lyubov'yu shutit satana
(with love jokes Satan).
Alexey/CK: Do we have have a common word-order reversal adding to the potential ambiguity?
SVP (subject verb predicate) in many languages can be varied for emphasis.
Here we have PVS to stress the adverbial predicate ... The object &/or nature of Satan’s humour/satire.
A comma/pause plus italics may clarify:
With love, jokes Satan.
The preposition WITH remains ambiguous:
Satan jokes ABOUT love? Or Satan jokes LOVINGLY?
Is the Russian dative case-ending lyubov'yu equally ambiguous?
Regardless of Nabokov’s ‘incomparably precise’ command of Russian & English, there remain inescapable (often fruitful!) NL ambiguities, especially with poetry & aphorisms.
Finally: Is the ‘epigraph/epigram’ referring to a particular incident (resting on subsequent context), or a general accusation about the Devil’s indifference to human emotions?
Stan Kelly-Bootle.
On 21/03/2013 18:12, "Alexey Sklyarenko" <skylark1970@mail.ru> wrote:
lyubov'yu shutit satana
(with love jokes Satan).
CK: I have to disagree with Alexey's usually excellent English here
Carolyn, you disagree with Nabokov's incomparable and precise English - for it is his translation.
CK: Satan does not joke lovingly, as is would appear in Alexey's translation, but uses love to make fun of humans.
This is exactly what Pushkin is saying.
s lyubov'yu:)
Alexey