translation sensation sweeping the nation
Plagiarism! Local bloggers have (inevitably) found that local celebrity N. Hudson's book of Malay poetry for children (written apparently when she was a teenager) contains at least three plagiarised poems in it (cute English poems by other people translated into Bahasa Malaysia). I've taken up the call in various comments pages for people to do a 'Hudson' too. Only this time give credit for it, of course.
But honestly, this is no light matter. The first of the three poems 'caught' was a Top Ten Comic Poem in the UK back in 1998. Although some were doubting the first capture, two more poems surfaced which really should erase all doubt for anyone. Bloggers have informed at least one author of the plagiarism. Read the poems & more at Being Chech and Gee Wheez Sudah Malas Menulis, and a long discussion at Bibliobibuli.
So here's my 'Hudson', and since my Malay isn't perfect (yet), I'm doing the reverse, to a Malay poem I remember studying for class in my final year of high school.
Son Of The SeaFresh sea winds
recover his longing for the wooden boat,
that fine bubble on the surface
a gateway to his daily
crab shell
squid head
and
prawn feet sympathies.Wooden boat upturned
embraced by the sand,
Nets; veins, broken and aged,
The son of the sea sees it all.
he is sailing, almost there
at a more permanent gateway.
translated from the original Malay poem by Rahimidin Zahari,Anak Laut
Segar angin laut
mengembalikan rindunya pada kolek
bagai buih kecil terapung di air
menjaring sedikit rezeki
kulit ketam
kepala sotong
dan
kaki udang yang bersimpati.
Seperti kolek terdampar di pasir
menampakkan urat jalur-jalur tua
anak laut itu sudah dapat menerka
langkahnya sudah tiba
pada muara Pencipta.
Comments
"at a more permanent gateway." ... I love you treatment with gateways. A sensitive translation.
so in my translation I linked his 'sedikit rezeki... yang bersimpati.' and translated it as 'his daily... sympathies,' it was a grammatically illegal play for me to use 'daily' as a noun than an adjective, so i mixed both worlds.
as for the noun/adjective play... well, it's poetry :-)
<-- always amused by plagiarism. :D
i think you invented a new term there "to do a hudson"!
and of course this isn't plagiarism since you credit the source
Honestly, I think the Malay version of 'Sing-a-Song of Sixpence' is way more tasteful than Natasha Hudson's direct translation. At least, Lagu Tiga Kupang is done in the local context, word- and melody-wise.