Jerome Herrera relaunches his self-published translation of the famous French novella

First released in September 2018, Jerome Herrera’s Chabacano translation of the French novella “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is set to be relaunched this coming October.

Chabacano or Chavacano is the mother tongue of the Filipino translator from Zamboanga City. According to him, it is one of only two Spanish-based creole languages in the entire world. Through his translation of the beloved book, titled “El Diutay Principe,” he hopes to share the beauty of the language and create awareness about it. 

“I created this translation because I love the Chabacano language and I have a lot of respect for it,” Jerome said. “I did not translate just so I can say that I did or to make my resume or my credentials look nicer. This book is a true labor of love. It is priceless. Not even all the stars in the sky can compensate for the amount of time and effort that has been placed in making this book a reality.”

The process began in 2013, the year when Jerome first encountered the novel. He did it first as a pastime, which eventually became a full-blown project. He encountered many challenges working on it, from finding the right spelling to figuring out words to translate terms with no direct counterpart in the Chabacano language. He decided to create a unique spelling system surrounding the general orthographic rule prescribed by the city government of Zamboanga.

“I had to think of an indirect way of saying that word. The fallback, of course, is always to use the Spanish equivalent but I decided to keep this at a minimum, mostly in areas where the text is poetic or figurative,” he mused. “I wanted the Chabacano in the book to be a true representation of the language in this day and age and not an idealized version of it.”

With its humanist values, “The Little Prince” became one of the most beloved books throughout the years among adults and children. In the translator’s case, it had helped him “see life in a very different manner” and hopes everyone will feel the same as they read it in Chabacano. 

“I would say that it is much more relevant today than when it first came out,” Jerome said about “The Little Prince.” “We live in a world that is obsessed with ‘instant’ and humanity has lost the art of making friends. This is why with all the technology around us that is supposed to make us feel connected, many people find themselves lonely.”

“It is my fervent hope that ‘El Diutay Principe’ will become the preeminent piece of Chabacano literature and that it would greatly aid in Chabacano becoming a standardized written language in the future,” he adds. 

“El Diutay Principe” is available for purchase online at www.facebook.com/eldiutayprincipe. As of the moment, there are no plans yet to make it available in e-book format.

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