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El preso número nueve - QuestionIf you need help translating a sentence or longer piece of text, use this forum. For translations or definitions of a single word or idiom, use the vocabulary forum. |
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El preso número nueve - Question
This question has bugged me for ages.
I have always loved Joan Baez' version of El Preso Numero Nueve. As I have studied Spanish I understand all of it but I cant wrap my head around the grammar of the very first line: El preso numero nueve, ya lo van a confesar... I know that they are taking him to confession but it seems to translate "now they are going to confess it" Can someone help me with this? |
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Me ayuda si corrige mis errores. Gracias. |
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No, it's actually an old folk ballad.
He is being taken to confession because he killed his wife and her lover. |
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I just saw the lyrics of the song, and simply means they are going to give him the sacrament of confession as in "administer the last sacraments" before the execution. The guy is not afraid nor remorseful of having killed his wife and lover... and so he confess it to the priest... in the morning the guy is getting executed...
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Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie. "An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you." |
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But doesn't "van a confesar" mean THEY are going to confess?
The context is either that he is going to confess, or that they are taking him to confession. I'm confused on the grammar. |
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He's the one confessing, but to a priest, not the police, as he has already been condemned to death.
This "they" is just some impersonal formula used colloquially. Oh, by the way, original lyrics say "Al preso número nueve ya lo van a confesar", which makes much more sense.
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♪ ♫ ♪ Ain't it wonderful to be alive when the Rock'n'Roll plays... ♪ ♫ ♪ Last edited by AngelicaDeAlquezar; November 15, 2012 at 06:33 PM. Reason: Added comment on original lyrics. (And corrected spelling) |
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Encontré la traducción en italiano, que cambia a versión: Quote:
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... ...'cause you know sometimes words have two meanings. |
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Right, Angelica is spot on (as usual)... "The prisoner number nine is about to be taken for his confession"...
I take your confusion is that literally it says "they are going to confess him", but what it means is that "he is about to do his confession [to a priest] to be ready for his execution." DRAE gives confesar 4. tr. Dicho de un confesor: Oír al penitente en el sacramento de la penitencia. That is, while no "priest" is explicitly mentioned (as the Spanish "lo van a confesar" is "impersonal") it is implied that the "confessor" is going "to hear the penitent in his confession". (Hope this fully clarifies, but let us know if otherwise!)
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Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie. "An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you." |
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Thanks for all of your input. I understand what you are saying...just wish it fit more neatly into my spanish grammar "box" but thats not the way it works is it?
If you get a chance youtube it sometime and give a listen...really catchy. |
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