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As you can see the stories of this site have been translated into many languages by volunteers from all over the globe. This is really exciting and I cannot say how grateful I am. People from all over the world are using these stories in peace education work, especially in regions of crisis. If you also want to help and translate some or all of the stories into a language that is not yet represented, please contact me here: mail@peaceculture.net. All contributors who submit translations of course retain the copyright for their translations. They allow their translations to be used freely for non-commercial purposes, but in case of publication by a commercial publisher they should receive the ordinary fees due to them. If needs be, there is also the possibility to apply for a grant by the Austrian government. Also publishers in developping countries or former eastern block countries might be able to get a subsidy towards the cost of print from the Austrian government. For more information please contact me. If you want to translate of course it would be best to translate from the German original. But the English translation by Kim Martin Metzger is excellent and can also be used as a source for translation. (I am sure the other translations are also great, but I cannot proofread them.) Please take alle the time you need. You can send me the stories one by one and I will publish them as they arrive. Only I would ask you to translate the introduction and all the links (story titles) first so I can use this page as a template for the others. Some Hints on translating I think that Kim Martin Metzger has captured the style of the original rather beautifully. My stories are written mostly for storytelling. I always try to make my stories sound rather light hearted, humorous, colloquial, sometimes matter of fact, but never soppy or moralistic. Even when explaining rather complicated things I do not want to sound like a teacher. And I do not want to give a "moral" at the end of a story. The readers should always get a chance to draw their own conclusions. Some translation details and questions that have come up with different contributors and that might be of interest for the other translators follow here. The comments in the foreword may also be helpful for translating. "There once was a man who was a dreamer." It shouldn't be changed to "Once there was a dreamer". The sentence should have the underlying meaning: "Once there was man who was a bit foolish" or "Once there was a man, but, you know, you couldn't take him seriously because he was a dreamer". The last sentence should sound very matter of fact, rather dry: "Maybe one day it will even be possible to get along without wars" It shouldn't sound moralistic or "soppy". This story once appeared in print as a picture book in an English translation that was very disappointing for me. The translators had changed the very matter of fact style of this story into a rather soppy one. All the characters in the story speak in a very matter of fact way, especially the blue boy. The translators of this edition for instance had changed "But they weren’t bullet proof, and if they had been killed, I would have had to die from crying." into "and if they had been killed, it would have broken my heart". This is psychologically wrong, because the boy tries to maintain a very tough appearance. The gun the boy finds is a shotgun, not a pistol. When he says "This gun can kill you" it shouldn't be translated into "With this gun I can kill you". The boy doesn't want to get into direct contact with people any more. He builds an armour around himself, he speaks to people through a loudspeaker, and he doesnt threaten people himself, he wants the gun to be the one that threatens them. Dragon fish is a fantasy word, a cross between a dragon and a fish John Smith and Jane Smith are names people give when they do not want to give their real names. So please use names that are used in your country in similar contexts. The Strange People from Planet Hortus: "Hortus" is Latin and means "garden". "Gnuffs" and "Moffers" are fantasy names and can be replaced with anything that sounds right in another language. This is a realistic story. The people are the BaMbuti pigmies. "Apa Lelo" means "camp at the river Lelo". "Mongongo" is a type of tree. "Molimo" is the name of a musical instrument (something like an Australian didgeridoo), but also the name of the celebration when the molimo is being used. "Kumamolimo" is the name of the basket in which the food for the molimo celebration is gathered and also the name of the place, where the basket is hung, where the singing takes place and where the food is distributed in the evenings. "Bopi" is the children's playground. "Star Snake" is the name of the story's hero. "Pulque" is a type of strong liquor made of sugar cane. "Timur Lenk" is the name of a great emperor. It means "Timur the lame" and is sometimes also written "Tamerlan". The Farmers who were Good at Numbers Mullah Nasreddin Hodja is a very well known figure in the oriental world. His name is Nasreddin, he is a mullah (a preacher), and Hodja is a title of honour (master). Report to the United Solar Systems' Council The names for the humans are taken from different languages (Nin - Japanese, Orang - Malayan). Also the expressions for war (wojna - Polish, guerra - Spanish, and so on) "Open words" does not mean an "open letter", but rather "speaking my mind", "speaking without mincing words". The person who is speaking is the rather rare type of outspoken reactionary who doesn't think it necessary to hide his true intentions. |