HOW FAR CAN YOU GO WITH JUST A BILINGUAL DICTIONARY?
This is another of my translation exercises I am only too keen to show the world.
Basically, Italian is a language I don’t speak, but I found an article in an Italian newspaper https://motori.ilmessaggero.it/speciale_lemans/f1_24_ore_le_mans_500_miglia_indianapolis_mito_tripla_corona-3797487.html and, although I did use Google Translate to translate it, I had it translate only each individual word separated, rather than whole sentences or phrases or clauses; as if I were using an Italian / English bilingual dictionary and that alone to, eventually, understand the content of it all when it was all recreated in English, so to speak. Anyway, I wasn’t at all surprised that, most of the time, I was offered multiple possible English translations for a given Italian word in this article, but after I had completed the list of it all I used my brain and wrote this English “translation” of it:
“LE MANS – any child who puts on a suit and helmet before climbing into a kart for the first time, is a child who dreams of one day becoming the best driver. Maybe the biggest driver of all time. Even the adults who are responsible for arranging the lists, look at the Formula 1 results which serve as the expression of the rules of motorsport. And those who devote a lot of time to their game, are the ones who achieve new records. Schumacher feels like he has been exceeded on a number of levels by Fangio; Hamilton says that he has felt torn by some of these things about this German; as much as Vettel felt; right up to the child prodigy Verstappen. However, there is no-one who has agreed on this row of numbers – just look at the golden circus of the single-seater. Becoming a great driver is something else – indeed, it is something more romantic; a fascinating world where grit and talent, passion and one’s own unconsciousness are all part of the game. Above all, it’s about tradition.
With this, there has emerged this theory (which is hardly a new one) that, in order to be the king, you have to examine races and maybe qualify in a few different categories. This is the “Triple Clown”, as the British call it – a showcase which features the F1 World trophy (although it’s actually for a GP victory at Monte Carlo), the Indianapolis 500 Miles Cup (held since 1911) and the Le Mans 24 Hours Cup (which is said to date back to 1923). Indy, in the States, is the only competition in the world in which the pole position achievement is determined by an average speed of nearly 400 km/h; the French Marathon is the only race on the planet which recognises no stages with a track length greater than 5,000 km. So far, the only person who has been in the Hall of Fame of any class is the legendary Graham Hill, the father of Damon (who was also in the F1 World Championship in 1996). This Brit won two F1 titles (in ’62 and in ’68), and won Indy in ’66 and Le Mans in ’72, by the time his career came to an end.
They attempted to be on par first with Mario Andretti and then with Jacques Villeneuve, but at the 24 Hours Competition they arrived only at second place (in 1995 and in 2008 respectively). Alonso’s aim was this: to join the ranks of Graham and become among the greatest together with him; better than Michael, Lewis and Seb. However, there is someone who, even though they never progressed in F1, brought home the Cup for yet other, completely different, reasons: none other than Romain Dumas – put him in the driver’s seat and it’s enough to get the world excited. This Frenchman has won Le Mans and the Mondiale Endurance, and triumphed in the 24 Hours Cup at the Nürburgring, and the same race at the Spa; he has indeed climbed very far up the ladder; right up to the podium of the Sebring 12 Hours Competition. Last year he came eighth in Dakar in a Peugeot; the next week he won the GT class in the Monte Carlo Rally in a Porsche.
Tomorrow he will head off to win the 24 Hours Cup (GT class) in a 911 RSR; then he will make a quick stop at a race in Colorado to win his fourth Pikes Peak (a racing competition which has become most famous throughout the world; one said to date back to 1916; with 156 curves to conquer at a height of 4,300 metres on Montagne Rocciose). It’s worth heading there anyway, considering that Romain has written an article on the story of it all ever since he got behind the steering wheel of a 100% electrically powered Volkswagen with nearly 700 hp.”
Some comments in retrospect.
In paragraph 1, sentence 1: I put “becoming the best driver” at the end, but also found that “becoming the fastest driver” could have been equally valid, at least in theory.
About “Schumi”, also in the first paragraph in the original: I know that “Schumi” is short for “Schumacher” only because I looked it up on Google. And I thought that “manbassa” in that sentence was a typo: one word where it should have been two i.e. “man bassa” – again, I only suspect this because I just had to Google it. And I had to look up “Fangio” to know that this too was someone’s name.
With the sentence “However, there is no-one who has agreed on this row of numbers”, I remember that my own self-dialogue with regard to it was: “This might be confusing. How about ‘on the numbers of it all?’ – figuratively speaking”.
I was surprised to think that the (equivalent) word for “romantic” would be used near the end of the first paragraph.
Finally, when I wrote the word “unconsciousness” near the end of the first paragraph, I knew in my heart that I basically meant “one’s own unconsciousness of oneself” as much as anything else, even if I just failed to articulate it as such. This is about competitive and popular sport, after all. Think about it.
But I also hired someone to provide their own English translation of this article: someone who actually translates from Italian to English professionally, name of Alex Millward. alexmillward14@hotmail.co.uk I found him on LinkedIn. Thank you for this, Alex.
“The F1 World Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500: the legend of the “Triple Crown”
by Giorgio Ursicino
LE MANS – Every child who pulls on a race suit and helmet and climbs into a kart for the first time, dreams of one day becoming the number one driver. Perhaps even the greatest of all time. Even adults tend to look at results in Formula 1, the pinnacle of motorsport, when ranking a driver’s achievements. And as time goes by, new records are set. Schumi surpassed several of Fangio’s, and in turn Hamilton has broken some of the German’s, as did Vettel until the whizz-kid Verstappen came on to the scene. But some people don’t measure success by numbers focusing solely on podium finishes. There’s more to being a great driver, certainly something more romantic; it’s a mystical world where courage and talent combine with passion and instinct. And above all, tradition.
The time-honoured theory says that to be the King, you need to have raced and (perhaps less importantly) won in different categories. And so we have the “Triple Crown”, as the British call it, an elusive trio of trophies for an F1 World Championship (preferably having triumphed at the Monte Carlo GP), the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (which have been contested since 1911 and 1923 respectively). The Indy 500 in the States is the only race in the world where pole position is clinched at speeds approaching 400 km/h, while the French marathon is the only race not held in stages to exceed 5,000 km. The only person ever to have achieved this feat so far is the legendary Graham Hill, father of Damon (also an F1 world champion in 1996). The Briton won two F1 titles (in ’62 and ’68), the Indy 500 in ’66 and Le Mans in ’72, towards the end of his career.
Mario Andretti, in 1995, and then Jacques Villeneuve, in 2008, sought to emulate his success, but could only manage second place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. So Fernando Alonso is striving to match Graham and join him as the greatest, better than Michael, Lewis and Seb. There are some drivers, however, who have won an even wider range of trophies, without ever competing in F1. Put Romain Dumas behind a steering wheel and he’s a world-beater. The Frenchman has won Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship, and has also made the top step of the podium at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, 24 Hours of Spa and 12 Hours of Sebring. Last year, he drove his Peugeot to eighth in the Dakar Rally and the following week won the GT category at the Monte Carlo Rally with Porsche.
Tomorrow he will set out to win the GT category at Le Mans with the 911 RSR before flying to Colorado to take on his fourth Pikes Peak (the world’s most famous uphill race, which dates back to 1916 and takes place in the Rocky Mountains, with 156 turns on a climb of 4,300 metres). Whatever the result, Romain will enter history for driving a 100% electric Volkswagen with almost 700 horsepower.”
Of course, I actually think my own “translation” of it was pretty good, even if I do say so myself. But I am eager to invite comparison between Alex’s work and mine – not just for accuracy but because I was interested in seeing what perfectly valid expressions he would come up with, if any, which I just never would have. Mind you, as far as “accuracy” in translation is concerned, the meaning of a given expression can hinge more on cultural or societal values than anything else – these are grounded in not mere “ideas” but shared convictions or principles, which are provably enough to unite the members of a given society even when its members disagree. I say this because that’s what makes a given society or culture what it is and… well, that’s what life is. It certainly impacts translation.