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Fw: Admiralty Spire--translating puns
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From: "Bruce Stone" <bstone41@hotmail.com>
> A question on the translation of puns.
>
> In the Russian text of "The Admiralty Spire," the narrator writes in his
> sixth paragraph, "Gruzno lezha v gamake i bezzabotno vodya vechnym perom
> (chto pochti kalambur)..." and shortly after writes, "Garnir--Vash,
polozhim
> farsh i sous tozhe Vashi, no dich' (opyat' pochti kalambur), dich',
> sudarynya, ne Vasha, a moya, s moej drobinkoj v krylyshke."
>
> Could anyone explain the nature of these "pochti kalambur" in the Russian?
>
> In the English version, they're translated as "recklessly allowed your pen
> to flow like a fountain (a near pun)" and "the game (another near pun),
the
> game, Madame, is not yours but mine..." respectively. My thinking is that,
> for the nearness the narrator stipulates, these must be puns of proximity,
> closely related words that are immanent in, but not fully disclosed by,
the
> triggering word: a la Nabokov's "word golf" and the play Kinbote remarks
on
> in the note to line 803 in Pale Fire. My guess is that in the English the
> puns lie in the proximity of fountain/mountain (like Shade's misprint) and
> game/dame (a proprietary pun on Katya's possession). If the pun involved,
> say, fountain, as in "fountain pen," the pun would be simply a "pun"
rather
> than a "near pun," no?
>
> In the English these puns appear to return in the story's end. When the
> narrator cites the Apukhtin lines, he follows with, "...I shall refrain
> because, in the first place, there is no sea here, and, in the second, I
> have not the least desire to see you"--the play on sea/see. A second
> question: is there something similar in the Russian text at this point--"
> potomu chto, vo-pervyh, zdes' nikakogo morya net, a vo-vtoryh, ya vovse ne
> stremlyus' tebya videt'"? In the similarity between the concluding phrases
> of each clause? Or is this excluded by nuances of pronunciation that
escape
> me?
>
> Deepest thanks to anyone who can lend assistance.
>
> Bruce Stone
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> MSN 9 Dial-up Internet Access fights spam and pop-ups √ now 3 months FREE!
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>
From: "Bruce Stone" <bstone41@hotmail.com>
> A question on the translation of puns.
>
> In the Russian text of "The Admiralty Spire," the narrator writes in his
> sixth paragraph, "Gruzno lezha v gamake i bezzabotno vodya vechnym perom
> (chto pochti kalambur)..." and shortly after writes, "Garnir--Vash,
polozhim
> farsh i sous tozhe Vashi, no dich' (opyat' pochti kalambur), dich',
> sudarynya, ne Vasha, a moya, s moej drobinkoj v krylyshke."
>
> Could anyone explain the nature of these "pochti kalambur" in the Russian?
>
> In the English version, they're translated as "recklessly allowed your pen
> to flow like a fountain (a near pun)" and "the game (another near pun),
the
> game, Madame, is not yours but mine..." respectively. My thinking is that,
> for the nearness the narrator stipulates, these must be puns of proximity,
> closely related words that are immanent in, but not fully disclosed by,
the
> triggering word: a la Nabokov's "word golf" and the play Kinbote remarks
on
> in the note to line 803 in Pale Fire. My guess is that in the English the
> puns lie in the proximity of fountain/mountain (like Shade's misprint) and
> game/dame (a proprietary pun on Katya's possession). If the pun involved,
> say, fountain, as in "fountain pen," the pun would be simply a "pun"
rather
> than a "near pun," no?
>
> In the English these puns appear to return in the story's end. When the
> narrator cites the Apukhtin lines, he follows with, "...I shall refrain
> because, in the first place, there is no sea here, and, in the second, I
> have not the least desire to see you"--the play on sea/see. A second
> question: is there something similar in the Russian text at this point--"
> potomu chto, vo-pervyh, zdes' nikakogo morya net, a vo-vtoryh, ya vovse ne
> stremlyus' tebya videt'"? In the similarity between the concluding phrases
> of each clause? Or is this excluded by nuances of pronunciation that
escape
> me?
>
> Deepest thanks to anyone who can lend assistance.
>
> Bruce Stone
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> MSN 9 Dial-up Internet Access fights spam and pop-ups √ now 3 months FREE!
> http://join.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200361ave/direct/01/
>