ProZ.com translation contests »
33rd translation contest: "Back to the playground"

Preparing
Submission phase  
Jun 3Jun 17
Hybrid phase  
Jun 18Jul 8
Finals phase  
Jul 8Jul 22

About the Submission phase

During the Submission phase, entries may be submitted in any language pair, per contest restrictions. Contestants are allowed to edit their entries until the end of the Submission phase.

At the end of the Submission phase, all language pairs with submitted entries will be "paused" for review by the contest administrator.

About the Hybrid phase

During the Hybrid phase, individual language pairs can be placed in any of the Submission, Qualification, or Finals phases, depending on how many entries have been submitted.
  • Pairs which received fewer than 3 entries during the Submission phase will likely be placed in an "extended submission" period. If at least 3 entries are eventually submitted, the pair will be moved forward to the Finals phase.
  • Pairs which received between 3 and 7 entries will likely be placed directly into the Finals phase, where site users who list that language pair in their profile may vote for what they feel are the best entries.
  • Pairs which received more than 7 entries will likely be placed into the Qualification phase, where site users rate and tag entries in an effort to determine a smaller pool of entries which should move forward into the Finals phase.

About the Finals phase

During the Finals phase, all language pairs which have received at least 3 entries will be open for site users to vote for what they feel are the best entries. Pairs with fewer than 3 entries will not be able to have a winner determined.

At the end of the Finals phase, votes will be tallied by site staff, and winners in each pair will be announced.
Competition in this edition of ProZ.com translation contests is finished. Winners have been announced in 40 language pairs. Click here to view the winners »

It is now possible to discuss and provide feedback about the competition in each language pair by visiting the "Discussion & feedback" tab within each pair listed below. Submitted entries may also be discussed individually — consider congratulating the winners!


Source texts — Jump: English, Italian, Portuguese (EU), Spanish

The following are the source texts for this edition of the ProZ.com translation contests. Contest participants are given the opportunity to submit translations of these texts into the languages of their choice. If three or more translators translate a text into a given language, the contest is "on" in that language pair. To learn more about the source texts, see the "About the source texts" section below.
English
[...] “I have a proposal.” It leaned forward like my friend April does when she wants to tell a secret, even though none of her secrets are any good. Or even really secrets. “If you don’t tell anyone I am here, I can fix your eyes.”
“Get out of town!”
It blinked a couple of times. “That is what I am attempting to do.”
“What I mean is you can’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“Well, no one else has been able to fix my eyes, besides with glasses.”
“I have certain abilities. You will see, provided…”
“…I don’t tell anyone about you?”
“That is the heart of it, that is the nub.”
“How do I know you won’t blind me? You could be like one of those telemarketers making promises but totally lying.”
It started waxing on, waxing off again. “I would not do such a thing to a creature who has done me no harm.”
“Meaning if I harmed you, you could make me go blind?”
“That’s on a need-to-know basis.”
“And if you fix my eyes, and I don’t tell anyone about you, you’ll leave our fields?”
“That’s the heart of it!” [...]
Italian
[...] Il drago fu felice di rivederlo [il bambino] e per l’occasione fece un sibilo che spaventò a tal punto i tanti che lo attorniavano che scapparono via tutti a gambe levate.
Naturalmente il bambino non era fuggito. E allora il drago, divenuto triste, gli confessò la sua confusione.
“Non sono più io: non so più chi sono”, gli disse. E una grossa lacrima gli stava scendendo dagli occhi, non più lucenti, ma divenuti opachi e acquosi. “Tu mi hai fatto riflettere sui miei comportamenti. E’ vero, io non sono cattivo. E non voglio esserlo. Ma comportandomi da cattivo, prima, ero riconosciuto. La gente aveva paura di me, della mia forza, del mio fuoco, dei miei sibili. Non mi si avvicinava. E mi rispettava. Ora, invece …”
Il bambino sentì il dolore del drago.
“Ora invece…?”
“Mi vergogno a dirlo. Ma l’altro giorno, addirittura… un ragazzo mi si è avvicinato. E poiché io continuavo ad apparire buono e tranquillo, mi ha tirato la coda. E un altro cercava di infilarmi le dita nelle narici, da dove un tempo emettevo fuoco. E poi c’è chi giocherella con le ali, provando ad aprirmele quando io le ho chiuse per riposare. Insomma, ormai tutti mi prendono in giro, dicono che non faccio paura a nessuno…”. [...]
Portuguese (EU)
[...] Oriana espreitou e viu que na sala não estava pessoa nenhuma. Só lá estavam as coisas. Mas reinava uma atmosfera de grande má disposição.
Os sofás e as cadeiras davam cotoveladas uns nos outros, as cômodasdavam coices nas paredes, as jarras diziam às caixas e aos cinzeiros que não as apertassem, e as flores diziam:
- “Não posso mais, não posso mais, falta-me o ar!”
A sala estava cheia como um ovo.
Oriana entrou e as coisas puseram-se todas a falar ao mesmo tempo.
- “Oriana, Oriana, tira-nos daqui” - gritavam as flores.
- “Oriana, diz à jarra que não me empurre” - pediu a caixa.
- “Oriana, diz à mesa que não me pise com tanta força” - pediu o
tapete.
- “Oriana, diz ao sofá que não me dê cotoveladas” - pediu a cadeira.
- “Oriana, diz ao biombo que se chegue para lá” - pediu a parede.
- “Oriana” - pediu o espelho -, “tira-me daqui. Eu estou sempre a ver,
vejo tudo. Esta sala cheia de coisas, esta sala sem espaço, sem vazio, semlargueza, cansa e magoa os meus olhos de vidro.” [...]
Spanish
[...] El príncipe Catapulto voló como un aguilucho desplumado en dirección a la ventana del torreón. Y la atravesó, rompiendo el cristal en mil pedazos.[...] Catapulto había logrado así entrar en distintas fortalezas, pero ¡ay!, el problema llegaba a la hora de salir de ellas. Catapulto siempre era descubierto y tenía que huir por el mismo sitio por el que había entrado… ¡lanzándose por la ventana! ¡Es por eso que tenía la cabeza llena de chichones!
[...]Pero el día que acudió al rescate de la princesa de Pantalonia todo cambió. Catapulto, como siempre, asaltó el castillo impulsado por la catapulta y atravesando otra vidriera más.
-"¡OTGA vez! ¡Qué DOLOG tan TEGGIBLE!"
-"¿Quién eres? ¡Qué haces aquí!" -preguntó la princesa de Pantalonia.
-"No te asustes PGINCESA. TGANQUILA. He venido a GESCATAGTE."
-"¿Rescatarme?"
-"Sí, me envía el GEY."
-"¿Quién?"
-"El EMPEGADOG…”
-"Lo siento, no entiendo nada de lo que di…"
-"¡El MONAGCA!"
-”Ahhh, el rey. Vale, bueno… ¿Y quién te ha dicho a ti que yo necesito que me rescaten?”
-”Ah, ¿no? Vaya, qué CONTGATIEMPO… Se supone que los PGÍNCIPES GESTATAN a las PGINCESAS.”
-”Se supone, sí. Pero, ¿sabes qué? Que yo me sé rescatar solita.”[...]

About the source texts

The source texts for ProZ.com translation contests are typically selected by ProZ.com members with a goal of providing interesting and challenging material that enables top translators to show their talent.

To ensure a fair competition, efforts are made to avoid texts for which published translations exist. If you know of the existence of a published translation of any of these source texts into any language, please notify the site staff with a support request.

The views expressed in these texts should not be considered representative of the views of either ProZ.com staff members or the members of the ProZ.com community who have selected the texts.