Teffi - "Nezhivoy zver' - rams, sheep, lambs

[Martina Morabito]

Dear Robert,

(first of all sorry for my bad English) I think that you can find a
solution by thinking about the background you want to give to the
story, a greek one or a biblical one, as Sara suggested. I don't know
the story, but I think that the final death of the animal, "torn apart
by rats" is quite revealing: it sounds as a direct link to the
"sparagmos", the ritual sacrifice in the Greek world, the
dismemberment of a victim, the "tragos", which is the goat, the
scapegoat. Also the rats sounds quite a greek symbol, because the rat
was an attribute of Apollo, who used the animal to spread plagues. I
don't know the exact english translation because I'm Italian, but I
think that "ram" is linked to an idea of strenght (the verb "to ram")
that is not the perfect one in this context, instead "goat" can be
seen in reference to scapegoat and it is the right translation of the
greek word tragos.

2013/2/7 R. M. Cleminson <rmcleminson at post.sk>:
> Strictly speaking, баран is a wether.  And horns are not the prerogative of the male sex among sheep.  It depends on the breed.  Not that this is going to help with the translation.
>
> ----- Pôvodná správa -----
> Od: "Robert Chandler" <kcf19 at DIAL.PIPEX.COM>
> Komu: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Odoslané: štvrtok, 7. február 2013 8:49:42
> Predmet: [SEELANGS] Teffi - "Nezhivoy zver' - rams, sheep, lambs
>
> Dear all,
>
> One of Teffi's finest and most tragic stories is about a child who, as her parents are splitting up and her world is falling apart, becomes very devoted to a wooly ram she has been given.
>
> Here is the first mention of this creature:
> The evening was already drawing to a close, and the very smallest, loudly howling children were being got ready to go home, when Katya was given her main present – a large woolly ram.  He was all soft, with a long, meek face and eyes that were quite human.  He smelled of sour wool and, if you pulled his head down, he bleated affectionately and persistently: ‘Ba-a-a!’
> Вечер уже подходил к концу, и самых маленьких, громко ревущих ребят стали снаряжать к отъезду, когда Катя получила свой главный подарок — большого шерстяного барана. Он был весь мягкий, с длинной кроткой мордой и человеческими глазами, пах кислой шерсткой, и, если оттянуть ему голову вниз, мычал ласково и настойчиво: мэ-э!
>
> I translated "baran" as "ram" without giving it much thought.  But people keep telling me it should be "sheep" or even "lamb", in English.  There is clearly good sense in this view.  I realise that "baran" is used more often, and more vaguely, than "ram".  And "igrushechnyi baran" seems to be quite a common phrase.  And "lamb" fits with the themes of the story.  The creature IS a sacrificial lamb (in the end it gets torn apart by rats) and Katya herself is a sacrificial lamb.
>
> Nevertheless, I somehow feel happier leaving it as "ram", odd though this will seem to an English reader.  To an English reader it would only really sound right if the creature clearly has horns.  But the story contains no mention either of horns or of the absence of horns.
>
> Any thoughts, anyone?
>
> All the best,
>
> Robert
>
>
> Robert Chandler, 42 Milson Road, London, W14 OLD
>
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