Afterwards, he completed his studies, and then joined the british civil service. Incidentally, i do not assume knowledge of the few extra lapine words introduced in tales from watership down these will be explained as and when we meet them. For more information, see the article about watership down, or about its film version. Lapine, the language he sketches for his rabbits, is arguably the best naming language ever created, and is a minimalist virtuoso performance, a haiku of a language compared to the sonnet of. Fiver, in watership down, is also a sort of prophet.
He speaks of the efrafa warren nearby which houses many rabbits. Get cozy and expand your home library with a large online selection of books at. I thought it might be interesting andor helpful to have a list of lapine words that richad adams uses in watership down. The rabbit language of watership down made me feel i could. Even if you dont recognize it while reading, youll be drawn into rabbit culture. Actually, there were probably battles and summer music festivals, since those are everywhere.
They have their own culture, language, proverbs, poetry and mythology. Lapine language data from the novel by chapter and data tag, 110. This is primarily a dictionary of colloquial lapine, so only a few words from the inflected language are included broadly, those which are relatively common in everyday speech, such as hyaont, yesterday see unit 03. Each warren is led by a council of elders, at the head of which is a chief. In the animated movie adaption, hyzenthlay is given a role in luring the dog back to the warren, being the last in. On the left, youll find the lapine word or saying, on the right, its meaning. Watership down is a survival and adventure novel by english author richard adams. Down warren, instead of a novel, with notes on pronunciation and a lapine glossary. The majority also appear in the 1978 feature film adaptation, the 1999 television series adaptation andor 1996 followup collection of short stories. Im not 100% sure on whether words should be italicised, for example, fuinle is italicised in one sentence in the book, and then in the very. The role of chief varies from benign figurehead to military dictator, but most. Throughout the novelfilm, the rabbits speak a vernacular split between english and lapine an allegorical language of the rabbit species.
Richard george adams 9 may 1920 24 december 2016 was an english novelist and writer of the books watership down, shardik and the plague dogs. Explore each words context, its nuances and flavors, to get a sense of how to use it. A rabbit living above ground, without a regular hole or warren. Even the discovery of watership down warren is symbolic. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Former captain of the owsla until he and other rabbits of the owsla decide to go with hazel and company to watership down,he later joinsand betrays efrafa to bring back does to the group,and fights with woundwort to protect watership down,he is a powerful and brave rabbit who sometimes does not believe fivers visions.
Richard adams watership down is one of the classic works of fiction, placed as it is among and between the warrens of rabbits in the english countryside. In his first vision in chapter one, he sees the fields covered in. If you find and correct errors in the text, please. Its the richest and most interesting learners dictionary available. Historical and literary context for richard adamss watership down. A worldwide bestseller for more than forty years, watership down is the compelling tale of a band of wild rabbits struggling to hold onto their place in the worlda classic yarn of discovery and struggle the new york times. Kehaar returns to watership down and helps remove the buckshot pellets from hazels hindquarters, using his beak. Play sporcle s virtual live trivia to have fun, connect with people, and get your trivia on. When i was at college, a fellow student told me that i had to read watership down.
Watership down is quite simply my favourite animated film of all time. Watership down, richard adams first novel, made its way into my life in the christmas of 1974 and has drawn me back to its yellowing pages ever. Integrated in each quiz is our open dictionary of english, ode. Aug 26, 2015 the rabbit language of watership down helped me make the leap into english this article is more than 4 years old. Buy watership down puffin books reissue by adams, richard isbn. Watership down word list the largest word list archive. Whether lapine actually has a word for lapine is unknown. Watership down is a fantastical story concerning the survival of a group of rabbits on their quest to locate a new warren. But if you follow the protagonists through the book, it becomes kind of a mythology as well as the lapine language, which makes watership down one of my alltimefavorites. Test your knowledge on this literature quiz to see how you do and compare your score to others. Lapine society is highly rigid and structured, with a hierarchical collective leadership.
Watership down has been remade for a new audience and its a got a fresh cast of stellar talent voicing the brave band of rabbits. In his first vision in chapter one, he sees the fields covered in blood. If a virtual private party is more your thing, go here for details. Toward the edge of the wood, where the ground became open and sloped down to an old fence and a brambly ditch beyond, only a few fading patches of pale yellow still. Join a live hosted trivia game for your favorite pub trivia experience done virtually. A shy young man meets a beautiful woman on a business trip to copenhagen. Dec 19, 20 watership down, richard adams first novel, made its way into my life in the christmas of 1974 and has drawn me back to its yellowing pages ever since. This stirring tale of courage and survival against the odds has become one of the bestloved animal adventures of all time. My general rule will be that lapine is written in bold italic, english in plain text and other languages in simple italic.
Richard adams classic novel watership down isnt just about rabbits. Translated by adams as lapine, meaning the language and religion of the rabbits. Watership down is a classic adventure novel, written by english author richard adams, published by rex collings ltd of london in 1972. Cassandra is a prophetess who is going to her death, and therefore sings about the fields running with blood. Holly pipes up and warns the other rabbits not to go there.
Lapine language the rabbits in watership down speak in a language called lapine,but mostly speak fluent english,here are some of the words that the rabbits say in lapine and the translation in english. From richard adams book watership down its a word thats part of the rabbit language lapine it means shit or rabbit pellets. Most terms found in watership down are lapine words. It tells the story of rabbits and their adventures concerning their warren at a hill in the north of hampshire, england known as watership down in this fantasy book, rabbits with human intelligence are shown in their natural environment. Hazel did not mean to alter his ways or take instructions from cowslip. Watership down is a hill, or down, at ecchinswell in the civil parish of ecchinswell, sydmonton and bishops green in the english county of hampshire, as part of the hampshire downs. Archived from the original pdf on 28 november 2007. Hyzenthlays name is lapine for fur shining like dew. Watership down terms from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Get the entire watership down litchart as a printable pdf. Watership down is a remarkable tale of exile and survival, of heroism and leadership. Watership down is named after a real location in england that is, frankly, pretty boring.
In tales from watership down she mates with hazel and the two rule the warren as cochief rabbits. A beautiful new hardback gift edition of the beloved richard adams classic watership down a christmas gift in waiting. The rabbits in watership down treat hraka excrement. Objects in his house become strangely damp with what looks like seawater, bodies appear under the water that arent really there. In 1974, two years after watership down was published, adams became a. This is a list of characters in watership down, a 1972 novel by richard adams. At first, i didnt like the rabbitfolkherostories very much. Although they live in their natural wild environment, with burrows, they are anthropomorphised, possessing their own culture, language, proverbs, poetry, and mythology. Hazel notes that fiver is responsible for them getting to this awesome place. To find him under watership down at all, therefore, was astonishing. He studied modern history at university before serving in the british army during world war ii.
The chief rabbits name and style was threarah, meaning lord rowan tree. Of the week watership down tonight, bbc1, 7pm to say james mcavoy is a fan of watership down would be an understatement. The theatrical trailer to the 1978 film, watership down. The language was again used in adams 1996 sequel, tales from watership down, and has appeared in both the film and television adaptations. Something terrible was going to happen to the warren he felt sure of it. Can you name the english translation for words in the rabbit language of watership down. Set in southern england, around hampshire, the story features a small group of rabbits. An enchanting picture book about the adventures of a mischievous homemade dragon, illustrated by. The logic of lapine is not humandown, but rabbitup. Tackling the big ideas, including the importance of storytelling to society, adams weaves an adult tale of human struggle cloaked as a book about bunnies. Tales from watership down is a collection of 19 short stories by richard adams, published in 1996 as a followup to adamss highly successful 1972 novel about rabbits, watership down. Watership down tells the story of a small group of rabbits who leave their home, sandleford warren, at the urging of fiver, a young, small rabbit who has the gift of clairvoyance and who has a vision in which the entire field where the warren is located is covered in blood. Nearly 30 years since its initial release, watership down remains a compelling tale of courage, loyalty and thrilling adventure. Get an answer for the rabbits in watership down treat hraka excrement like humans would treat it, so what does it mean when they eat pellets.
A little fanmade tool for translating english to lapine, a fictional language from richard adams book watership down. In fact, watership down warren starts from some old warren that the rabbits find there, which is a nice symbol of how they use traditional techniques or holes in addition to digging new ones. Watership down simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Watership down september 1993 edition open library. The rabbit language of watership down helped me make the leap into english this article is more than 4 years old. Mar 21, 2012 nearly 30 years since its initial release, watership down remains a compelling tale of courage, loyalty and thrilling adventure. There were no battles there, no famous speeches, no ipod factories or summer music festivals. The vocal talent, animation style both in the main story and in the mythical opening, soundtrack and script all work wonderfully, shortening the material of the book but not losing all of its themes. Adams includes a glossary of all lapine words in the book at the end. Watership down was made into a movie and a tv show. Claiming spine number 748, martin rosens 1978 british film adapted from richard adams 1972 novel joins the ranks of esteemed works of art from the likes of fellini, renoir, kurosawa, and hitchcock. Watership down has done that with its admission today into the criterion collection.
Please note that the content of this book primarily. Watership down is a survival and adventure novel by english author richard adams, published by rex collings ltd of london in 1972. Chiefs append the honorific rah roughly translated as prince or leader to their names. This is primarily a dictionary of colloquial lapine, so only a few words from the inflected language are included. It consists of a number of short stories of rabbit mythology, followed by several chapters featuring many of the characters introduced in the earlier book. It rises fairly steeply on its northern flank the scarp side, but to the south the slope is much gentler the dip side. It tells the story of rabbits and their adventures concerning their warren at a hill in the north of hampshire, england known as watership down. Agamemnon was a play written by greek playwrite aeschylus. By the way, i started to read this book because it was mentioned in mostnerdishtolkiencommunities. Watership down is a novel written by richard adams. Lapine, the language he sketches for his rabbits, is arguably the best naming language ever created, and is a minimalist virtuoso performance, a haiku of a language compared. Nov 01, 2005 a worldwide bestseller for more than forty years, watership down is the compelling tale of a band of wild rabbits struggling to hold onto their place in the worlda classic yarn of discovery and struggle the new york times. Set in southcentral england, the story features a small group of rabbits. The majority also appear in the 1978 feature film adaptation, the 1999 television series adaptation andor 1996 followup collection of short stories notably, most though not all male rabbits in the story are named after plants, whereas female rabbits tend to have names in lapine, the fictional language adams.