A worker at the Roure perfume plant in Grasse, France, scoops up the morning’s rose harvest at the end of May. These rose petals will be processed immediately into an absolute, the aromatic liquid which is the basic component of perfume; photographed by Michael Freeman
What’s even better than Winnie-the-Pooh? Winnie-the-Pooh in
Latin, of course! Some of you may be saying, “Huh?” Why would you translate a
children’s story into a dead language? I don’t know, but it is real and it’s
called Winnie ille Pu. Just look!
Pooh Bear’s in a toga and it’s so adorable.
Alexander Lenard translated A.A. Milne’s classic into the
Latin language, and published it in 1960. Then and now, it proved quite
unexpectedly to be very popular. Winnie
ille Pu is the only Latin language book to ever become a New York Times
best seller. Nothing is written in English—not even the map labels! It has been
called “the greatest book a dead language has ever known.” Its popularity took
even the publishers by surprise; they had only ordered a small printing to be
made of the book, and within weeks it was nowhere to be found in bookstores.
Lenard spoke 12 languages, and was a Latin enthusiast.
Taking seven years to translate the whole of Milne’s first Pooh book, Lenard
almost became an additional author in his own right. He tailored the
translation to include its own alliteration, puns, rhymes, and other
language-specific quirks. Actual Latin scholars would be able to read this book
for its own enjoyment, not just as an exercise.
One of the best things about Winnie ille Pu is figuring out
how Lenard re-named all of the characters. Here is a list of their new Latin
christenings:
Christophorus Robinus: Christopher Robin
Porcellus: Piglet
Ior: Eeyore
Bubo: Owl
Ru: Roo
Lepus: Rabbit
Canga: Kanga
Now, you may be thinking, where is Tiggerus? I also searched
for him in vain. Fun fact: Tigger does not appear until the second Pooh Bear
book, The House at Pooh Corner, and
he is the only new major character to be introduced.
Wide Spread Interests 