Peter Rabbit In Hieroglyphics

[Anonymous]

Peter Rabbit gets hieroglyph tale

Once upon a time, there were four little rabbits and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail and Peter...
First page of The Tale of Peter Rabbit


Beatrix Potter's classic children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit has been translated into ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs by the British Museum.

The translation turns the story of a mischievous rabbit into symbols of the Egyptian world, shapes and squiggles.

Peter Rabbit becomes a square, a semi-circle, an ellipse and a rabbit image.

The "time seemed appropriate" for the hieroglyph version, due in April, translators said, as the story had already been published in 35 languages.

The British Museum holds early drawings of Peter's sister Flopsy as well as having leading experts in hieroglyphics - so decided to put the two together, a spokesperson said.

The task was carried out by Richard Parkinson, a museum expert, and John Nunn, a medical researcher with an interest in Egypt.


Beatrix Potter's words sometimes do not readily fall into ancient Egyptian
Richard Parkinson and John Nunn
Translators


They had to overcome limited modern knowledge of the language and different literary traditions between ancient Egypt and England a century ago.

Potter's landscape and wildlife would also have been unfamiliar to ancient Egyptians - who had no words for things like blackberry, gooseberry, blackcurrant and potato.

"Beatrix Potter's words sometimes do not readily fall into ancient Egyptian," they wrote in the foreword.

"The surviving texts provide no easy model for such colloquial phrases as 'Now run along, and don't get into mischief.'"

The hieroglyphics were based on those of the Middle Kingdom, from the 21st to 18th Centuries BC.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit, meanwhile, was first published in 1902 and has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4137735.stm

 

[stu neville]

The "time seemed appropriate" for the hieroglyph version, due in April, translators said, as the story had already been published in 35 languages.

The time seemed appropriate?

Ok then...:nonplus:

Nerdy linguist dirge: there's 7000 living languages on Earth, 300 of them with a million or more speakers.. so why not one of them? Published for novelty value, fine, but is the time really appropriate for an alphabet that's been dead for 2000 years...?

Is it too late to say "Humbug"?

 

[Anonymous]

The "time seemed appropriate" for the hieroglyph version, due in April, translators said, as the story had already been published in 35 languages.

The time seemed appropriate?

Ok then...:nonplus:

Nerdy linguist dirge: there's 7000 living languages on Earth, 300 of them with a million or more speakers.. so why not one of them? Published for novelty value, fine, but is the time really appropriate for an alphabet that's been dead for 2000 years...?

Is it too late to say "Humbug"?

Why not publish Peter Rabbit in hieroglyphics, or even Klingon or Elvish? It doesn't stop the story being translated into a living language, and might actually inspire someone to do so. An Ancient Egyptian version is no worse a waste of time than all those silly magazines devoted to celebrities, and must have involved considerably greater intellectual effort.

By the way, aren't there Latin editions of the Winnie-the-Pooh books available?

 

[Anonymous]

There's Peter Rabbit in Scots-
http://makeashorterlink.com/?C1754232A

Can't find Klingon, unfortunatly.


Edit: Amazon has Peter Rabbit in Latin, as well as Dr Zuess's Cattus Petasatus. Or how about Ursus Nomine Paddington?

 

[stu neville]

Why not publish Peter Rabbit in hieroglyphics, or even Klingon or Elvish? It doesn't stop the story being translated into a living language, and might actually inspire someone to do so. An Ancient Egyptian version is no worse a waste of time than all those silly magazines devoted to celebrities, and must have involved considerably greater intellectual effort.

An entirely fair point .

 

[ramonmercado]

Well the Peter Rabbit film is great fun! Saw it last night on Netflix, the elderly Farmer has a heart attack while catching Peter but he intended to put Peter in a pie so don't mourn him! Even more fun with the new young farmer. Best laugh I had for ages. The Pig is great as well. 8/10.

 

[Lord Lucan]

Well the Peter Rabbit film is great fun! Saw it last night on Netflix, the elderly Farmer has a heart attack while catching Peter but he intended to put Peter in a pie so don't mourn him! Even more fun with the new young farmer. Best laugh I had for ages. The Pig is great as well. 8/10.

You can't go wrong with the classics. Peter Rabbit, Paddington Bear & Winnie the Pooh.