Ενδιαφέρει αυτό καθ' εαυτό το θέμα της τραγωδίας των λαών

[Theseus]

The full sentence is:

Ενδιαφέρει αυτό καθ' εαυτό το θέμα της τραγωδίας των λαών που δεν προβλέπεται κοντινό το τέλος της. Όλα, είτε για λάθη πρόκειται είτε για αυθαιρεσίες γίνονται επ' ονόματί τους κι όλα εγγράφονται στο παθητικό του δικό τους λογαριασμού.

The context is of a man who has seen disturbing footage of refugees, one in a boat stuck motionless at sea, the other in a scene of women with babies in their arms dragging children through a muddy jungle. The matter of journalists trying to find ideological reasons, right or wrong, for this situation is misdirected. Then comes this sentence. I understand the first sentence but does the sentence in bold broadly mean:- 'Everything, whether it's a matter of mistakes or of dictatorial actions, is done in their name and it is all blamed on them.':)

 

[Earion]

There is a comma missing after αυθαιρεσίες: Όλα, είτε για λάθη πρόκειται είτε για αυθαιρεσίες, γίνονται επ' ονόματί τους. = Everything, whether as a result of mistake or of arbitrariness, (a parenthetical phrase) is done in their name.
κι όλα εγγράφονται στο παθητικό του δικού τους λογαριασμού. = and everything is written as a liability in their balance sheet.

 

[Themis†]

"A liability in their balance sheet": this might be interpreted as "it is blamed on them", but one cannot exclude the meaning "at their expense", "it is them who pay the bill". I actually think that, in this context, it is rather the latter meaning that prevails.

 

[Theseus]

Thanks, Themis. I had worked out some literal translation of the sentence, even down to the banking analogy but the metaphor seemed to me to be a stilted & highly artificial one. I was struggling to render it into fluent English.

 

[Theseus]

Sorry, Earion that I missed thanking you. I was in a hurry this morning. Please excuse this breach of good manners.

 

[SBE]

the metaphor seemed to me to be a stilted & highly artificial one

The original is a bit stilted, at least to my ears. This is how Greek speakers who want to sound serious talk. It's quite common, but for me after 20+ years away from Greece it sounds a bit too much.

 

[Theseus]

Thanks,SBE. I wondered if there was a better metaphor which says the same thing but more instantly intelligible & without the over-worked metaphor of the balance sheet.

 

[drsiebenmal]

Imho, λογαριασμός is over-translated as balance sheet. Λογαριασμός is just an account. I would have translated it as and everything is written down as a liability in their account, hoping that by adding "down" I would cover Themis' objections (which seem valid to me).

 

[Lefki]

Taking the Dr's thought a little bit further, I'd add counted/held/weighed against [them] as possible alternative renderings.

 

[pontios]

All good suggestions. I can't think of a suitable idiom, as is.

But with a bit of licence -

Everything, whether it be a mistake or an indiscretion counts as a debit on their moral ledger.

Everything, whether it's a mistake or an indiscretion is a blot on their copybook.

Mistake I think means an "honest" mistake, vs an indiscretion, where "you should have known better".

 

[Theseus]

Thanks to all--I appreciate the different renderings of this metaphor & all the efforts on my behalf, which all have helped me fully to clarify the sense of the original. I first translated όλα εγγράφονται as 'all are registered'. 'Written down' is better.:)