Pale’ Eric Forbes answers questions at the Guam Department of Education CHamoru Studies and Special Projects Division book launch ceremony for “I Dikkiki’ na Prinsipi” on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Tiyan.
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A classic children’s book, “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, has been translated into CHamoru by Pale’ Eric Forbes.
“The Little Prince” sold more than 140 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 569 languages and dialects, making it the second most translated book ever, according to a press release from the Guam Department of Education.
The book tells the adventures of a young prince who explores the universe and learns the concepts of life, love and friendship.
“The message is, even if you’re a grown-up, have a heart of the child. The essential things in life aren’t visible, they are seen with the heart. And that’s what children do and how much we need that in our world today,” said Forbes.
Translation of the book into CHamoru, as well as the printing and publication by Glimpses Media, was done with help through a grant from the Jean-Marc Probst Foundation.
The Switzerland-based foundation, was founded by Jean-Marc Probst, who said his two great passions are traveling and “The Little Prince,” said Forbes.
During Probst’s travels, he noticed numerous translated versions of “The Little Prince” and decided to create a foundation and fund for more translations of the children’s book.
“When ‘The Little Prince’ was translated into its 300th language, it became No. 2 and now it’s close to 600 languages. The fact that it’s in CHamoru, not only for the sake of our schoolchildren, shows that our language is worthy,” said Forbes.
Translating the book took four years, and it wasn’t an easy write for Forbes, he said.
“It’s challenging work to translate it into CHamoru. Not only because there’s terms we don’t use in CHamoru, but concepts, such as human behavior, that we don’t exactly describe in that way as presented in the book,” said Forbes.
About 1,500 to 1,600 copies were printed and will be delivered to classrooms and libraries, according to the Education Department.
“Since there are not enough books to put into every single child’s hands, they’re going into classrooms and libraries, and we had enough to put into classes outside GDOE,” said Jimmy Teria, administrator of the CHamoru Studies and Special Projects Division.
“Everything we can do to support the CHamoru language, culture and community is really important. I see the complex relationship between language and culture. You can’t have them in separate environments. They really need to be together so they can manifest themselves in a positive way,” said GDOE Superintendent Kenneth Erik Swanson.
