One of my favorite authors of books for very young children is Arnold Lobel. I’m exploring the nuances of French by translating his award-winning collection of fables. This week’s effort: The Bad Kangaroo (see the full series of translations here). As before, I did the first round of translation on my own (with reference works), and then edited it with the help of my teacher.
Version française (traduite par David Miller, éditée par Virginie Bordier)
Le méchant Kangourou
Il était une fois un petit Kangourou qui était méchant à l’école. Il posait des punaises sur la chaise de la maîtresse. Il lançait des boulettes de papier à travers la classe. Il allumait des pétards dans les toilettes et enduisait les poignées de colle.
« Ton comportement est insupportable ! » dit le directeur. « Je vais rendre visite à tes parents. Je leur dirai que tu poses vraiment problème ! »
Le directeur rendit visite à M et Mme Kangourou. Il s’assit dans un fauteuil dans le salon.
« Aîe ! » s’écria-t-il. « Il y a une punaise dans ce fauteuil ! »
« Évidemment », dit M Kangourou. « J’aime bien insérer des punaises dans les chaises. »
Une boulette de papier heurta le nez du directeur.
« Pardon », dit Mme Kangourou, « mais je ne peux jamais résister à en lancer ces machins-là. »
Une détonation tonitruante émana de la salle de bains.
« Soyez tranquille », dit M Kangourou au directeur. « Ce sont les pétards que nous stockons dans l’armoire à pharmacie qui viennent d’exploser. Nous adorons ce bruit. »
Le directeur se rua à la porte. Aussitôt, il fut collé à la poignée.
« Tirez fort », dit Mme Kangourou. « Toutes nos poignées sont enduites de colle. »
L’instituteur se libéra en tirant d’un coup sec. Il se rua hors de la maison et se précipita dans la rue.
« Comme il est charmant », dit M Kangourou. « Je me demande pourquoi il est parti si vite. »
« Il devait avoir un autre rendez-vous », dit Mme Kangourou. « Peu importe, le dîner est prêt. »
M et Mme Kangourou et leur fils savourèrent leur repas du soir. Après le dessert, ils se lancèrent des boulettes de papier à travers la table à manger.
L’attitude d’un enfant est le reflet du comportement des parents
Version originale (par Arnold Lobel)
The Bad Kangaroo
There was a small Kangaroo who was bad in school. He put thumbtacks on the teacher’s chair. He threw spitballs across the classroom. He set off firecrackers in the lavatory and spread glue on the doorknobs.
“Your behavior is impossible!” said the school principal.
“I am going to see your parents. I will tell them what a problem you are!”
The principal went to visit Mr. and Mrs. Kangaroo. He sat down in a living-room chair.
“Ouch!” cried the principal. “There is a thumbtack in this chair!”
“Yes, I know,” said Mr. Kangaroo. “I enjoy putting thumbtacks in chairs.”
A spitball hit the principal on his nose.
“Forgive me,” said Mrs. Kangaroo, “but I can never resist throwing those things.”
There was a loud booming sound from the bathroom.
“Keep calm” said Mr. Kangaroo to the principal. “The firecrackers that we keep in the medicine chest have just exploded. We love the noise.”
The principal rushed for the front door. In an instant he was stuck to the doorknob.
“Pull hard,” said Mrs. Kangaroo. “There are little gobs of glue on all of our doorknobs.”
The principal pulled himself free. He dashed out of the house and ran off down the street.
“Such a nice person,” said Mr. Kangaroo. “I wonder why he left so quickly.”
“No doubt he had another appointment,” said Mrs. Kangaroo. “Never mind, supper is ready.”
Mr. and Mrs. Kangaroo and their son enjoyed their evening meal. After the dessert, they all threw spitballs at each other across the dining-room table.
A child’s conduct will reflect the ways of his parents.
Things I Learned
I did this translation a while ago, so have forgotten many of the particulars I learned along the way. Here’s a few, though.
- Maîtresse ou enseignant ? In elementary school, the word for teacher is maîtresse, and that is how the students address their teacher. In middle school and high school they are called professeur. In middle school the students apparently tutoie their teachers and even call them by first name. In high school they vouvoie the professors, call them by last name or title. There’s also a statutory distinction in the bureaucracy between maîtresse and professeur, with salary implications.
- Directeur ou instituteur ? The modern name for the principal of a school is le directeur or la directrice. I picked up the word l’instituteur from the play / film La femme du boulanger, which has a character by that name. But the word l’instituteur is now considered old-fashioned and obsolete.
- Poser problème is a common and familiar expression meaning “to be problematic”. But the expression is explicitly out of favor with l’Académie Française because the article “un” is missing. Poser un problème is the correct phrase, but the un is dropped so often that pedants routinely warn against it.
- A noisy noise annoys …: there are lots of great words for describing noises in French. There’s a whole unit in Vocabulaire Progressive dedicated to the topic. I had a number of choices for the sound of firecrackers exploding. I chose tonitruante, but considered vacarme, tintamarre, cacophonie, and boucan.
- Freedom! The word affranchir is best used for legal or political freedom of a slave or independence a colony. For a person freeing themselves from a physical entanglement or trap, the better word is libérer.
- Donner un coup sec literally means “to give a dry blow”, but in English we would say “a sharp blow” or “a sudden jerk”.
- Une armoire à pharmacie is a medicine cabinet. Of course un cabinet medical is a doctor’s office, but I knew that already.