The Sphinx in Spanish

[grey_wolf_c]

Amy wrote:
> Grey Wolf, how did the Spanish translation deal with this?  Does the 
> word for spider end in a sound that's plausibly close to the sound 
> someone makes while thinking?  Or did the clue take another form 
> entirely?  And was the creature being guessed even a spider?  (I 
> really hope so.  One of the things I like about this passage is that 
> the sphinx is giving Harry a clue warning about another obstacle, the 
> one he in fact encounters next.  It made up for the fact that when I 
> first read the line "Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss," 
> I was sure the answer would be Dementor, and was a bit disappointed 
> it was just a random icky creature.  Then, wham! turns out to be not 
> just any icky creature, but the one that's about to chomp Harry.)
> 
> Amy
> who never tires of translation questions no matter how bored everyone 
> else gets

Warning: This post may contain Spanish and traces of nuts

Once the warning is out of the way: for those who understand Spanish, 
here's the tranlated version:

"Si te lo hiciera te desgarraría con mis zarpas,
pero eso sólo ocurrirá si no lo captas.
Y no es fácil la respuesta de esta adivinanza,
porque está lejana, en tierras de bonanza,
donde empieza la región de las montañas de arena
y acaba la de los toros, la sangre, el mar y la verbena.
Y ahora contesta, tú, que has venido a jugar:
¿a qué animal no te gustaría besar?"

It's slightly different, but with the same structure (they give you 
other clues, but they're mainly about it's syllables). However, for 
convenience, I'm giving an aproximate translation (bear with me, this 
one's difficult)

"If I did it to you, I'd rake you with my claws"
     In Spanish, "araña" (the answer) means scratch (as in the verb "to 
scratch") appart from "spider"
"But that will only happen if you don't get it"
     No clue here, I think. Just a threat.
"Since it's not easy the answer to this riddle"
     No clue here either. Just to mantain symetry and rhyme
"Since it's far, in lands of bonanza/fair weather"
     Again, no big clue, but it places you for the next
"Where the region of sand mountains start"
     This can refer to many places (and in fact, Harry thinks of 
several): Sahara, Arabia, or any country of North Africa. However, 
Spanish people associate the African desert with "Arabia", since that's 
where the arabs traditionally live.
"And ends the one of bulls, blood, sea and verbena/traditional Spanish 
party"
     Bulls are in many places, but when you mention blood, it almost 
always refers to bullfighting. Sea is more vague, but la verbena is a 
traditional Spanish party from Andalucía. So, they're refering to Spain 
("España")
"And now answer, you, who have come to play:
     Again, a nice non-clue for rhyme (which was there in the original)
"What animal wouldn't you like to kiss?"
     This last two where probably put in by the tranlator, to mantain 
coherence with the original English riddle (As I've said, she's 
especially good). I actually got this one, since I've heard a lot of 
the "black widow's kiss".

Start of "Arabia" + end of "España" = Araña

So, Amy, answering your question, there is no sound of thinking ("ehhh" 
in Spanish), but there is a mention to Spain, which was well liked by 
every Spanish I've met, and the general structure of the riddle was the 
same (good translating). An extra clue is included at the very 
beggining (one that actually helps to solve the riddle to Harry), but, 
in essence, the riddle is very close indeed.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf