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    Translation request for my family heirloom pillowcase
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    Translation request for my family heirloom pillowcase


    This Christmas my wife received a pillowcase that belonged to my great great grandma who immigrated to America from what was either the Austro-Hungarian empire or Czechoslovakia, I’m not sure to be honest. My grandmother does maintain that we are specifically Slovak which is why I’m here. She doesn’t know what it says and I was hoping the community could help us out. Initial google translation services were not yielding much unfortunately.

    Thank you all in advance.

    https://i.redd.it/79k30wangebg1.jpeg

    Posted by SamisSmashSamis

    View 7 Comments

    7 Comments

    1. Psclwbb on

      I think I got it, it’s in kind of dialect

      Neni ruza bes trna.

      Neni zivota bez trapena

      There is no rose without thorn.

      There is no life without suffering.

    3. Professional_Fix4663 on

      It says: Neni ruža bes trna a život bes trapena.

      In standard Slovak: Není ruža bez tŕňa a život bez trápenia.

    4. Orange_Molester on

      Sounds like the Trnava region to me tbh.
      The translations are correct.
      Also if you are interested there is a possibility to find out the location where this is from – each region (often to the exact village) has a unique way of doing the details – pictures and symbols around the text. This is close to me since I recently worked with symbols from Velky Grob (small village, you wouldnt think the culture is this deep).

    5. lvkasxd on

      People already translated it but i’d say “trápenia/trapena” is closer to worrying than it is to suffering.

    7. SamisSmashSamis on

      Thanks everyone for the engagement. I enjoyed learning a little bit more about the piece. We’re going to put it in a frame as our cats would destroy it if we actually used it as a pillowcase.

      I did call my Grandmother about it and found out a little lore. My great great grandparents lived in Bratislava but didn’t know each other very well. When WW1 broke out, my great great Grandpa decided to flee the Austro-Hungarian Empire to avoid being drafted and my great great Grandmother + others from the community joined him. They lost touch when they got to America but accidentally ran into each other in St Louis of all places where they got married, and the rest is history.

      Thanks again, this has been fun.