EDNOTE. Some days ago NABOKV-L presented parallel
Russian translations of ADA by three translators. There were four passages.
Dmitri Nabokov kindly commented on the variant versions of the first passage and
plans to comment on the remaining three. Alex(ei) Sklyarenko, translator of the
newest (and as yet unpublished) version, responded Dmitri N.'s comments. The
exchange continues below.
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----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2003 6:40 AM
Subject: Re: (the inym / inymi confusion)
Dear Don,
I understood perfectly what he had meant in his previous e-mail. I
agree, ne kem inym is grammatically more correct than ne kem
inymi, but I chose the second variant, because it sounded to me somehow
better. Probably it is wrong and I must correct it. Yes, kem and
inymi don't quite agree, but, on the other hand, inym
is singular and clashes, or at least seems to clash, with
zlobnymi chudovishchami which is plural. I also agree that the
whole sentence sounds rather awkward in translation, but I tried to avoid
paraphrases where possible. May be, my translation is a little too literal here
and there.
I acknowledged several of DN's personal preferences regarding this
excerpt ("Potustoronniy mir," "novovery" and "zmeinyi") and introduced the
subsequent changes into my text. I confess that I missed the fact that
starovery would be "Old Believers" in English, as Brian Boyd points out
in his Notes; so my variant Novye Veruyushchie is
incorrect.
Please give my utmost respect to Dmitry Nabokov!
respectfully,
Alexey
----- Original Message -----
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2003 8:51 AM
Subject: URGENT
Dear
Don,
Very sorry to
belabor this point, but I am afraid that either I was unclear in my last
e-mail or that Alex misread it. What I said was that my double-check confirmed
that Alex was absolutely right about ne. Using ni is an
error that it is easy to make by force of habit, as Alex also
suggests occured in his earlier drafts. I did raise another detail: it
seems the pluralization inymi (as it appears in the original
excerpt) is incorrect, while inym (as in Alexey's subsequent e-mail)
is right.
Best greetings to
all,
Dmitri