Vasily Grossman: Zhilitsa - some remarkable word play

[Laura Kline]

Robert,
I just spoke to a Russian friend of mine - big card player and very
knowledgeable about Russian literature - he says he believes there is no
double meaning here at all. The main point is that this is not such a big
deal to the card players, so they quickly forget about the woman and her
husband, and go on playing as if nothing happened. So the best translation
would be:
"So what are we just sitting around for? Who deals?"
"Whoever lost the last game deals."
Best,
Laura

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Chandler
Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 1:12 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: [SEELANGS] Vasily Grossman: Zhilitsa - some remarkable word play

Dear all,

'Zhilitsa' is a very short story, written in 1960.

An old woman dies, shortly after moving into a new room with absurdly few
belongings.  She turns out to have once been someone important, and to have
been only recently released after 19 years in the camps. She dies suddenly.
Someone else moves into her room and she is quickly forgotten.  One day
everyone is playing cards (podkidnoy durak) when a letter comes for her.
Only one of the card players remembers who she is.  It is an official
letter: her late husband, who died in prison in 1938, has been rehabilitated
'on account of lack of evidence'.  They're not quite sure what to do with
the letter.

The story ends as follows:
"В связи со вновь открывшимися обстоятельствами решением Военной коллегии
Верховного Суда СССР от 8/5 1960 года Ваш муж Ардашелия Терентий Георгиевич,
умерший в заключении 6/7 1937 (*) года, посмертно реабилитирован, а
приговор, вынесенный Военной коллегией Верховного Суда от 3/9 1937 года,
отменен и дело за отсутствием состава преступления прекращено".
- Куда теперь эту бумагу?
- А куда ее, никуда. Обратно отослать.
- Я считаю, мы обязаны ее в домоуправление сдать, поскольку эта женщина
имела здесь постоянную прописку.
- Вот это правильно. Но сегодня у них в домоуправлении выходной.
- А куда особенно спешить.
- Давайте ее мне. Я зайду насчет неисправности кранов и заодно ее сдам.
Потом все некоторое время молчали, а затем мужской голос произнес:
- Чего же это мы сидим. Кому сдавать?
- Кто остался, тому и сдавать.

The last line has many meanings, I think.  Not only 'kto ostalsya v
durakakh, tomu i...'
But also
Kto ostalsya v zhivykh, tomu i...
Or
Кто остался в доме...

And 'sdavat' of course can be either 'sdavat' karty' or 'sdavat' dokument'.

There may even be a broader meaning - something about the legacy left by
Lomova's generation to the next generation, who cannot afford not to take an
interest in that legacy but who somehow remain indifferent."

                    *

The difficulty in translating the last sentence is that it is short, leaving
little room for manoeuvre, and it contains two puns.

The best I have been able to come up with is this:

"Whose deal?"

"Whoever lost the last round.  And they can deal with that document too."

This, of course, is infinitely inferior to the original.  Can anyone suggest
anything better?  

всего доброго,

Роберт

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