Buenos Aires, November 9 (EFE) .- Mafalda, the beloved girl created by Joaquín Salvador Lavado, better known as Quino, now speaks in Guaraní and today, for the first time, the Argentine cartoonist he was able to greet her in that language, to which the popular comic strip has recently been translated.

"Maitei" (hello!), Quino, 85, was encouraged to say at the end of the presentation Buenos Aires of the first two numbers of the strip translated into Guarani and edited by the Paraguayan seal Servilibro from an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina.

"Quino's genius was conceived in a certain language and worldview, the role I have is to interpret the meaning, transfer it to another language, with another worldview, but that does not lose neither the sense nor the grace, that is a greater challenge ", said to Efe María Gloria Pereira, who is in charge of the task of translation.

Presented in the act As the "teacher" of Guarani de Mafalda, Pereira said he did his homework in "record time": it started last March and in June the first volume was launched in Asunción.

The second number came out in September and the third volume is scheduled to come out next December, but the project includes translating the ten numbers that make up the great series.

"The reception has been impressively good, especially the children and young people, "said Pereira, who, after the presentation, approached excitedly to greet Quino who, like Mafalda, taught to say hello in Guarani: "maitei, maitei".

Nobody ignores the intelligence and insight of Mafalda, but it is also that this girl is a true polyglot: with the Guarani, sum 27 languages �??�??in which he is able to make people laugh and reflect since 1964 in all corners of the world.

"We have an order for 'Mafalda' to be translated into Armenian," he revealed. Bernardo Bouquet, from the Southern Program, a program of the Argentine Foreign Ministry that subsidizes the translation into other languages �??�??of works by Argentine authors.

The Argentine Undersecretary of Affairs of Latin America and the Caribbean, Leopoldo Sahores, stressed that "Mafalda" is an "iconic work of Argentine culture", which "has been training young people and adults for more than five decades and is a universal classic ".

" Mafalda, that little character of eternal childhood, with fluffy hair, extraordinary intelligence and adorable precocity, is without a doubt one of the most beloved by the readers, of amazing validity in ", said the Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Paraguay in Buenos Aires, José María González Ávila,

The diplomatic representative He recalled that it is the best-selling Latin American strip internationally and pointed out that its translation into Guaraní -which is not only spoken in Paraguay but also in important segments of the Northeastern Argentina, southern Bolivia and southeastern Brazil - will allow many more to enjoy "the adventures, the lessons and the funny occurrences" of Mafalda.

Vidalia Sánchez, representative of the Servilibro publishing house, said to feel excited to be able to give Quino to his "very dear" Mafalda with "a new voice", "an expression that adds another bond of brotherhood between Paraguayans and Argentines ".

" Perhaps many of you do not understand Mafalda in Guaraní, but feel through his expression how we love the Paraguayans to this peculiar urban philosopher that so many truths has taught us, "the editor said.

The person in charge of the translation work confessed that, in order to put his work to the test, he presented it to children and, if they smiled or giggled, that was a good sign.

"On many occasions I have been laughing when doing the translation because it can capture that several of the ideas and expressions said in Guarani they caused me more grace ", said Pereira.