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Journalism of Courage
Translation has been defined as the fine art of bridging languages. Anyone who assumes that this is child8217;s play doesn8217;t know the pitfalls in his path. One false step and, before he realises what is happening, he slides down the slope of a bottomless pit.
This is not a figment of my imagination.
My thoughts race back to 1957 when Pandit Nehru, then prime minister of India, held talks with Zhou Enlai, the then Chinese prime minister. At hand were interpreters, in fact instant translators. Nehru referred to the Sino-Indian border skirmishes and noted, 8216;8216;Chota mota cheez hota rahta hai.8217;8217; The interpreter said, 8216;8216;Big and small things occur from time to time. They don8217;t matter8217;8217;. Zhou Enlai felt disconcerted until the true meaning of the phrase was explained to him. Nehru had used an idiom that went above the head of the interpreter.
I have a crop of literal translations of American idioms into Hindi to prove how bad translations could lead to a collapse of bridges of understanding between languages. No way, Jose koyi raasta nahin, Jose; What8217;s up? uppar kya hai?; You8217;re kidding tum bachcha bana rahe ho; Be cool thandaa raho; Hey, good lookin8217;, what8217;s cookin8217;? arre sundarata ki devi, kya pakaarahee ho?.
This story was reported by the Times, London. An Italian actress after the first show at the Riverside Theatre, Hammersmith, thanked the audience. She said she could not believe that she was in London, 8216;la culla de theatre8217;. The interpreter confused 8216;la culla8217;, which means the cradle or birthplace, with 8216;il culo8217; which means something more ruder than bottoms that polite dictionaries omit completely. Her words were translated as: 8216;the actress never believed she was at the bottom of the theatre8217;.
There is a German wine called Libefraumilch which was served to Lord Atlone, a member of the British royal family, then serving as the governor general of Canada. He happened to be in Washington to attend the funeral of F.D. Roosevelt and was staying at the Canadian embassy. After diner, he asked the butler the name of the wine being served. The butler thought it improper to use a German word to a member of the British royal family. He stated with perfect poise, 8216;8216;Milk of Virgin, Your Excellency.8217;8217;
I rest my case.
