TEHRAN-A new translation of the famous novella “The Little Prince” written by French author Antoine de Saint Exupery (1900-1944) will be unveiled on Thursday at a ceremony in Tehran, where the previous translations of the book will be reviewed.

The unveiling ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m. at Elahieh Book City in Fereshteh St., northern Tehran, in collaboration with Nashr-e Baya, publisher of the book, ISNA reported.

The ceremony will be attended by the translator of the book Nazanin Tabatabaei, director of Nashr-e Baya Ahmad Tamimdari, audiobook narrator Samaneh Hadi, and children’s author Seyyed Ali Kashefi-Khansari.

Tabatabaei, 66, holds a Ph.D. in French literature from Sorbonne University and has been involved in teaching and research in the field of French language and literature for over three decades.

As a part of the ceremony, Kashefi-Khansari will speak about numerous Persian translations of the book in the past years and the best translators of them.

First published in 1943, “The Little Prince” has been translated into 300 languages and dialects, selling nearly two million copies annually. With a total sale of over 140 million worldwide, it has become one of the best-selling books ever published. 

In Iran, the first translation of the book was published in 1954 by renowned translator and writer Mohammad Ghazi. Since then, about 130 other translators have rendered the book into Persian. Notable translators of the book include Abolhassan Najafi, Ahmad Shamlou, Abbas Pejman, Kaveh Mirabbasi, Delara Qahraman, Media Kashigar, Parviz Shahdi, and Mostafa Rahmandoust.

The novella is about a little prince who lives in a faraway asteroid with his rose. One day he comes to Earth where he meets an aviator, a fox, a snake, and some strange people.

Saint-Exupéry was a French aviator and writer whose works are the unique testimony of a pilot and a warrior who looked at adventure and danger with a poet’s eyes. 

Equally loved by children and adults alike, “The Little Prince” is one of the most translated books on the planet. With wonderful and whimsical illustrations by the author, the delightful tale straddles a world between adulthood and childhood, philosophy and fantasy, satire, and fable.  

“The Little Prince” draws unflattering portraits of grown-ups as being hopelessly narrow-minded. In contrast, children come to wisdom through open-mindedness and a willingness to explore the world around them and within themselves. The main theme of the fable is expressed in the secret that the fox tells the little prince: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly: what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Globally, linguists have compared the many translations and even editions of the same translation for style, composition, titles, wordings, and genealogy. As an example: as of 2011 there are approximately 47 translated editions of “The Little Prince” in Korean, and there are also about 50 different translated editions in Chinese.

The book has been adapted to numerous art forms and media, including audio recordings, radio plays, live stage, film, television, ballet, and opera.

SS/SAB