English idioms and their Russian equivalents

The translation difficulties usually arise in cases when (a) there happens to be no corresponding English proverb that we can use for our translation or (b) when the existing "ready-made" equivalent (e.g., an English proverb) cannot be used as it is because, for example, the Russian proverb is innovated in speeсh and, thus, may convey a specific additional meaning.

An analysis of translators' work shows that we may have the following means at our disposal in order to overcome these difficulties and to ensure the figurativeness of our translation: (1) use of rhymed and/or rhythmically arranged metaphors, (2) use of English phrases, proverbs and their components as a basis of one's translation, (3) utilization of the structures of English proverbs, (4) use of innovation as a means of adequacy, (5) use of colloquialisms and special introductions , etc. It is the соmplex use of these means which could guarantee the desired result.

Rhymed Metaphors

A rhyme alone is a supplementary means. For instance, the rhymed words "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" have a meaning which is in no way metaphorical. These cigarettes are real, and one cannot say the same of the words "Либо дождик, либо снег--либо будет, либо нет". Both "дождик" and "снег" are metaphorical. This Russian saying was once translated as "Who knows -- maybe rain and maybe snow, maybe yes and maybe no."

And a rhymed metaphor made this sound proverbial.

Of course, it is hardly possible to make a satisfactory rhymed metaphor in the process of interpretation (not translation). However, it is good to know a number of rhymed metaphors by heart so that they could be used as "ready-made" equivalents of some of the 'difficult' and frequently used Russian proverbs.

Naturally translators must often translate Russian proverbs that do not have their "ready-made" English equivalents. Translations show that some of our colleagues seem to think that one should try to convey only the meaning of such proverbs. Thus, the proverb "Дело не медведь, в лес не убежит" was once translated as 'Business is no bear, to run away to the forest'. (And Prof. M. M. Morozov praised this particular translation. Морозов М.М., Пособие по переводу русской художественной прозы на английский язык. М., 1972, с. 9-10) Yet, the process of this translation was actually terminated at the stage of 'transposition'. It could have been continued: "Дело не медведь, в лес не убежит" -»- (Transposition:) 'Business is no bear, to run away to the forest' (Idiomatization by way of making the metaphor rhymed and by means of grammatical restructuring:) 'Business is no bear, it won't go nowhere'. One can see that we have excluded the word 'forest' as an obviously redundant detail, and used the grammatical colloquialism "won't go nowhere" (double negation).

Suppose we have to construct a pun. As soon as our translation is figurative (i.e. has an idiomatic background), we would have no problem at all in making a play on any of the metaphor's components. Example:

Это неправильно говорится: «Дело -- не медведь, в лес не уйдет». Дело и есть медведь, уходить ему незачем, оно облапило и держит. Дело человеку- барин. (Горький, Дело Артамоновых)

It is not true that 'Business is no bear, it won't go nowhere.' Business is a bear, and there's no reason for it to go. It's got too good a hold on us. Man is a slave of his business!

Use of Proverbs' Structures

Here is an example of an attempt to translate the English proverb "Make hay while the sun shines". This proverb was used in speech being innovated grammatically and lexically: 'to make hell while the sun shines'. The lexical innovation ('hell' instead of 'hay') presents a problem in translation. And life shows Левицкая Т., Фитерман А., Обновление фразеологических единиц, и передача этого приема в переводе. Тетради переводчика, №5, М., 1968, с. 46-48 that the translation practice does not exclude the following way of solving this problem. Example:

I positively refuse to understand those who anywhere and everywhere wish "to make hell while the sun shines."

Я решительно отказываюсь понимать людей, которые везде и повсюду стремятся к тому, чтобы, "пользуясь благоприятны» ми обстоятельствами, натворить как можно больше бед".

True enough, the translator cannot use here the Russian proverb "Куй железо пока горячо" but... we can use its structure to make the 'transposed' translation figurative, that is, to make a solid metaphor out of it.

The Russian proverb consists of two parts: "(1) Куй железо (2) пока горячо". The 'transposed' translation also consists of two parts: (1) пользуясь благоприятными обстоятельствами (2) натворить как можно больше бед.

The process of our translation would be as follows: 'to make hell while the sun shines' (Transposition:) > "пользуясь благоприятными обстоятельствами натворить как можно больше бед" > (Restructuring by means of using the Russian proverb's structure:) "ковать железо пока горячо" > "делать что-л. пока возможно" > "творить как можно больше бед пока возможно" > (Idiomatization by way of making a rhymed metaphor:) "вредить безбожно пока возможно". Thus:

I positively refuse to understand those who anywhere and everywhere wish "to make hell while the sun shines."

Я решительно отказываюсь понимать людей, которые везде и повсюду стремятся к тому, чтобы "вредить безбожно пока возможно."

The conclusion is that one should better not stop at the stage of 'transposition'. One should move farther, till the end of the translation process. As a poet said, "The inn that shelters for the night is not the journey's end."

See the following example of a translation from Russian into English, which is based on an American proverb's structure:

У русских есть такая поговорка: «Всяк кулик свое болото хвалит».

We Russians have a proverb which says that every snipe praises its own bog.

It is easy to see that the translation process was as follows: "Всяк кулик свое болото хвалит" -> (Transposition:) 'Everybody speaks well of one's own home [or the like]' -> (Restructuring and idiomatization by way of using the structure of the proverb 'Every cook praises his own broth') 'Every smb (smth) praises his (its) own smth' -> 'Every snipe praises its own bog.'

Metaphors Based on Phrases

The method of making a metaphor based on a "ready-made" phrase (or two), is both productive and substantial. It is substantial to the extent that it does not necessarily need rhyming a metaphor based on an English phrase. For instance, Y. Katzer and A. Kunin made it a point in their book on translation Катцер Ю., Кунин А., Письменный перевод с русского языка на английский, с. 94-100, 104-109 that the Russian proverb "Москва не сразу строилась" could be translated as 'Moscow was not built in a day', that is, they say, it could be constructed "according to the pattern" of the English proverb 'Rome was not built in a day'. In fact, they pointed to the method of making the proverb's translation based on an English saying (i.e., "Москва не сразу строилась" > 'Rome was not built in a day' > 'Moscow was not built in a day').

Some translators might say that to convey the subject-logical content of the information is what we should really want. And some others might say that we can consequently translate, for example, the proverb "Little pitchers have long ears" as "Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых". However, the emotive-and evaluating content of the information must not be ignored and should be translated. And one can see that "Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых" does not convey any emotive evaluation. Besides, this translation does not sound proverbial.

The question is what would you feel if you happen to hear the statement "Дети любят разговоры взрослых"? 'So what?' would be your most probable reaction.

Let us make this translation figurative and evaluating: 'Little pitchers have long ears' > (Transposition:) "Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых" > (Idiomatization on the basis of Russian phrases:) "У [этих] деток слишком длинные уши" or: "Бойтесь детей > у них на макушке любопытные ушки". Thus, we have based our first translation on the Russian phrase "у кого-л. слишком длинные уши" for the purpose of conveying negative overtones? And we based our second translation (a) on the Russian phrase "y кого-л. ушки на макушке", (b) we also added "Бойтесь детей" as a resume and a negative exaggeration bringing positive reaction, (c) and we used the internal addition "любопытные" (which is particularly used in the Russian phrase "Любопытной Варваре HOC оторвали"). As a result, we have got "Бойтесь детей -- у них на макушке любопытные ушки" which is a cause-and-effect relation statement : "Бойтесь детей [because] у них на макушке любопытные ушки". (This can be compared with the metaphor 'Who knows -- maybe rain and'maybe snow, maybe yes and maybe no' which is also a cause-and-effect relation statement.) And now one can make an experiment and check one's possible emotive reaction while comparing the following:

Original: Little pitchers have long ears.

Translation variants:

(1) Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых. (2) Бойтесь детей -- у них на макушке любопытные ушки. (3) У [этих] деток слишком длинные уши.

Here is an example of a good and illustrative translation from Russian into English. The translator (Olga Shartse) had managed to make the proverb's translation figurative (by means of utilizing the English phrases 'to be brave as a lion' and 'to be like a lamb') which served, then, as a solid basis for her making a pun (and for conveying irony):

-- Люблю парня за ухватку. Сразу видно, что молодец среди овец. (Ю. Герман, Я отвечаю за все)

"I like a good chap for his brave ways'. I can tell right away that you'd be brave as a lion with a lamb." German Y., Eternal Battle, Progress Publishers, Moscow, p. 331

Use of Colloquialisms

The linguistic means to be used in the metaphorical translation of proverbs are lexical and grammatical colloquialisms.

I. K. Sazonova Сазонова И.К., Лексика и фразеология современного русского языка. М., 1963, с. 6 suggested the following examples of the different kinds of "stylistic colouring" which are (a) neutral, (b) bookish and (c) colloquial:

K- Sazonova's examples:

(a) Чтобы не было недоразумений, пойди, пожалуйста, туда и узнай, в чем дело.

(b) Во избежание недоразумений пойди, пожалуйста, туда и выясни, в чем дело.

(c) Сбегай туда и узнай, пожалуйста, что там, а то как бы чего не вышло.

Translations:

(a) Would you please go -and see what is wrong there before something happens.

(b) In order to avoid misunderstanding, would you please be so kind as to clarify the situation there.

(c) Go find out what's wrong, or there may be trouble.

The Russian colloquial-style example presents the said means (lexical: the verb "сбегать", the phrase "как бы чего не вышло"; grammatical: the subordinate clause "что там"). The translation of this example contains English colloquial means (lexical: 'trouble'; grammatical: 'go find out-', 'what's', 'or there may be').

Let us compare now the stylistic colouring of the two translations (given earlier); "пользуясь благоприятными обстоятельствами, натворить как можно больше бед" and "вредить безбожно пока возможно". One can see that their stylistic colouring differs. On the one hand, the words "пользуясь обстоятельствами" sound bookish. On the other hand, the word "безбожно" is a colloquialism and so is the word "пока" (compare: "Коси коса пока роса", "Куй железо пока горячо").

We may also compare the two translations (see this Task): "Business is no bear, to run away to the forest" and "Business is no bear, it won't go nowhere". The first translation has no colloquialisms and its stylistic colouring is neutral. The second translation employs them and all of them are grammatical: "won't" is used instead of the neutral "will not", to say nothing1 of the double negation "won't go nowhere".

Incidentally, there is a very interesting and instructive story of how one translation by M. Lozinsky was once criticized by I. Kashkin as being "stylistically artificial". Федоров В.А., Введение в теорию перевода, М., 1958, стр. 172 Here is M. Lozinsky's translation (of a Roman proverb used by Prosper Merimee in his "Carmen"):

En vetudi panda nasti abela macha. En close bouche n'entre point mouche.

В рот, закрытый глухо, не залетит муха.

What do we find in this translation? The phrase "(туда) и муха не залетит" is colloquial. But this colloquialism is literally depressed by the bookish grammatical means (причастный оборот) "закрытый глухо". Besides, M. Lozinsky did not observe the requirements of proper collocation of words: Russian people never "закрывают рот глухо", they "закрывают рот плотно", if any. The "artificial" way of saying so also makes a bookish effect. (Where neutral-style means may pass being in one sentence with colloquialisms, the bookish-style words or expressions must never be used in a proverb's translation, for they would easily spoil the whole broth). And this is why, it seems, I. A. Kashkin had to suggest his own translation of that proverb:

"В закрытый рот и муха не попадет".

One can see that this translation employs the colloquial phrase "(туда) и муха не попадет" whereas other linguistic means are neutral there.

It is common knowledge that English (and Russian) proverbs may be not only rhymed:

Birds of a feather flock together. (Рыбак рыбака видит издалека.)

Well begun is half done. (Доброе начало полдела откачало.)

but also arranged rhythmically:

God helps those who help themselves. (На бога надейся, а сам не плошай.)

Once bitten twice shy. (Пуганая ворона куста боится.)

Making our proverbs' translations arranged rhythmically or/and rhymed is also a productive method. Example:

-- И какая странная идея пришла в голову этому Привалову... Вот уж чего никак не ожидал. Какая-то филантропия...

-- Это нам на руку: чем бы дитя ни тешилось, лишь бы не плакало. (Мамин-Сибиряк)

"Besides, what has gotten into Privalov? Who would think of it? Philanthropy!"

"He" s playing into our hands. As the saying goes, whatever toy or play makes the baby gay..."

And such translations as "Leave the child its toy -- as long as it's amused" or "It does not matter what you do to humour your child as long as it does not cry" (etc.) speak for themselves. They do not sound proverbial.

The analysis of translators' works shows that this method is frequently neglected by or remains unknown to a number of translators. Here is just one example of how such 'difficult' proverbs happen to be translated. Let us see some of the published translations of the proverb "Это--цветочки, ягодки впереди":

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