On
Mysterious Ways of Translation
The last meeting of the Artistic Translation Club (at full strength of Jarosław Fejdych, Maciej Froński and D.J.) was an attempt to produce a faithful, and at the same time funny, translation of the poem by Hillaire Belloc (1870 – 1953) entitled Henry King, who chewed bits of String, and was early cut off in Dreadful Agonies. Although the poem had already been translated by no other than Stanisław Barańczak, one of the ATC members found this rendering too unfaithful (yet funny), and therefore in need of replacement by a more accurate version.
Hillaire Belloc’s poem is a parody of Victorian children’s literature, wherein the authors patronised and threatened the young reader as a means of moral guidance on what is right and wrong. Belloc ridiculed this utilitarian pseudo-literary genre by the use of black humour, as opposed to the dull Victorian seriousness. As a result, these poems - which exhibit the author’s artistic gift especially manifest in his wonderful sense of comic relief - were meant more for adults than children. Bellock’s is a valuable literature in its own right.
Barańczak’s versions are satisfying as Polish poems; they are comical, full of ingenious puns, scary and spooky, yet as translations, in comparison with the originals, they reveal a whole gamut of omissions, changes and distortions. ‘As long as it is funny, such procedures are acceptable’, says Barańczak. The ATC, however, wished to retain the original humour while retaining the original imagery as well.
Regrettably, in the process of translation the essence of Belloc’s poetry proved susceptible to, what can be called, “translation spontaneity”. After a desperate struggle with an irresistible inclination to seek humour at the expense of faithfulness, all the ATC members abandoned hope and let themselves be carried away by the ungovernable power of Belloc’s poem that could not be subdued. The consequences could only be devastating for the ATC members’ trust in their control of the process of translation.
Here is the poem in question:
Henry King, who chewed bits of String, and was early cut off in Dreadful Agonies
The Chief Defect of Henry King
Was chewing little bits of String.
At last he swallowed some which tied
Itself in ugly Knots inside.
Physicians of the Utmost Fame
Were called at once; but when they came
They answered, as they took their Fees
‘There is no Cure for this Disease.
Henry will very soon be dead.’
His Parents stood about his Bed
Lamenting his Untimely Death
When Henry, with his Latest Breath
Cried – ‘Oh, my Friends, be warned by me,
That Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch and Tea
Are all the Human Frame requires…”
With that, the Wretched Child expires.
and here is the result of the pitiable events described earlier:
O Marku Jurku, co żuł Sznurek i przez to zszedł na Złą Drogę
Największą Wadą Marka Jurka
Był Przykry Zwyczaj żucia Sznurka,
Aż w końcu Przedmiot ów naruszył
Dziecięcy Spokój jego Duszy.
Najznamienitsi Egzorcyści
Ratunek chcieli dlań umyślić,
Lecz rozkładali Ręce Obie:
„Tu się, niestety, nic nie zrobi,
Ten Chłopiec w Mocy jest Szatana!”
Pobladła Macierz niczym Ściana,
Nad Syna płacze Ojciec Losem,
Aż jęknął Marek Cichym Głosem:
„Niech was przestrzeże Moja Dola,
Dobry Katolik, Prawy Polak,
Żuć winien jeno Boże Dary,
O, Hare Kryszna, Hare, Hare!”
Strictly speaking, it is not a faithful translation – no doubt about that. Yet if it is funny, its authors do not mind that. Strangely enough, and this is a mystery even to the authors, it is, in fact, equivalent to the original poem in more than just general sense, that is as a black-humour parody. Let us look more closely at the key points of the original and their corresponding ones in the translation:
1. The translation transfers the somatic illness from the original to the spiritual ground, yet the mechanics remain the same: while Belloc’s protagonist suffers from physical pain, his counterpart experiences a mystical disturbance;
2. The suffering protagonist needs professional assistance – Belloc’s Physicians are equivalent to the ATC Exorcists;
3. Nothing can be done – the physical death in the original is equivalent to the spiritual decay in the translation – the boy will soon be dead for Christianity;
4. The protagonist finally understands that eating anything different from regular food may cause grave health problems; in the translation he realises all too late that a string is not the right food for a good Catholic;
5. Belloc’s protagonist warns his loved ones and dies; the ATC boy, after having cried out what a good Catholic should do, gives up his Christian spirit and converts to Hinduism.
Some may say that, apart from transferring action from reality to transcendence, the ATC also transferred the poem onto the platform of Polish politics, thus creating a political lampoon of a malicious sort, which has nothing to do with Belloc’s idea. This can be easily overruled, because any reader acquainted with satirical techniques will effortlessly recognise who the original poem is aimed at by the surname of the protagonist (obviously, for the sake of Belloc’s own security the sex of the person was changed). This effect must have been meant by the author, for it would be contemptuous to suppose that he failed to notice this kind of clear allusion.
It is now proven beyond any doubt that the spirit of Belloc’s poetry moves in a mysterious way. What was seemingly an abuse of the translators’ rights, proved to be a blessing in disguise – after all the omissions, additions, distortions, shortcuts and bypasses, the ATC reached the same point as Belloc did. It can be a lesson for all translators who are afraid of letting themselves be carried away by a poem for fear of losing the grip on its true essence, because if the essence is really true, it will make itself be felt anyway.
D.J.