{"id":25346,"date":"2014-09-14T20:32:35","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T00:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=25346"},"modified":"2014-09-14T21:40:09","modified_gmt":"2014-09-15T01:40:09","slug":"sonderling-sunday-you-need-a-schnauch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=25346","title":{"rendered":"Sonderling Sunday – You Need a Schnauch!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

This week, I’m going to dive back into Der Lorax<\/em>, von Dr. Seuss! Last time<\/a>, we left off when the Einstler<\/em> had just seen die B\u00e4ume! Die Tr\u00fcffelab\u00e4ume!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Lorax\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And here’s where we can see how Dr. Seuss’s use of made-up words actually makes a rhyming translation easier:<\/p>\n

“And, under the trees, I saw Brown Bar-ba-loots
\nfrisking about in their Bar-ba-loot suits
\nas they played in the shade and ate Truffula Fruits.”<\/p>\n

= Im Schatten der B\u00e4ume sah ich Braunfelliwullis.
\nDie h\u00fcpften in ihren Braunfellipullis
\nauf puscheligen Braunfellif\u00fc\u00dfen
\nund naschten von den Tr\u00fcffelan\u00fcssen.<\/em><\/p>\n

(“In the shadow of the trees saw I Brown-felli-wullis.
\nThey hopped in their Brown-felli-pullovers
\non puscheligen<\/em> [?] Brown-felli-feet
\nand nibbled on the Truffula nuts.”)<\/p>\n

As suspected, kr\u00e4usligen<\/em> is also made-up, from sich kr\u00e4useln<\/em>, “to ripple.”<\/p>\n

“From the rippulous pond
\ncame the comfortable sound
\nof the Humming-Fish humming
\nwhile splashing around.”<\/p>\n

= Vom kr\u00e4usligen Teich
\nstieg ein wohliger Klang,
\nwo der Summerfisch summte
\nund planschte und sang.<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh, alas! The first two lines of this are lovely, but the next two lines? Well, it’s a noble effort, but the German lines don’t have the same rhythm as the original.<\/p>\n

“But those trees!<\/em> Those trees!
\nThose Truffula Trees!<\/em>
\nAll my life I’d been searching
\nfor trees such as these.”<\/p>\n

Doch die <\/em>B\u00e4ume! Diese <\/em>B\u00e4ume!
\nDie Tr\u00fcffelab\u00e4ume!
\nMein ganzes Leben lang w\u00fcnschte ich mir
\nB\u00e4ume wie diese,
\nnun standen sie hier.<\/em><\/p>\n

Really, it’s a challenge to translate rhymes like these:<\/p>\n

“The touch of their tufts
\nwas much softer than silk.
\nAnd they had the sweet smell
\nof fresh butterfly milk.”<\/p>\n

= Der Tuff dieser B\u00e4ume,
\nzu meinem Entz\u00fccken,
\ngl\u00e4nzte so seidig
\nwie Schmetterlingsr\u00fccken.<\/em><\/p>\n

(“The tufts of these trees
\nto my delight,
\nshone so silky
\nas butterfly backs.”)<\/p>\n

(Notice they didn’t even attempt butterfly milk!)<\/p>\n

And it just feels like we’re losing something:<\/p>\n

“In no time at all, I had built a small shop.
\nThen I chopped down a Truffula Tree with one chop.
\nAnd with great skillful skill and with great speedy speed,
\nI took the soft tuft. And I knitted a Thneed!”<\/p>\n

= Am Mittag war alles schon ausgepackt,
\nein Laden gebaut und ein Baum abgehackt.
\nUnd schneller als schnell, den geschickt war ich auch:
\nAus dem kuschligen Tuff strickte ich einen Schnauch.<\/em><\/p>\n

(“By noon was everything already unpacked,
\na shop built and a tree hacked down.
\nAnd faster than fast, skillful was I also:
\nFrom the cuddly tuft knitted I a Schnauch.”)<\/p>\n

I like this page:<\/p>\n

“The instant I’d finished, I heard a ga-Zump!<\/em>
\nI looked.
\nI saw something pop out of the stump
\nof the tree I’d chopped down. It was sort of a man.
\nDescribe him?… That’s hard. I don’t know if I can.”<\/p>\n

= Und grad war ich fertig, da machte es <\/em>plumpf!
\nich schaute
\nund sah, etwas sprang aus dem Stumpf —
\naus dem Baum, den ich f\u00e4llte. Es war so ein Mann.
\nIhn beschreiben? Ich wei\u00df nicht, ob ich das kann.<\/em><\/p>\n

The schimpfte und schnauzte<\/em> line here makes up for a lot:<\/p>\n

“He was shortish. And oldish.
\nAnd brownish. And mossy.
\nAnd he spoke with a voice
\nthat was sharpish and bossy.”<\/p>\n

= Er war kurz, braun und \u00e4ltlich
\nund oben bemoost.
\nEr schimpfte und schnauzte
\nund machte auf Boss.<\/em><\/p>\n

(“He was short, brown, and elderly
\nand over be-mossed.
\nHe grumbled and snarled
\nand acted the boss.”)<\/p>\n

They don’t do badly with this classic line:<\/p>\n

“I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.”<\/p>\n

= Ich sprech’ f\u00fcr die B\u00e4ume, den die k\u00f6nnen’s ja nicht.<\/em><\/p>\n

(“I speak for the trees, for they cannot.”)<\/p>\n

And I do like the Thneed description:<\/p>\n

“I’m being quite useful. This thing is a Thneed.
\nA Thneed’s a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!
\nIt’s a shirt. It’s a sock. It’s a glove. It’s a hat.
\nBut it has other<\/em> uses. Yes, far beyond that.
\nYou can use it for carpets. For pillows! For sheets!
\nOr curtains! Or covers for bicycle seats!”<\/p>\n

= Ich mache mich n\u00fctzlich. Dieses Ding is ein Schnauch.
\nUnd ein Schnauch ist etwas, was jedermann braucht.
\nMan nimmt ihn als Pulli, als Socke, als Kragen.
\nEin Schnauch ist sehr praktisch, sozusagen.
\nEr geht auch als Teppich und Nackenst\u00fctze,
\nals Vorhang, als Kissen oder Fahrradsitzm\u00fctze.<\/em><\/p>\n

(“I’m making myself useful. This thing is a Schnauch.
\nAnd a Schnauch is something, that all people need.
\nOne takes it as a pullover, as a sock, as a collar.
\nA Thneed is very practical, so to speak.
\nIt goes also as a carpet and neck-rest,
\nas a curtain, as a cushion or bicycle-seat-cap.”)<\/p>\n

And I’ll finish off with some words with far too much truth:<\/p>\n

“I laughed at the Lorax, “You poor stupid guy!
\nYou never can tell what some people will buy.”<\/p>\n

= Ich lachte: Du Dummkopf, jetzt h\u00f6r auf zu schnaufen!
\nMan wei\u00df eben nie, was die Leute so kaufen.<\/em><\/p>\n

That’s it for this week! In general, the translator, Nadia Budde, did come up with lines that still roll off the tongue.<\/p>\n

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