Do Do Do The Hudson

Zombiebite (aka the lovely Liyana) is definitely on to something when she invites her blog readers to write their own '"hudsons" - a Malay translation of an English rhyme or poem which capture as closely as possible the spirit of the original. I really think that this may catch on and we may be eternally grateful for the inspiration provided by Ms. Hudson.

Here's one I wrote way back (before I even knew what hudsons were!) ... but I'm so very proud of the only poem I've ever managed to write in Malay. I'm sure you know this traditional rhyme (no poet to credit):

Round and round the garden
Like a teddy bear
One step, two steps,
Tickle him under there!

which when hudsoned becomes:

Dikeliling kebun,
Seperti Si Bruang,
Pijak satu! Pijak dua!
Geletek kau? Jangan!!!

Do feel free to add your own hudsons in the comments or slip in a link to one on your own blog.

Not Just a Pretty Face

Has Natasha Hudson added plagiarist to her list of achievements which include (actress, model and very very dubious poet) and has Jannah Raffali has rumbled her?

Well, you be the judge:


This is a poem called Cake by Roger McGough:

i wanted one life
you wanted another
we couldn't have our cake
so we ate each other.

And this is Hudson's Cokolat:

Saya mahu satu kehidupan,
Kamu mahu sesuatu yang lain,
Kita tidak dapat makan kek coklat,
Jadi kita makan sesama diri.

A direct translation and not attributed to McGough.

Just in case anyone is unclear on the concept, plagiarism is not a very nice thing to do to another writer, and I believe it counts even when translation is involved.

Postscript:

Here is a link to the site where Ms. Hudson and her publishers should have applied for rights to reproduce one of McGough's poems.

Postscript 2:

Nina Shah's post on the matter made me laugh, suggesting that N.H's translations sound like they've been done via babelfish and she suggests:

Someone should make a makro, with a pic of th DBP Kamus Dwibahasa with the caption: ICANHAZPLAJIARIZMNAO?

I'd like that on a t-shirt!

Other bloggers who have picked the story up include Chech and Da Cookie, while Liyana inspired me to this.