Brothers K.

[Robert Lagerberg]

Thanks for your prompt reply and explanation. Yes, obviously CS, and the use
of a comma would make the overall structure clearer, but it still doesn't
explain the use of the instrumental for the relative pronoun. One would
expect the acc. pl. form here as the direct object of '(which) Thou
knowest', not '(by which) Thou knowest'. In NT Greek the relative pronoun is
sometimes put into the same case as its antecedent (see for example Luke 5:9
and compare with 'correct' use in OCS texts), but, as a learned colleague
points out, this is not the case in Church Slavonic. So perhaps we have here
a word for word (and case for case) translation from the Greek, or something
else.

Robert Lagerberg 


> From: <mclellan at PRINCETON.EDU>
> Reply-To: "SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list"
> <SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU>
> Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:50:02 -0400
> To: <SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Brothers K.
> 
> The phrase is not Russian, but Church Slavonic.ęęę
> 
> имиже (imizhe). here spelled as two words, is the relative
> pronoun, веси (properly вѣси in the orthography in which
> Dostoevsky wrote it) (vesi), from вѣдѣти, "to know," is the
> verb.  "By the ways/paths which Thou knowest, save them."
> 
> Frank McLellan
> 
> On Apr 22, 2008, at 10:22 PM, Robert Lagerberg wrote:
> 
>> Can anyone parse the following sentence from Brothers Karamazov
>> (Еще одна
>> погибшая репутация), specifically the two verbal
>> forms which appear to be at
>> odds with each other?
>> 
>> ими же веси путями спаси их
>> 
>> Алеша прочел с удивлением, прочел
>> два раза, подумал и вдруг тихо, сладко
>> засмеялся. Он было вздрогнул, смех
>> этот показался ему греховным. Но
>> мгновение спустя он опять
>> рассмеялся так же тихо и так же
>> счастливо.
>> Медленно вложил он письмо в
>> конвертик, перекрестился и лег.
>> Смятение души
>> его вдруг прошло. «Господи, помилуй
>> их всех, давешних, сохрани их,
>> несчастных и бурных, и направь. У
>> тебя пути: ими же веси путями спаси
>> их. Ты
>> любовь, ты всем пошлешь и радость!» —
>> бормотал, крестясь, засыпая
>> безмятежным сном, Алеша.
>> 
>> Thank you
>> 
>> Robert
>> 
>> 
>> Dr Robert Lagerberg
>> Department of German, Russian and Swedish
>> School of Languages
>> University of Melbourne
>> 3010
>> VIC
>> Australia
>> 
>> www.grs.unimelb.edu.au
>> robertjl at unimelb.edu.au
>> 
>> Tel.: (03)  8344 5187
>> Fax: (03) 8344 7821
>> 
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