Table 1 Omissions in the English translation of Little Red Riding Hood
German version | Chinese version with pinyin | Chinese translation | English version | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mach dich auf, bevor es heiß wird, und wenn du hinauskommst, so geh hübsch sittsam und lauf nicht vom Wege ab, sonst fällst du und zerbrichst das Glas, und die Großmutter hat nichts. Und wenn du in ihre Stube kommst, so vergiss nicht guten Morgen zu sagen und guck nicht erst in allen Ecken herum!” |
Chènzhe xiànzài tiān hái méiyǒu rè, gǎnjǐn dòng shēn shēn ba. Dào nǎinai jiā de shíhòu, bié wàngle shuō ‘zǎoshang hǎo’, yě bùyào—jìn wū jiù dōng qiáo xī chǒu | Get up before it gets too hot … When you get to her house, remember to say good morning and do not touch her things | Mind your manners and give her my greetings | This quote has its Chinese equivalent with the same sentence order while in the English version, the translator gives a short description—be good and say hello |
«Ich will schon alles richtig machen,» sagte Rotkäppchen zur Mutter, und gab ihr die Hand darauf |
“Wǒ huì xiǎo xiǎo xīn xīn de.” Xiǎo xiǎohóngmào duì māmā shuō, bìngqiě hái hé māmā lā shǒu shǒu zuò bǎozhèng | “I will be careful,” said Little Red Riding Hood to her Mother and she held hands with her mother as a pledge | Little Red Riding Hood promised to obey her Mother | The girl’s answer is translated as a promise to comply with her Mother’s request, which suppresses the Daughter’s speech, as well as the description of her next actions |
“Rotkäppchen, wo wohnt deine Großmutter?” | 你奶奶住在哪裡呀? Nǐ nǎinai zhù zài nǎlǐ ya? | Where does your Grandmother live? | Just where does your Grandmother live? | The equivalents of “so” and “just” are not found in the Chinese text. The only omission in the Chinese text is “so” or “just” as these words require less intentional information and their Chinese equivalents (literally or figuratively) may be counterproductive. This was a good idea to eliminate them |
Wie der Wolf seinen Appetit gestillt hatte… |
Zhè xiǎo xiǎo dōngxī xì pí pí nèn ròu ròu de | The baby has thin skin and tender meat | As soon as the wolf had finished this tasty bite…. | After meeting Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf thought about the girl’s delicious taste in detail. In the English version, this is omitted and the description of the taste is conveyed with the help of the adjective that summarizes everything young, tender, beautiful, and delicious |
Sie muss wohlschmeckender sein als die alte Frau |
Xiǎo wèidào kěndìng bǐ bǐ nà lǎo lǎotàipó yàohǎo | She must be tastier than the old woman | No English translation | Here the wolf assumes that the girl should be much tastier than her grandmother. This has been omitted in the English text |
Er hat Rotkäppchen einige Zeit begleitet |
Yúshì tā péizhe xiǎo xiǎohóngmào zǒu zǒu le yī yīhuǐ'er | He accompanied Little Red Riding Hood for some time | No English translation | The translator of the English version decided to skip these details |
“Guten Morgen!” rief sie, aber niemand antwortete |
Tā dà dà shēng jiào dào: “Zǎoshang hǎo!”, Kěshì méiyǒu tīngdào huídá | “Good morning!” she shouted but nobody answered | No English translation | When the heroine enters her Grandmother’s house, the atmosphere is so strange that the girl becomes afraid. In the English version, the girl does use greetings |
Dann kam die Großmutter lebend heraus; sie konnte kaum atmen | 奶奶也活著出來了, 只是有點喘不過氣來。 Nǎinai yě huózhe chūláile, zhǐshì yǒudiǎn chuǎn bùguò qì lái | Then the Grandmother came out alive; she could hardly breathe | And then the Grandmother came out alive as well | In addition, in the English translation, there is no information about the state of health of the Grandmother who was barely rescued. It is only noted that the Grandmother is not as good as the Daughter |
Der Jäger entfernte das Fell des Wolfes und ging nach Hause; die Großmutter aß den Kuchen und den Wein, den Rotkäppchen mitgebracht hatte, und ihre Stimmung verbesserte sich |
Liè rén rén bō xià láng pí pí, huí jiā qùle; nǎinai chīle xiǎo xiǎo hóng mào dài lái de dàngāo hé pú táo jiǔ, jīngshén hǎoduōle | The hunter removed the wolf’s pelt and went home; the Grandmother ate the cake and wine brought by Little Red Riding Hood, and her mood improved | The huntsman took the wolf’s pelt. The grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine that Little Red Cap had brought | English readers also do not know that the hunter went home with the wolf’s pelt. The description of what happens to the Grandmother after eating the treats brought by the Granddaughter has also been omitted |
Niemand hat ihm mehr wehgeta- | 從此再也沒有誰傷害。 Cóngcǐ zài yě méiyǒu shuí shānghài | Nobody hurt him anymore | No English translation | The last sentence of the story that describes the future and condition of Little Red Riding Hood is omitted in the English version |
