The Little Translator / Geschichte eines Übersetzers

Once upon a time in Translatorland there lived a little Translator. Not a nasty, dirty, horrid little Translator such as you might find living in a horrible little hole in the ground, but a good-natured friendly little Translator who lived in a nice little flat in the capital of Translatorland, Wordtown.

The Little Translator was not actually a Translator as such yet, but he had been to Translator University and had done many exams, and was looking for his first job in Wordtown.

One day he saw an advert in the Wordtown Chronicle, “In-House Translator Required – Opportunity”. “In-House Translator, that could be me!”, the Little Translator said to himself. How happy the Little Translator was! He rushed excitedly about the flat, uttering little cries of joy, gathering up his CV and certificates and all his Important Papers and this and that, and went to the address.

This is the beginning of Part 1 of what is to date a four-part serial story about a naive newly trained translator entering the real world of translation. The author is Mervyn Henderson in Spain, and the site is ProZ.

(Thanks to Marc)

4 thoughts on “The Little Translator / Geschichte eines Übersetzers

  1. It’s a brilliant story, written by a translator for translators to parody the self-effacing mentality that is often found among translators. I and many others look forward to the further sequels. Some colleagues have already said that they hope to buy it in book form when it is finished – and some even want to buy a coffee cup with a “Little translator” logo, too.

  2. “Datenbank zu EU-Kaufrecht” should read “Datenbank zu UN-Kaufrecht”. The Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG) is an UNCITRAL treaty. It has nothing to do with the EU.

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