What does this line of Dutch translate to in English?

November 2, 2009 7:18 PM

Help me figure out this line of Dutch dialogue!

Is there anybody out there who speaks Dutch? I'm trying to translate the line about halfway through this Flash piece:
Blind Side.

posted by media_itoku to media & arts (6 comments total)

I speak Dutch and I think this is Flemish.

This is he part I think I can make out:

ik loop in de wagen
en volgde het stuur [...]
door lommerrijke lanen
onder de rood gebakerde zon
terwijl ik de lange brug huiswaarts overstak
en de hemel begon te branden

But it doesn't make much sense. Maybe some other Dutchies can listen to it and help you out.

"I walk [?] in the car
And followed the steering wheel [...can't understand this...]
Through leafy lanes
Underneath the red blazing sun
As I crossed the long bridge on my way home
And the sky started to burn/caught fire"

Obviously, the first two sentences are throwing me off.
posted by monospace at 8:09 PM on November 2

There's another Flash thing made from this poem here. If you click on the woman a couple of times you hear what is probably the English version of the Dutch: "she said, 'I got into my car and followed its steering wheel as it led me back through the shadowed lanes and under the reddening sun as I crossed the long bridge home, and the sky started burning.'"
posted by gubo at 8:56 PM on November 2

Yeah, heavy west flemish accent.

The part that monospace couldn't make out sounds to me like "met terug leide", which translates to "brought back to", which corresponds well with the English version that gubo found.
posted by randomstriker at 12:05 AM on November 3

"het stuur dat me terugleidde"

"The steering wheel that led me back". That's not a heavy West Flemish accent, by the way. This is (YT, starts about 1,04 minutes in the video, warning: hilarity).

It's also "ik kroop in m'n wagen", as in "I got into my car". Literally, it means "to crawl". It's used also in relation to getting into bed: ik kruip in mijn bed, ik kruip in de auto.
posted by NekulturnY at 2:37 AM on November 3

I'm Flemish. Seconding randomstriker & gubo -the missing words are "volgde het stuur dat me terugleidde".
posted by Siberian Mist at 2:45 AM on November 3

Recap then:

ik kroop in m'n wagen
en volgde het stuur dat me terug leidde
door lommerrijke lanen
onder de rood gebakerde zon
terwijl ik de lange brug huiswaarts overstak
en de hemel begon te branden
posted by monospace at 4:50 AM on November 3