracias. - Jeremias, Oct 5, 2010

Answer 4

Perhaps it's a shortcut way of saying "manzanas podridas" or "manzanas de la discordia"???

Gracias! - Jeremias, Oct 5, 2010

Well, I was trying to make "apples" refer to the "brujas"...so I got it all wrong. But, oh well. :-) - webdunce, Oct 5, 2010

Answer 5

Discúlpame amigos de no responder más pronto. Quería hablar con mi amiga mexicana que me mando la telenovela originalmente. Primero, porque trataba de simplificarlo, lo hice un error en la transcripción. Aquí es el dialogo completo:

Juanita -¿Así que trajo pastel? Yo creía que las brujas lo que llevaban a las casas ajenas, eran manzanas… ¡Ha de ser una nueva moda!- George –Está sabroso- Juanita –Yo le hubiera puesto más levadura y batido mejor la masa… Le quedó duro.-

Pues, Juanita es celosa de la mujer que ha traído el pastel. Y dice algo que significa:

So she brought this cake? I think of the witches that brought gifts to the houses of others – were they (poisoned) apples? – This must be the new way of doing that!

Then she goes on to criticize the cake even though George thinks it’s delicious.

So, many thanks to those who puzzled through this with me. To all those who guessed about it being a reference to Snow White… I’m impressed! I didn’t get that and I had the entire context.

Gracias a todos,

J