看着都觉得好笑

[Fred0]

A poem starts out like this:

 

我穿着一件破衣衫出门， 

　　这么丑，我看着都觉得好笑，

 

My translation is: I put on an old, worn out robe to go out/How disgusting,  I  feel entirely ridiculous.  

 

Can someone help me do better than this? Thank you.

 

 

[WenLei-William]

Wearing a worn-out robe,

So ugly, so crude,

I step out the door,

Parting from my abode 

Oh, How ridiculous I feel!

 

I just rearranged some of the order of the original and tried to write it in a more poetic fashion (which I'm not good at). Your translation actually preserves the style of the original a lot better than mine. Poetic and literary translation has a lot more leeway than other forms of translation, but you did better than me to preserve the original style.

[Fred0]

Thank you. What is 看着都 saying?  Is it like saying "seeing it all, I feel ridiculous?"

[skylee]

Take a look.

[Wayen]

我看着 means "when I look at myself,"so you can translate it as :when I look at myself ,I feel entirely ridiculous"

[mouse]

Skylee has the right answer. There is an implied 連 before the 我. See here for more usage examples.

[lips]

Kinda like, "it's ridiculous even from looking at it.."

 

One can say that “连” is implied, but not "连我“.

[Fred0]

...so I would translate: 我穿着一件破衣衫出门， 

　　这么丑，我看着都觉得好笑，as

 

"I put on an old, worn out robe to go out/How disgusting!  Even I,  seeing myself, feel ridiculous. "

 

Any comments?   Thanks to all, especially Mouse, for your help.

[skylee]

I think 都 refers to the action 看着.

[lips]

I think 都 refers to the action 看着. 

 

Agree.

Key word is 看，not 我。

[Guest Yongjiang]

Fred0, 你好，

 

“都（dou1）” 在这里，口语中，有“也”的意思。

这句话的潜在含义是：这么丑，（不光其他人/除了其他人觉得丑），（连）我都（/也）觉得好笑。

“都”在这里也表达了一种递进情感，可以理解为“甚至”，作强化语气。

我只是从一个普通中国人的感觉去解释的，并不一定专业哦。

 

Dear Fred0,

 

“都”here, in speaking, has a meaning of "and", "as well", "too".

So the potential meaning of this sentence is: so ugly, (beside others), I feel myself ridiculous too.

“都” delivers a stronger emotion, which you can view it as "even", to strengthen the tone.

 

However, I just try to explain it from an ordinary Chinese's sense, which maybe not professional and academic.

[Fred0]

Yongjiang, 非常感谢你的缜密的解释，虽然你可能不是一个专业，你肯定是一个好教师。