A Translation of O. Henry’s “A Bird of Bagdad”

Abstract

This article presents a translation of the short story “A Bird of Bagdad” (1910), by O. Henry, into Brazilian Portuguese. O. Henry became famous for writing about ordinary people, and with stories set in New York City. “A Bird of Bagdad” is representative of both O. Henry’s style and his New York theme. Originally published in the collection Strictly Business: More Stories of the Four Million (1910), the short story in question tells the story of the owner of a small restaurant who goes out at night in search of excitement — of strangers with fascinating stories to tell and to whom he can offer help. One day, while doing one of his walks, he meets a young man who needs to solve a riddle. The present translation is concerned with recreating the particularities of the characters’ speeches in dialogue, which play an important role in the humorous effect of the story, and the wordplay that makes up the riddle, a crucial element in the development of the plot.