"Found in Translation"

IN OUR previous competition, entrants took the name of a science fiction or fantasy story and translated it into the foreign language of their choice. Then they rewrote the plot to fit the new title. Congratulazioni to the winners.

FIRST PRIZE:

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card = Ender's Spel (Dutch)

A boy genius is recruited into a global spelling bee unaware that he is being duped into phonetically working out the name of an alien race without being given its definition, part of speech, or use in a sentence.
—Matthew Sanborn Smith
Port St. Lucie, FL

SECOND PRIZE:

"Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov = "Dunkelwerden" (German)

Inspired by alphabet soup, Beenay has invented a donut that won't fall apart in coffee. But when he dunks his donuts into coffee, unlike alphabet soup, the only word he ever sees is "O." Maybe it's his eyesight. It seems to be getting dark.…
—Patrick J. O'Connor
Chicago, IL

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells = De Eerste Mensen in de Maan (Dutch)

A mad scientist plots her revenge for the gender gap by developing a secret formula that gives males PMS.
—Michael Beda
Lafayette, CO

The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells = El Hombre Invisible (Spanish)

1886. Near the Texas-Mexico border, a lone horse rides into town. Unknown to the townsfolk, it is ridden by the bodiless bandito, El Hombre Invisible, aka The Man with No Frame. The town's evil pistoleros don't stand a chance as El Hombre guns them down with his see-through six-shooter.
—Christopher M. Geeson,
Easingwold, York, UK

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury = Bildunsmann (German)

Racked by existential angst, a man rebuilds himself molecule by molecule, but after all the sturm and drang, finds no relief from his weltschmerz.
A great roman that captures the zeitgeist of the author's wanderjahr.
—Anatoly Belilovsky
Staten Island, NY

F&SF COMPETITION #78: THE SECRET HISTORY OF F&SF

Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, originally titled The Magazine of Fantasy, was founded in 1949 by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas…or was it? Describe, in fifty words or less, the secret origins of F&SF. Alternate histories, imagined conversations, and science-fictional (or magical) twists on the truth are more than welcome. Another welcomed element: funny.

Example:

Shirley Jackson and Theodore Sturgeon leave a little basket on the doorstep of Anthony Boucher with a tear-stained note: "Please take care of our baby. Raise it as if it were your own."

You have six chances to rewrite history. Please remember to include your telephone number and snail-mail address.  

Rules: Send entries to Competition Editor, F&SF, 240 West 73rd St. #1201, New York, NY 10023-2794, or email entries to carol [a-t] cybrid [d-o-t] net. Be sure to include your contact information. Entries must be received by May 15, 2009. Judges are the editors of F&SF, and their decision is final. All entries become the property of F&SF.

Prizes: First prize will receive a subscription to F&SF good for the next sixty years along with a copy of The Diamond Jubilee. Second prize will receive advance reading copies of three forthcoming novels. Any runners-up will receive one-year subscriptions to F&SF. Results of Competition 78 will appear in the Oct/Nov. 2009 issue.