Where devil says goodnight...

[Leogon]

Where devil says goodnight...

Today I stumbled upon a video review of The Last Wish short stories collection on youtube. The author really liked all the stories but one - Edge of the World, and he didn't explain why.
Maybe I know the answer. You know, the problem with Edge of the World is the whole story is actually a build up for the very last sentence which is incredibly funny in polish but untranslatable into english. So it lefts reader thinking - what was it all about?

I've read the story couple of years ago, but the ending goes something like that:
Night is coming. Geralt, Dandelion and Devil are sitting by the fire. Dandelion wrote or is going to write a poem about their last adventure and he is seeking for a good title, so he talks to himself:
'The place, where...', 'The place, where...'
'Godnight' - said Devil.

Wheres fun in that? Well, the devil felt a bit out of character for the witcher's universe and I believe the sole reason of him being there was the pun at the end of the story. In polish we have that phraseme or idiom - Gdzie diabeł mówi dobranoc, which translates into - (The place) where devil says goodnight.. It means, in rather pejorative way, some secluded, long forgotten by gods place.

The phraseme seems very specific for polish language so I wonder how it was translated to similar languages like russian or czech. Was it funny?

 

[Ljesnjanin]

Gdzie diabeł mówi dobranoc, which translates into - (The place) where devil says goodnight.. It means, in rather pejorative way, some secluded, long forgotten by gods place.

my language has the same phrase...

"Gdje je i đavo rekao laku noć."

With the same meaning - secluded, forgotten place...

 

[jerf.674]

No, we don't have this expression in Russian. Thanks for the info, now it makes much more sense. This is apparently one of the rare parts where something was really lost in Russian translation (it's excellent, by the way, the translator went out of his way to convey everything as intended by Sapkowski).

 

[Leogon]

my language has the same phrase...

"Gdje je i đavo rekao laku noć."

With the same meaning - secluded, forgotten place...

It is in serbian, right? Ha ha, seems very similar which is stange because I was searching the web for matching idioms in other languages. I found some which are supposed to mean the same thing but not literally:

Belarussian: у чорта на рагах, у віру на калу
Spanish: donde Cristo dio las tres voces, en el quinto pino
Russian: у чёрта на куличках, куда Макар телят не гонял
Slovenian: kraj, kjer ti lisica lahko noč vošči

 

[Ljesnjanin]

It is in serbian, right?

Serbian, Croatian, Montenegrin, Bosnian...You can call it as you like

 

[Leogon]

No, we don't have this expression in Russian. Thanks for the info, now it makes much more sense. This is apparently one of the rare parts where something was really lost in Russian translation (it's excellent, by the way, the translator went out of his way to convey everything as intended by Sapkowski).

Can you elaborate how it was translated? I'm curious.

I mean its so easy to translate from russian to polish. Languages and mindsets are so similar. I read a lot of russian books and while I may not catch some references, I get the double meanings, word play, nuances etc. Feels so natural.

 

[Aes Sídhe]

(The place) where devil says goodnight.. It means, in rather pejorative way, some secluded, long forgotten by gods place.

But not forgot by the Devil eh. Great phrase, quite evocative. See my current sig as to why I can't think of anything similar from Ireland.

So it lefts reader thinking - what was it all about?

"Fair words butter no parsnips" ?
"A good word never broke a tooth" ?
"Rosebud" ?

 

[jerf.674]

Can you elaborate how it was translated? I'm curious.

I mean its so easy to translate from russian to polish. Languages and mindsets are so similar. I read a lot of russian books and while I may not catch some references, I get the double meanings, word play, nuances etc. Feels so natural.

It was translated just literally, the devil says "Good night".

Банально, — фыркнул поэт. — Даже если это действительно край, надобно его назвать иначе. Метафорически. Полагаю, ты знаешь, что такое метафора, Геральт? Хм... Надо подумать... «Там, где...» Черт, о прости, Торкве, привычка. «Там, где...»

— Спокойной ночи, — сказал дьявол.

The problem is just that we don't have any expression similar to "Gdzie diabeł mówi dobranoc" in Russian. That is, we have lots of idiomatic expressions with this meaning, we just don't have any expression which would include devil or "goodnight" for this.

Yeah, I can definitely see that Russian and Polish are quite close, which is also logical.
In the Russian translations of the Witcher books alone, there are a lot of wordplays, nuances and double meanings, and since the translator couldn't just invent them by himself, it means that they were preserved from the original. It just couldn't work for this particular one.

 

[Crivilnite]

In spanish, where the translator is close to Sapkowski, we have not such phraseme, at least in Spain, and was translated just as "good night"

Dejadme pensar… «Allá donde…» Joder. «Allá donde…»
—Buenas noches —dijo el diablo.

@Leogon, the first one in spanish is kind of accurate but refering to Christ and with a modern item, which makes it utterly unappropriate, the second one loses all the devilish connotation so it's too unefective.

 

[redwood36]

The story is quite an enjoyable one aside from it's ending anyway. Particularly before the elves show up, it places Geralt in a much less violent/contentious location than he normally is. After all, he often is caught between making a choice between raping bandits or aristocratic knights who don't see people as human.

In this story the village folk don't even want the devil to be killed, just moved someplace else. The image of the book's witcher is also hilarious. Still, thanks for this tibit that seals the deal on the ending. Indeed the devil has not forgot our "valley of flowers".I'm hoping the game won't as well.

 

[Librik]

In czech we have similar saying: "Tam kde lišky dávají dobrou noc." - "The place where foxes say goodnight."

So you could not translate it very well, so our translation has another saying in it:
Musím si to promyslet… Tam, kde… K čertu… Tam, kde…” - " I need to think about it.... the place where.... hell ( literally "to devil" ).....the place where"
”Dobrou noc,” řekl čert. - " Good night.", said Devil

So it has a similar pun in it with "hell" - k čertu - (to devil ) as a curse while he tryes to come up with something. So I guess that was the best option in czech

 

[Sephira]

Thanks for this info, it's very interesting @Leogon

In italian there's no such expression so that part is literally translated as <<"Goodnight" said the devil.>>

"Banale. Anche se è davvero il confine, bisogna definire il luogo in maniera diversa. Con una metafora. Suppongo che tu sappia che cos'è una metafora, Geralt. Mmm... Lasciatemi pensare... Là dove... Maledizione. Là dove..."
"Buonanotte", disse il diavolo.

But now thanks to you explanation Dandelion's line makes even more sense.

About the meaning, there's instead an italian saying, precisely sicilian, which can be translated as "To go where the Lord lost his shoes". It means more precisely, go very far, possibly in unthinkable places that may could hide risks.

 

[Aes Sídhe]

In czech we have similar saying: "Tam kde lišky dávají dobrou noc." - "The place where foxes say goodnight."

About the meaning, there's instead an italian saying, precisely sicilian, which can be translated as "To go where the Lord lost his shoes". It means more precisely, go very far, possibly in unthinkable places that may could hide risks.

So could there be a Trickster aspect to this, rather than the Devils full on evilness? In folklores development ancient tricksters like Pan were translated into the Devil accruing a more malicious aspect than they deserve. That would also add another layer to support the literary interpretation of the line as a McGuffin, like Rosebud.

Indeed the devil has not forgot our "valley of flowers".I'm hoping the game won't as well.

Neither have the REDs forgot

 

[Ljesnjanin]

Neither have the REDs forgot

An entire location called The Valley of the Flowers had to be cut, even though it had "an amazing story plot". "It's not a girly place," Adam Badowski quickly adds, "it's a land of elves." And elves in The Witcher universe are as dirty and mean as everything else.

I will gladly exhange my kidney for Dol Blathana expansion...

 

[Crivilnite]

I will gladly exhange my kidney for Dol Blathana expansion...

I'm totally with you, will gladly exchange your kidney for it. I mean, you already offered, is not like i'm robbing yours or anything. Dol Blathanna please. Or Mahakan.

 

[Ljesnjanin]

I'm totally with you, will gladly exchange your kidney for it. I mean, you already offered, is not like i'm robbing yours or anything. Dol Blathanna please. Or Mahakan.

Happy to provide, don't need two of them anyway...

 

[Sephira]

So could there be a Trickster aspect to this, rather than the Devils full on evilness? In folklores development ancient tricksters like Pan were translated into the Devil accruing a more malicious aspect than they deserve. That would also add another layer to support the literary interpretation of the line as a McGuffin, like Rosebud.

Well the saying is mostly used when referring to a very far place, unknown. Then you can associate that kind of place with dangers.
I can provide a good example: I live like 7km away from city centre, and almost no one knows the district where the street is. So when someone asked where I lived I was used to it and conversations were like:

"Nah, you don't know the area, no one does."
"So where? Maybe I know it"
"No really, where the Lord lost his shoes." *naming the street*
"What?"
"Yeah that. Thank you."

I assure that no Pan or Devil lives near me... I think. :evil: