The Little Prince in Multiple Languages

[guitarplayer]

The Little Prince is a short classic book and has been translated in many languages. I am setting up a thread to go through it in small batches of 1-to-a-few sentences at a time, in multiple languages. I don't think this thread will go viral, but setting it up nevertheless.

I am going to use languages I have some knowledge of and maybe more importantly some sentiment towards.

ETA: Polish I realised I would be better of doing offline as I can combine it with keeping in touch with my nephew. Also, like @OOTB mentioned below, I might actually include the original French even though I have no knowledge of it. Hence I would carry on with English, French, Spanish and German. I might include Turkish.

If you want, you can join me with your language.

[OutOfTheBlue]

I love this book, but I'm not sure what's the idea behin reading it in multiple languages? Is it to combine this with language learning?

I highly recommend to include the original text in French as well, because the translations I've seen are far from flawless...

Which English translation will you use?

[guitarplayer]

A few ideas:

- the content of the book is good
- looking back at the languages I was trying to learn and learned to some extent in the past
- feeling nice about looking at good content in languages I relate to
- concrete action to perform, i.e. going through sentence by sentence
- not being overwhelmed as the book is short
- probably some others.

I will use the English translation by Katherine Woods. Have been thinking about including the original, too. The thing is, I was never in touch with French other than learning a few phrases or words. But yes I see how it makes sense to include it here to.

@OOTB, what translations would you recommend? (I remember you are a professional translator so this might come handy )

[OutOfTheBlue]

A few ideas:

- the content of the book is good
- looking back at the languages I was trying to learn and learned to some extent in the past
- feeling nice about looking at good content in languages I relate to
- concrete action to perform, i.e. going through sentence by sentence
- not being overwhelmed as the book is short
- probably some others.

Thanks for sharing! Hope this can inspire others to chime in and participate.

When I was a student, we did a live reading of this book in Greek (and another one of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, in English) with my then best friend on a bench by the lake. Such a great memory and shared experience.

I will use the English translation by Katherine Woods. Have been thinking about including the original, too. The thing is, I was never in touch with French other than learning a few phrases or words. But yes I see how it makes sense to include it here to.

@OOTB, what translations would you recommend? (I remember you are a professional translator so this might come handy )

Over the years, I have tried to share this with a number of people, and so far, I had been quite disappointed with the English translations I had come across when trying to share this with English learning non native speakers.

This thread led me down a bit of a rabbit hole, so I had a closer look. This was a great place to start, but they didn't give a personal opinion: https://welovetranslations.com/2021/10/ ... tle-prince

Katherine Wood's is the oldest and most popular. It has been published on the same year as the original (1943). Many readers have discovered this book through her translation and have an attachment to it.

"Katherine Woods’s first take set a high bar, less for textual accuracy than for creativity, and became the invincible classic translation. When Richard Howard’s 2000 translation was touted as the new standard, the changes he made, despite correctness, stirred up a public (online) outcry and collective nostalgia for the old one…. Katherine Woods’s poetic rendering of Saint-Exupéry’s text has been lauded for fifty-seven years, but it has also been criticized for its inexactitude.”

[…]

It is famous for using the word “sheep” in one place where the French text uses “friend”. This error is used to determine whether the Woods translation (and not the original French) was used as a source for translations in other languages; this is called the “sheep test”.

From the subsequent translations and attempts to modernize the English rendering, many fell short and none has emerged as the new definitive version.

---

Personally, I find it quite dated (expression and vocabulary-wise), convoluted and periphrastic. I'm not native in English, but it also seems a bit unnatural, too influenced by the form of the original (although it has nailed the most famous quote). All in all, I'm surprised people loved that version so much (maybe it's a testament to the power of the book?), but that is what most readers are familiar with, so it's a valid choice.

So I have found and compared translations by Katherine Wood, Alan Wakeman, Richard Howard, Ros & Chloe Schwartz (plus had a quick look at the preview and discarded Irene Testot-Ferry's) [can share access to any of these].

Verdict: from what I have seen, I think Alan Wakeman's emerges as being head and shoulders above the rest. Except for a few quibbles, it reads very well. It's a version I would not hesitate to give to a kid, which is what you would expect for a children's book!

I will send it by PM so you can judge for yourself in comparison!

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For adding the original text in French, if you have trouble finding the phrase/passage to add each time (you can use DeepL.com for a machine translation), I can help by sending it to you via PM after the fact, so that you can edit the post as needed. What do you think?

[guitarplayer]

Sounds great! I would probably just go with your judgement of Alan Wakeman's version, so long I can get hold of it. Honestly I spent no time at all thinking about which translation to use so good that you posted here.

From the point of view of translations, I might skip the Turkish version as it would be difficult for me to find a Turkish translation. Also, it being a language with a very different grammar, including it could be time consuming. Which is maybe a shame because I have very, very fond memories from my time in Turkey. I will see.

I can also use OpenAI to help me link corresponding phrases now that it is still free to use. I am pretty set on learning Spanish now and thus have been chatting with it in Spanish when DW had enough of me - it does the job

[OutOfTheBlue]

PM sent!

For anyone interested (especially parents?), Alan Wakeman's translation is currently out of print, but there is an ePub version available.

@guitarplayer, what would be the query for helping link corresponding phrases via OpenAI? I have GPT-3 linked to my note-taking app, is it about asking it to translate the phrase in a given language or something more intricate? Hope it remains free to use…

[guitarplayer]

is it about asking it to translate the phrase in a given language

This is what it is, and a bit of intelligent sense check as I know at least some basics of all the languages (but French) that I am planning to include.

Who knows if it will remain free. Seems like they already charge for performing large operations so maybe they will continue so and will leave small fish swimming and spreading gospel

You got me curious, how do you use it with your note taking app?

[OutOfTheBlue]

For note-taking, I use Logseq. GPT-3 is available through a plugin that you can install through the integrated marketplace. You set it up by connecting your OpenAI API key.

https://github.com/briansunter/logseq-p ... pt3-openai

Similar plugins exist for Obsidian.

[guitarplayer]

1.
Once when I was six I saw a magnificent picture in a book about the virgin rainforest called ‘True Stories from Life’. It showed a boa-constrictor swallowing a wild beast. Here is a copy of the picture.

1.
Cuando yo tenía seis años vi una vez una lámina magnífica en un libro sobre el Bosque Virgen que se llamaba «Historias vividas». Representaba una serpiente boa que se tragaba a una fiera. He aquí la copia del dibujo.

1.
Gdy miałem sześć lat, zobaczyłem pewnego razu wspaniały obrazek w książce opisującej puszczę dziewiczą. Książka nazywała się „Historie prawdziwe”. Obrazek przedstawiał węża boa, połykającego drapieżne zwierzę. Oto kopia rysunku:

1.
Als ich sechs Jahre alt war, sah ich einmal in einem Buch über den Urwald, das »Erlebte Geschichten« hieß, ein prächtiges Bild. Es stellte eine Riesenschlange dar, wie sie ein Wildtier verschlang. Hier ist eine Kopie der Zeichnung.

1.
Altı yaşındayken bir gün, balta girmemiş ormanlar üstüne yazılmış “Yaşanmış Öyküler” adlı bir kitapta müthiş bir resim görmüştüm. Bir hayvanı yutmakta olan bir boa yılanını gösteriyordu. Resmin kopyası işte yukarıda.

(tried to have a French version but I really have no hang of the language, cannot read it in my mind because do not know how to pronounce etc. So I will drop French. French able people are welcome to join if they wish ).

[jacob]

If you want, I can do a Danish translation based on a best estimate of the meaning given the English and German translations. Of course, this comes with the risk of playing a game a translator-telephone. I don't have access to a professional translation. It would go something like

Da jeg var seks år [gammel], så jeg et fremragende billede i en bog om urskoven med titlen "Sande historier om livet". Det viste en kvælerslange, som slugte et vildt dyr. Her er en kopi af billedet."

I feel like I'm back in high school

Some personal and cultural judgement calls were required and/or inserted. Magnificent/praechtig/fremragende aren't exactly aligned. It's hard to translate strength of emotion w/o knowing how the receiver receives it, e.g. awesome like a hotdog?.

PS: On related note, some youtube channels specialize in language nerds inviting other language nerds to decipher sentences of a given language. For example, to which degree an Englishman, an Icelander, or a Norwegian can understand Old Norse.

[OutOfTheBlue]

1.
Lorsque j’avais six ans j’ai vu, une fois, une magnifique image, dans un livre sur la Forêt Vierge qui s’appelait "Histoires Vécues". Ça représentait un serpent boa qui avalait un fauve. Voilà la copie du dessin.

[guitarplayer]

Thanks both aiming to add more in a few hours.

[guitarplayer]

In the book it said: ‘Boa-constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. They can’t move afterwards and sleep for six months while they digest it'.

El libro decía: 'Las serpientes boas tragan sus presas enteras, sin masticarlas. Luego no pueden moverse y duermen durante los seis meses de la digestión'.

W książce było napisane: „Węże boa połykają w całości schwytane zwierzęta. Następnie nie mogą się ruszać i śpią przez sześć miesięcy, dopóki zdobycz nie zostanie strawiona”.

In dem Buch hieß es: 'Die Boas verschlingen ihre Beute als Ganzes, ohne sie zu zerbeißen. Daraufhin können sie sich nicht mehr rühren und schlafen sechs Monate, um zu verdauen.'

Kitapta şöyle deniyordu: 'Boa yılanları avlarını çiğnemeden olduğu gibi yutuverirler. Sonra da yerlerinden kımıldayamaz, sindirimleri için gerekli altı ayı uyumakla geçirirler.'

[guitarplayer]

Well, this set me thinking about jungle adventures and I succeeded in doing my first drawing, using a coloured pencil. My Drawing Number 1. It was like this.

Reflexioné mucho entonces sobre las aventuras de la selva y, a mi vez, logré trazar con un lápiz de color mi primer dibujo. Mi dibujo número 1. Era así:

Po obejrzeniu obrazka wiele myślałem o życiu dżungli. Pod wpływem tych myśli udało mi się przy pomocy kredki stworzyć mój pierwszy rysunek. Rysunek numer 1. Wyglądał on tak:

Ich habe damals viel über die Abenteuer des Dschungels nachgedacht, und ich vollendete mit einem Farbstift meine erste Zeichnung. Meine Zeichnung Nr. 1. So sah sie aus:

Orman serüvenleri üstüne derin derin düşünmeye başladım. Biraz uğraştıktan sonra ben de renkli bir kalemle ilk resmimi yapmayı başardım. Resim No. - 1. Aşağıdaki gibiydi:

Man, reading Turkish out loud became way harder than I remembered it. German with its 'r's as well.

[OutOfTheBlue]

The above two passages in French:

On disait dans le livre : « Les serpents boas avalent leur proie tout entière, sans la mâcher. Ensuite ils ne peuvent plus bouger et ils dorment pendant les six mois de leur digestion. »

J'ai alors beaucoup réfléchi sur les aventures de la jungle et, à mon tour, j'ai réussi, avec un crayon de couleur, à tracer mon premier dessin. Mon dessin

Btw, my favorite book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is "Terre des Hommes" (the English translation is titled "Wind, Sand and Stars"). A wonderful, poetic book, full of humanity. Highly recommended.

[guitarplayer]

He also wrote a sort of memoir I read somewhere, kind of dipping his toes in philosophy etc.

[OutOfTheBlue]

Maybe it's the same book, as it is indeed a memoir or sorts, with humanistic philosophy undertones.

This is how it starts:

"The earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books. Because it resists us. Man discovers himself when he measures himself against the obstacle."