I visited
Tours, in France, last weekend in order to see my step-sister. While I was there, I picked up a French version of both Alice books, "Les Aventures d'Alice au pays des merveilles" and "Ce qu'Alice trouva de l'autre côté du miroir". While I don't speak French, I can read it somewhat and so I can at least examine certain aspects of the book.
Most interesting is looking at the language jokes/references in the book. In the original, there's a few French references, which sort of don't work in a French version. Like where she wonders if the mouse is French and speaks to him in French, so they have to note that what she says is in French in the original. Or the part where she addresses her foot and refers to it as masculine, because it's a masculine noun in French. A joke that's obliterated in French as the foot
has to be masculine anyway... Then there's parts like the line "curiouser and curiouser" which have to have footnotes detailing the original line and noting that it's bad English.
These language differences are of course most prominent in the translation of
Jabberwocky.
Il était grilheure ; les slictueux toves
Gyraient sur l'alloinde et vriblaient :
Tout flivoreux allaient les borogoves ;
Les verchons fourgus bourniflaient.
" Prends garde au Jabberwock, mon fils !
À sa gueule qui mord, à ses griffes qui happent !
Gare l'oiseau Jubjube, et laisse
En paix le frumieux Bandersnatch !
Le jeune homme, ayant pris sa vorpaline épée,
Cherchait longtemps l'ennemi manxiquais...
Puis, arrivé prés de l'Arbe Tépé,
Pour réfléchir un instant s'arrêtait.
Or, comme il ruminait de suffêches pensées,
Le Jabberwock, l'œil flamboyant,
Ruginiflant par le bois touffeté,
Arrivait en barigoulant !
Une, deux ! Une, deux ! D'outre en outre,
Le glave vorpalin virevolte, flac-vlan !
Il terrasse le monstre, et, brandissant sa tête,
Il s'en retourne galomphant.
" Tu as donc tué le Jabberwock !
Dans mes bras, mon fils rayonnois !
Ô jour frabieux ! Callouh ! Callock ! "
Le vieux glouffait de joie.
Il était grilheure ; les slictueux toves
Gyraient sur l'alloinde et vriblaient :
Tout flivoreux allaient les borogoves ;
Les verchons fourgus bourniflaient.
Compare this with
the original and even without being able to speak French, you can notice certain things. How certain nouns like "toves" and "borogoves" have just been carried over. How some of the words seem to have just been made "more French" ("frabjous" becomes "frabieux", etc). How the second stanza doesn't rhyme, or how the sixth inserts a rhyme where there's none in the original ("Callay" becomes "Callock" for no apparent reason). Of course, anyone who does speak French is free to point out certain things I may have missed.
Another poem that suffers from being translated is the final poem in "...Looking-glass". The translation means it loses its original acrostic nature and so no longer spells out "
Alice Pleasance Liddell". This is again noted in the back of the book.
There's other differences that have nothing to do with the translation. Such as how the list of pieces is omitted from the beginning of "...Looking-glass". Or how the illustrations of Alice passing through the mirror are on adjacent pages, rather than on either side of the same page (intended so that you have the effect of Alice actually going through the page).
Aren't languages fun?
Alice in popular culture sighting no. 66: I picked up the deluxe edition of City of Heroes the other day. It came with various additions, including the first three expansions for the game. The first of these is entitled "Through the Looking Glass"
