Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 7, 1 July 2012 — ʻĀLEKA IN Wonderland [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻĀLEKA IN Wonderland

Lewis Garroll's classic tale is now available in Hawaiian

By Mary Aliee Milham

Keao NeSmith knows something about what it's like to fall down a rabbit hole. As the translator of the new book Nā Hana Kupanaha a 'Āleka ma ka 'Āina Kamaha'o - more commonly known as Aliee 's Adventures in Wonderland - the University of Hawai'i Hawaiian language professor had the topsy-turvy experience of rendering Lewis Carroll's classic children's tale into 'ōlelo Hawai'i. The book is part of Aliee 150, an intemational endeavor to translate the story into lesser-known and endangered languages in commemoration of the book's 150th anniversary. With a Ph.D. in applied linguistics from the University of Waikato in New Zealand, a thesis on teaching Hawaiian language and plenty of experience translating books for the Hawaiian-language immersion schools, NeSmith was up to the task. Nevertheless, translating Alice's strange journey - in the land of the White Rabbit, Moek Turtle and the Dormouse - from English into Hawaiian was no simple matter.

"It's almost mathematical," says NeSmith. "In the end, all of these references throughout the story, they need to fit somehow and it wasn't always easy." For one thing, there were no miee or rabbits in Hawai'i when Aliee 's Adventures was first published in 1865. In some cases, NeSmith had to invent new names for characters in the book, such as " 'iole maka mania" (sleepy-eyed mouse) for "dormouse" and honu 'ū (mournful turtle) for "moek turtle." Poems and rhymes in the story presented other conundrums. Not being traditional Hawaiian literary devices, NeSmith had to eome up with alternatives. For instance, in a chapter where the Mad Hatter sings "Twinkle, īwinkle Little Bat," NeSmith inserted oli he found in 19th-century Hawaiian language newspapers, with passages about bats. To ensure his translation was in keeping with the original, NeSmith looked to Hawaiian translations of English language stories of the period, such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Ivanhoe and Beowulf. Before being entrusted with the job, NeSmith had to complete a test chapter and when finished was required to write an essay explaining how he dealt with difficulties, like

the translation of puns and Carroll's use of "nonsense" language. Now that the book is out, an audio CD will also be forthcoming for purchase online, says NeSmith, who is currently working on a Hawaiian translation of Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. In addition to Hawaiian, the Aliee 150 project includes Paeihe language translations in Tongan, Tahitian, Rarotongan Maori and a Samoan translation by UH-Mānoa lecturer Fata Simanu-Klutz. You ean find more translations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland at evertype.com. NeSmith's Hawaiian translation of Aliee' s Adventures in Wonderland is available on amazon.com. ■

Mary Aliee Kaiulani Milham, a Portland, Oregon-based freelance journalist, is a former newspaper reporter and eolumnistfrom California's Central Coast.

Nā Hana Kupanaha a 'Āleka ma ka 'Āina Kamaha'o By Lewis Carroll Translated by Keao NeSmith lllustrated. 148 pages. Evertype. $15.95

TRADITIQNAL HAWAIIAN.COM

NeSmith's website is devoted to Hawaiian language preservation, pointingtothe need to increase the number of native speakers, orthose who learned Hawaiian as their primary language. Native speakers, he said, are estimated at about 500; the majority, about 300, are Ni'ihauans of western Kaua'i. The website includes audio clips of his kupunawahine (grandmother) Annie Kealoha Kauhane, who taught him the language, speaking Hawaiian as an illustration of the difference between traditional Hawaiian and "neo," orsecondlanguage Hawaiian.

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Keao NeSmith. - Photo: LisaAsato