Like-Blog
Presenting you the most interesting translation solutions
Why Like-Blog? Now, first of all, this blog is a blog that you should like (and read regularly) – at least, if you are interested in translation. Then, the topic discussed here is one in which the meaningful likeness between a text and its translation in the language pair English-German plays a key role. On this page, I will take a close look at some interesting translation solutions that I have come across in the course of my work as a translator and translation scholar.
A translation solution is only as good as the arguments that support it. This means that any translation criticism, whether positive or negative, needs to be justified. The quality of a translation solution shows only when we compare it to other possible translation solutions in a given translation situation. Therefore, a translation critic should not only say why a translation solution is bad, but also demonstrate what a better solution might look like. I will try to stick to these principles of translation criticism. So if you have any questions regarding my line of argument or if you disagree, please, let me know your opinion by phone at +49 4171 6086525 or by e-mail to bittner@businessenglish-hamburg.de. So much for the introduction. I hope you’ll enjoy reading this blog!
Max and Maurice (November 2026)
Translation is an art – particularly when the source text is stylistically sophisticated and the translator wishes to preserve its stylistic characteristics in the translation. One example is the translation of a rhyming poem in which the original rhyme, metre, and other stylistic devices are retained. Retaining these elements makes sense when translating from English into German or vice versa, because rhyme and metre have a very similar effect in both languages.
Wilhelm Busch’s 1865 classic, “Max and Moritz”, was translated into English just a few years later. Here is the preface – the original on the left, and Charles Timothy Brooks’s translation on the right:
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Vorwort Ach, was muss man oft von bösen Kindern hören oder lesen, wie zum Beispiel hier von diesen, welche Max und Moritz hießen; die, anstatt durch weise Lehren sich zum Guten zu bekehren, oftmals noch darüber lachten und sich heimlich lustig machten. Ja, zur Übeltätigkeit, ja, dazu ist man bereit. Menschen necken,Tiere quälen, Äpfel, Birnen Zwetschgen stehlen, das ist freilich angenehmer und dazu auch viel bequemer, als in Kirche oder Schule festzusitzen auf dem Stuhle. Aber wehe, wehe, wehe, wenn ich auf das Ende sehe. Ach, das war ein schlimmes Ding, wie es Max und Moritz ging. Drum ist hier was sie getrieben, abgemalt und aufgeschrieben. |
Preface Ah, how oft we read or hear of Boys we almost stand in fear of! For example, take these stories Of two youths, named Max and Maurice, Who, instead of early turning Their young minds to useful learning, Often leered with horrid features At their lessons and their teachers. Look now at the empty head: he Is for mischief always ready. Teasing creatures – climbing fences, Stealing apples, pears, and quinces, Is, of course, a deal more pleasant, And far easier for the present, Than to sit in schools or churches, Fixed like roosters on their perches. But O dear, O dear, O deary, When the end comes sad and dreary! ’Tis a dreadful thing to tell That on Max and Maurice fell! All they did this book rehearses, Both in pictures and in verses. |
What makes this translation a good translation?
To answer this question, we need to understand how the source text works. The preface to “Max and Moritz” (like the poem as a whole) is characterised by a very regular metre (the trochaic tetrameter, in which four stressed syllables in each line are followed by one unstressed syllable) and rhyming couplets (in which the ends of two consecutive lines rhyme). Within this established framework, Wilhelm Busch manages to tell his story in a surprisingly direct yet humorous way, using a colloquial-sounding writing style, varied syntax, and line breaks that are equally varied in how they disrupt the flow of sentences.
Charles Timothy Brooks manages, in a truly ingenious way, to evoke in his English translation the effects created by the stylistic devices described above. He achieves this primarily by reproducing the original metre very faithfully in the target text – including the one- and two-syllable rhymes. This is all the more remarkable given that, without the grammatically required endings common in German, English lends itself more to iambic than trochaic metre, and that two-syllable rhymes are harder to find in English than those with one syllable. Consequently, in addition to two-syllable rhymes consisting of a verb and a preposition (“hear of”, “fear of”), the translation also features such a surprising combination as “head: he”, which rhymes with “ready”. And whilst Wilhelm Busch breaks up a noun phrase at the transition from the first to the second line by separating the adjective and noun with a line break, Charles Timothy Brooks achieves a comparable moment of surprise with the solitary “he”, which is separated from its accompanying verb “is” by the end of the line. As for the colloquial feel created in the original by “Ach” and “Ja”, the translation provides an equivalent with “Ah”, “’Tis” and “O deary”.
The fact that Brooks is compelled to deviate from the source text in terms of content in order to recreate the original’s effects in the translation does not detract from the quality of the translation. This is because all such deviations have been chosen to fit the story. Whether the little rascals steal plums (“Zwetschgen”) or quinces is entirely irrelevant in this context. What matters is the positive overall impression created by the highly effective interplay of stylistic devices and content. Charles Brooks’ translation is truly outstanding.