Dec 25, 2018 21:40
5 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
Ukraine
UKR t9n and l10n in style
Native in: Russian 
, Ukrainian 
Works in: German to Ukrainian, English to Ukrainian, German to Russian
with every season
English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Hello,
Could you please give me a hand with understanding "season" here?
Context: it's a sci-fi novel (Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny) and there's a bunch of self-proclaimed "gods" who oppress the rank-and-file people using high technologies. These "gods" reincarnate in new bodies, which makes them conditionally immortal.
The line in question is:
"Another generation, perhaps two, and its* power over mortals will have passed... Give them a few more years of decadent glory. They become more and more impotent with every SEASON. They have reached their peak. Their decline has set in"
*=their (of the "gods")
This word occurs throughout the novel as follows: "season of lightnings/rains" (that's the default usage) and, once, "SEASONS of life when I incarnate as a man". And yes, I am aware that "season" may sometimes also mean "year".
Besides that, the same speaker uses sports expressions from time to time, like "You have lost this round" and "I was not a member of the original team". So could it perhaps be "season" like in sports or theater? What would your first impression be?
(I understand that it might be a difficult one without being immersed into the context, but I would appreciate a fresh look by native speakers and any opinions)
Could you please give me a hand with understanding "season" here?
Context: it's a sci-fi novel (Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny) and there's a bunch of self-proclaimed "gods" who oppress the rank-and-file people using high technologies. These "gods" reincarnate in new bodies, which makes them conditionally immortal.
The line in question is:
"Another generation, perhaps two, and its* power over mortals will have passed... Give them a few more years of decadent glory. They become more and more impotent with every SEASON. They have reached their peak. Their decline has set in"
*=their (of the "gods")
This word occurs throughout the novel as follows: "season of lightnings/rains" (that's the default usage) and, once, "SEASONS of life when I incarnate as a man". And yes, I am aware that "season" may sometimes also mean "year".
Besides that, the same speaker uses sports expressions from time to time, like "You have lost this round" and "I was not a member of the original team". So could it perhaps be "season" like in sports or theater? What would your first impression be?
(I understand that it might be a difficult one without being immersed into the context, but I would appreciate a fresh look by native speakers and any opinions)
Responses
+2
10 hrs
Carolina Finley
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
English Editing and Literary Translation
Native in: English (Variants: US, UK)
Works in: Spanish to English, English
Related KudoZ points
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8
Selected
over time/ as time passes
My first impression is that it means the gods will gradually decline.
It doesn't relate to the expressions from sports in this sentence. It is just a more literary way to say 'as increments of time pass'. And the time frame is given as a generation or two, so over that time the power of the so-called gods will decline. It doesn't refer to any specific season, just that as seasons pass, as time passes, the gods will be increasingly weaker.
It doesn't relate to the expressions from sports in this sentence. It is just a more literary way to say 'as increments of time pass'. And the time frame is given as a generation or two, so over that time the power of the so-called gods will decline. It doesn't refer to any specific season, just that as seasons pass, as time passes, the gods will be increasingly weaker.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
7 hrs
defined sub-period of a longer time division.
We are used, in Europe, for example, to the four 'seasons' as subdivisions of a year; but in other clims, there are for example only 2 seasons: the 'wet' season and the 'dry' season' — so in your instance of 'rains / lightning', this would seem to be referring to subdivisions of a year.
I think also in the first instance, 'season that passes', they are probably talking about each half-year (since it seems as if the year here is divided into 2?) — in other words, really, with every year that passes, but seemingly even a bit faster than that!
As for 'seasons' of life, I think here they are talking about 'years' — or possbily even of longer periods, subdivisions of the unspecified duration of a 'life'
Note that 'seasons' can indeed be used to represent 'years' — two seasons' growth = the amount of growth on a tre etc. that has occurred during 2 growing seasons, of which there is one per year, so = years. Cf. also the now rather old-fashioned use of 'Spring' to talk about the years of a person's (or animal's) life.
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Note added at 9 hrs (2018-12-26 07:08:17 GMT)
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Yes, so each incarnation is a 'season' in the sense of a subdivision of their whole life.
I think also in the first instance, 'season that passes', they are probably talking about each half-year (since it seems as if the year here is divided into 2?) — in other words, really, with every year that passes, but seemingly even a bit faster than that!
As for 'seasons' of life, I think here they are talking about 'years' — or possbily even of longer periods, subdivisions of the unspecified duration of a 'life'
Note that 'seasons' can indeed be used to represent 'years' — two seasons' growth = the amount of growth on a tre etc. that has occurred during 2 growing seasons, of which there is one per year, so = years. Cf. also the now rather old-fashioned use of 'Spring' to talk about the years of a person's (or animal's) life.
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Note added at 9 hrs (2018-12-26 07:08:17 GMT)
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Yes, so each incarnation is a 'season' in the sense of a subdivision of their whole life.
Note from asker:
| Thank you! (The mentioned "seasons of life" mean here "lives": those guys switch bodies and live and live and live) |
Discussion
Seasons of Life Mass Market Paperback – Unabridged, June, 1981
by Jim Rohn (Author), Ronald L. Reynolds (Foreword)