translation thread

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Jules Levin wrote:

> A feat of the translator's art that no computer could match:
>
> Nabokov's rendering of Lewis Carrol's "reeling and writhing" as the
> curriculum in the Walrus's school for oysters:
> chesat' i pitat'
> This is an improvement--"grooming and feeding" is more sea-critterish
> than reeling and writhing...

Perhaps.

But it does have the added bonus that "reeling and writhing" sounds 
almost like "reading and writing," and "чесать и питать" sounds almost 
like "читать и писать." In each case, those echoed subjects are 
plausible elements of a school curriculum.

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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