# Welsh: Just when the caterpillar thought life was over, it became a butterfly



## Vendrayil

I was trying to translate  "Just when the caterpillar thought life was over, it became a butterfly" From English to Welsh...having issues getting it to translate right. Can anyone help with getting a more accurate translation? Please and Thank you!

~Vendrayil~

Mdoerator's note: In case you wonder why members mention a proverb here, the initial title was 'English to Welsh Proverb Translation' and has now been changed.


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## L'irlandais

Doesn't sound much like a Welsh proverb to me :


> _*Tri peth s'yn fynnu a'r y gwres.Gwenith,gwenyn a mes.*_
> 3 things thrive on heat_wheat,bees and acorns.
> Source :BBC -  Domesday Reloaded


What may sound clever in one language, may simply sound contrived in another.


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## PurplePanada

I do not very well in Welsh but I do search or got little bit information and I do translate it "Just when the caterpillar thought life was over, it became a butterfly"
 (Dim ond pan fydd y bywyd meddwl lindysyn i ben, daeth yn glöyn byw ")
i wish it make little bit help for you.


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## Tegs

I would translate this as "Ac yntau’n meddwl bod ei fywyd ar ben, dyma’r lindysyn yn troi’n bili-pala." 

Please be aware that this isn't a proverb in Welsh. (And as far as I know, it isn't a proverb in English either.) The Welsh sentence I've provided is just a translation of your English sentence.

Purple Panda - I'm sorry, but your sentence is incorrect. L'irlandais - as you rightly point out, some proverbs don't translate well. In this case, you can translate the English, but it just doesn't sound like a proverb.


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## L'irlandais

Hi Tegs,
I know I harp on about it a bit.  But in the past members (not that Vendrayil has mentioned tattoos) have rushed into tattooing translations on their body without realising the ins and outs of the translation.  The symbolism of the lifecycle/metamorphosis of the butterfly is common in eastern traditions ;  so the text might work better in Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters. Just my own opinion.


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## Tegs

Good point l'irlandais. We don't know what the context is here, but let me make it clear - this makes for a bad tattoo or philosophical slogan in Welsh!  It sounds to me like a sentence out of a children's storybook about caterpillars


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## Stoggler

PurplePanada said:


> I do not very well in Welsh but I do search or got little bit information and I do translate it "Just when the caterpillar thought life was over, it became a butterfly"
> (Dim ond pan fydd y bywyd meddwl lindysyn i ben, daeth yn glöyn byw ")
> i wish it make little bit help for you.



I've yet to find an online Welsh translator that ever gets close to proper Welsh - don't trust them at all!


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