Trabalho de Projecto apresentado para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Tradução realizado sob a orientação científica de Karen Bennett

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Trabalho de Projecto apresentado para cumprimento dos

requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em

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AGRADECIMENTOS

To Luís and Angelina Iria, my maternal grandparents, who made it so I could follow my dreams and keep studying. Without them, I would not be who I am today and I am eternally grateful for all they provided for me and the life they gave me.

To my professor, Karen Bennett, who inspired me through Componente Letiva and then guided me through Componente Não Letiva, and for giving me the confidence I needed to write in English.

To Daniel and his family, who have been by my side throughout all my academic path. For the kind words, for believing in me, for not letting me give up and pushing me to always try my best. You helped me become a better scholar, but also a better person. To Katie, for being my friend since I could barely speak English, for all her support and help as I grew and my love for writing grew with me. It has been so many years and you are still my best of friends – and my English would have turned out to be a miserable shadow of itself without you.

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Tradução e comentário de “A Fada Oriana” por Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, uma autora canónica no ensino português ignorada na língua inglesa

Translation and commentary of A Fada Oriana (The Fairy Oriana) by Sophia de Mello

Breyner Andresen, a canonical Portuguese author in the teaching system neglected in English

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[RESUMO]

Este trabalho de projeto procura traduzir A Fada Oriana, um texto infantil de 1958, situando-o no seu tempo e contexto apropriado, ou seja, um Portugal oprimido, pobre e censurado pela ditadura fascista que se autointitulou de Estado Novo. A realidade do dia a dia e a realidade sociolinguística eram completamente diferente da nossa realidade contemporânea. Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen foi uma famosa autora Portuguesa que ainda hoje faz parte do Plano Nacional de Leitura no sistema de ensino Português e faz parte do cânon do ensino, mas cujas histórias infantis nunca foram traduzidas para a língua inglesa. A tradução tenta preservar a cultura Portuguesa numa cápsula de tempo, sem a preocupação de domesticar o texto para o leitor-criança moderno, escolhendo então um novo leitor-adulto e mercado académico de nicho onde possa encontrar um equilíbrio saudável entre a fidelidade ao texto fonte, fluência e o prazer do leitor.

Palavras-chave: Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, tradução de contos de fadas, tradução literária

[ABSTRACT]

This project is a translation of A Fada Oriana, a Portuguese children’s book first

written in 1958. It wishes to place the text in its appropriate timeframe and context, that is, an oppressed, poor and censured Portugal under the power of a fascist dictatorship that called itself the Estado Novo. The everyday reality and sociolinguistic reality then were completely disconnected from our contemporary reality. Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen was a famous Portuguese author that is still inserted in the education system today and is part of the teaching canon. Nevertheless, her children’s stories were never translated into English. The translation wishes to preserve Portuguese culture in a time capsule, without attempting to domesticate the text for the child reader; instead it chooses a new adult reader and a niche academic market, where it can hopefully find a healthy balance between fidelity to the source text, fluency and reading pleasure.

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This project memory aims to fulfil the objectives of the Componente Não Letiva (CNL) of the Master’s Degree in Translation of the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa and to be the one of the first published translations of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen’s children’s tale A Fada Oriana (first written in 1958 and first published in 1964).

Of all three options available, the project was chosen as a way of both testing what has been learned in the Componente Letiva and acquiring more experience in translating literature, especially from Portuguese into English while allowing some freedom in the areas and themes explored. For this, A Fada Oriana by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen was the chosen piece of literature. It is a re-imagination of the Greek mythological tale of Narcissus with a Christian undertone and a happier ending. It follows the story of a good fairy that took care of her forest and the people within it until a fish lured her to the water and she saw herself. As she fell in love with her reflection, she forgot all her good fairy duties. Everything went wrong in the forest without Oriana’s guidance: people left for the city, where they found nothing but pain and misery while getting lost in the alleys, and the animals ran for the hills. As punishment, the Fairy Queen took away her wings and magic wand, telling the fairy she could only have them back when she showed true selflessness. It is a moralistic fairy-tale that teaches empathy, selflessness and the importance of one’s responsibilities.

Andresen is a canonical author in the Portuguese education system and an award-winning poet that has been largely neglected in English-speaking countries, although her work has been translated into other European languages and even into Chinese. With this project, this author (and Portuguese culture in general) can hopefully gain more exposure in the English-speaking world and, now that English is a Lingua Franca, also gain more exposure world-wide indirectly.

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2 discusses possible outlets for publication of the book, such as Carcanet’s series The Aspects of Portugal or other scholarly and educational editions.

The second part is the translation. The entire book was translated and annexed to this project but due to page limit constraints only problematic chapters are included in the body of the text and have been commented on. The translation present in the text body consists of the following chapters: I – Good Fairies and Evil Fairies (181 words), II – Oriana (2,161 words), III – The Very Rich Man (2,046 words), IV – The fish (2,474 words), V – The Fairy Queen (947 words) and VIII – The Tree and the Animals (2,307 words) for a total of 10,116 words translated.

The commentary is also present in the second part of this project. It describes the translation, comments on the process and explains the translation choices made with a focus on semantic choices driven by sociocultural factors. It is, after all, a literary text and as times change, language adapts to change with use. Contemporary English has undergone important sociolinguistic changes driven by social and political pressures, which may pose an issue while translating texts from languages, cultures and periods without the same concerns as the target reader and intended culture. How should older texts that no longer fit within our values be treated, and can they still be inserted in modern times?

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PART 1. THEORETICAL CONCERNS

1. Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen was born in 1919, just before Portugal fell in tumultuous times. When she was a little over seven years old, in 1926, a coup removed the Primeira República Portuguesa from power and instated a military dictatorship. In 1933, the new constitution was approved, and the military dictatorship became known as Estado Novo, an authoritarian regime. She was very outspoken against the regime, which was not taken lightly, and she was considered a persona non-grata. This meant that any interviews she did were censored, her house would be searched for no reason and any poems published in newspapers or periodicals were cut and censored. In addition to interviews, she also collaborated with various journals and periodicals, like

Aventura, Variante, Atlântico, Unicórnio, Tábua Redonda and Diário Popular (Oliveira 1981: 60), alongside her poetry. Despite all this, she still managed to be published: A Fada Oriana, for example, was published in 1964, ten years before the regime fell, and she won her first literary award in 1966 (however, it was the only one she won until 1977). She was a famous poet and won a myriad of other awards, including the Prémio Camões in 1999; but she also wrote narratives, such as Contos Exemplares (1962),

Histórias da Terra e do Mar (1984) and many others.

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4 closely. Furthermore, there are two very important fish in the story, the nameless fish, known only as “the fish” and one that is named, fish Solomon. The first one feeds Oriana compliments and helps her forget all her responsibilities and the second one has her wait for seven days by the sea shore, which she does, forgetting the old woman completely and thus severing the last of her empathic feelings towards the inhabitants of the forest.

Andresen passed away in 2004 and, since 2014, her remains have rested at the National Pantheon, a place reserved for Portuguese citizens who have greatly distinguished themselves.

2. The Portuguese

target reader and children’s literature during Estado

Novo

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen had already published poetry and earned renown amongst her adult readership when she emerged as a children’s book writer in 1958 with the first edition of A Fada Oriana. Andresen began writing for children when her own children were sick and irritable. Natércia Rocha (1984: 80) characterizes Andresen’s children’s stories as moralistic and magical, with the fantastic and the surreal leading the plot through flowing, delicate and musical writing.

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5 whatever was published, and, in time, authors would censor themselves (Patriarca 2012: 29-32).

A Fada Oriana was targeted at young children under an oppressive regime in a poor and rural country, a product of circumstance and time. Therefore, it can no longer be expected to resonate with young children in developed countries today.

3. The Anglophone target reader and target publisher

This translation does not intend to share a similar target reader with the source text. It is no longer aimed at middle-school-aged children for cultural and socioeconomic reasons. The British website schoolreadinglist.co.uk, managed by English teachers, librarians and parents, recommends 33 different books for children aged 10 to 11 years old (the age at which Portuguese children read the source text, as per the Plano Nacional de Leitura) and none of them are translations. If the translation were to be marketed for children, the established native English-speaking authors would always take precedence over a translated Portuguese author who, despite being a canonical author in the education system in Portugal who has been consistently taught since 1979 (Matias, 2003: 34).

Source-text-oriented translations are no longer fashionable in contemporary leisure literature mostly because they possess low economic value, which, as Venuti (1995: 12) says, as the market is “enforced by editors, publishers and reviewers, fluency results in translations that are eminently readable and therefore consumable on the book market”. The target text has opted for a completely different readership: this translation is aimed at adults and young people (whether native English speakers or speakers of English as a lingua franca) that are interested in Portuguese culture. It could also function as a culturally rich learning tool for students of Portuguese as a foreign language, in which case it could be packaged as a parallel-text edition. The target text could be published in Carcanet’s series Aspects of Portugal – either as a stand-alone text or in a bigger edition featuring all of Andresen’s short stories. Carcanet Press is a British renowned literary published, founded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. The collection of

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PART 2. THE TRANSLATION

1. Translated Chapters

The Fairy Oriana

I – Good fairies and Evil Fairies

There are two kinds of fairies: good fairies and evil fairies. Good fairies do good things and evil fairies do evil things.

Good fairies water the flowers with morning dew, light the fires of old people, hold back the children about to fall in the river, enchant the gardens, dance in the air, make up dreams and, at night, place golden coins in the shoes of the poor.

Evil fairies dry up the wells, extinguish the fires of the shepherds, tear up the clothes drying in the sun, disenchant the gardens, bother the children, torment the animals and steal from the poor.

When a good fairy sees a dead tree with dry branches and no leaves, she touches it with her magic wand and in that same instant the tree is filled with leaves, flowers, fruits and singing birds.

When an evil fairy sees a tree filled with leaves, flowers, fruits and singing birds, she touches it with her cursed magic wand and in that same instant an icy wind rips out the leaves, makes the fruits rot, the flowers wither and the birds drop dead.

II – Oriana

Once upon a time there was a fairy called Oriana. She was a good fairy and she was very pretty. She was free; joyfully and happily dancing on the fields, on the hills, in the woods and on the beaches.

One day, the Fairy Queen called her and said: "Oriana, come with me."

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7 "Oriana," said the Fairy Queen, "I give you this forest. Every man, animal and plant that lives here is, from now on, under your care. You are the fairy of this forest. You must promise me you will never leave it."

To which Oriana replied, "I promise."

From that day on, Oriana lived in the forest. At night, she slept in an oak trunk. In the morning, she would wake up very early, way before the flowers and the birds. Her clock was the very first ray of sunshine because she had a lot to do. Everyone needed her in the forest. She would warn the rabbits and the deer that the huntsmen were coming. She would water the plants with morning dew. She would watch over the miller's eleven children. She would rescue the birds that were stuck in the rat traps.

At night, when everyone was asleep, Oriana would go to the prairies to dance with the other fairies. Or she would fly above the forest and, spreading her wings, she would stay still, hanging in the air between the earth and the sky. All around the forest there were sleeping fields and mountains, full of silence. Far away you could see lights of a city looking on to its river. During the day and up close, the city was dark, ugly and sad. But at night the city would shine bright, full of lights: green, purple, yellow, blue, red and lilac, as if there was a big party. It seemed made of opals, of rubies, of glitter, of emeralds and sapphires.

A summer passed, then an autumn, then a winter and then spring came. One morning in April, Oriana rose even earlier than usual. As soon as the first ray of sunshine entered the forest, she left the oak trunk where she slept. She took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of the dawn and danced a bit. Then she combed her hair with her fingers and washed her face with morning dew.

"What a beautiful morning!" she said. "I have never seen a morning this blue, this green, so fresh and golden."

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8 She was a very old woman who lived in an even older house. And inside the house there were only rags, broken furniture and cracked crockery. Oriana peeked through the unglazed window. The old woman was doing housework whilst talking to herself, saying:

"What a dark life, what a dark life! I am as old as time and I still need to work. I have no children to help me. If it wasn't for the fairies, where would I be?...

… When I was young I would play in the forest, and the animals, leaves and flowers would play with me. My mother would comb my hair and place a dancing ribbon in my dress. Now, if it wasn't for the fairies, where would I be?...

… When I was young I would laugh all day, and at the balls I would dance all night; I had over a hundred friends. Now that I am old, I have none. If it wasn't for the fairies, where would I be?...

… When I was young I had gentlemen telling me I was beautiful and throwing carnations at my feet. Now the boys run after me, calling me ‘old crone, old crone!’ and throw rocks at me. If it wasn't for the fairies, where would I be?...

… When I was young I had a palace, silk dresses, maids and lackeys. Now I am old, and I have nothing. If it wasn't for the fairies, where would I be?”

Oriana heard this lament every morning, and every morning she would be sad, feeling sorry for the old woman, so curved, so wrinkly and so alone, who spent her whole days grumbling and sighing.

Fairies would only show themselves to children, animals, trees and flowers, so the old woman never saw Oriana. But even though she couldn't see her, she knew she was there, ready to help.

After she swept her house, the old woman lit the stove and boiled some water. She opened the coffee canister and said:

"I am out of coffee."

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9 Oriana touched the mug with her magic wand and filled it with milk.

The old woman grabbed the sugar bowl and said: "I am out of sugar."

Oriana touched the sugar bowl with her magic wand and filled it with sugar. The old woman opened the bread drawer and said:

"I am out of bread."

Oriana touched the drawer with her magic wand and inside the drawer was a loaf of bread and some butter.

The old woman grabbed the bread and said: "If it wasn't for the fairies, where would I be?" Oriana heard her and smiled.

The old woman ate and drank and then sighed. "Now I have to go to work."

Her job was to collect dry branches to sell in the city afterwards.

Every morning, Oriana would help her gather wood, and every morning she would guide her into the city, because the old woman’s sight was very poor and the path to the city was too close to the abyss and she could fall in if the fairy did not guide her.

And so, in that April morning, Oriana and the old woman walked along the road, the old woman bent over, leaning against a stick, and Oriana fluttering in the air like a butterfly. And, without the old woman noticing, the fairy held the bundle of wood, so it would be lighter on her crooked back.

When they got to the city, the old woman went to sell the wood door to door, and Oriana flew to a rooftop where she sat watching the city, waiting for her friend.

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10 "The king of Siam has a palace with golden roofs and in China there are porcelain towers," said a swallow.

"In Oceania there are islands made of coral covered in grass and palm trees. And in those islands, people dress themselves with flowers and they're all beautiful, good and happy," said another swallow.

"Kangaroos have a pouch in which they keep their children and the king of Tibet can read the thoughts of every man," said another swallow.

"At the top of the Andes mountain range there are abandoned cities where only eagles and serpents live," said another swallow.

"That is wonderful! Could you tell me more?" asked Oriana.

"Some things can’t be told, they must be shown," replied the swallows. "The wonders of the world are so, so many! But come with us, Oriana. We leave when autumn comes. You too have two wings. Come with us."

But Oriana stared at the vast round and transparent sky, sighed and replied: "I can’t go. The men, animals and plants of the forest need me."

"But you have two wings, Oriana. You can fly above the oceans and the mountains. You can go to the other side of the world. There is always more and more space. Imagine how good it would be if you came. You could fly high above the clouds, or you could fly close to the blue sea, dipping the tip of your toes in the cold waves. You could fly above virgin forests and breathe in the scent of unknown fruits and flowers. You would see the cities, hills, rivers, deserts and oases. In the middle of the big Ocean there are tiny islands with beaches of white, thin sand. Over there, in the moonlight, everything is blue, still and silver. Imagine all these things, Oriana."

But Oriana, looking at the sky and at the wandering clouds, sighed and said: "I imagine what would become of the old woman without me when she woke up on a cold winter morning and could not find the bread or milk."

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11 "I promised I would take care of the forest," replied the fairy. "And a promise is something very important."

The swallows stared at her with their shiny hardened black eyes, and harshly said:

"Oriana, you don't deserve your wings. You don't love the wide open spaces and don’t care about freedom."

Oriana lowered her head and replied: "I made a promise."

The swallows turned their backs on her and ignored her.

As soon as the old woman finished selling her wood she left the city, the fairy right behind her, and together they returned to the forest.

When they arrived, it was almost noon. Oriana left the old woman and went to the woodcutter's house.

The woodcutter was very poor. At his house, there was only a bed, a fireplace, a table and three stools.

The door was open because there was nothing worth stealing.

Before coming in, Oriana picked up three little pebbles from the ground.

The house was very tidy because the woodcutter's wife enjoyed doing everything to perfection. Besides, there was very little to tidy up.

Oriana looked around the house to see what was missing.

She opened the bread drawer and saw there was still bread, so she closed it again.

Then she opened the clothes drawer. The clothes were few and poor, but clean and sewn up. But there was a shirt so old and with so many holes that even after sewing it was torn. Oriana placed a little white pebble inside the drawer, touched it with her magic wand and the little pebble turned into a new shirt.

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12 And under the table was the woodcutter's son's ball. Oriana picked it up and saw it was ruined. So, she placed the last little pebble under the table and turned it into a new ball.

Almost every day, Oriana would go to the woodcutter's house. She would always take three little white pebbles with her and turn them into whatever they needed the most. And the woodcutter's wife would tell her husband:

"I wonder who this good person is that comes into our home when I go out and brings me what I need?"

Oriana left the woodcutter's house and she thought:

"Today is festival day; the miller went to the city to sell flour and his wife went with him with their eleven children. I am going to their place to see what they need."

And she went to the miller's house.

The door was locked, but Oriana touched the lock with her magic wand and opened it.

The house was a mess. Everything was upside down and covered in flour. Everything was out of place. Because the miller's wife had eleven children and was very messy and absent-minded, and never had time for anything. Without Oriana their house would be impossible to live in.

Oriana came in and looked around. She sighed at that much disarray. Then she went to pick up a broom and a duster and cleaned the whole house. She fixed the broken things with her magic wand. She washed the dishes and placed them in the cupboards. She brushed the clothes and hung them up. She stitched all the clothes inside the clothes' basket and fixed the broken toys.

When she finished all this, she looked around her. The house was beautiful, full of order and cleanliness. Oriana smiled and left.

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13 house all topsy-turvy. So, when she would come back home she would not be surprised everything was in order, because she didn't remember leaving any untidiness.

Oriana left the miller's house and went to the Very Rich Man's house. III – The Very Rich Man

The Very Rich Man had no wife, no children and no friends. He only had servants. His house was in the middle of a very well-kept garden, with grass, bushes, and sand paths.

Oriana circled the house, so she could spot where to come in. All the doors were locked, and Oriana could not open them. Because in the Very Rich Man's house, the locks were so expensive not even a magic wand could unlock them. But there was an open window. It was the window to the living room. Oriana peeked and saw no one there. There were only the things. But there lingered a very bad atmosphere. The sofas and the chairs would elbow each other, the dressers would kick the walls, the flower vases would ask the boxes and the ashtrays to stop squeezing them, and the flowers said:

"I can't stay here, can't stay here, I can't breathe!" The room was filled to the brim.

Oriana went in and the things begun talking over each other. "Oriana, get us out of here," screamed the flowers.

"Oriana, can you tell the flower vase to stop pushing me?" asked the box. "Oriana, can you tell the table to stop stepping on me so hard?" asked the carpet. "Oriana, can you tell the sofa to stop elbowing me?" asked the chair.

"Oriana, can you tell the folding screen to move?" asked the wall.

"Oriana," said the mirror, "can you get me out of here. I am always watching. I see all. This room full of things, this room with no space, no emptiness, no width, it tires and hurts my glass eyes."

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14 And so, the things went quiet and the table said:

"Oriana, we can’t be here. We do not fit this room. There are too many things here. We are much too tight. And we are all things with different shapes and we don't get along well. I am a very antique table; I am from a convent dining room. I am long, but the room was big, and I fit there well, as besides me, only stools were there. I feel awful here. The things are always shoving me. Me and the golden sofa do not get along. I am all plain, and he is all woven. We can’t get along. I am a convent table, I made a poverty vow, I can’t live in this room. Oriana, touch me with your wand and make me fly away to my convent.”

Then the dresser said:

"I’m a very beautiful and antique dresser. For two centuries, I lived in a manor in a farm. I was in a very big room and whoever walked in would see how beautiful I was right away. During the day, I would hear the children laughing in the garden and I would hear them chase each other through the halls. At night, I would only hear the wind singing, the frogs and the running fountain in the garden. Many lights would be lit during parties. People would walk by me and they would say:

… 'What a beautiful dresser!'…

… And the house owner would reply: … … 'My father had it1_made.'…

… And in a couple of decades another house owner would say: … … 'My grandfather had it made.' …

… Another couple of decades would pass and another house owner would say: …

… 'My great–grandfather had it made.'…

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15 … Yet another couple of decades would pass, and another house owner then would say: …

… 'My great–great–grandfather had it made.'…

… Because I would pass on generation to generation. And I met the fathers, the sons, the grandsons and their grandsons…

… I was part of the family. When I was sold, everyone cried. Tears would fall from the trees onto the ground and their leaves waved goodbye. Here it's different. Here no one is my friend, neither men or things. When someone mentions how beautiful I am, the house owner says, ‘I bought her for 100 gold coins’2_{Oriana, take me away from here.}

Take me back to the room in the farm manor." Then the mirror spoke and said:

"I was in a palace and in front of me there was space, space and more space. The floor was plain shiny marble. And I was at the end of a lonesome and quiet gallery. And would contemplate how the hours would change. I saw kings and queens, polished for coronation day, with their sparkling heavy crowns. I saw ministers, advisers and the important men, with their long noses, their serious faces and somber auras. And I saw damsels in white dresses running to the lone gallery for a moment. They would glide light and fast denying everyone’s flowers. And I saw rebellious crowds pass me by, in despair, destroying everything, seeking justice. I saw, I saw, I saw…

… I am a mirror; I have spent my whole life watching. The images all entered me… … I saw, I saw, I saw. And now I am in this room without somewhere to rest my glass eyes. Oriana, get me out of here and place me in front of a white wall, plain and naked."

And one by one all the things asked her to take them somewhere else.

"My dear things," said Oriana, "I can’t do as you ask. If I made you disappear, the house owner would be very upset. And I can’t come into a house to upset their owners."

2₁₀₀_Contos_{in the original. (One)}_Conto_{is the colloquial word for 1000}_escudos_{($, iso code: PTE), a now}

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16 "So, what can you do?" asked the things.

"Nothing," said Oriana. "This room looks hopeless. When I go into other houses, I make missing things appear. But there is nothing missing here. There are too many things. I would have to remove some. But I can’t come into a house and take away what is already there."

"If you can’t take us out of here make the room bigger so we fit."

"I am really sorry," said Oriana, "but that is impossible. When the owner of this house had it made, he told the architect: 'I want a small house because of jealous eyes.'"

The things went silent for a minute, thought and said:

"Oriana, make the house owner gift us to someone that has no furniture." "That," said Oriana, "is a great idea. I know what to do."

On top of the table were a notepad and a pen. Oriana grabbed the pen and wrote:

"Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord. Give the poor half your furniture." "Great," said the things.

"Oriana," said the mirror, "I beg you to remove that ballerina from my line of sight. I am tired of looking at her all day with a foot in the air in a state of imbalance. My glass eyes have no eyelids. Only the nights are my eyelids. But during the day I can never close my eyes. And I am too tired of spending my days watching a ballerina with a foot up in the air."

The ballerina was in a shelf in front of the mirror.

Oriana picked her up and moved her to the top of the dresser, so the mirror could not see her.

"Thank you," said the mirror.

Then they heard footsteps in the corridor and Oriana hid behind the folding screen.

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17 As soon as he entered he saw the notepad on the table. He was furious at the miserly note he read and exclaimed:

"Who dares this?!"

Then he noticed the ballerina had been moved, was angry again and exclaimed: "Oh!"

He rang the bell and the butler appeared.

"Call all the servants immediately!" said the Very Rich Man.

They all came in the very next moment. They queued in front of the door. The Very Rich Man turned to them, turning his back on the table with the notepad and on the dresser with the ballerina and said:

"Two outrageous things have happened in this house. Woe betide those who have done them! I want the guilty person to come clean. I want to know who wrote these judgements on the paper and who moved the ballerina."

The servants were terrified. Hearing this speech upset Oriana. In a blink, she touched the notepad with her magic wand, making the notes disappear and touched the ballerina, making her fly back to the shelf.

The Very Rich Man grabbed the notepad, turned it to the servants and said: "Who wrote this?"

The servants saw a white piece of paper and replied: "There is nothing there."

The Very Rich Man thought he was dreaming.

He didn't know what to do or say. He coughed and said in a very stern tone: "Who moved the ballerina from the shelf?"

But he looked at the shelf and noticed the ballerina was back there again. He thought he had gone mad. He got furious again and very embarrassed with the way he was acting. He had no idea what to tell the servants. He coughed again and said:

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18 The servants left, and the Very Rich Man sat in a chair talking to himself:

"This was a joke. But it was so well done I didn't get it. Surely it was the living room maid. By now they are all in the kitchen laughing at me. I should fire her."

Oriana was stunned.

"What a horrible house," she thought, "everything goes wrong here. I couldn't help anyone."

While thinking, she peeked above the folding screen. The Very Rich Man had his back turned to her and she noticed he was bald as a coot. She was filled with pity. She decided to give him some hair. She touched with his head with her magic wand and immediately filled it with thousands of tiny little hairs. The Very Rich Man felt an itch in his head. He went to the mirror to check it out. And saw he had his head full of new hair growths.

At first, he didn't believe what he was seeing. He had his mouth agape for a moment, unable to talk.

Then he shouted: "HAIR!...

…HAIR!…

…HAIR!!?" When he was done shouting he said:

"How come I am growing hair? I have been bald for so long and tried so many medicines that have never worked, up until today!"

He was quiet for a second and suddenly facepalmed, exclaiming:

"I know, I know what did it. It was that widow asking for a job for her son. She started talking about how poor she was, and I started talking about how bald I was. She said: …

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19 … 'I don't have any hair!'…

… So, she told me she would send me a medicine that would make my hair

grow back. And the next day she sent me a bottle with some medicine inside. I used the medicine and my hair grew! I must thank her! I must get her son a job! Right now!"

And the Very Rich Man, very excited, grabbed the phone and dialed a number. The widow picked up.

They greeted each other and then the Very Rich Man said:

"Madam, I am insanely grateful! I kneel at your feet and kiss your hands. I have hair! I might even grow curls! And I think the new hair will be blond! I have always wanted to be rich and blond. So far, I had only been rich. Now, thanks to you, I'll be blond! Blond! Blond! I want to thank you. I want to talk to your son."

The widow's son came to the phone and the Very Rich Man told him:

"I have a job for you! A magnificent place, perfect, ideal. You only need go there twice a week and you’ll make 30 gold3 _{a month. There is nothing to do. It is a very}

important place. They gave it to me, it was for me, but now it's for you!"

Hearing this, Oriana thought, "Finally! I could do something in this house. I can leave now. Phew!"

And she left through the window. IV – The Fish

There was a wonderful fresh afternoon outside. The breeze danced with the grass in the fields. You could hear the birds singing. There seemed to be golden dust in the air.

Oriana ran, danced and flew through the forest until she reached the river. It was a tiny and transparent river, almost a creek, and there were clovers, poppies and daisies growing in the riverbank. Oriana sat watching the stream amongst the grass and the flowers. And she heard a voice calling her:

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20 "Oriana, Oriana."

The fairy turned and saw a fish flopping in the sand.

"Save me, Oriana," screamed the fish. "I jumped after a fly and I landed too far from the river."

Oriana grabbed the fish and placed him back in the water.

"Thank you, thank you!" said the fish, bowing at her. "You saved my life and the life of a fish is a delicious life. Thank you very much, Oriana. If you ever need something from me, I am at your disposal."

"Thank you," said Oriana, "I don't need anything right now."

"Remember my promise. I will never forget that I owe you my life. You can ask me anything you want. Without you I would have choked to death in the middle of the clovers and the daisies. My gratitude is eternal."

"Thank you," said the fairy.

"Good afternoon, Oriana. I must leave now, but when you want to just come to the river and call for me." And with many salutes the fish said goodbye to the fairy.

Oriana stared at the fish amusedly, because he was such a tiny fish, but very important looking.

And when she was looking at the fish she saw her face reflected in the water. The reflection came up from the bottom of the creek and met her with a smile on her red lips. And Oriana saw her blue eyes like sapphires, her blonde hair like cornfields, her white skin like lilies and her glittering air-like wings.

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21 Oriana was amazed with her discovery. Leaning over the water, she would not get tired of looking at herself. The hours went by and she kept talking to her reflection.

The sun went down; the night came, and the river went dark. Oriana could not see herself anymore. She got up and stood brooding for some time. Then she looked around and said:

"The night is here! Time went by so fast!"

And she remembered it was time to visit her friend, the Poet. Because the Poet was the only grown-up Oriana could show herself to. He was different from the other grown-ups.

The Poet lived at the end of the forest, in a very old and tall tower, covered with ivy, wisteria and rose trees. Oriana flew above the trees in the first blue of the night. The tower door was opened, but Oriana came in through the window with the breeze. The climbing plant's roses shivered and danced when she arrived.

"You are late today" said the Poet.

"I was leaning over the river seeing my reflection" said Oriana. "I was late because I was enchanted with my beauty."

"Oriana," said the Poet, "enchant the night."

So, Oriana touched the night with her magic wand and enchanted it. And the Poet told her:

"You bring me so much more than beauty. There are many beautiful girls in the world. But only you can enchant the night because you are a fairy."

So, Oriana sat at on the edge of the window and started telling him the wonderful stories of the horses of the wind, of the cave with two dragons and of the rings of Saturn. The Poet told her his verses, clear and bright like stars. Then they both watched quietly the Moon going up in the sky. Until a far-away bell brought them the sound of the twelve strokes of midnight and Oriana and the Poet said their goodbyes.

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22 Her sun-touched reflection appeared on the surface of the water.

"Look how beautiful I am!" said Oriana. "I look even more beautiful than yesterday. Do I really look as beautiful as I see myself in the water?"

Oriana looked intently at the other reflections in the river. And it seemed to her that the reflected trees in the river were much better looking than the trees themselves. "Maybe," she thought, "my reflection looks better than I do! How will I know the truth?"

She remembered the fish and called him: "Fish, fish, fish, my friend!"

The fish appeared and said:

"Good morning, Oriana. Here I am."

"Fish," said the fairy, "I need you. I want to know if my reflection in the river is prettier than me."

"Nothing in the world is as beautiful as you," said the fish. "You are so much more than your reflection. Your eyes are brighter, your hair more golden, your lips are redder."

"You think so?" asked Oriana. She was brooding.

Suddenly she had an idea as she remembered the mirror. She thought, "I'll see what the mirror has to say."

She said, "See you later, fish."

And, fast as an arrow, she went to the Very Rich Man's house. The window was open and the room was empty.

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23 and flattered me just as it flatters the landscape. Show me as I am so I can know if the fish told the truth and I really am more beautiful than my reflection in the river."

"Oriana," said the mirror, " I am, as you know, a very antique mirror. Pretty girls have placed themselves in front of me to see what they look like and all of them want to know if there is anyone fairer than them in the world. Take a good look at yourself. You are very pretty, but there is something prettier than you."

"What is it?" asked Oriana expectantly. "A naked white wall."

"Don't talk about that wall again," said Oriana, upset. But she took a good look at herself and said:

"I think I am beautiful."

"That is good," said the mirror. "But you can’t imagine the sheer number of girls that looked themselves in my eyes throughout the centuries and said, ‘I think I am beautiful!’"

"Goodbye, then," said the fairy, rather annoyed. "Don't leave yet. I want to ask something of you." "What is it?"

"Take away the Very Rich Man's hair again." "Why would I do something so wicked?"

"Because he spends the whole day in front of me, seeing himself in me and saying, 'What beautiful hair.' And I can’t look at him anymore."

"In this house," said Oriana, "everything goes wrong." And she left.

Once outside she thought:

"I am never coming back to this house: the mirror just mocked me. They have everything, and everything is hopeless."

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24 She sat at the edge of the water and the fish appeared:

"Fish," said Oriana, "I saw myself in the mirror of the Very Rich Man, and I thought I was very pretty, as pretty as this reflection in the river. But the mirror told me a white wall was more beautiful than me!"

"The mirrors are dreamers, always imagining what they do not see. You are so much more beautiful than a wall. I have never seen anyone as beautiful as you. But I think it is a shame your hair is always such a mess."

"Ah?!" said Oriana, restless.

"You have to change your hairstyle," said the fish. "I'll teach you!" And the fish started teaching her:

"Part your hair sideways, pull your curls backwards, pull the right wave forward, put the left wave backward and curl up the hair in your nape."

Oriana did everything the fish told her to, but he was not satisfied. He had her undo everything she had done and restart again. Oriana did and redid waves and curls. Until it started getting dark.

"Now it is better," said the fish. "But tomorrow we will try out another hairstyle." "See you tomorrow, then," said Oriana.

And she walked slowly through the forest, brooding.

It was almost night when she arrived at the Poet's tower. She sat on the edge of the window and asked:

"Do you think I am different?"

"No," said the Poet. "I think you are the same." "But I changed my hair."

"I hadn't noticed."

Oriana went quiet, upset with the answer. The Poet asked her:

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25 Oriana touched the air with her magic wand and the air was filled with music. It was a full moon and the moonlight flooded the night. It smelled like honeysuckle and roses.

"Oriana," said the Poet, “dance tonight's dance."

And Oriana started dancing in the air, tiptoeing, the Spring Night Moon Dance. She danced like the flowers dance in the wind, and her arms were like running rivers.

The Poet sat on the edge of the window watching her, and from the depths of the forest came the deer, the rabbits, the birds and the butterflies to watch the fairy dance.

Until the far-away wind brought the sound of the twelve strokes of midnight. Oriana said goodbye to the Poet and vanished.

The next day, in the morning, after taking the old woman to town, Oriana ran to kneel in front of the river. The fish was already waiting. They started trying new hairstyles right away. The fish had her make a flower crown, for her head. Oriana spent the morning and the afternoon picking flowers, looking at herself in the river and hearing the fish's compliments. She forgot to go to the miller's house and to the woodcutter's house. She forgot to take care of the animals. She forgot to water the flowers. But at night she went to visit the Poet.

And, from then on, Oriana abandoned, one by one, every man, animal and plant that lived in the forest. One day she abandoned the Poet as well. Because one afternoon the fish told her:

“You are beautiful in the sunlight, but you must look even better by candlelight.”

And that night, instead of visiting the Poet, Oriana filled the riverbank with fireflies and will-o'-the-wisps and spent the night looking at herself in the water.

It was a wonderful night. It seemed like an extraordinary and fantastic night in the middle of the silence and darkness of the forest.

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26 And from that day onward she never visited the Poet again. She forgot all her friends. The only person she still visited was the old woman, because she felt an immense sorrow when she heard her say how beautiful and young she had been and now she was old, wrinkly and ugly. So, every morning she would lit her fire, place milk in her cup, coffee in the canister, sugar in the sugar bowl, bread and butter in the drawer and then guided her along the way to the city, so she would not fall in the abyss.

But as soon as she got back from the city with the old woman she would go straight to the river, to stare at her beauty and hear the compliments of her fish admirer. And, during spring, Oriana adorned herself with crowns and collars made of honeysuckle, daisies, daffodils, orange blossoms and poppies.

Afterwards, during the summer, Oriana adorned herself with carnations, roses and lilies. And in the autumn with red vine leaves, dahlias and chrysanthemums.

But when winter came there were only violets. And after a while the fish said:

"I think the purple of the violets really goes with the white of your skin and the blonde of your hair. In any case, you haven't changed your adornments in days. I think you should vary them.”

"How can I do that?" replied Oriana. "It's winter and there are no other flowers in the forest."

The fish thought for a bit and said: "You could use pearls."

"How will I get pearls?"

"Could you wait a second," asked the fish.

After a while he came back with a ring for the fairy. "Take this ring."

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27 And when you get to the seashore call for the fish Solomon, show him the ring and ask him to bring you a thousand pearls from the eastern sea.

Oriana did just that.

She flew above forests, hills, cities and fields until she reached a very big and deserted beach, where foamy sea waves would crash.

And she went to the seashore and called: "Fish, fish, fish Solomon."

And a black and blue fish with red eyes appeared and asked: "Who calls for me?"

"It is me, Oriana, the fairy. I brought you this ring." "Tell me what you want."

"I want you to bring me a thousand pearls from the eastern sea." "Sit on that rock," replied Solomon the fish "and wait for my return." Oriana sat on the rock and waited seven days and seven nights.

Occasionally she would remember the old woman, but she would think, "I'm sure the fish won't take long. She won't even notice I am gone. She knows the way so well she surely won't fall off the cliff and into the abyss."

After the seventh night, the fish came at the break of dawn. He brought with him a big turtle shell with the thousand pearls inside.

"Thank you, fish Solomon," said the fairy.

And, grabbing the turtle shell, she went back to the forest. V – The Fairy Queen

As soon as she got to the riverbank she called, "Fish, my friend, here are the pearls."

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28 She wrapped one around her neck, one around each arm and braided the remaining into her hair.

Then she leaned over the water. It was a bright and clear Winter's day. And Oriana saw her reflection clearer than ever. She had never thought herself so beautiful.

The glowing pearls surrounded her neck, reflected in her skin, lit up her hair. "Never have I seen something so beautiful!" she exclaimed.

"You look like the queen of the sea, the princess of the moon, the goddess of the pearls," said the fish.

"I will never leave the riverbank," said Oriana. "I want to spend the rest of my life looking at myself."

But suddenly Oriana went quiet. There was a silence in the air. And from that silence rose a voice, a loud, straightforward and rigorous voice that called:

"Oriana!"

Oriana shuddered and turned around. By her side, in the air, was the Fairy Queen.

And the loud, straightforward and rigorous voice spoke again: "Oriana, what are you doing?"

Oriana went pale and replied: "I was looking at myself." "What about your promise?"

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29 and night leaning over a river, hearing a fish complimenting you, in love with yourself. For that, Oriana, you will no longer have wings and will lose your magic wand."

And with these words the Fairy Queen gestured in the air. And in that same moment, like leaves falling from tree branches in autumn, Oriana saw her wings falling off her shoulders, drying up and dying like two old papers. The wind blew past and took them with him. Oriana ran after them, but she could no longer fly, and the wings vanished. And she saw her magic wand break apart and break apart into dust, falling to the ground.

And Oriana tried to gather the dust, kneeling in the ground. But the dust was already mixed with the soil and that was all her hands could grab.

And the loud, straightforward and rigorous voice called again: "Oriana!"

Oriana got up, face covered in tears and hands covered in dirt, and begged the Fairy Queen,

"Please, give me my wings back! Give me my magic wand back, please! Forgive my vanity. I know I broke my promise, I know I abandoned the men, animals and plants of the forest. The fish filled me with vanity with his compliments. I looked at myself so much I forgot everything. But give me my wings back. I want it to be like before. I want to help the men, the animals and the plants again. Without a magic wand and wings I can’t be a fairy. I need the wings to fly to those who call me, I need the magic wand to help those who need me.

But the loud, straightforward and rigorous voice of the Fairy Queen replied, "Walk through the forest and see the wrong you have done. See what happened to the men, animals and plants you abandoned. You forgot everyone else by looking at yourself. You will only have your wings back when you undo all the wrong you have done. You will only have your wings back when you forget about yourself while thinking of the others."

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30 And Oriana was left by herself at the riverbank, with a face full of tears and hands full of dirt.

She kneeled next to the river to wash her hands. But when she saw her wingless image in the water she started sobbing and saying:

"Wings, wings, oh my wings! How ugly is a wingless fairy! How ridiculous is a wingless fairy! No one will believe I am a fairy. They will think I am just a beautiful girl. But I do not want to be a beautiful girl. I want to be a fairy."

Oriana felt very sad and very lonely. She remembered the fish and thought,

"I will ask the fish for help. It is his fault after all." And she started calling,

"Fish, fish, fish, my friend!" But the fish did not appear. Oriana called again,

"Fish, fish, come comfort me! Come see how sad I am, look what happened to me!"

But the fish did not appear.

"He must have run off," thought Oriana. "I will wait for him to come back." And she waited and waited, sat by the riverbank.

But many hours went by and the fish did not appear.

"What a terrible friend" thought Oriana, "I am so sad, and he will not come up to comfort me."

Oriana remembered all the old friends she had abandoned. And she remembered what the Fairy Queen had told her,

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31 VIII - The Tree and the Animals

The day was breaking when she got there. The dawn was white with mist. It was when the birds should start waking up to sing. But the birds were gone to the hills and no animal sang.

“Such silence! Such silence!” muttered Oriana. “You can tell that my bird friends flew away. Oh, how lonely I am! Oh, how tired I am! I don’t know where to go and I can’t walk a step more.”

Having said this, Oriana leaned her head against a tree trunk and started crying. It was a strong trunk, rugged and black. Oriana encircled her hands around it and pressed her face against the rough bark. The tree leaned down and, with its branches, picked her up, then it covered her with its foliage and put two leaves over her eyes. Oriana fell asleep.

It was high morning when she woke up. A thousand sunrays passed through the forest. Oriana saw the blue sky through the green leaves. She stretched and took a deep breath, taking in the scents of the earth. She felt full of joy at the beauty of everything.

She said:

“What a beautiful morning!”

But suddenly she remembered the previous day. She remembered the woodcutter, the miller’s wife and the Poet.

She thought:

“I must find a way to fix everything. Surely there is a way. There must be one. But what shall I do?”

She placed her elbow on her knee, so she could hold her chin and started thinking. Suddenly, she exclaimed:

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32 And, delighted with her idea, Oriana danced.

Then she turned to the tree and said:

“Thank you, tree. Even though I no longer have wings you saw I was a fairy. When I came to you I was sad and tired, but you gave me peace and covered me with your leaves. Now I am going to search for the miller’s son. Yesterday I cried and thought there was no way to save my friends and no cure for my sadness. But you covered my eyes with your leaves and while I slept my sadness went away. This morning is so green and so blue! And I am so happy because I am sure there is a way!”

Oriana said goodbye to the tree and headed for the hills. The hills were far away and were all blue.

Oriana walked on and on. And she thought:

“How hard are men’s lives, because they have no wings!”

And she walked, walked and walked.

At sunset the hills went dark against the red sky. The night came, and moonlight fell over the fields.

Oriana looked for a tree to sleep on, because fairies can only sleep on trees. And she found a pine.

During the night the pine kept repeating: “When the wind blows I imagine I’m a mast.”

As soon as dawn came Oriana went on her way.

She got to the top of the hills and called all the animals. She told them:

“I am Oriana, the fairy.”

They said:

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33 Oriana told them her story and asked:

“Do you know where the miller’s son is?”

“He is here,” replied the deer, coming out from behind a rock with the miller’s son on his back.

“Please, give him to me,” said Oriana. “I want to take him back to his mother.” “A fairy with no wings,” said the deer, “is avery strange thing. I can’t give you a child, because a child is a sacred thing. I can’t give a child to someone who claims to be a fairy but has no wings to show.”

“I am a fairy,” said Oriana, “but I can’t prove I am one.” “Present witnesses!” said the rabbit.

“Anyway,” said the fox, “we can’t trust her. On the one hand, she has no wings and doesn’t seem to be a fairy. On the other hand, even if she is the fairy Oriana, we can’t trust her. Because that fairy left us, broke her promise and betrayed her word.”

“I did break my promise, but I regret it terribly,” said Oriana. “I have been crying for three days.”

“Present a witness!” said the deer.

“The fish!” said the fairy. “He has seen everything. He was the reason I forgot the men, animals and plants that live in the forest. He saw the Fairy Queen raise her hand and say I would lose my wings. He saw the wind take away my wings!”

“If the fish says he saw your wings vanish, taken by the wind, and that it was the Fairy Queen that punished you and that you are the fairy Oriana, then we will believe you,” said the porcupine.

“And if everyone believes you,” said the deer, “I will give you the miller’s son, so you can take him to his mother.”

“I will look for the fish,”said Oriana. “Meet me at the riverbank tomorrow, at midday.”

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34 And she went on her way again.

She walked, walked, walked.

The next day, as soon as dawn rose, Oriana was leaning over the river, calling: “Fish, fish, fish, my friend!”

The fish appeared.

“Good morning, Oriana” he said grumpily. “Your hair looks terrible.”

“I don’t have any time to fix it” said Oriana. “There are more important things than having my hair done. I must save all men, animals and plants that live in the forest. I must undo all the wrong I have done. I saw the miller woman’s sadness, the woodcutter’s misery, and the Poet’s loneliness. I want to be good again. I want to help others. Tell the animals that you know I am a fairy.”

“Oriana,” replied the fish, “you are a dear friend, but in all fairness, I can’t disrespect the Fairy Queen. She is very angry with your behaviour.”

“It was your fault,” said Oriana.

“Excuse me!” said the fish. “It was not my fault! I didn’t know you had made a promise to take care of the men, animals and plants that live in the forest. I had nothing to do with it.”

“There’s no point in arguing,” said Oriana. “I only have this to ask of you: the animals don’t believe I am a fairy because I have no wings. They say fairies always have wings. I want you to tell them you saw the Fairy Queen take my wings away and that you know I am the fairy Oriana.”

“Of course I know who you are.” said the fish, “But that animal business has nothing to do with me.”

“Fish,” saidOriana, “the day I saved you, you told me: ‘You can come to the river and call for me whenever you want. You can ask me anything you want.’ And that is why I now ask you: please tell the animals I am a fairy.”

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35 Oriana blushed, speechless. She felt like spitting on that cowardly entitled fish. But then she remembered the woodcutter rotting in jail, the miller’s wife that had lost her son and the Poet who no longer believed in fairies. She collected herself and said,

“Fish, you must tell the animals I am the fairy Oriana.”

“Fine,” said the fish. “I don’t want to be ungrateful. When the animals arrive, call for me.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” said Oriana.

“I shall see you soon,” said the fish in a polite and ceremonial tone. Then, he vanished.

Oriana was waiting for the animals. The sun rose up in the sky until midday, when they appeared.

They walked in a line with serious faces. First came the wolf and at the end of the line came the deer, with the miller’s son on his back.

“Good day,” said Oriana.

“Good day,” replied the animals. “Where is your witness?”

“He will be here,” said the fairy. “He is just waiting for me to callfor him.”

Oriana kneeled next to the river and called, “Fish, fish, fish, my friend!”

The fish did not appear. Oriana called again, “Fish, fish, fish, my friend!”

And the fish did not appear.

“Where is the fish?” asked the animals.

“He hasn’t had time toarrive yet,” replied the fairy.

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36 But the fish did not appear.

“He’s late,” said Oriana.

“Very late,” said the very punctual pig. “It’s already past midday.”

“We’ll wait,” said the deer.

And they waited.

Occasionally, Oriana called out, “Fish, fish, fish my friend!”

But he would not show up.

The sun was setting on the other side of the river.

The animals were getting angry. Oriana was distressed and embarrassed. “The fish is not coming then?” asked a rabbit.

“He’s not coming,” the animals agreed.

“Maybe something happened to him,” said Oriana, “he promised he would be my witness.”

“But he didn’t come,” said the fox.

Oriana started crying and said, “Maybe someone fished him.”

Some animals started laughing, others got angry.

“You said the fish would be your witness and there was no fish,” yelled the wolf.

“You said you were a fairy, yet you have no wings,” grumbled the pig.

“You don’t have a magic wand either,” added the fox.

“She has no witnessand she’s no fairy,” the animals yelled. “Let’s go.”

“I am a fairy,” said Oriana.

“You’re lying,” they yelled again.

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37 And, turning to the deer with tears rolling down her face, Oriana asked,

“Would you please give me the miller’s son? Believe me. I am a fairy.” “No,” replied the deer. “I don’t believe you.”

“Let’s leave.” Said the wolf.

And Oriana was alone. In tears, she said,

“Fish, fish, cowardly fish! You spent days saying I was beautiful and now I call for you and you don’t show up. You ungrateful, lying, cowardly fish! I saved your life and you won’t help me. I am so alone! No one will help me!”

Oriana heard a noise behind her. She went quiet and listened. A sweet, gentle and wavy voice called:

“Oriana.”

Oriana turned around and saw a very beautiful fairy looking at her, smiling. Her eyes were glittering black, her hairs were like dark blue serpents, her wings had a thousand colours, like butterfly wings. And she held another pair of wings in her left hand.

“Oriana,” she said, “do you want to have wings again?” “I do, I do,” said Oriana.

“These wings I hold in my left hand are for you.”

“For me?” repeated Oriana, in disbelief.

“Yes.”

“Please give them to me fast, hurry!” Oriana begged, shaking. “But first you must promise something.”

“Promise what?” Oriana asked.

The dark–haired fairy smiled and said:

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38 “And what are your orders?” Oriana asked.

“My orders,” said the Queen of the Evil Fairies, “are as follows:… … Dirty the fountain’s water…

… Cover the flowers in cobwebs…

… Dry out the seeds that are germinating in the earth… … Steal the nightingale’s voice…

… Sour the wine… … Steal from the poor… … Push the children…

…Put out old people’s fires… … Steal the scent of the roses… … Torment animals…

… Disenchant the world…”

“No! No! No!” said Oriana, recoiling in horror. “I don’t want to do any of those things!”

“If you don’t promiseto do these things, I won’t give you these wings” said the dark–haired fairy.

“I would rather have no wings.”

“Without wings you can’t be a fairy.”

“I would rather not be a fairy.”

“Choose carefully, Oriana: these wings have a thousand colors, like butterfly wings, and with them you can fly, instead of walking so laboriously, step by step, over the earth, tearing your feet on the pathway.”

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39 “How sorry I feel for you, Oriana!” the evil fairy said, laughing. “You do everything upside down: first you lost your wings because a fish was complimenting you. Now I bring you a pair of wings like those of a butterfly and you don’t want them. You fill me with pity, Oriana: you are a silly fool and you chose wrong.”

The dark–haired fairy vanished cackling. Oriana found herself alone, thinking:

“I will never ever have wings again. Because I did wrong, I lost my blue wings. And now, because I did not want to do more wrong, I have lost the butterfly-like wings. It’s as if I am not a fairy. No one will ever believe that I am a fairy again. Maybe I’ll forget I am a fairy myself. I will have to live like a regular girl. I will never be able to fly over the rocky paths. I will have to walk step by step along the rocky paths like the other girls. But at least I can be good. I can go to the city and help others. I must go to the city; men’s lives are harder there.”

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40

2. Commentary

The translation was relatively easy as the source text had a simple and straightforward prose style. There have been no significant changes in the Portuguese language since 1958 except for the Spelling Agreement of 1990 which made some minor changes to spelling, therefore the source text was easy to read and interpret.

There were, however, still a few problems: the register of the source text did not fit with the intended target reader of the target text and required semantic and structural changes to be in line with the typical English fairy-tale register. Additionally, the dialogue, which plays a critical role in the source text, was unreadable for the international speaker and had to be adapted to follow typical English dialogue formatting.

Most of the issues were semantic and motivated by sociocultural differences in language and period: modern western culture shifts rapidly, and what was acceptable 60 years ago, when the source text was published, may not be fashionable in contemporary culture. Problems include language that may be perceived as sexist, subtle religious imagery and proper names that show political stances. There was also a problem with grammatical gender and how personification works in Portuguese, versus the genderless objects in English grammar which follows a natural gender rule for gender attribution.

2.1 Adapting the dialogue punctuation from Portuguese into English

Transferring a literary text from one language to another often requires domestication of more than just grammar and lexicon. The punctuation, for example, differs greatly among European languages and it is not intuitive at all: Portuguese and Spanish both use the long dash to indicate the start and end of dialogue. French can use both the long dash and the guillemet, and German uses mostly the guillemets. Neither of those are used in English for dialogue, with the guillemet not being used at all.

Trabalho de Projecto apresentado para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Tradução realizado sob a orientação científica de Karen Bennett