Subject
Query re VN's _Alice in Wonderland:Chizhik, chizhik, gde ty byl?
Date
Body
From: Tom Priestly <tom.priestly@UALBERTA.CA>
V. Sirin = V. Nabokov, in his 1923 translation *Anja v strane chudes* of
Lewis Carroll's *Alice in Wonderland*, chose an interesting solution for
one translator's problem, namely how to render a piece of verse in the
target language (Russian) which is a parody of a well-known verse in the
source-language (English).
The poem, sung by the Mad Hatter at the 'Mad Tea Party', in English is
"Twinkle twinkle little bat" and parodies "Twinkle twinkle little star."
Sirin/Nabokov adapts this as
Ryzhik, ryzhik, gde ty byl?
Na poljanke dozhdik pil?
Vypil kaplju, vypil dve,
Stalo syro v golove!
According to Warren Weaver, *Alice in Many Tongues*, this is a parody of a
rhyme "known to children at the time" which apparently began:
Chizik, chizhik, gde ty byl?
Can anyone finish this for me? I can back-translate Weaver's English
version, but may not get it right . . .
This is to provide one example of "the untranslatable" for a translation class.
Off-list, please.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
* Tom Priestly, Professor
* Slavic & East European Studies
* Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
* University of Alberta
* Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E6
---------------------------------------------------------------
* day-time telephone: 780 - 492 - 5688
* fax: 780 - 492 - 9106
* email: tom.priestly@ualberta.ca
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
options, and more. Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
http://members.home.net/lists/seelangs/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
V. Sirin = V. Nabokov, in his 1923 translation *Anja v strane chudes* of
Lewis Carroll's *Alice in Wonderland*, chose an interesting solution for
one translator's problem, namely how to render a piece of verse in the
target language (Russian) which is a parody of a well-known verse in the
source-language (English).
The poem, sung by the Mad Hatter at the 'Mad Tea Party', in English is
"Twinkle twinkle little bat" and parodies "Twinkle twinkle little star."
Sirin/Nabokov adapts this as
Ryzhik, ryzhik, gde ty byl?
Na poljanke dozhdik pil?
Vypil kaplju, vypil dve,
Stalo syro v golove!
According to Warren Weaver, *Alice in Many Tongues*, this is a parody of a
rhyme "known to children at the time" which apparently began:
Chizik, chizhik, gde ty byl?
Can anyone finish this for me? I can back-translate Weaver's English
version, but may not get it right . . .
This is to provide one example of "the untranslatable" for a translation class.
Off-list, please.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
* Tom Priestly, Professor
* Slavic & East European Studies
* Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
* University of Alberta
* Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E6
---------------------------------------------------------------
* day-time telephone: 780 - 492 - 5688
* fax: 780 - 492 - 9106
* email: tom.priestly@ualberta.ca
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
options, and more. Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
http://members.home.net/lists/seelangs/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------