手伝いをしていた [Grammar Help]

[turvy]

ファーブルの手伝いをしていた羊飼いの青年が、先が尖ったフ ンの玉を持ってきます。

What is 手伝いをしていた？

My idea: Fabre's help came earlier from a young shepherd that brought him a tapered ball of dung.

 

[Toritoribe]

The core of the sentence is 青年が玉を持ってきます. ファーブルの手伝いをしていた modifies 羊飼いの青年.

personの手伝いをする: to help person

 

[turvy]

Thanks, so what about:

A young shepherd helped Fabre bringing a tapered ball of dung.

Is this good?

 

[Toritoribe]

No, I'm afraid. Young shepherd didn't help Fabre bringing. Again, the core is 青年が玉を持ってきます, and not ファーブルが玉を持ってきます. Fabre didn't do the action.

 

[turvy]

Mmmmmmm, I think…

Fabre was helping a young shepherd that brought some tapered dung balls.

Does that make more sense?

 

[Toritoribe]

personの手伝いをする: to help person

The shepherd helped Fabre.

ファーブルの手伝いをしていた is an adjectival clause which is modifying 羊飼いの青年, similar to the relative clause "person who..." in English.

 

[turvy]

So back to my original translation, what about

A young shepherd brought a tapered ball of dung to help Fabre.

Wait, earlier you said "Fabre didn't do the action.", but I never said that either, I don't understand that comment.

My translation was "A young shepherd helped Fabre [by] bringing a tapered ball of dung [to him]."

You are saying that Fabre wasn't helped by bringing but then you say that the core is 青年が玉を持ってきます which is a young man brings/will bring a ball. So the shepherd did bring a ball.

Thank you for following up on me with this one.

 

[Toritoribe]

Maybe this is the key?
手伝いをしていた and 玉を持ってきます are TWO DIFFERENT actions. There's no direct relation between them.

 

[turvy]

Another thing that confuses me is the てきます ending, what tense should I use in English when translating this one?

 

[Toritoribe]

It's the present tense which is used to add an effect(to make the scene alive).

 

[turvy]

Alright, mmm

ファーブルの手伝いをしていた
[who] helped Fabre

羊飼いの青年が
A young shepherd

先が尖ったフ ンの玉を持ってきます
brings the tip of a pointed/tapered ball of dung.

So far so good?

 

[Mike Cash]

That would require を after 先 instead of が

 

[turvy]

Subject
[ファーブルの手伝いをしていた羊飼いの青年]が
A young shepherd helping Fabre

[先が尖ったフンの玉]を
a tip of a tapered ball of dung

持ってきます。
brings.

A young shepherd [who was] helping Fabre brings a tip of a tapered ball of dung.

What about: A young shepherd who was helping Fabre would come to bring him a tapered ball of dung.

 

[Mike Cash]

Yaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!!!