Life in Airplane Mode

What’s even better than Winnie-the-Pooh? Winnie-the-Pooh in Latin, of course! Some of you may be saying, “Huh?” Why would you translate a children’s story into a dead language? I don’t know, but it is real and it’s called Winnie ille Pu. Just look! Pooh Bear’s in a toga and it’s so adorable.

Alexander Lenard translated A.A. Milne’s classic into the Latin language, and published it in 1960. Then and now, it proved quite unexpectedly to be very popular. Winnie ille Pu is the only Latin language book to ever become a New York Times best seller. Nothing is written in English—not even the map labels! It has been called “the greatest book a dead language has ever known.” Its popularity took even the publishers by surprise; they had only ordered a small printing to be made of the book, and within weeks it was nowhere to be found in bookstores.

Lenard spoke 12 languages, and was a Latin enthusiast. Taking seven years to translate the whole of Milne’s first Pooh book, Lenard almost became an additional author in his own right. He tailored the translation to include its own alliteration, puns, rhymes, and other language-specific quirks. Actual Latin scholars would be able to read this book for its own enjoyment, not just as an exercise.

One of the best things about Winnie ille Pu is figuring out how Lenard re-named all of the characters. Here is a list of their new Latin christenings:

Christophorus Robinus: Christopher Robin

Porcellus: Piglet

Ior: Eeyore

Bubo: Owl

Ru: Roo

Lepus: Rabbit

Canga: Kanga

Now, you may be thinking, where is Tiggerus? I also searched for him in vain. Fun fact: Tigger does not appear until the second Pooh Bear book, The House at Pooh Corner, and he is the only new major character to be introduced.

-Lauren Galloway, Archival Assistant

Sources:

McDowell, Edwin. “ ‘Winnie Ille Pu’ nearly XXV years later.” The New York Times. 18 Nov. 1984, http://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/18/books/winnie-ille-pu-nearly-xxv-years-later.html. Accessed 20 Feb. 2018.

Scans from a 1950s Japanese ice cream catalogue. 

Girls like girls like boys do, nothing new

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