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mal repugnante

English translation: loathsome disease

21:50 Mar 30, 2024
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Spanish term or phrase: mal repugnante
Spa>Eng

Hi, I am translating the following quote from a Paraguayan novel titled, "Follaje en los ojos"

“… como un enfermo de mal repugnante, huía del asco y la compasión"

mal repugnante could refer to a 'repulsive evil' or a 'repulsive illness'. I have consulted with two native speakers, each of whom claimed one or the other translation to be correct. I find this sentence to be especially hard to pin down because it could mean that (the protagonist) fled out of disgust and compassion (disgust of himself, compassion for others (presumably to keep his disease or evil away from them), or that he fled from the disgust and compassion of those around him (presumably because of his disgusting illness). In other words, its unclear from where the disgust and compassion is originating.

I am leaning toward the most adequate translation being "repulsive illness"

The entire passage from the novel below:

"En varias oportunidades pudo conseguirse alcohol y un día hasta dejó de trabajar para ir a buscarlo expresamente. Nunca iba al puerto. Le había entrado la idea de que yendo, alguno terminaría por reconocerlo y se descubriría su paradero. No quería recibir noticias, cartas, y mucho menos escribirlas; como un enfermo de mal repugnante, huía del asco y la compasión. Un día, al volver al puesto, vio colgada de una rama baja, una pieza grande de carne fresca de venado. Le alegró la gástrica ilusión de cambiar por unos días el corned-beef por este manjar natural, tierno y sabroso. Pero no demostró entusiasmo, porque en esa época sólo el alcohol le podía aflojar la torcida tensión del rostro."
IsaAndrea
United States
English translation:loathsome disease
Explanation:
That is what the context suggests.
Selected response from:

Cecilia Gowar
United Kingdom
Grading comment
Thank you!!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5loathsome disease
Cecilia Gowar
5like someone ailed by a deforming disease
Delia Salazar
5Repulsive disease
Oscar Felipe Núñez Alfaro


  

Answers


24 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
loathsome disease


Explanation:
That is what the context suggests.

Cecilia Gowar
United Kingdom
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 227
Grading comment
Thank you!!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
40 mins
  -> ¡Gracias Beatriz!
agree  philgoddard: Yes, 'enfermo de' means 'suffering from' or 'sick with'.
58 mins
  -> Thanks Phil!
agree  Sophie Cherel: Nice
10 hrs
  -> Thanks Sophie!
agree  Laeticia Maris
20 hrs
agree  Leonardo de Rose
11 days
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1 day 15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
like someone ailed by a deforming disease


Explanation:
The author uses "mal repugnante" to convey the character's self-consciousness around other people, which is why he prefers to hide from them. Repugnante could mean something others might catch, but mostly something others might easily notice and run from, like leprosy or pustules, something that drives people away. This is why I would use deforming rather than disgusting, because it includes this notoriety of the illness.

Delia Salazar
Venezuela
Local time: 02:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish, Native in EnglishEnglish
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26 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Repulsive disease


Explanation:
The author is saying this man is hiding himself in order not to be recognized by others as if he had a repulsive disease, he has an alcoholism problem though.

Example sentence(s):
  • Parece que las personas del pueblo tuvieran un mal repugnante ya que no salen.
  • El egoísmo es un mal repugnante que nos aísla de otros.
Oscar Felipe Núñez Alfaro
Costa Rica
Local time: 00:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
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