{"id":28830,"date":"2015-12-06T23:39:04","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T03:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=28830"},"modified":"2015-12-06T23:46:33","modified_gmt":"2015-12-07T03:46:33","slug":"sonderling-sunday-der-lorax-bigger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=28830","title":{"rendered":"Sonderling Sunday – Der Lorax, BIGGER!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

It’s been almost two months, but it’s time for Sonderling Sunday<\/a>! 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 don’t have much time, but I’m going to do a little bit anyway! Tonight we’ll look at Der Lorax<\/em>. This one’s fun because it’s poetry, so I’ll usually do a section at a time and then give a more direct translation from the German back to the English, so you can see how things were changed to make them more poetical.<\/p>\n

Last time<\/a>, we left off as the Bar-ba-loots sadly walked away because the Thneed business needs to grow.<\/p>\n

And then we come to the new factory:<\/p>\n

“I meant no harm. I most truly did not.
\nBut I had to grow bigger. So bigger I got.
\nI biggered my factory. I biggered my roads.
\nI biggered my wagons. I biggered the loads
\nof the Thneeds I shipped out. I was shipping them forth
\nto the South! To the East! To the West! To the North!
\nI went right on biggering . . . selling more Thneeds.
\nAnd I biggered my money, which everyone needs.”<\/p>\n

= Ich wollte nichts B\u00f6ses, auf gar keinen Fall.
\nDoch der Laden muss wachsen, so ist das nun mal.
\nEs wuchs die Fabrik, es wuchsen die Kisten.
\nEs wuchsen die Schnauchbestellungslisten.
\nEs wuchsen die Stra\u00dfen. Es wuchs der Transport
\nvon Waggons voll mit Schn\u00e4uchen. Wir schifften sie fort —
\nnach Osten, nach S\u00fcden, nach West oder Nord.
\nEs wuchs einfach alles, das Geld wuchs auch.
\nUnd Geld is etwas, das jedermann braucht.<\/em><\/p>\n

(“I wanted nothing evil, absolutely no way.
\nBut the shop must grow, and that’s simply that.
\nIt grew the factory, it grew the crates.
\nIt grew the Thneeds-order-list.
\nIt grew the streets. It grew the transport
\nof trucks full of Thneeds. We shipped them forth
\nfrom the east, from the south, from the west or north.
\nIt grew simply everything, the money grew also.
\nAnd money is something that everyone needs.”)<\/p>\n

My favorite rhyme in that previous section is definitely Kisten<\/em> rhymed with Schnauchbestellungslisten.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, the rhymes are fun. Listen to this one:<\/p>\n

“Then again<\/em> he came back! I was fixing some pipes
\nwhen that old-nuisance Lorax came back with more<\/em> gripes.”<\/p>\n

= Doch sp\u00e4ter, ich war bei den Abwasserkammern,
\nkam dieser Lorax, um <\/em>wieder zu jammern.<\/em><\/p>\n

(“Then later, I was in the wastewater chambers,
\ncame this Lorax, again<\/em> to whine.”)<\/p>\n

And then Dr. Seuss makes the English so onomatopoetic. Let’s see how the translator does:<\/p>\n

“‘I am the Lorax,’ he coughed and he whiffed.
\nHe sneezed and he snuffled. He snarggled. He sniffed.
\n‘Once-ler!’ he cried with a cruffulous croak.
\n‘Once-ler! You’re making such smogulous smoke!
\nMy poor Swomee-Swans. . . why, they can’t sing a note!
\nNo one can sing who has smog in his throat.”<\/p>\n

= \u201eIch bin der Lorax.? Er schnappte. Er schniefte.
\nEr nieste und japste und keuchte und piefte.
\n\u201eEinstler?, rief er, jetzt heulte er auch.
\n\u201eEinstler, du machst so ru\u00dfigen Rauch!
\nMeine Schwippschw\u00e4ne bringen kein Lied mehr heraus.
\nDiesen Smog in der Kehle, den halt niemand aus.?<\/em><\/p>\n

I don’t think the translator is making up as many words, but they did get a nice rhythm to the lines. Google Translate says that ru\u00dfigen Rauch<\/em> means “sooty smoke” — so if it’s not quite smogulous, well, it’s getting there.<\/p>\n

I like the way this paragraph was rephrased for rhythm:<\/p>\n

“‘And so,’ said the Lorax,
\n‘– please pardon my cough —
\nthey cannot live here.
\nSo I’m sending them off.'”<\/p>\n

= \u201eUnd weil du nicht aufh\u00f6rst,
\nhier Dreck rauszupusten,
\nverschwinden die Schw\u00e4ne —
\nverzeih meinen Husten.?<\/em><\/p>\n

(“And because you don’t stop
\nhere filth out-blowing,
\ndisappear the swans —
\npardon my cough.”)<\/p>\n

Ah! The translator does well with Gluppity-Glupp:<\/p>\n

“‘What’s more<\/em>,” snapped the Lorax. (His dander was up.)
\n“Let me say a few words about Gluppity-Glupp.
\nYour machinery chugs on, day and night without stop
\nmaking Gluppity-Glupp. Also Schloppity-Schlopp.'”<\/p>\n

= \u201eDoch fast <\/em>noch schlimmer?, er fing wieder an,
\n\u201eis dieser \u00fcble Schlickerschlamm.
\nTag und Nacht schwappt der stinkende Schlubberschlapp
\naus dreckigen Rohren, der Schlabberpapp.?<\/em><\/p>\n

(“‘But almost even worse,’ he began again,
\n‘is this bad Schlickerschlamm (silty-mud).
\nDay and night sloshes the stinky Schlubberschlapp
\nout of dirty pipes, the Schlabberpapp.'”)<\/p>\n

When the Humming-Fish leave, some notable words are:
\n“their gills are all gummed” = sein Mund is verklebt<\/em><\/p>\n

This rhyme was easy:
\n“weary” = schwierig<\/em>
\n“smeary” = schmierig<\/em>
\nThough look at that — they skipped the rhyme about, “Oh, their future is dreary.”<\/p>\n

Another interesting word:
\n“yap-yap” = meckern<\/em> (“gripe”)<\/p>\n

Then the big confrontation:<\/p>\n

“And, for your information, you Lorax, I’m figgering
\non biggering
\nand BIGGERING
\nand BIGGERING
\nand BIGGERING,
\nturning MORE Truffula Trees into Thneeds
\nwhich everyone, EVERYONE, EVERYONE<\/em> needs!”<\/p>\n

= Ich will noch viel mehr, und zwar jetzt und hier.
\nMein Gesch\u00e4ft wird erweitert,
\nVERGR\u00d6SSERT,
\nVERBREITERT.
\nAus jedem Tuff wird hier ein Schnauch,
\nweil jeder, JEDER einen braucht!<\/em><\/p>\n

(“I want a lot more, and that here and now.
\nMy business is extended,
\nINCREASED,
\nWIDENED.
\nFor each tuft here is a Thneed,
\nbecause everyone, everyone needs one!”)<\/p>\n

Instead of “smoke-smuggered stars,” we’ve got verpesteten Ort<\/em> (“pestilential place”).<\/p>\n

Shorter in German:
\n“seat of his pants” = Hosenboden<\/em><\/p>\n

“a small pile of rocks” = ein Haufen Steine<\/em><\/p>\n

Instead of “UNLESS,” the pile of rocks says ES SEI DENN<\/em> (which seems to mean the same thing).<\/p>\n

I like this line:
\n“I’ve worried about it
\nwith all of my heart.”<\/p>\n

= Ich zerbrech’ mir den Kopf,
\ngr\u00fcble hin, gr\u00fcble her.<\/em><\/p>\n

Very roughly, this is something like: “I rack my brains, speculating in and out.”<\/p>\n

“Catch!” = Fang!<\/em><\/p>\n

“It’s a Truffula Seed.
\nIt’s the last one of all!”
\n= Der letzte Tr\u00fcffelasamen von allen!<\/em><\/p>\n

And here is the finish:
\n“You’re in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.
\nAnd Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
\nPlant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.
\nGive it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
\nGrow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
\nThen the Lorax
\nand all of his friends
\nmay come back.”<\/p>\n

= Tr\u00fcffelas sind, das wei\u00dft du nun auch,
\netwas, was wirklich jeder braucht.
\nPflanz einen Tr\u00fcffela, und vergiss bitte nicht
\nklares Wasser, frische Luft, viel Pflege und Licht.
\nMach einen Wald draus, hege ihn gut,
\nsch\u00fctz ihn vor \u00c4xten, sei auf der Hut!
\nDas ist dein Auftrag, du schaffst das, viel Gl\u00fcck!
\nUnd vielleicht kommt der Lorax
\nmit seinen Freunden
\nzur\u00fcck.<\/em><\/p>\n

(“Truffulas are, that know you now also,
\nsomething that really everyone needs.
\nPlant a Truffula, and please don’t forget
\nclear water, fresh air, much care and light.
\nMake a forest around, cherish it well,
\nprotect it from axes, be on your guard!
\nThat is your job, you can do it, good luck!
\nAnd perhaps comes the Lorax
\nwith his friends
\nback.”)<\/p>\n

Look! I finished a book! I went longer than I meant to, but in doing so I biggered my fun.<\/p>\n

Viel Gl\u00fcck!<\/p>\n

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