Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
bestellen (Felder, Wälder,Seen)
English translation:
tend (fields, woods, lakes)
Added to glossary by
Robin Salmon (X)
Jan 6, 2004 12:27
20 yrs ago
German term
Germany
Translations that don't sound translated
Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, Swedish to English, English, and 3 more.
bestellen (Felder, Wälder,Seen)
German to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Die weiten Felder, Wälder und Seen wurden von diesen Leuten bestellt.
Fields can be tilled, but what do you do with woods and lakes? Do you cultivate them?
The story is set in Germany during WWII. Literary text.
thanks for your help
Fields can be tilled, but what do you do with woods and lakes? Do you cultivate them?
The story is set in Germany during WWII. Literary text.
thanks for your help
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +7 | to look after (fields, woods, lakes) |
Robin Salmon (X)
|
| 4 +1 | cultivate |
Simona de Logu
|
| 3 +2 | used as a source of food |
Armorel Young
|
| 4 | furnish or maintain |
Brandis (X)
|
| 3 +1 | harvest |
Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.
|
Proposed translations
+7
11 mins
German term (edited):
bestellen (Felder, W�lder,Seen)
Selected
to look after (fields, woods, lakes)
I think this would cover it. Other alternatives: tend, care for.
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Note added at 26 mins (2004-01-06 12:53:59 GMT)
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Thinking about it some more, \"tend\" is probably best. I wondered if you can \"tend\" a lake but I don\'t see why not.
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Note added at 26 mins (2004-01-06 12:53:59 GMT)
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Thinking about it some more, \"tend\" is probably best. I wondered if you can \"tend\" a lake but I don\'t see why not.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
IanW (X)
: I'd go for "tend" here
7 mins
|
| agree |
Hildegard Fatahtouii
13 mins
|
| agree |
Chris Rowson (X)
: I also think "tend" can be extended to forests and lakes, although some of the other options (cultivate, reap, etc.) definitely don´t work for lakes.
26 mins
|
| agree |
Steffen Walter
: Yes, "tend" seems the safest bet here.
30 mins
|
| agree |
jerrie
1 hr
|
| agree |
Sonja Schuberth-Kreutzer
1 hr
|
| agree |
Norbert Hermann
2 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "thanks everyone! i think i'll go with tend and see what the proofreader says ... thanks for all your help ... gz"
14 mins
German term (edited):
bestellen (Felder, W�lder,Seen)
furnish or maintain
order would be too strong, hence furnish or maintain, forests etc.,
+1
16 mins
Simona de Logu
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in German
&
English
United Kingdom
Interpreter, translator and journalist
Native in: English , German
Works in: German to English, Spanish to English, Italian to English, and 3 more.
cultivate
sounds good to me. Bestellen means that you work the land, forests and lakes to reap whatever they produce.
+2
2 hrs
used as a source of food
I'm thinking a bit wider than the direct translation here, and wonder if a solution of this sort would be in keeping with the mood and period of the piece. I don't really think you can cultivate a lake, and to talk of maintaining it sounds more like using it for watersports, which is a bit too modern. I suspect that what they were actually doing was fishing in it.
+1
4 hrs
Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.
United States
United States
Native in English
United States
aided expression: multilingual, multiart
Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 3 more.
German term (edited):
bestellen (Felder, W�lder,Seen)
harvest
Very broad. One can even harvest data.
Discussion
Normally we wouldn't use "bestellen" for forests and lakes. As the German text is not very accurate, I think you can bring them all together with your idea of "cultivate".