Fairy tales of the world for Sinhala readers

FICTION: A new series of fairy tales of the world titled as Loka Prasiddha Surangana Katha [Ratna poth prakasakayo 2006], is introduced in a new manner, with quite a lot of illustrations selected from the original sources by Kumari Gunaratne, one of the bilingual writers who had spent most of her time in the translation process, and to her credit once a recipient of the State award for a translation of a socio-psychological text.

As a professional writer and a legal officer, she is seen mostly engaged in the adaptation and/or translation of works for children especially selected from the Aesopian sources, Jataka tales, folklore, parables around the world, and works retold and/or simplified from various classical sources. She has also written a large number of books for children on the life stories of great scientists, explorers, philosophers and other celebrities.

The present series of the three books are specially meant for children, though perhaps the adults may as well enjoy; these are titled Natana Sapattu Saha Tavat Katantara, Rajakiya Rabu Alaya, [a well known folk tale commonly titled as ‘the giant turnip’] and Angale Pancha [this brings to the mind the age old story of the Tom Thumb, the inch-tall dwarf boy].

Gunaratne has selected as visible from the texts Chinese, Japanese and Arabic narrative sources, though the normal tradition is to obtain them from such sources as English, French, Dutch, German, and American sources, and in this direction, a critical reader will observe how the fairy tale has transmigrated to various countries firstly via oral transmission and then via print and other available media.

Original sources

As a reader I would have preferred to have known the original sources and the writer perhaps will note this as a requirement for children as well as the adults in the cultivation of the reading habit beyond the narrow barriers.

The most significant area as revealed in these stories is that the human interest in narrating stories over the years and all around the world has become an art by itself unabated and they have become more and more modern transcending the ethnic linguistic and geographical factors helping the recreators and retellers over the years about the selectivity of their creative communication forms.

Once a fairy tale is narrated by someone in a particular region, the narrative ceases to belong to that particular individual and the region as the source can embrace many a local flavour by way of an interpretation.

This shows simply the inherent and everlasting magical strength in folk creativity. Though some people tend to say that some fairy tales are not quite suitable for children, I have yet to come across any educationist who detests the narrative qualities in fairy tales.

If one were to analyse the thematic content of a fairy tale he will find undoubtedly that there is a certain degree of religious teaching that does not attempt to overshadow the narrative pattern.

The reader may come across poor and rich men and the rich who pay no attention to the poor at needy times are punished by their own conscience and also by super human beings like gods and spirits.

This is one side of the fairy tale as regards the thematic content. Then we come across cruelty being punished by good deeds of those who become victims of those cruel beings.

Realistic experiences

The mere wise sayings over the years like ‘honesty pays’ or ‘from rags to riches’, are recreated via stories, making the sayings become eternal and realistic experiences. The animals and humans are made to talk to each other.

The children are saved from cruelties of adults, which in turn may sound an excellent lesson for the moderns who clamour for the rights of the children. On reading fairy tales, the specialists have often pointed out that the fairy tale belongs to no particular time and place, except perhaps childhood and the nursery.

According to one of the specialists Geoffrey Brereton who had translated the fairy tales of Charles Perrault, the vast body of scholarship which has accumulated round the subject during the past 150 years has produced nothing which conclusively disproves such an opinion as attributing the origin of the fairy tale to a particular author or a particular source.

It is also recorded that the scientific study of folklore had been a result of the study of the fairy tale and that the fairy tale could be regarded as the pioneer effort at the story telling form and technique overlooked by some of our critics of narrative forms like the modern short story and its development over the years.

For the researchers, of the fairy tales gathered from various parts of the world, the most significant revelation is that they are the fragments which remained of the great archetypal myths. I find it apt to quote Brereton, the fairy tale expert on a particular area, which throws light to the study.

He says that ‘for the child, as for the adult, the apparently motiveless actions of fairies, witches, and ogres can be taken to symbolize very exactly the operations of the unconscious. And as such if human nature is the same everywhere the fairy tale will also be the same under its various guises.

Its roots will strike so deep into the human make-up that they will be not only universal but indestructible’ [See Charles Perrault Fairy Tales, a new Translation by Geoffrey Brereton, The penguin Classics, London 1957].

In this manner, the fairy tale could be seen from different points of view and could be utilized to guide society and emanate positive feelings.

I felt that these three books, as well as the galaxy of works compiled over the years locally, inclusive of the wide gamut of Grimm brothers’ tales translated into Sinhala added, could be a starting point for any interested researcher of narratives.

Reading through Kumari Gunaratne’s three flimsy volumes of fairy tales, I felt that these narratives may help the present day teacher to kindle the interest in literature in the minds of the children of all ages by reading them aloud and paving the way for discussion especially on issues such as plots, characters, themes, interpretations via dreams, and fantasies, points of view and the social relevance of the very genre of fairy tales etc.

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Writer on a journey of discovery

Christine - a memoir
Author: Christine Spittel Wilson
Published by Perera Hussein Publishing House
Price: Rs. 690
Available in leading bookshops

MEMOIR: One cannot talk of Christine without drawing in the life and influence of her parents, both of whom were doctors. It was this special couple that brought Christine into the world and nurtured her.

The milieu in which she grew was the Spittel household. That imprint, though in the form of a benign shadow was visible in her personality throughout her life.

I have studied Christine’s work dispassionately after reviewing the second edition of her book “Surgeon in the Wilderness”, and reading her own fascinating life story in her book “Christine”.

There are a few strands which interest me immensely.

The book “Christine” did not just happen. It is about a writer on a journey of exciting discovery; most importantly, a discovery of herself. It is a life which unfolded opportunities to be lived to their fullest. They were accepted graciously and used with sensitivity.

Even tribulations, and there were many, were taken as messages with deep meaning. It is obvious that becoming a writer has meant a lot of hard work. All her writings are very much rooted in her personal experience. This has influenced her literary canvas and given it authenticity.

Secret

What particularly fascinates me is the secret of what moulded Christine to be the writer and person she has become.

Her ancestry from both parents is a blend of European lineage. The first van Dort, Cornelius, came to Zeilan as it was called by the Dutch in 1700 on the ship Bellois.

He was from Utrecht. The Spittels came from Weimar in Saxony. Enriching all this is the French, British and Irish blood which she carries and most of all her supreme devotion to her Scottish husband, Alistair Wilson.

Even with the overwhelming influence of European culture, Christine has gone beyond ethnicity and has been able to find solace wherever she lived. The only time she blinked was when she was marooned in an isolated English public school. Thousands of miles away from your country, your home, and your parents could be traumatic.

About her father’s literary interests Christine writes:

“My father’s obsession with learning had one advantage. Books he believed were the key to knowledge and they became my passion, too. Books were to become for me the foundation of all I was to be; they were the panacea for my mother’s grief. The storehouse of knowledge for my father’s skill as a surgeon, writer, anthropologist and lecturer”.

Enormous love

What is special about her writings is the enormous love for this country that is reflected in her work. A quotation which shows her love of Sri Lanka is one which surfaced when she asked herself and Alistair, whether they should return to Sri Lanka from Africa where they had lived for 21 years.

She articulated a message which she felt her father would have given her, if he were alive: “...remember wherever you’ve been, whatever you do, there are halls of gold in our island. Remember the vast cave in our forests, large enough to house a cohort of soldiers, and inscribed with the ancient Pali words, “to Tissa beloved of the Gods”.

Wild ponies

Delft Island, with wild ponies galloping with wind-tossed manes. Caves, then unexplored, which you climbed over rocks and creepers to see? You, who have been blessed to see more than most people, how can you turn your back on what is your heritage, and part too, of Alistair’s, now?”

How wonderful that we have them both here today! This book has reinforced my own love and commitment for this country. It has once again reminded me of the “Halls of Gold”.

The other message of this life-story is Christine’s love for Alistair. She dedicates a poem to him and says that she saw “life’s meaning in each other’s eyes”.

Thank you, Christine for this book. Thank you for your inspiration.

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Rattaran Amma

CHILDREN: Srimath Indrajith Liyanage’s latest book Rattaran Amma is the story of a village boy Sunil who is disobedient to his parents. He associates with undesirable characters and becomes an anti-social element.

However, a real transformation of his character takes place when Sunil meets the chief monk in the village temple.

After listening to the monk’s stories Sunil becomes a law abiding boy and becomes a good student.

The book is ideal for beginners who like to read illustrated stories with a moral behind them - RSK.

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Perani Lakdiva Vastrabharana

LAUNCH: Malinga Amarasinghe’s latest book entitled Perani Lakdiva Vastrabharana will be launched at the Dayawansa Jayakody Book Exhibition Hall, Colombo 10 on February 13 at 10 a.m. The book is a Dayawansa Jayakody Publication.

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