Tolstoy KS translation

[Valentina Apresjan]

This idiom comes from the expression "of the first water" (speaking of
jewels) and the expression *X of pure water *means ''real X in its most
typical form'

On Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 8:16 AM, O'Brien, Kevin <obrien at chapman.edu> wrote:

> I believe that in Russian, as in English, the original context for the
> phrase was its usage in the grading of diamonds--of the purest water. Kevin
> O'Brien, Chapman University
> ________________________________________
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [
> SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] on behalf of Katz, Michael R. [
> mkatz at MIDDLEBURY.EDU]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 5:26 PM
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Subject: [SEELANGS] Tolstoy KS translation
>
> 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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