Feb 23, 2021 17:25
3 yrs ago
42 viewers *
English term

appointments

English to Spanish Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
Hello,

Could you help me translate the term "appointments" in the following sentence, please?

Sentence: "There were arabesque figures with unsuited limbs and appointments."

Context: This sentence belongs to Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Masque of the Red Death.".It is clear that the story has already been translated into Spanish before, but I am improving the version. I just can't find the meaning of the word "appointments" as it can't be translated as "citas inapropiadas" or "nombramientos inapropiados".

Thank you very much.

Discussion

Marcelo Viera Feb 23, 2021:
arabesque Here Poe is referring to the nobles who are described in contradictory terms. When one hears the word "arabesque," one thinks of the fluid and sensuous lines of a ballet dancer. But these figures are distorted. They have "unsuited limbs and appointments." In paragraph seven, Poe also calls these people "grotesque," "bizarre" and "terrible." The effect for the reader is to feel the full hideousness of their being.

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/masque-red-death-what-m...

Proposed translations

+1
12 mins
Selected

decoraciones, accesorios o muebles

Ver descripción de arabesque aquí
https://doshisha.repo.nii.ac.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_...

Definición de appointment que es sinónimo de furnishings.
Peer comment(s):

agree Barbara Cochran, MFA
1 min
Thanks, Barbara!
agree Cecilia Gowar : Accersorios en este caso. Incluso figura en una de las traducciones publicadas.
31 mins
disagree Toni Castano : Ni decoraciones ni muebles. Y en cuanto a "accesorios" no me parece lo más adecuado. Creo que se han aportado suficientes datos para interpretarlo bien.
1 day 20 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you!"
19 mins

menciones o designaciones

Given the context you're giving, this is a suitable translation. Hope it works.
Example sentence:

The author made several appoinments in the book.

Because of the amount of appoinments that verify the autenticity of the book, It's worth reading.

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+4
45 mins

atuendos

Aquí no se trata de citas ni nombramientos, sino de la segunda acepción del MW:
Definition of appointment
1: an arrangement for a meeting : ENGAGEMENT
She has an appointment for an interview tomorrow.
2: EQUIPMENT, FURNISHINGS —usually plural
expensive homes with luxurious appointments
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appointments

Me remito a la excelente traducción de Julio Cortázar:
Veíanse figuras de arabesco, con siluetas y atuendos incongruentes; veíanse fantasías delirantes, como las que aman los maniacos. Abundaba allí lo hermoso, lo extraño, lo licencioso, y no faltaba lo terrible y lo repelente.
https://elcamaleon.org/2020/09/07/edgar-allan-poe-la-mascara...
Peer comment(s):

agree Toni Castano : Ni citas, ni decoraciones o accesorios, sino atuendos o atavíos. Sí, Cortázar era grande en todo, y no solo en su imponente estatura física.
19 mins
Saludos Toni, y disfrutemos de la traducción magistral de un maestro.
agree Emiliano Pantoja
40 mins
Gracias Emiliano - Bea
agree patinba
46 mins
Muchas gracias - Bea
agree Mónica Algazi
1 hr
Gracias Mónica - Bea
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22 hrs

Complementos

Como ya se ha comentado, estoy de acuerdo en que la acepción de appointment es la que aparece en segundo lugar en el Merriem Webster (2: EQUIPMENT, FURNISHINGS —usually plural expensive homes with luxurious appointments). Sin embargo, dado que está hablando de personas y de sus atuendos, creo que complementos en el sentido de que llevan cosas que no son apropiadas es lo más natural. Mi propuesta sería "complementos inapropiados". En cuanto a limb, creo que la tercera acepción de Merriem Webster (Definition of limb (Entry 3 of 3)
1: the outer edge of the apparent disk of a celestial body es perfecta. Mi opción para este término es "aura".
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Reference comments

1 hr
Reference:

Simbolismo en La máscara de la muerte roja

Referencia a los enmascarados del relato:

https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/masque-of-red...
The Masque of the Red Death Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
The Masquerade/Dream Imagery
Doesn't "The Masque of the Red Death" feel as if it's one weird, scary dream? Nowhere is that feeling stronger than with the masquerade ball itself. Everything's just a little too wild, a little too intense, a little too frenzied, and a little too "grotesque" to be real. There are the blaring, over-the-top colors of the suite and the off-kilter alignment of the rooms. There are also the masqueraders themselves, dressed up in all kinds of bizarre costumes, forming a truly mad collage of images. Poe explicitly uses dream language when he describes them:
There were arabesque figures with unsuited limbs and appointments. There were delirious fancies such as the madman fashions. There was much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust. To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of dreams. And these --the dreams --writhed in and about, taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem as the echo of their steps.
Peer comments on this reference comment:

agree Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
1 hr
Gracias, Bea, confío en que esta referencia pueda ser útil.
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