Imagery in Translation
A
typical framing formula begining an English folk talewill
include once
and
there
as
tokens of the other world's space and
time. It is more or less easily translated by the similar Russian
forms жил-был,
однажды, когда-то. But
a special feature
of English folk tales is the exact naming of a
place,
like a
small
farm near Kentchurch
in
Herefordshire,
the
elements of which
may be purely imaginary (not in this case, though: Kentchurch
is situated about halfway between Hereford, county town of
Herefordshire, and Abergavenny) but sound very much like
real ones. The Russian folklore tradition avoids any exact naming
of places, it is always uncertain or may include such marks as
на
краю деревни, у леса, в одной деревне,
etc.
Thus, when transliterated
into Russian, imaginary toponyms sound very much like
real places, which makes such a story sound less like a fairy tale
and more like a legend or even a true story of obscure date.
The border between this and that world, that is, between cosmos and chaos, often takes the form of the hedge, a feature well-known in England but not in Russia. When a boggart (boggard) seeks to cross a hedge, he has to overcome a real obstacle, whereas in Russia the role of the hedge is played by a simple boundary-strip, межа, which is most often merely a mark on the surface of the land, or a stone on the border. If we-translate the hedge as живая изгородь, in Russian it sounds too descriptive; загородка, забор, изгородь would be rather strange for a field, being more appropriate to a vegetable-garden. This cultural gap creates a certain shift in the comprehension of a story in translation.
Welsh folk tales are usually more romantic and include very ancient features, like spirits of lakes and mountains, family myths and relationship between human and supernatural beings. Their style is more lofty and elevated, and includes rhymes and poetic diction. To balance this, a story is well supplied with "precise" geography: every imaginary lake, mountain, village, county, let alone hero, has its own name that sounds even more
Welsh than a normal one. Abundant use is made of double con-
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Практикум
по художественному переводу
s
onantsand
unusual letters
(11,
dd
and ff are separate letters in Welsh),
which make such names sound very old, strange and mythical.
To
match
this in Russian, we may use variants; for example, in
the parish of Treveglwys
in
Russian
may become в
округе Тревеглис,
while
a
cot commonly called Twty
Cwm-rws
will
give хижина,
известная под названием Тут-и-Кумрус.
The
main hero
of the Welsh tale (see Task
for Translation)
Gronw
may
be translated in different forms: Гроно,
Грону, Грон or
some other way.
Task for comparison:
Tops or Butts? — Вершки или корешки?
TOPS OR BUTTS?
There was once a farmer called Jack о'Kent who had a small piece of land near Kentchurch in Herefordshire; he grew enough to support himself and his family, though he did but poorly at the best of times.
One morning when he was ploughing his field he had just reached the end of the furrow and was turning the horse round when he looked up and saw a Boggard, standing with his arms folded and feet planted far apart and scowling down at him.
"This is my land" he growled. "What are you doing on it?"
The farmer was secretly very frightened, but he answered quietly.
"You haven't been here for so long, I was ploughing it up for you, ready for this year's crops."
"It's mine," answered the Boggard, scratching his shaggy chest, "but you can work it for me."
"That will suit me," said the farmer, gaining confidence. "Suppose we share it. I do the work and you give me half the crop for my wages."
The Boggard laid a dark, horny hand on the plough and said, "How are you going to share the crop?"
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