The artist Marek Zulawski, translation & Polish-British culture

Hi,

I didn't see much of this year's Olympics.

I did hear that some Christians watching the opening ceremony somehow mistook a Dionysian feast for The Last Supper. And that the River Seine made triathlon swimmers puke.

All in all, it sounds like it was a highly entertaining success.

Inspired by all this fun, I found a short piece by my father Marek about the 1948 Olympics, hosted in London. It was a significant games for two reasons: it was the first Olympics in 12 years since World War II had interrupted people's thirst for the simplicity of sport; it was the first Olympics to be televised. My translation of his thoughts is below.

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That strange grace that only sailboats possess

Olympic dinghies in Torquay's harbour, 3rd August 1948, via devonlive.com

The 1948 Olympics. A sailing regatta in Torquay. Movement. Every evening, the competitors anxiously watch the sky, invoking the wind in every language of the world. They stand on the shore in their colourful blazers, gazing in silence. A great weight is etched onto their sun-kissed faces. They look as if they are praying, but since their wishes all contradict each other, they find no comfort.

So they seek comfort elsewhere. Cocktail bars and pubs are packed to the brim. In a myriad of accents, they order the same beer, whiskey and gins. The multilingual chatter spills out onto the streets and scares the locals, who sidle away discreetly.

In the heated atmosphere of the bar, the names of yachts are overheard. They talk about victories, defeats, protests, disqualifications and future chances. The yachtsmen are absorbed in their own world.

But just step over to the edge of the harbour and glance towards the sea, and you'll be struck by the great silence that reigns there. White, blue, yellow and green yachts with flawless shapes sway in the port basin. They bob with that strange grace that only sailboats possess — and like birds, they turn their faces into the wind. Their tall masts trace exquisite ellipses in the evening sky, like barometer needles predicting tomorrow's weather.

Further out, anchored battleships stand frozen and unmoving like stones. They came here to add grandeur to the occasion, but now they encircle the bay in an alien and menacing ring. They echo scenes from a different movie, a movie I did not come here to watch.

But it’s too late... It’s 1940. Just like the ones here, small yachts are evacuating the British Expeditionary Force from the continent. With unprecedented heroism, they bustle between the battleships, engulfed in their inferno of fire — under a sky deafened by the thunder of aviation bombs — breaking apart in the flashes of countless explosions — on those narrow waters between Dover and Dunkirk...

I shoo away the insistent vision. The horizon shrouds itself in mist, and a passing squall lashes the bay. The battleships' silhouettes loom like ghosts. Then suddenly, the wind strikes, the waves rise, and the sea darkens. The sky becomes clear as crystal. A storm is approaching.

There's a great gallery of photos from Torquay during the Olympics here.

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Good news for sci-fi fans & translation nerds

The Bill Johnston translation of Stanisław Lem's seminal Solaris is finally going to be available in print. Up until now, the English version of Solaris has always been the Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox version from 1970, which, weirdly, is a translation of a French translation of the original Polish. As you might imagine, that's a bit problematic. Due to copyright obligations, it has remained the only English print edition for decades, even though this makes no sense. Lem himself said the English print version was poor and misunderstood.

In 2011, Bill Johnston decided to correct that mistake when audiobooks started becoming a thing. His own proper Polish-to-English translation became the first audiobook version, and the ebook followed soon after. But it's only now that it's coming to print. It will be limited edition and good-looking.

Sample artwork by Matt Murphy for the new print edition of 'Solaris'

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That's all for this week. Many thanks for reading. Remember to drink more water in the summer.

Adam

Adam Zulawski

TranslatingMarek.com / TranslatePolishMemoirs.com / Other stuff

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