The Hound Of The Baskerville In Romanian

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The Hound of the Baskerville in Romanian

Cainele din Baskerville

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Abstract. The present paper aims to present, in a succinct way a comparative study between two Romanian editions of the novel “The Hound of the Baskervilles” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The purpose of this paper is to show in what way a literary work can be transmitted to readers, depending on their age, professional training or interest. Sometimes, the replication of a literary work can lead to major changes in the form and content of the original work, which leads to loss some details and crucial information that make the work a work of art. Also, not only the reproduction of a work brings changes in its content, but also the translation from one language to another can significantly influence the meaning of the story and the actions of the characters. In the following, two Romanian editions of the Dog of Baskerville will be put in a comparative antithesis, with the aim to conclude in the end of this paper to what extent retelling and translation can affect its quality.

Keywoards. Story, devilish hound, retelling, Sherlock Holmes

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1. Introduction

The author, on his full name, Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, was born in Edinburgh on May 22, 1859, the third of ten children. His first publication was in 1879 with “The Mystery of Sasassa Valley” in the Chamers’s Journal. In a series of stories, starting with “A Study in Scarlet” and “The Sign of the Four”, Doyle produced the memorable character, Sherlock Holmes, a detective who relied on facts and evidence rather than chance.

In 1891, six “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” showed up in Strand magazine, with six more appearing the next year. By 1893 The Memories of Sherlock Holmes, as the collected stories were now called, was a huge hit. Dogly changed his decision to pursue more serious literary endeavors in 1901, when finances and public pressure yielded “The Hound of the Baskervilles”. The same year that “The Hound of the Baskervilles” was published, Dogly produced a piece of propaganda on the Baer War, and the author was knighted for his efforts.

The novel “The Hound of the Baskerville” is set during the Victorian Era, where the novel’s primary focus is on telling a gothic tall. The story is about the Baskervilles of Devonshire which cursed to be murdered by a demonic hound. So when Sir Charles Baskerville dies suddenly and the footprints of a hound are discovered around his body, Dr. Mortimer approaches Sherlock Holmes to investigate the real cause of the death. The next Baskerville to die is Sir Henry Baskerville who, being the only legitimate heir, inherits the Baskerville Hall. Henry disposes all the superstitions and moves to the Baskerville Hall without caring much about his life. So, it’s all up to Sherlock Holmes and his assistant, Dr. Watson, to find out the truth behind the legend and save Henry’s life.

The novel “The Hound of the Baskerville” has been adapted to several artistic environments with varying degrees of fidelity to the original text. The novel was first translated into Romanian in “Tineretului” publishing house (1957), translated by C. Popa and many other editions in Romanian have been published since then, as:

Mondero publishing house, Bucharest, 1990, “Cainele din Baskerville: O alta aventura a lui Sherlock Holmes”, 223p.

Aldo Press publishing house, Bucharest, 2003, “Cainele din Baskerville” translated by Ileana Ionescu.

Corint Junior publishing house, Bucharest, 2004, “Cainele din Baskerville: O alta aventura a lui Sherlock Holmes”, translated by Diana Maria Laibar.

Crime Scene publishing house, Bucharest, 2008, “Cainele din Baskerville”, translated by Iuliana Surugiu-Besleaga.

Colectia Adevarul publishing house, Bucharest, 2010&2011, “Cainele din Baskerville” in the volume “Aventuriile lui Sherlock Holmes, vol. III”, translated by Ileana Ionescu.

Gramar publishing house, Bucharest, 2011, “Cainele din Baskerville”, translated by Gabriel Malaescu.

Aldo Press publishing house, Bucharest, 2014, “Sherlock Homes – Cainele din Baskervill”.

Curtea Veche publishing house, Bucharest, 2016, “Cainele din Baskerville”.

For a comparative analysis, which is the subject of this paper have been chosen two editions form the above list, namely: Aldo Press publishing house, Bucharest, 2014, “Sherlock Homes – Cainele din Baskervill” and Curtea Veche publishing house, Bucharest, 2016, “Cainele din Baskerville”.

2. Story

The main difference between this two editions, is that one is adopted for a readable reading for children and the second one keeps the original content of the novel. The edition “Cainele din Baskervill” of Curtea Veche publishing is part of the collection “Real Reads”. This Real Reads version of Baskerville’s novel is a replication of the famous opera, recommended for children.

As in any process of retelling briefly it was necessary to eliminate several phrases of Conan Dogly. Thus, some details or events have been removed from the story, which I will present in the next chapter. Another aspect of replication is that sometimes two or more events have been compressed into one, or attributing to a character gestures or words the originally belonged to another character.

The edition “Sherlock Homes – Cainele din Baskerville” by Aldo Press publishing house is the complete novel, translated in 176 pages. All copyrights of this edition belong to Dexon Office and the illustration have been made by Sidney Paget. This edition is about an assassination attempt inspired by the legend of a devilish dog scare, recommended more teenagers and adults than children.

The action of this novel takes place in 1889 and begins with suspicions death of Sir Charles Baskerville, which was found dead on his noble field, Baskerville Hall. In this situation, Dr. Hames Mortimer, fearing for the safety of the only grandson and heir of Sir Charles, Sir Henry, he travels to London to seek help from Sherlock Homes. Dr. James tells Holmes and Dr. Watson his fears about the curse of the Baskerville family and the legend of the diabolic dog, as well as the strange circumstances of Sir Charles’s death. Intrigued by the story of Dr. James, Sherlock Holmes starts investigation to unravel the mystery about the death of Sir Charles and to protect the new heir of the Baskerville Hall, Sir Henry. After many intrigues and dilemmas, the truth is discovered and the killer revealed by Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. Watson. Because not the narrative story, but the comparative analysis between the two editions in the Romanian language are the subject of this paper, I will not go into the details of the story. Thus, in the next chapter will be presented the similarities and differences between the two works.

3. Similarities versus differences

Before beginning to reveal the most significant similarities and difference between this two editions, for the sake of clear expression, I will send them as the edition 2008 and the edition 2014.

The differences between this two works appear from the beginning, so in the 2014 edition, the meeting between Holmes and Dr. James took place the day before, while in the 2008 edition the moment of the meeting is awaited. Also details, such as the features stick of Dr. James, looked at the Holmes house, in the 2014 edition, <<”Acest baston, demn, grav, linistitor, seaman cu acelea de care se servesc medicii de “moda veche”>>(Aldo Press publishing house, “Sherlock Homes – Cainele din Baskervill”, Bucharest, 2014), are not found in the 2008 children’s edition.

Another important element that makes the difference between this two editions is the exact specification of the temporal data. In the 2014 edition, the accurate specification of the data “Dateaza exact din 1742, raspunse Mortimer, scotand manuscrisul din buzunar”, is extremely clear, while in the 2008 edition the information are ambiguous, “Se pare ca legenda s-a nascut pe vremea regelui Carol I, cu vreo doua sute cincizeci de ani in urma”.

The third remarkable difference between this two editions is the number of quotes. In the 2014 edition, the document left by Sir Hugo Baskerville to his sons Roger and John, as well as the newspaper article describing Sir Charles's mysterious death, is cited, while in the 2008 edition only the newspaper article is cited. However, it is noteworthy that the name of the newspaper is the same, with the observation that the exact date of the article differs, in the 2014 edition it is May 14, while in the 2008 edition it is June 14th.

The similarities between this two editions are mainly related to the exact information of the meeting places, the names and situations of the characters, “Intr-adevar, Dr. Mortimer si Sir Henry au venit, in dimineata urmatoare, la locuinta noastra” (editia 2014) ~ “În acea dimineață, am luat micul dejun devreme.  Sherlock Holmes, în halat de casă, aștepta sosirea musafirilor noștri. Au fost punctuali la întâlnire: de-abia sunase de ora zece, când a intrat doctorul Mortimer, urmat de tânărul baronet” (editia 2014).  

In the 2008 edition there are few passages which are missing from the original work, which I will try to highlight through the following observations.

The first is that after arriving in London, Sir Henry Baskerville receives a mysterious letter that warns him to stay away from the land. Later, Sherlock Holmes would prove that the letter had been sent to him by Miss / Mrs. Stapleton.

In the second, Barrymore testifies that Sir Charles Baskerville had arranged to see someone on Yew Alley on the night of his death. That person had sent Sir Charles a signed “L.L” ticket. Holmes and Watson reveal that those letters are the initials of Laura Lyons, Frankland’s daughter. They also find out that Laura had been convinced by Stapleton, through a lie, to fix this meeting so that he could free the dog when Sir Charles was in the area.

Holmes and Watson also discovers an old painting depicting Sir Hugo Baskerville and realizes how well he looks like Stapleton, a strange thing that gives them an extra clue. Holmes arranges with the Inspector Lestrade to come from London to Devonshire to help them with Sir Henry's follow-up to Merripit House and catch Stapleton.

Another element that makes the difference between the original novel and the retelling one is that in the first, Dr. Watson’s letters to Holmes appears as reports, which gives him all the details of the events of the Baskerville Hall.

The final scene of the original story takes place in London, where Holmes and Watson discuss the case after reuniting from the land. They ask an interesting question: if Stapleton succeeded in killing of Sir Henry, how could he claim his rights to inheritance (under the real name, Jack Baskerville), since no one recognized him as having that quality.

Between these two works are also differences in terms of editing, for example, the 2014 edition has 241 pages, while the edition for children has only 64 pages. The structure of chapters is also different, the 2014 edition has XV chapters, and meanwhile the 2008 edition is composed as a whole, with a single chapter.

4. Conclusion

After reading the two edition in Romanian of the novel The Hound of the Baskerville we can roughly extract the basic common ideas from them, with the same characters and ending, but with a content of the details and information about them very differently.

As I presented above, there are very big difference between the retell edition for children, compared with the original story, which is more difficult and penetrating into the storyline.

So when we decide to read or to understand a literary work, we have to choose very carefully so that to be close to the age of the reader, to his interest, the purpose of the reading and the degree of the authenticity that we want to achieve by reading a translated book. If our choice is inappropriate, we may risk getting wrong or distorted information about our reading.

References

ALDO PRESS publishing (2014): Sherlock Homes-Cainele din Baskerville, Bucharest, Romania

BAKER M. (1998): Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Routledge

JOHN C. (1972): Conan Doyle: a Biography of the Creator of Sherlock Holmes, London, Hamilton

DOYLE A. C. (1902): The Hound of the Baskerville, George Newnes Ltd, Anglia

EVANS T. (2008): Cainele din Baskerville de Arthur Conan Doyle, Curtea Veche publishing, Bucharest

JANN R. (1995): The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Detecting Social Order, Maxwell Macmillan International, New York

LAWRENCE V. (2000): The translation Studies Reader, Routledge

NEWMARK P. (2000): A Textbook of Translation, Longman Publishing

PASQUALE J. (1987): Diagnosis and Detection: the Medical Iconography of Sherlock Holmes, Fairleigh Dickinson UP, Rutherford

WELLER P. (1991): The Dartmoor of the Hound of the Baskerville: a Practical Guide to the Sherlock Holmes Locations, Sherlock Publication, Hampshire, England