Cadi Ayyad University Department of English

Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences Filière of English Studies

Marrakesh Research Project Module

Moroccan Short Stories: a Translation

A term paper submitted to the department of English in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the degree of licence in English

Prepared by: Supervised by:

Achelh Hicham Dr. Malika Elouali Alami

Academic Year

2013-2014

1
Marrakesh 2014

Cadi Ayyad University Academic year: 2013-2014

Faculty of letters and Human Sciences

English Department

English Studies filière

Marrakesh

Semester 6 Term Paper Module

Marking sheet
Student‟s Name: ……………………….

Registration Number: …………………………

Read and Approved by

Supervisor: Dr. …………………….

Second reader: …………………………

Written paper evaluation Student Presentation Evaluation

Supervisor : ………………. / 10 Supervisor…. ………/ 05
Second reader………. / 05
Final mark ……………….../ 20

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 Dedication

This paper is dedicated to my wonderful parents who have raised

me to be the person I am today. Thank you for your unconditional and
never-ending love, for your support that you have always given me.
Thank you for everything. I do love you!

It is also dedicated to all who I love and cherish.

3
 Acknowledgements:

I would like to formally thank Dr. Malika Elouali Alami who has been the
ideal term paper supervisor to whom I am greatly indebted. Thank you for your
advice, continuous guidance, insightful criticism and patient encouragement aided
the writing of this paper in innumerable ways.

I would like also to offer my gratitude and appreciation to my friend

Mahmoud Sayyed Muhammad, an Egyptian translator, for his invaluable advice
and other people for their help and support.

Endless millions of thanks to you all!

4
 Table of contents

Introduction ................................................................................................... 6

Part One: translation as a theory………………………………………...………..8

What is translation………………………………………..………………...…..…9

History of translation………………………………………………………...…..11

Translation strategies……………………………………………………...……..15

Part Two: Translation as practice……………………………...…………...……22

"A Moroccan Love Story" by Nabil Hawasli (the Original text)…… ...……..... 23

"A Moroccan Love Story" by Nabil Hawasli (the English translation)…. ……..27

"Blood and Smoke" by Rabii Mubarak (the Original text)… ………… ……… 31

"Blood and Smoke" by Rabii Mubarak (the English translation)………….. …..34

Part Three: Problems encountered in the translation of the two short stories…...38

Conclusion…………………………………………………….………..………..44

Works cited………………………………….……………………..…………….45

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 Introduction

Literary translation is a branch of translation which is specialized in the

translation of literary works (novels, short stories, poems…). It has become one
of the most widespread types of translation nowadays. Many literary works have
been translated into international languages like English. For example, some
famous Arabic novels have been translated into English by famous translators.
E.g. “The Yacoubian Building” by Alaa Al-Aswany which was translated by
Humphrey Davies and “The thief and the Dogs” by Naguib Mahfouz which was
translated by Trevor Le Guassik.

As its title indicates, this paper is classified into the category of literary
translation. It is a practical paper on translating Moroccan short stories. I have
chosen and translated two short stories, which by virtue of their topics, seem
interesting to read and translate. The first short story is titled “A Moroccan Love
Story” by Nabil Hawasli while the second “Blood and Smoke” is written by the
famous Moroccan short story writer Rabii Mubarak.

The paper has one main objective: translating Moroccan short stories by
implementing the various translation strategies that can preserve in the best
possible way the spirit of the original text through maintaining the smoothness of
style and preserving the meaning.

This paper is divided into three major parts: the first part is the theoretical
introductory section. It consists of three chapters; each chapter tackles one subject
related with the field of translation. For instance, in the first chapter, I discuss the
issue of defining the term “translation”. I compare the various existing definitions
and form a definition out of these definitions. The second chapter revolves around
the history of translation in both of Western and Arab world since translation has

6
witnessed eras of prosperity during the course of history in these two areas.
Unlike the two first chapters, the third chapter discusses the main strategies of
translation commonly employed by translators like word-for-word translation,
literal translation, transliteration… Each strategy is defined and illustrated with
examples.

The second part is the field work where the reader will find the two short
stories together with their English translation.

The third part, unlike the other parts, is the analytical section which deals
with the problems I, as a novice translator, encountered in the translation of the
two short stories. I discussed these problems providing examples from either or
both of the two short stories.

7
 Part One:

Translation as a theory

8
 What is translation?

Translation is present in all aspects of everyday life. For instance, we have

read famous wonders in our mother tongue though they were originally written in
different languages .Everyday we watch documentaries, TV programs, news
reports subtitled or dubbed in our language. At school, students study texts
containing philosophies and ideas of thinkers and philosophers translated into
their language. These examples and others prove to us that translation is a need
rather than a luxury. Therefore, the question that may arise in our mind is: What
is translation after all?
Merriam Webster Online Dictionary defines translation as “1-a rendering
from one language into another.2-the product of such rendering” 1.Obviously, the
dictionary provides only a basic definition of the term that anyone with no formal
education can give. However, the term “Translation” has been exhausted by many
linguists, translators, and scholars. Here are four different definitions by four
famous scholars:
Peter Newmark defines translation as “the skill of replacing a textual
material in the source language (SL) by another textual material in the target
language (TL)” 2. For John Catford translation is “the process of replacing a text
written in the source language by a text written in the target language” 3.
According to Halliday, “the textual equivalent between the SL text and the TL
text doesn‟t necessarily require producing the formal equivalent to these texts on
the level of the entire text” 4. In addition to these definitions, Pinchuch maintains
that “if translation were only the replacement of words, we should only consult a
bilingual dictionary” 5
The above definitions agree that translation is the replacement of a text in SL
by another text in TL. Unlike the definition of Merriam Webster Online
Dictionary, the definitions emphasize the idea that translation is not merely the

1
-http//:www.merriam-webster.com/translation.
2
Yusuf, Muhammed Hassan. Kayfa tutarjim? [How to translate?].The company of coaching
and national learning institutes.Kuweit, 1997.P 24-25.
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
9
translation of the lexical items or rules of the grammar of a text but it is also the
translation of the meaning of the text i.e. the content.
Taking these definitions into consideration we can say that translation is the
replacement of a text (form+meaning) in the source language by another text
(form+meaning) in the target language.

10
 History of translation

It is definitely true that the emergence of translation was due to the need of
people from diverse nations and races with different languages to communicate
with each other for several reasons. Allah Says in His Holy Koran: “O mankind!
We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into
nations and tribes, that you may know each other” 6.In this verse, we read that the
reason why the Almighty God created mankind and made them into nations and
peoples with different languages is to know each other, to communicate, and live
together in peace and harmony. Since this is Allah‟s way in dealing with HIS
servants, people started looking for ways to understand each other‟s speech hence
the invention of translation.

For the purposes of this paper, we will track the historical development of
translation in the Arab World and in the Western World since it has flourished
mainly in these two areas of the world.

1. Translation in the Western World:

Most scholars and researchers maintain that writings on translation date back
to the time of Romans. Eric Jacobson claims that translating is a Roman
invention. Cicero and Horace (1BC) were the first theorists who distinguished
between word-for-word translation and sense-for-sense translation.

The second period in the history of translation witnessed a development that

was marked by St. Jerome whose translations of the Greek Bible into Latin would
influence the translation of the scriptures.

6
Yusuf Ali, Abdullah. The Meaning of the Holy Koran. Surah Al-Hujurat [the Inner
Apartments], verses 12-13.Alaalami Library. Beirut, 2007.p 763.
11
 The invention of printing in the 15th century developed the field of
translation and helped in the appearance of early theorists such as Etienne Dolet.

The 17th century knew the emergence of many influential theorists like Sir
John Denhom (1615-69), Abraham Conley (1618-67), and John Dryden (1688-
1744).

In the 18th century, the translator was compared to an artist with a moral duty
toward the work of the original author and the receiver. Since then, the study of
translation started to be systematic. The publication of Alexander Frayer‟s
Principles of translation in 1791 exemplifies this period 7

The 19th century knew the emergence of two conflicting tendencies: the first
tendency considered translation as a category of thoughts and viewed the
translator as a creative genius while the second tendency saw the translator
through the mechanical function of making a text.

In the 20th century, studies on translation became an important course in

language teaching and learning at schools. This of course led to the foundation of
Grammar Translation Method which studies the grammatical rules and structure
of foreign languages. This period also witnessed the appearance of text-based
translation model which focuses on texts rather than on words or sentences in the
translation process. Moreover, new pragmatic and systematic approaches to the
study of translation saw light. Some famous writings and figures that marked this
period are: George Mounin (1963), John C.Catford (1965), Eugene Nida (1964),
De Beaugrand…

Nowadays, the invention of the Internet and the new technologies has
increased cultural exchange and facilitated the unlimited access to information.
Within this situation, translators were obliged to cope with these changes and to
look for new practical techniques that enable them to improve their performance.
7
Zakhir, Marouane, „The history of translation „at: http://www.translationdirectory.com
12
Translators also embarked on the cinematographic translation which includes
dubbing and subtitling of documentaries, movies, TV programs and so forth.8

2. Translation in the Arab World:

Most historians agree that the early translations used in Arabic date back to
the era of Syrians (first half of the second century AD).The Syrians translated into
Arabic a heritage of the era of paganism. What characterized these translations is
the fact that they were more literal and faithful to the original. Jarjas was one of
the famous Syrian translators. He was famous for his translation of Aristotle‟s In
the world.

The time of the prophet Muhammed (PBUH) was a turning point in the
history of translation. Islam had spread in many regions outside the Arab
Peninsula where other non-Arab nations like Jews, Romans, and Abyssinians
lived. This situation made the prophet (PBUH) look for translators so as to send
the message of Allah to these nations. Zaid Ibn Tabit, one of the prophet‟s
companions‟ was one of the famous translators who translated letters sent by the
prophet (PBUH) to foreign kings of Syria, Abyssinia, Rome…

The third period knew the flourishing of Koran translation. The early
translations of the Holy Koran focused on its meaning. Some of these translations
are: the Greek translation of the Koran by philosopher Naktis, the Persian
translation by Mohamed Al-Hafid Al-Bukhari, and the Turkish translation by Al-
Fadl Mohamed Ibn Idriss.9

During the Abbasid era and precisely in the epoch of the caliph Al-Mansour,
translation witnessed an enhancement. It also developed during the era of caliph
Al-Mamoun who built “Bait Al-Hikma (The House of Wisdom) which was the

8
Ibid.
9
Ibid.
13
greatest institute of translation of the time. During this period, translators focused
on translating books of Greek philosophy, Indian sciences, and Persian literature.

Nowadays, Arab translations have known many changes, and the wide range
of studies in the field has helped in the development of translation and the birth of
new theorists. Translation in the Arab World has also benefited from the use of
computers, digital materials and the spread of databases of terminologies that
offer translators a considerable number of dictionaries. All these factors have led
to the creation of many associations of translation such as ATIDA (Arabic
Translation and Intercultural Dialogue Association). However, the gap is still
wide between the Arab translator and the Western translator in terms of the
translated books.10

10
Ibid.
14
 Translation strategy

In order for a translator to succeed in his job, he should follow some

methods to help him do so. Methods are necessary for a translator to use so as to
guarantee a good translation of the materials he translates. These methods are
known in translation studies as “translation strategies”. Without a good strategy,
the translator will not be able to translate or he will fall in the trap of
mistranslation.

In general, translators distinguish between two types of strategies: Global

Translation Strategy and Local Translation Strategy. Global translation strategy is
applied to the text as a whole. In this strategy, translators attempt to see how close
to the source text they want their target text to be. Local translation strategy is the

set of procedures adopted in the translation of individual expressions in the source

text such as words, grammatical expressions, idioms… 11

I. Global translation strategy:

In this type of strategy, distinction should be made between two kinds of
translation: imitative translation which tries to retain the purely formal aspects of
the source text and, functional translation which seeks to get the message of the
source text across, even if this takes drastic changes in the form of the text.

In his study of translation strategies, P. Newmark classifies the above two

methods of translation in terms of their focus: one method focuses on the source
text and other method focuses mainly on the target text. 12

1. ST/SL Focus (imitative translation):

11
Dr.Banjar, Shadia Yousef.‟Translation Strategies, a practicum‟ at.
http://SBANJAR.Kau.edu.sa, http//:www.drshadiabanjar.blogspot.com
12
Ibíd.

15
Imitative translation includes:

a) Word-for-word translation: refers to the preservation of word as literal

translation as possible of individual words. For example:

Boy = Bread = House =

Here, each word in English (SL) is given an equivalent in Arabic (TL) regardless
of their content or function.

b) Literal translation: in addition to literal translation of individual words

(word-for-word translation), grammatical structures are converted into the
nearest target language equivalent. For example:

From Arabic into English:

 ‫إٌ رجزٓذ رُجخ‬ If you work hard,

you succeed

From English into Arabic:

 The student went to school ‫رْت انزهًٍز إنى انًذسسخ‬

c) Faithful translation: stays within the constraints of the grammatical

structures of the target text, but draws on certain contextual factors. E.g.:

The sentence “the boy went to school” must not be translated into Arabic as “ ‫انٕلد‬
‫ـ‬
"‫ رْت إنى انًذسسخ‬simply because the structure of the Arabic sentence (TL here) is
VSO (verb+ subject+ object) whereas in English is SVO. The English sentence
starts with a subject followed by a verb and ends with an object. So, the sentence
should be translated as ‫انٕلد إنى انًذسسخ‬
‫ رْت ـ‬.

In order for a translation to be faithful to the original text, it must abide by the
grammatical structures of the target text.

16
 d) Semantic translation: focuses more on naturalness than faithful translation,
and translation of certain cultural words into neutral equivalents in the
target language.13
2. TL/TT focus (functional translation):
This type of translation is made up of four methods:

a. Adaptation: is known as the freest form of translation and more of a target

language/culture based interpretation of the source text than a translation as
such. A good example of adaptation can be the interpretation of the Holy
Quran.
b. Free translation: this kind of translation focuses on the content of the target
text rather than on the form i.e. the same content in the target language but
with different grammatical structures if necessary .E.g.:

This sentence “English is spoken all over the world” is translated into Arabic
as"‫ " ٌزذذس انُبط ثبنعشثٍخ فً كم أَذبء انعبنى‬. The difference between the two sentences is
clear. The sentence in the target language is in the passive form which was
translated into Arabic in the active form. It could have been translated in the
passive form as" ‫" ٌُزذذس ثبنعشثٍخ فً كم أَذبء انعبنى‬but translation would be judged as
weak or even mistaken since Arabic tends to use active form more than passive
form.

c. Idiomatic translation: this method employs idioms and colloquialisms that

are not present in the source text. In their translation of idioms and
colloquialisms translators usually replace idiomatic expressions and
colloquialisms of the source text by other idioms and colloquialisms
existing in the target language. Let us consider this example:

13
Ibid. (examples are mine)
17
“To rain cats and dogs”. It will be absurd to translate it literally into Arabic as ‫"إَٓب‬
" ‫ رًطش لططب ٔ كالثب‬because it is nonsensical. Therefore, the best translation of this
idiomatic expression can be " ‫" إَٓب رًطش كأفٕاِ انمشة‬.

d. Communicative translation: is the reproduction of the exact message of the

source text content-wise and context-wise but with emphasis on naturalness
and comprehensiveness to the target text reader. E.g.: an article in a
newspaper rewritten in the target language (Arabic for example) with a
consideration to the content and the context. 14

II. Local translation strategy:

Lundquist and Newmark list three types of translation procedures within this
strategy. These types are: 1-direct procedures 2-indirect procedures, and 3-others.

1. Direct procedures : include

a. Literal translation: word-for-word translation
b. Transference/loan: transferring a word or an expression from the source
language/text directly into the target text without translating at all. E.g.:

"The Economist ‫" كًب ٔسد فً يجهخ‬

"‫ عهى انذذس‬Le Monde ‫"ٔعهمذ جشٌذح‬

The two words “The Economist” and “Le Monde” are left as they are in the
source language i.e. they were not translated.

c. Translation loan: retention of the syntactic construction but translation of

the work in it. E.g.:

Suppose we want to translate this sentence” the teacher beat his student” and we
want to preserve the syntactic construction of the English sentence SVO without

14
Ibid. (examples are mine)
18
using the Arabic structure VSO. The translation of course will run as the
following:

"‫"انًعهى ضشة انزهًٍز‬

Through translation: literal translation of collocations and combinations. Let us

consider these collocations:

 To do business ‫ٌمٕو ثبنزجبسح‬

 To fulfill a promise ‫ٌفً ثبنٕعذ‬

 Conspicuous poverty ‫فمش يذلع‬

All these collocations are literally translated.

d. Transliteration: a transference in which target language spelling and

morphology are applied in the expression of word in question. For
example:

The word “democracy” is translated into Arabic as "‫ " انذًٌمشاطٍخ‬. The word
undergoes the morphological rules as well as the spelling of the target language in
the translation into Arabic. 15

2. Indirect procedures : consist of two components: equivalence and shifts

a. Equivalence: the focus is in meaning in the perspective of the reader of the
target text. There are three types of equivalence: cultural equivalence:
cultural equivalence, functional equivalence, and descriptive equivalence.
 Cultural equivalence: refers to translating a culturally rooted word in the
source text with a roughly equivalent culturally rooted word in the target
language.

15
Ibid. (examples are mine)
19
  Functional equivalence: is the translation of a word in the source language
with a functionally equivalent target language word. E.g.: verb (SL)-----
translation------verb (SL)
 Descriptive equivalence: the translation of a source text word using a
description of the concept it refers to in the target language. For instance:

The word “‫ ”انششٌعخ‬in Arabic is translated as “Sharia” with explanation of the term
in English:

‫ٌجت رطجٍك انششٌعخ اإلساليٍخ فً ثالدَب‬

Sharia (Islamic law) must be applied in our country. 16

b. Shifts: there are three types of shift: transposition, modulation, and

componential analysis.
 Transposition: translation of source language /text expression which
involves change in grammatical structure or in word class. E.g.: the
replacement of a sentence in the passive form in the source language by a
sentence in the active form in the target language as:

“English is spoken all over the world” is translated into Arabic as: ‫"ٌزذذس انُبط‬
"‫ثبإلَجهٍضٌخ فً كم أَذبء انعبنى‬

 Modulation: change of viewpoint or substantial conceptual concept in

translation. E.g.: the name of a category for a specific member of the
category, using a part to whole (and vice versa), active for passive…
 Componential analysis: splitting up a lexical unit into meaning atoms and
translating these.

16
Ibid. (examples are mine)
20
For example: a translator wants to translate this sentence into Arabic.” I move the
adoption of the following resolution”. The first thing this translator should do is
to break down the sentence into small lexical items to know the meaning of each
word according to the context hence translating the sentence correctly.

 To move: means here to suggest. In Arabic ‫ٌمزشح‬

 Adoption: means the decision to start doing something. In Arabic ‫اعزًبد‬
 The following: the next. In Arabic ً‫انزبن‬
 Resolution: decision. In Arabic ‫لشاس‬

Therefore, the translation will be like:

"‫ أقترح اعتماد القرار التالي‬17"

c. Other procedures :
 Recognized translation: using a well-known accepted target language
translation for a specific institutional term.
 Translation label: a provisional target language of a source language that
does not have any conventional translation in the target language. 18

17
Ibid. (examples are mine)
18
Ibid.
21
 Part two:

Translation as practice

22
‫‪1. The original text:‬‬

‫ِب‬
‫ْر‬
‫ْمغ‬
‫ِن ال‬
‫ّ م‬
‫ُب‬
‫ُ ح‬
‫ّة‬
‫ِص‬
‫ق‬

‫نبيل حواصلي‬

‫‪23‬‬
24
25
‫‪.‬‬

‫مقتطفة مه موقع الحوار المتمدن‬

‫‪http :// www.hewar.org‬‬

‫‪26‬‬
 2. The translation:

A Moroccan Love Story

By Nabil Hawasli

“Hasna! Hasna! Go and fetch me 200 grammes of yeast from the grocery”.
The soft voice reached my heart before reaching my ears. I looked up at the
balcony of the flat in the second floor; I saw her tying back her hair. Her sister
Hasna, a very beautiful girl like her, was playing with her friends. I was dazzled
by her beauty. She had a graceful stature; she had a white rounded face and had
swelling breasts. Her way of looking tells a lot about her chastity. My heart was
beating at her voice and thumping at her beauty and tenderness. I stood in the
corner of the alley so as to enjoy looking at her slim body but I failed to catch
sight of her. Afterwards, I moved to another corner in order to make the
neighbors believe that I was just a passer-by in an attempt to see her again.
I was perplexed to fall suddenly in love with this sweet-voiced pleasant girl.
Hasnaa brought the yeast to her sister who was at home and returned to her
friends to resume playing hopscotch with them. In the meantime, I was looking at
the balcony waiting for the beauty to appear again; I wished she needed
something for the kitchen so as to call her sister so as to see her again; I had been
overtaken many times by porters and hawkers for I was absent-minded while
looking at the balcony. Time passed fast and the Muezzin was calling for the
noon prayer; the alley was becoming gradually deserted; I thought that the dough
was ready for cooking.
I rushed to the nearest café in the neighborhood. It was packed to capacity
and various kinds of smell were coming out through its narrow door; I took a seat
close to the customers who were wholly engaged in playing cards and sipping
their cups of tea. I ordered a cup of coffee and lit my poor-quality cigarette; its
smoke raised and joined the cigarette smoke-polluted air. I started thinking of a
way which could bring me close to the girl: shall I write a letter to her or ask for
her hand from her parents? Many questions were in my mind; a state of absent-
mindedness seized me and put me in the world of imagination; I imagined her
27
naked; her body was bright and the locks of her hair extended to her breast
supported with a red brassiere. A strong shudder seized me; my penis hardened
and I felt a pain in my chest. I was trying to dismiss this erotic image from my
mind but in vain. I got in the bathroom and hold my penis with my hand so as to
shrivel and relieve myself from the pain; it took me a lot of time to do so.
Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door and quickly masturbated to satisfy my lust
in such way. «What a bad morning! I wouldn‟t have been in such situation if I
had been lying on bed: I woke up to look for a job but I came across a beautiful
and shy girl who made me crazy”. Since then, I vowed to see that girl again even
if took me to visit her in her home, see her family and talk openly to her about my
suffering caused by falling in her love.
I crossed the winding alleys towards my place and the bright summer
sunshine was reflected on the passers-by eyes. Courters were passing in these
alleys carrying their copper vessel on the backs of their packed animals. They
kept asking passers-by to be careful and open the way for their animals to pass.
They also warned in different languages elder tourists who were taking pictures
of the exquisite architecture of the traditional houses in the city.
Hassan went his way home without caring about anything around him. He
was trying to remember the features of that charming girl so as to stick to his
memory. He indulged in questions: “what if she belongs to a rich family and
accepts me as a husband?”Then he said “how can she come from a rich family
when she lives in this poor neighborhood and buys 200 grammes of yeast?” “She
may be on a vacation and may be working in her father‟s house” Hassan added.
All these speculations were motivating him to meet the girl and talk openly to her
about marriage but these speculations were soon transformed into this realistic
question: “how can she accept me as a husband while I am jobless and dependent
on my family?”
His dream smashed and all his speculations faded away at the voice of the
Muezzin who was calling to the dawn prayer saying: “prayer is better than sleep”.
As soon as the call was over, many questions of metaphysical and religious nature
arose in his mind. These questions were about the existence of man, his fate and
his misfortune. Hassan said: “Sure, prayer is better than sleep but sleep is also
necessary”. Hassan lied on his bed again trying to sleep so as to spend another
day in his hard life which he wished to be the best in his life; he had tried to get
his mother to involve in his suffering but it seemed that he was not convinced
with this idea because his mother wouldn‟t accept to marry him with the girl since
28
his social status didn‟t allow him to do so. It would be absurd to think of marriage
without him being settled. “What injustice is this? I don‟t even possess a penny in
this life!” he added.
It is indeed a crisis of love and longing. What should he do? Do the jobless
people like him not have the right to marry and establish families? Is this not the
real sexual, psychological and political repression? They say that Mohamed
Choukri lived in a state of repression and consequently expressed this repression
in his writings. What should he have done? Should he have written about the life
of luxury and filthy richness?
Hassan was fascinated by the writings of this writer especially his two
autobiographical novels entitled “For Bread Alone” and “The Era of Mistakes”.
Hassan saw Choukri‟s writings as a bridge that links him with the noisy bars,
brothels and the years of drought in the mid 40‟s. Choukri‟s worlds were similar
to Hassan‟s. Hassan loved Choukri for no reason except that he was the
spokesman of the marginalized, the oppressed and the homeless. He said about
him: “Choukri is not only a writer but also a social and psychological
phenomenon. He was worth studying not judging. He is the expression of a hard
era and a crisis whose consequences we still bear. He is the symbol of the
unequalled adherence to life”. However, Hassan difference between Choukri lies
in the fact that the latter was not politically engaged meaning that he was not
interested in politics.
While Hassan was thinking about Choukri, the image of the charming girl
came back again to his mind; he took a pen and a sheet of paper and started
writing a letter to her:
“Dear lady, I am writing to you this letter to tell you that you impressed me and I
want to talk to you and know more about you. One day, I had a chance to see you
when you were calling your sister from the balcony of your house. From that day
on, I got captivated by your beauty and became desirous to see you again.
Unfortunately I failed to see you twice as if it were ordained that I would see you
once and be tortured forever. Here is my personal data: I am at the end of my
thirties; I have a BA; I belong to a poor family. Once, my dad died and I was
responsible for my family which comprises mom, my brother Yasser, and my
sister Fatima. I am a day-worker; I work a day and stop for days. Although my
situation seems difficult, I dream of sharing my life with you, establishing a

29
family and having offspring. Please do reply to my letter as soon as possible. The
tortured man: Hassan Erraji.”
Hassan sprayed some perfume on the letter, put it in an envelope and went to the
neighborhood where the girl lived. Once he arrived, he waited for Hasnaa, the
girl‟s sister. As soon as she appeared he called her “Hasna! Hasna!”
She came without reservation; Hassan kissed her and gave her a candy. At
first, she refused to take the candy but she accepted it when Hassan persuaded
her. Before she went home, Hassan gave her the envelope and asked her to give it
to her sister. The girl accepted the letter too, took the envelope with her left hand,
the candy with her right hand and ran to the house. Hassan stood around watching
the girl; he was happy inside because he knew for sure that the girl would
understand him. This initiative has refreshed his dreams and psyche.
The next day, Hassan woke up early to look for a job after a happy night. He
headed to the big square near his neighborhood where day-workers who practice
different crafts expose their tools which tell about their jobs. Hassan joined that
gathering knowing for sure that most of them didn‟t get a workday.
The letter reached the girl. It took her a lot of time to read and consider it. Its
sweet expressions reminded her of the words of love her comrade at university
used to send her when they parted for the holidays; she burst into tears; the letter
took her back to the period of her university life when she learnt the principles of
political commitment and the real meaning of the true intellectual in the midst of
a bitter society. She burst into tears because she is also jobless; she didn‟t forget
her first love whom she preferred to live in his memory challenging her family
who advised her to forget the past and open a new page in her life.
She copied the address from the envelope of Hassan‟s letter and started writing a
reply that fits Hassan‟s feelings. She wrote:
“Dear Hassan. Your letter reached me in a special way just as you sent it. I thank
you for the expressions of appreciation. I appreciate your sentimental expressions
which undoubtedly came from the heart of a respectful man. I invite you to
understand my situation. Please be sure that I didn’t turn you down because of
your social status; I also belong to the same social class and my situation is so
special: I am jobless; I lead a special life; I had a boyfriend at the university; I
accepted him as a close friend due to my strong conviction of his character and
the principles I shared with him. Principles which once claimed his life when he

30
lay dead in the campus in vague conditions. From that day on, I have lived in his
memory because of his commitment and true patriotism. I wish you the best of
luck. Please do understand my position and my special conditions. Sincerely,
Zoubida”
The letter arrived at Hassan‟s house; his mother kept it with her. Once
Hassan got home, his mother gave him the envelope; he tore it quickly and read
eagerly the letter. When he finished reading the letter he realized that his dream,
though was a project, couldn‟t change his situation.

1. The original text:

‫َان‬
‫ُخ‬‫َ د‬
‫ٌ و‬
‫َم‬‫د‬

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32
33
 5 1980

1. The translation:

Blood and Smoke

By Rabii Mubarak

As soon as Dahmane stood at the outdoor of Master Ali s butchery, the

latter took pieces of cow‟s stomach and fat knowing already what his client
wanted. He asked him: “how much do you want?”
Dahmane turned his head tiredly and gave the 10 DH banknote to the
butcher and said: “sheep‟s…liver please”
Master Ali was amazed as he was taking the banknote from Dahmane
who added: “A kilogram of liver, please?”

“With fat?” asked the butcher.

Dahmane nodded with his head in agreement and added in a tired voice: “thin
fat…”
He would have liked to chat with Master Dahmane and answer all his
questions had he not been tired. Then Dahmane took the liver with the change
and left.
At home, his children surrounded him for a while, and then they left him
and moved to surround their mother when the brazier started emitting grey and
pleasant smoke. Dahmane watched the movements of his wife while his
children were clowning and muttered to himself: “They sound happy and my
wife is tasting the liver. She must be conceiving!”
The smoke raised throughout the house until sight was impossible.
Dahmane leaned against the wall, his arm was so numb that this numbing

34
extended to his entire body; he felt that he was unable to move or he was not
willing to move. Why should he move? He can‟t see, sleep nor refuse
anything. The numbing of his arm was as pleasant as his sitting in that
majestic comfortable sofa when he felt he was losing his weight.
This happened when the door opened and the nurse appeared. Dahmane
stepped in while a bright-faced man in a djellaba was patting him on his
shoulders and whispering into his ears “a true man is he who keeps his
promise”
Dahmane didn‟t look back; he followed the nurse towards a complicated
room where he found himself before a young doctor with a stethoscope
dangling on his chest. The doctor asked him: “your blood card please!”
Dahmane took out the card from his pocket; it had become dirty because
of the long period of time he had kept it with him and negligence or perhaps
the frequent usage. Nobody knew what feeling seized Dahmane whenever he
stared at that card; whenever he sensed it. He felt proud in the first days of his
relationship with the card but he gradually lost this feeling. But, he glanced at
it from time to time contemplating its illegible handwriting that suggests
vague things to him.

“You haven‟t donated your blood for a long time. Right?”

“Since Agadir… It was the only time I donated my blood” said Dahmane
grudgingly.
The doctor turned the card trying to find out something on the back of it as if
what is written on its face were not convincing then asked Dahmane again:

“What is your relationship with the female patient?”

“She is my mother,” replied Dahmane.

He pursed his lips lest he should say something stupid.

“Have you eaten something this morning?” asked the doctor

He ate some bread, drank some tea but he had to lie and shouldn‟t be seen as a
liar. He said quietly: “I am fasting sir”
The doctor muttered in agreement and led Dahmane to a comfortable sofa.
Once on it, Dahmane felt as light as a feather or that he had lost his weight; he

35
felt sleepy; the doctor was calmly adjusting his position. Afterwards, Dahmane
had anesthetic and a syringe was injected in his hand. The doctor asked him
politely: “please look at the wall”
Although Dahmane looked at the wall, he couldn‟t escape seeing drops of
blood pouring into the bottle at the beats of his heart as if he had been staring
at it.

“Do close your eyes” asked the doctor.

Yet, Dahmane couldn‟t avoid looking at the bottle. So, he preferred to
stare at everything as if the doctor had been despaired of him and left him
alone. The dark red blotch was increasing at the bottom of the bottle while the
doctor was raising it gently and shaking it from time to time. Decades past
before the syringe was removed from Dahmane‟s arms and a plaster was put
on its place. Dahmane rose to his feet with eyes following the bottle on its way
to another place; he started walking and looking around him until he was
about to collide with the doctor who was carrying a cup of coffee for him.

“A cup of coffee?” asked the doctor

Dahmane took the cup of coffee, sipped it and got out of the hospital.
Once at the door, the bright-faced man patted him on shoulder and took him
by the hand together with three or four relatives of the female patient. A few
meters away from the hospital, Dahmane gazed at the 10 DH banknote and the
bright-faced man repeated: “remember your word! Remember your word!”
Dahmane tried to protest but his voice failed him. He said in a low but weak
tone: “but we agreed on 50 Dhs”

“We said ten” the man replied.

“A true man is the one who keeps his words” said Dahmane.

“I told you we agreed on ten” the man maintained

Soon, people gathered around them but the opponent‟s voice was stronger and
clearer: “O people! We agreed on 10 DHs!”

Then came the strongest and the clearest voice: “He is selling his life cheap!”
Dahmane felt that he was disgusting and the people around them were
against him and he was against himself; he felt guilty, unfair and ignoble. His

36
voice was failing him. He was sure that his situation was not the result of a
sickness but simply his voice was failing him. He should have used his hands,
he grabbed the banknote to tear it but a hand quickly prevented him from
doing so. Actually, he did not tear the banknote. So, he was grateful to the
person who saved the banknote. Afterwards, voices and faces jumbled before
his eyes and he felt the banknote in his pocket.
His wife dismissed him from his meditations patting on his shoulder and
saying: “Dahmane, have you slept?”
He was just half asleep and quickly moved nervously. His wife said to him:
“take this!”
He took the skewer from her after having missed it many times because of
the thick smoke or the numbing of his arm. The pieces of the fat-covered liver
which were crammed in the skewer seemed to him to be thick wisps of smoke.
He chewed one; it was difficult for him to chew because of its stickiness; then
he moved it in his jaw and the image of a hand shaking a bottle filled with his
dark red blood occupied his mind.

37
 Third part:

Problems encountered during the translation

of the two short stories

38
 Translation is seen as one of the most difficult tasks people can undertake.
This means that the field of translation is a field of problems. No translator can
translate a text without facing problems in his job.
In general, the problems of translation are due to the fact that the semantic
equivalent in the TL may not convey the same meaning of the text in SL. It may
also be the result of the difference between the linguistic structures of both SL
and TL, especially between Arabic and English which have completely different
structures.19
As far as the two short stories “A Moroccan Love Story” and “Blood and
Smoke” are concerned, I have come across many problems and difficulties of
different kinds when translating them; It took me a lot of time to translate and
revise them so as to come up with a somehow good translation.
Here, we shall expound these problems using some examples from the two
short stories.

I. Selecting the proper meaning:

The most common problem that exists in the translation from Arabic into
English is the problem of choosing the most appropriate meaning of words that
can fit a certain context /or contexts. Here are two examples that illustrate this
fact:
In “A Moroccan Love Story”, we read in the Arabic text “ ‫ٔثذأد ركزت سدا ٌذزشو‬
"‫ يشبعش رنك اإلَسبٌ انزي كزت إنٍٓب‬. Let us consider the word “‫" ٌذزشو‬. "‫ ٌذزشو‬means « to
respect » in Arabic. But, translating the sentence as *“…and she started writing a
reply that respects Hassan‟s feelings” would be illogical since “to respect” is a
verb which describes a human act. Moreover, “‫ ”ٌذزشو‬does not mean “to respect”
in this context. So, I discovered that the real meaning would not be other than “to
fit”. So, the sentence can be translated as “…and she started writing a reply that
fits Hassan‟s feelings”
In “Blood and Smoke”, we have this sentence “‫" ٔصو شفزٍّ كً ال رزًشدا فزضٍفب شٍئب‬
which literally translated as: *“then he pursed his lips lest they should rebel and
add something “

19
Yusuf, Muhammed Hassan. Kayfa tutarjim? [How to translate?].The company of coaching
and national learning institutes.Kuweit, 1997. P 91.
39
 A simple reading of the translation can tell us that the sentence lacks logic.
This leads us to say that translating literally the expression cannot convey its real
meaning. So, I read the sentence carefully and found out that it means that
Dahmane pursed his lips so as not to lie and miss a chance of getting some
money. Then I translated the sentence as “then he pursed his lips lest they should
fail him”.

II. Literal translation:

As we mentioned in the first part of this paper, literal translation is the
preservation of word together with grammatical structures. However, lexical
items, sentences, texts or even books cannot be translated depending solely on
this type of translation simply because translation is not merely rendering lexical
items or the retention grammatical structures. Rather, the focus, in most cases, is
on meaning. As a novice translator, I have fallen in the trap of literal translation
when dealing with the two short stories:

In “A Moroccan Love Story” we have this sentence that sounds as follows:

“ً‫ ” ثى رصم ثّ دٍشرّ ٔ رخًٍُبرّ إنى سؤال ٔالع‬.At the beginning, I translated the sentence
as “…his dilemma and speculations pushed him to ask this realistic question”.
Obviously, the target reader will surely see this translation as weak and may
judge the translator to be incompetent. So the best translation of this sentence can
be:

“Then his speculations would turn into this realistic question”

III. Collocation:
Collocation is “the habitual co-occurrence of individual lexical items”20.
Translation seems sometimes difficult due to the existence of collocations. The
translator, in turn, should make a great effort in looking for the exact adjectives,
verbs, prepositions… that collocate with nouns.
As a matter of fact, if grammatical rules constitute the backbone of a text,
collocation is its mainstay. 21

While reading the two short stories I translated these collocations as follows:

20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
40
  "‫ « "ثذأ انًجًش ٌشسم دخبَب‬the brazier started emitting pleasant smoke »
instead of *« sending pleasant smoke »
 "‫ « " ألسزًزع ثبنُظش إنى لٕايٓب انًًشٕق‬to enjoy looking at her graceful stature »
instead of *« looking in »
 "‫ « "األصلخ انًهزٌٕخ‬the winding alleys » instead of * « the zigzagging alleys »
 "‫ « "خٍبل جبيخ‬fertile imagination » instead of *« strong imagination »
IV. Cultural and environmental difference:
In addition to the problems of meaning selection, literal translation, and
collocation, another major problem is represented by cultural and environmental
differences. Cultural and environmental differences refer to the existence of some
concepts in a certain culture that do not exist in the other culture/or cultures. For
instance, in the Western culture, the concept of “boyfriend” and “girlfriend” are
not part of the Muslim and Arab culture. On the other hand, we find some terms
which are intrinsic to the Muslim and Arabic culture like Aggal (headcord),
Mulukhya (a kind of vegetables), Zakat (Islamic system of charity)… and do not
exist in the Western culture at all
Concerning the two short stories, there are cases of this cultural difference.
For example:
The first sentence in the original text of “A Moroccan Love Story” runs as
follows:

"ً‫" دسُبء! دسُبء! رعبنً َبٔنًٍُ دسًٍٍْ يٍ انخًٍشح يٍ ثمبل انذ‬

This is primarily translated as: “Hasnaa! Hsnaa! Go fetch me 2 DHs of yeast from
the neighborhood‟s grocery!”
In the Moroccan society, people usually quantify goods (especially small
quantities of goods like food, liquids…) by price. For instance, a father may ask
his son: “go fetch me 5 DHs of coffee!” However, this quantification is not part
of the Anglo-Saxon culture. There, in the US or in the UK for example, goods are
quantified using special measures for weight (Kg or Yard) or volume (Liter or
Gallon). Therefore, translating literally the above measure (2DHs of yeast) will
not make sense to the target reader. To remedy this problem, I converted the
quantity to Kg: 2DHs of yeast equals roughly 200 grammes. So, the sentence can
be rendered as:
“Hasnaa! Hasnaa! Go fetch me 200 grammes of yeast from the neighborhood‟s
grocery!”
41
 The other sentence that embody this cultural difference can be found in the
other short story “Blood and Smoke” when it says in the original text: ‫"ٌٔذ سجم‬
"ٍّ‫ يجهجت ثشٕش رشثذ عهى كزف‬which I translated as: “…and a bright-faced man in
djellaba was patting his shoulders”. Obviously, the word djellaba, which I
deliberately italicized, doesn‟t exist in the Anglo-Saxon culture. In other words, it
has no equivalent word in English. Djellaba is a kind of dress which resembles to
some extent a gown and it is worn in Arab countries. The seemingly best solution
to this problem is transliteration plus an explanation of the term.

V. Figurative expressions :
Translating figures of speech or figurative expressions constitutes also a
problem for translators. It goes without saying that the words that have more than
one connotation in a certain language/culture may not have the same meanings in
the other language/culture. Let us consider this example from Nabil Hawasli‟s “A
Moroccan Love Story”:

"‫"أَزظش إطالنخ انمًش يٍ جذٌذ‬

First, I translated this sentence as follows:

“…waiting for the moon to appear again”. The word “moon” in Arabic "‫ "لًش‬is
used figuratively to mean « a fair woman » or « a dazzlingly beautiful girl ».
However, the word has completely different connotations in the English culture.
It can refer to childhood or even stupidity.
After an exhausting search for the best imagery that can convey the meaning
of the sentence, I substituted the word “beauty” for “moon” because beauty also
means “a beautiful and attractive person” in English, hence conveying the exact
meaning of the sentence. So, the translation will run as follows: “…waiting for
the beautiful lady to appear again”

VI. Idioms:
Idioms translation is also one of the problems that exemplify the cultural
difference. In “A Moroccan Love Story” I translated this sentence ‫"نمذ أدت شكشي ال‬
" ‫ نشًء ٔ نكٍ ألَّ صٕد انًًٓشٍٍ ٔ انًمٕٓسٌٍ انزٌٍ ٌفزششٌٕ األسض ٔ ٌهزذفٌٕ انسًبء‬as « he
loved Chokri for no reason except that he was the spokesman of the neglected and
subjugated who lie on the floor and cover themselves with sky »

42
 It turned out to me afterwards that the expression ٌٕ‫" ٌفزششٌٕ األسض ٔ ٌهزذف‬
"‫ انسًبء‬is an idiom because it can‟t be logical if it is literally translated “*those
who lie on the floor and cover themselves with sky”. So, I should look for its TL
equivalent or translate its meaning. Since I didn‟t find any equivalent for this
idiom in English, I translated its meaning. The expression means “homeless
people”. Then the translation will look like: “He loved Chokri for no reason
except that he was the spokesman of the neglected and the homeless”.

VII. Punctuation:
I faced the problem of punctuation only in the translation of “A Moroccan
Love Story”. A single glance at the structure of the Arabic text can tell that
punctuation is used at random i.e. the writer does not respect the rules of
punctuation. For example, commas are used more often instead of full stops.
Sometimes commas are unnecessarily used in some sentences. Within this
situation, I punctuated the translated text in isolation from its original text taking
into account the great importance of punctuation in making the English text
smooth and easy to read and understand.

43
 Conclusion

So far, we have seen how the field of literary translation is a problematic

field of study. The translation of the two Moroccan short stories has proved this
fact to us; we have encountered several problems connected with style, imagery,
word choice…which are the result of many factors like the cultural and
environmental difference between Moroccan culture and its English counterpart
as well as the syntactic differences that exist between Arabic and English.
Moreover, the lack of comprehensive and specialized Arabic to English
dictionaries makes it difficult for the literary translator to improve the quality of
his translations. What is even more disheartening is the bitter reality of the
translation of Moroccan literature into English. Since independence, much of
Moroccan literature was translated into French and rarely into English. Only very
limited number of works have undergone translation into English. Among these
works we find “Heirs to the Past” by Driss Chraibi, “For Bread Alone” by
Mohamed Choukri, “The Year of Elephant” by Leila Abouzeid….

Since English is the most spoken language in the world, it seems that it is
shameful not to translate our works into English and introduce our literature to the
English reader whereas international wonders have been translated into Arabic. It
is up to the ministry of culture to make a great effort to encourage literary
translation in the same way it supports literary writing.

44
 Works cited

I. Books:
 Yousef, Mohammed Hassan. Kayfa Tutarjim [How to translate?]. The
company of coaching and national learning institutes.Kuweit, 1997
 Mubarak, Rabii. Damun Wa Dukhan [Blood and Smoke]. Al-Maaref
Library. Rabat, 1980
 Yusuf Ali, Abdullah. The Meaning of the Holy Koran. Surah Al-Hujurat
[the Inner Apartments]. Beirut, 2007
II. Dictionaries:
 Dr. Rohi Baalabaki. Al-Mawrid: A Modern Arabic-English Dictionary. Dar
El-Ilm Lilmalayin. Beirut, 2009
 A S Hornby. Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary of Current English.
Oxford University Press, 2005.
III. Websites:
 http//:www.merriam-webster.com
 http://www.translationdirectory.com
 http://SBANJAR.Kau.edu.sa, http//:www.drshadiabanjar.blogspot.com
 http :// www.hewar.org
IV. Softwares:

 OXFORD Collocations | dictionary for students of English, an

electronic version.

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