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Johan (John) W. has translated into English:
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To my wife.
You know when a challenge becomes an opportunity. Doing a translation from Dutch to English especially when it is about some history you have experienced yourself it becomes a pleasure as well as a challenge.
Johan, our cousin, Oom Ate’s oldest son, was interested in having some of the Dutch language family (de Boer) stories he had on his web site to be understood in English because half of the de Boer Family immigrated to an English speaking country and the second generation does not command the Dutch language.
Having read the books our Uncle Herre wrote, understanding his humor and interpretation of life, I thought, here is an opportunity to make a contribution that all of us might benefit from, I hope.
I grew up in Friesland, was born just before the Second World War and experienced similar situations as are written in Herre’s book. Herre and I are only a few years apart and we sort of grew up through the same difficult periods in Europe, I always appreciated his friendship, especially during and immediate after the war.
This opportunity of translation was a first for me, I have translated before from English to Dutch, so I hope that you understand that with translating a story some of it’s contents changes in the interpretation, especially the humor, although I tried it does not come out the same, especially in some of the songs. You should remember also, his father and mother were my: Pake and Beppe. (Grand parents)
After some discussions with Johan I took this task serious, with the assistance of Dolores for whom I am very gratified; the results you can find on "de Boer's English version".
Next is one of my favorite stories Beppe used to tell us when we stayed over night sleeping in the attic, I will try to translate this the best way possible even if it is only he beginning of the story. I used to tell this story to Dolores, my wife.
Once upon a time a long time ago,
There were two mice and they made a
little cart, from “Tooth Picks”.
The idea was to go for a ride,
in this little cart.
Along the way there was, a hitchhiker, “a needle”,
asking for a ride: she said: can I hitch a ride with you?
The mice replied: step in but be very, very careful.
Asking why, they replied,
“Because this cart, is only made from Tooth Picks”.
That’s how one of our favorite stories my Beppe use to tell us started. It sounded beautiful, when she told us this, with the same rhythm in her voice and accent on the words.
The same goes for the following story:
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“Der wier ris in ald wyfke en dy fage it hus oan….
(There once was an old lady, she was sweeping her house). |
It was an original English story translated into Frisian:
The Old Woman and Her Pig.
An old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked sixpence. "What," said she, "shall I do with this little sixpence? I will go to market, and buy a little pig."
As she was coming home, she came to a stile: but the piggy wouldn't go over the stile.
She went a little further, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog: "Dog! bite pig; piggy won't go over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the dog wouldn't.
She went a little further, and she met a stick. So she said: "Stick! stick! beat dog! dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the stick wouldn't.
She went a little further, and she met a fire. So she said: "Fire! fire! burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the fire wouldn't.
She went a little further, and she met some water. So she said: "Water, water! quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the water wouldn't.
She went a little further, and she met an ox. So she said: "Ox! ox! drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the ox wouldn't.
She went a little further, and she met a butcher. So she said: "Butcher! butcher! kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the butcher wouldn't.
She went a little further, and she met a rope. So she said: "Rope! rope! hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the rope wouldn't.
She went a little further, and she met a rat. So she said: "Rat! rat! gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the rat wouldn't.
She went a little further, and she met a cat. So she said: "Cat! cat! kill rat; rat won't gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the cat said to her, "If you will go to yonder cow, and fetch me a saucer of milk, I will kill the rat." So away went the old woman to the cow.
But the cow said to her: "If you will go to yonder hay-stack, and fetch me a handful of hay, I'll give you the milk." So away went the old woman to the haystack and she brought the hay to the cow.
As soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the old woman the milk; and away she went with it in a saucer to the cat.
As soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the rat; the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher; the butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the water began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the stick began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig; the little pig in a fright jumped over the stile, and so the old woman got home that night.
