Giacomo Kyle
asked:
I know this is petty, but near the beginning the German guy, Egmont, who was touring El Gringo's breeding centre: he said not to the sandwich, then on the next page, he's eating the sandwhich? Did something get lost in translation there?
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Tender Is the Flesh,
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Calton
I believe it's because the author refers to the main character as "he" that there might've been some confusion. Egmont accepts the sandwich, and it is the main character that declines.
jakamaru
In the Finnish translation I'm reading, the German guy agrees to have a sandwich and it's the main guy who declines.
Brett Minor
I took it as the man caving to pressure. Yes, he denied the sandwich, but he is later eating it.
Whether it was because he did not want to offend or he felt that he might be viewed negatively by El Gringo, he ended up accepting the sandwich. It is not explained why.
I could be mistaken, but I do not believe this was an error in authorship or translation.
Whether it was because he did not want to offend or he felt that he might be viewed negatively by El Gringo, he ended up accepting the sandwich. It is not explained why.
I could be mistaken, but I do not believe this was an error in authorship or translation.
Steve
I am a few years late to this discussion, but I just have to say that half the people here are incorrect. BOTH Egmont & El gringo eat sandwiches. When asked if he wants a sandwich, Egmont initially nods his head
— acknowledging what he just heard about the barbecue and why it is happening (eating a BBQ'd child to celebrate the birth of a child!) — but he then shakes his head to indicate no to the sandwich. The author describes everyone as being very surprised because that meat is so good and so hard to come by, and so the cook goes ahead and makes two sandwiches (one of them extra spicy). The cook knows such sandwiches are not to be missed. So Egmont accepts a sandwich (caving to pressure probably, as another commenter noted) as does El Gringo. Egmont steps back to eat his sandwich carefully, trying not to stain his white shoes. When Egmont decides to leave, they are about to shake hands until Egmont sees the grease from the sandwich on El Gringo's hand (which El Gringo took longer to eat presumably because El Gringo did all the talking in the scene.)
This is as far as I've gotten in the book actually. And the impression I get is that Egmont is bothered by things, But he is as complicit as can be. Metaphorically speaking, his hands are bloody too.
Anyway I actually stumbled upon this discussion because I'm listening to the audiobook and heard the German insult from Egmont. But I don't know what it means, and I cannot easily look it up because I don't know how it is spelled. I could search Google Books but I thought this would be faster. It didn't provide me the answer I sought, it but I did find this discussion interesting and a little amusing.
— acknowledging what he just heard about the barbecue and why it is happening (eating a BBQ'd child to celebrate the birth of a child!) — but he then shakes his head to indicate no to the sandwich. The author describes everyone as being very surprised because that meat is so good and so hard to come by, and so the cook goes ahead and makes two sandwiches (one of them extra spicy). The cook knows such sandwiches are not to be missed. So Egmont accepts a sandwich (caving to pressure probably, as another commenter noted) as does El Gringo. Egmont steps back to eat his sandwich carefully, trying not to stain his white shoes. When Egmont decides to leave, they are about to shake hands until Egmont sees the grease from the sandwich on El Gringo's hand (which El Gringo took longer to eat presumably because El Gringo did all the talking in the scene.)
This is as far as I've gotten in the book actually. And the impression I get is that Egmont is bothered by things, But he is as complicit as can be. Metaphorically speaking, his hands are bloody too.
Anyway I actually stumbled upon this discussion because I'm listening to the audiobook and heard the German insult from Egmont. But I don't know what it means, and I cannot easily look it up because I don't know how it is spelled. I could search Google Books but I thought this would be faster. It didn't provide me the answer I sought, it but I did find this discussion interesting and a little amusing.
Gayle Gordon
The German guy didn't turn it down. Marco did.
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