Tolstoy KS translation

[Sasha Senderovich]

Dear Michael,

I am not at all a Tolstoy specialist, but the "clear water" seems in this
sentence to be the opposite of the "artificial life" mentioned a few words
earlier - so, something that could in some way be the antonym of
"artificial."

So, I'd venture to say that there is, perhaps, some play on the expression
"принимать за чистую монету" going on here. "Принимать за чистую монету"
means to take as true something that might not be true (or could be made up
or exaggerated), usually through some kind of deceit. Into English this
expression would get translated along the lines of taking something "at
face value" or "in good faith," with the word "чистый" potentially
providing an association to the opposite of "artificial" yet still partly
deceitful.

Again, speaking as a non-specialist; but maybe my particular chain of
associations sets you on some sort of productive track.

Best, Sasha

==================================
Sasha Senderovich
www.sashasenderovich.com

Visiting Assistant Professor
Russian and East European Studies
Lafayette College






On Tue, Sep 18, 2012 at 8:26 PM, Katz, Michael R. <mkatz at middlebury.edu>wrote:

> Dea Colleagues:
>
> I am currently retranslating Tolstoy's "Kreutzer Sonata" and I came across
> a curious phrase in the second paragraph of Chapter 7.  Pozdnyshev is
> talking about how he fell in love and he says:
>
> И если идет туда, спасательный клапан открыт, все благополучно; но
> прикройте клапан, как я прикрывал его временно, и тотчас же получается
> возбуждение, которое, проходя через призму нашей искусственной жнзни,
> выразится влюбленьем самой чистой воды, иногда даже платоническим.
>
> The phrase that puzzles me is: "влюбленьем самой чистой воды."
> The Maudes and David McDuff (Penguin) omit it entirely.
> Pevear & Volokhonsky translate it literally: "will express itself in a
> love of the purest water, sometimes even platonic."
>
> That doesn't make much sense to me.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> With many thanks for your suggestions,
>
> Michael Katz
> Middlebury College
>
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