{"id":8700,"date":"2012-03-04T15:02:08","date_gmt":"2012-03-04T19:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=8700"},"modified":"2021-09-11T13:22:23","modified_gmt":"2021-09-11T17:22:23","slug":"sonderling-sunday-chapter-one-part-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=8700","title":{"rendered":"Sonderling Sunday — Chapter One, Part Three"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday, otherwise known as Nerd Sonntag, otherwise known as A Bizarre German-English Phrasebook, otherwise known as Language Fun for Silly People.<\/p>\n

What I’m doing is looking at translations found in Der Orden der Seltsamer Sonderlinge<\/em> of the so-interesting words and sentences from The Order of Odd-Fish<\/a><\/em>, by James Kennedy<\/a>. I’m hoping to finish Chapter One today.<\/p>\n

I left off last week<\/a> on page 8 of The Order of Odd-Fish<\/em> and page 15 of Der Orden der Seltsamer Sonderlinge<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Let’s pick up where Lily Larouche returns after having been missing for forty years and where she meets Jo:<\/p>\n

“LILY LAROUCHE RETURNS!
\n(WITH A ‘DANGEROUS’ COMPANION)<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Lily Larouche had awakened in her dusty bed, in her ruby palace. But she had no idea how she had got there. And she had no idea what she had been doing for the past forty years.<\/p>\n

“Then she heard a distant crying. She followed the sound to her laundry room — and there, inside the washing machine, she found a baby.<\/p>\n

“She also found a note:<\/p>\n

“This is Jo. Please take care of her.
\nBut beware.
\nThis is a DANGEROUS baby.<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

In the German translation, these paragraphs read:<\/p>\n

“LILY LAROUCHE KEHRT ZUR\u00dcCK!
\n(MIT EINER ‘GEF\u00c4HRLICHEN’ GEF\u00c4HRTIN)<\/p>\n

“Lily Larouche war in ihrem staubigen Bett in ihrem Rubinpalast aufgewacht, hatte aber keinerlei Ahnung, wie sie dorthin gekommen war. Ebenso wenig wusste sie, was sie in den letzten vier Jahrzehnten gemacht hatte.<\/p>\n

“Sie h\u00f6rte ein leises Wimmern. Daraufhin folgte sie dem Ger\u00e4usch bis zu ihrer Waschk\u00fcche und dort, in der Waschmaschine, fand sie ein Baby.<\/p>\n

“Und eine Nachricht.<\/p>\n

“Das ist Jo. Bitte k\u00fcmmere Dich um sie.
\nAber sei vorsichtig.
\nSie ist ein GEF\u00c4HRLICHES Baby.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Okay, there’s a super good one here, right at the start:<\/p>\n

“DANGEROUS COMPANION” = “GEF\u00c4HRLICHEN GEF\u00c4HRTIN”<\/p>\n

How lovely! This is another serendipitous one to say three times fast: Gef\u00e4hrlichen Gef\u00e4hrtin. Gef\u00e4hrlichen Gef\u00e4hrtin. Gef\u00e4hrlichen Gef\u00e4hrtin.<\/p>\n

As far as I can tell, it is simple happy circumstance that these sound so much alike. This is a case where the translation trumps the original by at least ten points.<\/p>\n

Some other words from these paragraphs:<\/p>\n

“dusty” = “staubigen”<\/p>\n

Instead of “forty years,” the translator used “four decades” = “vier Jahrzehnten.”<\/p>\n

“crying” = “Wimmern”<\/p>\n

“sound” = “Ger\u00e4usch”<\/p>\n

“laundry room” = “Waschk\u00fcche” (Wash kitchen)<\/p>\n

Let’s move on. I simply must<\/em> tell you how this paragraph is translated:<\/p>\n

“‘Balderdash,’ said Aunt Lily. ‘Whoever left that note was just having their little joke. The girl’s as dangerous as a glass of milk. Lived with her for thirteen years, so I should know. Not a peep, not a pop.’<\/p>\n

“Jo glared at Aunt Lily.”<\/p>\n

In German:<\/p>\n

“‘Papperlapapp’, erkl\u00e4rte sie. ‘Wer diese Nachricht hinterlassen hat, hat sich einfach nur einen kleinen Scherz erlaubt. Das M\u00e4dchen ist genauso gef\u00e4hrlich wie ein Glas Milch. Ich lebe jetzt seit dreizehn Jahren mit Jo zusammen, sollte es also wissen. Sie ist so still wie ein M\u00e4uschen.’<\/p>\n

“Jo warf ihrer Tante einen b\u00f6sen Blick zu.”<\/p>\n

Okay, I think this is my favorite translation so far:<\/p>\n

“Balderdash” = “Papperlapapp” Too fun!<\/p>\n

As for the rest, we’re going to encounter this one later:<\/p>\n

“joke” = “Scherz”<\/p>\n

I’m a little disappointed with the translation of “Not a peep, not a pop.” They just said, “She is as quiet as a mouse.” (Something with peep and pop would have gone so very well with Papperlapapp, too!) And they don’t really say Jo “glared” at Aunt Lily, more that she gave her an evil look.<\/p>\n

Ah! In the next paragraph we have a new translation of daffodil! Here’s the German:<\/p>\n

“Der Oberst wirkte ein wenig entt\u00e4uscht und selbst die Osterglocke auf seinem Kopf schien ihre Bl\u00e4tter ein wenig h\u00e4ngen zu lassen. Doch dann erholte er sich. ‘Bl\u00f6dsinn. Ich wei? von h\u00f6chster Stelle, dass Jo Larouche tats\u00e4chlich gef\u00e4hrlich ist und dass ein extrem bedeutungsvoller Gegenstand, ein Gegenstand, der in den falschen H\u00e4nden m\u00f6glicherweise sogar gef\u00e4hrlich sein k\u00f6nnte, noch heute Abend hierher geliefert wird, an ebendiese. . .'”<\/p>\n

This is translated from:<\/p>\n

“Colonel Korsakov looked disappointed — even the daffodil on his head seemed to droop a little — but then he rumbled, ‘Nonsense. I have it on excellent authority that Jo Larouche is dangerous — and that an extremely<\/em> important item, an item that may even be unsafe in the wrong hands, will be delivered here tonight, to this very — ‘”<\/p>\n

Yes! This time “daffodil” is translated as “Easter bell,” “Osterglocke.” Oh, the delights of language! And the daffodil doesn’t just droop. It “lets its leaves hang a little,” “schien ihre Bl\u00e4tter ein wenig h\u00e4ngen zu lassen.”<\/p>\n

Of course, you have to catch this one:<\/p>\n

“Nonsense” = “Bl\u00f6dsinn”<\/p>\n

“important” = “bedeutungsvoller” (which I would have translated “meaningful”)<\/p>\n

“possibly” = “m\u00f6glicherweise” (I knew that one already, but it’s just fun to say.)<\/p>\n

Well, I simply must include the dramatic next paragraph:<\/p>\n

“But Korsakov never finished. A futuristic white sports car burst out of nowhere, skidded through the rosebushes, and spun to a stop in the sand. Its door flew open and the hedgehog leaped out, shouting, ‘All right, where is he? Let me at him!'”<\/p>\n

This translates as:<\/p>\n

Der Russe kam nicht dazu, seinen Satz zu beenden. Ein futuristischer wei?er Sportwagen tauchte wie aus dem Nichts auf, fegte durch die Rosenb\u00fcsche und kam schleudernd im Sand zum Stehen. Der Wagenschlag flog auf und der Igel sprang heraus. ‘Also gut, wo steckt er? Lasst mich zu ihm!'”<\/p>\n

From these:<\/p>\n

“skidded” = “fegte”<\/p>\n

“spun to a stop in the sand” = “kam schleudernd im Sand zum Stehen” (I’ll give equal points to those phrases.)<\/p>\n

“car door” = “Wagenschlag”<\/p>\n

“hedgehog” = “Igel” (I still don’t get that one.)<\/p>\n

Here’s another dramatic paragraph:<\/p>\n

“There was a shrieking blast of wind that sent sand flying, paper lanterns swaying. A plane roared far above — and something fell from the sky, down into the garden, and down onto the hedgehog’s head.”<\/p>\n

This becomes:<\/p>\n

“Ein kreischender Windsto? wirbelte Sand auf und lie? die Papierlampions heftig schaukeln. Hoch \u00fcber ihnen dr\u00f6hnte ein Flugzeug hinweg und etwas fiel vom Himmel in den Garten und dem Igel auf den Kopf.”<\/p>\n

We’ve got:
\n“shrieking blast of Wind” = “kreischender Windsto?”<\/p>\n

“sent sand flying” = “wirbelte Sand auf” (might mean “whirled sand up”?)<\/p>\n

“paper lanterns flying” = “Papierlampions heftig schaukeln” (“paper lanterns violently rocking”)<\/p>\n

“plane roared” = “dr\u00f6hnte ein Flugzeug” (“droned the flying thing”)<\/p>\n

And let’s finish up the chapter with the final paragraphs:<\/p>\n

“Jo scrambled back, just barely avoiding Korsakov as he thudded into the sand, and tripped over the thing that had fallen from the sky — a brown cardboard package, with these words written across the top:<\/p>\n

“TO: JO LAROUCHE
\nFROM: THE ORDER OF ODD-FISH<\/p>\n

“After that, everyone had the leisure to start screaming.”<\/p>\n

Auf Deutsch:<\/p>\n

“Jo krabbelte hastig zur\u00fcck. Es gelang ihr gerade noch, sich vor der massigen Gestalt Korsakovs in Sicherheit zu bringen, als der Russe mit einem dumpfen Aufprall auf dem Sand landete. Dabei stolperte sie \u00fcber das Ding, das aus dem Himmel gefallen war. Es war ein brauner Pappkarton, auf dem die Worte geschrieben standen:<\/p>\n

“EMPF\u00c4NGER: JO LAROUCHE
\nABSENDER: DER ORDEN DER SELTSAMEN SONDERLINGE<\/p>\n

“Dann endlich hatten sich alle so weit erholt, dass sie loskreischen konnten.”<\/p>\n

Some final goodies:<\/p>\n

“scrambled back” = “krabbelte hastig zur\u00fcck” (“crawled quickly back.” I picture her crawling backwards like a crab.)<\/p>\n

“just barely avoiding Korsakov” talks about in the nick of time avoiding his massive body safely.<\/p>\n

“tripped” = “stolperte”<\/p>\n

“cardboard package” = “Pappkarton”<\/p>\n

“screaming” = “loskreischen”<\/p>\n

There you have it! We’ve gotten through one chapter, and it only took three weeks! Isn’t this fun?<\/p>\n

I just have one more thing to say:<\/p>\n

Papperlapapp! And beware of gef\u00e4hrlichen Gef\u00e4hrtin!<\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a>