The third of our three 2015 Translation Bake-off secondary events may be impossible. This song is filled with cooking-related idioms which, on their non-literal level, don't have anything to do with cooking. Good luck! You'll need it!
You may post as many different attempts at translating this song to this thread as you please, and you may continue to edit them until the thread is locked at noon (Pacific Daylight Time) on Tuesday, October 13.
You may adjust the syllable count so long as the translation is still singable to the same tune. Providing an audio link of yourself or someone else singing your translation, to show how you envision this, would be helpful (and entertaining).
Entries with audio links will be rewarded with an extra point in the voting, equivalent to one vote.
Full contest details here:
http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showthread.php?t=25208
The online French-English dictionary (actually two) accessible at WordReference.com may be helpful, here:
http://www.wordreference.com
SONG TITLE, COMPOSER, LYRICIST, PERFORMANCE VIDEO:
The title of the song is "Mon loup" ("My Wolf"). The final "p" is silent.
The singer-songwriter is Laura Cahen.
The first video link presents many of the French idioms in a hyper-literal way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAs3z_6Edpg
The "FAIM" ("HUNGER") at the end of the video is a pun on "FIN" ("END").
The second video link presents the song more simply, in a live, acoustic performance which some people may prefer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2HxzzgIaRI
ORIGINAL TEXT, showing the form.
You will probably need to let go of the A rhymes in your translation. The meter is so loose that it doesn't make much sense to count syllables at all.
Je veux te manger, mon
loup ..................... A
Te passer à la casse
role ............................. B
Je vais prendre tes jambes à mon
cou ....... A
Te cuisiner me rend
folle ............................. B
Je veux te mariner, mon
loup ...................... A
Te griller les moustaches à la
poêle ............ C
Je vais te faire revenir à feu
doux ................ A
Crois-moi, cette recette est au
poil .............. C
(Refrain)
Ah hou...hou hou hou hou hou
hou ............. A
Sweet sweet honey, I love
you .................... A
Je veux te déguster, mon
loup .................... A
T'assaisonner avec ma
gie .......................... D
Je vais prendre le temps de te rendre
fou .. A
Te ferai mijoter au bain-ma
rie .................... D
Je veux te découper, mon
loup ................... A
T'éplucher comme une o
range ................... E
Tu ne feras plus de zeste du
tout ............... A
Et je n'aurai plus faim, c'est é
trange ........... E
(Refrain)
Ton poivre et sel se mé
lange ...................... E
Come sucré salé, à mes cheveux
d'ange ... E
Je veux te gaver, mon
loup ......................... A
Que je te reste en tra
vers ........................... F
J'y mettrai tous les ingrédients, mon
chou .. A
Et tu remettras le cou
vert ............................ F
Tu veux me gácher, mon
loup ..................... A
Me rouler dans la fa
rine .............................. G
Tu t'imagines que cela a du
goût ................ A
Je t'en ferai des tar
tines .............................. G
(Refrain)
LITERAL/FIGURATIVE ENGLISH PROSE CRIB:
Je veux te manger, mon loup
(Lit)
I want thee to eat, my wolf.
(Fig) I want to devour you, my wolf;
Not necessarily a reference to oral sex, but perhaps suggestive of sexual consummation/consumption in general. Alternatively, "I want to bite your head off" or "I want to chew you out," in the sense of yelling at someone for a transgression.
Te passer à la casserole
(Lit)
(I want) thee to put in the saucepan...(I want) to put you in the saucepan.
(Fig) I want to have my wicked way with you. "Passer à la casserole" is to be subjected to sexual relations, be forced to put out sexual favors; it is also used more generally for "to go through hell," so here it might be translated more innocently as "To put you through hell."
Je vais prendre tes jambes à mon cou
(Lit)
I am going to take thy legs to my neck (vais= am going, prendre = to take)
(Fig)
When someone is said to take his legs to his neck--Prendre les jambes à son cou--he is running very fast. Here, the expression has the pronouns changed for double entendre's sake; or it could simply suggest an uncomfortable posture, as for torture.
Te cuisiner me rend folle
(Lit)
Thee to cook, me renders crazy.
(Fig) (The thought of) cooking you is driving me crazy. Or, I'm crazy about (the thought of) giving you a grilling, giving you the third degree, interrogating you.
Je veux te mariner, mon loup
(Lit)
I want thee to marinate/soak, my wolf.
(Fig) I want to leave you to stew in your own juices, my wolf.
Te griller les moustaches à la poêle
(Lit)
Thee to broil/barbecue/grill the whiskers at the wood-burning stove. "Poêle" can also mean frying-pan, but that seems unlikely here.
(Fig) To singe your whiskers at the wood-burning stove;
The heat source might be taken as a metaphor for female anatomy, but it is more likely to refer to torture.
Je vais te faire revenir à feu doux
(Lit)
I am going thee to make return to fire (that is) gentle.
(Fig) I am going to bring you back to low heat, put you on the back burner, keep you on a slow simmer even when the main cooking is over.
Crois-moi, cette recette est au poil
(Lit)
Believe me, this recipe is with pelt.
(Fig)
"Au poil" is slang for "great, perfect." It also means "stark naked," or, in cooking, "with the skin left on."
(Refrain)
Ah hou...hou hou hou hou hou hou
Sweet sweet honey, I love you
Je veux te déguster, mon loup
(Lit)
I want thee to taste/savor/enjoy, my wolf.
(Fig) I want to taste/savor/enjoy you, my wolf.
T'assaisonner avec magie
(Lit)
Thee to season with magic.
(Fig) To spice you up with fascination/charm; also, to tell you off via fascination/charm.
Je vais prendre le temps de te rendre fou
(Lit)
I'm going to take the time for to thee render crazy.
(Fig) I'm going to take the time to drive you crazy.
There may also be a hint of taking the time to render the fat from a cooked chicken or similar, although the French verb "rendre" doesn't seem to be used this way.
Te ferai mijoter au bain-marie
(Lit)
Thee (I) will make simmer/stew in the bain-marie/double boiler/hot-water bath (cooking paraphernalia).
(Fig) I will leave you to stew in your own juices.
Je veux te découper, mon loup
(Lit)
I want thee to cut/slice/chop, my wolf.
(Fig) I want to chop you into bits, my wolf.
T'éplucher comme une orange
(Lit)
Thee to peel like an orange.
(Fig) To peel you like an orange.
Tu ne feras plus de zeste du tout
(Lit)
You won't make more of zest at all.
(Fig) You won't have any skin left at all.
There seems to be a hint of the English sense of "zest" here, too, meaning "enthusiasm, spirit, drive, energy," although the same connotation doesn't seem to exist in French (yet.)
Et je n'aurai plus faim, c'est étrange
(Lit)
And I won't have more hunger, it's strange.
(Fig) And I won't be hungry anymore, how strange...And I'll have lost my appetite, how odd.
(Refrain)
Ton poivre et sel se mélange
(Lit)
Thy pepper and salt get mixed
(Fig) Your salt-and-pepper (graying hair) gets mixed
Comme sucré-salé, à mes cheveux d'ange
(Lit)
Like sweet-and-sour (sweet and savory), with my hairs of angel.
(Fig) Like sweet-and-sour, with my angel hair (the narrator's hair, or a reference to capellini, a very thin kind of pasta).
Je veux te gaver, mon loup
(Lit)
I want thee to stuff/force-feed (like a goose raised for pâté), my wolf.
(Fig) I want to force you to swallow things you'd rather avoid, my wolf.
Que je te reste en travers
(Lit)
(I want) that I (to) thee remain sideways.
(Fig) (I want) that I get stuck in your throat, that I stick in your craw, that I continue to bother you and you can't get rid of me.
J'y mettrai tous les ingrédients, mon chou
(Lit)
I there will put all the ingredients, my cabbage.
(Fig) I will get ready, my sweet;
"Chou" literally means cabbage, but it is also a type of small, round French pastry, and is a traditional term of endearment for children and lovers. It may also be a shortened version of the word "chouette," which literally means "owl" but sounds a bit like the English word "sweet," and thus has a slang meaning of "sweet, neat, awesome."
Et tu remettras le couvert
(Lit)
And thou wilt again set the cutlery/silverware.
(Fig) And you will face me again.
Le couvert is cutlery/silverware/a place setting; "mettre le couvert" is to set or lay the table; but "remettre le couvert" is to do something again, or for two people to face each other again.
Tu veux me gâcher, mon loup
(Lit)
Thou want me to waste, my wolf.
(Fig) You want to mess me up, my wolf.
Me rouler dans la farine
(Lit)
Me to roll in the flour.
(Fig) To lie to me...to fool me..to totally rip me off...to take me to the cleaners.
Tu t'imagines que cela a du goût
(Lit)
Thou (to) thyself imaginest that that has some flavor.
(Fig) You think to yourself that that's tasty.
Je t'en ferai des tartines
(Lit)
I thee of it will make some bread-slices (en = "of it).
(Fig) I'll make all this a big deal to you;
"Faire une tartine" of something is to exaggerate it, make a big production of it; when trying to convince someone of something or express a grievance, "to spread it on thick" (like butter on a piece of bread or toast); "Tartiner" is also to churn out a lot of something.
(Refrain)
Bake-Off #3 secondary challenge.
Linear Mode
