The Little Prince

Cover

The Little Prince – Klingon title ta'puq mach – is a story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, first published in English and French in 1943. Although it seems to written for children, its philosophical contents are loved by adults as well. This led to a great success worldwide. The book has been translated to over 300 languages and therefore is (after the Bible) the most translated book of the world.

In October 2018 the Klingon translation by Lieven L. Litaer has been published. (1) Marc Okrand has provided several new words for the creation of this translation. (2)

"The Little Prince in Klingon" has been awarded with the German literature prize "Deutscher Phantastik Preis" 2019.

As it's an unwritten habit with other Klingon translations, this book is built in a way that it has the German text on one side, Klingon on the other. The special situation here is that the German translation is not the already existing known version, but it is a direct back-translation from Klingon. This make it easier for the readers to compare what is written in Klingon.

Quotes

HIbelmoH... DI'raq yIwev.
"Please... Draw me a sheep." (chapter II)

leghchu' tIq neH. potlh leghlaHbe' mIn.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." (chapter XXI)

reH Doch'e' Datlhay'moHbogh DaSaHnISqu'.
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." (chapter XXI)

reH noHmey tagh Holmey.
"Language is the source of misunderstandings." (chapter XXI)

Video

Screenshot from the video

The translator of the work Lieven L. Litaer has created a short movie based on chapter II with his seven year old daughter, spoken entirely in Klingon. The video can be found on YouTube and has subtitles in seven languages, including Klingon.

See The Little Prince - in Klingon External Weblink

New words

Klingon	Type	Translation	Notes
bewbeb	n.	Baobab (tree)	loanword
Daqrab	n.	well	"source" is not part of the definition. A Daqrab is constructed and/or dug
DISjaj	n.	anniversary
DI'raq	n.	sheep	a fluffy, woolly, shaggy Klingon animal
Hovtej	n.	astronomer
HovQeD	n.	astronomy
Hov tut	n.	telescope	layman's term – maybe even slang
moQbID	n.	dome	literally: half sphere
pu'	n.	horn
qargh	v.	be bulky, thick	[like a book]
qeSHoS	n.	fox-like animal	Klingon animal
quntej	n.	historian
qunQeD	n.	history	i.e. the science
ro'Sa'	n.	rose (Terran flower)	loanword
SaHa'ra'	n.	Sahara (desert on Earth)	loanword
Su'wan ghew	n.	Butterfly-like animal	a flying insect with largish wings
tom	v.	tilt	like movement of the head; intransitive
tlhegh jIrmoHwI'	n.	windlass	literally: rope twister / rotator
wev	v.	sketch, doodle	a quick drawing, not a careful one
yItlh	v.	be strict, severe, firm, stern, authoritarian
yItlhHa'	v.	be indulgent
yuQtej	n.	geographer
yuQQeD	n.	geography	The meaning of yuQ must have changed over the years. Maybe it originally meant something like place/location where we live
'ughDuq ghargh	n.	caterpillar	not used to prepare Gagh

The title - ta'puq

The word used in the title - ta'puq for prince - is NOT a new word approved my Marc Okrand.

In the beginning of the translation progress, the idea was to name the main person ta'Hom mach, but that was rejected by the translator as the diminutive suffixe -Hom had a negative connotation. So he decided to use the word for prince which had been used in Hamlet.

When Maltz was asked, he noted that there are many different meanings of the term prince (such as "son of the king", but also "governor" in general) so it was not clear how to translate. Instead of finding a new word for this, Marc Okrand suggested to just take whatever term, as it was not relevant to the story. (3)

Details

Author	Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Translator	Lieven L. Litaer
Date	15 October 2018
Publisher	Verlag In Farbe Und Bunt
ISBN-10	395936122X
ISBN-13	978-3959361224
Pages	160
Size	125 x 190 mm
Weight	166 g