L'homme à la pomme

[edelweis]

Context: in Offenbach's comic opera "La belle Hélène" (based on the Iliad, obviously), there are reports that prince Paris, disguised as a shepherd, and holding an apple, met with three goddesses on mount Ida.

The goddesses asked him to give the apple to the most beautiful of them. He gave it to Aphrodite, and as a reward she promised he would be loved by the most beautiful (mortal) woman on Earth.

That woman is Helena, queen of Sparta. Paris then goes to Sparta to meet her. When he reveals his name, Helena exclaims "O ciel, l'homme à la pomme". /Heavens, [this is] the man of the apple （??) /

(by that time Paris is not holding an apple any more, obviously, Helena refers to the mount Ida happenings).

In this context, what are good English and Chinese translations for "l'homme à la pomme" ?

Are these ok:

the man of the apple ("with the apple" would be incorrect since he is not holding it at the time?)

拿着苹果的男人 (same issue!!)

[li3wei1]

I think you're being too literal here. It's going to be difficult to translate "l'homme à la pomme" into any language in a way that recreates the comic absurdity of the phrase. You may have to forget about apples: change to another object, or refer to an item of clothing or something (unless it's crucial to the story in some other way). What you're trying to get (I think, I haven't read the rest of the opera) is the contrast between 'true love', and the off-hand casual way that she has remembered an instruction given to her. In English, 'the apple guy' would work, but it doesn't rhyme.

[edelweis]

thanks for the feedback li3wei1.

[陳德聰]

"The guy with the apple" works fine, and it doesn't necessarily mean he is holding the apple in his hands right this second.

Chinese... I got nothing.

[anonymoose]

苹果大哥

[hackinger]

Hi,

I am sure the operetta has been translated into English and may be even into Chinese.

Doing a quick search I only found a German-French bilingual version where it was translated to "Apfelmann", which would be apple man.

http://archive.org/s...e/n127/mode/2up

Any Chinese music students around who could find out if a translation exists?

Cheers

hackinger

[skylee]

I am not a music student. Some info on this webpage -> http://baike.baidu.com/view/2743570.htm

国王们进行文字谜比赛，优胜者由海伦颁奖，最后获胜的是帕里斯，大家齐声欢呼《这是那分苹果的人》(Cest L'homme a la pomme)。

I thought 蘋果男 is quite a good name. But it carries other connotations according to information on the internet. Ranging from a guy who blushes easily (face looks like an apple) to a guy who has grown stout because of sedate family life (body shape looks like an apple).

[edelweis]

thanks for the help guys, and happy holidays