Pensamientos - Thoughts (88): Mala letra....
The sentences I am going to post are by my one and only José Luis Alvite
, as sarcastic and ironic as usual
Instead of posting this as a killer thread, I thought I might post one sentence every other day or so.
I would like you to post the translation and your opinion about the sentence. I will correct the translation, and if you post an opinion in Spanish correct major grammar mistakes. You can post in English, but let's get a lot of opinions on these controversial sentences.
Please read this message from Alvite himself to all students.
And remember:
Alvite is sarcastic, always pessimistic, nothing is what it looks like
Here goes number 88.
The title of this article was **: Mala letra**
Don't miss this thread!I am posting the chosen answers on Facebook, on Alvite's wall!
Los niños de familias ricas tenían mejores regalos que los niños de familias pobres. Como no creía que los Magos fuesen capaces de hacer diferencias clasistas , supuse que lo que ocurría era que la letra de los niños más pobres era de peor calidad que la de los niños ricos y que los Reyes tenían problemas para leer sus cartas. Eso podía entenderlo y no me importaba aceptar que mi mala letra fuese la culpable de que mis regalos decepcionasen mis expectativas
9 Answers
Rich people's children always got better presents than those from poor families. As I don't think the Kings would have been capable of discrimating according to class, I suppose what happened was that the letters from the poor kids were badly written, making it hard for the Kings to read their letters. I could make sense of this, and it didn't bother me that it was due to my poor writing that my presents failed to live up to my expectations.
Casi me hace llorar, al pensar que con la inocencia de la niñez un chico da la culpa por su decepción al hecho más sencillo de entender y aceptarlo en vez de atrubuirlo a los hechos más duros, como la injusticia de la penuria o quizás sus propios delitos más graves...a los niños les cuesta mucho comprender qué tipo de delitos son los más graves, pero creo que todos sabrían que ¡no van a ir al infierno por escribir mal!
It almost makes me cry to think that in the innocence of childhood a boy blames his disappointment on the fact that is easiest to understand and deal with instead of those which are harder, like the injustice of poverty or maybe his own more serious misdeeds...it's hard for children to understand which types of crimes are the most serious, but I think all would know that they won't go to hell for bad writing!
The children of rich families got better gifts than the children of poor families. I could not believe that the Magis would make a distinction on a class basis, I supposed that it happened because the letters of the poorer kids were of poorer quality than those of the rich kids and that the three Kings had problems reading their cards. I could understand that and accepted that my poor handwriting was to blame for my presents disappointing my expectations.
| Here is an excellent example of a child's mind acting to protect the child from less desireable conclusions. | Aquí tenemos un ejemplo excelente de la mente de un niño que actúa para proteger al niño de -- conclusiones -- menos atractivas. |
The children of rich families had better gifts than the children of poor families. How could I not believe that the Magis were capable of class distinction, I supposed that it happened because the handwriting of the poorer kids was of poorer quality than that of the rich kids. and the three Kings had problems reading their letters. I could understand that, and it didn't bother me that my poor handwriting was to blame for my dissapointment that my presents didn't meet my expectations.
He encontrado en los escritos del Señor Alvite,que a veces él ve el vaso medio vacío, en vez de medio lleno. No es una censura, sino una observación. Seguro que los ricos pagen más por sus regalos. Pero, he visto las sonrisas de los niños pobres al recibir un regalo de Navidad. Me Atrevo a decir que -- la mayoría de los niños no diferencian entre regalos caros o baratos. El mero hecho de recibir algo para ellos mismos, en este día de regalos basta para darles la felicidad. He experimentado esto en mí niñez. Nadie me habría considerado rico. La comparación es un error de los adultos.
I have found in the writings of Mr. Alvite, that at times he sees the glass half empty, instead of half full. This is not a criticism but rather an observation. Sure the rich pay more for their gifts. But I have seen the smiles of the poor children upon recieving a Christmas gift. I dare to say thatthe majorityof children do not differentiate between expenisive or cheap gifts. The mere fact that they receive something for themselves on this day of gifts is enough to make them happy. I have experienced this in my childhood. Nobody would have considered me rich. Comparing is an adult fault!
Translation: The children of rich families had better presents than the children of poor families. As I did not believe that the Magi were capable of differenciating between classes, I supposed that what occured was that the handwriting of the poorer children was of worse quality than that of the rich children and that the Kings had problems reading their letters. That I was able to understand and I did not mind accepting that my bad handwriting was to blame that my presents disapointed my expectations.
Comments: Muy interesante. Creo que es un ejemplo de cómo las tradiciones pueden dañar las creencias de los niños (en cosas como su letra)
English comments: Very interesting. I believe it is an example of how traditions can harm the beliefs of children (in things like their handwriting).
The childern from rich families had better gifts that childern from poor families Since I didn´t believe the Magi were capable of making class distinctions. I guess what happened was the poorer children s handwriting was of worse quality than the rich children´s handwriting and the kings had trouble reading their letters I could understand that I did not mind accepting that my bad handwriting was to blame for my gift that did not live up to my expectations.
Con las computadoras, no importa.
With computers,it doesn´t matter.
Los niños de familias ricas tenían mejores regalos que los niños de familias pobres. Como no creía que los Magos fuesen capaces de hacer diferencias clasistas , supuse que lo que ocurría era que la letra de los niños más pobres era de peor calidad que la de los niños ricos y que los Reyes tenían problemas para leer sus cartas. Eso podía entenderlo y no me importaba aceptar que mi mala letra fuese la culpable de que mis regalos decepcionasen mis expectativas
The children from rich families got better gifts than what got the children from poor families. As I did not believe that the magi were able to being class conscious, my assumption was that what used to happen that the handwriting of poor children was worse than that of the other children and the kings had problems to read their letters. I used to understand the fact in that way and I did not mind accepting that my bad handwriting was responsible for the fact that my gifts could not meet my expectations.
los niños no comprenden la cruda verdad de la sociedad pero el instincto humano que nos permite a ser lógico, les da algunas razones para explicar sus dudas de manera diferente.
The children of rich families had better presents than the children of poor families. As I didn't believe that the Maji were capable of making class distinctions, I supposed that what was happening was that the handwriting of the poorer children was of a worse quality than that of the rich children, and that the Kings were having problems reading their letters. That I could understand, and I didn't mind accepting that my bad handwriting was to blame for my presents not living up to my expectations.
No creo que alguien pueda tomar a Alvite en serio. Sin embargo estoy seguro de que muchos niños comparten su punto de vista.
I don't think that anybody can take Alvite seriously. Neverthless I am sure that many children share his point of view.
Traducción:
Children from rich families used to get better presents than kids from poor families. As I didn't believe that the Wise men were capable of making class distinctions, I assumed that what was happening was that the letters from the poorer kids were of poorer quality than those of the rich kids and that the Kings had problems reading their letters. That, I could understand, and it didn't bother me to accept that my poorly written letter was the reason that my presents were less than what I expected.
Pensamientos:
Supongo que nunca me criaron en mejores pañales que los demás, es decir que no vengo de una familia rica. No obstante, mis padres siempre me daban lo necesario y, de lo que recuerde las Navidades de mi niñez nunca me parecían vacías, o sea,debajo del árbol de navidad siempre había regalos . Aún así, todavía me acuerdo del momento en que me di cuenta de que Santa «wasn't all he was cracked up to be»-------wow, great expression, jeje (es decir, no era tan maravilloso como me lo había imaginado)—el momento en que me di cuenta de que los regalos en el maletero tenían como destino el refugio para los niños sin hogar. El momento en que comprendí que el Viejito nunca tenía regalos para ellos.
Something is missing here, I understand what you want to say, but the sentence makes no sense: the presents in the boot of the car???.....the destiny was the childcare??? he never had presents for them??
esto es lo que has dicho, Izan,algo se te ha ido....
###Edit
(I may have only made it worse, but here goes nothing):
el momento en que me di cuenta de que los regalos en el maletero del coche de mi padre iban con rumbo al refugio para los desamparados, o sea, para los niños sin hogar. Fue el momento en que comprendí que el Viejito nunca tenía regalos para aquellos pobres niños (es decir nunca se los trae a los niños indigentes).
Oh, so you did mean boot of the car, but it was essential here to mention your father of course, made no sense otherwise. So your father took presents to children in childcare? Oh, how nice
Una expresión muy divertida es lo de "here goes nothing", en español lo más parecido sería : ahí va eso...en realidad se diría con ironía claro, porque no se cree en el resultado positivo-,
The kids of rich families used to get better gifts than the kids of poor families. As I didn't believe that the Kings would be capable of making class differences, I supposed that what happened was, the handwriting of the poor kids was of worse quality than the one of the rich kids and the Kings had problems reading their letters. I could understand this, and wasn't bothered accepting, that it could be blamed on my bad handwriting that my gifts always failed my expectations.
Mi comentario:
Parece que un poco de inversión en la caligrafía sería beneficioso para ambos : los padres y los niños...y para los Magos también...ya no tendrían necesidad de descifrar nada...
Seems like a little bit of investment in caligraphy would be beneficial for both parents and children...and for the Kings too...no longer they would need to decipher anything...
