| LITTLE THUMBIE AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.
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There once was a poor woodchopper. "This woodchopping", he said
one day to his wife, "There sits no dry bread in it. I work
myself an accident the whole day: but you and our twelve children
have not to eat."
"I see the future dark in", his wife agreed.
"We must try to fit a sleeve to it", the woodchopper resumed, "I
have a plan: tomorrow we shall go on step with the children. And
when we are in the middle of the wood, we'll leave them to their
fate over."
His wife almost went off her little stick when she heard this.
"What is there with you on the hand?" she cried, "aren't you good
sob?"
But the woodchopper wasn't brought off his piece by her wailing.
He gave no thread. "It cannot differ to me what you think", he
said, "There sits nothing else on: tomorrow we leave them in the wood".
Little thumbie - the youngest son - had listened off his parents'
conversation. The next morning before day and dew he went out and
filled his pocket with pebbles. During the walk in the wood he
knew unmarked-up to drop them one by one. Then the parents told
the children to sprockle some wood; and the parents shone the plate.
When the parents didn't come for the day any more the children
understood that they were left in the stitch. Soon the
waterlanders appeared. But thumbie told them not to sit down by
the packages because he would sorrow for it that they all got
home wholeskins. Thank be the pebbles he was able to find his way
back.
"By god!", the parents said as they turned up, "how did you
played him that ready!".
"No art on.", said thumbie, and explained what he had done.
"If you want to be rid of us, you will have to stand up a bit
earlier".
That was just what the parents did. This time there came no
pebbles on to pass. All thumbie had was a piece of dry bread. He
decided his bread must but believe in it. He left a trail of
breadcrumbs, but he didn't have in the holes that they were being
made into soldiers by the birds.
His parents departed with the northern sun as on the day before.
But this time thumbie soon touched rid of the trail. What now?
Good council was expensive. The sun was already under. It was
raining pipestems and the crying stood thumbie nearer than the
laughing. At last he saw a tiny light through the trees. It
turned out to be a house.
The lady who stood them to word was a giantess. She gave them
what to eat, but little thumbie received the feeling that
something wasn't fluff. He had understood that the giantess'
husband - the giant - was a people-eater who would see no bone in
devouring them. If we do not pass up (he thought) we shall be the
cigar. As soon as they saw their chance clean, they took the legs
and smeared him.
When the giant came home, he sniffed the air and bellowed:
"I smell people flesh! Woman: why have you let them go there from
through? Bring me my seven-league boots! I go them behind after!"
He was about to haul the children in, but wonder above wonder:
just then he decided to lie down in order to snap a little owl.
"Shoot up! Help me!" Thumbie said to his brothers as soon as the
giant lay there pitting. "We must see to make him his
seven-league boots off-handy!"
He squeezed him like an old thief, but they went ahead and knew
him to draw his boots out.
"Now we must make that we come away!" Little thumbie said. He put
on the boots, and quickly made himself out of the feet, carrying
his brothers along. Also he had seen chance to roll the giant's
pockets and pick in all his gold pieces.
"How have you boxed that before each other?" cried thumbie's
parents in amazement when he showed up.
"It was a podskin", said little thumbie modestly,"I may be small
but I stand my little man. And look: we have also brought a lot
of poon. We couldn't allow ourselves billy-goat's leaps, but now
we have our sheep on the dry! We will never become anything too
short again! I shall be able to buy myself a nailpants at last!
And a woody-stringy!"
"Great!", his father exulted, "I shall buy us an auto!"
That afternoon he came riding to the fore in a sled of a wagon.
"I seem to be having trouble riding straight out", thumbie's
father said.
"That thank you the cuckoo" his wife said, "You have a piece in
your collar. You have him around again. I shall stop you in bed."
The next day all the children were stuck in new clothes as well.
In her new dress, mother looked like a cleanliness.
After that they moved to The Hague. There they bought a chest of
a house on the new explanation, and lived happily ever after.
|
| Anyone care to enter (without permission, probably) Mark Twain's
translation of the French translation of _The Jumping Frog of
Calaveras County_? I would if I had a copy--it's a riot.
One of my favorite translation anecdotes is that a German mayor was
in the US, witnessing some kind of event. In his speech before it
began, he said "Equal goes it loose." This is a direct translation
from the German for "It's about to start." ("Gleich get es los.")
>Mark
|
| Germans love raspberries. A "berliner" is a raspberry pastry.
When Pres. Kennedy's said, "Ich bin ein Berliner" the audience
knew what he meant but, in English, the direct translation would
sound to use like "I am a danish"...
|
| For more (brief) ..."unusual"... translations to English, see Richard
Lederer's _Anguished_English_, in paperback, $7.95, at a bookstore
near you!
(And other good stuff too!)
Sherry
|