Smile of the day

[Paul B. Gallagher]

 From today's "Metropolitan Diary" in /The New York Times/:

Dear Diary:
    A very nice ice cream store opened recently at 83rd Street on my 
East Side block. When I went in for the first time, I was greeted by a 
fabulous-looking blond saleswoman in her early 20s.
    She asked me where I was from and, learning that I am originally 
from St. Petersburg, immediately asked, "Do you think that a recent 
translation of Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' by Pevear and Volokhonsky is 
really superior to all others?"
    Slightly stunned (after all, I only came for some ice cream), I 
suggested that another translation, that of Andrew Bromfield, was also 
quite good and that, in general, only translations with the first 
sentence starting in French, as in Tolstoy's original, should be 
considered. The young lady appeared to be satisfied with my answer and 
dispensed the ice cream.
    A couple of days later I was back at the store, greeted again by a 
fabulous woman of 20 or so, but this time a brunette. Having established 
my national origin, she asked, "What is your favorite translation of 
Dostoyevsky's 'Brothers Karamazov'?"
    Since I did not know the answer, she asked an easier question, "What 
is your favorite Russian novel?" I answered that it was Bulgakov's 
"Master and Margarita." The answer appeared satisfactory to her, and the 
ice cream was dispensed.
    As it turned out, the two saleswomen were taking the same Russian 
literature course at Columbia.
    I haven't been to the store for about two weeks now and am dying for 
some ice cream, but I can't go back -- not until I complete a 
comparative translation analysis of Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago."
					-- Leonid Poretsky

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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