Raná tvorba překladatelské dvojice Hiršal–Grögerová
Early Work by the Hiršal–Grögerová Translating Partnership

Summary/Abstract: Josef Hiršal’s translation of Christian Morgenstern’s Gallows Songs (1958) brought him the reputation of being a translator of exceptionally high quality. However, it is not well known that Bohumila Grögerová was to quite a decisive extent involved in the translation of the collection. The official attribution of the translation to Hiršal was based on an unwritten agreement between the two writers, with the aim of enabling Hiršal to make the transition to the field of literary translation in the difficult conditions of totalitarianism. A study based on numerous conversations and written memoirs is proof that Grögerová’s share in the translation of Morgenstern went far beyond providing a lineal translation and that the work on the translation was done together. The translation of Morgenstern became for the two of them not only some fun they shared, some sort of social game, but also a bonding – an expression, and eventually the justification, of a love affair. One can see from a comparison of the first two verses of the translation of Gallows Songs made by Hiršal alone with, above all, the final version on which he worked with Grögerová, that the final version of the translation conveys a completely new quality, one we can associate with the later translation style of the Hiršal–Grögerová partnership. This paper thus demonstrates that Hiršal and Grögerová’s cooperation on translations began much earlier than is usually thought.

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