Mar 30 21:50
5 mos ago
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Spanish term
mal repugnante
Spanish to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Spa>Eng
Hi, I am translating the following quote from a Paraguayan novel titled, "Follaje en los ojos"
“… como un enfermo de mal repugnante, huía del asco y la compasión"
mal repugnante could refer to a 'repulsive evil' or a 'repulsive illness'. I have consulted with two native speakers, each of whom claimed one or the other translation to be correct. I find this sentence to be especially hard to pin down because it could mean that (the protagonist) fled out of disgust and compassion (disgust of himself, compassion for others (presumably to keep his disease or evil away from them), or that he fled from the disgust and compassion of those around him (presumably because of his disgusting illness). In other words, its unclear from where the disgust and compassion is originating.
I am leaning toward the most adequate translation being "repulsive illness"
The entire passage from the novel below:
"En varias oportunidades pudo conseguirse alcohol y un día hasta dejó de trabajar para ir a buscarlo expresamente. Nunca iba al puerto. Le había entrado la idea de que yendo, alguno terminaría por reconocerlo y se descubriría su paradero. No quería recibir noticias, cartas, y mucho menos escribirlas; como un enfermo de mal repugnante, huía del asco y la compasión. Un día, al volver al puesto, vio colgada de una rama baja, una pieza grande de carne fresca de venado. Le alegró la gástrica ilusión de cambiar por unos días el corned-beef por este manjar natural, tierno y sabroso. Pero no demostró entusiasmo, porque en esa época sólo el alcohol le podía aflojar la torcida tensión del rostro."
Hi, I am translating the following quote from a Paraguayan novel titled, "Follaje en los ojos"
“… como un enfermo de mal repugnante, huía del asco y la compasión"
mal repugnante could refer to a 'repulsive evil' or a 'repulsive illness'. I have consulted with two native speakers, each of whom claimed one or the other translation to be correct. I find this sentence to be especially hard to pin down because it could mean that (the protagonist) fled out of disgust and compassion (disgust of himself, compassion for others (presumably to keep his disease or evil away from them), or that he fled from the disgust and compassion of those around him (presumably because of his disgusting illness). In other words, its unclear from where the disgust and compassion is originating.
I am leaning toward the most adequate translation being "repulsive illness"
The entire passage from the novel below:
"En varias oportunidades pudo conseguirse alcohol y un día hasta dejó de trabajar para ir a buscarlo expresamente. Nunca iba al puerto. Le había entrado la idea de que yendo, alguno terminaría por reconocerlo y se descubriría su paradero. No quería recibir noticias, cartas, y mucho menos escribirlas; como un enfermo de mal repugnante, huía del asco y la compasión. Un día, al volver al puesto, vio colgada de una rama baja, una pieza grande de carne fresca de venado. Le alegró la gástrica ilusión de cambiar por unos días el corned-beef por este manjar natural, tierno y sabroso. Pero no demostró entusiasmo, porque en esa época sólo el alcohol le podía aflojar la torcida tensión del rostro."
Proposed translations
(English)
4 +5 | loathsome disease |
Cecilia Gowar
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5 | like someone ailed by a deforming disease |
Delia Salazar
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5 | Repulsive disease |
Oscar Felipe Núñez Alfaro
![]() |
Proposed translations
+5
24 mins
Selected
loathsome disease
That is what the context suggests.
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Comment: "Thank you!!"
1 day 15 hrs
like someone ailed by a deforming disease
The author uses "mal repugnante" to convey the character's self-consciousness around other people, which is why he prefers to hide from them. Repugnante could mean something others might catch, but mostly something others might easily notice and run from, like leprosy or pustules, something that drives people away. This is why I would use deforming rather than disgusting, because it includes this notoriety of the illness.
26 days
Repulsive disease
The author is saying this man is hiding himself in order not to be recognized by others as if he had a repulsive disease, he has an alcoholism problem though.
Example sentence:
Parece que las personas del pueblo tuvieran un mal repugnante ya que no salen.
El egoísmo es un mal repugnante que nos aísla de otros.
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