П.Д. Николаева (Комрат)

DIFFICULTIES IN TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH PROVERBS INTO RUSSIAN

Резюме: Статья рассматривает связь между английскими и русскими пословицами, указывает на трудности, возникающие при переводе английских пословиц на русский язык, а также демонстрирует способы разрешения этих трудностей. Трудности перевода английских пословиц возникают и возникали всегда. А, учитывая все особенности того или иного языка, переводить то, что считается частью культуры одного народа на другой язык очень сложно.

People’s experience shows and proves that a good translator must not only understand the sense of the text in English, but also must know the English proverbs and their translation into Russian. As for these two languages, both of them have their own peculiarities and difficulties of translation. The English language has its word order in the sentence and the Russian language has its own with an exception that it is not as strict as in English. In the English language we can not use two negations (I have never not been to Rome), we always use one (I have never been to Rome). As for Russian, there can be used two negations (Я никогда не был в Риме).

There always existed difficulties with proverbs’ translation. It is a well-known fact it is very difficult to translate the text that belongs to culture, because every culture is unique in its own way. So happens and with proverbs. For instance, the English proverb The pot calls the kettle black (1) will have the following “word for word translation” in Russian Горшок обзывает этот чайник чёрным (2). If an Englishman understands the meaning of this proverb it does not mean that a Russian will understand it too. This proverb will be something new for him. So in order to understand this proverb a Russian must know its equivalent in Russian. Its Russian equivalent will be: Чья бы корова мычала, а твоя бы молчала (3). This variant in Russian is understandable for a Russian. But if we translate this Russian equivalent into English we shall get the following: Anyone's cow may moo, but yours should keep quite (4). As we can see the first variant (1) is too far from the last one (4).

The comparison of proverbs of different people shows how much in common these people have, what promotes their best mutual understanding. It is necessary to note that many English and Russian proverbs have some meanings what makes them difficult to translate and understand. During the selection of a Russian equivalent to an English proverb we have chosen the most appropriate meaning. For example, the English proverb “The glass is always greener on the other side of the fence” (1). If we translate it ‘word for

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word’ we shall have “Трава всегда зеленее по ту сторону забора” (2). As for Russian, it does not have such proverb, but it has another “Хорошо там, где нас нет” (3). In fact, these two proverbs are equivalent in sense, but ‘word for word’ translation of the Russian proverb will be the following: “Life is better there where we are not present” (4). Thus, we may conclude that English people will not understand the translation of the proverb (4) and Russians will not understand the translation of the proverb (2).

Let’s analyze another English proverb. “Every dog has his day” (1) has the following ‘word for word translation’ “Каждая собака имеет свой день” (2) that does not fit to the Russian culture. The Russian equivalent for this proverb is “Будет и на нашей улице праздник” (3). If we translate the Russian equivalent (3) into English we shall get the following proverb which will not be understood by English people “We shall have a holiday in our street, too” (4).

The English proverb “Brevity is the soul of wit” (1) will be translated into Russian as “Краткость - душа ума (остроумия)” (2). The Russian analogue of the English one is “Краткость - сестра таланта” (3). If we render this one (3) into English we shall have the following proverb “Brevity is the sister of talent” (4). The last one (4) will not be clear to the English people; as for the Russian people they will not understand the word for word translation of the proverb (2).

Let’s move on and examine the next proverb “Adversity is a good teacher” (1). If we translate it into Russian we shall have “Реклама – хороший учитель” (2). This translation of the English proverb will not be understood by Russian people. Therefore, we have to find the Russian equivalent to it “Без муки нет науки” (3). Now when we translate the Russian equivalent into English we shall have the following: “There is no science without trouble” (4). This variant (4) does not make any sense to English-speaking people. They just will not understand it because it does not render the message properly.

The next proverb “The Devil makes work for idle hands” (1) represents a difficulty in translation because it is translated word for word as “Дьявол создаёт работу для ленивых рук” (2) what makes a nonsense for Russians. Let’s find the Russian equivalent “Лень - мать всех пороков” (3). Now if we render the variant (3) into English we shall have “Idleness is the mother of all vices” (4). It becomes clear that the variant (4) is too far from the variant (1).

The Table № 1 given below summarizes the all said above.

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The English proverb

(1)

Word for word translation

(2)

The Russian equivalent

(3)

The English translation of the Russian equivalent(4)

1. The pot calls the kettle black

Горшок обзывает этот чайник чёрным

Чья бы корова мычала, а твоя б помолчала

Anyone's cow may moo, but yours should keep quite

2. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence”

Трава всегда зеленее по ту сторону забора

Хорошо там, где нас нет

Life is better there where we are not present

3. Every dog has his day

Каждая собака имеет свой день

Будет и на нашей улице праздник

We shall have a holiday in our street, too

4. Brevity is the soul of wit

Краткость - душа ума (остроумия)

Краткость - сестра таланта

Brevity is the sister of talent

5. Adversity is a good teacher

Реклама – хороший учитель

Без муки нет науки

There is no science without trouble

6. The Devil makes work for idle hands

Дьявол создаёт работу для ленивых рук

Лень - мать всех пороков

Idleness is the mother of all vices

Table № 1: Translation of English proverbs into Russian

Having analyzed six English proverbs here we have come to the following conclusion. Proverbs are figurative phrases and if we translate them word for word we get an absolute nonsense, something like “Дождь идёт кошками и собаками” (1). It is the literal translation of English saying “It rains cats and dogs” (2). But when we look for the Russian equivalent we find the following “Идёт сильный дождь” (3). So, we must always look for the Russian equivalent of an English proverb, otherwise we may hear something like “Если бы союзы ifs и ands были бы горшками и сковородками” (1). The translation (1) is the variant of an English proverb “If ifs and ands were pots

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and pans” (2). That is why when we know its Russian equivalent “Если бы да кабы, во рту выросли бы грибы” we may correct the situation.

Literature:1. Wolfgang M. Proverbs. A Handbook Greenwood Press 20042. М.И. Дубровин Английские и русские пословицы и поговорки Москва 19933. Казакова Т. А. Практические основы перевода Москва 2000

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