The theft of the pears

The Latin is Nam et si quid illorum pomorum intravit in os meum, condimentum ibi facinus erat.

Various English translations:

• Boulding: "Even if some morsel of the pears did enter my mouth, it was only the criminal act that lent it savor."
• Warner: "For if any of those pears came into my mouth, what sweetened it was the sin."
• Ryan: "For if I put any of that fruit into my mouth, my sin was its seasoning."
• Sheed: "for if I took so much as a bite of any of those pears, it was the sin that sweetened it."
• Pine-Coffin: "If any part of one of those pears passed my lips, it was the sin that gave it flavour."
• Chadwick: "If any of those pears entered my mouth, my criminality was the piquant sauce."

Five perfectly good translations (sorry, but "piquant sauce" is right out), all differing in nuance and cadence, in precision of vocabulary (facinus is definitely "crime" or "criminal act," not "sin," for Augustine), and in various other ways. So many decisions, just for one sentence.

All of this explains why I haven't done any serious Augustine translation since I was young and brash and too stupid to have a proper sense of the difficulties.

Oh . . .

Tentatively, one more translation:

• Postulant: "For even if something from those pears did enter my mouth, it was the crime that gave it savor."

And I'll futz with that sentence, and every other sentence, several times before I feel sure I've got it right.