Horse talk (Grossman - V gorode Berdicheve)

[Robert Chandler]

Dear all,

Ronald LeBlanc sent me an attachment with a surprising (to me!) photo (from
a riding exhibition in riding Hungary) of a horse (with rider on back) in a
sitting posture like that of a dog.  That, however, does not fit well with
the horse clearly rearing at the end of this sentence. So Inna Caron's
suggestion fits better.

This sentence presents a surprising number of difficulties. Here it is in
full.  My other uncertainty is about the language the Poles use.  Why is
their language astonishing?  NOT simply because it is Polish - this is, or
at least was, a multilingual part of the world, and I would expect people to
have heard Polish often enough.  Is it that the language they speak is
composed mainly of swear words?  If so, I perhaps should be trying to convey
this more clearly.

"The patrol would enter the main square.  The horses would bend their back
legs (??) and snort; the riders would call out to one another in a simple
and astonishing human language (??), and their leader, delighted by the
humility of this conquered town now lying flat on its back, would shout out
in a drunken voice, fire his revolver into the muzzle (??) of the silence
and get his horse to rear."

Отряд выедет  на площадь. Лошади  будут приседать  и хрипеть,  всадники
возбужденно  перекликаться  на  изумительном,  простом, человечьем языке,  и
начальник, радуясь  смирению навзничь  лежащего, побежденного  города, пьяно
закричит, бахнет из револьвера в жерло тишины, подымет лошадь на дыбы.

It has dawned on me that in this first published story of his, Grossman is
both wanting to prove that he can write as well as Babel and, at the same
time, arguing with Babel. Olga Meerson has pointed out that this is a story
about an initiation into a world of non-violence, whereas Babel's stories
are often about initiations into a world of violence.  It is an impressive
story, but the language has a rather showy quality; in this it is unnlike
Grossman's later work.

Vsego dobrogo,

Robert

> It just means the horses would bend their hind legs. The action (both
> "prisedat'" and "khripet'") is caused by the fact that the rider gives an
> extra pull to the reins in order to keep the horse still, and the horse is
> getting impatient.
> 
> Inna Caron, a rider (back in the days :-)
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Chandler
> Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 5:28 PM
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: [SEELANGS] Horse talk (Grossman - V gorode Berdicheve)
> 
> Dear all (and especially riders)
> 
> It is 1921.  The following para describes what everyone knows will happen
> when the Polish troops enter the town of Berdichev:
>     Отряд выедет  на площадь. Лошади  будут приседать  и хрипеть,  всадники
> возбужденно  перекликаться  на  изумительном,  простом, человечьем языке,  и
> начальник, радуясь  смирению навзничь  лежащего, побежденного  города, пьяно
> закричит, бахнет из револьвера в жерло тишины, подымет лошадь на дыбы.
> 
> 
> The words I can't translate are  Лошади  будут приседать  (loshadi budut
> prisedat')
> 
> I've tried to find examples of this use of the word on the net.  The best I
> have found is this, from a website devoted to advanced riding techniques.
> Скользящая остановка объединяет 3 элемента рейнинга. Мы работаем над
> остановкой, осаживанием и разворотом, что помогает научить лошадь "быть
> ближе к земле". Это значит, что лошадь будет опускаться (приседать) ниже для
> остановки.
> 
> But I still can't translate it!
> 
> Can anyone help?
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Robert
> 
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