The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #41674   Message #2803555
Posted By: Genie
04-Jan-10 - 08:29 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: A La Nanita - verses in Spanish
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A La Nanita - verses in Spanish
The reason I translated the idiom as "falls asleep" is that in English we generally say someone "falls asleep to" something (e.g., the radio or a song or a lullaby), not "sleeps to" something.
I have never heard anyone in English say "the baby sleeps to that song."
It may not be a literal translation, but it seems like that's what the song is conveying: that Baby Jesus is lulled to sleep by this little lullaby.

In any case, the lullaby is doing what lullabies are supposed to do. : D

I've found "respetad" translated, most literally, as "respect" but also as other synonyms and related terms, e.g., in this context, "fulfill. I'm really not sure what the songwriter meant that the little birds, fountains, auras, and breezes do in relation to the baby's dreams - respect them, honor them, fulfill them, etc.??


I'm also wondering if there's a better English translation for "alèlies" than "wallflowers" -- especially since we hardly ever hear the word "wallflower" used in English except to refer to a plain or socially withdrawn woman.


As for the punctuation and diacritical marks, I use a Mac, and sometimes what shows up clearly and accurately on my screen and on other Macs comes out differently on Windows computers, and vice versa.   They are correct on my screen.
I wish there were some way to be sure they would appear the same on both kinds of operating system.