I think this is too particular for GQ:
I’m translating a bit, and in the middle of a passage the author tosses in a line of 16th C. quote which I can’t get the first part of exactly:
the sentence goes:
"…de Prins den magistraat vergunt f 2400 op te nemen voor den bouw van een nieuwe stadhuis (here’s where the trouble begins…) “twelcke oock voor een tijt sal mogen dienen om Godes woordt daerinne te verconden’”.
My trouble is with twelcke and tijt saal. Is the original 2400 for the town-hall AND the church or is there an additional amount put to the church (I’m assuming it’s just ‘welke’, so the former guess is correct)? How would you translate tijt sal?
My modern Dutch is feeble enough, but this older stuff kicks my butt.
Dank U wel, vij voorbaat,
Mitzi
I just realized that my typo in the thread title is indicative of my bilingual confusion here, ha ha.
Alrighty then. Actually, this is two translations for me: Old Dutch to Modern Dutch, and then Modern Dutch to Modern English. But here we go:
"… the Prince, the magistrate, allows 2400 Guilders (well, Florins back in that day) to be spend / allocated / used for the construction of a new Town Hall, which will also serve temporarily (as a place - my addition for comprehension) to tell Gods word in. "
No correct Grammar in terms of the Modern English version above, but it is the most ‘direct’ translation.
Oh, and it would be “bij voorbaat”, but I’m sure that was a typo.
How interesting that you speak Dutch! Do you have Dutch ancestors, is it a professional thing only, what gives?
Graag gedaan, in ieder geval. Vele groeten uit Amsterdam, en ik ben benieuwd naar je antwoord.
Doei !
Coldfire 
Coldfire
"You know how complex women are"
- Neil Peart, Rush (1993)
It’s a professional thing (I study 15th-17th C. Dutch/Flemish (ewww) art). I try to visit as often as I can, so I’m also trying to become somewhat borderline competent, but…
Thanks a lot! You’ve been very helpful.
-Mitzi
[Hijack]
Coldfire posted:
How many people flashed on The Princess Bride while reading that? 
Great study, M.K. I take it you’ve been to the Rijksmuseum then.
My favourite painting of all time is Vermeers “Milk Maid”. It is so realistic: when you look at the stream of milk coming from the pitcher for longer than 10 seconds, you’ll start to see it actually move. And NO I had not visited any coffee shops earlier on that particular day
Oh, and Rembrant’s Nightwatch isn’t half bas either, eh?
Coldfire
"You know how complex women are"
- Neil Peart, Rush (1993)
Well, we in The Field don’t call it “The (sniff!) Nightwatch”, anyway, you know. It’s Capt. Frans Banning Cocq’s Brigade…
Ha ha. And yes, Vermeer is a swell chap. I like the earlier things more, though (15th C. stuff-- Roggie v.d. Weyden, etc).
If you like the 17th C stuff, you have been to Mauritshuis, no? Great collection.
This summer was the first time I’d been to Amsterdam in the late summer-- high season, for 2 weeks. I realized that you don’t NEED to be high for it to be a pretty crazy town. My husband and I went to coffeeshop just once, and on the walk back to pension kept stopping in our tracks and asking each other “Oh. My. God. What is That…Thing?!” I like the movable floating loud parties that the rich 30-somethings have on their barges, with one guy on the prow with a bugle to warn other boats. Really a cool town. My top holiday choice.
Just to clarify, Dutch currency is still abbrevriated “f” or “fl” or some such, spelled “florin” but pronounced “guilder.”
Of course, in about two years it will all be replaced by Euro anyway.
“f”, “fl” or the correct “Hfl” stand for “Hollandsche Florynen” which means something along the lines of “Dutch Florins”. Although the currency is now called Guilder, the old abbreviation still stand. In banking, however, a modern and more appropriate “NLG”, “Netherlands Guilder”, is used.
Coldfire
"You know how complex women are"
- Neil Peart, Rush (1993)
Way to go Poly!! Princess Bride!! That’s the first thing I thought of!
“Who’s Gilder?”
“The country across the sea! The sworn enemy of Florin!”
I sold my soul to Satan for a dollar. I got it in the mail.