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Context "Le petit cochon se contentait de remuer sa grande marmite de soupe, et de rire. "

If I'm not mistaken "se contenter de" means 'to be satisfied with', but the translation of the text seems to translate it as "just/merely"

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  • Yes, "just/merely" is a good equivalent in that case. Dec 11, 2015 at 15:20

1 Answer 1

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Se contenter de does indeed mean "to be satisfied with" but it also means by extension "to not do more than what one does".

So here, I would translate your sentence as

The little pig was satisfied to not do anything more than simply stir his big pot of soup, and laugh

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  • I'm not sure about the "satisfied" part. It seems to imply some degree of self-consciousness in the pig that doesn't really appear in the French sentence. Dec 11, 2015 at 15:19
  • @guillaume31 That's true I guess, but I can't think of a translation that would not imply this.
    – Fatalize
    Dec 11, 2015 at 15:27
  • "The little pig was just stirring his big pot of soup and laughing" ? Dec 11, 2015 at 15:33
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    Or "The little pig was simply stirring his big pot of soup and laughing"
    – SwissFr
    Dec 12, 2015 at 7:10

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