Tag: Winnie-the-Pooh

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.

Today I’m back to Pu der Bär, by A. A. Milne, better known to English speakers as Winnie-the-Pooh.

Last time we looked at Pu, we finished Kapitel Drei, so today we’ll look at Chapter Four — “In Which Eeyore Loses a Tail and Pooh Finds One,” which is to say, In welchem I-Ah einen Schwanz verliert und Pu einen findet.

I like lots of parts of the first sentence:

“The Old Grey Donkey, Eeyore” = Der alte graue Esel, I-Ah

“a thistly corner of the forest” = einem distelbewachsenen Winkel des Waldes
(“a thistle-overgrown angle of the forest”)

“his front feet well apart” = die Vorderbeine gespreizt

“his head on one side” = den Kopf auf eine Seite gelegt

“and thought about things” = und dachte über alles nach

“Inasmuch as which?” = Inwiefern? (“To what extent?”)

“came stumping along” = herangestapft kam

“gloomy manner” = düsterer Weise

I’m having fun imagining a reason to say this in Germany:
“Why, what’s happened to your tail?”
= Was ist den mit deinem Schwanz passiert?

“with a long, sad sigh” = mit einem langen, traurigen Seufzer

“solemnly” = feierlich

“So Winnie-the-Pooh went off to find Eeyore’s tail.”
= Also machte Winnie-der-Pu auf den Weg um I-Ahs Schwanz zu finden.

“Little soft clouds played happily in a blue sky”
= Kleine, weiche Wolkenspielten froh an einem blauen Himmel

“skipping from time to time in front of the sun”
= hüpften hin und wieder vor die Sonne

“dowdy” = ungepflegt

“copse and spinney” = Gehölz und Dickicht (“woods and thickets”)

“down open slopes of gorse and heather” = offene Hänge voller Stechginster und Heidekraut hinab

“rocky beds of streams” = felsige Flussbetten

“steep banks of sandstone” = steile Böschungen aus Sandstein

“If anyone knows anything about anything”
= Wenn irgendwer irgendwas über irgendwas weiß

“Chestnuts” = Kastanien

“knocker” = Türklopfer

“bell-pull” = Klingelzug

“notice” = Zettel

“MEASLES” = ZIEGENPETER

“BUTTERED TOAST” = TOASTMITBUTTER

“He’s Moping about it.” = Jetzt bläst er Trübsal.
(“Now blows he sorrow.”)

“very kindly” = überaus freundlicherweise

“Bear of Very Little Brain” = Bär von sehr wenig Verstand

“long words Bother me” = lange Wörter jagen mir Angst ein

“sneezed” = geniest

“a small something” = ein kleines Sowieso

“a lick of honey” = einer Idee Honig (“an idea of honey”)

“frisked” = tobte

“waving his tail so happily” = wedelte so glücklich mit dem Schwanz

And finishing up with the song at the end:

“Who found the Tail?
‘I,’ said Pooh,
‘At a quarter to two
(Only it was quarter to eleven really),
I found the Tail!'”

= Wer fand den Schwanz?
»Ich«, sprach Pu,
»Um Viertel vor ganz
(Das heißt, es war um Viertel vor elf),
Ich fand den Schwanz!«

Bis bald!

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It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of Children’s Books, sort of a Silly Phrasebook for Travelers.

This week, I’m going back to one of my favorite books, Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne, otherwise known as Pu der Bär.

Last time we looked at Pu, we finished Chapter 2, about Pooh getting stuck in a very tight place. So this time we will cover Chapter 3, “In Which Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting and Nearly Catch a Woozle” = In welchem Pu und Ferkel auf die Jagd gehen und beinahe ein Wuschel fangen.

Oh! This is my opportunity to see what the translator did with the elaborate joke about Piglet’s Uncle “Trespassers William.”

“TRESPASSERS W” = BETRETEN V

It’s a pretty straight translation, just using a different name.

For research, I used Google Translate to see what “Trespassers will be prosecuted.” would be in German. Google came up with Strafrechtlich verfolgt wird. Maybe “v” is for verfolgt?

“it was short for Trespassers Will”
= es sei die Abkürzung von Betreten Vic

“which was short of Trespassers William”
= welches die Abkürzung von Betreten Victor sei.

“And his grandfather had had two names in case he lost one”
= Und sein Großvater habe zwei Namen gehabt, für den Fall, dass er mal einen verlöre

“Trespassers after an uncle, and William after Trespassers.”
= Betreten nach einem Onkel und Victor nach Betreten.

“carelessly” = leichtsinnig

A good phrase to know:
“Well, there you are, that proves it.”
= Siehst du, das beweist es ja.

“Pooh was walking round and round in a circle”
= Pu ging immer im Kreis herum

“tracking” = spüre

This is straightforward, but I like it:
“That’s just what I ask myself. I ask myself, What?”
= Genau das frage ich mich auch. Ich frage mich: Was?

“What do you think you’ll answer?”
Und was, glaubst du, wirst du dir antworten?

“paw-marks” = Pfotenabdrücke

“He gave a little squeak of excitement.”
= Es quiekte leicht vor Aufregung.

This is classic Pooh. Not quite the same in German:
“‘It may be,’ said Pooh. ‘Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t. You never can tell with paw-marks.'”
= »Könnte sein«, sagte Pu. »Manchmal ist es das und manchmal ist es das nicht. Bei Pfotenabdrücken kann man nie wissen.«

“was bending over the tracks in a puzzled sort of way”
= beugte sich verblüfft über die Spuren
(“bent himself perplexedly over the tracks”)

“Hostile Animals” = feindselige Tiere
(The translator did not retain the Meaningful Use of Capital Letters.)

“a small spinney of larch trees”
= ein kleines Dickicht aus Lärchenbäumen
(Ah! Now I can find out what a “spinney” is! Dickicht = “thicket.”)

“what his grandfather Trespassers W had done to Remove Stiffness after Tracking”
= was sein Großvater Betreten V gegen Steifheit in den Gliedern nach der Spurensuche unternommen hatte

“Shortness of Breath”
= Kurzatmigkeit

Again, classic Pooh:
“It is either Two Woozles and one, as it might be, Wizzle, or Two, as it might be, Wizzles and one, if so it is, Woozle.”
= Es sind entweder zwei Wuschel und ein, falls es das ist, Wischel oder zwei, falls sie das sind, Wischel und ein, falls es das ist, Wuschel.

“Hostile Intent” = feindselig Absichten

“muddled” = vermengten

“The tracks of four sets of paws”
= die Spuren von vier Pfotenpaaren

“it brought very little comfort”
= dies wenig Trost brachte

Just in case you need to say this:
“I have just remembered something that I forgot to do yesterday and shan’t be able to do tomorrow.”
= Mir ist etwas eingefallen, was ich gestern zu tun vergessen habe und was ich morgen nicht tun kann.

“dear old Pooh” = liebster, bester Pu

“Silly old Bear” = Dummer alter Bär

“I see now.” = Jetzt verstehe ich.

“I have been Foolish and Deluded.”
= Ich war ein verblendeter Narr.
(“I was a deluded fool.”)

This doesn’t have the same ring to it:
“I am a Bear of No Brain at All.”
= Ich bin ein Bär ohne jeden Verstand.
(“I am a bear without any understanding.”)

“You’re the Best Bear in All the World.”
= Du bist der beste Bär der ganzen Welt.

“And then he brightened up suddenly.”
= Und dann erhellte sich plötzlich seine Miene.

Perhaps the most useful phrase of all:
“Anyhow, it is nearly Luncheon Time.”
= Auf jeden Fall, ist es schon fast Zeit zum Mittagessen.

Auf jeden Fall, ist es schon fast Mitternacht. Gute Nacht! Till next time!

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It’s Sonderling Sunday again! Where I look up Handy Phrases and their translations in German, using the pages of children’s books. I’ve decided to mix it up a little, going back to Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge every other time, but looking at other books in between. Tonight I frittered away most of the day (okay, I finished a book), so I don’t have much time, and I am going to dip into the first chapter of Pu der Bär, fondly known as Winnie-the-Pooh

What a surprise! Most German editions are longer than the English edition, but my American paperback has 163 pages, and the German only 157. You can see they used larger pages, so perhaps that is the secret. The book does include the Ernest Shepard illustrations, colored.

I’m going to skip the Introduction, though it has some fun bits, because I want to dip into the main text. Chapter I is titled, “In Which We Are Introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees, and the Stories Begin” In German, this becomes: ERSTES KAPITEL In welchem wir Winnie-dem-Pu und einigen Bienen vorgestellt werden und die Geschichten beginnen.

Ah! Let’s start with the classic first sentence:
“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin.”

Translated:
Hier kommt nun Eduard Bär die Treppe herunter rumpeldipumpel, auf dem Hinterkopf, hinter Christopher Robin.

Did you catch that word? rumpeldipumpel!

Later we have “bumping” = Gerumpel

“a growly voice” = eine Brummstimme

“an open place in the middle of the forest” = eine freie Stelle inmitten des Waldes

“from the top of the tree, there came a loud buzzing-noise” = vom Wipfel des Baumes kam ein lautes Summgeräusch

This is a good sentence to know:
“The only reason for making a buzzing-noise that I know of is because you’re a bee.” =
Der einzige Grund dafür, ein Summgeräusch zu machen, den ich kenne, ist, dass man eine Biene ist.

“He began to climb the tree.” = Begann er den Baum hinaufzuklettern.

Now, I have to give the translation of the entire song Pooh sang to himself. It’s longer in German, but the translator did an admirable job.

Isn’t it funny
How a bear likes honey
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
I wonder why he does?

This becomes:

(Literally translated: “I ask myself each year and day,
Why a bear the honey likes.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
I ask myself: Why?”)

In the second song, the translator changed the rhyme scheme from AABB to ABAB:

It’s a very funny thought that, if Bears were Bees,
They’d build their nests at the bottom of trees.
And that being so (if the Bees were Bears),
We shouldn’t have to climb up all these stairs.

He adds a little internal rhyme, but it doesn’t quite duplicate the feel of the original:

Schon seltsam, dass, wenn Bären Bienen wären,
Dann wäre ihnen auch ein Nest ganz unten eigen,
Und wenn es dann so wäre (die Bienen wären Bären),
Dann brauchten wir auch nicht so hoch zu steigen.

More goodies:

“a Complaining Song” = ein Beklage-Lied

Alas! We totally miss the fun of A. A. Milne’s use of Capital Letters, because ALL the German nouns are capitalized. Oh well!

“Oh, help!” = Ach, Hilfe!

“bounced” = aufprallte

“head-over-heels” = kopfüber (They leave out the “heels”!)

“said good-bye” = verabschiedete

“gorse-bush” = Stechginsterbusch

“brushed the prickles from his nose” = wischte sich die Stacheln von der Nase

“Which is most likely?” = Was ist am wahrscheinlichsten?

Ah, and a favorite line that, alas!, is not the same in German:
“You never can tell with bees.” = Bei bienen kann man nie wissen.

“just in case” = für alle Fälle

This is good in German:
“a very muddy place” = einer sehr schlammigen Stelle

“rolled and rolled” = wältzte und wältzte

“suspicious” = argwöhnisch

This classic line I also don’t like to see changed:
“Tut-tut, it looks like rain.” = Tz, tz, es sieht nach Regen aus.

“laughed to yourself” = in dich hineingelacht

“Silly old bear!” = Dummer alter Bär!

Another Handy Phrase:
“Shall I put my umbrella up?” = Soll ich meinen Regenschirm aufspannen?

“a little Cloud Song” = ein kleines Wolkenlied

And I have to include the Cloud Song:

How sweet to be a Cloud
Floating in the Blue!
Every little cloud
Always sings aloud.

“How sweet to be a Cloud
Floating in the Blue!”
It makes him very proud
To be a little cloud.

Auf Deutsch:

Als Wolke so im Blauen schweben,
Das ist und bleibt das wahre Leben!
Wenn ringsherum der Himmel blaut,
Singt jede schwarze Wolke laut:

»Als Wolke so im Blauen schweben,
Das ist und bleibt das wahre Leben!«
Sie fühlt sich, wenn es blaut,
Sehr wohl in ihrer Haut.

Let’s see, back to literal English, I make that something like:
“As clouds in the blue float
It is and stays the true life!
When around the sky blue,
sings each black cloud loud:

“‘As clouds in the blue float
It is and stays the true life!’
He feels, when the sky is blue,
Very well in his own skin.”

This is just a good sentence to know:
The bees were still buzzing as suspiciously as ever.” = Die Bienen summten immer noch so argwöhnnisch wie eh und je.

“very important decision” = sehr wichtigen Entschluss

“aimed” = gezielt

“miss” = verfehlt

“That day when Pooh and Piglet tried to catch the Heffalump” = Der Tag, an dem Pu und Ferkel versuchten das Heffalump zu fangen

And, since I’ve gone this far, I must include the last sentence of the chapter:

He nodded and went out, and in a moment I heard Winnie-the-Pooh — bump, bump, bump — going up the stairs behind him.

Er nickte und ging hinaus, und einen Augenblick später hörte ich, wie Winnie-der-Pu — rumpeldipumpel — hinter ihm die Treppe hinaufging.

And now I must go to bed myself — rumpeldipumpel. Next week’s KidLitCon, so I hope to be back with Sonderling Sunday in two weeks!

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