| Summary: | An indirect translation is a translation that is carried out based on a text which is also a translation. The source text
for the indirect translation is therefore the text that mediates between the indirect translation and the original or
ultimate source text. Considering the fact that an indirect translation is twice removed from the ultimate source text,
a pertinent issue arising from this practice is whether there are differences between the indirect translation and the
ultimate source text because of the use of the mediating text. This paper aims to explore this issue by comparing and
analysing three texts: a French source text entitled Le Petit Prince, the English mediating text entitled The Little
Prince, and an indirect translation in Malay entitled Putera Cilik. A comparison of the three texts first necessitates the
mapping of each sentence of the Malay translation to its counterparts in English and in French. An analysis is then
carried out on the sets of texts to determine whether there are discrepancies between the Malay translation and the
French text. The findings show that generally, the Malay translation closely reflects the French source text. Where
discrepancies do exist between the Malay translation and the French source text due to adjustments made in the
translation, the English mediating text does play a role. It is, however, not necessarily the sole contributing factor, as
some of the discrepancies can also be attributed to the translator of the target text.
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