DQ! (raistlinsshadow) wrote in linguaphiles,
DQ!
raistlinsshadow
linguaphiles

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A French question for you:

I'm in the process of translating the musical Notre-Dame de Paris, which is based on the Victor Hugo novel. In one of the songs, there's a line that reads, "Je te mets au pied du mur". I was curious if there were an idiomatic meaning behind it that would translate better into English than "I place you at the foot [bottom?] of the wall".

Another line in the song is "Viens en moi petite ordure", and while I have the word-for-word translation, it doesn't make sense. Can you shed some light on this? Alternately, it makes a bit more sense if it's missing a comma, but I don't really have much of an idea of how to punctuate correctly in French. Another question, then, is what's a good resource for French punctuation?


Tell me if you guys need more context than the song.

La monture
FLEUR-DE-LYS (DE LOIN, À PHŒBUS)
Quand on te voit sur ta monture
Quelle allure et quelle stature
Un vrai modèle de droiture
Une force de la nature

Ou bien n’es-tu qu’une raclure
Un animal de luxure
Qui court à l’aventure ?
Y a-t-il un cœur sous ton armure ?

Le mien est pur comme l’azur
Laisse-moi panser tes blessures
Oublions cette mésaventure
Je t’aimerai si tu me jures
Je t’aimerai si tu me jures
Qu’on la pendra
La Zingara

Mes rêves de petite fille
Cousus de fil en aiguille
Je les ai jetés au loup

Détrompe-toi car je suis
Aussi blanche qu’une brebis
Qui se roule dans la boue

Tes mots d’amour sont des injures
Tes serments sont des parjures
Mon cœur déjà se fait plus dur
Je te mets au pied du mur

Délivre-moi de ma ceinture
Viens en moi petite ordure
Apprends-moi l’art de la luxure

Je t’aimerai si tu me jures
Je t’aimerai si tu me jures
Qu’on la pendra
La Zingara !

Je t’aimerai si tu me jures
Je t’aimerai si tu me jures
Qu’on la pendra
L’Esméralda !
Qu’on la pendra
La Zingara
Tags: french, translation
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