Imagery in Translation
О полку Игореве, Игоря Святославича?
Не начаться ли песне той По былинам нашего времени, По замышлению ли Боянову,
Если вещий Боян Кому хотел песнь творить, То носилася мысль его — Летягою-векшей по дереву, Серым волком по-земи, Сизым орлом под облаки!
The English version comes from the translation byNorma Loire Goodrich, who, in turn, translated it from the Frenchversion by Alfred Rambaud (1876):
"How shall we begin this story, brothers?In new words or in old? In what fashion shall we singof thedeeds of Prince Igor? Shall we mimic the verses of Boyan,the olden bard?
Boyan was a poet who knew how to stirthe heart] When he consented to celebrate the deeds of ahero, his words ran as swift and as footless as a field mouse to the topof fancy's tree. Or like a lean, grey wolf he could slink,belly to the ground, across the deep ravines of poetry] Then in our listening ears he transformed himself intothe blue andlonely eagle that soars over our heads until it hasmerged into the blue-grey thunderheads of autumn, thatdrive northward from the sea. Such was the wizardry of that poetV
Although in prose, the English version tries to resurrectsome of the wizardry of the source text, to which end morewords and imagery (italicised) have been added, yet no chanting aspectis reproduced in the English text. It remains a story, not apoem.
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Практикум по художественному переводу
Therefore, when translating folklore, we should keep to some general principles:
• Identify and study the most important mnemonic formu
las of the text under translation.
• Compare such formulas in both target and source cul
tures to make sure that there is at least some functional similarity
between them.
' Try to make mythical and fairy-tale names comprehensi-' ble in their semantic and functional value to the reader of your translation.
• Do not neglect rhyme and rhythmic patterns which you
come across in the source text as they may have an important
function.
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