# Dat hem dit beter is bevallen



## GLS6259

Hello everyone,

I'm translating a text on an opera, and I'm a bit confused:

_Dat hem dit beter is bevallen dan men van zo’n kuis heerschap zou verwachten mag blijken waneer hij meedoet aan een zangwedstrijd, waarin de deelnemers de mooiste ode aan de liefde moeten brengen. _

Could someone explain the first part of the sentence?
The main caracter is back from a long stay by Venus, where he discovered the sexual drive.
The second part says that the main caracter takes part to a "love" singing contest but the first part remains blured to me.


Many thanks


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## AllegroModerato

_Het feit dat hem dit beter is bevallen (...)_

Does it make more sense now?


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## ThomasK

This "pre-position" of the pronoun is not that common in Dutch. We'd normally say that "dit hem beter bevallen is" (bevalling is like _to please_, literally)...

"Kuis heerschap": lit. chaste lordship, a "chaste" gentleman, like a prude...


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## AllegroModerato

ThomasK said:


> This "pre-position" of the pronoun is not that common in Dutch. We'd normally say that "dit hem beter bevallen is" (bevalling is like _to please_, literally)...


I don't see any difference between one or the other, but let's not confuse the OP with off-topic debates.


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## ThomasK

This is not off-topic - nor meant to be confusing! I am trying to understand the problem for the thread starter, and I thought the place of the pronoun might be the cause of the trouble. That is why I focused on the place, by which I did not suggest there was a semantic difference !


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## GLS6259

Thanks both for your responses.
I still cannot "connect" the 2 sentence parts "_Dat hem dit beter is bevallen" and "dan men van zo’n kuis heerschap zou verwachten mag".

Could you please explain what this part means?_


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## AllegroModerato

_The fact that he was more pleased with it than could be expected from such a chaste gentleman becomes apparent when he competes in a singing contest in which the participants have to offer the finest ode to love._

Apparently, this person wasn't supposed to like "it" (context?) as much as he did considering his chaste personality/behaviour.


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## ThomasK

Ha, now I see your problem. This would be my suggestion, but it is not well formulated:
_That this has pleased him more [that he liked it better] than might be expected from such a chaste gentleman, can be considered evident from the fact that he participates/ joins in a singing competition in which ... 
_
AM's suggestion sounds way better. I only think that this "mag blijken" is more literally translated in my version, but I think it it is rendered well by AM again.


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