Suppose we have to construct a pun. As soon as our translation is figurative (i.e. has an idiomatic background), we would have no problem at all in making a play on any of the metaphor's components. Example:
Это неправильно говорится: «Дело -- не медведь, в лес не уйдет». Дело и есть медведь, уходить ему незачем, оно облапило и держит. Дело человеку- барин. (Горький, Дело Артамоновых)
It is not true that 'Business is no bear, it won't go nowhere.' Business is a bear, and there's no reason for it to go. It's got too good a hold on us. Man is a slave of his business!
Use of Proverbs' Structures
Here is an example of an attempt to translate the English proverb "Make hay while the sun shines". This proverb was used in speech being innovated grammatically and lexically: 'to make hell while the sun shines'. The lexical innovation ('hell' instead of 'hay') presents a problem in translation. And life shows Левицкая Т., Фитерман А., Обновление фразеологических единиц, и передача этого приема в переводе. Тетради переводчика, №5, М., 1968, с. 46-48 that the translation practice does not exclude the following way of solving this problem. Example:
I positively refuse to understand those who anywhere and everywhere wish "to make hell while the sun shines."
Я решительно отказываюсь понимать людей, которые везде и повсюду стремятся к тому, чтобы, "пользуясь благоприятны» ми обстоятельствами, натворить как можно больше бед".
True enough, the translator cannot use here the Russian proverb "Куй железо пока горячо" but... we can use its structure to make the 'transposed' translation figurative, that is, to make a solid metaphor out of it.
The Russian proverb consists of two parts: "(1) Куй железо (2) пока горячо". The 'transposed' translation also consists of two parts: (1) пользуясь благоприятными обстоятельствами (2) натворить как можно больше бед.
The process of our translation would be as follows: 'to make hell while the sun shines' (Transposition:) > "пользуясь благоприятными обстоятельствами натворить как можно больше бед" > (Restructuring by means of using the Russian proverb's structure:) "ковать железо пока горячо" > "делать что-л. пока возможно" > "творить как можно больше бед пока возможно" > (Idiomatization by way of making a rhymed metaphor:) "вредить безбожно пока возможно". Thus:
Я решительно отказываюсь понимать людей, которые везде и повсюду стремятся к тому, чтобы "вредить безбожно пока возможно."
The conclusion is that one should better not stop at the stage of 'transposition'. One should move farther, till the end of the translation process. As a poet said, "The inn that shelters for the night is not the journey's end."
See the following example of a translation from Russian into English, which is based on an American proverb's structure:
У русских есть такая поговорка: «Всяк кулик свое болото хвалит».
We Russians have a proverb which says that every snipe praises its own bog.
It is easy to see that the translation process was as follows: "Всяк кулик свое болото хвалит" -> (Transposition:) 'Everybody speaks well of one's own home [or the like]' -> (Restructuring and idiomatization by way of using the structure of the proverb 'Every cook praises his own broth') 'Every smb (smth) praises his (its) own smth' -> 'Every snipe praises its own bog.'
Metaphors Based on Phrases
The method of making a metaphor based on a "ready-made" phrase (or two), is both productive and substantial. It is substantial to the extent that it does not necessarily need rhyming a metaphor based on an English phrase. For instance, Y. Katzer and A. Kunin made it a point in their book on translation Катцер Ю., Кунин А., Письменный перевод с русского языка на английский, с. 94-100, 104-109 that the Russian proverb "Москва не сразу строилась" could be translated as 'Moscow was not built in a day', that is, they say, it could be constructed "according to the pattern" of the English proverb 'Rome was not built in a day'. In fact, they pointed to the method of making the proverb's translation based on an English saying (i.e., "Москва не сразу строилась" > 'Rome was not built in a day' > 'Moscow was not built in a day').
Some translators might say that to convey the subject-logical content of the information is what we should really want. And some others might say that we can consequently translate, for example, the proverb "Little pitchers have long ears" as "Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых". However, the emotive-and evaluating content of the information must not be ignored and should be translated. And one can see that "Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых" does not convey any emotive evaluation. Besides, this translation does not sound proverbial.
The question is what would you feel if you happen to hear the statement "Дети любят разговоры взрослых"? 'So what?' would be your most probable reaction.
Let us make this translation figurative and evaluating: 'Little pitchers have long ears' > (Transposition:) "Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых" > (Idiomatization on the basis of Russian phrases:) "У [этих] деток слишком длинные уши" or: "Бойтесь детей > у них на макушке любопытные ушки". Thus, we have based our first translation on the Russian phrase "у кого-л. слишком длинные уши" for the purpose of conveying negative overtones? And we based our second translation (a) on the Russian phrase "y кого-л. ушки на макушке", (b) we also added "Бойтесь детей" as a resume and a negative exaggeration bringing positive reaction, (c) and we used the internal addition "любопытные" (which is particularly used in the Russian phrase "Любопытной Варваре HOC оторвали"). As a result, we have got "Бойтесь детей -- у них на макушке любопытные ушки" which is a cause-and-effect relation statement : "Бойтесь детей [because] у них на макушке любопытные ушки". (This can be compared with the metaphor 'Who knows -- maybe rain and'maybe snow, maybe yes and maybe no' which is also a cause-and-effect relation statement.) And now one can make an experiment and check one's possible emotive reaction while comparing the following:
Original: Little pitchers have long ears.
Translation variants:
(1) Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых. (2) Бойтесь детей -- у них на макушке любопытные ушки. (3) У [этих] деток слишком длинные уши.
Here is an example of a good and illustrative translation from Russian into English. The translator (Olga Shartse) had managed to make the proverb's translation figurative (by means of utilizing the English phrases 'to be brave as a lion' and 'to be like a lamb') which served, then, as a solid basis for her making a pun (and for conveying irony):
-- Люблю парня за ухватку. Сразу видно, что молодец среди овец. (Ю. Герман, Я отвечаю за все)
"I like a good chap for his brave ways'. I can tell right away that you'd be brave as a lion with a lamb." German Y., Eternal Battle, Progress Publishers, Moscow, p. 331
Use of Colloquialisms
The linguistic means to be used in the metaphorical translation of proverbs are lexical and grammatical colloquialisms.
I. K. Sazonova Сазонова И.К., Лексика и фразеология современного русского языка. М., 1963, с. 6 suggested the following examples of the different kinds of "stylistic colouring" which are (a) neutral, (b) bookish and (c) colloquial:
K- Sazonova's examples:
(a) Чтобы не было недоразумений, пойди, пожалуйста, туда и узнай, в чем дело.
(b) Во избежание недоразумений пойди, пожалуйста, туда и выясни, в чем дело.
(c) Сбегай туда и узнай, пожалуйста, что там, а то как бы чего не вышло.
Translations:
(a) Would you please go -and see what is wrong there before something happens.
(b) In order to avoid misunderstanding, would you please be so kind as to clarify the situation there.
(c) Go find out what's wrong, or there may be trouble.
The Russian colloquial-style example presents the said means (lexical: the verb "сбегать", the phrase "как бы чего не вышло"; grammatical: the subordinate clause "что там"). The translation of this example contains English colloquial means (lexical: 'trouble'; grammatical: 'go find out-', 'what's', 'or there may be').
Let us compare now the stylistic colouring of the two translations (given earlier); "пользуясь благоприятными обстоятельствами, натворить как можно больше бед" and "вредить безбожно пока возможно". One can see that their stylistic colouring differs. On the one hand, the words "пользуясь обстоятельствами" sound bookish. On the other hand, the word "безбожно" is a colloquialism and so is the word "пока" (compare: "Коси коса пока роса", "Куй железо пока горячо").
We may also compare the two translations (see this Task): "Business is no bear, to run away to the forest" and "Business is no bear, it won't go nowhere". The first translation has no colloquialisms and its stylistic colouring is neutral. The second translation employs them and all of them are grammatical: "won't" is used instead of the neutral "will not", to say nothing1 of the double negation "won't go nowhere".
Incidentally, there is a very interesting and instructive story of how one translation by M. Lozinsky was once criticized by I. Kashkin as being "stylistically artificial". Федоров В.А., Введение в теорию перевода, М., 1958, стр. 172 Here is M. Lozinsky's translation (of a Roman proverb used by Prosper Merimee in his "Carmen"):
En vetudi panda nasti abela macha. En close bouche n'entre point mouche.
В рот, закрытый глухо, не залетит муха.
What do we find in this translation? The phrase "(туда) и муха не залетит" is colloquial. But this colloquialism is literally depressed by the bookish grammatical means (причастный оборот) "закрытый глухо". Besides, M. Lozinsky did not observe the requirements of proper collocation of words: Russian people never "закрывают рот глухо", they "закрывают рот плотно", if any. The "artificial" way of saying so also makes a bookish effect. (Where neutral-style means may pass being in one sentence with colloquialisms, the bookish-style words or expressions must never be used in a proverb's translation, for they would easily spoil the whole broth). And this is why, it seems, I. A. Kashkin had to suggest his own translation of that proverb:
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