Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Malay term or phrase:
walau dirajuk berlian sebatu
English translation:
even if bribed by a diamond
Added to glossary by
yam2u
Jul 24, 2011 08:13
12 yrs ago
Malay term
walau dirajuk berlian sebatu
Malay to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Malay lingua franca of early 1900s
In a love poem written in the early 1900s in Malay lingua franca, the writer protests that no matter what enticements are offered, he will not give up his love for a poor village girl. He says that even if he's beaten until scarified as though tattooed and "walau dirajuk berlian sebatu", he will remain true to his one love.
I understand the cultural significance of 'merajuk' but don't quite know how to translate the clause. Thanks in advance for your help.
I understand the cultural significance of 'merajuk' but don't quite know how to translate the clause. Thanks in advance for your help.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 | even "coaxed" with a mile of diamonds |
yam2u
|
Change log
Jul 26, 2011 05:32: yam2u changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/13030">Catherine Muir's</a> old entry - "walau dirajuk berlian sebatu"" to ""even if coaxed by a diamond""
Proposed translations
5 hrs
Selected
even "coaxed" with a mile of diamonds
catherine, my suggestion is just based on an intuitive understanding of the sense, along the following lines:
- rajuk meaning sulking to show unhappiness/displeasure is often understood culturally as a sort of emotional blackmail to get one's way. in other words, it is one of the means of persuasion.
- with the above connotation in mind, rajuk can then be stretched to mean coaxing i.e. rayu/pujuk/bujuk in malay.
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Note added at 1 day4 hrs (2011-07-25 13:01:19 GMT)
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in light of your note and naim's comment, i guess my suggestion should be changed to: even if "coaxed" with a rock of a diamond / diamond the size of a rock / rock-sized diamond. : )
- rajuk meaning sulking to show unhappiness/displeasure is often understood culturally as a sort of emotional blackmail to get one's way. in other words, it is one of the means of persuasion.
- with the above connotation in mind, rajuk can then be stretched to mean coaxing i.e. rayu/pujuk/bujuk in malay.
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Note added at 1 day4 hrs (2011-07-25 13:01:19 GMT)
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in light of your note and naim's comment, i guess my suggestion should be changed to: even if "coaxed" with a rock of a diamond / diamond the size of a rock / rock-sized diamond. : )
Note from asker:
| 'sebatu' here is 'one rock' i.e., one (diamond). What is unusual is that it is a man who speaking of not giving in to persuasion by the offer of a diamond. Strange! |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I actually translated it as 'even if bribed with diamonds', taking a bit of poetic license."
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