Phantom Carriage

[BrianG]

I watched it on TCM this past weekend and near the end of the movie, just before Holm wakes up, the carriage driver says something like "Du fange, trad ater in i ditt fangelse!" which is not translated into English. I think the first two words are "You prisoner", but I can't translate the rest. Anyone know what it says? In the version TCM ran in 2009 that intertitle was missing.

[greta de groat]

Were there any diacritics on the letters? That could make a huge difference in translation. I assume you tried Google translate, the results of which are amusing, if not very helpful.

greta

[BrianG]

I think there were 2 dots over the a in trad and and a circle over the a or e in ater. I ran it through google without the marks because I didn't know how to enter them.

[R Michael Pyle]

Something to the effect,

"You prisoner, trees are in your prison!" or "...trees back into your prison!" or "You - damned - put the trees back into your prison!"

I haven't a clue what that implies... or if it's correct based on what you gave us...

[BrianG]

I got the trees thing too, but it makes no sense. I'm guessing TCM ran the Criterion version, so it's weird they went out of their way to insert it, then left it untranslated.

[Rick Lanham]

I'm looking at the Criterion copy right now.
It's translated as "Captive, return to thy prison!"

"Du fånge, träd åter in i ditt fängelse!"

So, return to normal life.



Rick

[BrianG]

Thank you Rick. Wonder why the translation was missing in the TCM cut. After seeing it again for the first time in years, the Criterion blu-ray is now at the top of my purchase list.

[Rick Lanham]

I also looked up the subtitles at the link below. It seems to omit any subtitle at that point in the film. So maybe there are prints missing a little section? If that's the case, maybe the wording was not done correctly?

https://subscene.com/subtitles/the-phan ... ish/156679" target="_blank

If you download the file there and extract it, the .srt file is a simple text file and can be opened with any text processor. The section in question is:

/////
258
01:40:01,718 --> 01:40:04,152
"Let nothing remain of me!"

259
01:40:04,278 --> 01:40:06,872
"Do what you like to me, my Lord,

260
01:40:06,998 --> 01:40:09,637
only spare the three of them!"

261
01:40:15,718 --> 01:40:19,996
"David, l see that l no longer
need to grieve for you!"

262
01:42:04,158 --> 01:42:08,390
"She hasn't done it yet.
l made it here in tlme!"

263
01:42:53,838 --> 01:42:56,989
"Sister Edit is dead,
and l have been at her side."

264
01:42:57,118 --> 01:43:00,872
"l promised her to become
a good husband and father."

265
01:43:08,398 --> 01:43:13,870
"You're lying! Sister Maria
told me you refused to go to her."

/////
Rick

[BrianG]

Thanks for that subtitle link. The Swedish Film Institute version that TCM ran in 2009 showed the driver mouthing the words, "Du fånge, etc", but no intertitle at all. It also listed restoration credits at the end, including a list of the musicians with Matti Bye. The version TCM ran the other night had no credits at all. It didn't even mention the score.

[R Michael Pyle]

Thanks, Rick; my "translation" made no sense; I knew it couldn't be precise at all!

[BrianG]

One final comment after rewatching it this morning. Near the end of Act 3 when the driver picks up Holm, he tells him "Du fange, kom ut ur ditt fangelse!" and the subtitle is "Captive, come forth from your prison". So that final "Captive, return to your prison" really makes sense.

[greta de groat]

I'm looking at the Criterion copy right now.
It's translated as "Captive, return to thy prison!"

"Du fånge, träd åter in i ditt fängelse!"

So, return to normal life.



Rick

Just heard from my Swedish daughter-in-law, and she gives the similar translation of ”You prisoner, step back in to your prison”, adding that Träd means both tree and step. She observes that Google translate seems particularly tricky with Swedish.

Now i'm going to have to watch this again!

greta

[Harlett O'Dowd]

Just heard from my Swedish daughter-in-law, and she gives the similar translation of ”You prisoner, step back in to your prison”, adding that Träd means both tree and step. She observes that Google translate seems particularly tricky with Swedish.

Now i'm going to have to watch this again!

greta

More to the point - what is a slutstation? And why must the salvation army lasses wear armbands with "slut" emblazoned upon them. Is this the swedish version of the scarlet letter?

[Brooksie]

Just heard from my Swedish daughter-in-law, and she gives the similar translation of ”You prisoner, step back in to your prison”, adding that Träd means both tree and step. She observes that Google translate seems particularly tricky with Swedish.

Now i'm going to have to watch this again!

greta

More to the point - what is a slutstation? And why must the salvation army lasses wear armbands with "slut" emblazoned upon them. Is this the swedish version of the scarlet letter?

'Slut' just means 'The End' or 'Final'. It's purely a guess, but I'm betting that 'Slutstation' means something like 'waystation' or 'terminus'.

I only know this because 'Slut' is what you get as a title card instead of 'The End' in Swedish silent films. Depending on what happened in the previous scenes, it can provoke quite the unintended laugh ...

[Rodney]

Just heard from my Swedish daughter-in-law, and she gives the similar translation of ”You prisoner, step back in to your prison”, adding that Träd means both tree and step. She observes that Google translate seems particularly tricky with Swedish.

Now i'm going to have to watch this again!

greta

More to the point - what is a slutstation? And why must the salvation army lasses wear armbands with "slut" emblazoned upon them. Is this the swedish version of the scarlet letter?

'Slut' just means 'The End' or 'Final'. It's purely a guess, but I'm betting that 'Slutstation' means something like 'waystation' or 'terminus'.

I only know this because 'Slut' is what you get as a title card instead of 'The End' in Swedish silent films. Depending on what happened in the previous scenes, it can provoke quite the unintended laugh ...

Yes, "Slut" came up when I was translating the titles for The Girl in Tails for SFSFF a few years ago.

And I remember a tiny whimsical news story a while back about a streetcar line that was being added in Seattle. It was originally going to be called South Lake Union Transit, until they noticed what the acronym would be. It's now the South Lake Union Streetcar.

[poul]

May I be of service?

"Slut" means "The End"
"Slutstation" means "End of the Ride" or "End of the Line".

Ricks translation is quite right.
In this title "träd" means "step"

Best, Poul, Denmark

[Mike Gebert]

But what does it mean as an armband on a nurse?

[poul]

May I be of service?

"Slut" means "The End"
"Slutstation" means "End of the Ride" or "End of the Line".

Ricks translation is quite right.
In this title "träd" means "step"

Best, Poul, Denmark

Now you made me see the gem again - thank you for that.

I´m sure now that the Swedish word you´re asking about is "slumstation"?
There´s a big sign outside the place.

Well, slum is slum and the word means a shelter/hostel for the homeless and down and outs.

So the armband is to signify that the nurse is working at the station.

Best, Poul

[Brooksie]

In slightly related news, the 'slut' confusion has struck again, this time in relation to John Steinbeck's original manuscript for The Grapes of Wrath. If only they'd all watched more Swedish silents ...

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/ ... manuscript