From: lucifer@unlv.edu (Marco Westerweel)
Subject: Re: Little Thumbkin (Klein Duimpje - deel I)
Keywords: humor, dutch english, curacao
Organization: UNLV
Distribution: soc
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 19:06:34 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.224746.3456@prpa.philips.com> pieter@prpa.philips.com (Pieter van der Meulen) writes:
>
>Escaped from the language-lab
>-----------------------------
>through R. Cowsbrook
>
>(For H.Burnt Crustius)

At first I thought this was a poor joke and was ready to hit the "k"
key. Then I realized that the lingo was, to say the least, somewhat
odd. That's when it struck me that the expressions had been translated
literally from Dutch. I could figure out most of them but not all...

>there sits no dry bread in it. I work myself an accident
daar zit geen droog brood in. Ik werk me een ongeluk

>`I see the future dark in,' his woman agreed.  `We must see to fit a
>sleeve on it,' 
Ik zie de toekomst donker in... ... We moeten er een mouw aan vast
zien te knopen.

>shall go on step with the children
gaan we op stap met de kinderen

>leave them to their fate over.'
laten we hun aan hun lot over.

>His woman almost went off her little stick when she heard this. `What
>is there with you on the hand?' she cried, `aren't you good sob?'
Zijn vrouw was bijna van haar stokje verdreven... ...Wat is er met jou
aan de hand... ...(? - that one has me shrugging my shoulders)

>But the woodchopper wasn't brought off his piece
(? - that one too)

>gave no shrink.
(? - ditto)

>`There sits nothing else on
Er zit niets anders op

>Little Thumbkin, the youngest son, had listened off his parents'
... had zijn ouders afgeluisterd

>unmarked-up to drop them one by one. 
onopgemerkt...

>Then the parents told the
>children to gather some wood
>and shined the plate.
(?)

>When the parents didn't come for the day any more, the children
>understood that they had been left in the stitch. 
Toen de ouders niet meer voor de dag kwamen... ...in de steek gelaten

>But Thumbkin said: `Don't sit down by your packages, I will
(? - ga niet naast je pakjes zitten (dunno...)

>sorrow for it that we all get home wholeskins.' Thanks be the pebbles,
(?)... ...heelhuids... ...Dankzij de steentjes

>`By God,' the parents said as they came to foreshine,
...te voorschijn

>`how have you
>ragged him that?'
(? - hoe heb je hem dat gelapt (not sure?) )

>- `No art on,' said Thumbkin and he explained what he
Geen kunst aan...

>`If you want to be rid of us you will have to stand up a bit
>earlier.'
...iets eerder opstaan

>This time there came no pebbles on
>to pass, 
...geen steentjes aan te pas

>all Thumbkin had was a piece of dry bread. He decided that his
>bread there then but must believe to it. 
...(?)

>He left a trail of
>breadcrumbs but 
>he didn't have it in the holes that they were being
Hij had het niet in de gaten dat...

>made soldier by the birds...
(? - de soldaat werden gemaakt (not sure?)

>Pieter S. van der Meulen	pieter@prpa.philips.com
>Philips Research Palo Alto
>4005 Miranda Avenue #175
>Palo Alto, CA 94306

Thanx Pete, that was amusing but just to satisfy my curiosity (as a
Dutchman who has been speaking English for the vast majority of his
life) howzabout filling in the (?)s :-) ?

Zijn we trouwens op s.c.n. uitgekletst over bier?

C-ya...



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