I wonder what it must feel like...

[alexpgp]

...to translate stuff like this for a living:

-- Бойся истин, сокрытых в древних фолиантах... где слова тиснены золотом, и бумага аспидно-черная не тлеет, -- произнес он, а перед глазами у него маячило в мутном мареве пустое, ничего не выражающее лицо Бурбона, который механически выговаривал чужие и непонятные слова.

"Fear the truths hidden in ancient folios... in which the words are embossed in gold and the viper-black paper does not rot," he recited, while Bourbon's expressionless face loomed in a foggy haze before his eyes, mechanically uttering alien and incomprehensible words."

I finished translating the heavy stuff around noon, and then turned to the item due mid-July.

One thing's for sure, the current item is not boring, at least not yet.

And it's got me thinking, too.

Cheers...

Comments

[velvet-granat.livejournal.com]

Would certainly be interesting! Probably just enough to buy icecream though... ;)

If I may, I'd suggest translation of "тиснены" as "embossed" or "illuminated", not printed. It's a very different technique.

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

You're right. I've since run into the word again and double-checked it, and changed it everywhere to "embossed" (I mean, heck, if you're going to use gold letters, why print when you can emboss!).

Although "illuminated"... Hmmm.

Cheers...

P.S. I may as well change it here, too. :^)

[velvet-granat.livejournal.com]

If they are talking about old manuscripts, pre-Gutenberg (and it sounds like it), there were 2 processes for getting gold lettering onto the parchment. One is embossing - laying whisker thin sheets of gold against the parchment and literally pressing it into the shapes that needed to be golden. Illumination usually means pulverising gold into dust, mixing it into a paste with some sticky agent and painting it onto the parchment. The latter method was more widely used, as gold is expensive and that way the scribe could just touch up the letters and small details. Take your pick.

(sometimes I am very glad for my History double major ;-) )