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12PHILOLOGICAL SCIENCES
О ПЕРЕВОДАХ РАННИХ СТИХОТВОРЕНИЙ ЛЕРМОНТОВА НА АНГЛИЙСКИЙ И
АРМЯНСКИЙ ЯЗЫКИ
Татевосян Р.
доктор филологических наук, профессор, Заведующая кафедры зарубежной литературы
АГПУ им. X Абовяна Беджанян К. кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры зарубежной литературы АГПУ им. Х. Абовяна
ABOUT THE TRANSLATIONS OF LERMONTOV'S EARLY POEMS INTO ARMENIAN AND
ENGLISH
Tadevosyan R.
PhD, professor,
The head of the department offoreign literature Armenian State Pedagogical University after Kh. Abovyan
Bejanyan K.
PhD,
Associated professor of the department offoreign literature Armenian State Pedagogical University after Kh. Abovyan
Аннотация
В статье рассматриваются переводы двух ранних стихотворений Лермонтова на армянский и английский. Во всех переводах стихотворения "Мой Дом" в той или иной степени изменены структура, метрика или лексика. Однако такой подход оправдан стремлением передать основные особенности оригинала.
Представлены также переводы на армянский язык стихотворения "Он был рожден...", выполненные П.Микаеляном и В.Геворгяном. На английском языке существует только один перевод Дона Мегера. Анализируется воссоздание строфики и рифмовки в переводах на английский и армянский.
Abstract
This article reveals the interpretations of Lermontov's two early poems into English and Armenian. In all translations of the poem "My home" some structural, metrical or lexical changes are at some degree made. However such approach is acquitable by the aspiration to pass the general peculiarities of the original.
The article also deals with the translations of the poem entitled "He was born." which was translated into Armenian by P. Mikaelyan and by V. Gevorgyan. There is only one translation into English done by Don Mager. Here strophic and rhythming as well as their equivalence to the English and Armenian translations are analyzed.
Ключевые слова: переводчик, рифмовка, строфа, структура, подчинительная связь, композиция, оригинал.
Keywords: translator, rhythming, stanza, structure, subordinate clause, composition, original.
Lermontov's early poems were always of great interest not only among the readers, literary critics but also among the translators.
"My Home" (1830-1831) is one of them, which represents a philosophical reflection about eternity and time that unfolds in a rare light tone for Lermontov. The poet's house covers the whole universe, reaches the stars and includes all living things: Мой дом везде, где есть небесный свод,/Где только слышны звуки песен,/ Все, в чем есть искра жизни, в нем живет,/Но для поэта он не тесен. [3: 281] The first line represents a huge girth of the artistic space, limited only by the presence of the "vault of heaven". An image of the house-Universe appears before the reader, striking with its immense size. Here the roof reaches the stars, and there are not visible meters "from one wall to another", but there is a "long way" that can only be measured with
the soul. Of course, this is "space without borders", where "the sounds of songs are heard", and it can be filled only with all that "in which there is a spark of life". This house is not only "not crowdedfor the poet," but it also becomes a haven for all pure, bright and sincere souls who have a "sense of truth" in their hearts, which is metaphorically called the holy grain of eternity. Consequently, the inhabitants have a chance to touch the immortal, since the God built it with this only purpose.
In fact, these are stanzas that open a joyful picture of being to the reader, where the heavenly sublime is not separated from the earth by tragic contradictions, but they exist nearby.
The poem alternates between ten and nine syllable lines. "The poem bears traces of poetic experimentation
(an unusual violation of the alternation of male and female rhymes in the neighboring stanzas)" [5: 283]. In the presented Armenian translations, the cross rhyme is preserved, but there is no alternation of male and female rhymes, since the stress falls on the last syllable in the Armenian language. None of the English translators saved this form. Bonver alternated male and female rhymes in all four stanzas, while Mager used female rhyme only twice (in the fourth and sixteenth lines), and a male rhyme is used in all the rest lines.
Al. Tsaturyan alternated fifteen- and seven-syllabled lines: Ujhwbii tJf innth-ophiuhh, nip bpqbp bh iffes hph^mf,/ flip Цш bpljhjig nju Ijmilmp./ Ъ/ tufbh Jify, np lymhp rnhji, tuiqpnif Ъщц smh ffentf,/ Ъ/ht hblthhiufiup: [7: 408]
Retelling elements are characteristic of the translation. This also manifests itself in the permutation of the lines. Tsaturyan singles out the part of the first line into a separate second line (where there is a heavenly light arch). The word "everywhere" Tsaturyan translates "there", and "only the sounds of songs are heard" as "songs always sound".
G. Boryan's translation with fifteen- and ten-syllabled lines appeared in Lermontov's three-volumed collection in the Armenian language: Pf innihh tajhwb i t, nip np Itufmph ЪЦшщпци bpljhfji,/ flip bpqh t fbifjii/ hh^nif tuhijiuijiup/ Uipntf bh tajhuibq tafbhpli, ntf fbp qbn Цшjb Цш lymhpb/ Ъ/phti/ innthu hbi £ JhA hrnfrnp: [2: 121]
The sequence of lines is preserved, but there are other, and important, deviations from the original. Lermontov writes "only the sounds of songs are heard" which means that the poet's house is fenced off from all the other sounds. G. Boryan translates without the word "only" - the song sounds gently and continuously (for Tsaturyan - songs always sound). In the original, the poet's house contains "everything where there is a spark of life". In Boryan's translation it is "everything in which there is still a spark of life". We underlined two words that stand out from the context of Lermon-tov's poem. A completely unnecessary temporary restriction (still) and a sharp narrowing of the "content" of the poet's house (everything).
In the second stanza, Lermontov spiritually looks over the poet's house, containing the whole world. The walls of the house, containing all living things, even a spark of the living, are marked: До самых звезд он кровлей досягает,/И от одной стены к другой/Далекий путь, который измеряет/ Жилец не взором, но душой.
In Tsaturian's translation, the last line of the stanza is partially transferred to the second (Living in it with a simple look/ Not able to measure his long way from the wall,/ He must measure it with his soul). "From one wall to another" disappears, and only one mark, one wall remains.
Lnpt Ipsnrph hultji^th - hi htuhnrf t tusibpJh.
Ut2h tipnip itpq t^phpn/
The scientific heritage No 68 (2021) / ✓ Uh^tpn i t itsJg ^шф^ hnpt AJ q nrqJh
^bsp t ^шФЬ ht hnqn/: G. Boryan's translation the infinity marks, borders (from one wall to another) are named:
Ъ/ ЬшЬЦр hpt fJh^l tusiJh t htuhnrf hhnt/np,
Lpt fJ itsJg fjnrnp f Jh^l Uhbtjp ¿Ифш t, np n^ pb t^pn/, tjL щЦ htjtgpn/
^nr, phtlJ^i, lipni bu ^шф^: Here we see an appeal to the tenant (qni/ you, phtlJ^i/ inhabitant). The appearance of the second person is wrong, since it is about "my house", and his tenant is the poet himself. In the original, the infinity of the house is measured "not by sight, but by soul". The soul is not mentioned in the translation, and the "measurements are made" not by the eye, but only by the look. Perhaps the reluctance to mention the soul led to such an unsuccessful decision which is not very clear.
A subordinate clause appears in the third stanza of Tsaturyan's translation:
Есть чувство правды в сердце человека, Святое вечности зерно: Пространство без границ, теченье века Объемлет в краткий миг оно, Compare:
&2ftpsnrpjth Цш qqtgfnrhp - ht/bpdJ ub p upptqth,
Hp tipnrf t fbp ^pphpntf:
"Holy eternity grain" is translated as "eternal holy love." G. Boryan translates "holy grain of eternity" as "htsJU tpqtp unrpp hшOhpdnLpjшh", i.e. the word "holy" refers to eternity.
Чш ^tftpsnrpjth qqtgnrfp /bh fшpl:ЦшjJh hnqnrf,
ZtsJU tpqtp unrpp htObpdmpjth, Ъ/ ht ^phiqpU phptgpp ht/bpd fJ t^hptppntf
Ъ/ dtfthtU, l stptbnrpjth: The sequence and structure of the last two lines are changed; the present tense of the verb (observes) is replaced by the future one dphqqpU will contain). Translated by A. Tsaturyan last stanza lost its emotional context:
И всемогущим мой прекрасный дом Для чувства этого построен, И осужден страдать я долго в нем И в нем лишь буду я спокоен, Compare:
Ъ/ tji /ubf qqtgfnrhpJ htftp sbph t bp^t/ap
Pf An^ snrhp ^innrgtb.
r / r
Ъ/ tjhsbi t pb ^n p sth2thp, pb hnqb^th рш igp thqnpp
PthtusbibJh Ц^ШЦ/ШЬ: I am "condemned to suffer" - "I will be calm." This is what is said in the original. In Tsaturian's translation we can find both deep suffering and spiritual
sweet peace destined for the poet. In the first stanza of the poem, Lermontov speaks of "my house", which is not narrow for the poet, in the second - he speaks about the tenant (poet), in the third - about the person and about the sense of truth in his heart, and in the last stanza "I" appears and is repeated.
In Tsaturyan's translation "I" appears in the first stanza, then the tenant (m^pnqp) in the second, in the third - "we" (in our chest), and the poet comes forward in the fourth. The enumeration (both deep suffering and spiritual sweet peace) in the translation has replaced the intense inconsistency of mental states brought together into one space - in "my house", that finds there harmony, which is so rare in Lermontov's poetry.
In G. Boryan's translation, the first stanza is presented in the first person (the poet is not mentioned), the appeal (you, the tenant) appears in the second stanza, in the third - the human soul, and in the fourth - "I".
UtftUm^mpnq snLUu qmj&mn t, 2nm]L nL
2E>H
Lm m]q qqmgtfmU hmtfmp t 2^U^tL, fc^ pt^nLq tp^mp t ^UA
smnm^t^ mjUstq,
fcu jn^ m]q smU hmUq^us ^LfrUttf: Boryan's translation does not include The Lord, the "omnipotent", his house is "omnipotent" itself (as well as bright, generous and luxurious). Perhaps there the editing or the self-censorship of the Soviet era can be seen.
It should be noted that Bonver also changed the metrical system of the whole poem, alternating the six-foot iamb with the five-foot. In this regard, the sound of Mager's translation is closer to the original: only the eleventh line is extended by one foot, which becomes somehow dissonant with the whole poem.
The translators into English managed to convey the sense of reliability and admiration that permeates
The subordinate clause (and although I am destined to suffer there for a long time /I will only be calm in this house) appears in the translation of the last lines, but that removes the heat and the acuteness of combining different states.
It is noteworthy that in both translations into English the main connotation of Lermontov's poem is preserved. However, the first line of Bonver, with the advent of heaven's vault (небесного хранилища) and replacing everywhere (везде) with always there (всегда там), somehow narrows the infinity of the original. It should be noted that the translator saved just (только), which Mager did not have, and the latter also added the adverb freely (свободно). Bonver has made some noticeable semantical changes: instead of songs (песен) -lyre's (лира), instead of poet (поэт) - bard (bard), instead of a sense of truth (чувство правды) - a sense of basic truth (чувство основной правды), instead of the current of a century (теченье века) - the core, point of the century (точка века) (century's kernel). The last expression is much closer conveyed by Mager (flow of time). Both translators almost word-for-word passed the second and fourth stanzas. Although, we should note that Mager chose The Almighty for the translation of the word The omnipotent, and Bonver translated it by The mighty God: the meaning is the same, but two words (even visually) extended the line - instead of the five-foot iamb of the original, it is already six-footed. Mager kept the rhyme system of the original.
the original. The poet, describing his living environment - the Home - where he simultaneously feels both freely and imprisoned, described the internal conflict, which served as a source of inspiration for the creation of many masterpieces.
And thus, one of this masterpieces ("He was born for happiness, for hope"), written a year after, reflects the poet's deep thoughts about himself and people of
My Home Translated by Don Mager, May, 1998
My home's wherever under arching skies The sounds of songs are freely heard, Wherever life's spark flourishes and thrives, A poet there is unconstrained.
Its roof aspires even to the stars, Nor are there walls on any side -The path that leads to it is clearly marked By souls and not by looks or sight.
All people hold a sense of truth sublime, A sacred and eternal seed: The boundlessness of space and flow of time, Their vastness in one instant rolled.
My home by the Almighty was designed, For out of feelings it was made, And there to stay with gladness I'm ordained, For there alone is quietude. [6]
My Home Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, October, 2000
My home is always there, in the heaven's vault, Where one just hears lyre's sounds, All with a spark of life have here their resort, A bard has, too, a space around.
It gets the farthest stars by edges of his roof, And from a wall to one another There is a path whose measure can be proved Not by a look, but by a soul, rather.
A sense of basic truth in every soul nests -The seed that's sacred and eternal: In flesh of time it always can embrace Space, endless, and the century's kernel.
And mighty God has built for this exclusive sense
My home of the light and wonders,
And only here I'm doomed to sufferings at length,
And only here - to calmness. [1]_
his generation. The poem is interesting by the combination of two "cross-cutting" motives of Lermontov's lyrics, which at first glance are in contrast with each other. The first four lines draw an image that is the same with the image of the Sail which was written shortly before. This image of the rebellious romantic hero, to-
We can see the same accuracy in the Armenian translations. Gevorgyan, translating the last lines, is close to the text:
Uhhtf, thhptinLjp l dtfp hpthg ibpA ^^g^^th dtfh t hbhg Jp th^ft^ Mikayelyan is more precise: Я^ hjnrp, n^ sbup... 3npu ^nqfp qhlhgЦnLpjшh hthqbu,
Hp l ithh t qinhnrf hpt th^ft^ The second nine-syllabled stanza is constructed with the same symmetry, but in the reverse order: the first four lines continue the metaphor, while in the last five lines (as in the first five of the first stanza) the image of the hero is drawn, now it's hard to realize the "premature old age of the soul" and his loneliness. By combining both of these motives, connecting them with the image of one and the same hero, the poem also reveals the internal logic of this rapprochement: it is those best, most elevated feelings of the lyrical hero that he owes his "folly" that will subsequently make him a lone, "extra man" alien to the "crowd." It should also be noted that the lines/ "He does not find equal; for the crowd/ It's coming, although it's not shared with it "(Он равных не находит; за толпою/ Идет, хоть с ней не делится душою)/ are reminiscent of the famous lines from "Eugene Onegin" (chap. 8, stanza XI), in
hostile world (as it is stated in the fifth line - "Neither the world spare - nor the God saved!") was subsequently transferred to the more lately written poem "In A. I. Odoevsky's memory" (1839).
Mager, who translated the poem in 2008, completely conveyed the meaning of these lines.
which Pushkin gives the most generalized and sympathetic characterization of his hero in his relationship with society: «But it's sad to think that it's in vain/ Youth was given to us <...> And after the orderly crowd/ Go, not sharing with her/ Neither general opinions, nor passions.» (Но грустно думать, что напрасно/ Была нам молодость дана... И вслед за чинною толпою/Идти, не разделяя с ней/Ни общих мнений, ни страстей.)
The poem "He was born..."" first appeared in Lermontov's letter to M. A. Lopukhina in October of 1832, where he wrote: «... I lived, I became mature too early, and the days ahead will not bring me new impressions» [3, 420]. These words emphasized the "confessional" character of the poem. This combination of a personal theme with a generalized image of the contemporary society is characteristic of Lermontov's lyrics of 1832, when there a departure from the subjective-romantic image of a lyrical hero was outlined. If we consider the composition, we can note that the translator into English has completely preserved two nine-syllabled stanzas, where ten-syllabled lines are alternated with eleven-syllabled ones, which was not done by the translators into Armenian. We especially emphasize the persistence of the repetition of the verb gnaws (nibbles/ грызет) by the translator into English.
И жадный червь его грызет, грызет, И между тем как нежные подруги Колеблются на ветках - ранний плод Лишь тяготит свою . . . до первой вьюги! Ужасно стариком быть без седин; Он равных не находит; за толпою Идет, хоть с ней не делится душою; Он меж людьми ни раб, ни властелин, И всё, что чувствует, он чувствует один! [3, 288]
A greedy canker gnaws and gnaws the fruit While on the nearby branches gently sway The sister fruit - but he whose bloom was rot Hung on and on . . . until the blizzards came. It's awful to be old with graying hair; He has no comrades anymore; the throng That passes shares with him no common bond; Among the crowd, not serf nor lordly heir, Of all he feels alone he is aware! [6]_
gether with the poetic formula of his opposition to the ^ Он был рожден для счастья, для надежд И вдохновений мирных! - но безумный Из детских рано вырвался одежд И сердце бросил в море жизни шумной; И мир не пощадил - и бог не спас! [3, 288]
He was born for hope, contentedness,
And inspiration that peace brings! - but crazed,
His heart was driven out from youthful bliss
Onto the sea of life's discordant fray;
The world abused him - nor did God protect! [6]
The final lines of the first stanza represent a metaphor - "a juicy fruit, ripen before the time being"" Mager accurately reproduced Lermontov's metaphor, which, being attributed by the poet to himself, in the future will be reflected in the poems "My Future in the Fog"" (1837) and "I Look at the Future with Fear"
(1838). Afterwards, in the most refined form, as a characteristic of the entire generation, it will appear in "The Duma" (1838). In this regard, the poem "He was born..." is one of the earliest incarnations of Lermontov's theme of "the old man without grey hair" who prematurely fades and ekes out a lonely and barren existence/ It's awful to be old with greying hair/.
The well-thought-out symmetry of the two stanzas, the logical and artistic accuracy of the composition is destroyed in Armenian translations. P. Mikaelyan [2, 175] and later V. Gevorgyan [4, 155] divided the poem into four stanzas of four and five lines (5-4-4-5). As it is already noted above, ten and eleven-syllabled lines are alternated in the original. P. Mikaelyan and V. Ge-vorgyan used the twelve-syllabled. The nature of the rhyme in the original is ababcddcc. Mikaelyan used cross rhyming in four-line stanzas: ababb in the first five-line stanza, abbab in the last five-line stanza. Gevorgyan frequently used inaccurate rhymes that destroy the harmony of the sound. Cross rhyming is used in the four-line stanzas of this translation, while abab appears in the first five-line stanza. Besides, the fifth line does not rhyme at all (hmtfmp, mUqnm^, tfhp^mgm^, ^npnp^mhntjq, qpmg). In the last five-line stanza after the circular rhyme, the fifth line is not included in the overall pattern: fchpni.^, UtfmU, UpmU, urnpm.^, tf^mjUm^. Similar deviations from the rhyming are found in the English translation. Compare: in the first nine-syllabled stanza - contentedness, crazed, bliss, fray, protect, among, hung, sight, light; in the second stanza - fruit, sway, rot, came, hair, throng, bond, heir, aware.
Not only the change in the stanza coincided in the translations of P. Mikaelyan and V. Gevorgyan. In the translation of V. Gevorgyan, as it is observed in some of his other repeated translations, "the redone translations", he follows the previous translations, and in particular, his interpretation is somehow very close to the translation of Mikaelyan. Thus, while translating the poem "He was born...", which consists of 18 lines, V. Gevorgyan repeats five lines of the translation of P. Mikaelyan (5, 10, 13, 14, 17). In the middle of the 13th line
he puts an ellipsis, as it is in the original: «£шр2 t шш[^и U^U^U ... hnqtfU шпш2^и» /Лишь тяготит свою ... до первой вьюги/. In the 6th line, he changes only the word order. Mikaelyan wrote «Чш^т.и t/ Чшqшhшu щтпщи шЬш ш]ищЬи» /Колеблются на ветках - ранний плод/. Translated by V. Gevorgyan - «Чшqшhшu щтпщи t шhш ш]ищЬи».
One word is changed in each of the following three lines:
(2) ^ш^шд Utp2UmUpk рш]д ^hUqntp^tfp шрршЬ (Mikaelyan)
^шдшд Utp2UmUpk рш]д ^tUmnLp^Up шидпшщ (Gevorgyan)
(4) U^pmp Uhmhg Ut2 ршд
(Mikaelyan)
U^pmp Uhmhg фnpnp^шhnL]д
(Gevorgyan)
(7) Oшq^Uhp^ ^nqpfrU npp^ ииши
(Mikaelyan)
UfrgU, npp^ ииши (Gevorgyan) Half of the poem is factually repeated by Gevorgyan. He just changed the beginning of the poem, making the first line verbatim closer to the original: «Ъш fcU^t^ tp hnLju^, hp2шU^nLp]шU hшUшp» (Mikayelyan translated «OU^tg hp2шU^nLp]шU, hnLju^ hiuUiup rnUhqb»). Literal affinity often makes poetic lines constrained. Mikaelyan's translation of the lines «Из детских рано вырвался одежд» sounds much better. Compare: «CnphpU ^p иши^ш^ши иш ^шдш^и hшUhg» (cf. ^ши^ш^ши hшUqhp&^g ^шдш^и Uhp). V. Gevorgyan repeats two lines of P.
Mikaelyan Gevorgyan
Uühшq npqü t üpшü ^p&n lú, ^p&n lú шü4hp2: UJü^ pnjnpp йшдп lú hü рш^ ájnLqhpJ úJ2Jü, Opnp^nLÚ hü, hшuünLÚ, üш qnjnLpjnLü Jp ^hqá t тш^и úJü^U hnqúü шпш2^ Uühшq npqü t üpшü ^p&n lú, ^p&n lú шü4hp9, UJü^ pnLjphpü Jp Jipbhg pшpúnLp]шúp 2jü2 ЪшqnLÚ hü ájnLqhpJü, иш qnjnLpjnLüü Jp ^hqá ^^p? t тш^и úJüsU ... hnqúü шпше^:
It should be noted that the second and the third lines, which do not coincide, sound clumsy фр frphUg, ^p/ their them, their). The same can be said about the Armenian translations of the last stanza. Here also two lines completely coincide. We can state that the non-coincided lines are, of course, more successful in Mikaelyan's translation. For example, the final line «И все, что чувствует, он чувствует один!»/ And all that he feels, he feels alone!/. Gevorgyan translates «PnppU, ^U^ шщрпШ t, шщрпШ t thus Mikaelyan interpretes it as «bUpU t tf^jU 1!шит. fa.»
In conclusion, we should note that all the translations have a right to exist, but we hope that in future there will appear other translations of this great poem which will be closer to the original.
References
1. Bonver Yevgeny. Poems. [Electronic resource]/ - Access mode: https://www.poet-ryloverspage.com/poets/lermontov/my_home.html/ 04/11/2019 /
2. Lermontov M. Yu. Collected works in 3 volumes. Volume 1. Yerevan. Hayastan. 1965. P. 121 (in Armenian).
3. Lermontov M. Yu. Complete works in 4 volumes. Volume 1. Poems. Under the general editorship of I.L. Andronikova, D.D. Good, Yu.G. Oksman. Preparation of the text and notes by E.E. Naiditsch. M. Gos-litizdat. 1957. P. 281.
4. Lermontov M.Yu. Selected works. Yerevan. "Sovetakan groh". 1982. (in Armenian).
5. Lermontov. Encyclopedia. M. Soviet Encyclopedia. 1981.
6. Martin David W. Mikhail Lermontov 18141841. Reference Guide to Russian Literature. Ed. Neil Conwell. London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998. [Electronic resource]/ - Access mode: http://www.donmager.org/LermontovSelec-tion.pdf/11.04.2019/
7. Tsaturyan Al. Compositions. Yerevan. Haype-trat. 1948. P. 408 (in Armenian).
