Talk:Le Petit Nicolas

it is not a good one..why isnt there a link to the english version?

Huh? Initially, I was very puzzled by this article. I have a copy of Young Nicolas; i.e., Le Petit Nicolas translated into American English in 1961 by Stella Rodway and published in the USA in 1962. It does not contain Anglicized names or any Flemish fellow as found in Anthea Bell's 1978 English translation. However, after reading some excerpts from Ms. Bell's version, I came to realize that, while Ms. Rodway had merely translated the French text into American English, Ms. Bell had actually re-written the book in British English; complete with British names and phraseology. The only deviation I ran across was changing Monsieur Dubon's nickname to The Potato (since he says, "Look me in the eyes!" all the time). It only makes sense as what kind of nickname would "Pomme de Terre" be anyhow! :-) When I can find the time, I will come back and add a similar description of the American English version. Fortunately, the humor of Mssrs Goscinny and Sempé transcend these minor matters. JimScott 06:05, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

hallo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

. ==

"Spanish version.

For Latin America the book published by Alfaguara had the Spanish translation, by _______ (information of the 1993 edition).

Names for this edition were

Nicolas Clotario Alcestes Eudes Godofredo Agnan Joaquín Majencio Rufo Eduviges Luisa Rex

Other characters include Nicolas's parents, as well as teachers and administrators in the school. The teacher is hard-working and loves the children, although they usually drive her crazy. The superintendent, Mr. Dubon [Mr Goodman] , is known as "le Bouillon" ("Old Spuds").

When Nicolas is going to a camp for vacations, he and the other children are forced to take a nap. The supervisor decides to tell them a story about "a caliph who was a very good man but who had a very evil vizier...", which is a prelude to Goscinny's future comic series Iznogoud. The supervisor then tells about how the caliph dresses as a common man to find out what people think of him, and the evil vizier takes his place, which is the plot of one Iznogoud adventure.

As an example, in the French version of one particular story, an English student named George MacIntosh is enrolled in Nicolas' class. Because the name "George" in French (Georges) is pronounced with a soft "g" (like "su" in "measure"), the class has difficulty coming up with a nickname, but eventually decides on "Djodjo," playing with the hard "dj" sound. In the English version, George's nationality had to be changed; he became Flemish, and his nickname went from "Djodjo" to "Djocky". Spanish version has this name translation to Jorge McInstosh -> Chorches -> and they fight and is called "Chocho".

In this version, the teacher M. Dubon (nicknamed "le Bouillon") becomes Mr. Goodman (nicknamed "Old Spuds" from his verbal tic of demanding the children 'look him in the eye' linked to the fact that Nicholas knows potatoes have eyes). In the French version of the story, M. Dubon gets his nickname from the concept of bubbles of fat resembling eyes rising to the surface of boiling broth ("bouillon"). Spanish version names it like the original French edition, "el Caldo", even though this expression is not commonly used in Latin America."

-- Template:Unsigned IP -->— Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.26.169.53 (talk) 02:54, 17 June 2017 (UTC)

Children's names

Nicolas and Louisette excepted, the children’s names are not common given names of the 50’s and the 60’s. The boys’names are antiquated names borrowed from history books or 17th century litterature, Marie-Edwige is the combination of Marie and a rare (in France at least) given name, a type of naming associated in those times with snobbishness. So the names contribute to the humorous tone of the book. I don’t know if this is reflected in the english versions. Ratd'lab (talk) 12:55, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

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