Platonov - Dzhan

[Robert Chandler]

Hello!

I have already translated, and co-translated several works by Andrey Platonov.  At present I am translating the short novel DZHAN. I am having especial difficulty with the penultimate sentence of the following exchange:

Chagataev went up to Mohammed and asked him where he was leading the people.

Nur-Mohammed greeted Chagataev and replied: ŒWhat people?  Their soul scattered?? long ago.  It¹s all the same to them whether they¹re alive or dead.¹

               *    *    *    *    *

The original of Nur-Mohammed's speech is:
"Kakie lyudi?  Ikh dusha davno rasseyalas', im vse ravno, zhivut oni ili net.'

Can anyone suggest a better word than the literal "scattered"? I dislike it because it is so much less idiomatic than the original. But I don't want to move far away from it because the opposition "sobrat"/rasseyat'" is central to the theme of the book.

Robert Chandler

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