AllegroTrans Feb 23, 2022:

The Asker... remains silent. Are we wasting our time? 15 questins closed without grading

Carol Gullidge Feb 23, 2022:

Haha, that’s one interpretation! But what I had in mind was the evocative “landlord’s black-eyed daughter” in the “Highwayman” poem by Alfred Noyes…

Barbara Cochran, MFA Feb 23, 2022:

Dark Eyes, Not Black Eyes Someone may have "black eyes" because some obnoxious, out-of-control man or woman hauled off and punched them in with their fists, or because they fell in their living room and their face hit the edge of the coffee table. "Southern eyes" doesn't seem quite right to me, either. I could find no reference to it, anyway. I think you can say, though, that "his eyes looked like those of somebody from the south". But even so, what do such eyes really look like? Dark, maybe...

Carol Gullidge Feb 23, 2022:

That being the case, I.e. that the author’s intention is not totally clear to us mere translators - despite our best efforts - then referring to the outsourcer seems the safest bet.
Unfortunately we don’t have sufficient context on which to base an informed interpretation of what the author actually means, and why he chose that particular word to describe the character’s eyes at that particular juncture.
Personally, I believe there are at least two feasible - but quite different - suggestions already, but I’d also consider “black eyes” - which seems a safe bet, but could in fact be an over translation…

AllegroTrans Feb 23, 2022:

Asker "I'm wondering if this could mean anything besides Southern eyes?"
Can any of us "out here" really answer that question? Translation is translation, but probing what an author means is something else. I'm with patinba on this.

Barbara Cochran, MFA Feb 22, 2022:

Or better yet, "dark eyes", if that is indeed what is meant in this case. But the presence of the verb "illuminar" in the source text leads me to believe that his eyes looked "resplendent" or "blazing", in either case, like a very bright sun. I don't think that "dark brown" or "dark eyes" would light up much of anything!

AllegroTrans Feb 22, 2022:

@ Ormiston I think the Asker could hep us out here; there is likely another clue or two in the text. Asker?

ormiston Feb 22, 2022:

I think it means Mediterranean in this context I.e. dark brown eyes. Southern sounds odd applied to France.

philgoddard Feb 22, 2022:

Asker It's southern, lower case.

Carol Gullidge Feb 21, 2022:

Does he happen to come from the Midi, … in southern France? People from le Midi are called méridionales

AllegroTrans Feb 21, 2022:

Asker Do you know what age this man was? Anything else about his feaures etc.?