《Problems of Translation Onegin in English》.doc

Vladimir Nabokov Problems of Translation: Onegin in English THIRTEEN Vladimir Nabokov Problems of Translation: Onegin in English I constantly find in reviews of verse translations the following kind of thing that sends me into spasms of helpless fury: Mr. (or Miss) So-and-sos translation reads smoothly. In other words, the reviewer of the translation, who neither has, nor would be able to have, without special study, any knowledge whatsoever of the original, praises as readable an imitation only because the drudge or the rhymster has substituted easy platitudes for the breathtaking intricacies of the text. Readable, indeed! A schoolboys boner is less of a mockery in regard to the ancient masterpiece than its commercial interpretation or poetization. Rhyme rhymes with crime, when Homer or Hamlet are rhymed. The term free translation smacks of knavery and tyranny. It is when the translator sets out to render the spirit—not the textual sense—that he begins to traduce his author. The clumsiest literal translation is a thousand times more useful than the prettiest paraphrase. For the last five years or so I have been engaged, on and off, in translating and annotating Pushkins Onegin. In the course of this work I have learned some facts and come to certain conclusions. First, the facts. The novel is concerned with the afflictions, affections, and fortunes of three young men—Onegin, the bitter lean fop, Lenski, the temperamental minor poet, and Pushkin, their friend—and of three young ladies—Tatiana, Olga, and Pushkins Muse. Its events take place between the end of 1819 and the spring of 1825. The scene shifts from the capital to the countryside (midway between Opochka and Moscow), and thence to Moscow and back to Peters burg. There is a description of a young rakes day in town; rural landscapes and rural libraries; a dream and a duel; various festivities in country and city; and a variety of romantic, satirical and biblio graphic digressions that lend wonderful depth and