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
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
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
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
[...] 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
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.
