Problems of Translation Onegin in English

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1、VladimirNabokovProblemsofTranslation:OnegininEnglishTHIRTEENVladimirNabokovProblemsofTranslation:OnegininEnglishIconstantlyfindinreviewsofversetranslationsthefollowingkindofthingthatsendsmeintospasmsofhelplessfury:"Mr.(orMiss)So-and-so'stranslationrea

2、dssmoothly."Inotherwords,thereviewerofthe"translation,"whoneitherhas,norwouldbeabletohave,withoutspecialstudy,anyknowledgewhatsoeveroftheoriginal,praisesas"readable"animitationonlybecausethedrudgeortherhymsterhassubstitutedeasyplatitudesforthebreath

3、takingintricaciesofthetext."Readable,"indeed!Aschoolboy'sbonerislessofamockeryinregardtotheancientmasterpiecethanitscommercialinterpretationorpoetization."Rhyme"rhymeswith"crime,"whenHomerorHamletarerhymed.Theterm"freetranslation"smacksofknaveryandt

4、yranny.Itiswhenthetranslatorsetsouttorenderthe"spirit"—notthetextualsense—thathebeginstotraducehisauthor.Theclumsiestliteraltranslationisathousandtimesmoreusefulthantheprettiestparaphrase.ForthelastfiveyearsorsoIhavebeenengaged,onandoff,intranslatinga

5、ndannotatingPushkin'sOnegin.InthecourseofthisworkIhavelearnedsomefactsandcometocertainconclusions.First,thefacts.Thenovelisconcernedwiththeafflictions,affections,andfortunesofthreeyoungmen—Onegin,thebitterleanfop,Lenski,thetemperamentalminorpoet,andP

6、ushkin,theirfriend—andofthreeyoungladies—Tatiana,Olga,andPushkin'sMuse.Itseventstakeplacebetweentheendof1819andthespringof1825.Thesceneshiftsfromthecapitaltothecountryside(midwaybetweenOpochkaandMoscow),andthencetoMoscowandbacktoPetersburg.Thereisades

7、criptionofayoungrake'sdayintown;rurallandscapesandrurallibraries;adreamandaduel;variousfestivitiesincountryandcity;andavarietyofromantic,satiricalandbibliographicdigressionsthatlendwonderfuldepthandcolortothething.Oneginhimselfis,ofcourse,aliteraryphe

8、nomenon,notalocalorhistoricalone.ChildeHarold,theheroofByron's"romaunt"(1812),whose"earlyyouth[hadbeen]misspentinmaddestwhim,"whohas"mopingfits,"whoisbidtoloathhispresentstatebya"wearinesswhichspringsfromall[he]meets,"isreallyonlyarelative,no