jan Keta li weka!

Front cover of a 1987 edition in the original Esperanto

jan Keta li weka! is a Toki Pona translation of the 1983 Esperanto novella Gerda malaperis!, written by Claude Piron, translated by jan Tepo and published in May 2022. At about 15 thousand words, it held the record of the longest work of literature in Toki Pona for about two months.

Anthony McCarthy claimed that a good translation of Gerda malaperis! into Toki Pona would be impossible.

Overview

jan Keta li weka! is a crime mystery novella about a group of friends who witness and investigate a mysterious kidnapping of a translator called jan Keta (Gerda).

The original text, Gerda malaperis!, was written in simple Esperanto, and it's one of the most famous works of Esperanto literature. It is often recommended to beginners, and it forms the basis of multiple online Esperanto courses. It starts with very simple grammar and vocabulary, and increases a little in difficulty with every chapter. The Toki Pona version does not have the same gradual difficulty curve, because things that are very simple to talk about in Esperanto are not necessarily just as simple in Toki Pona.

External links

• jan Keta li weka! at Google Docs
• Gerda malaperis! original text with exercises in an old online Esperanto course

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