Tolkien's holiday tradition(2)

Letters from Father Christmas was recently translated into Chinese. The book contains letters that Tolkien wrote to his children every year between 1920 and 1943. [Photo/China Daily]

A book containing those letters, Letters from Father Christmas, was recently translated into Chinese. The book contains letters that Tolkien wrote to his children every year between 1920 and 1943.

"Father Christmas" describes his life and adventures in the Arctic in a child-friendly tone. He describes his ice igloo near the North Pole, and how he packs and delivers gifts on Christmas Eve. Father Christmas and his mischievous helper Polar Bear battle goblins who try to steal their toys with the help of red elves.

Tolkien's first few letters are short and simple, while his later ones are longer and have more extensive plots. Paul H. Kocher, a scholar who wrote extensively on the works of Tolkien, suggests the creatures in the letters may have been the inspiration for those that appeared in Tolkien's later works such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The book includes copies of Tolkien's original letters, which were written in a shaky but elegant handwriting, as Father Christmas is "nineteen hundred and twenty-four, no! seven! years old".

"If John (Tolkien's eldest son) can't read my old shaky writing, he must get his father to," Tolkien wrote.

Each letter was sent by "Chimney Post" and delivered by "direct Reindeer" from the "cliff house on top of the world" with "North Pole postage".

"Therefore I think the Letters from Father Christmas is the most valuable of Tolkien's works."

Naturally there are doubts about whether the girls are capable of translating Tolkien's works. The book's publisher, Horizon Media, says the girls are fluent in English as they attend international schools, and the language Tolkien used in the letters is simple.

To ensure the quality of the translation, Lai Shengchuan, an award-winning playwright and director who was born in the United States and received a doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley, was invited to be the girls' adviser and proofread the translation.

Zhang Jianhua brought his 3-year-old daughter to a release party for the book on Dec 21 in Beijing, so it could be signed by the girls and Huang Lei.

"Though my daughter cannot read the book, I will read for her and I hope she likes it," says Zhang. "Few people write letters with a pen nowadays, but I think we should retain our feeling with paper and cherish the time with our kids."