Translating an Unpublished Ethiopian Fairy Tale
Thread poster: Joshua Farley
Joshua Farley
Joshua Farley
United States
Local time: 07:29
Spanish to English
+ ...
Aug 25, 2018

So I was listening to this Italian podcast the other day called "Parol di Storie: Fiabe" which is basically a podcast where they tell fables, fairy tales, tall tales, etc. There was one fairy tale in particular that struck me and I would love to translate it from the spoken podcast version into an English text and publish it. The problem is that I am not sure how to go about this legally.

Long story short, I cannot find any reference of the original story and the only source I can f
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So I was listening to this Italian podcast the other day called "Parol di Storie: Fiabe" which is basically a podcast where they tell fables, fairy tales, tall tales, etc. There was one fairy tale in particular that struck me and I would love to translate it from the spoken podcast version into an English text and publish it. The problem is that I am not sure how to go about this legally.

Long story short, I cannot find any reference of the original story and the only source I can find in any language is the Italian version, which is called "Il cieco e il ladro" (The Blind Man and the Thief), found at this link: https://player.fm/series/series-2419072/il-cieco-e-il-ladro-una-fiaba-africana-etiopia. Are there any legal restrictions preventing me from translating this into English and having it published in a literary magazine or other work? I am trying to find out as much information as I can about the origins of the story, but all I know is it originated in Ethiopia, possibly in the Aramaic language.

Thank you kindly and I look forward to hearing all of your responses! The fairy tale is quite excellent and, if you can understand the Italian language, I highly recommend listening to it! It is only approximately seven minutes.

Joshua Farley
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Zeineb Nalouti
 
Zeineb Nalouti
Zeineb Nalouti
Tunisia
Local time: 12:29
English to French
+ ...
A good story indeed Aug 25, 2018

IMO, you don't need authorization to translate a fable. It's part of a heritage, no copyright. The story is worth translating anyway

Joshua Farley
 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 19:29
Chinese to English
Is it a variation of this Aesop fable? Aug 27, 2018

https://fablesofaesop.com/the-miser-and-his-gold.html

You don't need authorization to translate something in the public domain, but you do need it to translate someone else's specific version of the story. So it might be better to find some more versions, read several, then develop your own adaptation.


Michele Fauble
Michael Wetzel
Arabic & More
Joshua Farley
 
Joshua Farley
Joshua Farley
United States
Local time: 07:29
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks everybody! Aug 28, 2018

Yes, it does seem like a variation of the Aesop fable, that's interesting! And thank you for your responses everybody, I figured it would be okay to translate since it was in the public domain but I wanted to make sure and even contacted the podcast manager to make sure he was okay with it!

 
Joshua Farley
Joshua Farley
United States
Local time: 07:29
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Here is the translation! Aug 28, 2018

Here is a link to my translation of this wonderful fable if anyone is interested in reading it: https://scrittarte.wordpress.com/2018/08/27/the-blind-man-and-the-thief/

 


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Translating an Unpublished Ethiopian Fairy Tale







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