A possibly confused sentence of Teffi

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Robert Chandler wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> After a long and vivid description of a young woman, a brutal, austerely
> idealistic revolutionary in a position of considerable power, Teffi (in
> her imagination!) says this to her:
> Не знаю, как могу смотреть на тебя и не кричать по-звериному, без слов,
> — не от страха, а от ужаса за тебя, за человека — "глину в руках
> горшечника", слепившего судьбу твою в непознаваемый рассудком час гнева
> и отвращения…»
>
> This is the same in several editions of /Vospominaniya/, including the
> first, but to me it doesn't quite make sense.  Something seems to go
> wrong in the sentence at this point: а от ужаса *за тебя, за человека*
>
> The important question is this:
> Am I right in thinking that Teffi is saying that she is horrified not by
> the woman herself, but by whoever it is who is responsible for shaping
> this woman's fate?

It seems to me as a nonnative that the part you flag is fine, but I read 
it differently:

I don't know how I can look at you and keep from screaming like an 
animal, wordlessly -- not out of fear, but out of horror for you [as] a 
person...

So to me the contrast is between fear and horror, not between the 
various reasons for horror.

-- 
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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