LEXICAL EQUIVALENTS BETWEEN RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION IN THE STORY BY I.A. BUNIN ’’DARK AVENUES’’

Original text

В холодное осеннее ненастье, на одной из больших тульских дорог, залитой дождями и изрезанной многими черными колеями, к длинной избе, в одной связи которой была казенная почтовая станция, а в другой частная горница, где можно было отдохнуть или переночевать, пообедать или спросить самовар, подкатил закиданный грязью тарантас с полу поднятым верхом, тройка довольно простых лошадей с подвязанными от слякоти хвостами.

На козлах тарантаса сидел крепкий мужик в туго подпоясанном армяке, серьезный и темноликий, с редкой смоляной бородой, похожий на старинного разбойника, а в тарантасе стройный старик-военный в большом картузе и в николаевской серой шинели с бобровым стоячим воротником, еще чернобровый, но с белыми усами, которые соединялись с такими же бакенбардами; подбородок у него был пробрит и вся наружность имела то сходство с Александром II, которое столь распространено было среди военных в пору его царствования; взгляд был тоже вопрошающий, строгий и вместе с тем усталый.

-Налево, ваше превосходительство, — грубо крикнул с козел кучер, и он, слегка нагнувшись на пороге от своего высокого роста, вошел в сенцы, потом в горницу налево.

В горнице было тепло, сухо и опрятно: новый золотистый образ в левом углу, под ним покрытый чистой суровой скатертью стол, за столом чисто вымытые лавки; кухонная печь, занимавшая дальний правый угол, ново белела мелом; ближе стояло нечто вроде тахты, покрытой пегими попонами, упиравшейся отвалом в бок печи; из-за печной заслонки сладко пахло щами — разварившейся капустой, говядиной и лавровым листом.

-Добро пожаловать, ваше превосходительство, — сказала она. — Покушать изволите или самовар прикажете?

 Нет, Николай Алексеевич, не простила. Раз разговор наш коснулся до наших чувств, скажу прямо: простить я вас никогда не могла. Как не было у меня ничего дороже вас на свете в ту пору, так и потом не было. Оттого-то и простить мне вас нельзя. Ну да что вспоминать, мертвых с погоста не носят.

«Да, пеняй на себя. Да, конечно, лучшие минуты. И не лучшие, а истинно волшебные! „Кругом шиповник алый цвел, стояли темных лип аллеи...“ Но, боже мой, что же было бы дальше? Что, если бы я не бросил ее? Какой вздор! Эта самая Надежда не содержательница постоялой горницы, а моя жена, хозяйка моего петербургского дома, мать моих детей?» И, закрывая глаза, качал головой.

Translation

In the cold, foul weather of autumn, on one of Tula’s highways, flooded by rains and indented with many black ruts, up to a long hut with a government posting station in one wing and private living quarters where one could rest or spend the night, have dinner or ask for the samovar in the other, there drove a tarantass, bespattered with mud and with its top half-raised, pulled by three quite ordinary horses with their tails tied up out of the slush.

On the box of the tarantass sat a sturdy peasant in a tightly belted, heavy cloth coat, serious and dark-faced, with a sparse, jet-black beard, looking like a robber of old, and inside the tarantass sat a svelte old military man in a large peaked cap and a grey greatcoat with an upright beaver collar of Nicholas I’s time, still black-browed, but with white whiskers which joined up with similar sideburns; his chin was shaved, and his appearance as a whole bore that resemblance to Alexander II* which was so prevalent among military men at the time of his reign; his gaze.

was both enquiring, stern and at the same time weary

“To the left, Your Excellency,” the coachman cried out rudely from the box and, stooping slightly on the threshold because of his height, the man went into the little entrance hall, then to the left into the living quarters.

The living quarters were warm, dry and tidy: there was a new, gold -colored icon in the left-hand corner, beneath it a table covered with a clean, unbleached tablecloth, and at the table there were benches, scrubbed clean; the kitchen stove, occupying the far right-hand corner, was newly white with chalk; nearer stood something like an ottoman, covered with mottled rugs, with its folding end resting against the side of the stove; from behind the stove door came the sweet smell of cabbage soup – cabbage boiled down until soft, beef and bay leaves.

“Welcome, Your Excellency,” she said. “Would you be wanting to eat, or would you like the samovar?”

“No, Nikolai Alexeyevich, I haven’t. Since our conversation has touched upon our feelings, I’ll tell you straight: I never could forgive you. Just as there was nothing on earth dearer to me at that time than you, so was there nothing afterwards either. And that’s why I can’t forgive you. Well, but what sense is there in remembering, the dead don’t get brought back from the graveyard.”

“Yes, you’ve only yourself to blame. Yes, of course they were the best moments. And not merely the best, but truly magical! ‘All round the scarlet dog rose bloomed, the avenues of dark limes stood…’* But my God, what would have happened later on? What if I hadn’t abandoned her? What nonsense! This Nadezhda, not the keeper of a lodging house, but my wife, the mistress of my house in St Petersburg, the mother of my children?” And closing his eyes, he shook his head.

Analyses part

Fist think fist in this story there are a lot of cultural words, translator faced with such a problem, but let us see what kind of technic did he use: in the original text we have such a Russian word- ненастье which is untranslatable, so the translator use classifier in order to show and explain what does it mean-foul weather, also I want to mansion that in Russian it is only one word, but in English two.

Next one is word казенная. Let me give you a definition this is any institution other than residential buildings(work, hospital, post office) the point is that you do not have right for it. The translator found the equivalence and translated it like governmental he use the function of this word and use the equivalent in English.

Samovar is exactly Russian word and it play pig role in the story that is why translator just keep it how it was in original text.

Tarantas is a four-wheel horse-drawn carriage on a long hearse (longitudinal frame), reducing road shaking on long journeys. It was famous in Russia in the first half of the XIX century

It was famous only in Russian in that time that is English readers cannot understand what is this, the translator in the end of the story gives an explanation what is it.

The seats of the tarantass called козлы if the translator would translate it literary the meaning would lost because literary it translated like sheep and there is no meaning, that is why translator uses cultural substitution and use the word box which is show the form of this subject.

Картуз-is a men’s headdress with a hard visor, unformed cap. The translator made cultural substitute using the form of this cap and he just gave as the picture what is it. He couldn’t translate it, because his cap was famous and was using only in Russia.

Also the author said us that he looked like Alexander 2, probably English readers do not know who is he, that is why translator made footnote and in the end of the story gave some information.

Сенцы- the entrance to the traditional Russian house; unheated and non-residential premises, which has several functions: the separation barrier between the main living space and the street, which serves as a thermal vestibule. summer, spring and autumn hall, where they usually take off outer clothing and shoes. That is the explanation of this Russian word сенцы, it is not the main point here, that is why translator give us little explanation which is classifier and he translated it like little entrance hall.

Горница- pure half of a peasant hut. Here the translator uses the same technic and gives us just an explanation of it.

In that part we have word образ which is a Christian icon, but if author would translate it literary form which has no sense at all, it is even archaic word that is why the translator gives us the form of it so it is gold-colored icon, and for English readers it is more understandable.

Щи- is traditional Russian meal and in English there is no equivance of this word, so, what did translator? He just gives us form of it using cultural substitute. Щи-cabbage soup.

Again the same word samovar, but what does she mean by it? In Russian culture samovar means tee.

Here we have Russian proverb “мертвых с погоста не носят’’ let’s see how the translator find equivalent in English. He translated it like The dead don’t get brought back from the graveyard. Fistful the word погост really archaic that is why there is no way to translate it, and translator translate it in modern word graveyard, the form is different but the meaning is the same , here we have just function of it , the author uses cultural substitute.

Re-reading Ogaryov's poem, Bunin has an idea to write a book about the vicissitudes of love. The dark lime alleys are cool,

shady place of love meetings, secret dates, forbidden love,

symbol of irrevocably gone old Russia. The translator also made some research about it and he use footnotes and in the end of the story explained the meaning.

Also the name of the main character Nadejda translates like Hope, but the translator decided to put it in the original form, we have the worm but the reader will not understand the meaning.