text:
Flemish Tapestries: On Don Quixote in English

Rendered into some fifty languages (there are approximately five thousand languages in the world today), El Quijote is one of the most translated novels in history. Its length probably hinders it from translation to some extent, or it would surely surpass classics such as Alice in Wonderland (ninety-seven languages), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (sixty-five), Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (fifty), and popular fiction like Paolo Coelho’s The Alchemist and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter saga (both sixty-seven). (Unsurprisingly, in terms of the number of translations into which a book has been rendered, the Bible is the undisputed winner.)

Spanish, of course, was Cervantes’s mother tongue. But, as previously mentioned, he lived temporarily in Naples, Italy, where he was stationed in the Infantería de Marina. And, on his way back to Spain, he was captured with his brother in the Mediterranean Sea and held captive in Algiers. He might at least have been acquainted with Italian and Arabic and was maybe even fluent in those languages. As a member of the intellectual elite of his time, he also knew some basic Latin. Unquestionably, Cervantes’s existential sojourns and his lifelong learning sensitized him to the nuances of language.

This, and the folklore around Cide Hamete Benengeli’s lost palimpsest, explains why El Quijote is built as a celebration not only of the act of reading but also of translation. The novel mentions authors like Cicero, Horace, and Torquato Tasso, as well as the works of Aristotle and La Chanson de Roland (circa 1040). And, of course, Don Quixote’s entire journey is based on his compulsive reading of chivalry novels by Amadis of Gaul and Tirant lo Blanc, among others, all of which were translated into Spanish from French, Italian, Portuguese, and Catalan, not to mention Latin.

In addition to the commentary surrounding the translator of Benengeli’s work, translation becomes a topic of discussion in the novel’s Second Part, chapter LXII, as Don Quixote and Sancho reach Barcelona. Their wanderings finally take them to the print shop, the equivalent of a modern bookstore where authors and translators gather, as well as a place equipped with machines to print books. The two end up speaking there with a translator (from the Italian into the Spanish):

“I would venture to swear,” said Don Quixote, “that your worship is not known in the world, which always begrudges their reward to rare wits and praiseworthy labours. What talents lie wasted there! What genius thrust away into corners! What worth left neglected! Still it seems to me that translation from one language into another, if it be not from the queens of languages, the Greek and the Latin, is like looking at Flemish tapestries on the wrong side; for though the figures are visible, they are full of threads that make them indistinct, and they do not show with the smoothness and brightness of the right side; and translation from easy languages argues neither ingenuity nor command of words, any more than transcribing or copying out one document from another. But I do not mean by this to draw the inference that no credit is to be allowed for the work of translating, for a man may employ himself in ways worse and less profitable to himself. This estimate does not include two famous translators, Doctor Cristobal de Figueroa, in his Pastor Fido, and Don Juan de Jauregui, in his Aminta, wherein by their felicity they leave it in doubt which is the translation and which the original. But tell me, are you printing this book at your own risk, or have you sold the copyright to some bookseller?”

“Like looking at Flemish tapestries on the wrong side.” In Don Quixote’s view, translation diminishes rather than expounds meaning; instead of bringing light and clarity to a text, it darkens, it obfuscates. This is a rather pessimistic view for a book like El Quijote, which purports to be a translation—and a rather impromptu one, made by a morisco aljamiado—from the Arabic and which, ironically, has been accessed by the vast majority of its own readers in a language other than its original Spanish. Could it be that countless readers have only appreciated it from the wrong side?

The translators of El Quijote have been a rather motley gang. Officially, English isn’t the first language into which Cervantes’s novel was translated. César Oudin rendered the novella The Ill-Conceived Curiosity, featured in the First Part of El Quijote, into French in 1608, three years after it appeared in the original. Six years later, Oudin himself would translate the entire First Part. He followed it with a translation of the Second Part—thus completing a translation of the entire novel—in 1618.

France is notorious for having produced one of the most fraudulent of all translations, a truncated rendition by François Filleau de Saint-Martin. It was published in four volumes in 1677 under the title Histoire de l’admirable Don Quichotte de la Manche. Filleau de Saint-Martin deliberately sent the book to the printer without the last chapter because—mirabile dictum—he himself dreamed of writing a third part, composed of completely new adventures of the knight-errant and his squire, and maybe even a fourth.

Indeed, once his work as a translator was finished, Filleau de Saint-Martin wrote—in French—a version in which Don Quixote regains his use of reason and anoints his squire Sancho Panza a knight. Then, the couple sets out to continue their quest to mend the world. The sequence of events becomes muddy, not only in terms of the action but also because of the choice of narrative voice. One of their rendezvous is retold by a French dame and includes among its protagonists two more women, Silvia and Sainville.

Italians have a saying, tradutore, tradittore, meaning all translators are traitors. Rather than perceiving his task as simply bringing a text from the original to the target language, the French translator understood it more creatively, to the point of competing with Cervantes, or at least completing what in his view Cervantes had left unfinished. In any case, ironically, the French translator died before coming to the end of the sequel, which was then finished by Robert Challe, his pupil and a renowned literary figure at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century. At the end of the story, Don Quixote dies after drinking water from a well he believed to be the Fountain of Forgetting.

At any rate, there are more translations of El Quijote into English than into any other language. In fact, other than the Bible, no book has been translated into Shakespeare’s tongue as often. Here is the list of English translators, with the date of publication of their work in parenthesis:

Thomas Shelton (1612)

John Phillips (1687)

Peter Anthony Motteux (1700–1703)

John Stevens (1700)

Charles Jervas (1742)

Tobias Smollett (1755)

George Kelley (1769)

T. T. Shore (1864)

Alexander J. Duffield (1881)

John Ormsby (1885)

Henry Edward Watts (1888)

Robinson Smith (1910)

Samuel Putnam (1949)

J. M. Cohen (1950)

Walter Starkie (1954)

Burton Raffel (1995)

John Rutherford (2000)

Edith Grossman (2003)

Tom Lathrop (2005)

James H. Montgomery (2009)

In the face of such plentitude, the question arises: what language is richer in quixotic endeavors, Spanish or English? Spanish obviously owns the one and only sacred text. And its very sacredness deems it inalterable. For Cervantistas, changing even a dot or a conjugation in El Quijote is anathema. Attempts at modernizing it are often met with controversy. In English, on the other hand, the permutations are infinite. Each translator gives free range to his or her talent, creating a narrative that is also defined by the way the language is used in that particular historical moment.

I once set myself the task, during one full year, of reading all English translations available to that point. It was a fascinating (if also exhausting) undertaking. In doing so, one witnesses the changes of the English language through time, from its Elizabethan variety in the early seventeenth century to the one we use today, four hundred years later. The linguistic transformation becomes obvious against this historical procession: spelling and conjugations have changed; verb choices are different; and while articles and pronouns appear to be the most stable, they too have undergone a change in function.

Four of the English translators are American; the rest are British. One was a mailman; another was a painter. Several were professors. A number of them, including J. M. Cohen and Burton Raffel, were specialists in European languages, rendering into English works by Horace, Columbus, Montaigne, Teresa de Ávila, Rabelais, and Pasternak, as well as the Nibelungenlied. Walter Starkie, an Irish Hispanist who taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, knew Romany, the language of the gypsies, and was an authority on them. He was a worldwide traveler (Time magazine, in a profile, described him as a modern-day gypsy). His godfather was John Pentland Mahaffy, Oscar Wilde’s tutor.

More than one rendition reads as a hodgepodge of earlier translations into English, although only one translator gets the credit. And, in what seems like a hoax worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster movie, it is often repeated that one of the translators didn’t speak a single word of Spanish. But I should start at the beginning. About Thomas Shelton, the first on the list—the trendsetter—little is known. It appears that he was a personal letter carrier in London. He also served as a mailman in Dublin for the improbably named Sir William FitzWilliam, an English official in Ireland in the late sixteenth century. Later on, he was employed by Thomas Howard, who was the Earl of Walden, later Earl of Suffolk. Nothing remains of his work as a translator except his rendition of El Quijote, entitled The Historie of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-Errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha. Shelton completed the translation of the First Part in 1607 but didn’t publish it—perhaps because he struggled to find a printer to bring it out—until 1612. He didn’t use the Spanish original, published by Juan de la Cuesta, as his source. Instead, Shelton had in front of him the pirated edition of the Spanish one made in Brussels in 1607. For the Second Part, he did use the legitimate Madrid edition. His translation appeared in 1620.

In the dedication to the First Part—to his patron, the Earl of Suffolk—he states that he “translated some five or six yeares agoe, The Historie of Don-Quixote, out of the Spanish tongue, into the English . . . in the space of forty daies: being therunto more than half enforced, through the importunitie of a very deere friend, that was desirous to understand the subject.” It is known that Shelton approached the king of Spain on his patron’s behalf and that the patron’s wife, Catherine, Lady Suffolk, received an annual payment of one thousand pounds a year from the Spanish royals, although it is unclear why. Suspicions abound that Shelton and Lady Suffolk were involved in espionage. There is speculation as well that on his trips to Madrid, Shelton met Cervantes, but none of these hypotheses have been proved true.

Needless to say, forty days seems like a record—even impossible—time frame for such an ambitious endeavor, considering that the original (the First Part only) has a length of roughly 180,000 words. There is debate over whether Shelton was indeed the translator of the First Part, since stylistically the translations of the two parts are different. Among those questioning the second effort are Alexander J. Duffield, who himself translated the novel in 1881. (His own rendition is largely forgotten.)

Since Shelton’s version uses Tudor English, it is seldom read now, although it remains in print. It was quite popular for at least 150 years, serving as the model against which to compete. James Fitzmaurice-Kelly, an early-twentieth-century British scholar of Spanish literature, Cervantes biographer, and fellow of the British Academy, as well as a member of the Real Academia Española, prepared an edition of the Shelton version in 1890. He considered him to be “Lord of the golden Elizabethan speech.” Shelton, Fitzmaurice-Kelly stated, “manifests himself an exquisite in the noble style, an expert in the familiar and with such effect as no man has matched in England.”

Successive translators have been less generous with Shelton. This is understandable: to pitch the making of a new translation, not only to a potential publisher but also to a readership interested in fresh new versions, many translators begin by discrediting previous translations. Since Shelton is the first in line, he receives the toughest blows. Take Charles Jervas, a popular Irish portrait painter (his portraits of Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope hang in London’s National Portrait Gallery), whose translation of El Quijote was published posthumously in 1742, three years after his death. His translation misspelled his name on the title page as “Jarvis,” a typo that stuck forever. As it happens, the “Jarvis version” was the most popular in eighteenth-century England. In his preface, Jarvis accuses Shelton of translating not from the original but from the Italian rendition by Lorenzo Franciosini. Yet Franciosini’s translation was not published until 1622, two years after Shelton released his own version of the Second Part.

Undeterred, Jarvis makes the following case:

In the ninth chapter of the third book of the first part, Sancho’s ass is stolen by Gines de Passamonte, while Sancho is asleep; and presently after, the author mounts him again in a very remarkable manner, sideways like a woman, a la mugeriega. This story being but imperfectly told, Franciosini took it for a gross oversight: he therefore alters it, indeed a little unhappily; for, in defect of the ass, he is forced to put Sancho’s wallets and provender upon Rozinante, thought the wallets were stopt before by the inn-keeper, in the third chapter of the third book. This blundering amendment of the translator is literally followed by Shelton.

Again, in pursuance of this, Franciosini alters another passage in the eleventh chapter of the same book. Sancho says to his master, who had enjoined him absolute silence: If beasts could speak as they did in the days of Guisopete (I suppose he means Aesop) my case would not be quite so bad; for then I might commune with my ass, and say what I pleased to him. Here the Italian makes him “Commune with Rozinante”; and Shelton follows him with this addition, “Since my niggardly fortune has deprived me of my ass.”

Further along, Jarvis wonders if Cervantes made the mistake in order to make readers (including translators) stumble foolishly:

But what if Cervantes made this seeming slip on purpose for a bait to tempt his minor criticks; in the same manner as, in another place, he makes the princess of Micomicon land at Ossuna, which is no sea-port? As by that he introduced a fine piece of satire on an eminent Spanish historian of his time, who had described it as such in his history; so by this he might only take occasion to reflect on a parallel incident in Ariosto, where Brunelo, at the siege of Albraca, steals the horse from between the legs of Sacripante king of Circassia. It is the very defense he makes for it, in the fourth chapter of the second part, where, by the way, both the Italian and old English translators have preserved the excuse, though by their altering the text they have taken away the occasion of it.

In truth, it was the Italian translator Franciosini who consulted Shelton. But this wouldn’t have deterred Jarvis from discrediting his predecessors.

Taking a somewhat different approach is John Ormsby, a professional British translator who worked in the second half of the nineteenth century. In his long introduction, he discusses at length various early translation efforts. He simultaneously praises and attacks Shelton. On the one hand, he writes, “His fine old crusted English would, no doubt, be relished by a minority, but it would be only by a minority. His warmest admirers must admit that he is not a satisfactory representative of Cervantes. His translation of the First Part was very hastily made and was never revised by him. It has all the freshness and vigor, but a full measure of the faults, of a hasty production. It is often very literal—barbarously literal frequently—but just as often very loose. He had evidently a good colloquial knowledge of Spanish, but apparently not much more. It never seems to occur to him that the same translation of a word will not suit in every case.”

On the other hand, Ormsby sees Shelton for what he is: the first. That is, he inaugurated a tradition. He writes that Shelton “had the inestimable advantage of belonging to the same generation as Cervantes; Don Quixote had to him a vitality that only a contemporary could feel; it cost him no dramatic effort to see things as Cervantes saw them; there is no anachronism in his language; he put the Spanish of Cervantes into the English of Shakespeare.” The last statement is remarkable. It grants us an opportunity to meditate on various approaches to a classic. For Shelton, El Quijote was a popular contemporary book. Yet for Ormsby, as well as for anyone sufficiently distanced from the original publications in 1605 and 1615, it is a historical artifact. A translator of a contemporary work moves from one linguistic present to another. Ormsby, on the other hand, needed to travel from the past (early-seventeenth-century Spanish) to his present (late-nineteenth-century English). He needed to make his own reader feel Cervantes’s time without re-creating Shakespeare’s language. All this invites these questions: Could someone today produce a historical translation into English of El Quijote? Would it read like Shelton’s version, which Ormsby calls “a racy old version,” one that “with all its defects, has a charm that no modern translation, however skillful or correct, could possess?"

Shelton, in any case, is not the only guinea pig. Another member of the gang, Peter Anthony Motteux, also called Pierre Antoine Motteux, famous for delivering El Quijote with a Cockney accent, is also a favorite target. His translation, released in four volumes starting in 1700, is probably the most frequently reprinted, often in revised form. This is bizarre, given how untrustworthy it is. Worse even, it does not appear to have been really his.

Again, biographical information on Motteux is scarce. A playwright, editor (he was in charge of The Gentleman’s Journal between 1692 and 1694), and translator, he completed Thomas Urquhart’s translation of Gargantua and Pantagruel. Motteux was born in Normandy. That is, French was his first tongue. He arrived in England in 1685, at the age of twenty-two. Fifteen years later, he published The History of the Ingenious Gentleman, Don Quixote of La Mancha. Can a person only a decade and a half into a life in a new language convey the nuances of a foreign literary text in his adopted tongue?

Motteux seems to have consulted the Spanish editions. He also had at his side the English versions by Shelton and John Phillips, the latter a nephew of John Milton and another translator of scores of French books as well as El Quijote. In addition, Motteux used several versions of El Quijote in French and Italian. The use of these variants enabled him to contrast different approaches. Given all this information, the statement on the cover of Motteux’s rendition is mind-blowing: “translated from the original by several hands.” It provokes numerous questions: Did he hire others to do the job? How was his army of translators composed? Did they know each other? Did they collaborate? What kind of editing was done to homogenize the material? By whom? Or was he simply giving credit to the many sources he had consulted? History doesn’t offer an answer to these questions.

Samuel Putnam, an American translator, called Phillip’s rendition “the worst ever made,” one that “cannot even be called a translation.” Ormsby agreed:

Anyone who compares it carefully with the original will have little doubt that it is a concoction from Shelton and the French of Filleau de Saint Martin, eked out by borrowings from Phillips, whose mode of treatment it adopts. It is, to be sure, more decent and decorous, but it treats “Don Quixote” in the same fashion as a comic book that cannot be made too comic.

What is unquestionable is that the work feels discombobulated. Using sly irony, it often makes fun of the knight-errant and his squire. It is condescending, not to say demeaning. His portraiture of women verges on the obscene. And the translation displays some Cockney jargon. This is the beginning of the First Part, chapter XVI, which takes place as the knight-errant, beaten up, arrives with his squire at the inn. Motteux’s women come to the fore:

The innkeeper, seeing Don Quixote lying quite athwart the ass, asked Sancho what ailed him. Sancho answered, it was nothing, only his master had got a fall from the top of a rock to the bottom, and he bruised his sides a little. The innkeeper had a wife very different from the common sort of hostesses, for she was a charitable nature, and very compassionate of her neighbor’s affliction: which made her immediately take care of Don Quixote, and call her daughter (a good handsome girl) to set her helping hand to his cure. One of the servants in the inn was an Asturian wrench, a broadfaced, flat-handed, saddle-nosed dowry, blind of one eye, and the other almost out. However, the activity of her body supplied all other defects. She was not above three feet high from her heels to her head; and her shoulders, which somewhat loaded her, as having too much flesh upon them, made her look downwards oftener than she could have wished. This charming original likewise assisted the mistress and the daughter; and, with the latter, helped to make the Knight’s bed, and a sorry one it was; the room where it stood was an old gambling cock-loft, which by manifold signs seemed to have been, in the days of yore, a repository of chopped straw.

Ormsby is right: to improve the humor of El Quijote by “an infusion of cockney flippancy and facetiousness, as Motteux’s operators did, is not merely an impertinence like larding a sirloin of prize beef, but an absolute falsification of the spirit of the book, and it is a proof of the uncritical way in which ‘Don Quixote’ is generally read that this worse than worthless translation—worthless as failing to represent, worse than worthless as misrepresenting—should have been favoured as it has been.”

Obviously, as the rowdy gang of English translators of Cervantes became more professionalized, their disapproval of previous renditions was exacerbated. The lack of rigor drove some of them nuts.

Despite its flaws, Motteux’s translation made El Quijote extraordinarily popular in eighteenth-century London. For instance, Samuel Johnson, ever a hero of mine, once stated, “Was there ever yet anything written by mere man that was wished longer by its readers, excepting Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, and The Pilgrim’s Progress?” And Lord Byron was a devout admirer of El Quijote (as well as of Ariosto’s Orlando furioso [1516]), and either made reference or else borrowed from it profusely. For instance, Byron discussed Cervantes in Don Juan, canto XIII, stanzas 8 to 11:

I should be very willing to redress

Men’s wrongs, and rather check than punish crimes,

Had not Cervantes, in that too true tale

Of Quixote, shown how all such efforts fail.

Of all tales ’t is the saddest—and more sad,

Because it makes us smile: his hero’s right,

And still pursues the right;—to curb the bad

His only object, and ’gainst odds to fight

His guerdon: ’t is his virtue makes him mad!

But his adventures form a sorry sight;—

A sorrier still is the great moral taught

By that real Epic unto all who have thought

Redressing injury, revenging wrong,

To aid the damsel and destroy the caitiff;

Opposing singly the united strong,

From foreign yoke to free the helpless native:—

Alas! must noblest views, like an old song,

Be for mere Fancy’s sport a theme creative,

A jest, a riddle, Fame through thin and thick sought!

And Socrates himself but Wisdom’s Quixote?

Cervantes smiled Spain’s chivalry away;

A single laugh demolished the right arm

Of his own country;—seldom since that day

Has Spain had heroes. While Romance could charm,

The World gave ground before her bright array;

And therefore have his volumes done such harm,

That all their glory, as a composition,

Was dearly purchased by his land’s perdition.

While Byron saw the book as the end of an era, others among his contemporaries saw in it the beginning of a new one, full of possibility. By mid-century, Charlotte Lennox fashioned a woman’s adaptation called The Female Quixote: or, The Adventures of Arabella (1752), which to some is a defining text in the history of the British novel. The heroine is an insatiable reader of French romance novels who loses the sense of the world by believing her life must be defined by adventure, at one point even throwing herself into the Thames in order to escape some horsemen she is sure are haunting her. She speaks of fiction as “more true” than reality. Ultimately, she gives up her quixotic dreams when she agrees to marry her cousin.

In what is perhaps the highest tribute, Laurence Sterne, known as the father of experimental fiction, modeled the character of Uncle Toby in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759) after Cervantes’s knight-errant. As a whole, Sterne’s novel is an embrace of the aesthetic affinities of El Quijote: a humorous, self-referential narrative that is concerned with poetry and philosophical questions about life in general (John Locke and the Metaphysical poets are constantly being invoked), all while the reader is being reminded, time and again, that fiction is a conceit, an artifice—not an escape from reality but an anchor in it.

The connection between Cervantes and Sterne, who read El Quijote in Motteux’s rendition, has been eloquently explored by Milan Kundera. In his essay “The Depreciated Legacy of Cervantes” (part of The Art of the Novel [1986]), he writes that Sterne is playful, just like Cervantes, in that he poses lasting philosophical questions while recognizing that philosophy no longer has the answer and that literature—the novel as a literary genre, in particular—is an artifact where ambiguity and the lack of certainty are offered as more suitable answers to the sensibility of modern readers. That, in his view, is how Sterne assimilates Cervantes’s legacy—that is, he recognizes that the world doesn’t have “a single absolute truth but a welter of contradictory truths (truths embodied in imaginary selves called characters).” With the popularity of Motteux’s version, and as a result of the desire of other translators to improve on his discombobulated narrative, El Quijote was rendered into English a total of four times in the same century. The most controversial of these translations was by Tobias Smollett, the celebrated Scottish author of such novels as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748). Though Carlos Fuentes naively called the Smollett version “the homage of a novelist to a novelist,” it has been marred by accusations of impostorship since its release in 1755.

In the translator’s note written in the third person, Smollett claims his aim was to maintain that “ludicrous solemnity and self-importance by which the inimitable Cervantes has distinguished the character of Don Quixote, without raising him to the insipid rank of a dry philosopher, or debasing him to the melancholy circumstances and unentertaining caprice of an ordinary madman; and to preserve the native humor of Sancho, from degenerating into mere proverbial phlegm, or affected buffoonery.” Smollett adds that the translation “endeavored to retain the spirit and ideas, without servilely adhering to the literal expression, of the original; from which, however, he has not so far deviated, as to destroy the formality of idiom, so peculiar to the Spaniards, and so essential to the character of the work.”

That last remark might have been an act of defense avant la lettre. In an evasive, unsigned review (by Ralph Griffiths) of Smollett’s translation that appeared in The Monthly Review in September 1755, Griffiths quietly yet insistently compares the Jarvis and Smollett translations. That he offers no strong opinion on this matter is bizarre since the primary accusation targeted at Smollett is that he copied Jarvis’s work without attribution. Perhaps the reviewer was Smollett’s friend, or at the very least his acquaintance. There could have been some sense of debt involved. In any case, successive critics have gone further.

The scholar Carmine Rocco Linsalata of Stanford University devoted an entire 1956 study to what he calls “the hoax.” In his view, Smollett’s translation “is a gem in the realm of fraudulent acts.” Analyzing parallel passages from Cervantes, Jarvis, and Smollett, he finds them strikingly similar, if not identical. Second, he compares Smollett to several other previous translators: Shelton, Phillips, Motteux, and Stevens. And, crucially, he spots numerous mistranslations of numbers by Smollett that, damningly, were also mistranslated previously, such as, in the First Part, chapter X, cuatro o cinco becoming “three or four,” and in chapter VIII, los primeros días emerging as “the first two days”; and in the Second Part, chapter II, docientas resulting in “a thousand,” and in XX, dos becoming “a dozen.” She uncovers the fact that other arbitrary translations and errors committed by Jarvis were repeated by Smollett, and that Smollett copied Jarvis’s footnotes.

Smollett certainly had Jarvis’s translation before him. As Rocco Linsalata argued, Smollett plagiarized, paraphrased, rewrote, and inverted Jarvis’s translation. This, he believed, is done consistently except in the last three chapters of the First Part. Rocco Linsalata doubted that Smollett even knew Spanish. Since all sorts of strategies are in play, he concluded that the work is not that of a single man but a group. Several Smollett biographers share this view. The members of the novelist’s hack school (a practice, by the way, not more common then than it is today) did their job, depending on the biographer, sometime between 1752 and 1763. Why would Smollett engage in such a hoax? With the critical and commercial acclaim following Roderick Random in 1748, he was financially stable. Perhaps, since his name would certainly sell books, a hungry publisher approached him to retranslate El Quijote.

On a happier note, the club of English translators finally included a woman—and an American to boot—in 2003: Edith Grossman. Prior to rendering El Quijote in English, Grossman was known as a professional translator of celebrated Latin American works, including Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera; Álvaro Mutis’s Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll; a couple of novels by Mario Vargas Llosa, including The Feast of the Goat; and Mayra Montero’s books/novels, among them The Last Night I Spent with You. But she had also translated novels by Spanish baroque authors like Julián Ríos. And she had worked on Spanish Golden Age poetry, rendering in English the poems of Lope de Vega, Góngora, and Quevedo, among others.

In interviews, Grossman has said that she began her effort in February 2001, using Martin de Riquer’s edition of 1955, which is based on the first printing of the book and includes discussions of problematic words that emerge from English, French, and Italian translations. This allowed her to have the tradition of El Quijote across European languages at her fingertips.

Intriguingly, no recent rendition into English has generated as many accolades as Grossman’s. It has been enthusiastically embraced by readers, but it has also been attacked by some Cervantistas. Is it because she is female? Or because her inclination is to modernize, to bring the seventeenth-century narrative into the present? One reviewer of her rendition wondered, in an aside, if women read books differently than men. If so, it follows that male and female translators approach a text in divergent fashion. Still, while her approach scandalized the most puritanical of Cervantes scholars who took exception with her overall approach, it pleased a large audience, turning the book into an unexpected best seller. Harold Bloom wrote in his introduction to her translation that “the vitality of [Don Quixote and Sancho’s] characterization is more clearly rendered than ever before.” Carlos Fuentes called it “a major literary achievement.”

Grossman’s decisively modern, unadorned style makes the knight-errant’s monologues feel crisp and immediate. Her implicit argument for translating in this way was that during Cervantes’s own time, his text was neither archaic nor quaint. Instead, he wrote freshly, with an updated verbal reservoir. That is, he was modern before modernity even arrived. So there is no need to make his effort anachronistic, even if, for my taste, “Senor Knight” sounds too streetwise.

Comparing various translations of Don Quixote demonstrates not only the evolution of the English language but also the different choices and liberties our group of translators have taken with the text. I have chosen a segment from the Second Part, chapter XVII, in which Don Quixote faces a cage full of lions, the scene where he utters the famous line “¿Leoncitos a mí? ¿A mí leoncitos y a tales horas?” in which the knight-errant displays the type of male bravado I mentioned in the previous section, or a critique of it:

Miguel de Cervantes (1615):

A lo que dijo don Quijote, sonriéndose un poco:

—¿Leoncitos a mí? ¿A mí leoncitos y a tales horas? Pues ¡por Dios que han de ser esos señores que acá los envían si soy yo hombre que se espanta de leones! Apeaos, buen hombre, y pues sois el leonero, abrid esas jaulas y echadme esas bestias fuera, que en mitad desta campaña les daré a conocer quién es don Quijote de la Mancha, a despecho y pesar de los encantadores que a mí los envían.

Thomas Shelton (1620):

To which quoth Don Quixote, smiling a little, “Your lion whelps to me? to me your lion whelps? and at this time of day? Well, I vow to God, your General that sends ’em this way shall know whether I be one that am afraid of lions. Alight, honest fellow, and, if you be the keeper, open their cages, and let me your beasts forth; for I’ll make ’em know, in the midst of this champian, who Don Quixote is, in spite of those enchanters that sent ’em.”

Peter Anthony Motteux (1700–1703):

What! Said Don Quixote, with a scornful Smile, Lion-Whelps against Me! Against Me those puny Beasts! And at this time of Day! Well, I’ll make those Gentlemen that sent their Lions this Way, know whether I am a Man to be scar’d with Lions. Get off, honest Fellow; and since you are the Keeper, open their Cages, and let ’em both out; for maugre and in despite of those Inchanters that have sent ’em to try me, I’ll make the Creatures know in the midst of this very Field, who Don Quixote de la Mancha is.

Charles Jarvis (1742):

At which Don Quixote, smiling a little, said, “To me your lion-whelps! your lion-whelps to me! and at this time of the day! By the living God, those who sent them hither shall see whether I am a man to be scared by lions! Alight, honest friend; and, since you are their keeper, open the cages, and turn out those beasts; for in the midst of this field will I make them know who Don Quixote de la Mancha is, in spite of the enchanters that sent them to me.”

Tobias Smollett (1755):

To which intreaty, Don Quixote answer’d with half a smile, “What are your lion whelps to me, and at this time of day too! Are lion whelps brought against me! I’ll make those who sent them hither, yes—by the holy God! I’ll make them see whether I am a man to be scared by lions. Come, honest man, get off, and as you are their keeper, open the cages and turn them out; for, in the midst of this plain, will I make the savage beasts of the wilderness know who Don Quixote de la Mancha is, in defiance of the inchanters who have sent them against me.”

John Ormsby (1885):

Hereupon, smiling slightly, Don Quixote exclaimed, “Lion-whelps to me! to me whelps of lions, and at such a time! Then, by God! those gentlemen who send them here shall see if I am a man to be frightened by lions. Get down, my good fellow, and as you are the keeper open the cages, and turn me out those beasts, and in the midst of this plain I will let them know who Don Quixote of La Mancha is, in spite and in the teeth of the enchanters who send them to me.”

Samuel Putnam (1949):

“Lion whelps against me?” said Don Quixote with a slight smile. “Lion whelps against me? And at such an hour? Then, by god, those gentlemen who sent them shall see whether I am the man to be frightened by lions. Get down, my good fellow, and since you are the lionkeeper, open the cages and turn those beasts out for me; and in the middle of this plain I will teach them who Don Quixote de la Mancha is, notwithstanding and in spite of the enchanters who are responsible for their being here.”

J. M. Cohen (1961):

To which Don Quixote replied with a slight smile: “Lion cubs to me? To me lion cubs, and at this time of day? Then I swear to God the gentlemen who have sent them here shall see if I am a man not to be frightened by lions. Get down, my good fellow, and if you are the lion-keeper, open these cages and turn out these beasts for me. For in the middle of this field I will teach them who Don Quixote de la Mancha is, in despite and defiance of the enchanters who have sent them to me.”

Burton Raffel (1999):

Don Quijote smiled faintly.

“Lion cubs against me? Against me—lion cubs? And right when they’re hungry? Well, we’re going to show the gentlemen who sent them here whether I’m the man to worry about a couple of lions! Out of your cart, you, and since you’re the lion keeper, open those cages and let these animals come out against me, and right here in the middle of this meadow I’ll let them know just who Don Quijote de La Mancha is, and the devil with all the enchanters who sent them here after me.”

John Rutherford (2000):

To which Don Quixote said with a smile:

“Lion-whelps now, is it? Is it now lion-whelps, and at this time of day? Well, by God, those fellows sending them here will soon see whether I’m the sort to be afraid of lions! Climb down, my good man and, since you’re their innkeeper, open these crates and turn the animals out: here, in the middle of this field, I will show them what sort of a man Don Quixote de la Mancha is, in spite of all the enchanters who have sent them after me.”

Edith Grossman (2003):

To which Don Quixote, smiling slightly, said:

“You talk of lions to me? To me you speak of these little lions, and at this hour? Well, by God, those gentlemen who sent them here will see if I am a man who is frightened by lions! Get down, my good man, and since you are the lion keeper, open those cages and bring out those beasts, for in the middle of these fields I shall let them know who Don Quixote de La Mancha is, in spite and in defiance of the enchanters who have sent them to me.”

Tom Lathrop (2005):

To which don Quixote said with half a smile: “Little lions for me? For me, little lions, and at this time of day? Well, by God, those men who sent them to me will see if I’m a man to be frightened by lions or not. Get down, my good man, and since you’re the lion keeper, open those cages and send those beasts out—for in the middle of this field I’ll show them who don Quixote de La Mancha is, in spite of all the enchanters who have sent them to me.”

James H. Montgomery (2009):

To which Don Quixote responded with a slight smile:

“Tiny little lions against me? Against me, Don Quixote? And at such hour? Well, by heavens, those gentlemen who have sent them here shall see whether I am a person who fears lions! My good man, since you are the lionkeeper, kindly dismount, open those cages, and release those beasts, for in the middle of this field I shall show them who Don Quixote de La Mancha is despite all the enchanters who may have sent them here.”

One sees in these excerpts the gorgeous evolution the English language has undergone over a period of four hundred years. The dashes present at the beginning disappear as versions come closer to our time. Motteux resorts to an archaic and arbitrary use of uppercase letters that became normalized by the mid-twentieth century. Then come the divergent choices. Motteux describes the lions as “Lion-Whelps,” whereas Grossman calls them “little lions.”

More worrisome—or, depending on how one sees it, perhaps more commendable—are the cases of outright interpretation. Putnam, following Shelton, says, “Lion whelps against me?” the preposition against highlighting the threat of the encounter. Rutherford eliminates the emphasis by simply stating, “Lion whelps now, is it?” In this he follows Jarvis, who writes, “To me your lion-whelps!” Smollett modifies Jarvis by announcing, “What are your lion whelps to me, and at this time of day too!”

Whatever opinion one might have about a translator’s right—that is, freedom—to interpret, all of these translations are remarkably similar. It can’t be otherwise: the task of bringing a text from the source language to the target one allows for some flexibility, but it also has its limits. Translators are working with similar tools applied to the same raw material. Earlier on, I described Smollett as a plagiarist, since in my mind the evidence proves he did not perform the task of translation on his own. But perhaps it is true that all the renditions I have quoted might be described thus.

Less inflammatory and no doubt more pertinent is the question of why all these twenty-plus translations exist, notwithstanding the fact that some are out of print. Once a classic enters the public domain, any publisher is able to capitalize on its enduring bankability. Meanwhile, society changes in its tastes, and language continues to evolve. New renditions are needed because new generations of readers want to access the classic in their own terms, that is, in their own language. And publishers want to continue making profits.

Yet El Quijote has not been translated into French this many times, or into any other language for that matter. There is, it seems to me, a unique obsession with the novel in the English-speaking world. This linguistic habitat has constantly made room for it. There is also the fact that English is the lingua franca of today, as Latin was during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. There are more non-native English-language speakers in the world now than non-native speakers of any other language, making English a global language, nurtured by all sorts of influences and influencing a whole array of cultures. For that reason, the United States and Britain export more translations than do the economically advanced countries in other linguistic habitats, say Germany, France, and even Spain.

Cervantes’s novel is the most translated novel into English because English speakers have identified it as a cornerstone of Western civilization; because they are drawn to it as a source of nourishment for the idealism ingrained in human nature; and because it is an open-ended classic that allows—nay, invites—for multiple interpretations.

From Quixote: The Novel and the World, published this month by W.W. Norton. © Ilan Stavans. By arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Truncated: length

WARC-Type: response

text:
Skip to definition.
Get the FREE one-click dictionary software for Windows or the iPhone/iPad and Android apps

Noun: sycamore fig
  1. Thick-branched wide-spreading tree of Africa and adjacent southwestern Asia often buttressed with branches rising from near the ground; produces cluster of edible but inferior figs on short leafless twigs; the biblical sycamore
    - sycamore, mulberry fig, Ficus sycomorus

Derived forms: sycamore figs

Type of: fig tree

Part of: Ficus, genus Ficus

Encyclopedia: Sycamore fig

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-171-96-226.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2015-35
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for August 2015
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


text:
Get Up, Stand Up: Workers on Notice to Re-energize With Movement

Workplace program pushes people to leave their desk and walk around for one to two minutes every 25 to 30 minutes.

January 15, 2013

With a new year there often comes a renewed focus at work. But how can people maintain that focus and energy throughout the year?

Perhaps the answer is in "strategic movement," a workplace engagement tool advocated by Jack Groppel, co-founder of the Human Performance Institute and vice president of applied science and performance training at Wellness & Prevention Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company.

The principle behind strategic movement is simple: The brain functions better with increased blood flow. It takes only one to two minutes of movement after a period of rest to increase energy and motivation, Groppel says.

"Where have you been when you've had your best ideas?" Groppel asks. "You were most likely standing up and moving."

Aiming to upend the workplace culture of long sit-down meetings and hours spent slumped in cubicles, Groppel started Organizations in MOTION. The project studies what happens to performance, job satisfaction and engagement when workers add small, frequent amounts of exercise to their days.

The program advocates standing up and walking around for one to two minutes every 25 to 30 minutes.

"We're not saying, take a break," Groppel says. Rather, workers would focus their attention on movement, such as going up a flight of stairs or walking around their office floor.

New Balance, the Boston-based athletic-shoe and -apparel company, took up the challenge last year. Some 750 employees at two corporate offices participated in the program for 90 days. The workers received daily emails from Groppel suggesting ideas for frequent and creative movement in the workplace.

Volunteer "movement champions" helped motivate their peers to stick to the program. Participants set reminders on their desktop computers. Leaders were encouraged to remind workers that they needed to move, to get up from their desks frequently and stand up during calls and meetings.

Participants who climbed stairs during these short intervals could collect tokens and cash them in for small rewards, Groppel says.

At the end of the 90-day program, 53 percent said they had increased their physical activity and movement at work, and 89 percent said they would continue with the changes. Some 37 percent reported high levels of energy in the middle of the day, an 11 percent increase before the start of the challenge. And 42 percent reported increased engagement and focus at work.

Notably, the largest increases in responses were seen for self-reported statements such as, "I am enthusiastic about my job," "I find the work that I do full of meaning and purpose," "My job inspires me," "In the morning, I feel like going to work," "At my work, I feel bursting with energy," and "At my job, I feel strong and vigorous."

The footwear manufacturer continues to promote the program along with its other wellness offerings.

"This program enhanced our workplace environment by engaging our associates to collaborate in new ways to increase their energy and focus levels," says Joe Preston, executive vice president, global footwear product and marketing for New Balance.

Groppel says the idea of strategic movement at work has yet to take off.

"We still have a ways to go," he says of the program. "Corporate leaders have to give their employees permission to do this."

Some of his corporate clients are incorporating strategic movement by scheduling meetings for 55 minutes instead of an hour, blocking out the last five minutes to encourage movement, Groppel says.

"We have to look at how do we get the brain to be more engaged?" he says. "We have to teach people energy management, not just time management."

Rebecca Vesely is a writer based in San Francisco. Comment below or email


text:
US team announces nuclear fuel milestone

13 March 2008

Researchers from the US Department of Energy's lead nuclear research and development laboratory have announced a "major domestic milestone" in the performance of nuclear fuel for use in some of the next generation of advanced nuclear reactors.

INL's Advanced Test
Reactor, where the fuel
tests were carried out
The team at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) used reverse engineering methods to "help turn fuel test failures from the 1990s into successes for 2008," according to INL research technical director David Petti. "We wanted to close this loop for the high-temperature gas reactor fuels community," he added.

The fuel in question is coated-particle nuclear fuel for high temperature reactors (HTRs). This fuel, also known as Triso (standing for tri-isotropic), is based on small kernels of uranium oxide or carbide about half a millimetre in diameter. Each of these kernels is coated with several layers of carbon and silicon compounds which form a virtually impermeable barrier against the release of the radioactive products of nuclear fission. Test nuclear fuel elements using Triso technology were tested at INL's Advanced Test Reactor.

Development work on HTRs and their fuel began in the 1960s, and in the 1970s and 1980s German companies successfully manufactured fuel and operated two demonstration and experimental reactors. The inherent safety features and small size of the HTR have contributed to bring them once again to the fore in the development of future generations of nuclear power, in programs such as South Africa's Pebble Bed Modular Reactor. A design using Triso fuel is likely to be chosen for the US Department of Energy's Next Generation Nuclear Power Plant (NGNP).

US coated particle fuel programs were unable to match the fuel performance enjoyed by the German project and the research was shelved in the 1990s until its resurrection in 2003. Researchers at INL said that by making the coatings of the US particles more like the German technology of the 1980s they have managed to emulate the German successes.

The researchers, a 40-strong team from INL, Babcock & Wilcox, General Atomics and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, say their fuel has now achieved a burnup of 9% without failure and have set their sights on achieving a 12-14% burnup by the end of the year.

Filed under: This article is not categorised


text:
This page in:

Improving Roads, Improving Lives

May 2, 2014

Through support from the World Bank, 310 kilometers of roads – connecting villages to bigger cities – have been improved, resulting in decreased travel time and better access to services. Check the infograhic in high resolution here.

310 km

of roads – connecting villages to bigger cities – have been improved, resulting in decreased travel time and better access to services.

Six years ago, it took public buses an additional 30 minutes than it does today to travel from the town of Burgas, on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, to the small, southern town of Malko Tarnovo. Travel time has decreased along this 62 kilometer route thanks to improvements along the main road – offering residents in the remote town of Malko Tarnovo better access to services, especially healthcare. The new road has also improved access into the town, stimulating economic activity by doubling tourism in the area.

This is just one of the many examples of success resulting from the Roads Rehabilitation Project in Bulgaria, which repaired 310 kilometers of roads, connecting smaller towns and villages with bigger cities. Nearly 80% of the national road network in Bulgaria are second and third tier roads, meaning that improving these roads improves the lives of the people who live in the smaller areas along these roads, and who rely on this transportation network for their livelihoods.

When Bulgaria became a member of the European Union in 2007, it also became eligible to draw upon EU grants to build and modernize its infrastructure, including roads.  The project ensures that funds from the European Union (EU) used to procure equipment are spent wisely and transparently. The equipment is now being deployed across the country for all road projects – ensuring that improvements to both roads and livelihoods will continue well beyond the life of the project itself.

Open Quotes

Malko Tarnovo is a small town situated on the Bulgarian-Turkish border. This is a far out region and a sparsely populated one. Without transportation links, it would be lost. People’s lives have improved greatly [as a result of the project], both in the town and the neighboring villages. Close Quotes

Silvia Baneva
Tour guide at the history museum in Malko Tarnovo

Following accession to the European Union in 2007, Bulgaria set an ambitious agenda of upgrading its road infrastructure.

By receiving EU funds, the government of Bulgaria also accepted the responsibility of creating institutions and frameworks focused on quality. Assistance from the Roads Rehabilitation Project helped the highway administration in Bulgaria to develop a modern roads management system that maintains up-to-date information on the road conditions in the country.

As part of this work, the Bulgarian Roads Infrastructure Agency purchased modern equipment to monitor the quality of the ongoing construction along the country’s road network. The equipment engaged for this task includes a fleet of vehicles that can test roughness, friction, and load-bearing capacity of pavement. In addition to these vehicles, a new mobile highway laboratory for testing materials is also being used by the Roads Agency to test the pavement along two motorways, currently under construction.

Bridge data collection equipment in this laboratory monitors and stores information about the conditions of the highways, and special software allows the Roads Agency to collect and process this information to better guide necessary repairs.

Upgrading Bulgaria’s transport infrastructure to meet EU requirements also means improving road safety. Recent data shows that about 600 fatal crashes occur in the country every year – higher in comparison to other EU countries. Roughly equal numbers of accidents occur in both rural and urban areas in Bulgaria, while countries with better road traffic safety records experience a higher percentage of fatal crashes in rural areas. Human factors, coupled with traffic and weaknesses in traffic management and enforcement, contribute to traffic accidents.

Bulgaria has established a modern roads management system with a focus on quality to make sure that public money is spent wisely, and road safety has improved in 25 so-called “black spots” – segments of the road where traffic accidents occur more frequently.

New designs for 25 high risk areas known as ‘black spots’  were introduced under this project – much to the satisfaction of the people living near these black spots.

Many residents in the village of Svetlen in Northeast Bulgaria, for example, have testified that road safety in the area has improved significantly since the main junction in the village was redesigned to help prevent accidents.

According to many residents, drivers who drove too fast – and who were often drunk – ended up in the yard of the downtown church. These incidents have decreased as a result of the improvements.

Another major improvement, according to the people in the village, is renovated sidewalks, which represents the first new improvement in the village’s infrastructure for many years.


text:
Worldbid Import Export B2B Marketplace logo
Follow WorldBidon Google+
Hello visitor from USA USA flag - 9 visiting now from France flag France - Germany flag Germany - USA flag USA

Offers to Buy: Web Design

No recent Offers to Buy were posted in this category

[switch to View Offers to Sell]

Google Analytics Alternative


text: TY - SOUND DB - /z-wcorg/ DP - http://worldcat.org ID - 2926474 LA - English T1 - Face the nation James Farmer, 7/26/64. AU - Farmer, James, AU - Kuralt, Charles, AU - Klein, Woody, AU - Niven, Paul. PB - Encyclopedia Americana/CBS News Audio Resources Library CY - [New York] Y1 - 1976/// AB - Farmer is interviewed by Charles Kuralt, Woody Klein, and Paul Niven on CBS's Face the nation. He discusses the urban riots and the activities of CORE, of which he is national director, in alleviating some of the woes suffered by urban blacks. Some discussion centers around the coming Presidential election; Farmer doubts that any blacks will support Goldwater, who has just been nominated by the Republicans. ER -


text: TY - VIDEO DB - /z-wcorg/ DP - http://worldcat.org ID - 213471412 LA - English T1 - Inside the Actors Studio. AU - Lipton, James. AU - Lipton, James. AU - Broderick, Matthew, AU - White, Joshua. AU - White, Joshua. AU - Angelone, Gina M. AU - Badalamenti, Angelo. AU - Actors Studio (New York, N.Y.) AU - Bravo Cable Network. AU - In the Moment Productions, Ltd. PB - Actors Studio CY - New York, N.Y. Y1 - 1996/// AB - James Lipton hosts an evening of discussion with film and stage actor Matthew Broderick. Broderick discusses his upbringing in New York City, the son of Patricia Broderick and actor Jimmy Broderick; performing in plays in high school, and decision to study drama; his training at H. B. Studio with Uta Hagen; getting his first major role in the off-Broadway production of Harvey Fierstein's Torch song trilogy (1982), followed by the role of Eugene Morris Jerome in two Neil Simon plays: Brighton Beach memoirs (1983) and Biloxi Blues (1985). Broderick also discusses his roles in the motion pictures Max Dugan returns (1983), his first film, on which he worked with Jason Robards; Ladyhawke (1985), in which he co-starred with Michelle Pfeiffer; Ferris Bueller's day off (1986); Biloxi Blues (1988); Family business (1989); and The freshman (1990). The discussion is illustrated with clips from some of these works. Broderick speaks also about his leading role in the 1995 Broadway revival of the musical How to succeed in business without really trying. He elaborates on his approach to acting; comic versus straight dramatic acting; his experience with stage fright; and keeping his performances fresh when appearing in a play. A brief question and answer session with Broderick and the Actors Studio master's degree students concludes the program. ER -


text:
Opening Reception—Screwed Moves
ThursdaySept 13
Opening Reception—Screwed Moves

World Chess Hall of Fame
4652 Maryland Avenue
Saint Louis, MO 63108
(314) 367-WCHF (9243)

Nine of Saint Louis’ most recognized artists — known as the Screwed Arts Collective — will work together over a two week period (September 13th-27th) to spontaneously produce a one-of-a-kind, site-specific wall drawing inspired by chess.

6 p.m. - 7 p.m. — Meet the members of the Screwed Arts Collective

7 p.m. - 10 p.m. — Music by DJ G.Wiz

10 p.m. — Roulette Chess: Play Out Loud with Jennifer Shahade, Woman Grandmaster

Come back for the unveiling of the finished work on September 28th

Valet parking provided from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

RSVP to Lauren Stewart at, or (314) 367-9243 ext. 106


text:
Issue 2014/02: WDSF and IEC Partner Up

:::: WDSF and IEC Partner Up :::: Issue 11/06/2014

2013 GrandSlam Hong KongThe World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) has appointed IEC in Sports, the Stockholm based international sports agency, to exclusively distribute the international media rights for the WDSF GrandSlam Series.
The elite six-leg GrandSlam Series in the two dance styles Latin and Standard attracts hundreds of top couples from over sixty nations to compete in five locations throughout the world. They each take their shot at gaining maximum ranking points, winning record purses and securing a place in the GrandSlam Finals in Shanghai, CHN, held in mid December.
‘We believe the GrandSlam Series complements the World and Continental Championships for broadcasters seeking year round coverage of this exciting sport’’ said Carlos Freitag, President of the World DanceSport Federation.
IEC in Sports also distributes the WDSF World and Continental Championships since 2008, with broadcast on major networks in recent years, including CCTV-5 China, Cable TV Hong Kong, Paris Premiere, J-Sports Japan and SVT Sweden amongst others.
‘’DanceSport is enjoying an immense surge in popularity and makes for a great television product,’’ said Daniel Franck, CEO of IEC in Sports. “The opportunity for the Lagardère Digital Media Centre in Stockholm to produce many of the highlight shows for WDSF is an important part of the cooperation and brings us closer to the sport.’’ added Franck.
About WDSF

WDSF is a non-governmental international organisation constituted under Swiss law. It has its siège social in Lucerne, Switzerland, and its administrative offices in Sant Cugat, Barcelona, Spain.

Founded in 1957, the world governing body for DanceSport is currently made up of 90 national member bodies and 3 associate members. Its mission is to regulate and develop DanceSport for the benefit of millions of athletes at every level and around the world.

WDSF unites all forms and styles of dance practiced as sport under one umbrella; it serves as the single delivery system for all sporting activities that involve dance.

About IEC in Sports

IEC in Sports is a Stockholm-headquartered international sports television agency.  Founded in 1994, the core competence of IEC in Sports’ (IEC) business is the distribution of broadcast rights of events in Olympic sporting disciplines and football. The Company represents clients on all continents and distributes broadcast rights worldwide to television stations and media companies.
IEC also customizes sports television productions. This includes live production and host broadcasting, transmission services, state-of-the-art editing and voice-over capabilities.  Our 25-strong media sales team is based in offices located in Stockholm, Hong Kong, Lausanne, London, Dubai and Sydney.  Since August 2007, IEC in Sports has been wholly owned by Lagardère Unlimited.

WDSF GrandSlam Series 2014

Estonian GrandSlam Standard

22 February

Estonian GrandSlam Latin

23 February

Hong Kong GrandSlam Latin

Hong Kong

31 May

Hong Kong GrandSlam Standard

Hong Kong

1 June

German GrandSlam Latin

14 August

German GrandSlam Standard

15 August

China GrandSlam Latin

13 September

China GrandSlam Standard

14 September

Russian GrandSlam Latin

24 October

Russian GrandSlam Standard

25 October

GrandSlam Latin Finals

13 December

GrandSlam Standard Finals

14 December

WDSF and IEC Partner Up | Press Release 11/06/214


text:
Saving threatened habitats worldwide

WLT saves old growth forest in Sierra Gorda

29 April, 2014 - 16:17 -- World Land Trust
Close up of the fruit of Chestnut Dioon.

World Land Trust (WLT) has saved an important property that has long been a priority for purchase by Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda (GESG), WLT’s conservation partner in Mexico.

Buy an Acre »

Buy an Acre as a Gift »

The property in Mexico’s Sierra Gorda measures 435 acres (176 hectares) and will extend Las Arenitas, a reserve created with funds from WLT in 2007, in partnership with IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands.

The purchase was coordinated by Roberto Pedraza, GESG’s Technical Director. Roberto first heard in 2013 that the property might be coming on to the market, and in February 2014 he contacted WLT to say that the owners had decided to sell.

Roberto is delighted that WLT has agreed to fund the purchase: “Thanks for the great news. That property has long been a goal, as it is old growth forest in excellent shape, bordering Las Arenitas. What a reliable, solid partner World Land Trust is!”

Jaguar corridor

Sierra Gorda is home to all six species of wild cat found in Mexico and Las Arenitas lies in an area of the mountain range that is known to be a ‘Jaguar corridor’.

During a recent routine visit to repair fences on the southern border of Las Arenitas, Roberto came across a fresh Jaguar kill. “We were wandering through the bush when we come to an open area where we found fresh Jaguar tracks, at most one day old. We’ve found them before but it’s always nice to find new ones.”

But nicer still, close by was a happy meeting of about 50 Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura), busily diving in the forest. They were snacking on the remains of the Jaguar’s kill. “We were quite sure he was nearby taking care of his lunch. Quite exciting to think he was going to come back for another meal,” Roberto recalls. “It is good to see close up that the reserves are working as they are intended to, and offering human-free spaces for wildlife.”

Rare cycads

The reserve is important for rare cycads. Among those on the reserve are Chestnut Dioon (Dioon edule) (Near Threatened), Zamia fischeri (Endangered), Ceratozamia mexicana (Vulnerable) and Ceratozamia hildae (Endangered). Slow growing plants that can live for up to 1,000 years, cycads are at risk from grazing livestock, illegal plant gatherers and habitat destruction.

The reserve is also home to Red-crowned Parrots (Amazona viridigenalis). Leonel, one of two GESG rangers supported by WLT’s Keepers of the Wild appeal, has recently recorded a pair nesting in an old oak in the reserve. The species is endemic to Mexico and registered as Endangered on the IUCN Red list. Leonel has seen several other Red-crowned Parrots in the reserve, which is an excellent sign.

“The risk of degradation was real as cattle ranching is still a widespread activity, supported by different government agencies and a cultural thing to do,” explained Roberto. “Cattle ranching involves clearing forest, and forest fires, so every acre protected from the pressure of humans and livestock counts.”

More information

WLT has been raising funds to purchase land of conservation value ever since the charity was founded in 1989. In 25 years, WLT has saved nearly half a million acres and continues to save threatened habitats across the world, step by step, acre by acre. Please help us create new reserves or extend existing ones in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico by donating to Buy an Acre

Buy an Acre »

Buy an Acre as a Gift »

Submitted by Dominic Belfield on

Delightful news, and all the more for it's involving Old Growth Forest - containing.... cycads !!

Let's hear it for Cycads!
Any plant that can hack it for more than two hundred million years, give or take a few species along the way, has GOT to be worthy of extra care and respect.
What thoroughly encouraging news this is.

"Solid Partner" indeed. WLT does the business.

Bookmark and Share

Read about us

  • News Online
  • RSS
  • eBulletin
  • Green Diary
  • Printed Newsletter

Contact us

Tel: +44 (0)1986 874422
More details »

Follow us

Follow on Facebook  Follow on Twitter  Follow on Linkedin  Follow on GooglePlus  Follow on YouTube


text:
" />

Bedding Collections

If you're dreaming of changing your bedding, our bedding sets and bedding collections in beautiful patterns and colors can wake up your bedroom look.
Sort By
27 Items
Related Products
Quilted with an intricate floral pattern and crafted ...
Our exclusive floral bedding features pops of pinks ...

Create a bedroom oasis with World Market’s incredible selection of high-quality, ultra-comfortable bedding. Whether you need a bedroom refresh or a total room makeover, our affordable bedroom linens, luxurious bed sets, duvets, quilts, pillow cases and throw pillows help create a unique space that is perfectly you.

Update your bed in bold colors with our bedding collections in queen and king sizes. With reversible, soft, all-cotton quilts and coordinating pillow shams you can change the look in a wink of the eye. Textural details like ruching, hemstitching, and embroidery bring depth and dimension to some of our favorite pieces. For timeless appeal, try a floral print or opt for a geometric print for a fresh, put-together look that dresses up your bedroom. Paisley prints, mosaic tiles, medallions and other patterns from around the world inspire our exclusive designs, bringing global style to your boudoir.

With so many styles to choose from, you can coordinate the style of your bedding to your bedroom furniture or try an eclectic look and combine traditional with modern, rustic with vintage-inspired and elegant with boho-chic. Your updated space isn't complete until you add a soft throw blanket to the end of the bed or one over the arm of your favorite chair. Place new lamps on your end tables, refresh the arton the wall, and your transformation is complete!


text:
" />
Rollover to Zoom  |  Click to View Larger

24"Sq. "Lucky In Love I" and "Lucky In Love II" by Judy Paul

SKU#  445975
Get In-Stock Alerts
This item is
out of stock online

Why We Love It

Known for her spontaneity in developing images, Judy Paul's style of painting incorporates traditional techniques as well as the non-traditional such as digital photography, vintage papers and typography to create collages filled with movement and meaning. Nature is her inspiration as she intuitively blends shapes, color and texture. "Lucky In Love I" and "Lucky In Love II" work perfectly as a pair, or individually.

Details & Dimensions

  • Set of 2
  • Signed and numbered limited edition giclée on canvas. Printed using only the highest quality inks, canvas and wood. Includes Certificate of Authenticity
  • The finished product has mounted hangers and wire, and is ready to hang
  • Printed using eco-friendly water-based latex ink created from completely recyclable materials
  • Made in United States

Read the Buzz

The Story Behind It

Judy Paul

One look at the work of Austin-based artist Judy Paul and it's no surprise that nature is one of her biggest inspirations. She expresses this pervasive theme by incorporating traditional techniques with non-traditional techniques like digital photography, vintage papers and typography into her collage paintings. Known for her creative spontaneity, each of Judy's paintings goes through an evolutionary process that ends with a colorful, textured and refined result. She says, "Painting is like living-you start out with a plan and stay open to the opportunities as you move along." It's no wonder the positive energy she puts into her work is transmitted to the viewer.


text:
" />
Rollover to Zoom  |  Click to View Larger

Bay Street Nesting Tables, Set of 2

SKU#  10001971
Get In-Stock Alerts

Why We Love It

An absolute one-two punch of style and versatility, our Bay Street Nesting Tables come in two sizes, meant to nestle beautifully together. This sleek set works in several configurations to create a side table or coffee table set up, or separates for use in various spots around a room.

Details & Dimensions

  • Made of solid wood and wood veneers with espresso finish
  • Set of 2
  • Part of our Bay Street Furniture Collection
  • Assembly required
Large Table: 20.5"Wx17.25"Dx19.75"H Small Table: 16.75"Wx15.5"Dx17"H; 24 lbs.

Read the Buzz

Rated 4 out of 5 by 1 reviewer.
Rated 4 out of 5 by Terrific Great purchase. I'm not much of a decorator, so these tables work wonders to pull a room together in one theme. My mom was shocked! November 9, 2010
  • 2015-08-31T14:46:39.526-05:00
  • bvseo_lps, prod_bvrr, vn_prr_5.6
  • cp-1, bvpage1
  • co_hasreviews, tv_1, tr_1
  • loc_en_US, sid_9685, prod, sort_default
1-1 of 1


text:
" />
Rollover to Zoom  |  Click to View Larger

Floral Palampore Throw Pillow

SKU#  481901
Get In-Stock Alerts
This item is
out of stock online

Why We Love It

Our Floral Palampore Throw Pillow features fun jute applique and embroidery with contrasting red piping and blue backing. A whimsical accent for the home, this colorful and eclectic pillow stands out for an affordable price.

Details & Dimensions

  • Crafted of 100% cotton with polyester backing
  • Removable insert
  • Available in additional designs, sold separately
  • Dry clean only
  • World Market exclusive
  • Made in India

Read the Buzz

Rated 1 out of 5 by 1 reviewer.
Rated 1 out of 5 by gorgeous pillow but...... The pillow came packed in a air tight plastic bag. I opened it and the smell about knocked me over. I washed the cover because its so pretty I didnt want to throw it away. I hand washed it because its dry clean only and put Febreze on it and now its worse! The smell is super strong like gasoline or some kind of gas or chemical. May 9, 2014
  • 2015-08-31T14:47:03.217-05:00
  • bvseo_lps, prod_bvrr, vn_prr_5.6
  • cp-1, bvpage1
  • co_hasreviews, tv_1, tr_1
  • loc_en_US, sid_38859, prod, sort_default
1-1 of 1


text:
" />
Rollover to Zoom  |  Click to View Larger

Funky Chunky Chocolate Popcorn, Set of 6

SKU#  438943
Get In-Stock Alerts
Shipping is not available for this item

Why We Love It

Loaded with almonds, whole pecans, jumbo cashews, luscious caramel and three types of chocolate, Funky Chunky Chocolate Popcorn is a real taste bud pleaser. This hand-drizzled artisan popcorn comes from a recipe hatched up 12 years ago with a mission to create popcorn "like no one has ever tasted"; this is one snack you'll savor from the first moment to the very last bite.

Details & Dimensions

  • Crafted of white, dark and milk chocolate, popcorn and caramel with whole almonds, cashews and pecans
  • Set of 6
  • No hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup
  • No artificial flavors or colors
  • Made with real butter and brown sugar
  • Made in United States
2 oz.

Read the Buzz


text:
" />
Rollover to Zoom  |  Click to View Larger

Twinings Earl Grey Tea, Set of 6

SKU#  382781
Get In-Stock Alerts

Why We Love It

There is nothing more soothing than a cup of tea. Twinings Earl Grey Tea is created from black tea that is expertly blended with a light bergamot flavor. Twinings uses only the finest, hand-selected leaves cultivated by trusted growers around the world

Details & Dimensions

1.41 oz. each

Read the Buzz

Rated 5 out of 5 by 1 reviewer.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Great Flavor Everything you'd expect from a delicious Earl Grey tea! January 29, 2014
  • 2015-08-31T14:46:46.885-05:00
  • bvseo_lps, prod_bvrr, vn_prr_5.6
  • cp-1, bvpage1
  • co_hasreviews, tv_1, tr_1
  • loc_en_US, sid_23086, prod, sort_default
1-1 of 1


text:
" />
Rollover to Zoom  |  Click to View Larger

World Market® Holiday Cocoa 3-Pack Stack

SKU#  436219
Get In-Stock Alerts
This item is
out of stock online

Why We Love It

Now, you can get all of your favorite World Market® Holiday Cocoa flavors in a 3-Pack Stack! This delicious set features a trio of airtight canisters filled with our most popular seasonal flavors: S'mores, Peppermint, and Gingerbread. Divide them up as great stocking stuffers, or keep them to enjoy yourself all winter long.

Details & Dimensions

  • Includes S'mores Cocoa, Peppermint Cocoa, and Gingerbread
  • Set of 3 canisters wrapped in a plastic sleeve
  • World Market exclusive
  • Made in United States
S'mores Cocoa: 3 oz.; Peppermint Cocoa: 3 oz.; Gingerbread Cocoa: 3 oz.

Read the Buzz

Rated 5 out of 5 by 1 reviewer.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Wonderful holiday gift! This three pack is a wonderful set or separate-based gift that always pleases the "people who are hard to please during the holidays". Great workplace gift! December 9, 2012
  • 2015-08-31T14:46:29.294-05:00
  • bvseo_lps, prod_bvrr, vn_prr_5.6
  • cp-1, bvpage1
  • co_hasreviews, tv_1, tr_1
  • loc_en_US, sid_13158, prod, sort_default
1-1 of 1


text:
Oy Vey! Something went wrong. We are very sorry, please try again later.

Yair Emanuel Tambourine – Encircling Jerusalem

Product ID: GAT-EY-15753
Chat with a Judaica expert Click Here
Need help? Contact us Sunday-Thursday 9am-6pm IST - Israel Standard Time

Yair Emanuel Tambourine – Encircling Jerusalem

Material Leather-Wood
Dimensions 9" X 2"
Estimated processing time: 3-5 Business Days.
Your order's processing time is the estimated number of days that it will take for your order to be prepared for shipment from our Israel-based fulfillment center.

Yair Emanuel Tambourine – Encircling Jerusalem

Yair Emanuel shows another dimension of art with this musical instrument made of wood and brass. This tambourine is perfect for Jewish celebration with its panorama of a brightly lit Jerusalem beneath an evening sky.

This piece of musical beauty is made of wood around the frame, brass for the zills, and genuine leather is carefully stretched across the wood to complete this design that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but musically as well. Painted on the leather is a 360 degree view of Jerusalem encircling a dark blue night sky. Despite the dark sky, the city is brightly lit with colors of yellow red, pink, and green. This is a design of beauty appropriate for any Jewish celebration.

Give this gift on any of the many Jewish Holidays such as Hanukkah or Rosh Hashanah.

Yair Emanuel Tambourine – Encircling Jerusalem Customer Reviews

Average customer review 0 Customer Reviews


text:
Italy: Black Sea project features water depth record for laying pipe ///

The Blue Stream project is one of the most challenging of its type ever attempted due to difficulties in design, construction, organization and logistics. Thus far, the Saipem 7000 lay barge has successfully installed the first 24-in. pipeline in the Black Sea, in waters 7,054 ft deep. Work is proceeding along the entire route, on land and offshore, with completion scheduled for the second half of 2002.

Log in to view this article.

Not yet a subscriber?  Get started now for immediate access to this content and more.

Already a subscriber but don’t have an online account? Contact our customer service.


text:
Embarrassing: Freaky Deak Gets Caught Having Sex With A Blow Up Doll!

BROKEN? 604,624 views

Caught by his friend

Please click the “Report” button below if the video on this page is not working properly.

Report this video!

Thanks! Your cooperation in making Worldstar a better site is always appreciated.

Our team will now look into fixing this error.

Embedding Options (Click to copy)

Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.
comments powered by Disqus


text:
Jordan Cool Greys Mayhem: Ppl Going Ape Shxt For The New Jordan 11's! "We Out Here Trying To Get Some Tennis Shoes"

BROKEN? 296,870 views

At Deerbrook Mall

Please click the “Report” button below if the video on this page is not working properly.

Report this video!

Thanks! Your cooperation in making Worldstar a better site is always appreciated.

Our team will now look into fixing this error.

Embedding Options (Click to copy)

Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.
comments powered by Disqus


text:
Baby Boomers Vs. The Disposable Society

The Future
The Start

In being a part of the grey haired generation a baby boomer and the generation of asking “why?” to everything. I have grown perplexed in trying to understand my children’s generation “The Disposable Generation”.

As my oldest daughter puts it “I am in “The disposable generation”. Just time enough to breath, eat, work, sleep, go to school, take care of the house and family and go crazy. ……… “The sandwich generation”.

I think of it as my generation growing up during the “BC” period “before computers”. Information wasn’t easily accessed unless you had the Encyclopedia Britannica or a library that wasn’t 10 miles away and you still didn’t know if it was correct because it was printed 5 years before. No! I didn’t walk 3 miles to school in the snow without shoes.

Today with a click of the mouse we can be transported faster than from the “Enterprise” to any point on the globe! We can find out what the weather is like in Calcutta, the average rain fall in Tucson or the exact height of the tallest building in the world.

Spending the majority of my life in the auction and antique business I have been consumed by collecting. Trying to stay ahead of the curve, learn as much as possible, listen and learn from what others had to say and enjoying every minute of it. The “WorthPoint” concept at first scared me! How would a few people take Will Seippel’s concept of creating taxonomies to cover all areas of collecting and beyond, compile relevant auction and sales data, have an open forum to discuss and trade experiences, passions and the joy of collecting?

The “Disposable Generation” didn’t start out in such a hectic pace. They had dolls, toy guns, play houses, paper dolls, bikes, sports cards and slot cars. Life wasn’t much different from the way we grew up except for the fact that the electronic age and technology was growing at an unbelievable pace.

Yes we started it! We made life faster, much more money than generations that preceded us and less time for everything else.

Our children are now stepping up to the plate and are doing exactly what every generation that preceded them trying to make life better, safer and more enjoyable for their children.

Collecting is a great way for the family to interact finding that quarter that fills in another spot in the state collection. The media plays a huge role as well, like the peaked interest in the Masonic symbol to find the way to the lost treasures of the world.

In July I attended Tom Carriers presentation of the history of the flag and took three of my grandchildren, they sat patiently and were absorbed the story of “Old Glory” and we walked the huge Antique Center at Strasburg, VA afterward. My oldest granddaughter found a piece of jewelry with the Masonic emblem, the grandson marveled at Civil War items and marbles while the youngest granddaughter found doll after doll. Toward the end of the summer my daughter told the children she would let them do one thing they would like to do before school started. One said “bowling” another “ice cream parlor” and the youngest said “take us to the antique place granddad showed us”. Collecting is still alive, well and living in the hearts of children of all ages 6 to 60.


text:
Quick Facts

The Gordok Ogre Suit

This quest was marked obsolete by Blizzard and cannot be obtained or completed.
Bring 4 Bolts of Runecloth, 8 Rugged Leather, 2 Rune Threads, and Ogre Tannin to Knot Thimblejack. He is currently chained inside the Gordok wing of Dire Maul.
Bolt of Runecloth (4)
Rugged Leather (8)
Rune Thread (2)
Ogre Tannin

If you're going to fight the king of this dump - and I think that's what you're bound to do - then you're going to need to get by Captain Kromcrush. Now, you can get by him by killing him, sure. You might actually want to leave him alive.

How, you ask? Since I've been here, I think I know how to make an ogre suit that will last just long enough to fool these bozos. The only problem is stability - ten minutes tops. Bring me what I need, and I'll make you one. I'm not going anywhere...

You will receive: (or 30 if completed at level 100)
Gordok Ogre Suit

Upon completion of this quest you will gain:


text:
GRAD MAGAZINE // Don’t grow up – grow creative!

Grad Magazine: November 2010

The great—and scary—thing about graduating from college is that you never know where life is going to take you. GRAD interviewed three Indiana professionals about their lives and career paths—and asked for their words of advice for new college grads.

Creative Voice: Wil D Marquez

Growing up in his hometown of Portage, Indiana, Wil Marquez practiced his design skills by building forts from lake-effect snows that blew in off of Lake Michigan.

After graduating from Valparaiso High School in 1996, Marquez earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Michigan. Marquez has ventured much further. In addition to working for firms in Minneapolis and Indianapolis, he’s designed for clients in Abu Dhabi and Indianapolis, and traveled to destinations as diverse as Italy, Morocco and Argentina.

But he recently struck out on his own, founding his own firm, w/purpose, a creative urban design studio that expresses his own curiosity about neighborhoods, buildings, streetscapes, and urban spaces.

Marquez located the firm in his mid-century home on the near east side of Indianapolis-an ode to the modern architecture that was taking off in the 1950s.  It’s a neighborhood of vintage architectural gems that Marquez is proud to be part of, even if it is a bit edgy. Once in decline, the neighborhood is coming back thanks to devotee; of mid-century modern who are snapping up homes for as little as $80,000.

Marquez Home: 1956 A-Frame - First Devington Neighborhood, Indianapolis (Photo

“These homes were built with good design, good construction, good craftsmanship, and materials.” Marquez says. “In 30 minutes I can bike to a trail that takes me Downtown to [Indianapolis].

His business card has the usual information-name, phone number, email address-but it pops with an orange figure of a man kicking.

Kicking what?

“I want to kick down old models on how we think about urban space and how to get people to those places.” Marquez says. “We need to retool ourselves and our infrastructure.”

Architecture is a tough gig, given a sluggish economy, but Marquez is concentrating on winning projects that will set a new tone for Indianapolis. He’s currently at work on elements of a redesigned Indianapolis City Market in the heart of the city.

Advice: “Be brave. Be confident. Have some guts. And don’t grow up, grow creative.

Omar Munante - Uruguay - Con Proposito (w/purpose) in South America

Installation by w/purpose for Indianapolis City Market

Marketplace - Marrakesh Morocco // Photo by Wil Marquez

Grad: Real Life Indiana | November 2010 |


text:
Sound of Music comes to Salzburg

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 03:37 PM

Move over Mozart. Toes in Salzburg are tapping to a new beat as residents finally embrace the Hollywood musical that put them on the map nearly half a century ago.

Playing for the first time in this haughty town of opera lovers, "The Sound of Music," has been met with surprisingly positive reactions in what is commonly considered a last bulwark of resistance to the iconic show.

"A wonderful performance," enthused Johann Fink as he waited at the coat check at the end of a recent performance at the ornate Salzburg State Theater.

Such a reception in Salzburg is hardly a given despite the global popularity of the musical that was based on a true story and immortalized by the 1965 multiple Academy Award winning movie.

Fans around the world may know every word of every song performed by Julie Andrews as the governess of seven children who charms - then weds - their widowed father Baron von Trapp, before the singing family flees the Nazis.

But this city resonates to another sound of music - the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms.

And it has a different concept of culture.

While residents earn millions each year from the tourists who come for sing-along tours of sites featured in the film, they traditionally view the visitors with benign disdain - and occasionally as pests.

Residents of the upscale Salzburg neighborhood where the von Trapp home is located tried - and failed - to block attempts to turn the edifice into a hotel, fearing tourists would tie up traffic and make a nuisance of themselves. A museum dedicated to the film is still looking for a home after more than 600 residents in another neighborhood signed a petition three years ago against it, telling the city council they feared that local streets would be jammed with tour buses.

Resistance persists even though the city would literally be poorer without the musical's magnet effect.

Peter Proetzner, who guides daily bus-fulls of tourists on pilgrimages of the sites immortalized by the film, cites a poll showing the Sound of Music as the city's second biggest draw - right after the dozens of classical music events that resonate through its cobblestoned alleys.

"The Sound of Music is better known than Mozart worldwide," he asserts.

South Koreans learn the songs as part of their English lessons. Some foreigners think "Edelweiss" - composed for the musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein - is Austria's national anthem. And Austrian tourism surveys show that three out of four American visitors to Salzburg come because of the musical.

Australian Dianne Cole says she knows "absolutely nothing" about Austria - and will probably go home still ignorant of the country's cultural, scenic and culinary delights.

"This is why I came to Austria," she said recently, as her Sound of Music tour bus set out for its first stop - Leopoldskron Lake (where Maria and the children capsized their boat). "The sole reason is to do this tour."

In contrast, most Salzburgers don't even know the musical. In a city that traditionally raps American culture as trashy, residents prefer to be associated with Mozart, Salzburg's favorite son, instead of a film many write off as Hollywood kitsch.

And then there is the troubling Nazi component of The Sound of Music - a reminder, reinforced by the Swastika flag and storm troopers on stage, that not only Mozart, but Hitler, too, was Austrian.

Austria has long shed its self-fabricated myth that it was a victim of Nazi atrocities instead of one of its most fervent supporters. Restitution panels have returned homes and precious artworks. Millions of euros (dollars) have been doled out to Holocaust victims and their descendants, and schoolbooks now deal in depth with this nation's complicity in the crimes of the Nazi dictator, born just 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Salzburg.

"I think that this is truly the right moment in time, when Austrians are actually ready to deal with their past," says Andreas Gergen, who directed the German-language production.

Still, anti-Semitic sentiment remains. A survey of 1,070 Austrians conducted earlier this year showed that 12 percent want their country "free of Jews." Backed by the country's neo-Nazi fringe, the country's rightist FPO party is the second-strongest in the country - although it now exploits Islamophobia instead of anti-Jewish sentiment.

And the sight of Nazis on stage may remind some older audience members of uncomfortable historical facts. Over 99 percent of Austrians voted in favor of their country becoming part of the Third Reich in 1938; proportionally more Austrians than Germans were Nazi party members, and many of Hitler's closest henchmen were Austrians.

Like the Salzburg version, the first full Austrian showing in Vienna in 2005 featured actors dressed as Nazi storm troopers standing guard at exits and a theater box filled with mock Nazi dignitaries - clearly too painful for some. Back then, some elderly audience members who last witnessed brown-shirted men wearing swastika arm bands as children were so troubled they hastily left the theater without watching the performance.

Six years later, reactions to the Nazi theme are mixed.

"Of course it's not so pleasant for us Salzburgers to be confronted with it," said Judith Herbst. But the smartly dressed woman in her mid 60s said that as far as she was concerned the role of Austria in Hitler's crimes was no longer debatable.

For others, though, the sight of men in forbidden Nazi garb entering the theater remains traumatic.

"It was horrible for a moment - almost unbelievable," said theatergoer Fink. "Thank God this era is in the past!"

But there were no gasps of dismay regarding the rest of the show.

Some hummed its ear-candy melodies at the coat check after the performance.

"Kitsch? I was afraid that would be the case," said Helmi Popeter. "But once you see it, you realize that's not so." - George Jahn

George Jahn can be reached at

More in:

Comments [5]

Nenne Effe

You should definitely check out this mashup of Take Five and My Favorite things. I'm sure you'll appreciate its jazzy feel.
It's called 'Take Five My Favorite Things MASHUP'

Dec. 07 2011 02:15 AM
concetta nardone from Elmont, NY

If any film suffered from the "cutes", this one was it. Christopher Plummer referred to this musical as the Sound of Mucous. The first and only time I viewed this film, I was very glad that I did not have diabetes. My husband was really offended at this movie. He was a youngster in Italy during the war and the Nazis were not "adorable and almost loveable" as the film depicted. Really surprised at the residents of Salzburg.

Nov. 25 2011 11:15 AM
Ferenc from Queens

Perhaps I am an old fuddy-tuddy, and it doesn't help that I despise the American Musical, The Sound of Music in particular, but I take offense to the opening paragraph of this article.

I recognize much was written in jest, but "Move over Mozart" is to me insulting. Furthermore Mozart certainly put Salzburg on the map a long time ago. Not that he needed to, it has always been a very important city for many commercial reasons. Could you please try to have better written article posted?

Nov. 24 2011 04:06 PM

Much as I adore Sound of Music as a musical, I think it important to note that it is a highly fictionalized rendering of the actual story of Maria and the von Trapps. For instance, Maria was not initially hired as a governess; she was hired to nurse one of the girls who was ill. Though "Papa" did use a whistle to call the children, it was a for a totally practical reason: he was downstairs on the first floor and they were in the nursery area of the house up several floors with closed doors in between where a voice wouldn't be heard. Nor were there special calls for each child; a single whistle was used to get their attention. And they didn't sneak out and climb over mountains to secure their escape; they merely walked out their back door, through the gate at the back of the yard and walked to the train station!

But it is a glorious tale, and the music is simply luscious. I could watch/listen to it over and over and never tire of it.

Nov. 23 2011 08:23 PM

Nov. 23 2011 02:44 PM

Leave a Comment

Email addresses are required but never displayed.

The WQXR e-newsletter. Show highlights, links to music news, on-demand concerts, events from The Greene Space and more.

Follow WQXR

About WQXR Blog

Engage and interact with the WQXR hosts online.


text:
Seventh arrest in Tobacco Road shooting

Another man has been arrested in connection to the July shooting on Tobacco Road.

19-year-old Cordero Rodriguez Dunn is charged with aggravated assault.

The shooting happened on July 7.

Six other people are also charged in the shooting. The other six men made a court appearance yesterday for a pre-trial hearing.

There's no word on when they'll head to trial.

An 18-year-old was wounded by a stray bullet in that shooting.

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1212 Augusta, GA 30903 Main Telephone: (803) 278-1212 Newsroom: (803) 278-3111 Fax: (803) 442-4561
Copyright © 2002-2015 - Designed by Gray Digital Media - Powered by Clickability 3493771 -
Gray Television, Inc.


text:
Plant recalls sandwiches sold to Ga. gas stations

By: The Associated Press
By: The Associated Press

Monday, Dec. 5, 2011

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- A Chicago-based prepackaged food manufacturer is recalling sandwiches distributed to Race Trac gas stations in Georgia because of a possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Flying Food Group Inc. announced Saturday that the potentially deadly bacteria could be items produced by its Lawrenceville, Ga., plant. The company says no illnesses have been reported in connection with the recall.

Production at the Lawrenceville facility has been suspended pending an investigation.

The recall includes: the Chicken Quarter Pounder, the Chicken Quarter Pounder with Tomatoes, the Ham Quarter Pounder, the Ham Quarter Pounder with Tomatoes and the American Sub. All have an expiration date of Nov. 30, 2011.

Customers who bought those items can receive a full refund.

For more information, contact Ellen Pritsker at (312) 243-2122 ext. 127 or epritsker(at)

(Copyright 2011, The Associated Press)

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1212 Augusta, GA 30903 Main Telephone: (803) 278-1212 Newsroom: (803) 278-3111 Fax: (803) 442-4561
Copyright © 2002-2015 - Designed by Gray Digital Media - Powered by Clickability 135019568 -
Gray Television, Inc.