Me and my friend are attempting to create a comparative catalogue of languages, normally when you go onto Wikipedia or glosbe for a language sample text you get an almost robotic read of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we are hoping to provide a better alternative to that by collecting interpretive translations for a surrealist text, to provide beginners a better feel of a language sample. Ideally we need both a native and a latin script.
The text is as this:
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I am the singing lamb
I bite
In the house of the elect
The green dog.
Catch me or
I will escape
I don't need you but
Don't leave me.
As good as a turkey
At singing
Like a rat
Always hidden.
All my accomplishments are
The work of others
I speak six languages
All half-assed.
I am the prince of the west
With many servants,
I bring a thousand gifts
I don't know why!
Deaf to good reasons
I'm going to perish,
At least I'm the fastest
Among the fools.
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Interpretative translation is encouraged instead of literal, for example there is this line in the English version "as good as a turkey at singing" which compares bad singing to the noise made by a turkey bird, if your language for example compares bad singing to something other than a turkey I encourage you to use that translation instead (in Dutch a crow is used e.g.) or when it says "deaf to good reasons" most languages have a specific way to express deliberately ignoring good advice.
Some context to the text:
The first verse is a character introducing himself as the singing lamb, this is a literal singing lamb because it is a surrealist song text, he bites another character - the green dog (also literal) - in the house of an elected official (presumably a mayor).
In the second paragraph a new unnamed character is speaking, each paragraph then has a new speaker.
The next time a character introduces himself is in the 5th paragraph with the prince of the west. It is doubtful this character is an actual prince but it is open to interpretation by the listener. In the final paragraph another unnamed character is saying he is deliberately ignoring advice he knows to be good which will lead to his demise, he then proclaims that at the very least he will be the fastest among the fools (people who deliberately ignore good advice).
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