(4) or metaphorically ("метать громы и молнии"- `tо hurl thunder bolts at smb.'),

(5) or, the last and the least, by a description ("встречать что-либо в штыки"- `tо give smth. a hostile reception' or 'to meet smth. With resistance', or the like).

It is only natural that this very classification Катцер Ю., Кунин А., Письменный перевод с русского языка на английский. М., 1964, с. 94-100; 104-109 (as any other) can and does show the result of the translation, whereas the process of translation is really quite different.

The choice of a particular type of translation is secondary and subordinate to the requirements that our translation should be (a) adequate and (b) idiomatic. Besides, the choice also depends on (c) the circumstantial factors of the language.

NOTE: The use of a descriptive translation may be justified, for one, if a certain idiom is repeated twice in the same paragraph. To avoid tautо1оgу and present a better style of narration, it is acceptable to translate one of the phrases descriptively.

One must learn how to translate an idiom by an idiom (e.g., "встречать в штыки" by 'to meet at dagger-point') because descriptive translations (e.g., 'to meet with resistance') almost always happen to be not only emotively blank but also unable to serve as a basis for our applicating, in the process of translation, such important and necessary stylistic means as puns (e.g., "Она встретила предложение в штыки, но штыки ее оказались тупыми".) or anti-idiomatic additions (e.g., "Они встретили наше предложение буквально в штыки".) and many others to be thoroughly considered by us in this book later on.

Here are just the three idioms: "разводить руками", "ахиллесова пята" and "метать громы и молнии". They deserve to be considered separately.

разводить руками

We see that, firstly, the phrase "разводить руками" can be taken for a free word-combination and it would be an error, to do so. Secondly, I he idiom is in common with the language of gestures. And "Он развел руками" is often translated as 'He shrugged his shoulders', for the Russian gesture is rarely employed in the English 'language of gestures'. And, thirdly, it is common knowledge that this and any gesture can mean different things and, thus, is to be understood accordingly. For instance, one may shrug one's shoulders as a sign of regret, astonishment, lack of understanding or information. And this is why this Russian phrase sometimes complicates the translators' life, and one would especially appreciate knowing that this phrase is frequently used both in the press and in colloquial speech. See how it is translated by our brothers-in-arms. Two examples:

(1) Папа-краб ходил, жаловатьcя капитану, тот только развел руками: «Жалуйтесь на них в Марселе, если угодно...» (А. Толcтой)

Papa crab went to complain to the captain but the latter only shrugged his shoulders: "You may complain about them in Marseilles if you wish..."

(2) Очень много богатства и очень мало настоящего искусства. В общем это то, что французские художники, безнадежно разводя руками, называют «стиль Триумф». (И. Ильф, Е. Петров)

There was much wealth but little real art. As a whole, it was what French artists, helplessly shrugging their shoulders, called "style triumphe."

Thus, one can see that the nut is not so hard to crack. It is most often enough to 'shrug one's shoulders' and add the words 'in bewilderment' or 'helplessly', or anything that the gesture may mean.

ахиллесова пята

The phrase "ахиллесова пята" (tr.: 'the Achilles' heel') is easier to dial with, for it exists only as an idiom. The phrase means: 'The weak or vulnerable spot in a man's character or a state's (company's, etc.) affairs.' (According to the legend, Achilles, with the exception of one heel, was protected against every weapon his enemies might use.) And 'the Achilles' heel' as a phrase has the definite article and the apostrophy to be observed and not to be 'bruised'. Example:

Но увы! и у него была ахиллесова пята, и он имел слабости... Подсохин любил писать. (И. Ламечников)

But alas! He had the Achilles' heel, too. Yes, he also had his own weakness... Podsokhin was fond of writing.

метать громы и молнии

The phrase "метать громы и молнии" exists only as an idiom but its happens to be misleading. This phrase does not necessarily mean 'to frighten smb.' as one might wrongly guess. It means 'to be furious at smb.'

One can try and select a synonym (like 'to go off the deep end about smth.') out of the group of English synonyms but... the Russian context may oppose it, for these English phrases may turn out to be too colloquial to be used, say, in the translation of a newspaper text.

It seems, therefore, that in most of the cases we may safely use the method of translating this Russian phrase, 'literally and metaphorically', for a metaphor itself shows its colouring and intention in a flexible way: it is understood from the context, and the stronger the language of the context is the stronger the metaphor will sound. And the suggested metaphor is 'to hurl thunderbolts at smb. (or smth.)'.

This metaphor seems sufficient but it requires a material object for the action, that is, for 'hurling thunderbolts' at something worth 'hurling thunderbolts' at. In other words, one cannot 'hurl thunderbolts', say, at a 'fact' or an 'idea'. One can always do so at a 'person' as well as at something which is a 'state', 'company', 'newspaper' or the like. And in such cases as when there is no material object for our metaphorical action, one may resort-to the idiom 'to blow one's top' and say, for example, 'He blew his top... at the fact that...' or '...when he heard that...', which would mean just 'to be fuming'. The phrase 'to blow one's top' is used in the English press and is not very negative though it is quite expressive.

2.1.3 Synonymous Statements and Emphasis

The translation of the Russian idiomatic phrase "взять (брать) себя в руки" (or: "держать себя в руках") depends on the context, that is, on what the author means:

(a) "Взять себя в руки" when one is under a moment's strain usually means 'to pull oneself together' and... stop crying or being panicky, or the like. Example:

...Клавдия, не приготовившая сложения и вычитания, громко заплакала посреди урока арифметики. Катя постучала карандашом о кафедру:

- Возьми сейчас же себя в руки, Клавдия. (А. Толстой)

...Klavdia, who had not done her addition and subtraction, burst out into loud sobs during the lesson, Katya knocked her pencil on the teacher's desk:

"Pull yourself together this moment, Klavdia."

(b) "ВЗЯТЬ себя в руки" when someone is under a more or less permanent strain and is worrying about something usually means 'to take oneself in hand'. Example:

- Вообще-то надо тебе взять себя в руки,-- порекомендовал Женя.-- Если по-дружески, как мужчина мужчине, то ты, разумеется, способнее меня, но разбрасываешься, дружок. (Ю. Герман)

"By and large, I'd say take your- self in hand," Yevgeny said. "To be quite honest, as man to man, you're a lot cleverer than I am, but you can't stick to one thing at a time."

However, in the following extract, the man in love seems to believe t hat his nervous strain has a permanent nature though his friends who think the opposite advise him that he rather 'pull himself together' and not 'take himself in hand':

...Я, говорит, в своих чувствах не волен, моя любовь сильнее меня. Мы, конечно, с Сергеем Андреевичем рекомендовали ему в руки себя взять -- куда там! У него, видите ли, сдерживающие центры отказали. (Ю. Герман)

..."I can't help my feelings," he said, "my love is stronger than my will." Sergei Andreyevich and I naturally advised him to pull him- Self together--but he wouldn't listen. He said his control centres had snapped! How d'you like that?

(с) "Держать себя в руках" and never show signs of fear or other emotions usually means 'to hold (or: keep) oneself in hand'. However, we must admit that this expression does not point to the amount of will power or, say, extreme efforts taken by the person in question for keeping control of himself. But precisely this can be conveyed by the phrase 'to keep a (tight) hold on oneself'. For instance, chain smokers and drunkards who try to abstain would undoubtedly say that they 'keep a tight hold on themselves'.

We have seen above that the phrase 'держать себя в руках' can be expressed by several English phrases in different contexts. Why is it so?

We know, for instance, that one Russian word may correspond to two or more English words (e.g., "Нога" - 'leg' or 'foot', "палец'' - 'finger', 'thumb' or 'toe'). We would translate "Он держал в руках книгу" as 'He held a book in his hands' but "Она держала в руках ребенка" as 'She held a baby in her arms'. Firstly, one language makes it possible not to express the difference between certain notions whereas the other language makes it obligatory to express it. In other words, the difference between languages lies in not what they can express (any thought can be expressed in any language) but in what they cannot help expressing. Бархударов Л.С., Рецкер Я.И., Курс лекций по теории перевода, 1-й МГПИИЯ, М., 1968, с. 6-13

Бархударов Л.С., Язык и перевод. М., 1975, с.83-86 Secondly, one can see that the words "hands" and "arms" have their own (different) meaning. But they perform the same function in the action "держать в руках". Their meaning in this action comes to us from their function. The function (cause) is primary. The meaning (effect) is secondary. Thus, it is the function that has to be translated first thing and never mind by what means. Here, ends justify the means (lexical, grammatical, etc.).

Let us consider now some of the possible contextual functions of the phrase "смотреть сквозь пальцы" and how each particular function can be translated into English:

(а) "Смотреть сквозь пальцы" and 'to turn a blind eye (to smth.)' may perform one and the same function of 'ignoring on purpose',

(b) The function of 'pretending not to see smth. embarrassing or ;ht with danger' may be expressed by both "смотреть сквозь пальцы" and 'to shut one's eyes (to smth.)'.

(c) When a person who "закрывает глаза (на что-л.)" is criticized for it because he is believed 'to be irresponsible enough to overlook someone's grave misconduct', one can say that the irresponsible person simply `turned a blind eye (to it)', which is, in fact, negative attitude in criticism in.

Страницы: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11