# no se le coció el pan en el cuerpo ~  curiosidad es muy buena para la ropa blanca



## smithjen

What would be a good translation for "no se le coció el pan en el cuerpo" in the following passage from Emilia Pardo Bazán's _Insolación_?

Vi que la Diabla se moría de curiosidad… «¿Sí?, pues con las ganas de saber te quedas, hija… La curiosidad es muy buena para la ropa blanca». Pero no se le coció a la chica el pan en el cuerpo y me soltó la píldora.


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## Oldy Nuts

I think the sentence is intended to mean something like that the girl spilled the beans in less time than it would have taken her to digest a piece of bread.


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## k-in-sc

"La curiosidad es muy buena para la ropa blanca": "Curiosity is good for the underwear"?! What the heck does that mean?


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## Oldy Nuts

Frankly, I have no idea. And "ropa blanca" does not refer only to underwear, but usually also includes things like sheets and towels... all of which used to be mostly white before you were born (underwear included).


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## didakticos

Gugleando la expresión  		"La curiosidad es muy buena para la ropa blanca" parece que sólo aparece en esta novela. Un invento de la autora supongo. Y coincido con ustedes: no tiene el menor sentido para mi.


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## Vikinga-Guadalupana

Hi!



smithjen said:


> Vi que la Diabla se moría de curiosidad… «¿Sí?, pues con las ganas de saber te quedas, hija… La curiosidad es muy buena para la ropa blanca». Pero no se le coció a la chica el pan en el cuerpo y me soltó la píldora.


 
Interesting frases... All I can think of is:
When a woman is pregnant, we say "tiene un bollo en el horno", where "bollo" is a kind of bread.
Maybe it means that, since she was using "la píldora" (which is often the nick-name for the anticonceptive pill), she is not with child?

_"Insolación"_ indeed...

Cheers!


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## k-in-sc

Good suggestion, except the novel is from 1889!


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## Vikinga-Guadalupana

k-in-sc said:


> Good suggestion, except the novel is from 1889!


 
Ah... She was.. um... psychic? 
No idea then... But I am curious now to see what it refers to


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## aldonzalorenzo

Oldy Nuts said:


> I think the sentence is intended to mean something like that the girl spilled the beans in less time than it would have taken her to digest a piece of bread.


Concuerdo con esto: que no se aguantó las ganas de preguntar, no dio tiempo a digerir el pan, o a que el pan se cocinara. 



Oldy Nuts said:


> And "ropa blanca" does not refer only to underwear, but usually also includes things like sheets and towels


Coincido. 


didakticos said:


> Gugleando la expresión "La curiosidad es muy buena para la ropa blanca" parece que sólo aparece en esta novela. Un invento de la autora supongo. Y coincido con ustedes: no tiene el menor sentido para mi.


 
Yo tampoco la he oído nunca, pero se me ocurre que puede estar haciendo un juego de palabras con el significado corriente de "curiosidad" (n.1) y otro que, según el DRAE, significa "limpieza" (n.3) o tal vez "primor" (n.4 y 5) -yo no los conocía-. 
*DRAE: curiosidad**. *(Del lat. _curiosĭtas, -ātis_).
*1. *f. Deseo de saber o averiguar alguien lo que no le concierne.
*2. *f. Vicio que lleva a alguien a inquirir lo que no debiera importarle.
*3. *f. Aseo, limpieza.
*4. *f. Cuidado de hacer algo con primor.
*5. *f. Cosa curiosa o primorosa.


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## Quiviscumque

Del DRAE:
*pan*
...
no cocérsele a alguien el pan.1. fr. coloq. Estar intranquilo hasta hacer, decir o saber lo que se desea.


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## aldonzalorenzo

Jo, si es que está todo en el DRAE: ¡no sé qué hacemos aquí! Apaga y vámonos .

(*DRAE: apaga y vámonos.*
*1. *expr. coloq. U. para dar a entender que algo ha llegado a su final o para declararlo absurdo o inaceptable.)


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## smithjen

Thank you all for your help!!!! If anything, I feel reassured that it's a little ambiguous for everyone.

For: "no se le coció a la chica el pan en el cuerpo y me soltó la píldora" I just went with the very loose translation: "She could not relax until she asked me what she wanted to know" considering that in the very next sentence the maid asks the narrator what she's dying to know.

I still don't understand the phrase: "La curiosidad es muy buena para la ropa blanca," but,yes, according to the editor of the Cátedra edition of the novel, here the author "juega con la polisemia de 'curiosidad': 'limpieza' aquí." But, that doesn't really help me understand the expression any more, and I'm not sure the Cátedra editor did either since she does not explain what it means!

Again, thank you all soooo much for your feedback!  Greatly appreciated : )


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## aldonzalorenzo

I think it´s clear, but it´s not very funny. The woman says that “la Diabla” was curious, wanted to know something the woman didn´t want to tell her. So she says: if you think about curiosity, that´s a good thing just for linen. So I won´t satisfy your curiosity.
An example: un niño quiere que su padre le dé dinero y lo ingrese en su cuenta del Banco. El padre puede decirle (porque no quiere darle dinero, claro): “no hijo, el banco solo para sentarse”.
P.S: A different kind of humour? .


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## Oldy Nuts

*Quiviscumbe:* yo también tomé mi sugerencia del DRAE:



> *cocer**.*
> (Del lat. _coquĕre_).
> *...*
> * 5.     * tr. coloq. Digerir la comida o los alimentos en el estómago.


Aunque es evidente que tú fuiste mejor buscador que yo.

*Aldonza:* Pues lo que hacemos mayoritariamente aquí es obligarnos a nosotros mismos y a los demás a consultar el DRAE con más frecuencia. Lo que no le hace mal a nadie. Como ves, ni tú no yo sabíamos que "curiosidad" también puede significar "limpieza", lo que le da sentido a la frase. Y aunque el pobre smithjen siga sin entenderla.

*Smithjen:* Los significado de "curiosidad" que todos conocemos son los mismo que los de "curiosity". Lo que ni yo ni Aldonza sabíamos es que también significa "limpieza". Así que el autor del original simplemente jugó con este significado oscuro y poco conocido de la palabra "curiosidad".

_Addition_: I have just noticed that I didn't follow my own rule of writing in the same language used in the opening message. Too late now. My apologies to smithjen.


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## aldonzalorenzo

Pues sí, *Oldy* *Nuts*, yo soy quien más aprendo. Aunque en este caso pienso que *Smithjen* podía habérnoslo facilitado un poco: si hubiera puesto desde el principio la nota a pie de página de libro... hubiéramos sabido que era un juego de palabras con "limpieza" (en vez de jugar a detectives lingüísticos). Y solo hubiera quedado de "tarea" el intentar entenderlo, digo yo.
Saludos y ¡buen fin de semana!


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## k-in-sc

What an instructive thread this has turned out to be!
So, smithjen, you have to translate this, not just understand it?
I'm trying to think what you could say for "La curiosidad es muy buena para la ropa blanca." It sounds like a "mom" reply -- it reminds me of "Hay is for horses" or, when we said we couldn't wait for Christmas to get here, my dad would say "Sure you can.  Because you have to!" No play on words there, obviously -- but the same sense of the parent with the wise little sayings and the kid who just has to suck it up.


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## aldonzalorenzo

k-in-sc said:


> It sounds like a "mom" reply -- it reminds me of "Hay is for horses" or, when we said we couldn't wait for Christmas to get here, my dad would say "Sure you can. Because you have to!" No play on words there, obviously -- but the same sense of the parent with the wise little sayings and the kid who just has to suck it up.


 
Yes, I think this is the sense. It´s a kind of "chulería" or witty saying, a play on words. For instance, if the mom doesn´t want her child to call a person "vieja", she´d say: "viejos son los trapos". Or if she doesn´t like eating corn (maíz) she´d say: "el maíz para las gallinas".


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## smithjen

It's hard to reply to so many threads at once, but I'll do my best and hope I haven't overlooked anyone.

@k-in-sc, I'm a Spanish literature professor w/ a specialty in 19th-century Peninsular literature (esp. Emilia Pardo Bazán) and I have a contract to do a student edition of _Insolación_ for English-speaking students.  I have to make an extensive bilingual glossary as well as add glosses and footnotes in English of anything that a native English-speaking university student would not understand (that's a lot of glosses and footnotes!).  So, yes, I need to footnote this passage with a translation in English, which has proved to be quite difficult. But, I'm only on chapter three and this is not the first roadblock I've hit.  I think you're "hay is for horses" example is the analogy that has helped me best understand how the sentence might be understood for a native speaker.  Thanks! 

@aldonazalorenzo and Quiviscumque, When I first posted my question, I hadn't yet read the footnote in the Cátedra edition, so I wasn't trying to withhold information.  I'm working with an online text (no notes), which is in the public domain, but I also have the Cátedra and Austral editions to use as references (although the Austral edition doesn't have any footnotes either).  I should have consulted the Cátedra edition before posting, but it didn't occur to me at the time.  Although, after discovering that "curiosidad" also means "limpieza," the expression STILL made no sense to me. That said, I NOW see the advantages of consulting the DRAE even for words that I think I understand.  I will do so more often, and ALWAYS before posting. It definitely would have helped with the expression: "no cocérsele a alguien el pan." I apologize for the 'extra' work, but am impressed that you were able to figure out the play on words.

@aldonazalorenzo, the translation "that's a good thing just for linen" doesn't seem quite right to me.  Where do you get the "just" ("sólo")?

@Quiviscumque, re: "apaga y vámonos," when it comes to interpreting language and/or translating, there never is a final, conclusive answer. It's an interpretative mental exercise that necessarily goes on ad infinitum...


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## smithjen

FYI: Here are the footnotes I've decided to add.  Not the best translations, but my main goal was try to explain to students what the passage means.

Vi que la Diabla se moría de curiosidad… «¿Sí?, pues con las ganas de saber te quedas, hija… La curiosidad es muy buena para la ropa blanca».***  Pero no se le coció a la chica el pan en el cuerpo y me soltó la píldora.****

****¿Sí? pues…* _Well, you’ll just have to remain curious, my dear… purity goes well with white linen._  Here Asís plays with the word “curiosidad” which means both “curiosity” and “cleanliness” in Spanish. 

**** *No se le… * _The girl could not relax until she asked me what she wanted to know._


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## k-in-sc

I'm still trying to think of how you could translate "La curiosidad es muy buena para la ropa blanca." It's doubly problematic because it's so archaic that not even native speakers understand it now.
I see that an obsolete meaning of "curiosity" is "fastidiousness,'' which isn't exactly "cleanliness" or "tidiness." 
Are you just going to say "Curiosity is very good for the linen(s)" or something like that and explain it in the footnote?


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## smithjen

@Oldy nuts, if nobody's upset with ME, I'm totally good : ) Really!

@k-in-sc, I just posted my "translations."  Not great, but the best I cold come up with.  But, if you have any suggestions, PLEASE don't hesitate to comment.

Thanks!


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## k-in-sc

"Purity goes well with white linen"  ... ehhh. Just adds to the confusion, if you ask me. Throws the reader off the track. "Purity"? Chastity? WTF?
Not to be negative, but you asked for opinions!


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## smithjen

@k-in-sc, well...  purity to me, means clean, unadulterated, pure.  Someone who doesn't know something (hasn't had their curiosity satisfied) is, in a sense, 'clean,' 'uncorrupted' or 'innocent.'  This was my thinking at least.  

As far as I can tell, there is no way to translate the double meaning of "curiosidad' into English.  So, I thought the closest thing I could do was to play with the concepts of purity and cleanliness, which do have some connections in English.

If you've got a better idea, please let me know?


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## smithjen

P.S. it occurred to me that the reference to white linen could have something to do with the fact that "la Diabla" is a maid (she deals with cleaning white linen).  So maybe the implication is something like "if you're working with white linen, in other words, if you're a maid, it's better to be clean/uninformed about your employer's personal life."


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## k-in-sc

I saw where you were trying to go with it -- I just didn't think you quite got there 
I'll keep thinking about it. This is a literary translation (not a dry academic one) and you can take a few liberties to make it sound good, right?


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## smithjen

Ok, I was trying to follow aldonazalorenzo's instructions on how to respond properly to messages, but it looks like I'm going to need more time to figure it out and unfortunately I've got to run out of the house in 15 min.  I'll be back at it later this afternoon.

I've been writing @ to mean (directed at) because I don't know how to respond specifically to people's comments.  I also have never used Twitter, but I guess it's time to start. : )

After reading your latest comments since posting my 'translation' I've made some changes.  Let me know what you think.  Am I now interpreting 'too much'?

Vi que la Diabla se moría de curiosidad… «¿Sí?, pues con las ganas de saber te quedas, hija… La curiosidad es muy buena para la ropa blanca».***  Pero no se le coció a la chica el pan en el cuerpo y me soltó la píldora.****

** Pues con…* _Well, you’ll just have to remain curious, my dear… innocence and cleanliness are best if you work with white linen_.  Here Asís plays with the word “curiosidad” which means both “curiosity” and “cleanliness” in Spanish. The implication is that if you are a maid, that is, if you work cleaning white linen, it is best to remain ignorant about your employer’s personal affairs.

***No se le…* _The girl could not relax until she spit it out_.


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## k-in-sc

"The girl just had to get it out of her system" ...? But that doesn't sound very 19th-century ... 
(I said that about Twitter because  @name is used in tweets.)


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## Quiviscumque

Just to add some noise  (please, notice the sign!!!)

1) Estimado smithjen, tu traducción "_The girl could not relax until she spit it out_" es perfecta. En cuanto al juego de palabras con "curiosidad", como casi todos los juegos de palabras, es intraducible. Para eso están las notas a pie de página, supongo.

2) Para ser sincero, he de decir que la expresión "no cocérsele a uno el pan" está un poco escondida en el DRAE.

3) El uso de "curioso" con el sentido de "bonito" está vivo, al menos en Asturias, según mis recuerdos y según un gugleo que acabo de hacer con "ta curiosu" (está curioso).

2) Estimada aldonzalorenzo, ¿quién se puede ofender por "apaga y vámonos"? Y el chiste no era tan malo


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## aldonzalorenzo

Quiviscumque said:


> Y el chiste no era tan malo


 
¡Esto, esto era lo que necesitaba oír!: muchísimas gracias .


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## Bustamante

No se le coció el pan en el horno = no tener la paciencia de esperar algo
Le soltó la píldora = decir algo que se tiene contenido

This meanings are new for me and I indeed learn a lot from this discussion. Translating is not just using different words than your usual ones. Is like to undress yourself and taking new clothes. Smithjen, be sure that yours is a difficult phrase even for spanish native speakers. Who is able to know, master, tame his/her own mother tongue? Learning it is a non stop duty. Regards and thanks for your post that caused such fruitful inquiry

Y agradezco a K-in-SC que me llamó la atención sobre el tema.


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## k-in-sc

smithjen said:


> Let me know what you think.  Am I now interpreting 'too much'?
> _Well, you’ll just have to remain curious, my dear… innocence and cleanliness are best if you work with white linen_.  Here Asís plays with the word “curiosidad” which means both “curiosity” and “cleanliness” in Spanish. The implication is that if you are a maid, that is, if you work cleaning white linen, it is best to remain ignorant about your employer’s personal affairs.



Explaining the expression as relating to the maid's work and her attitude to her employer's personal affairs is fine in the footnote - you're the expert - but I think the translation itself is a little bit of a stretch. (As I'm sure you understand by now, it really means "'curiosity' is fine for sheets (but not for maids).") I still have no better alternative to suggest, though. I guess it would be cheating to leave "curiosidad" in italics! (Or would it ...?!)
(By the way, I think "my dear" works well for "hija.")
And welcome, Bustamante! See, you learn something new every day on WR! 

As for "the girl could not relax," I don't think "relax" was used much in the 1880s, was it? I'm thinking "the girl could not be easy" or "the girl could not contain herself" or something like that.


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## Oldy Nuts

Now that we entered the third page it's getting difficult to go back and try tofind what everyone has said.

Smithjen, if your last attempt is the one quoted by Kay (sorry, but I  find it nicer and easier to call her "Kay" instead of "k-in-sc"), then I agree with her criticisms. For the first sentence, I would go for a plain "Cleanliness is very good for linen", leaving all the explaining for the footnote. Incidentally, is it sufficiently clear that there is an implicit "pero no aquí" or the like after "ropa blanca"?

As for the second sentence, I would think that its meaning is closer to something like"the girl was so uneasy that she finally spit it out".


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## k-in-sc

I'm wondering if a dash, ellipsis or comma would help to imply the "but not for ..." part.
"Cleanliness/_curiosidad_ is very good -- for linen" 
"Cleanliness/_curiosidad_ is very good ... for linen" 
"Cleanliness/_curiosidad_ is very good, for linen"

Inspiration! (sorta):
Fresh linen is a good thing [= but fresh questions are not]?

It would help if I went and read the thing to find out what the maid's burning question is ...

-- Karen


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## eli-chi

Oldy Nuts said:


> For the first sentence, I would go for a plain "Cleanliness is very good for linen", leaving all the explaining for the footnote. Incidentally, is it sufficiently clear that there is an implicit "pero no aquí" or the like after "ropa blanca"?
> 
> As for the second sentence, I would think that its meaning is closer to something like "the girl was so uneasy that she finally spit it out".


Yes!!!  I agree with Oldy.
I want to add that the word "curiosidad" was frequently used here to mean "prolijidad, cuidado, esmero".  I remember women saying: "¡Qué niñito(a) más curioso(a)!".
*4.     * f. Cuidado de hacer algo con primor.
*primor:* *1.     * m. Destreza, habilidad, esmero o excelencia en hacer o decir algo.

P.S. I wonder if the "Asís" named here is Francisco de Asís.


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## Oldy Nuts

Sorry Kay, but I don't agree with your last suggestion. I don't think it is right to stress in a translation what the author did not stress in the original.


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## Mate

Buenas noches. Voy a opinar como miembro. 

El problema con la primera frase quedó resuelto. 

El de la segunda creo se reduce a encontrar alguna frase en inglés --aunque no sea muy idiomática, pero mejor si lo es-- de doble sentido. Creo que tenemos el problema identificado pero no resuelto aún. No creo que podamos quitar "curiosity" de la traducción porque es lo que le da sentido a todo el asunto. 

Habría que pensar en algo para reemplazar el resto de la frase: "...is very good, for linen".

Mi humilde opinión.


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## k-in-sc

eli-chi said:


> I want to add that the word "curiosidad" was frequently used here to mean "prolijidad, cuidado, esmero".  I remember women saying: "¡Qué niñito(a) más curioso(a)!".
> *4.     * f. Cuidado de hacer algo con primor.
> *primor:* *1.     * m. Destreza, habilidad, esmero o excelencia en hacer o decir algo.
> 
> Interesting! That would correspond to the archaic English meaning of "fastidious" for "curious." Unfortunately, it's no use to us because nobody knows it! Not even a trace of that sense remains. I didn't know it until I looked up "curious" for this thread.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oldy Nuts said:
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry Kay, but I don't agree with your last suggestion. I don't think it is right to stress in a translation what the author did not stress in the original.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> About the punctuation? Maybe not. I just thought I'd put that idea out there.
> 
> I've noticed in comparing literary translations (OK, so it was just Carlos Ruiz Zafón) that a lot of times, these plays on words that are so difficult to translate and that would sound so odd in English are just left out completely.
> 
> But you forgot to say how much you loved my idea of "fresh linen" ...
> 
> Karen
Click to expand...


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## Oldy Nuts

Mate, el problema, como ya se ha dicho, es que el DRAE incluye "aseo, limpieza" entre los significados de "curiosidad", lo que muchos no sabíamos, y le da sentido a la frase.

Y, que yo sepa, ser moderador no te quita la categoría de miembro. Pienso que debería ser al revés: que deberías aclarar cuando estás opinando como moderador. Mi opinión al menos.


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## Oldy Nuts

k-in-sc said:


> ...
> But you forgot to say how much you loved my idea of "fresh linen" ...
> 
> Karen



So I did. My sincerest apologies, Karen (*much* better than "k-in-sc").


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## eli-chi

Hey! Look at what I found for "curious":
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French curios, *from Latin curiosus ‘careful,’* from cura ‘care.’ Sense 2 dates from the early 18th cent.


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## k-in-sc

eli-chi said:


> Hey! Look at what I found for "curious":
> ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French curios, *from Latin curiosus ‘careful,’* from cura ‘care.’ Sense 2 dates from the early 18th cent.


Very interesting linguistically. I can't see how it will work for the translation, though. The Spanish meaning of "neat"/"fastidious" persists, but the English one just doesn't. 




Mateamargo said:


> El problema con la primera frase quedó resuelto.


Really? What did we decide? Last I heard we were still debating that one too, just not as vigorously ...


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## eli-chi

k-in-sc said:


> Very interesting linguistically. I can't see how it will work for the translation, though. The Spanish meaning of "neat"/"fastidious" persists, but the English one just doesn't.


You are right!  
I´ve been thinking about this:
_ "innocence and cleanliness are best if you work with white linen_. Here Asís plays with the word “curiosidad” which means both “curiosity” and “cleanliness” (*and fastidiousness*) in Spanish. *The implication is that if you are a maid, that is, if you work cleaning white linen, it is best to remain ignorant about your employer’s personal affairs*."
Was Asís who found this "implication"?
Because another implication could be that a maid had to be fastidious enough to maintain the white "white" those days...


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## k-in-sc

eli-chi said:


> Was it Asís who found this "implication"?
> Because another implication could be that a maid had to be fastidious enough to maintain the white "white" those days...


Meaning "Be 'curious' (fastidious) about the linen, but not other things"? That's what I think it means too.
The translation should be simple! Just fill in the blank:


> "... is very good, for linen."


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## Lurrezko

¡Qué hermoso hilo!

Nada que añadir al sentido de la frase, está muy bien explicado. En cuanto al contexto y a la acepción de curiosidad=limpieza, quizá sería útil la idea de que este sentido es sin duda antiguo y desusado, pero no arcaico, a mi entender. Me atrevería a afirmar que muchos españoles de cierta edad y de origen rural aún lo entienden, por habérselo oído a sus mayores. Los míos lo usaban con frecuencia, para alabar (por ejemplo) las virtudes de una muchacha joven en edad de merecer (*Es muy curiosa y muy apañada*), en una época en que la higiene no era moneda corriente en el ámbito rural.

Esas mismas connotaciones tiene para mí el término "ropa blanca": como bien se apunta más arriba, era toda aquella ropa (pañuelos, sábanas, colchas finas), por lo general bordada a mano, que constituía todo el ajuar de las muchachas de extracción humilde, y cuya curiosidad  se exhibía con orgullo en los tendederos, a falta de algo mejor de lo que aparentar, como símbolo de un cierto estatus. La curiosidad es buena para la ropa blanca es algo que hubiera dicho mi abuela, sin duda.

¡Saludos!


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## dilema

Lurrezko oinak said:


> ¡Qué hermoso hilo!
> 
> Nada que añadir al sentido de la frase, está muy bien explicado. En cuanto al contexto y a la acepción de curiosidad=limpieza, quizá sería útil la idea de que este sentido es sin duda antiguo y desusado, pero no arcaico, a mi entender. Me atrevería a afirmar que muchos españoles de cierta edad y de origen rural aún lo entienden, por habérselo oído a sus mayores. Los míos lo usaban con frecuencia, para alabar (por ejemplo) las virtudes de una muchacha joven en edad de merecer (*Es muy curiosa y muy apañada*), en una época en que la higiene no era moneda corriente en el ámbito rural.
> 
> Esas mismas connotaciones tiene para mí el término "ropa blanca": como bien se apunta más arriba, era toda aquella ropa (pañuelos, sábanas, colchas finas), por lo general bordada a mano, que constituía todo el ajuar de las muchachas de extracción humilde, y cuya curiosidad  se exhibía con orgullo en los tendederos, a falta de algo mejor de lo que aparentar, como símbolo de un cierto estatus. La curiosidad es buena para la ropa blanca es algo que hubiera dicho mi abuela, sin duda.
> 
> ¡Saludos!


Abundando un poco en lo que dice Lurrezko, añado que, aunque la acepción "curioso=limpio, apañado" no es muy frecuente en el habla coloquial hoy día, tampoco es una total rareza. Yo mismamente he dicho muchas veces algo como "¡uy, pues te ha quedado muy curioso!" cuando algo que parecía tener mal arreglo (por cualquier razón) ha terminado teniendo un buen aspecto.

Y en gente de la edad de mi madre (más de 60 años) tampoco es raro que recomienden un pintor, por ejemplo, porque es muy "curioso" (es decir, ensucia lo mínimo y cuida los detalles).


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## jasminasul

smithjen said:


> It's hard to reply to so many threads at once, but I'll do my best and hope I haven't overlooked anyone.
> 
> @k-in-sc, I'm a Spanish literature professor w/ a specialty in 19th-century Peninsular literature (esp. Emilia Pardo Bazán) and I have a contract to do a student edition of _Insolación_ for English-speaking students. I have to make an extensive bilingual glossary as well as add glosses and footnotes in English of anything that a native English-speaking university student would not understand (that's a lot of glosses and footnotes!). So, yes, I need to footnote this passage with a translation in English, which has proved to be quite difficult. But, I'm only on chapter three and this is not the first roadblock I've hit. I think you're "hay is for horses" example is the analogy that has helped me best understand how the sentence might be understood for a native speaker. Thanks!
> 
> I will add something here that I think is causing much confusion (and I really want to see the end of this).
> Unless I am mistaken, you are not translating this book for literature readers. A literary translation aims at causing the same impression on the reader of the target text as the original caused on its readers. I would simply say "curiosity killed the cat", or something similar, since it would be impossible to include any allusion to white linen (when I first read the sentence I tried to find something with bleach).
> 
> I don´t think this is your case. I think (I might be wrong) that you should provide a literal translation (curiosity is good for white linen) and then explain the play on words.
> 
> Another matter. It has been said that this extract is difficcult and a Spanish speaking person would not understand it, which proves that translation is a very complicated thing. I am nowhere near as smart as the people who commented on this post, but I had no problems understanding it straight away.
> 
> Well, let us know


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## k-in-sc

I was still wondering what you were going to do about this expression too, Jen. (I'm in the "keep it simple" camp.) And what kind of style are you going for in your translation? I realize you have a whole book to do and you can't waste a lot of time on one phrase, but still, inquiring minds want to know


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## smithjen

Sorry for the delay in responding, for some reason I didn't get any e-mail notifications that there had been more replies to this thread.  Anyway, for the moment, I've gone with the following footnote for this passage:

*Pues con…* _Well, you’ll just have to remain curious, my dear… innocence and cleanliness are best if you work with white linen._  Here Asís plays with the word “curiosidad” which means both “curiosity” and “cleanliness” in Spanish. The implication is that if you are a maid, that is, if you work with white linen, it is best to remain ignorant about your employer’s personal affairs.

I realize this is not completely satisfactory, but my objective is to explain this passage as quickly and simply as possible to a college-age, English speaking student.  

I actually found a 1907 English Translation of the novel (_Midsummer Madness_) which I have found to be very wanting.  But, in case anyone is interested, they translated the passage as follows:

"Indeed," thought I, "this time you may take it out in wishing, my good girl.  Curiosity is good for the appetite."  But Diabla would not give up without an attempt.  She began to question with a very innocent air.

The expression "curiosity is good for the appetite" makes no sense to me and doesn't seem to represent what is being said.

FYI: Since some of you asked details about what exactly is my objective in translating this passage.  I thought maybe this might explain it better: I'm working on an edition of Insolación for the following series http://www.linguatextltd.com/europeanmasterpieces/index.html

I've done my best to answer everyone's comments/questions, but if I overlooked someone, please let me know.  Thank you again for all your help!

Jennifer


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