Polish

11 versions supplied by Anna Cetera and Daniel Kaczyński

1 ad hoc version by Victor Shapoval

Warsaw, 20 May, 2011

Anna Cetera, Ph.D., D. Litt. (University of Warsaw)

Daniel Kaczyński (University of Warsaw)

The Delighted Beauty Project: Polish Contribution

General comments:

Othello was first staged in Poland in 1801. Up until 1860 most of the productions of Othello were based on the Polish rewritings of intermediary sources. There are several extant versions of the play, of which three are based on F. Ducis's Othello [in French, which omits the Duke's couplet], whereas the remaining three are based on an unknown source text. Additionally there were performances of foreign actors (e.g. Ira Aldridge) starring as Othello in productions where two languages were used (i.e. Polish in other parts, and English for the part of Othello). (And in 2002, The Wybrzeże Theatre in Gdańsk staged a play entitled Otello umiera [Othello is dying] by Maciej Karpiński, about Ira Aldridge.)

The first translation from the original language, by Ignacy Hołowiński, was done in 1833 and remained in manuscript.

The first production based on the translation from the original language appeared in 1860, and was based on Józef Paszkowski's translation of the play.

Translations:

JÓZEF PASZKOWSKI

Słusznali szpetność przypisać niecnocie,

Zięć wasz, choć czarny, jest pięknym w istocie.

It is right to ascribe ugliness to the opposite of virtue,

Your son-in-law, though black, is in fact beautiful.

Source: Shakespeare, William. Otello. Translated by Józef Paszkowski. In: Dzieła dramatyczne Williama Shakespeare. Vol. 2. Warsaw: Spółka Wydawnicza Księgarzy 1875-1877.

Editions: numerous.

Type of the source: complete works of Shakespeare

First appearance: 1859 (reading edition)

Place: Poland, performed many times (6 times in the post-war period including one adaptation of the translation by Bogdan Hussakowski [1969])

Fame: 5

LEON ULRICH:

Jeżeli cnota wagę ma piękności,

Nikt zięcia twego nie sprosta białości.

If virtue weighs [matters] as much as beauty,

No one will match the whiteness of your son-in-law.

Source: Shakespeare, William. Otello. In: Dzieła dramatyczne Williama Shakespeare. Vol. 5. Translated by Leon Ulrich. Kraków: G. Gebethner i Spółka; Warsaw: Gebethner i Wolff, 1895.

Editions: 1

Type of the source: complete works of Shakespeare

First appearance: 1895

Place: Poland, never performed

Fame: 2

SZCZĘSNY KLUCZYCKI

Jeżeli zacność duszy do hołdu nas skłania,

To zięć wasz piękny, i godzien kochania.

If the decency of the soul makes us pay homage,

Then your son-in-law [is] beautiful and deserves love.

Source: Shakespeare, William. Otello. Translated by Szczęsny Kluczycki. Lwów: Księgarnia Polska, 1880.

Editions: 2 [1880, 1889]

Type of the source: reading edition

First appearance: 1871 (production)

Place: Poland, performed 1

Fame: 1

CZESŁAW MIŁOSZ

Drogi signore, tobie, chciej mi wierzyć,

Pięknego zięcia zdobyć się udało.

Bielszy on od tych, co twarz mają białą.

Dear signore, believe me,

you have been lucky to win a beautiful son-in-law.

He is whiter than those who have white faces.

Source: Shakespeare, William, Otello [fragment]. Translated by Czesław Miłosz. In Twórczość [Monthly Journal of the Writers' Association], July 1950.

Editions: none

Type of the source: fragment published in a literary journal

First appearance: 1950

Place: Poland, never performed

Fame: 1

ZOFIA SIWICKA

Jeżeli cnota piękności istotą,

Wasz zięć, choć czarny, lecz piękny jest cnotą.

If virtue is the essence of beauty,

Your son-in-law, however black, is beautiful because of virtue.

Source: William Szekspir. Otello. Król Lir. Makbet. Translated by Zofia Siwicka. Warsaw: Książka i Wiedza, 1951.

Editions: 1

Type of the source: reading edition

First appearance: 1951

Place: Poland, never performed

Fame: 1

KRYSTYNA BERWIŃSKA

Sinior - jeżeli pięknem cnota - zięć wasz

Piękny. Zapomnij, że ma czarną twarz.

[...] if beauty is virtue, your son-in-law [is]

Beautiful. Forget that he has a black face.

Source: Shakespeare, William. Otello. Translated by Krystyna Berwińska. Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1956.

Editions: 1

Type of the source: reading edition

First appearance: 1956

Place: Poland, performed 10 times (including the use of the translation as a script in the Polish TV Theatre production of Othello [1967])

Fame: 3

BOHDAN DROZDOWSKI

Brabancjo, świetny ten twój zięć, choć czarny.

Brabantio, your son-in-law is an excellent fellow, though black.

Source: theatre script (Shakespeare, William. Otello. Translated by Bohdan Drozdowski (paraphrase). Lublin: Teatr im. Juliusza Osterwy [The J. Osterwa Theatre] 1972.)

Editions: none

Type of the source: theatre script

First appearance: 1972 (production)

Place: Poland, performed 5 times

Fame: 2

MACIEJ SŁOMCZYŃSKI

Jeżeli ma cnota urodę swą własną,

Zięć twój ma skórę nie ciemną, lecz jasną.

If virtue has its own beauty,

Your son-in-law has the skin which is not dark but fair [light-coloured].

Source: Shakespeare, William. Dzieła. Tragedia Otella, Maura Weneckiego. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1982.

Editions: more than 3

Type of the source: complete works of William Shakespeare

First appearance: 1981 (a film script)

Place: Poland, performed 1 (the Polish film script for the 1981 BBC TV production of Othello)

Fame: 5

JERZY SITO

[...] jeśli istotnie cnota jest pięknem -

twój zięć nie jest Maurem,

lecz Apollinem z białego marmuru!

[...] if virtue is truly beauty -

Your son-in-law is not a Moor,

But Apollo [made] of white marble!

Source: William Shakespeare. Otello. Translated by Jerzy Sito. Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy: Warsaw: 1985.

Editions: 1

Type of the source: reading edition

First appearance: 1984 (production)

Place: Poland, performed 2 (the text was used as a script in the 1984 Polish TV Theatre production of Othello). In the theater production (2006) the Duke of Venice is missing.

Fame: 2

STANISŁAW BARAŃCZAK

W cnocie - uroda duszy się zawiera;

Zięć twój piękniejszy jest niż jego cera.

Virtue represents the beauty of the soul;

Your son-in-law is more beautiful than his complexion.

Source: Shakespeare, William. Otello, Maur wenecki. Translated by Stanisław Barańczak. Poznań: W Drodze, 1993.

Editions: 2

Type of the source: reading edition, complete works of William Shakespeare

First appearance: 1993

Place: Poland, performed 3 times (including one adaptation)

Fame: 5

PIOTR KAMIŃSKI

Gdzie cnotę pięknem zdobić chce natura

Tam zięć twój bielszy jest niż jego skóra.

Where nature wishes to adorn virtue with beauty

Your son-in-law is whiter than his skin.

Source: typescript

Type of the source: critical edition, complete works of William Shakespeare

First appearance: to be published in spring 2013

Place: Poland, never performed

Fame: not classified

ad hoc version and back-translation by Victor Shapoval (2012)

Jak cnocie – jasnej piękności nie brak,

Nie czarny pana zięć, lecz jasny wszak.

When (if) virtue (honour) [does not] lack clear beauty,

Your son-in-law is not black, although but clear.