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MathieuSaturday 12th of November 2005 10:10:04 PM
Sinterklaas - Sinterklaas' ship has, against all odds as usual, landed in The Netherlands today, this year in Sneek. I trust from now untill the 5th of december all Dutch students will be singing Sinterklaas songs every day, and to facilitate this a little let's have a Sinterklaas song translation topic :D I'll post the first one, now you guys get it translated (tip: 'gewis' means 'certainly') :p

[img]http://images.fok.nl/upload/sinterklaas_aankomst.jpg[/img]
[i]Sinterklaas arrives in Sneek[/i]

[b]Hoor de wind waait door de bomen[/b]
Hoor de wind waait door de bomen,
hier in huis daar waait de wind.
Zou de goede Sint wel komen,
nu hij het weer zo lelijk vindt.
Nu hij het weer zo lelijk vindt.

Ja, hij komt in donkere nachten,
op zijn paardje o zo snel.
Als hij wist hoe zeer wij wachten,
ja gewis dan kwam hij wel,
ja gewis dan kwam hij wel.
StineSaturday 12th of November 2005 11:29:26 PM
- Ih, Sinterklaas! :D
MathieuSaturday 12th of November 2005 11:44:44 PM
- Why won't you give it a try? :D
StineSunday 13th of November 2005 04:14:07 AM
- I think, you know why :D ..but well, well :)

Okay, now I'm thinking Danish, so something like:

[b]Hear the wind blow through the trees[/b]
Hear the wind blow through the trees
(even?) Here in the house the wind blows
Should? the good Sint come [i](ah, this would make more sense to me in Danish :p)[/i]
now that he finds the weather is so (hmm, not ugly..) nasty?
now that he finds the weather is so nasty? [i](still makes sense to me! :D)[/i]

Ja, he comes in dark nights
on his little horse (horsey? :p) oh so fast
If he knew how much we are waiting (for him?)
ja, then he would certainly come?
ja, then he would certainly come?

Tja, jeg prøvede da! :D

MathieuSunday 13th of November 2005 07:17:22 AM
- Not much to add really :D Like I said, how "surprising" ;)

"Hoor de wind waait door de bomen" is, to keep grammatically as close to the original, "Hear, the wind [b]is blowing[/b] through the trees" ("Hear the wind blow through the trees" (an infinitive) would be: "Hoor de wind door de bomen waaien"). Purely for the sake of completeness, the meaning won't differ of course.
About the second line, it would've sounded more logical if it had "even" in it, as you also put in the brackets, then it would have been "zelfs hier in huis daar waait de wind" ("even here in the house is where the wind blows") but apparently they keep it vague ;).
"Zou de goede Sint wel komen" would more accurately be "[b]Would[/b] the good Sint actually come" (I added "actually" for "wel" here since that word indicates the actual happening of something as opposed to "not" but just leaving it out is also fine).
OK, all this nitpicking aside, a new one :D Please, anyone can make an attempt, it doesn't have to be as good as Freja's, then at least it may be a little cause to some discussion, that's only good.. everyone is invited, there are plenty of songs anyway :p

[b]Zwarte Piet ging uit fietsen[/b]
Zwarte Piet ging uit fietsen,
toen knapte zijn band.
Toen moest hij gaan lopen,
met de fiets aan zijn hand.
Hij kwam in 'n dorpje,
en zei tegen de smit:
'k Geloof dat er in mijn achterband
een pepernootje zit.

De smid moest toen lachen
en plakte zijn band.
Toen kon Piet weer fietsen
door heel Nederland.
Och jongens en meisjes
let nu toch eens op!
Misschien zie je Piet wel fietsen
met Sint achterop.


StineMonday 14th of November 2005 12:04:08 AM
- Hmm, it was surprising and okay then :D

MathieuThursday 17th of November 2005 09:18:41 PM
- Come on folks! What are you waiting for, Sinterklaas? :D

Really, like I said, it doesn't have to be as good as the previous translation, the more mistakes the more stuff you could learn from right?
MeryFriday 18th of November 2005 03:45:35 AM
- It's really hard, but I want to try if no one minds :D It's a good exercise. Thanks Teup for starting this thread! :)


[b]Black Piet went out to ride his bike[/b]

Black Piet went out to ride his bike
when he had a puncture.
Then he had to walk
with the bike in his hands.
He came in a village
and said to the blacksmith:
'I think there's a "piece of pepper"
in my back tyre'

The blacksmith had to laugh
and glued his tyre.
Then Piet could ride his bike
everywhere in the Netherlands.
Alas boys and girls
pay attention!
Maybe you'll see Piet ride his bike
with Sint in the back

MathieuFriday 18th of November 2005 04:22:47 AM
- Another great translation :D Instead of making comments I'll just post how I would have translated it, though it doesn't add much :) (if it sounds a bit awkward that's because I'm trying to stick to the original as much as possible :))


[b]Black Peter went out to cycle[/b]
Black Peter went out to cycle,
then he had a puncture.
Then he had to walk,
with the bicycle in hand.
He came in a village,
and said to the blacksmith:
I believe that there is a [b][url=http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepernoot]peppernut[/url][/b] in my back tyre.

The blacksmith had to laugh then
and glued his tyre.
Then Peter could go cycling again
through the whole of The Netherlands.
Oh boys and girls
pay attention now!
Maybe you'll see Peter cycling
with Sint on the back (carrier) :D

Ok, next one :) Even harder I think :p

[b]Hoor wie klopt daar[/b]

Hoor wie klopt daar kinderen, Hoor wie klopt daar kinderen,
Hoor wie tikt daar zachtjes tegen ’t raam.
't Is een vreemdeling zeker, die verdwaalt is zeker,
Ik zal eens even vragen naar zijn naam.

Sint Nicolaas, Sint Nicolaas, brengt ons vanavond een bezoek
en strooit dan wat lekkers, in de één of andere hoek.

Stoute kinderen, zegt hij, krijgen knorren, zegt hij,
of een zakje, zegt hij, met wat zout
Want je weet wel, zegt hij, dat Sint Nicolaas, zegt hij,
van die stoute kinderen heel niet houdt.

Sint Nicolaas, Sint Nicolaas, brengt ons vanavond een bezoek
en strooit dan wat lekkers, in de één of andere hoek.
AxnotFriday 18th of November 2005 06:56:31 AM
- The name Santa Claus comes from The Netherlands where Saint Nicholas is called Sinterklaas. A few weeks before his feast day, St. Nicholas comes to The Netherlands (and Belgium) on his steamer with all his "pieten" and the presents which they prepared in Spain during the year. From his arrival in Holland till his feastday the children can put their shoes in front of the fireplace. During the night St. Nicholas visits all the houses by travelling over the roofs on his horse, traditionally a white/grey (called "Schimmel" in dutch), and "zwarte pieten" ( black men) enter the houses through the chimney to put little presents in the children's shoes. An explanation for "zwarte pieten" being black is that they have come down the chimneys so often that they can't wash the dirt off. In Germany and Austria they are called "Knecht Ruprecht" or "Krampus" and they show the victory over evil. Together with his "pieten" he visits children to punish the evil ones and to reward the good ones. The worst punishment is to be taken to Spain in "zwarte piet's" bag out of which the good children get the sweets (called "pepernoten", "taai-taai", or "schuimpjes") and presents. A less radical punishment is to get the "roede" (rod) instead of presents. Sometimes the children put straw, carrots and water near the shoe for the horse.

On the eve of his feast day St. Nicholas visits all children. After knocking on the door he gives them a bag full of presents (if they were good children). Early in the morning of 6 December, when he has visited everyone, he leaves and goes back silently to Spain, to come back next year. The reason why he's coming from Spain according to the Dutch tradition, is because he is actually not a Saint, he is Wodan (Odin) the God of the dead. With 'Spain' we don't mean the country Spain. 'Spain'is a metaphor for 'the other world', the underworld in several Dutch saga's (mostly Frisian saga's). The 'Zwarte Pieten' are not black because of the chimneys. They are black because they are dead. They are the dead ancestors who visit the living in the winter time. In each country around the Northsea the people believed in old days that when you die you go to 'the other world' by ship. Wodan (Sinterklaas) is the master of the ship. That's why Sinterklaas comes and goes by ship.
MathieuFriday 18th of November 2005 07:50:25 PM
- Thanks for explaining that Axnot :D What I like to add is that appearance of both Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet has been influenced over the ages by things like fear for the Moors and the Spaniards (hence also Spain and Zwarte Piet's traditional clothing) and that throwing peppernuts (pepernoten) is a symbol of fertility (a typical something for feasts around this time of the year), which is in practise rather awkward since you're forced to either catch them out of the air or throw them away afterwards :p (they're fun to throw though :))

Hmm as for the song translation, I'd like to stress once more that it may be harder than the previous ones.. just give it a shot people!
AxnotFriday 18th of November 2005 09:22:49 PM
- [quote]Thanks for explaining that Axnot What I like to add is that appearance of both Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet has been influenced over the ages by things like fear for the Moors and the Spaniards (hence also Spain and Zwarte Piet's traditional clothing)[/quote]

That's what christians told the people, because they tried to make forget the heathen gods.

[quote] and that throwing peppernuts (pepernoten) is a symbol of fertility (a typical something for feasts around this time of the year), which is in practise rather awkward since you're forced to either catch them out of the air or throw them away afterwards (they're fun to throw though )[/quote]

That's correct. The dead ancestors (zwarte pieten) from the underworld bring fertility for the new year. Their 'perpernoten'are symbolic the seeds of new life.
MeryFriday 18th of November 2005 09:46:23 PM
- [quote][i]Originally posted by Teup[/i]
Another great translation Instead of making comments I'll just post how I would have translated it, though it doesn't add much (if it sounds a bit awkward that's because I'm trying to stick to the original as much as possible )[/quote]

I am glad to see that my translation wasn't that bad :D:D:D I'll try to translate the other text if no one wants to do it. It's good practice for me. Dank je Teup! :)
MathieuFriday 18th of November 2005 09:55:24 PM
- Like I said, there are enough songs so anyone who feels like it can go ahead :)
PsycheFriday 18th of November 2005 10:57:06 PM
- No wonders you like blondes with blue eyes over there...y`all got scared to death, as a child, by that scary-looking Pietens...(you racists..*grrr*...;) :p)

Well, I love Christmas songs...and I was just about to post a Dutch song-text, which is in my course book...it is on tape too, so I`ll probably know it by heart soon :D

Okay, I`ll give it a go on this song..

[b] Hear who knocks there [/b]

[i]Hear who knocks there children, hear who knocks there children
Hear who taps there quietly againts the window
It is certainly a stranger, certainly a lost one
I shall just once ask for his name

Sint Nicolaas, Sint Nicolaas, bring us tonight a visit and sprinkel then a little candy in one or another corner. Naughty (:p) children, said he, receive grunts (:D), said he, or a bag, said he, with a little salt.
Because you surely know, said he, that Sint Nicolaas, said he, dont love the naughty children so much.

Sint Nicolaas, Sint Nicolaas, bring us tonight a visit and sprinkel then a little candy in one or another corner. [/i]

I know, I know....I didn`t really feel confident enough to try such a long and hard translation. It is great practise though. I just hope it is not too bad :)

MathieuFriday 18th of November 2005 11:19:43 PM
- Seems you had alot of fun with that song, it suits you perfectly doesn't it :D Hmm where did the blonde thing come in? ;) Hmm Zwarte Pieten are our friends, we're not afraid of them :D It won't be a surprise that the English phrases themselves are fairly crappy (rightfully so, perhaps :p) but my my, how well you did on interpreting the Dutch; again, no errors to speak of, you're all so good!

[b]Hear who's knocking there[/b]

Hear who's knocking there children, hear who's knocking there children,
Hear who's tapping the window gently.
It's a stranger, presumably, who is lost, presumably,
I'll go ask his name for a moment.

Saint Nicolas, Saint Nicolas, is paying us a visit tonight.
and then scatters something tasty in some random corner.

Naughty children, he says, get grunts, he says,
or a little bag, he says, with some salt.
Because you'll know, he says, that Saint Nicolas, he says,
doesn't like those naughty children a bit.

Saint Nicolas, Saint Nicolas, is paying us a visit tonight.
and then scatters something tasty in some random corner.

Next! Again might be pretty tough here and there, but that's not anything [i]I[/i] have to be worried about :D

[b]Zie ginds komt de stoomboot[/b]
Zie ginds komt de stoomboot uit Spanje weer aan.
Hij brengt ons Sint Nicolaas, ik zie hem al staan.
Hoe huppelt zijn paardje het dek op en neer,
hoe waaien de wimpels al heen en al weer.

Zijn knecht staat te lachen en roept ons reeds toe:
'Wie zoet is krijgt lekkers, wie stout is de roe!'
Oh, lieve Sint Nicolaas, kom ook eens bij mij
en rijd toch niet stilletjes ons huisje voorbij!
MerySaturday 19th of November 2005 01:43:19 AM
- I'm not sure that this translation will be as good as the previous one. I really don't get the last sentence :(
As always, I welcome any corrections :)

[b]Look over there the steamship is coming.[/b]

Look over there the steamship is coming
Look over there the steamship is arriving from Spain again.
It brings us Sint Nicolass, I already see him.
How his horse is pacing up and down on the deck,
how the flags are floating back and forth

His servant is laughing and already shouting at us:
'who is nice gets candies (?), who is mean will be beaten with a stick'
Oh, dear Sint Nicolaas, come also once near me
and don't pass our house secretely (???)
MathieuSaturday 19th of November 2005 02:21:09 AM
- Good, once more :D You did well on the last sentence (the 'toch' might be a little awkward there, but then, it's a pretty old little songtext of course :))
Here it is, I guess you did better than you thought you would :)

[b]Look, over there the steamboat is approaching[/b]
Look, over there the steamboat is arriving from Spain again.
It brings us Saint Nicolas, I can already see him standing.
How his horsey (again :D) is frolicing up and down the deck,
how the banners are waving back and forth.

His servant is laughing and already cries out to us:
'Whoever is sweet gets goodies, whoever is naugty will get the [b]roe*[/b]'
Oh, dear Saint Nicolas, come by me as well some time
and please don't you pass over our house all quietly!

*A roe is a bundle of twigs used to clean chimneys. Apparently kids get them if they've been bad, not sure why, they might get hit with it, but I'm not sure :D

[b]Oh, kom er eens kijken[/b]
Oh, kom er eens kijken wat ik in mijn schoentje vind.
Alles gekregen van die beste Sint.

[i]Girls:[/i]
Een pop met vlechten in het haar,
een snoezig jurkje kant en klaar,
twee kaatseballen in een net,
een letter van banket.

[i]Boys:[/i]
Een bromtol met een zweep erbij,
een doos met blokken, ook voor mij!
Twee kaatseballen in een net,
een letter van banket.

Good luck on that one folks, sorry in advance for the old fashioned objects that you had to look up.. if you bothered to do that :p
DaanSaturday 19th of November 2005 02:45:00 AM
- Met een roe krijg je van Piet billenkoek als je stout bent geweest! D'oh!
MathieuSaturday 19th of November 2005 04:00:57 AM
- Ik dacht dat ze nogal van het doe-het-zelf-gebeuren waren.. aangezien je volgens "zie je maan schijnt door de bomen" ook een gard cadeau kan krijgen, een soort stok, zonder dat er daadwerkelijk mee geslagen wordt.. in elk geval niet door Sint & Piet zelf :)
NostromoSaturday 19th of November 2005 03:34:48 PM
- I've been considering telling Sint that I've been wicked this year, I fancy a good holiday in Spain
MathieuSaturday 19th of November 2005 09:02:04 PM
- I'm not sure if he'll actually let you out of the bag once you arrive :p On the other hand, it's a pretty good idea, according to the rumours it seems Sint's palace will do rather splendid as a holiday cottage :D
DaanSaturday 19th of November 2005 10:00:51 PM
- Er zijn daar ook veel koekjes :p
NostromoSunday 20th of November 2005 03:09:37 AM
- "Rather Splendid as a holiday cottage." I like that, it sounds very English.
GijsSunday 20th of November 2005 03:38:29 AM
- There are always quite some fake-sinterklaasen that you can hire for money for the kids.
(Often the real one is too busy to visit everyone)

Some of them are good, just like the real one,but Others are not serious,and only after the money.
You can recognize one when he sits with the mother on his lap, rather than one of the kids....:D

Bye the way this sinterklaas is always stealing the show on my birthday,so everyone forgets all about me :( nice!

*impressed by the translations from Dutch students!* ;)

tmoonSunday 20th of November 2005 03:49:39 AM
- Saw the Sint live on tour last weekend in Utrecht --> [url=http://tomske.fotopic.net/c761931.html]photos here[/url]. I think that's the third time we've met now. Strange... I'm sure the first two times he was shorter.

What regional accent does Sinterklaas typically have? :D
MathieuSunday 20th of November 2005 10:22:23 PM
- Nah, you know why that is? That's because he's a hulpsinterklaas, I can see that right away :D First of all he doesn't have purple sleeves or gloves, and his meiter looks real cheap :p

There are in fact only 3 real Sinterklazen, and they are:

Roy van Breemen, the real Sinterklaas of Amsterdam
[img]http://www.royvanbreemen.nl/images/sinterklaas.jpg[/img]

Jan de Claire, the real Sinterklaas of Belgium (sorry, can't find a pic of him as Sinterklaas)
[img]http://www.fritsdebeer.com/portfolio/albums/album91/FDB_091204_Amsterdam_013B.sized.jpg[/img]

And of course

Bram van der Vlugt, the realest real Sinterklaas in the world! :p
[img]http://www.omroep.nl/nps/sinterklaasjournaal/gfx_journaal/aangenaam_sint_gr.jpg[/img]


Now ehm.. can someone translate the song by the way? :D
NostromoMonday 28th of November 2005 10:21:47 PM
- Oh come and see
Oh come and see what I find in my shoe.
Everything I've got from that good old Sint.

A doll with plaits in her hair,
A cute little dress ready to wear,
A pair of handballs in a net,
And a pastry letter.

A spinning top with a whip,
A box with blocks, also for me!
A pair of handballs in a net,
And a pastry letter.

Not a word-for-word attempt, but I've done my best!:D

MathieuTuesday 29th of November 2005 02:04:54 AM
- Great, nothing to add, but that could be expected :p

In case people are wondering about the pastry letter thing, Sinterklaas brings letters of candy, usually chocolate or pastry, he gives you the first letter of your name, or (when your letter was sold out :D) you'll get the 'S' of 'Sint'. (I was rather lucky, the M tends to be a pretty dense letter :p)

[b]Sinterklaasje kom maar binnen met je knecht[/b]

Sinterklaasje, kom maar binnen met je knecht,
want we zitten allemaal even recht.
Misschien heeft u wel even tijd,
voordat u weer naar Spanje rijdt.
Kom dan maar even bij ons aan,*
en laat uw paardje maar buiten staan.
En we zingen en we springen enwe zijn zo blij,
want er zijn geen stoute kinderen bij.
En we zingen en we springen enwe zijn zo blij,
want er zijn geen stoute kinderen bij.

*This line is pretty unclear :p This is how I always used to sing it, but I've seen all sorts of versions with different little function words.. goes for more songs/lines by the way, it seems Dutch people have a terrible memory when it comes to details of texts.. :D
StineSaturday 03rd of December 2005 11:56:31 PM
- ..en in het Deens :D

[b]Sinterklaasje, kom bare ind med din hjælper[/b]

Sinterklaasje, kom bare ind med din hjælper,
for vi sidder alle ret op ?
Måske har De (du) lige lidt tid,
før De (du) tilbage til Spanien rider
Så kom lidt hos os ?? [i](pretty unclear? Ja! :p)[/i]
og lad bare Deres (din) lille hest udenfor stå
Og vi synger og vi springer (rundt) og vi er så glade,
for der er ingen uartige børn med?
Og vi synger og vi springer (rundt) og vi er så glade,
for der er ingen uartige børn med?



MathieuSunday 04th of December 2005 12:34:44 AM
- Zoals gezegd, netjes, netjes :D En dan nu voor de mensen die minder bekwaam zijn in het lezen van Deens;

[b]Sinterklaasje, just/please come in with your servant[/b]

Sinterklaasje, just/please come in with your servant,
because we're all sitting equally straight up.
Maybe you'll have some time,
before you ride back to Spain again.
Just/please be with us for a while,
and just let your horsey [i](and again :p)[/i] stand outside
And we sing and we jump around and we are so happy,
because there are no naughtly children along.
And we sing and we jump around and we are so happy,
because there are no naughtly children along.

I don't think we'll have any more time for another, since it's nearly 5 december.. :) Great work, all of you :D
DaanSunday 04th of December 2005 12:39:43 AM
- Wie is er al begonnen met het maken van surprises?

Ik ben me toch de dichter wel. Geniaal ben ik gewoonweg.

[quote]Ook dit jaar weer zat de Sint zich in Madrid af te vragen
Wat hij kon geven deze dagen
Hij pakte zijn grote rode boek
En las dat ze heel erg veel hield van boterkoek[/quote]
MathieuSunday 04th of December 2005 01:12:08 AM
- Ook van mening dat alle gedichten beginnende met

[quote]Sint zat te denken,
wat hij jou zou schenken.
Sinterklaas die wist het niet,
dus vroeg-ie het aan Zwarte Piet[/quote]

Onmiddellijk ritueel verbrand moeten worden?

Dan liever iets als
[quote]
Sint zat te denken,
in welke bar hij voor aanvang van z'n verjaardagsfeestje nog eens even flink zou gaan tanken...
[/quote]
DaanSunday 04th of December 2005 10:46:16 PM
- Die moeten we inderdaad allemaal publiekelijk verbranden en het liefst wel met naam en toenaam van de schrijver erbij.

Hoewel dat waarschijnlijk die gedichtengenerator op het web zal zijn...Verloedering en teloorgang van de maatschappij


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