Tolstoy KS translation

[Sasha Senderovich]

P.S. Come to think of it (and I should have taken a moment to think before
sending out my previous message): "чистой воды + noun" is an idiom in its
own right. "Чистой воды правда" being one that comes immediately to mind.
Something without any negative undersides, the best. A lot more
straightforward than "принимать за чистую монету."

Sasha

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

Visiting Assistant Professor
Russian and East European Studies
Lafayette College






On Tue, Sep 18, 2012 at 8:55 PM, Sasha Senderovich <
sasha.senderovich at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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