"I had never seen such a horrible little eye as his. It was a sane eye, too."

18:56 Jun 3, 2014

English to Spanish translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

English term or phrase: "I had never seen such a horrible little eye as his. It was a sane eye, too."

It was not till the man turned
round, and I met his eye, that I awoke fully--awoke to danger. I had
never seen a murderer, but I knew that the man who was so steadfastly
peering at me now...I shut my eyes. I tried to think. Could I be
dreaming? In books I had read of people pinching themselves to see
whether they were really awake. But in actual life there never was any
doubt on that score. The great thing was that I should keep all my
wits about me. Everything might depend on presence of mind. Perhaps
this murderer was mad. If you fix a lunatic with your eye...
Screwing up my courage, I fixed the man with my eye."I had never seen
such a horrible little eye as his. It was a sane eye, too." It radiated
a cold and ruthless sanity. It belonged not to a man who would kill
you wantonly, but to one who would not scruple to kill you for a
purpose, and who would do the job quickly and neatly, and not be found
out.

Victor Juárez KudoZ activity Questions: 16 (6 open) Answers: 0
Local time: 08:43

Summary of answers provided

4 +1

Sane eye = mirada fría y calculadora

JohnMcDove

Era además, una mirada asesina.

InesV

3 +1

Nunca me había enfrentado a una mirada tan escalofriante como la suya. Era la mirada de un cuerdo.

Judith Armele

Answers

1 hr confidence:

"i had never seen such a horrible little eye as his. it was a sane eye, too." Era además, una mirada asesina.

Explanation:
Me gusta lo de "fría y calculadora" , pero dado el contexto creo que "asesina" podría abarcarlo todo.
Sólo creo, no quiero ni pensarlo...
Es decir: "Nunca me había enfrentado a semejante mirada esquiva"...etc.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2014-06-03 22:00:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

En fin, no voy a cambiar mi propuesta, aun sabiendo que "mirada asesina" tiene su correspondiente y exacta traducción literal en inglés.
Añado pues, otra opción:
"mirada heladora" y le doy un agree a John, "el elocuente" ;)

InesV
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 12

6 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

"i had never seen such a horrible little eye as his. it was a sane eye, too." Nunca me había enfrentado a una mirada tan escalofriante como la suya. Era la mirada de un cuerdo.

Explanation:
Creo que en español agregar el diminutivo o el adjetivo pequeño le saca seriedad y tensión al relato. Opté por mantener la idea de sanidad mental ya que viene hablando de comprobar si la persona está loca (perhaps this murderer was mad. If you fix a lunatic with your eye...). También preferí utilizar un adjetivo más fuerte para horrible.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 horas (2014-06-04 01:08:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

O 'de alguien cuerdo'. No entraba la frase con alguien :)

Judith Armele
Mexico
Local time: 08:43
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 8

51 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

"i had never seen such a horrible little eye as his. it was a sane eye, too." Sane eye = mirada fría y calculadora

Explanation:
Sane eye = mirada fría y calculadora

Literalmente:
“Nunca había visto un ojillo tan horrible como el suyo. Era un ojo cuerdo, también”

“Nunca había visto unos ojillos tan horribles como los suyos. Eran unos ojos fríos y calculadores, también”

“Nunca había visto una mirada [miradita] tan horrible como la suya. Era una mirada ponderada, también”

“En mi vida había visto una miradita tan horrible como la suya. Era asimismo una mirada fría y calculadora”.

Frío y calculador. Se aplica a la persona capaz de llevar a cabo una acción, especialmente si es en propio beneficio, previendo al máximo cualquier detalle y sin dejarse arrastrar por los sentimientos.

http://www.diclib.com/cgi-bin/d.cgi?p=frío&page=search&l=en&...

Suerte.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day11 hrs (2014-06-05 06:27:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Yo no usaría “cuerdo” en español.
Para mí, “sane” en el inglés, tiene el sentido de “lógico, racional” (según esta definición de Merriam Webster’s: sane 3 : proceeding from a sound mind : being without delusions or prejudice : free of ignorance : LOGICAL, RATIONAL, SENSIBLE

“Cuerdo” “que está en su juicio” me funcionaría con unas comillas... para indicar que el individuo es muy “lógico” y “racional”... no se va a dejar atrapar... Pero por principio, no creo que nadie capaz de asesinar pueda estar “cuerdo”. (A lo mejor son mis prejuicios, pero alguien “cuerdo” de verdad, favorecerá la supervivencia, no la muerte...)

En cuanto a usar o no usar diminutivos, dependerá de todo el contexto.

JohnMcDove
United States
Local time: 07:43
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 241

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

"I had never seen such a horrible little eye as his. It was a sane eye, too."

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

"I had never seen such a horrible little eye as his. It was a sane eye, too."

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language