Adonde se pone los capotes

[MOPKOBKA]

Hemingway's "Death in the Afternoon" (1932) contains a phrase in Spanish that throws me off a little. Can someone please help?

Source text:
"When you buy a barrera seat ask where the capes are put. "Adonde se pone los capotes?" and then ask that you be given a seat as close as possible to them."

This phrase, "Adonde se pone los capotes?", doesn't sit well with me. Of course, the book was translated into other languages and so I checked. It turnes out that Spanish translator changed it into "¿Dónde se colocan los capotes?" while French and Italian translators used this: "¿Adonde se ponen los capotes?".
Which one is the closest to the original meaning?

[poli]

Colocar sounds strange, but I think most people would understand.

I would say ¿donde se puede colgar los capotes?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Both "¿Dónde se colocan los capotes" and "¿Adónde se ponen los capotes?" are correct, depending on the regional colloquial usage. It could have also been "¿A dónde se ponen...?"
However, if I understand well, according to the Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas (http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=donde), "¿En dónde se ponen...?" would be a better grammar choice. Hemingway's Spanish would not choose hyper-correct grammar, but colloquial or daily use language though. :)


Edit: Since he was a foreigner, his Spanish must have had a few flaws, but the translators should have respected the original instead of correcting it, and should have inserted an explanatory note. :thinking:
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[MOPKOBKA]

Thank you, Angelica! Your explanation is right on the target.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@MOPKOBKA: I'm glad you found it useful. :)


@Poli: Although "colocar" is usually understood as "poner con cuidado", some people find it more "educated" than saying "poner", so it's commonly used as a synonym, even colloquially now.
Your sentence would work for someone who wants to hang their own clothes, but here, the "capotes" are actually the bullfighter's capes. This passage is actually an advice for someone visiting a "plaza de toros", that recommends taking an expensive seat behind the barrier, where the bullfight can be seen closer and the experience of the "corrida" is more vivid.
So an alternative for the original sentence might be "¿(En) dónde ponen los toreros sus capotes?" :)