Mar 28, 2020 09:43
4 yrs ago
64 viewers *
English term
Ukraine
UKR t9n and l10n in style
Native in: Russian 
, Ukrainian 
Works in: German to Ukrainian, English to Ukrainian, German to Russian
cold iron blade
English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
I'm a bit puzzled by a scene in an American novel (it is science fiction, but it does not seem to matter a lot). Could you please help me out?
Some context:
Charles Britt listened to the bell. His office was diagonally across the street from the cathedral, and each peal of the massive bell made his walls shake, and he was contemplating a lawsuit, for he maintained that its constant tolling had loosened his fillings and was causing his remaining teeth to ache. [dental things mentioned]
He brushed a wisp of white hair back from his forehead and squinted through the bottom of his bifocals [glasses mentioned]. He turned a page in the massive ledger and lowered his head to read further.
[a long description of losses incurred by an epidemic, not relevant to the question. He smiles because he had bought a lot of coffins, so it will compensate his losses. Then it is announced that the dead will be cremated, and he seems to get really angry]
Charles Britt closed his ledger, removed his glasses, and began to polish them.
He resolved to bring suit in the morning, as his jaws tightened upon the COLD IRON BLADE, relentless, and a metallic taste filled his mouth.
So, what exactly his jaws tightened upon? I would logically suppose that a man in distress could chew on the arm of his glasses, but "blade" puzzled me. (Side note: the author, Roger Zelazny, was very fond of bizarre wordings, so perhaps I just see the things more difficult than they really are. But then, maybe I miss something, not being a native speaker...)
One more thing: dental things having been mentioned in the very beginning, I thought about blade dental implants, presented by Dr. Linkow in 1968 (and the novel was published in 1969). But still it does not seem to be a valid guess.
I've had a look at several translations, but this place is mostly omitted or rewritten. There's even a version that he was killed at the moment (but I don't think it is correct at all, "THE blade" seems to suggest that the thing is already there and not brought in by some sneaky assassin).
Some context:
Charles Britt listened to the bell. His office was diagonally across the street from the cathedral, and each peal of the massive bell made his walls shake, and he was contemplating a lawsuit, for he maintained that its constant tolling had loosened his fillings and was causing his remaining teeth to ache. [dental things mentioned]
He brushed a wisp of white hair back from his forehead and squinted through the bottom of his bifocals [glasses mentioned]. He turned a page in the massive ledger and lowered his head to read further.
[a long description of losses incurred by an epidemic, not relevant to the question. He smiles because he had bought a lot of coffins, so it will compensate his losses. Then it is announced that the dead will be cremated, and he seems to get really angry]
Charles Britt closed his ledger, removed his glasses, and began to polish them.
He resolved to bring suit in the morning, as his jaws tightened upon the COLD IRON BLADE, relentless, and a metallic taste filled his mouth.
So, what exactly his jaws tightened upon? I would logically suppose that a man in distress could chew on the arm of his glasses, but "blade" puzzled me. (Side note: the author, Roger Zelazny, was very fond of bizarre wordings, so perhaps I just see the things more difficult than they really are. But then, maybe I miss something, not being a native speaker...)
One more thing: dental things having been mentioned in the very beginning, I thought about blade dental implants, presented by Dr. Linkow in 1968 (and the novel was published in 1969). But still it does not seem to be a valid guess.
I've had a look at several translations, but this place is mostly omitted or rewritten. There's even a version that he was killed at the moment (but I don't think it is correct at all, "THE blade" seems to suggest that the thing is already there and not brought in by some sneaky assassin).
Responses
| 1 | stem of his eyeglasses |
Leora Kamornick
|
Responses
15 days
Leora Kamornick
Israel
Israel
Native in English
&
English
Israel
I'm happy to translate for you!
Native in: English
Works in: Hebrew to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
1
Selected
stem of his eyeglasses
from the context it seems that perhaps he bit the stem of his eyeglasses, and the author is calling it a blade, perhaps to create some bizarre sensation.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Tony M
: It seems an awkward manœuvre if he is polishgin them at the same time — and even more awkward as a metaphor.
12 mins
|
1 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you for your opinion, Leora. It was my first guess, too, but I'm not sure (especially now)"
Discussion
Roger Joseph Zelazny was born in Euclid, Ohio, the only child of Polish immigrant Joseph Frank Żelazny and Irish-American Josephine Flora Sweet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Zelazny
The name of Żelazny means literally: PL żelazny = EN made of iron. Just a coincidence. ;-)
BTW Polish character ż reads exactly like "j" in FR "je" (= EN I, DE ich). I believe the dot was removed in order to simplify the spelling and writing for personal documents etc.
A knife or a cutlass between one's teeth seems to be a pirate stereotype, indeed (like in this thread: https://bit.ly/2UH0jlR), and the guy IS described as a stereotypical business pirate, a suit-and-tie cut-throat... Thank you for the hint.
I would see his anticipated lawsuit as being imagined as a sword or dagger, and as he sets his teeth in determination and grips the 'blade' tighter (we say in EN: 'to get your teeth into something' meaning to really get started on something), and he gets the metallic taste in his mouth, presumably referring to the (usually sweet) taste of revenge — but also with a possible allsuion to 'tasting blood' (which further excites hunting dogs, say).
We do also have the expression 'to have the bit between his teeth' (equine reference), meaning someone who is all fired up to go — which kind of fits here too.