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Contents

I. Introduction

II. Children’s Literature

1 Children’s Literature and Its Specific Character

1.1 Setting the Boundaries

1.2 Differences of Children’s and Adult Literature

1.3 The Different Character of Writing For Children

1.4 Functional Definition – the Importance of Reader

2 Short Historic Excursion

3 The criticism of children’s literature

4 Genres of children’s literature

III. Rudyard Kipling and His “Just So Stories”

1 Kipling and Children

2 The Czech translations of Just So Stories

IV. Comparison of the Czech Translations

1 Features Specific for the Genre of Fairy-Tale

1.1 Stylistic Features - Repetition and Gradation

1.1.1 Repetition

1.1.2 Gradation

1.2 Language Play, Sound Effects

1.2.1 Rhyming

1.2.2 Alliteration

1.2.3 Onomatopoic Words

1.2.4 Other Sound-Effects

1.3 Conventional Language

1.3.1 Fairy-tale opening formulae

1.3.2 Fairy-tale closing formulae

2 Features Specific for Children’s Books

2.1 Closer Relationship Between the Author and a Child-Reader

2.1.1 Addressing of the Child-Reader

2.1.2 Contact with the child-reader or listener

2.2 Prosodic Features

2.2.1 Gesture-Inducing Formulae

3 Lexical Features

4 Non-Linguistic and Formal Problems

4.1 Children‘s Book Illustration

4.1.1 Pictures and their Place in Human Life

IV. Conclusion

1

I. Introduction

When you are reading a translated book, rarely do you realise how different it can be from its original

form. Some features are visible immediately – if the target language does not sound natural you

usually start being suspicious about the quality of the translation. Mostly it is the result of translator’s

failure, omission or neglect or simply of misjudgement of the language function or context, but it can

also be the original itself that sounds unnatural.

However, there are certain aspects of the book important for the evaluation of good translation

which become transparent only during the comparison with the original text. The stimuli for this work

belongs rather to the latter of the categories.

While checking some disputable place of translating in Kipling’s Just So Stories, I was taken aback

by a striking discrepancy between the original and Czech version. The lovely author’s own pictures,

which seemed to be an integral part of the book that could not be omitted without far-reaching impacts

on the piece of writing, were missing in the Czech translation and replaced by different pictures.

I started the search for the other Czech edition hoping to find one with the original illustrations – in

2

vain. Although the pictures seemed to be so deeply interwoven in the structure of the book, no of the

translators or editors decided to keep them in the Czech translation.

It inspired countless question regarding the range of features the translator should consider during

his word, what are the limits of his competence (if there are any at all), if there are situations when he

should go even further (beyond the textual area) and what are the reasons of doing so. The

consideration showed that different approach is necessary with different kind of the readership. Thus

the work of the translator is not influenced only by the text itself but also by the implied and expected

reader.

The aim of this book is to find out what is different in the process of the translating of a children’s

book and to give some evidence that in this case the translator’s work should be quite wider, including

not only the verbal, but also the non-textual and functional features of the book.

The starting point was in theory, of course – the theory of children’s literature as such should

provide basic knowledge necessary for considering and influencing the whole area of translating the

books of children. The second chapter is thus all devoted to the specific features of writing for children

and the impacts of the differences in children’s psychology on the writers and translators.

Chapter three is about the book Just So Stories, its connections to the children’s literature and it

gives the outline of the existing translations into the Czech. The purpose is just to map the situation

and provide some background for the following part – comparison of the chosen translating problems

in the concrete language material of the book. The examples are sorted out according to several

criteria which became obvious during the discussion of the children’s literature specifics and thus it

should show their applicability to the practice of translation.

The final part of the work contains the translation of the commentaries to the Kipling’s own

illustrations which has never been translated so far. There are re-prints of all the Kipling’s pictures

because the ties between the commentary and the text is high and thus they are necessary for their

understanding.

3

II. Children’s Literature

1 Children’s Literature and Its Specific Character

1.1 Setting the Boundaries

Children‘s literature is a complete species of writing. Since at least the mid-eighteenth century it has

existed as a parallel to the rest of literature. However, it has always been regarded as something of

less value and thus as a domain for the second-rate authors or amateurs.

Children’s literature is by no means a uniform and simple species. It includes virtually all genres

and styles of writing and the number of the authors is untold. This extraordinary span and variety has

far reaching impacts on the defining of children’s literature. As it cannot be defined either by its content

or style, it is a species of literature with very unclear boundaries.

The blurred boundaries of children’s literature make it more difficult to set a working definition. It is

important to produce a definition based on what distinguishes this species from the rest of literature.

4

Egoff in her book describes children’s literature by these two characteristic features: “It is writing for

children and it is intended to be read as literature, not only for information and guidance.” 1 It is true,

without any doubt, but it does not say anything about its specific qualities and thus it results in a rather

vague if not an empty definition.

It is clear that the children’s literature, as a subject to study, has some awkward features. The

above mentioned definition thus is by no means all-embracing. The first characteristic excludes the

books that were intended for adults but that were (and most of them still are) read mainly by children.

During hundreds of years of no consistent and regular attention to the literary needs of children, it is no

wonder that the children took matters into their own hands and filled the empty space by borrowing

from the waters of adult literature.

The common assumption that children and adult literature are two entirely unlike worlds with

an unbridgeable gap between them is a mistake. Adult books can become children’s books provided

they have some of the particular things child readers may want (e.g. subject matter interesting for

them, children’s focus etc.).

There are some texts not deliberately written for a child audience and still followed the children’s

interests so far that children seized them (or, as Chaloupka2 puts it, literally usurped them) and

children themselves made them a part of their reading. Chaloupka also suggests that this natural

selection by the child audience (which excludes any kind of theorizing and is purely emotional) proved

remarkable sense for durability. The most famous examples of these kind of “children’s books” are

Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe or Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

On the other hand there are numerous examples of the opposite tendency – books originally

intended for children can be read and enjoyed by adults and children alike (for example Alice in

Wonderland by Lewis Carrol). A good book for children can be a good book for adults (although it is

not a general and necessary rule), a title with interesting subject material for adults can often be

equally stimulating for the younger reader

1.2 Differences of Children’s and Adult Literature

1 Egoff, S. A.: Thursday‘s Child, p. 12 Chaloupka, O., Nezkusil, V.: Vybrané kapitoly z teorie dětské literatury I, p. 12

5

Another by-product of its hazy character are the countless demarcation disputes in establishing

children’s literature. Where does it begin? What is the defining criteria of a book for children? What

differentiates children literature from adult literature?

It has already been said that there is lots of evidence of frequent overlapping between children’s

and adult literatures. Writing for children as a species of literature is always understood on

the background of its stronger and more powerful “colleague” with a longer history and much more

attention of the critics. No wonder it is often compared with it and defined against it. It does not ever

match up to it ,as the stronger concepts tend to deny or engulf the weaker ones.

There are two common assumptions about the nature of children’s literature (based on Smith3):

1 Children’s literature involves the same elements and hence the same criteria of literary quality as

adult literature.

2 No literary criteria can be applied to children’s literature

The assumptions that children’s literature is a literary wasteland or that it involves the same criteria

as adult literature are both unsound. The latter is dangerous at first sight – we simply cannot accept

the idea that children are incomplete human beings and thus books for them do not merit full-minded

attention. However, the seemingly democratic and egalitarian first opinion is no less problematic.

If there is no difference in its nature, it is not necessary to pay any attention whatsoever to the children

who read the book and to consider the various needs that its reading may meet. Any special

conditions shaping the creation of literature for children are neglected.

1.3 The Different Character of Writing For Children

In the process of defining writing for children it is not enough to look for the criteria common to all

literature. More important, we have to seek the special characteristics that distinguish children’s and

adult literature from each other. It is important to understand that they cope with essentially the same

creative problem but under somewhat different circumstances and in different forms.

Here are the relevant features that distinguish and characterise children’s literature (Smith4):

1 Disparity in experiences

2 Language

3 Shorter attention span

3 A Critical Approach to Children‘s Literature, p. 94 A Critical Approach to Children‘s Literature, p. 18-20

6

4 Complexity of ideas

5 Probability of plot

A Comments on disparities in knowledge and language (1, 2)

Most children have more limited experience (in both kind and amount) than most adults. And most

children have a more limited range of language experience than most adults. This means that books

for children, because of the nature of their readers, must work within a narrower circle of reference.

Thus the first obvious rule in writing for the amusement or instruction of children is to bear in mind

that it is not the extremes either of genius or dullness, which the writers are to address. It is no use

writing up to some or down to others. The latter principle is usually more connected with writing for

children. There is a common belief that for children, language, vocabulary and sentence structure

involve writing down by choosing simple words and shortening sentences to help understanding.

It is true that children cannot understand some topics and themes until a certain stage of mental,

physical or reading development is reached. But writers who make changes unrelated to the theme of

the book are likely to produce superficial and undemanding books. Children are distinguished from

adults less by an inferiority than by a difference in capacity. A genuine children’s book is a little like

a book for grown up people sensitively cut down. The real secret of a children’s book is not only in its

being less difficult, but rather “more rich in interest, more true to nature, more exquisite in art, more

abundant in every quality that replies to childhood’s keener and fresher perceptions.”5

Simplicity does not necessarily mean simple-mindedness. Simple writing for children can be rich at

the same time and it can be helped by several techniques, such as the repetition of the words and

structures which gives the story rhythm and a narrative quality. Simplifying does not mean to exclude

any more sophisticated vocabulary or terminology. Unusual words may create humour, impart

information or indicate meaning in the context.

B Comments on differences of children’s perception (3, 4 , 5)

A child is also limited in their ability to pay attention, to concentrate. Consequently, most books for

children are quite short, the writer uses repetition as a way of directing and holding attention and

throughout the book there are pictures interspersed which can also serve as a means of keeping the

child from tiring and drifting away from the story.

5 Children‘s literature, p. 21

7

Children normally cannot manipulate as many elements at once. They find it difficult to pay

attention to more than one or two developing ideas or lines of action at the same time or to trace

numerous relations among numerous characters, places or events.

Children are less inclined to worry over probability, but with a certain set of circumstances once

given, they insist on things being consistent.

1.4 Functional Definition – the Importance of Reader

For classifying a piece of writing as a children’s book neither the content nor the author’s intention

is not vital. Children’s literature is more defined “in terms of the reader rather than the authors’

intentions or the texts themselves.”6 The books that are suitable for children are those which look at

an aspect in a way with which a child, at his stage of knowledge and development, can cope. It is clear

that in books for children there is a closer relationship between text and reader.

Thus it is the perspective which creates a literature for children, the angle from which the theme is

viewed through the characters by the author, uniting of the mind of the writer with the mind of the child.

A good writer should be able to re-capture the child-like vision. A good book for children should

embrace subject matter, characters and setting, style of writing and use of vocabulary from the angle

of vision which matches the child’s perspective.

2 Short Historic Excursion

This chapter will be not about the children’s literature itself but about its history. Some knowledge of

the past may provide a context, a perspective for contemporary situation of children’s literature.

Literature specifically for children is a fairly recent development and the birth of the separate and

acknowledged species of children’s literature was difficult. Prior to the 17 th century in Europe there was

scarcely any writing for children. It is the product of the past three centuries, but still it was rather

neglected or at least shifted to the periphery of authors’ interest for a long time. It is only during the

last century that children’s books have become an important element in the publishing trade.

The way of its regarding was influenced by contemporary ideas about children and thus “each

period has coded into its children’s literature what may be described as a public or consensual view of

6 Hunt, P.: Children‘s Literature, p. 1

8

the young and therefore of their books.”7 Here is the division of the periods and the approach to

children and their needs of that time (based on Egoff):

1 Middle Ages “Children are only little adults”

Writing for children was not considered necessary, not only because a small number of children

were taught to read but especially because childhood was not understood as a unique and

separate identity. The logical reasoning that if there are no distinctions in life, there are none in

literature lead to the entire non-existence of books for children. However, it does not mean that

children did not have any literature to read or listen to. The children who did read had to take the

books intended for adults but suitable for meeting their needs (e.g. folk tales, ballads, myths and

fables).

2 17 th century - Puritans “Children are not too little to go to hell”

The first main wave of books directly intended for children’s consumption was Puritan. The writers

realised that children are interested in other children’s lives. Books should have child characters

but they have to strictly express adult values. 17 th century Puritan was intensely and constantly

aware of sin – sin in himself and in others. Human life was not for pleasure and people were

touched with evil every day. Children were not an exception, they were regarded no less corrupt

than adults.

Of the classical twin aims of literature (pleasure and instruction) the latter was most intensely

adhered to. The books written for children were strongly and frankly didactic in both purpose and

tone. The genres were exclusively didactic and religious – e.g. catechisms, moral story lessons,

prayers.

3 1700 – 1850 “Children are people in the process of becoming adults”

In the eighteenth century the Puritan warning to the young was replaced as the dominant trend in

children’s literature. Books still emphasised religious morality and socially acceptable behaviour,

but the religious tone gradually softened and books for children became richer in their themes. The

grown-up world became more aware of children and printing contributed to the increasing

7 Egoff, S. A.: Thursday‘s Child, p. 3

9

availability of reading material for young readers. Interest in education resulted in the desire to

shape children’s minds.

4 1850 – 1900: later Victorians “Childhood is a separate state”

The year 1850 marks the beginning of true children’s literature as a non-didactic medium. In the

middle of the nineteenth century a major change began to occur in people’s feelings about children

and their view of literature for young people. Children were somehow rediscovered, for the first time

they were considered different from adults.

Children’s literature started to appear as a separate kind of literature with its own identity but

its character was still influenced by strong pedagogical and didactic qualities. The child was

thought to be basically good and innocent and good breeding was thought to be more important

than the circumstances of birth. The older conception of a child as a passive vessel to be filled with

correct ideas and useful information gave way to the new child – dynamic, wanting things in the

sense of wishing as well as in the sense of needing. The crucial role of manners was still

emphasised, but the writers dealt with morality in a new way, taking delight in entertainment

instead of suggesting. They created exiting plots and interesting characters – all this by means of

a readable and memorable language.

The altered view of children’s literature appealed to many professional writers and this era

became the “Golden Age” of children’s literature that brought such famous names like Carroll,

Stevenson and Kipling in England, Verne in France, Twain in the USA or Collodi in Italy.

5 1900 – 1930: Edwardians “Childhood is the ideal state”

In this period the difference and distance between childhood and adulthood was widened.

Childhood was considered the ideal state, it has its own character and qualities which cannot be

given up without a sense of loss. Therefore children should not evade maturity, but their childhood

is to be prolonged as long as possible. This idealisation lead to a highly sentimental school of

writing. The protagonists of the books were mostly stereotyped superheroes engaged in larger-

than-life adventures.

6 After the Second World War “Childhood is an existence in tandem with adulthood”

10

There is a considerable variation in themes of the books from this time, but all the authors

emphasise the qualities regarded as vital for maturity – e.g. the development of self-reliance,

imagination, friendship, generosity. The primary purpose is the pleasure of the child.

We can distinguish two main directions, two different kinds of appeal to child readers:

- the appeal of the familiar and ordinary

- the appeal of the unfamiliar and extraordinary

3 The criticism of children’s literature

The hazy nature of its subject and the label of it as an inferior kind of writing as regards its artistic

values made the academic world neglect children’s literature for quite a long time. But all this does not

mean that there was no literary criticism in this field at all. Since the mid-eighteen century, when the

books intended for children began to appear, there has been a huge number of texts designed for

child readers.

The specific nature of both the text and the audience offered a new challenge and the nineteenth

century writers realised that the children’s literature needed some special critical approach. However,

the children’s literature was rarely labelled as different, it was still regarded mostly as just lesser.

According to Chaloupka8 it was a conventional view of that time. In this early stage of its existence

children’s literature was connected with low artistic standards often accompanied by strong didactic

features. All this diverted the interest of the critics from this species of literature.

The criticism of children’s literature has become a coherent discipline only as children’s literature

itself has emerged as a coherent field of study. The time of the turn in the approach to the children’s

literature was the twentieth century and the change was brought about by several causes

(Chaloupka9):

1 Change in creative approaches

In the nineteenth century the writing for children was realised purely from the adult point of view

(the authors tried to get closer to the child but exclusively from outside). The twentieth century

8 Chaloupka, O., Nezkusil, V.: Vybrané kapitoly z dětské literatury I, p. 279 Chaloupka, O., Nezkusil, V.: Vybrané kapitoly z teorie dětské literatury I, p. 29

11

brought an important change. The world of children was seen as a considerable source of

inspiration and imagination. The writers tried to approach the child’s world from inside by means of

accepting their way of thinking. This could enrich their writing in general, even for the books

intended for adults.

2 Shift in the understanding of the different character of children’s literature

Since the last century it has been clear to many authors that the child reader has different qualities

and needs. A child’s experience is obviously more limited than that of an adult, although

constantly expanding. Due to this innate limitation in children as audience, children’s literature has

to differ from adult literature in certain techniques and emphases: the condensation of the plot,

a faster pace, shorter descriptions, a straightforward story line etc. But all these attributes of

children’s literature were often misconstrued and lead to the depreciation of the child reader.

The more contemporary criticism has shifted this understanding of the specific character of the

child audience, and simplicity does not mean simple-mindedness any more. Critical approach

should avoid the inclination either to patronise children’s books (to look down on them as poor

cousins to adult literature), or to become uncritically indulgent. “The writer for children may paint

on a smaller canvas, using fewer and stronger colours, but is an artist still, not merely a craftsman.

An author must write for a children’s audience, not down to it.” 10

3 Development of children’s psychology

Conclusions of children’s psychology contributed to the acceptance of the different needs of a child

audience and the recognition of children’s literature as a separate species of writing. It is founded

on the assumption that children try to fulfil their desires (both conscious and those unrecognised by

the children themselves) by reading and listening to stories. Reading thus can help them in looking

for security, for knowledge, for social acceptance, for laughter and play and a lot of other needs.

Indirectly it contributed to its shift from the second-rate position on the periphery of literary attention

and children’s literature started to appeal to more first-rate authors.

Like children’s literature itself, the critical discourse is different. The writing about children’s books

seems to be more colloquial and less academic. Moreover, the angle of approach to these texts has

10 Egoff, S. A.: Thursday‘s Child, p. 2

12

been much wider. Due to the specific character of children’s literature there has been a “tendency to

start with reader rather than text”11.

Because of the primary role of the audience and also the different, more practical aims of the

authors (e.g. acquisition of reading and social skills, entertainment and education), the children’s book

writers have been forced to acknowledge and use a diversity of skills which elsewhere reside in

discrete disciplines. They have to take into consideration not only the text and its content but also the

other textual characteristics that are usually left on the periphery of the attention – stylistics and

readability due to educational strategies, politics and censorship due to developmental psychology

and illustrations and other extra-textual features due to the importance of extended author-audience

communication.

The specific nature of the child audience calls for the necessity for those in contact with this field

not to narrow their view in one direction, mostly on the text itself, because “the children‘s book world is

not simple nor concerned only with books. It is a complex structure of the written word, the illustrated

idea, the psychology, sociology and education of children and their aesthetic values and the even

more complex attitudes and values of the adults who concern themselves with children and their

books“12

4 Genres of children’s literature

I have already mentioned that writing for children is an extensive and wide species of literature.

Moreover, the category of a child audience is considerably diversified as regards their psychological

properties, reading ability and interests. Childhood is not just one generalised state of existence but it

is a succession of stages of development with their own levels of reading ability and interests.

The main factor influencing all the above mentioned qualities is the age of the reader. In every

stage of child’s development there is a certain level of mental ability. Although the total time span of

so-called children’s readership covers only about ten years, the development of the inner world is so

rapid during these years that there are wide gaps between the reader needs and abilities in any stage

of the evolution. It is clear that a certain stage thus has to require a suitable genres.

11 Hunt, P.: Children‘s Literature, p. 512 Marshal, M. R.: An Introduction to the World of Children‘s Books, p. 7

13

Pre-school children find the everyday things not everyday. Children after six may begin to find

greater satisfaction in a new, fantasy world. Everyday familiar matters partly give way to need for the

improbable, for the fantasy. The teenagers’ reading interests again tend to be more realistic – the core

of their reading are the problems of growing up, family problems, everyday situations.

Nezkusil13 offers a division of the genres into three groups, according to the child’s age.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to emphasise, that we cannot demarcate the strict dividing lines which

would apply generally and have universal validity (there are always differences in the mental maturity

of an individual child):

1 Pre-school children (age 3 – 6)

- folding picture books, pop-up picture books, painting books, cut-out sheets

- nursery rhymes

- riddles

- short-stories with animal heroes

- simple stories from real life

2 Younger schoolchildren (age 6 – 14)

- fairy-tales

- rhythmical rhymes

- short-stories about children’s life (present or past)

- legends

- short stories about nature

3 Older schoolchildren (age 11 – 15)

- adventure stories

- stories with girl-heroine

- popularising books

13 Nezkusil, V.: O specifičnosti dětské literatury, pp 18-19

14

II. Rudyard Kipling and His “Just So Stories”

1 Kipling and Children

There is no doubt, that Rudyard Kipling is a writer of children‘s books. He published no less than nine

books for children: the two Jungle Books, Captains Courageous, Just so Stories, Stalky & Co., Puck of

Pook‘s Hill, Rewards and Fairies, A History of England, Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Scout

Masters. It seems that the natural human feelings forced out of his work by the rigours of organisation

were seeking relief in a reversion to childhood. Perhaps due to his own unhappiness while being

a child, for Kipling childhood represented a state when one has not yet become responsible for the

way the world is run, where it is enough to have a good time and to wonder at what we do not yet

understand.

Kipling got on well with children and they loved him and his story-telling. There are pictures

of Kipling sitting among the children who are staring at him and hanging on his every word. The art

of communication with children and his attitude to them with its special tenderness and understanding

may well have its roots, paradoxically enough, in his own unhappiness.

Kipling’s own childhood was put to an end very soon and very fast (since the age of six he was

brought up by his foster-parents, his aunt being a religious domestic tyrant). Rudyard was beaten and

15

bullied with the Bible every day. Whatever evil he endured, some good came out of it. At the age

of twelve, when he managed to get to his parents again (although only for a short time again before

being sent to a public school), the young Kipling realized that “books and pictures are among the most

important things in the world”14 and he himself started to write.

What makes Kipling a good writer for children? On the one hand he has a youthful delight in word

play and general silliness, on the other he gratefully acknowledges the pride and dignity of young

people being patronised by adults.

According to Kipling himself it is vital for every writer of children’s literature to be able to think

simultaneously like a grown-up and like a child. A good writer needs this sensitive double-vision and

intuitive understanding of the children’s world. “The best way to be a father is never to stop being

a child.”15

It gives us a portrait of the paternal Kipling, as a sensitive Edwardian father, who brings up his

children with imagination, tenderness, humour, deep affection and less of the normal more dominant

attitude. Moreover, the first audience to whom he was telling his lovely fairy-tales were his own

children. His daughter Josephine and later, after her death, he continued storytelling for his younger

children Elsie and John.

The death of his beloved first-born child hit Kipling very deeply. His daughter Josephine died at the

age of seven of pneumonia. They said it changed something inside him and lessened both his

personal and artistic strength. “Much of the beloved Cousin Ruddy of our childhood died with

Josephine and I feel I have never seen him as a real person since that year.”16

The elegy he wrote for his daughter follows one of the stories from the book (“How the Alphabet

Was Made”). He uses the metaphor of withdrawal of a child from the father:

For far – oh, very far behind,

So far she cannot call to him,

Comes Tegumai alone to find

The daughter that was all to him

The collection of the stories that were originally only for his children and their friends was published

in 1902 with the title Just so stories. They are modern fairy-tales about animals that are pleasant and

interesting to read not only for children but also for older readers. But it is not a pure text, pure verbal

14 Amis, K.: Rudyard Kipling and his World, p. 2715 O Beloved Kids, p. 616 O Beloved Kids. p. 15

16

equilibrism that has always attracted the children’s attention to them. They are imaginatively decorated

by Kipling with pen and ink drawings and there are incorporated verses to each story.

In nursery copy (see p. 15) he made some corrections to dedicate them to his children – almost

exactly as if the tales were given the salutation and close of a letter. Some of his relatives who

remember his storytelling for children suggest that they should be read aloud: “The Just So Stories are

a poor thing in print, compared with the fun of hearing them told in Cousin Ruddy’s deep unhasitating

voice. There was a ritual about them, each phrase having its special intonation which had to be exactly

the same each time and without which the stories are dried husks.”17

PICTURE 1

17

? O Beloved Kids, p. 4

17

2 The Czech translations of Just So Stories

There has been a long tradition of editions with foreign literatures (both for adults and children) in our

country. There is no doubt that Kipling’s books have always belonged among those ones that

attracted the attention of the translators. After the world-wide success of his most famous Jungle

Books it was clear that every one of his new books would be grasped by editors.

Just So Stories were published in 1902 for the first time. Although it took quite a long time before it

got to the Czech readers, we can see that it has been attractive both for publishing houses and

children ever since. It has been translated into Czech several times. Some of the editions contain all

the original stories, some of them are only selections. The translations are listed in this chart

in chronological order (only one of the Moudrá’s translations does not show the year of its edition,

so its position in time is guessed) :

the name of translator bibliographical data further information

Otakar Fischer Jak dostal velbloud hrb, Praha

1938 (inset of the magazine Roj)

only the title short-story

Pavla Moudrá Pohádky, Praha ? 11 short-stories (all except How the

Alphabet was Made)

Pavla Moudrá Sloní mládě, Praha 1948 collection - 5 short-stories

18

(Svoboda)

Zdeněk Hobzík Bajky i nebajky, Praha 1958

(SNDK)

complete

Margita Príbusová Rozprávky o praotcovi klokanovi a

iných zvieratkách, Bratislava 1964

(Mladé letá)

collection - 9 short-stories

Jaroslav Vančura Povídky jen tak, Praha 1978

(Vyšehrad)

complete

Pavla Moudrá Pohádky, Praha 1996 (Aventinum) collection – 10 short-stories (all except

How the Alphabet was Made and The

Butterfly that Stamped)

III . Comparison of the Czech Translations

In this chapter I would like to discuss some words, collocations, sentences or passages that are for

certain reasons more problematic and tricky for the translators. I tried to divide these examples into

several groups according to the problem-causing aspects. The aspects are:

- linguistic features of fairy-tales

- features specific for children’s literature

- lexical problems

- non-linguistic aspects of the translation

From the range of existing translations I chose the three most recent and complete ones: “Povídky

jen tak”, translated by Jaroslav Vančura in 1978, Zdeněk Hobzík’s “Bajky i nebajky”, translated in 1958

and Pavla Moudrá’s “Pohádky”, translated in the 1940’s but re-published in only a slightly less archaic

version in 1996. The comparison is based mainly on the linguistic material of the first five stories in the

book (in the sequence according to the original book). Only some features were observed throughout

all of the book.

Already at the first and cursory sight we can notice some overall characteristics typical for each of

these translations. Moudrá’s version has very archaic language and there is a tendency to follow the

19

original as close as possible – from both semantic and syntactic point of view (this approach is to

a certain extent influenced by the usage and translating methods of that time). The translation by

Hobzík ten years later is much fresher as far as the language is concerned and thus much more

natural to read. The most recent translation (by Vančura) suggests that the translator was aware of the

older Hobzík’s Czech version. The evidence is the same translation of certain segments where the

target language version is unusual, idiolectic or neological so that it could rarely be caused by

coincidence. Vančura is aware of this keeping someone else’s translation (where he thinks it is the

best solution that could be found) and he compensates in other parts by changing the less problematic

bits.

Both the latter translations are of approximately the same quality. Some points are better solved by

Vančura, but some sentences sound more natural in Hobzík’s version. Nevertheless, they are both

much better than the oldest Moudrá’s translation. It is very surprising for me that it was this translation

which was chosen for the most recent edition of Kipling’s Just So Stories. With the minimal changes to

the archaic language, it still sounds quite clumsy and awkward to the contemporary reader, both

lexically and syntactically. I think that the difference in quality will be much more visible in the concrete

language material discussed further in this chapter, which was chosen for the illustration of certain

specific features causing problems when translating from one language to another.

1 Features Specific for the Genre of Fairy-Tale

20

Fairy-tale is a genre that originated in various times and social conditions. It used to be a collective

piece of work of anonymous authors which passed form generation to generation by means of oral

reproduction. The oldest and original nub of fairy-tale genre is a folklore magic fairy-tale. The other

kinds are always created and understood on its background.

In the late nineteenth century and especially in the twentieth century a new and special type of this

genre appeared – a modern fairy-tale. Unlike the classical one it has its own and single author.

Anyway, in spite of all the shifts in topics and heroes that were brought in by the modern society, it still

has a lot in common with the classical fairy-tales. The similarities are of two types – formal (connected

with its language) and semantic (archetypal themes, although in a modern coating).

Fairy-tale is a genre that can be defined by means of some specific formal and semantic features.

The textual level is usually more apparent. What strikes the reader’s eye straightaway is a repetition of

certain elements. It influences all the aspects of the text – its style, composition and motives. On the

semantic level we can also trace some tendencies, although they are more hidden and less easy to

identify. In the fairy-tales there are usually some strange and wonderful happenings, exciting violence,

suspense, easily accepted contrasts of good and evil, the eventual conquest of evil by good, the

simplifying of existence and swift action.

1.1 Stylistic Features - Repetition and Gradation

For the genre of the fairy-tale certain stylistic features are characteristic. Their occurrence is initiated

mainly by the specific nature of the child-reader. The author may use some techniques to keep their

attention, to remind them of an important fact in the story and to attract the reader to the story by

means of reader-author common knowledge. The most common “refresher” and attention-keeper is

repetition (of words, phrases or whole sentences). Sometimes it is absolute repetition, sometimes

there are certain alternations involved in it – usually they add some emphasis. When the changes are

connected with quantification principle, the repetition shifts towards gradation.

A Repetition

Repetition is one of the most common stylistic techniques used by the authors writing for children.

They recognise the differences in their readers’ perception process (shorter attention span, poor

21

concentration, easily lost interest and so on) and thus they take up some counter-measures quite often

– repetition being one of these.

The repetition principle should be kept in the target language version too. Translators sometimes

try to improve the language. As far as the repetition is concerned, they do not realise its specific

purpose and take it simply as the author’s awkwardness and lack of skill. Then It is very tempting to

prove one’s own language abilities by using a wider range of synonyms in the translation.

Thus it is necessary to judge any case of repetition very carefully – with a special attention paid to

its function within a given context and not to try to be better than the original, not to correct. Here are

some examples:

Then the Whale opened his mouth back and back and back till it nearly touched its tail, ….18

Here the main purpose of the repetition is to indicate the larger intensity of the described action.

Formally it is a repetition of the single word “back”, functionally it is rather a gradation. Translator

should take both the aspects into consideration. The target language word should give the same

impression of gradation by means of it simply being repeated.

Vančura decided to lose the repetition and he expressed the same notion by a paraphrase:

Potom velryba otevřela tlamu, a to tak důkladně, že se skoro dotýkala vlastního ocasu (V)

The huge extent of the action is expressed, but emotionally the sentence was shifted towards

rather neutral language.

The other two translators kept the formal aspect of the original but still we can see quite different

efficiency of the resulting version:

Tu velryba otevřela tlamu a otvírala ji stále víc a víc a víc, až skoro k ocasu (H)

A tu velryba rozevřela tlamu dokořán a dokořán a dokořán, až se skorem dotýkala ocasu (M)

Moudrá’s translation does not work, does not suggest the gradation. It is a pure repetition without

the desired functional impact on the reader. The power of the language is lost there. The reason is in

the wrong choice of the word. “Dokořán” is a word the meaning of which already expresses the utmost

quantity of the action and thus we cannot evoke any bigger intensity, repeating it or not. Completely

different is the Hobzík’s version – the most fitting one in my opinion. The chosen word “víc” works

perfectly within the repetition structure and the desired effect of gradation is undoubtedly reached

there.

18 Just So Stories, p. 10

22

My father has spanked me, and my mother has spanked me; all my aunts and uncles have spanked

me for my ‘satiable curiosity;19

In this passage the repetition of the verb “spank” results in more emotional tone. Translator should

not try to use different words with similar meaning here – it would break the emotional urgency. Hobzík

fell for this temptation and the original repetition is lost there. Moreover, the wider the range of

synonyms is, the more semantic nuances there are. The semantics of the words (nabít – natlouct –

zmlátit) is getting stronger, the last of them being too strong both for the context (child being directed

by the loving parents) and for the meaning of the source language word.

„Tatínek mi nabil, maminka mi natloukla a všichni strýcové a tety mne zmlátili …” (H)

Vančura and Moudrá use the same word and thus the repetition principle is kept there. The only

difference is in the aspect of the word: “naplácat” (single action) x “plácat” (repeated action):

„Tatínek mi naplácal, maminka mi naplácala a všichni moji strýcové i tety mi naplácali …” (V)

„Otec mne plácal i matka mne plácala a plácali mne všichni strýcové i tety …” (M)

B Gradation

Gradation is a technique closely connected and interwoven with the repetition principle. The

boundaries between these two concepts are thus rather unclear because gradation grows out of the

repetition, the latter always being present in it. In other words, gradation is a kind of repetition which

was laced by some alternations resulting in higher urgency.

But there was one Elephant – a new Elephant – an Elephant’s child – who was full of ‘satiable

curiosity, and that means he asked ever so many questions.20

In this example the author comes to the more accurate expressions by means of repeating the word

with different qualifying adjectives. For the translator it is important to realise what means are used in

his language for reaching the same effect. We can see that the semantics are not enough here – the

formal aspects cannot be neglected.

Moudrá consistently preserves the punctuation structure of the original (dashes as the dividing

element). In Czech, however, this punctuation is very rare and thus it interferes with the gradation

19 Just So Stories, p. 4520 Just So Stories, p. 44

23

function. Another disturbing feature is the verb-noun agreement. The gender of the repeated noun

shifted from the masculine to neutral but she still keeps the agreement with the first (masculine) one,

although the last noun is both nearer in space (and thus more natural to agree with the verb) and it is

the most important noun in the sequence as it was reached as a result of the gradation procedure.

Ale byl jeden slon – nový slon – sloní mládě – plný nenasytné zvědavosti …. (M)

The same applies for the Hobzík‘s version. He only slightly changed the punctuation, but still he

remained half way through.

A tehdy žil jeden slon – mladý slon, slůně, - který byl nabit nenasytnou zvědavostí ….. (H)

The best working solution is offered by Vančura. He changed the punctuation for commas, his

gradation sounds natural semantically and even the verb-noun agreement is different

Tehdy žil jeden slon, docela mladý slon, spíše slůně, které bylo nenasytně zvědavé…. (V)

Repetition and gradation principles can affect also the larger units, not only the words and

collocations. Even whole sentences or themes can be repeated. It is in relation to the nature of the

genre of the fairy-tale in which the magical and symbolic elements have a high importance. They are

connected with a strong magic power attributed to certain numbers (three, seven or ten) and the

nursery of the repetition and gradation is ready.

Thus the Camel (in How the Camel Got His Hump) is met by three different animals who try to

persuade him to start work (their appeal having exactly the same syntactic structure) and Djinn can

stand the camel’s rude answer only twice – the third one makes him act against him. Thus the Bi-

Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake can find three advantages for the Elephant’s new trunk (in Elephant’s

Child). Similarly, the Rhinoceros’s skin buttoned underneath with three buttons and the Parsee danced

round it three times when he got the idea of revenge (in How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin). Thus the

Kangaroo visits three Australian Gods (in The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo) and his request is

again the same in its form. And I could go on and on enumerating.

Here is an example of the more complex repetition-gradation technique and its translation into

Czech. Throughout the story (How the Whale Got His Throat) the author reminds the reader of the

importance of an item in the plot by means of different syntactic structures (modals, questions) until it

leads into the denouement.

24

You must not forget the suspenders, Best Beloved.

You must particularly remember the suspenders, Best Beloved.

Which you must not forget

Have you forgotten the suspenders?

Now you know why you were not to forget the suspenders!

Czech translations:

Hobzík Vančura Moudrá

Na ty nesmíš zapomenout

drahoušku.

Na šle nesmíš zapomenout,

holčičko

Nezapomeňte na šle, miláčkové

Na ty šle musíš stále pamatovat,

drahoušku

Ty šle si musíš, má milá,

obzvlášť dobře zapamatovat

Obzvláště si zapamatujte šle,

miláčkové

Na které nesmíš zapomínat Na ty nesmíš zapomenout Na které nesmíte zapomínat

Nezapomínáš na šle? Jestlipak jsi nezapomněla na ty

šle?

Nezapomněli jste na šle?

Teď již víš, proč jsme neměli

zapomínat

Teď už víš, proč jsi neměla

zapomenout na šle.

Teď víte, proč jste neměli

zapomínat na šle

1.2 Language Play, Sound Effects

Language play is an enormous source of the magic power of language which is very close to

children’s mentality. Children love playing with sounds and words, creating euphonic combinations

usually meaningless, because sound counts more for them than the meaning. They find it pleasant to

create their own nonsense words, combinations or sentences and they enjoy reading them too.

There are numerous ways how to avoid everyday and neutral description and replace it with more

exciting, pleasant-to-ear and fresh expression. The writer can find inspiration in the world of noises

and voices and use interjections and onomatopoeic words or create his own onomatopoeia-based

neologisms. He can play with sound effects, such as alliteration, rhymes and rhyming patterns.

25

This provides one of the most challenging areas for the work of the translator. He has to take into

consideration not only the meaning (if there is any at all) but especially its function in the given context

and its phonetic qualities and try hard to find an equivalent including all the elements in it. It is usually

quite an impossible task and he must decide which part is essential and has to be kept and which can

be lost or substituted without an unwanted negative impact on the text.

There are countless occurrences of language play in Just So Stories – Kipling used it very often

and in a very witty way. Here are some examples how the Czech translators coped with them and

some suggestions of possible solutions.

A Rhyming

The use of rhymes is a powerful technique that adds the charm of rhythm and ritual to children’s

reading. In Just So Stories there are some examples of rhyming couples of words used in adjectival

function. Their aim is not only to characterise, but also to amuse the reader by their clever language

play. It is necessary for the translator to realise that certain sound effects should be present in the

target language too. It is usually even more complicated, because there are often some other

elements present – like neologisms, onomatopoeic motivation etc.

Then the Elephant’s Child put his head down close to the Crocodiles musky, tusky mouth, ….21

The rhyming couple has some flavour of neologism in English. There are words “musk” (meaning

strong sweet smell) and “tusk” (long pointed tooth which stick out from the mouth of some animals –

usually elephants etc). So there is a formal shift – to the adjectival form, and a semantic shift too.

Slůně přiblížilo hlavu těsně ke krokodýlově tlamě, zavánějící pižmem a ježící se tesáky. (H)

Slůně naklonilo hlavu těsně ke krokodýlově pižmovonné, tesáky ozbrojené tlamě … (M)

Tu sklonilo slůně klavu ke krokodýlově tlamě plné páchnoucích tesáků. (V)

Moudrá and Hobzík’s translation is closer in semantic aspect (pižmovonné, pižmem zavánějící),

Vančura decided to use only more general words (páchnoucí). As regards the rhyming structure,


26

Vančura resigned completely and chose to transform it into fully neutral language. In the other two

translations there are some attempts to keep the rhyming principle (pižmovonné – ozbrojené;

zavánějící – ježící), but it is only half way done, because the same endings do not work properly

outside a certain rhythmical pattern. All of them lost the rhythmical potential of the original rhyming

couple, because they followed the semantics at the expense of the power of language.

It does not mean that the translations are completely wrong. Vančura sounds natural, but due to

the shift to the neutral language. Moudrá sounds most awkward (as usual) but we have to remember it

is quite old and the language was different fifty years ago. Moreover there is an attempt for neologism

(pižmovonný). To keep the strength of the short and fitting expression, the translator should try to find

a rhyming couple (something like smrdící, zubící se tlama – which apparently is not ideal) or longer

rhyming construction based on rhythmical principles (e.g smrdící, zuby se ježící tlama – where the

rhythmical pattern is based on the proportion of length 1:2 - in the second verse the number of

syllables is doubled).

“You couldn’t have done that with a mere-smear nose.”22

There is some meaning attached to the rhyming couple - uselessness of the elephant’s former nose. It

is based on the semantic of the words “mere” (not important, useless) and “smear” (unreasonable).

„To bys pouhým umazaným čenichem udělat nemohlo.” (M)

„To bys nedokázalo udělat s dřívějším šmudli-šmidli nosánkem.” (H)

„Se svým původním šmudli-šmidli nosem bys to nedokázalo.” (V)

Moudrá did not manage to keep the rhyming pattern. Moreover, she based her translation on the

semantics of the verb “to smear” and only in one of its possible meanings (dirty – umazaný nos).

Hobzík’s translation is much better. He found a well fitting Czech rhyming couple with some marks of

reasonably close semantics (šmudli-šmidli nos). In Vančura’s version, which is twenty years younger,

we can see exactly the same solution. Due to its extraordinary and most probably idiolectic character it

is clear that he knew the older Hobzík’s translation and he took the inspiration there from time to time.

My suggestion is similar to the two latter – it has clearer semantics (something useless and less

distinguished), but its phonetic qualities are rather poorer: kde nic – tu nic nos.


27

So the Elephant’s Child went home across Africa frisking and whisking his trunk.23

Sometimes the rhyming is only grammar-based, but still it adds a certain charm. Usually the two

rhyming words are very close in their meaning and their closeness is even emphasised by their formal

similarity.

Although all the Czech translations keep the principle of grammar rhyming, there is always

something that breaks the desired effect on the child-reader:

Slůně se vydalo Afrikou, dovádělo a pohupovalo chobotem. (V)

A tak se slůně vydalo na cestu přes celou Afriku, skotačíc a šlehajíc chobotem. (H)

In both the above mentioned translations there is the grammar rhyming principle (in Hobzík’s

sentence it is supported by the same number of syllables). The rhythmical effect is slightly damaged

due to the grammatical qualities of the chosen Czech equivalents. From the couple of the rhyming

verbs, the first one describes activity of the elephant, the other relates to the way of moving his trunk. I

think it breaks the unity of the couple and reduces its impact. Moudrá’s version thus keeps most of the

original rhyming pattern:

Slůně šlo tedy přes Afriku domů a kroutilo a mrskalo chobotem. (M)

I would choose a rhyming couple of verbs in past tense both related to the noun “trunk” and with at

least three or four letter rhyming grammatical ending.

B Alliteration

Alliteration is one of the basic English literary techniques. In Czech cultural background it is not felt as

artistic as for in example, rhymes. The question for the translator is whether to try to keep the

alliteration principle or whether it is possible to lose it if it is not very common in the target language

anyway.

I think alliteration should be kept in the translation (or at least where it is possible to accomplish by

means of target language properties). The reasons are twofold – the readership thus not only

perceives the story, but at the same time learns about the source of language, artistic practice and

customs. On the other hand, readers (and even more so child readers) have a liking for any kind of

language play.

“Go to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, ….” 24


28

“Jdi až ke břehům velké šedozelené blátivé řeky Limpopo, …” (M)

“Jdi k břehům široké, šedozelené, rmutné řeky Limpopo, …” (H)

“Jdi na břehy široké, šedozelené, špinavé řeky Limpopo, …” (V)

The translations represent different approaches towards the alliteration in the sentence. Moudrá did

not take it into consideration at all – she kept the semantic content solely. Hobzík realised the

alliteration there but again he stopped half-way through. He changed ”velká” to “široká” which is

almost the same relation to the river. Vančura represents the closest translation – he managed to find

all three words beginning with the same letter and still did not go far semantically.

C Onomatopoeic words

Words whose origins are inspired by sounds and noises are an integral part of children’s literature.

They are more colourful and enliven the text. The target language sometimes does not offer a word of

the same character (it is completely missing) or it cannot work in all the functions (it does not form the

same part-of-speech forms).

… he schlooped up a schloop of mud from the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo, and

slapped it on its head, where it made a cool schloopy-sloshy mud-cap all trickly behind his ears.25

The underlined word is a Kipling’s neologism that was probably inspired by the sound of walking in

mud or picking something up from it. The sound language play is even emphasised by shifts of the

neologism into various parts of speech.

… nabralo hromadu bláta z pobřeží velké šedozelené blátivé řeky Limpopo a plesklo si je na hlavu

jako chladivou, mazavou, blátivou čepici, z pod níž mu po uších crčela voda. (M)

Moudrá does not keep the onomatopoeic motivation of the underlined words in the original and instead

uses their semantic equivalents from a neutral layer of lexis. In the end there is some compensation in

the verb “crčela” which is onomatopoeic.

… nasálo chobotem bláto z břehu široké, šedozelené a rmutné řeky Limpopo a naplácalo si je na

hlavu jako chladivou blátivou čepičku, která se mu roztekla až za uši. (H)


29

… nabralo chobotem bahno z široké, šedozelné, špinavé řeky Limpopo a posadilo si je na hlavu jako

chladivou bahenní čepičku, ze které pěkně stékalo za uší. (V)

The other two translations go even further in neutralisation of language without any attempts at

compensation.

In this particular case it is not easy to find a working Czech counterpart. But it offers quite a lot of

creative freedom, because even the original word does not exist in source language and it is only a

cluster of letters that should evoke an image of a certain sound in the reader’s mind. The only

constraint is to be able to create several parts of speech from it. For example the Czech onomatopoic

word “čvachtat” could be used here:

(Slůně) vyčvachtlo čvachtanec bláta ze břehu široké, šedozelené a špinavé řeky Limpopo a plesklo

si ho na hlavu jako čvachtavě-mazlavou blátivou čepičku …

D Other sound-effects

“Led go! You are hurtig be!”26

“This is too butch for be!27

This is an example of another kind of language play. Its aim is to give an impression of sound for a

specific situation given by the plot – speaking through nose. The translator should be consistent here,

he should follow the laws of phonetics and change only those sounds the pronunciation of which is

influenced by the air not coming through the nose. These are in fact only two – the nasals “m” and “n”.

When the nose of the speaker is blocked the quality of these sounds changes – “m” resembles “b”

(“too buch for be”) and “n” is closer to “d”.

The choice of words for translating these sentences is thus very narrowed by the indispensable

presence of certain sounds indicating a special marked way of pronunciation. In the Czech versions

we can see that these restrictions lead the translators to choose similar words. What differs is where

the changes should be made and what the transcription should look like:

“Bnech bne Ublížíš bi!” “To je příliš bnoho pro bne!” (M)

26 Just So Stories, p. 47).27 Just So stories, p. 48

30

Moudrá’s change is based especially on the shift of “m” into “b”, which is phonetically correct and

sounds natural here (mne → bne, mi → bi, mnoho → bnoho). However, she keeps the n-sound that

should be altered similarly. It confuses her a bit too and unbalances her consistency – once she

changed “n” into “bn” (nech → bnech) – under the influence of the other cases it puzzles the reader

who tends to decode it as “mn” sound (mnech mne).

“Dech bde! To boy-í!” “Do je pro bde boc!” (H)

Hobzík analysed the phonetic problem best. His alternations are natural and on the right spot. He

involves another change (“t” → “d”), which is not necessary but still it does not disturb the listener too

much (only it could have been more consistent). Only once it seems he wanted too much to add

something extra. “To boy-í” sounds rather like a childish speech and has nothing in common with

blocked-nose speech. Despite this I still regard his version as the best one.

“Dechte bně! Do bolí” ”Do je brozné, už boct” (V)

The last translation shows that the most does not necessarily mean the best. Vančura simply

changes chaotically everything that appears in the sentences. Despite some correct changes in the

appropriate places (nechte → dechte, mně → bně), he makes changes also where it is not

phonetically-founded (hrozné → brozné, dost → boct).

1.3 Conventional Language

Fairy-tales have not only the tendency towards new and fresh expression. Due to their fixed formal

structure there are also some clichés that are used repeatedly in the same places and thus become a

kind of a conventional language, an identifying sign of the genre.

It usually appears in the most standardised places in the story. In the genre of fairy-tale it is the

opening part, where it introduces the setting and characters, and the closing part, where it is induced

by the obligatory and always present happy-end (which is encoded in the poetics of the genre itself).

A Fairy-tale opening formulae

Although Just So Stories is a collection of modern fairy-tales, Kipling supports their belonging to the

classical genre by using the traditional ways of opening the story. The translating process should not

31

follow the literal semantic meaning but it should chose the corresponding cliché used in the target

language. The function is more important than the meaning here.

The Czech most common opening formulae are “Bylo nebylo…” , “Za dávných a dávných časů”. All

the translators used these common ways of starting the fairy-tale, with slight alternations from time to

time:

once upon a time ( in How the Whale Got His Throat or How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin)

kdysi za dávných časů / kdysi (M)

kdysi dávno / před dávnými časy (H)

před dávnými časy / kdysi dávno (V)

once upon a most early time (in How the First Letter Was Written)

kdysi za pradávných časů (M)

kdysi v nejranějším věku (H)

kdysi za dávných a dávných časů (V)

in the High and Far-Off times (in The Elephant’s Child)

za dávných a pradávných časů (M)

v dávných a dávno minulých dobách (H)

za dávných a dávných časů (V)

before the High and Far-Off times (in The Crab that Played with the Sea)

Před prastarými a pradávnými časy (M)

Před těmi dávnými a dávno minulými časy (H)

Před dávnými a dávnými časy (V)

B Fairy-tale closing formulae

There are established closing clichés too. In this example, however, the translators were a bit

influenced by the literal meaning of the English sentence. In Czech fairy-tales the most common and

thus the most typical ending is “… a žili spolu šťastně až do smrti / dokud neumřeli”.

… and he married and lived happily ever afterward.28

… oženil se a žil provždy šťastně. (M)


32

Oženil se a žil pořád a pořád šťastně (H)

… oženil se a byl šťastně živ. (V)

2 Features Specific for Children’s Books

2.1 Closer Relationship Between the Author and a Child-Reader

In children’s literature there is more frequent tendency to include the readers into the story, to

interweave them into the sequence of events. The reasons are simple – one is to arouse the interest

from time to time to prevent the attention fading away, the other is to make the reading more life-like.

Children are used to being told stories, so they expect some kind of rhetoric features to appear even in

the written text. It is a part of the fairy-tale code. Moreover, even written fairy-tales are often perceived

by means of the parent reading. The most common textual child-involving features are addressing of

the reader, questions and modal verbs.

2.1.1 Addressing of the Child-Reader

This feature is very frequently used by Kipling throughout the whole book. He addresses the reader (or

readers?) very often, but uses only one form with only slight variations – “Best Beloved” (11 times), “O

Best Beloved” (8 times), “O my Best Beloved” (3 times). The choice was most probably guided by his

own personal usage – he used this phrase for addressing his own children as it is proved by his

correspondence (Selected and edited by Elliot L. Gilbert with a symptomatic title “O Beloved Kids”).

The question mark showing the doubts whether it is for plural or singular audience is not off the

point. Just So Stories were originally assigned directly to his children, first to Josephine and, following

her death at the age of seven, to Elsie and John.

For the translator it is necessary to choose the best fitting Czech equivalent. If he wanted to

translate literally and close to the original he should know something from the above mentioned

personal facts accompanying the origin of the stories. This approach was chosen by Vančura who

translates this addressing form as if it referred to a singular female child-reader: “Má milá holčičko” /

“Holčičko” . His decision was most probably influenced by the fact that the original reader who these

stories were intended for was Kipling’s daughter Josephine. Hobzík’s translation (“drahoušku”) is

33

very similar. It addresses a singular reader, only it is neutral in gender – it does not differentiate

between boy and girl readers.

The other possible solution is a bit further towards the free translation on the scale of translation

methods. It sets out to forget about the original connection between the text and reality and to choose

a similar expression common in Czech fairy-tales for addressing the readers. If the addressing form is

not dependant on a concrete reader, the Czech non-marked counterpart is usually in plural. Moudrá

chose for her translation the plural forms “Ó moji miláčkové / miláčkové moji / miláčkové”.

2.1.2 Contact with the child-reader or listener

Direct addressing is not the only means of keeping in contact with the child-reader. Due to the specific

features of the childs perception process children’s literature often requires certain contacting phrases.

Their aim is to involve the reader into the story and support their attention.

The closest to the addressing (they often appear together and complete each other) are modal

verbs and questions. Their usage is encoded already in the natural parent-child relationship. It is the

syntactic structure of giving instruction, advice and help, and getting feedback - the most common

ways of communication between adults and children. Thus it is transferred to the fairy-tales, especially

in the parts where the author feels the need to lead and influence the reader.

As Just So Stories were originally told to author’s own children, there are a lot of these contacting

formulae:

A Modal verbs

Now you must know and understand, O Best Beloved, that till that very week, and day, and hour, and

minute, this ‘satiable Elephant’s Child had never seen a Crocodile, ….29

Měli byste vědět a pochopit, …. (M)

A musíš vědět a uvědomit si … (H)

Musíš si, milá holčičko, pomyslit…. (V)


34

The translators follow the original and transform the literal structure into the target language. The only

difference is in the strength of the chosen modals. They mostly decided to keep the urgent modal verb

of obligation of original (“must”), only Moudrá softened the appeal on the level of advice.

B Questions

Have you forgotten the suspenders?30

Nezapomněli jste na šle? (M)

Nezapomínáš na šle? (H))

Jestlipak jsi nezapomněla na ty šle? (V))

All the translator used the proper way of translation of the question – the transformation of positive into

negative. In Czech language the negative structure works as a reminder or warning.

2.2 Prosodic Features

There is no doubt that books for children are much more often read aloud than the books for adults.

Even if they are able to read themselves, children tend to ask somebody to read the story for them.

This is especially true about fairy-tale where it is given by their very nature. They were originally

passed on only orally. That is why there are certain rhetoric features encoded in the formal structure of

the fairy-tale.

As reading (or telling) a story is a kind of verbal reproduction, it is very close to acting. And thus the

storyteller should be able to add some non-textual features (usually not given in the text) –

e.g. changes of voice modulation to highlight the gradation and repetition principle, prosodic features

– pauses, emphasis, sound effects, onomatopoeic words, and - last but not least – gestures.

Kipling was a great storyteller and, moreover, Just So Stories originated from the tales being told to

a child audience. He had to be aware of certain tricks that increase the listeners’ interest and make it

more fun for them and he could test their effectiveness in countless opportunities. Whether by chance

or deliberately, he kept lots of these features even in the written form.


35

2.2.1 Gesture-Inducing Formulae

One group of these prosodic features could be labelled as gesture-inducing (due to their function

within the text). They are used only after the verbs of action and their aim is to make the reader

accompany his narration with an illustrative gesture or a sound effect connected with its realisation:

He swallowed them all down into his warm, dark, inside cupboards, and then he smacked his lips – so,

and turned three times on his tail.31

But it was really the Crocodile, O Best Beloved, and the Crocodile winked one eye – like this! 32

Alternatively, they can be used after the verbs expressing speach – then they refer to the way of

pronounciation:

At this, O Best Beloved, the Elephant’s Child was much annoyed, and he said, speaking through his

nos, like this, ‘Led go? You are hurtig be!”

All the translators understood well the function of this formula and in all cases they used the

appropriate Czech counterpart “takhle” which works well in the context and fulfils the expected aim.

3 Lexical Problems

3.1 Interjections

Then everybody said ‘Hush’ in a loud and dretful tone, and they spanked him immediately and directly,

without stopping, for a long time.33

31 Just So Stories, p. 1132 Just So Stories, p. 4633 Just So Stories, p. 44

36

“Hush!” is an exclamation used to make people silent – the possible Czech equivalents for a similar

communicative situation can be “šš”, “pst”, “ticho”. In Moudrá’s translation on of these is really used

(“Pst!”), but it seems that it is not intensive enough for this kind of situation because the aim is not to

create silence, it should strongly point out the inappropriateness of such a question and thus prevent it

being asked again.

Another word appeared in the other two translations – it is a verb with an interjective function

(“Jedeš!”). The urgency is higher, nevertheless I think its meaning is a bit shifted. It is usually used if

we want to drive someone away or do not want to let someone have something.

I would recommend some semantically closer and at the same time quite intensive Czech

counterpart – either “Ticho!” or the one that Moudrá used but in a more intensive version (e.g. by

means of repetition – “pšššššt!”).

“Pooh,” said the Elephant’s Child. “I don’t think you peoples know anything about spanking; but I do,

and I’ll show you!”34

“Ále,” řeklo sloní mládě, “nezdá se mi, že ... (M)

“Bah,” řeklo slůně. “Myslím, že nic nevíte … (H)

“Ph,” odbylo je slůně. “Myslím, že nemáte ani ponětí … (V)

As regards its semantics, the interjection should express the contempt. In this sense the closest

translations are the latter two – both of them are in fact the same, only the transliteration of the sound-

based interjection is different (Vančura’s version looks more natural).

3.2 Technical Terms

It is obvious that children do not have the same level of mental properties as adults do. One of the

characteristic features of children’s writing is then certain simplifying of all levels of the text (lexical,

stylistic, diversity and complexity of the plot). But simplicity does not mean second rate. It should not

be understood that little is expected of children and thus little is offered to them too.


37

Although the age level does require certain alternations and asks for much more attention to detail

and careful writing, it does not mean that the simplifying should be universal and as deep as possible.

On the contrary, it is useful to add some spice to the text – in the form of a message that is supposed

to be above the ability level of the reader. It makes the reading more challenging, it provides

necessary food for thought.

From time to time Kipling uses some unusual words or quite sophisticated terms in the text

intended for a child reader (it means for a person without a finished and comprehensive education). It

is a kind of didacticism, but non-violent, non-imposed and it can offer a pleasant and natural way of

learning. These terms are usually connected with the animals and plants (biological terms – names of

more exotic species etc. ) or with the geographical setting of his stories (geographical terms):

A Biological terms

It is natural that there are lots of biological terms in Just So Stories – it is a clear consequence of its

topic. Writing about animals and explaining their origin you cannot omit the names of the species or

animal families. Describing the setting of a story (in this case usually an exotic one) you cannot help

referring to some extraordinary plants.

Children like animals and know a lot of them. But they also enjoy reading about some rare, unusual

and for them so far unknown ones. The situation is not the same everywhere. Because there are

different conditions in different places, children get into contact with different kinds of plants and

animals. The culture gap could cause problems in the process of translation as well as in the later

perception by the readers.

Translator is to judge the experience of the source language reader. If the mentioned species are

familiar for them, in the translation he could replace the concrete animals with some more general

terms or use an explanation closer to the target language of the reader. If it is unknown for the source

readers as well, he should keep the unusual elements there and translate as literarly as possible.

… he came upon Kolokolo Bird sitting in the middle of a wait-a-bit thornbush, …35

In this sentence Kipling mentions a certain less known type of a thorny bush in South Africa

(Harpagophytum procumbens). The translator has several opportunities how to cope with this

situation. He could neutralise the technical term and replace it with some descriptive equivalent – as it


38

was done in Moudrá’s translation (she just described the type of the plant and resigned on any kind of

closer determination):

… až přišlo k ptáku Kolokolu, který seděl na trnitém křoví. (M)

The other possibilities are to keep the terminology, either by means of literal translation (which is

can be more challenging for the translator who would probably have to consult an encyclopaedia) or

by substitution with a cultural equivalent.

Neither of the later translations represents this translating procedure. They both misunderstood the

words. The adjective “wait-a-bit” was translated in its nearest literal meaning that fitted the context. I

think the meaning of the sentence was shifted too much, or at least there were added certain semantic

elements that are not present in the original (“na číhané / na čekané” – meaning waiting for his pray).

… slůně spatřilo ptáka Kolokola, sedícího na číhané v trnitém křoví , … (H)

… potkalo slůně ptáka Kolokolo, který seděl na čekané v trní , … (V)

Moudrá’s version thus seems to be the best of these because she made the least alternations of

the source sentence, although at the expense of losing the cultural term of the original.

In the two following examples we can see that all the translators decided to hold the term – it is the

literal translation of it into the target language:

The rest of the time he picked up the melon rinds that he had dropped on his way to the Limpopo – for

he was a Tidy Pachyderm.36

… neboť bylo čistotným tlustokožcem (M)

… neboť mladý slon byl opravdu pořádkumilovný tlustokožec. (H)

Slůně bylo totiž čistotný tlustokožec. (V)

“Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?“37

Vznešený a ušlechtilý kytovče, … (M)

Urozená a vznešená z rodu Kytovců, … (H)


39

Vznešená a urozená paní z rodu kytovců, … (V)

B Geographical terms

Geographical terms are another example of the culture-related words. The difficulty of their translation

lies in the possible culture gap between the source and target languages.

As far as the children’s literature is concerned, there is another gap that has to be taken into

consideration – it is the gap between the adult and children level of knowledge. In the following

example quite a sophisticated term was used and the translator has to cope with it by making a basic

decision – to keep it there as a challenge for the child reader or neutralise it to make the text more

understandable. If choosing the former possibility, he still can make it clearer for the average reader by

means of explanation in the glosses.

One fine morning in the middle of the Precession of the Equinoxes ….38

That very next morning, when there was nothing left of the Equinoxes, because the Precession had

preceded according to precedent, ….39

Here the mention of the equinox is not necessary for the plot of the story. It is used for

characterisation of the setting, as an accompanying element. Still I think it is better to keep it there

intact as a term.

As regards the first sentence of its occurrence, in two versions (M, V) the translators decided to

keep the terminology, at least partly (rovnodennost). Only Hobzík chose the way of explaining the term

by using a neutral vocabulary (Jednoho krásného rána v den, kdy slunce přechází rovník).

The second sentence is even more tricky for the translator. The author not only uses technical

terms, moreover, he uses them for a kind of a language play with the elements of alliteration.

Hned nazítří ráno, když bylo po rovnodennosti, ….. (M)

Hned příštího rána, to už bylo po rovnodennosti, protože slunce postoupilo kousek dál, …. (V)

Příštího jitra, to již přechod slunce přes rovník byl ukončen jako přechody předcházející, ….. (H)

38 Just So Sories, p. 4439 Just So Stories, p. 45

40

C Pseudo-technical terms

Children’s literature provides space for another specific type of terms, not usual in the books for adults.

These are again based on the creative power of language and language play. The author is mocking

the terminology system, he creates new, non-existing terms and coining them in the form usual for the

normal technical terms. These pseudo-technical terms are another example of enriching of the

children’s reading by means of language play.

Kolokolo bird40

In this case the word balances on the edge between being the pseudo-term (the bird species) or the

proper name (name of this individual bird). One way or other, the translator should transfer this word

into the target language (as happened in all the Czech versions).

Quite different is the situation with the following collocation:

Fever trees41

The translator has no other choice than to create a fitting Czech equivalent. Hobzík and Moudrá chose

the longer solution of descriptive equivalent), Vančura kept the grammatical structure of the source

language and translated literally:

stromy, které způsobují horečku (H, M)

zimnicové stromy (V)

3.3 Proper Names

There are two types of problems connected with the lexical area of proper names. The first one

overlaps with the cultural terms and for the translator it means to decide whether to keep the proper

name which is less used and known in the target language culture or, if he regards it too alien for the

common readers, to replace it with its functional equivalent.

40 Just So Stories, p. 4541 Just So Stories, p 45

41

“…. Take me to my natal-shore and the white-cliffs-of-Albion, and I‘ll think about it.“42

Moudrá and Hobzík used the original name Albion which is for the Czech reader less transparent

(Hobzík with the explanation in the glossary at the end of the book):

… k bílým útesům Albionu… (H, M)

Vančura chose a functional equivalent, more transparent, but even more neutral.

… k bílým útesům anglickým. (V)

The second problematic area is rather formal – it is the spelling of non-Czech words (especially the

English geographical names). The translator should decide whether to keep the English way of

spelling or to rewrite the words into Czech alphabet.

“Change here for Winchester, Ashuelot, Nashua, Keene, and stations on the Fitchburg Road;“43

The English spelling (V)

Czech transcription (eg. Uinčestr, Ašvelot, Nášua…) (M, H)

Each of these solutions has some weak points. If you keep the original way of spelling, it stays in

closer contact with the source language culture (it works as the culture indicator). However, the

pronunciation is for non-English speakers unclear and the written and spoken form of the word is thus

cut apart. This is not true about the rewritten words. Readers can clearly imagine the sound

(sometimes it is even necessary, when the proper names are part of some sound-effect language

play), but they can never reconstruct their written form. The situation here is quite balanced, the

decision is then very individual and dependent on the special conditions in a single situation. If there

are no special reasons for transcription, I would always prefer to keep the original spelling.

3.4 Lexical Inaccuracies

A Different semantic range of a word


42

In the sea, once upon a time, Oh my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, and he ate fishes. He ate the

starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, and the skate and his

mate, and the lmackereel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirly-whirly eel.44

The meaning of the English noun fishes is wider than its Czech most common counterpart ryby. Its

dictionary definition says: fishes are animals without legs which live in water, using their tail to help

them swim, and which breathe by taking oxygen from water. In most contexts there is usually rather

slight shift of meaning and it is acceptable to narrow the meaning in the Czech translation. But in this

very case it is a bit problematic because there follows a sequence of particular examples of the

animals included in this term.

Czech translations: … a ta jedla ryby (M, H)

… a ta jedla mořské živočichy (V)

The latter solution seems more awkward at first sight because it is a longer and even

a compound expression compared to the brief and short English word. But afterwards in every

translation we can read a really varied range of animals from a bit disputable žralok up to the animals

that cannot be by any means covered with the Czech hyperonymum ryba – e.g. krab, rak, korýš or

hvězdice. I would prefer Vančura‘s solution, only maybe the adding of a word suggesting that there is

going to be an exemplifying result – e.g. … a ta jedla různé mořské tvory.

Another solution would be to keep the translation ryby but in the following specification omit the

disputable species. Anyway, the choice of the animals is random and what is more important is the

euphony, rhyming pattern and rhythm. This gives more space for the translator‘s creativity, who does

not have to choose the words with the exact semantic content. Both the more contemporary

translators (V,H) did justice to it. Moudrá‘s translation leaves the rhyme pattern from time to time and

that‘s why it seems the least suitable. As regards accuracy Hobzík‘s translation follows the original

text more, while Vančura choose the looser translation and substitution.

… and he put it on the stove because he was allowed to cook on that stove, and he baked it and he

baked it till it was all done brown and smelt most sentimental.45

44 Just so stories, s. 945 Just So Stories, p. 24

43

Dal koláč na plotýnku, protože on směl na této plotýnce vařit, a pekl ho a pekl, … (M)

… Pars je dal na kamna, protože směl péci na těch kamnech. Pekl a pekl, …. (H)

Párs je dal do trouby, protože on směl v těch kamnech vařit i péct , a tak je tam pekl a pekl … (V)

The problem here is connected with the semantic range of the Czech words “vařit” and “péct” . These

have their own situations and their should not be mixed up, otherwise it creates a rather funny effect.

The translator should be consistent in where to put the dish and what verb should describe the way of

its preparation. From all the above mentioned translations Vančura’s one sounds best.

B Shift of meaning

Shift of meaning between the source and the target versions is usually caused simply by

misunderstanding – either due to distraction (swapping two similar words, misreading etc.), lack of

knowledge (and lack of dictionary checking) or just poor ability to find a fitting equivalent. The

translator should be careful with all these potential dangers and if the mistake is made it should be

eliminated during the checking stage.

Till at last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small ´Stute Fish, …..46

Czech translations: parmička (M)

vychytralá rybka (V)

rybka šibalka (H)

Kipling often uses names of his characters that are not semantically empty. The names thus help to

describe their qualities. The translator has to decide whether to keep the English version and thus lose

a bit of the meaning for the Czech reader or to substitute a suitable Czech name with the same or at

least a similar semantic basis.

The English word ‘Stute is an abbreviated form of the adjective Astute, which is even indicated by

the use of apostrophe at the beginning. The word means “clever and quick to see how to take

advantage of a situation“. But the expression is not used in the common adjectival function – by

means of shortening its form and writing it with the initial capital letter the author used this as a nick-

name.

46 Just so stories, p.9

44

The translators of the existing Czech versions used different approaches. Moudrá went too far in

the substitution when she completely omitted the semantics of the word and instead characterized the

fish by means of its species (parmička). Both latter translators chose the suitable Czech counterparts,

but they solved its specific formal function in a different way. Vančura‘s word vychytralá keeps the

adjectival form and thus cannot function as a nick-name. Hobzík uses a word in the form of a noun

(šibalka) which is the most fitting in my opinion. It both keeps its characterising charge and could be

presented as a kind of a nick-name of the fish.

“What is it like?“ “Nice,“ said the small ‘Stute Fish. “Nice but nubbly.“47

Czech translations: houževnatý (M, H)

těžko stravitelný (V)

The problem here lies rather with greater difficulties of finding the right equivalent. I prefer Vančura’s

“těžko stravitelný” which fits more to the characteristics of the food. The word “houževnatý” is more

often connected with the characteristics of people and their nature.

He had only a blackish, bulgy nose, as big as a boot.,…48

Moudrá’s translation is again the most distant from the real semantic meaning of the adjective

bulgy (i.e. sticking out or swollen) – she uses “rozštěpený nos”, while the other two versions have the

preferably closer equivalent “vyboulený nos”.

Then the Kolokolo Bird said, with a mournful cr y, … 49

Tu zvolal pták Kolokolo žalostným hlasem: … (M)

Pták Kolokolo odpověděl hrobovým hlasem: … (H)

Pták Kolokolo pravil truchlivým hlasem: … (V)

47 Just So Stories, p. 1048 Just So Stories, p. 4449 Just So Stories, p. 45

45

The semantic content of the word “mournful” is expressing great sadness. That is why I regard

Hobzík’s version a bit shifted from the original sense. The Czech word “hrobový “ suggests more that it

is evoking horror, it is fearful, rather than sad. The other two translations sound good.

Then everybody said ‘Hush’ in a loud and dretful tone, and they spanked him immediately and directly,

without stopping, for a long time.50

Czech translations Tu vzkřikl kdekdo ustrašeně „Pst!” … (M)

Všichni mu odpovídali hlasitým a hrozivým „Jedeš!”… (H)

… mračili se, hubovali je … (V)

We can see a grammar shift of the equivalents. The original adjective form (marking the quality of

the voice) is kept only in Hobzík’s text. Vančura decided to transfer the meaning into the verbal form (it

is quite free as regards the semantics of the origina). Moudrá uses an adverbial form and completely

changes the semantic content of the underlined words. Instead of a loud and threatening quality she

uses a Czech word “ustrašeně” meaning in a scared way, fearfully.

… till he trod on what he thought was a log of wood at the very edge of the great grey-green, greasy

Limpopo River, all set about with fever trees.51

Vtom šláplo na něco, o čem si myslelo, že je to kláda. (M)

… šláplo na něco, co považovalo za kládu. (H)

Tak došlo k něčemu, co zprvu považovalo za dřevěnou kládu, … (V)

The semantic meaning of the verb “to tread on” means to put foot, to step somewhere. Vančura

just shifted the meaning too far away from the original. He used the Czech word “dojít k” and

consequently he lost the notion of the direct contact or accident, which is present in the other two

translations (“šlápnout na”).


46

C Unusual collocations

In certain collocations it is more important to prefer the natural sound rather than to follow their

structure strictly and without an compromise. If it sounds natural and usual to the source language

reader there is no reason to create this impact artificially in the target language version. After the word-

to-word procedure during the checking stage the translator should eliminate all the collocations that

are not usual both in the source and target texts.

… and he baked it till it was all done brown and smelt most sentimental.52

… až byl pěkně dozlatova hnědý a líbezně voněl. (V)

Pekl a pekl, až koláč zbrunátněl a voněl co nejlíbezněji. (H)

… až bylo celé do zlatova a nádherně vonělo. (V)

The translators mostly realised that in Czech there is a different colour used for description of a

well-done baking (brown – dozlatova). Vančura takes it without any reservation, Moudrá is much too

careful to get too far from the original and chooses a compromise (dozlatova hnědý). The only

problematic translation is the one by Hobzík. He does not use the colour symbols and his description

with the substitute verb (koláč zbrunátněl) is the less fitting one – it usually collocates with the word

“face”.

… and he picked up his hairy uncle, the Baboon, by one hairy leg, and hove him into a hornets’ nest . 53

hnízdo sršňů (M)

sršní hnízdo (H, V)

The literal translation of this collocation is the one that appears more or less identically in all the

Czech versions. But the translator should also judge whether the same collocation is normally used in

the target language too. In this case I think “vosí hnízdo” could be used instead, which is more often

connected with situations like this and moreover it is used in idioms too.


47

… and plucked a large bundle of grass, dusted it clean against his fore-legs, and stuffed it into his

mouth.54

chomáč trávy (H)

otep trávy (M, V)

Moudrá’s and Vančura’s translation sound awkward, because they break the common collocation of

the word “tráva” in Czech. In neutral texts, it should not exist in collocation with the word “otep” which

is rather connected with wooden sticks. Even such details may disturb the reader’s attention and

should be regarded with great care.

D Unwanted influence of the source language

Sometimes the translators are too much dependent on the structure of source language:

“ ‘Scuse me,” said the Elephant’s Child, “but my nose is badly out of shape, and I am waiting for it to

shrink.” 55

„Promiň,” řeklo slůně, „ale můj nos vyšel úplně z tvaru , a tak čekám, až se zas scvrkne.” (M)

„Promiň,” řeklo slůně. „Ale můj nos se dostal zle z formy a já čekám, až se zase scvrkne.” (H)

„Promiňte,” odpovědělo slůně, „ale můj nos ztratil tvar, a tak čekám, až se scvrkne.” (V)

Moudrá’s translation is almost a word-to-word translation of the original structure, which does not

sound natural in Czech at all. In cases like this the translator should release the ties between the

source and target versions and follow rather the core semantics and the natural sound for the target

language reader.

E Functional shifts

Some words, combination of words or sentences do not work properly within a certain context when

they are translated word-to-word. It regards such lexical units which have stronger pragmatic meaning

than the literal semantic one. In such cases it is more important to judge the function of the words


48

within the context and try to find a working target language equivalent regardless the changes of the

semantic content or the formal aspects.

“O Bananas!” said they, “Where did you learn that trick, and what have you done to your nose?”56

“Ó banány!” (M)

“U všech banánů” (H, V)

Moudrá’s exclamation is the literal translation of the original. The Czech reader, however regards

the other solution (H, V) more natural – it is perceived on the background of the other similar Czech

exclamation (U všech rohatých ….).

4 Non-Linguistic and Formal Problems

4.1 Children‘s Book Illustration

4.1.1 Pictures and their Place in Human Life

Pictures have always played an important role in human life. Visual concepts are one of the possible

ways of communicating ideas. The visual way of transfer of a message is as old as human race itself.

It started in the dark and distant times of human civilisation when the prehistoric people transferred

their inner world into cave paintings and later even sign writing.

Despite the instant changes and improvement of the technical basis, sight remains one of the most

important human senses and thus also a means of communication among people. But visual forms

are not limited only to expressing information, content of a person’s brain, but it can also express our

imagination, our feelings, our aesthetic values.

The cave paintings, although their primal purpose was most probably rather practical, gave birth to

art and number of its forms have appeared during the course of time – paintings, drawings, sculpture

and more recently photography, film, television and computer graphics.

These are all pictorial ways of expressing of aesthetic values. But visual patterns have always

been in close relation to the verbal. Picture based sign writing was the initial stage of other systems of


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writing and on its basis there appeared the most important way of the transfer of information both in

space and in time – the alphabet. Some written languages in the world are still picture based, for

example Japanese and Chinese. The alphabet as the system of keeping and passing information is

also dependent upon the visual and pictorial concepts – those being the initial stage of its evolution.

Speaking about the importance of visual concepts for the human race (i.e. for ontogenesis process

in a sense) we should not neglect its parallel importance for the life of an individual, its place in

fylogenesis. In the process of growing up a person is going through a number of stages of different

levels of their physical and mental properties. The higher stage the better level of these should be

reached – it is a sense of evolution. The earlier stages are marked with a lower level of ability but a

higher potential for absorbing new facts, learning and improving.

Human beings are accustomed to giving and receiving information by means of sight. It has been

suggested that “90% of what we learn is learned by sight and we tend to remember what we have

seen.“57 The sense of sight is stimulated from birth. Research has shown that a baby left lying in a

pram when awake does not learn as quickly as one who can see what is going on around.

5.1.2 The Importance of the Illustrations for Children

Illustration is an integral part of a children‘s book. Children’s reading is part looking. Their books are

verbal art as well as visual art. The reasons for illustrated children’s books are implied by the nature of

the child, their psychic prerequisites, their language and sensory experiences.

The pre-reading child completely lacks the visual language symbol, the verbal world is only heard.

Thus the visual representation of the situation is invaluable. During the early stages this learning

through visual representation of experience remains a significant and irreplaceable part of the child’s

learning, gradually diminishing as their ability to handle language abstraction improves. But it is never

gone at all – there is always the aesthetic appeal of colour and shape and texture left.

Authors depend upon the artist’s contribution to establish their story. The illustration enriches and

completes the text, explains some ideas and helps the readers learn about the story and atmosphere

because it adds the visual aspect and makes the book a more complex unit appealing to more senses

and thus opening more gates to the child‘s mind. Additionally to all of these it also brings the child

57 Marshall, M. R.: An Introduction to the World of Children‘s Books, p. 96

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closer to the story because it makes the book more attractive for the reader. The visual ingredient in

children’s literature should not be ignored.

The illustration clearly depends on the literary work which incited its creation. But also the artists

themselves feel the need to work for children who are the most appreciative audience. Skilful artists

can grasp the meaning of a book and they are able to use their visualisation, imagination, and inner

fire to make a meaningful graphic statement and to integrate it with the text until story and illustration

are one.

There are several possible ways how to illustrate a book. The picture can describe carefully and in

great detail what is written in the text about the characters and the plot. Sometimes it is even

completed with the facts the illustrators found out outside the book in order to give as accurate and

objective as possible. But with this tendency to description, this realistic illustration the illustrations are

lacking anticipation, excitement, dramatic character, suggestion, mystery. But children should be

encouraged to work out the images in their mind. On the other hand there are such illustrations that

are based on suggestion, a particular and highlighted detail, on symbol. There is thus a larger space

for imagination of the reader.

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Recently great care has been shown in the use of illustrations in the book – instead of being

sprinkled lightly throughout the text, they are integrated with it. Written word and illustration should not

be just two autonomous words existing side by side but without mutual ties. A children’s book is more

than this – it is a unity of words and pictures. The illustrations are moving with the words, illuminating

them and are illuminated by them. The art and text blend in such perfect harmony that a child reader

usually remembers the illustrations as an integral part of a story (e.g. Alice’s Adventures in

Wonderland is fully the work of Lewis Carrol and John Tenniel). Authors depend upon the artist’s

contribution to establish their tale, each drawing or painting adds a new dimension, brings another

image.

This unity has been seen even more globally recently and sometimes they speak about so called

“book architecture”58 We cannot judge and evaluate the illustrations without regarding their textual ties

not to mention their specific relationship to the child-reader. It is a seemingly evident point of view, but

it is not respected.

Books are not only the work of the writer. The children’s book world is not simple nor concerned

only with books. There is the share of the illustrator, the editors and publishing policy to be taken into

consideration. A children’s book is a complex structure of the written word, the illustrated idea, the

psychology, sociology and education of children and their aesthetic values and even more complex

attitudes and values of the adults who are concerned with children and their books.

I think it is a question of further development to set the proper boundaries, but it is obvious that the

view of the children’s book should be wider.

5.1.3 The illustrations in the past

At the beginning of children’s literature the visual image in children’s books was black-and-white (if

any at all). In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries great technical achievements were made in

illustrating books and this technical progress corresponded with the appearance of some of the

greatest of illustrations for children. The illustrators developed their own highly personal and

recognisable styles and thus they represent the core of the classical book illustration. The styles that

all these artists developed became established modes of illustration, models for other artists to follow.

The best example for all of these is John Tenniel and his witty and grotesque illustrations of Carrol’s

Alice in Wonderland.

58 Holešovský, F.: Glosy k vývoji české ilustrace pro děti, p. 7

52

Twentieth century has brought a tremendous changes accompanied by number of developments

in the field of illustrations which have made the present-day children’s literature different from what it

was before. The changes were reflected in the occurrence of new forms with basic if not vital role of

pictures – e.g. picture books or comics. Another, maybe even larger impact was the emergence of

new technologies which remarkably widened the possibilities of the illustrators. No more was their

artistic expression tied by the printing possibilities – regarding both the art techniques and colour.

While nineteenth century pictures were exclusively black-and-wide, now colour has become almost

identified with the characteristics of children’s books.

5.2 Illustrations in Just So Stories

Although there are quite a lot of Czech translations of Just So Stories with distinct differences in the

way of translating, approach of the translator and extent of the work, all the books have something in

common - in no edition can you find Kipling’s original pictures. The pictures are not essential for the

understanding of the stories, but they add a certain charm to them, which is thus missing in the Czech

versions. In all the Czech translations the pictures were replaced by some other illustrations:

Hobzík - illustrations by Josef Novák

Moudrá (1948) - no illustrations

Moudrá (1996) - illustrations by Luděk Maňásek

Vančura - illustrations by Jiří Macek

Príbusová - illustrations by Štefan Cepín

The author’s own drawings may seem to be quite simple and plain, but actually they have the

potential of arousing much greater imagination in the readers than the kind of usual colourful and clear

illustrations typical for most of the books for children. The question is whether these black-and-white

drawings are not too boring or maybe difficult for young children, especially when they are growing up

in the world of bright colours of Disney cartoons, but they should at least be given the chance to find

such pictures in their books and the right to choose what they like more. Moreover, Kipling’s

illustrations are very impressive in combination with his own witty and funny commentary. He explains

the picture to the readers (or listeners, in the case the book is read to children by their parents), he

points out some details he regards important or interesting, apologises for the imperfections of his

drawings caused both by external factors and his own artistic ability. The commentaries are written in

53

the way parents talk to their children when they are reading fairy-tales to them and they are explaining

certain points.

From these illustrations we can see that Kipling had a certain talent in this art field. The drawings

are by no means amateur pictures – he proves that he has a high sense for details, proportion and

perspective. The illustrations by the author are of a great interest to those with any sort of interest in

him. They are “highly competent, often haunting, often comic and always marked by a strong personal

outlook. An artist of some merit was lost in Kipling, or rather declared redundant while his alter ego

forged on with the pen.”59

The only story where the original drawings (or rather sketches) were kept in the Czech translation

is “How the Alphabet Was Made“. Here the drawings (or rather sketches of the letters) were vital for

the understanding of the text because they are used to illustrate the process of creation of the

alphabet and there are frequent allusions to it throughout all the text of the story.

It would be interesting to know why all the translators decided to omit the original pictures from their

translations. Every work of art is a complex put together by the author and translator should interfere

and change as least as possible. The editors has always decided to replace the original drawings so

far – Kipling’s original pictures and accompanying witty commentaries were lost for the Czech reader.

However, the illustrations by Czech artists show a suspiciously high resemblance with the original

pictures, at least as regards the choice of the motives and the way of their expression - see p. 54 to

compare the Kipling’s original picture (below) and two Czech illustrations, Novák’s (above left) and

Macek’s (above right).

The reason for leaving out Kipling’s drawings may be the special category of readers it is written for

and the common prejudices and stereotypes connected with them. Children need to be given

a different kind of information than the adults, but the difference is rather in the way of presenting not

in the quality of the content. Some people may think that only what is simple and clear is suitable for

children. But then there is a lack of stimuli for thinking. Adapted translation is easy to be absorbed but

there is reduced space for thinking, arousing interest in new and unknown things and creativity.

PICTURE 2 (a, b, c)

59 Amis, K.: Rudyard Kipling and his World, pp.82-3

54

5.3 The Publishing Policy of Illustration

5.3.1 General points

55

Illustration is still a remarkably unconsidered area of children’s literature – probably because there

is no adequate theory attached to it. It has always been rather on the periphery of both literary and

graphic-art criticism. Publishing for children has not always paid proper attention to the illustrations,

although the importance of pictures for children is nothing new.

The concepts that lie behind the illustrated books for children should be studied and examined.

Nowadays children’s book illustration is part of a wider popular culture - occasionally reaching the “fine

art waters but more often drifting in commercial shallows.”60 Not many illustrators survive to become

classic – the fittest, not necessarily the most deserving, because the survival depends on the demand.

Pictures and illustrations serve a special and not a single purpose in children’s books:

1 To decorate the pages (part of the total book design)

2 To enhance the text

3 To interpret the text

4 To increase visual perception

5 To provide visual information

6 To externalise what cannot be expressed in words

7 To be enjoyed by readers

8 To have aesthetic values

Taking into consideration the wider way of looking at books, regarding it globally as a unity of

content and form, of word and picture (referred to as a book architecture), the publishers and

translators should admit the importance of the non-textual elements of a book. Editors understand that

the illustrated book for children is necessity. So the question is no more whether pictures yes or no.

It is rather what pictures are appropriate.

What are the criteria that the translator (or editor) should keep on mind while translating

a children’s book? First, that it is not just the text itself he has to be concerned with. And second, it is

his responsibility and choice to decide what happens to the original illustrations of the translated book.

The translator should judge and evaluate the closeness of the connection between text and

illustrations and decide when it is advisable to keep the original illustrations and when they can be

replaced with any others without any negative impact on the whole piece of art.

Some of the classical books are remembered for the way in which the illustrations complement and

extend the story: Tenniel’s Alice in the Wonderland, Shepard’s Winnie the Pooh or Attwell’s The Water

60 Hunt, P.: Children‘s Literature, p. 129

56

Babies. But other children’s books with illustrative content go unnoticed. Where then goes the dividing

line and is it possible to mark it out at all?

The first important criterion is the closeness of the author – illustrator relationship:

1 Author is the illustrator of his own book at the same time

In such cases the pictures have to always be kept in the target language version too because they

were part of the author intention and plan and thus they are integral part of the story.

There are several famous examples belonging to this category – e.g. Antoine Saint Exupery and

his “Little Prince”.

2 Author has chosen the illustrator himself and/or influenced him and guided him while decorating the

book

The original pictures should be kept in the book because the probability of the mutual influence is

extremely high. Especially with this category the translator should také into consideration the

second criterion as well.

In this category there is e.g. Carrol’s Alice in the Wonderland with Tenniel’s pictures (they

discussed the drawings for the book in their correspondence).

3 There is no connection between the writer and the illustrator at all, the artist was chosen by the

publishing house without any intervention of the author.

It is not necessary to keep the original illustrations, unless they have strong link to the text,

they complete the story and cannot be removed without damaging the aesthetic values of the

whole (which is quite unusual in this case)

The other point of view necessary for judging the mutual ties of the pictorial and verbal section of

a book is the degree of their inter-influence, inter-action and correspondence:

1 Absolute

The illustration add some extra information that is not present in the text. Without the pictures the

text would be incomplete or even incomprehensible.

57

2 High

The pictures are tied with the text, there are several reference in the text towards the illustrations

3 Medium

From time to time in the text there is an isolated remark showing the loose connection of the

verbal and pictorial ideas

4 Low

The pictures were inspired by the text (the characters and the settings) but the illustrator followed

only his imagination and there are no pronounced references in the text

5 None

The pictures are only loosely attached to the book and they do not express any visible

connections at all.

Both the above mentioned criteria should be taken into consideration when deciding the level of

integrity of illustrations within the text. The deeper the ties and the closer the relationship between the

author and the illustrator, the higher is the obligation of the original pictures.

5.3.2 Publishing Policy for Just So Stories

Just So Stories is the book which was originally prepared and printed with Kipling’s own pictures. As

the author’s own illustrations they should have had the highest preferences in publishing them intact

without any interference into the over-whole form given to them by the author himself. It borders on the

breaking of the copyright. Moreover the mutual ties between the story and the pictures are very deep

too.

As the practice and show is usually much more clearer and enriching than theorising, in the

final section of my work I will provide the complete range of the original Kipling’s drawings with the

commentaries translated into Czech. You can judge yourself whether my theoretical conclusions are

sound or not and how big is the loss for the readership when the lovely Kipling’s illustratios has never

appeared in any Czech book edition of Just So Stories yet.

58

PICTURE 3

V.Conclusion

In this work I tried to prove the importance of functional approach towards the text in the process of

translation. The core of the translator’s work is in the work with text but his attention and interest

should not be narrowed only on the linguistic problems of finding the most suitable equivalent. There

are numerous other features to be taken into consideration, the aspect of the involved reader being

one of them. Although it might not be the most important feature of the translation procedure, it still

plays quite an important role, as it was proved by the concrete examples in the work.

59

The translator should realise what kind of reader the book is for and what are the specific qualities

connected with the readership. Then he should reflect this in his work – in the process of choosing of

the right and most suitable equivalent, deciding about the best translation procedure in the given part

and regarding the range of shifts from the original (reduction, compensation, function description etc.).

Especially with the children’s literature it is very important to keep one eye on the potential reader

and consider their differences and specific features because they reflect in all the levels of the

translated work. Due to these differentiating factors it is sometimes necessary to widen the attention

span of the translator and include some non-standard features – illustrations being one of them.

The translator should decide whether to keep the original pictures according to the degree of their

interconnection with the text. There are several criteria which could help with the decision and they

can be divided into two groups – the closeness of the author-illustrator relationship and the formal

marks of the common pictorial-textual ties.

60

Bibliography:

Amis, K.: Rudyard Kipling and his world, Thames and Hudson, London 1975

Darton, F. J.: Children‘s Books in England, Five Centuries of Social Life, London 1958

Egoff, S.A.: Thursday‘s Child, Trends and Patterns in Contemporary Children‘s Literature, American

Library Association, Chicago 1981

Holešovský, F.: Glosy k vývoji české ilustrace pro děti, Albatros, Praha 1982

Hunt, P.: Children‘s Literature – The Development of Criticism, Routledge, New York 1990

Chaloupka, O.: Próza pro děti a mládež, Albatros, Praha 1989

Chaloupka, O.: Rozvoj dětského čtenářství, Albatros, Praha 1982

Chaloupka, O., Nezkusil, V.: Vybrané kapitoly z teorie dětské literatury, Albatros, Praha 1973

Ilustrace dětské knihy (sborník referátů), Praha 1984

Kipling, R.: Bajky a nebajky, SNDK, Praha 1958

Kipling, R.: Jak byl napsán první dopis, Albatros, Praha 1970

Kipling, R.: Jak dostal velbloud hrb, Knihovnička roje čís. 27 (příl. čas. ROJ), Praha 1938

Kipling, R.: Just So Stories for Little Children, Leipzig 1902

Kipling, R.: Just So Stories, Penguin Books, England 1994

Kipling, R.: O Beloved Kids, Rudyard Kipling‘s Letters to his Children, ed. Gilbert, E. L., Weidenfeld

and Nicolson, London 1983

Kipling, R.: Pohádky, Hejda & Tuček, Praha ?

Kipling, R.: Pohádky, Aventinum, Praha 1996

Kipling, R.: Povídky jen tak, Vyšehrad, Praha 1978

Kipling, R.: Rozprávky o praotci klokanovi a iných zvieratkách, Mladé letá, Bratislava 1964

Kipling, R.: Sloní mládě, Svoboda, Praha 1948

Klemin, D.: The Art of Art for Children‘s Books, Clarkson N. Potter, New York 1966

Kopál, J.: Literatúra a detský aspekt, Slovenské pedagogické nakladatelství, Bratislava 1970

61

Laski, M.: From Palm to Pine, Rudyard Kipling Abroad and At Home, Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd.,

London 1987

Levý, J.: Umění překladu, Československý spisovatel, Praha 1963

Marshall, M. R.: An Introduction to the World of Children‘s Books, Bridles Ltd., Guildford and King‘s

Lynn, UK 1982

Nezkusil, V.: Spor o specifičnost dětské literatury, Albatros, Praha 1971

Nezkusil, V.: Studie z poetiky literatury pro mládež, Albatros, Praha 1983

Pechar, J.: Otázky literárního překladu, Československý spisovatel, Praha 1986

Poliak, J.: V službách detskej literatury, Mladé letá, Bratislava 1983

Rutherford, A. (ed): Kipling‘s Mind and Art, Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh, London 1964

Stehlíková, B.: Cesty české ilustrace v knize pro děti a mládež, Albatros, Praha 1984

Stehlíková, B.: Současná ilustrace dětské knihy, Odeon, Praha 1979

Townsend, J. R.: Written for Children, London, 1974

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Czech Translations of Rudyard Kipling’s

Just So Stories

Lenka Pazderníková

63

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