"The Brothers Karamazov" and the inaccuracies of a translation

By: Theodore Cico

"The Brothers Karamazov" is the writer's last novel, rated as one of the highest achievements in world literature; passionate philosophical novel that delves deeply into matters of God and morality; a theological drama dealing with the problems of faith, doubt and reason... It is Dostoevsky's most representative work. Sigmund Freud said: "It is the greatest novel ever written."

The novel in question was translated into Albanian by Xhemile Zykaj, edited by Rexhep Hida and is a 2017 edition of the "Fan Noli" publishing house. It should be said at the outset that the translation is an attempt to be as correct as possible with the original text of the work, in contrast to the translation of the novel "Crime and Punishment", where, in many cases, initially things revolved in the translator's mind, one guessed what the author wanted to say and then put them on paper (and even more so in contrast to the translation of "Doctor Zhivago", where words and sentences were added from the translator's pocket).

However, in addition to the positive values ​​of the translation of the novel "The Brothers Karamazov", there have also been many inaccuracies. Thus, words were forgotten without being translated (adjectives accompanying nouns, adverbs accompanying different adjectives, etc.), as well as whole sentences. We have an incorrect translation of some sentences and many special words, in many cases the punctuation marks of the original are not respected, and the first line is switched according to the translator's wish. Let's examine some of these inaccuracies.

P. 13-14 and 33-34: It is said "thirty years ago", but actually it is "thirteen years ago"; RECITED "was married three times", but actually it is twice (два раза), "mozglyaka" Source "easy", that it started from brain, but actually it means weak, healthy (тщедушный, слабосильный, хилий), "goddess" it is not "holy", but "mother of Christ" (мать Христа). It is switched to the first line when it is not the first line, as in cases "Now I will tell you...", "All this...", "Also...", "Here is the picture!". These cases are only from the above pages, because the translator has gone through the main line, when it is not the main line in the original, dozens and many more times during the translation of the work. He has often done this with the idea that it makes it easier for the reader to read the really long paragraphs of the work, but when the main line is passed and when it is not, the author has determined this, according to the elaboration of his thoughts in the work and neither the translator nor the editor nor anyone else has any right to change this.

53-54: They have passed without being translated "о нахий-то ... until в речке и проч." which means "for certain logging rights in the forest and fishing in the small river and others", and "and everything else...to the limit", so "and the dispute still continued to determine the border between the lands". On these pages and in most cases "father abbot" Source "quarrier", when it is "that abbot" and give the explanation at the bottom of the page that it is "father superior in a monastery of medium importance", whereas "quarrier" is just an orthodox monk.

P. 73: "submissive" (as it turns out on p.353) it is not "deacon"By "newbie" - a novice in the monastery who is preparing to become a monk, whereas "deacon" it is simply an assistant to the priest in performing the religious service, so it has nothing to do with the monastery.

P. 153-154: It is not "totally calm", but it is the opposite "with all his anxiety" (при всем беспокойстве); I leave four verses of Schiller's poem untranslated: "And where... until you see!", which means: "And wherever Ceres// Casts a sad glance// Sees everywhere man// In deep humiliation!"

P. 173-175: It's in the title "up five" that translates it "upside down", but it doesn't sound right, so it had to be translated "headache" (e.g. I jump headlong into the water), so that the heels (пятами) are up and the head is down.

As for the titles, we have a few other cases with incorrect translations. Thus, on p.383, the title "Hmm, not very clear" (God only knows what I was expecting here) in the original "It's still very unclear", that is "It's still very unclear."

P.213-235: "Laughing at him" it doesn't mean "laughed at him so sincerely", but the meaning is "make fun of, make someone laugh", so "mockery, mocking him".

1. 333-336: Translated "Centrifugal force", but it is the centripetal or centripetal force (центростремительная) and not centrifugal as it is in Russian "centrobezhnaya".

And we come to the chapter "The Grand Inquisitor", where it would be good if there were no inaccuracies, because we are dealing with "tops of universal literature", as expressed by Freud, who said that "The episode of the great Inquisitor is one of the pinnacles of universal literature, a chapter of inestimable beauty..." But unfortunately, even here we encounter a lot of inaccuracies. On p. 359 it is said "...fifteen years have passed", because "years"By centuries; "but the devil doesn't sleep..." in translation it is "But the devil doesn't talk..." That would be it "sleep" and one will have been added by mistake "t" while working with the translation. It would be more accurate here "I don't sleep" (не дремлет).

On p. 362, "vossta devitsa" he shouldn't have left it "vosta devica", but to translate it "get up girl". Yes, on this page we find "She holds a bouquet of flowers in her hand", no, it is "In her hand she holds a bouquet of white roses" (букет белых роз), which is a small but nice detail.

On p. 364, "...and take away the freedom of the people, for which you have insisted so strongly...", no, it's the opposite "and not to take away people's freedom", that God had insisted on this, not the opposite.

On p. 366, does not translate correctly "It was foreseen and predicted and it was justified that...", translated it "it was so striking, so precise, so clear, that...", so none of the author's definitions have been translated, which says "and to that extent it has been foretold and foretold, and to that extent it has been proved right, that..."

This is what the author said and not general words, like "so striking, so precise, so clear, that..." On p. 371 he forgets "Zhazhdal"... until "scary", which means "Covet free love and not the servile enthusiasms of the slave before the power that had terrorized him once and for all". On p.374, after "another field", leave it blank "и кончат… till znamya", which means "and they will end up raising their free banner against You. But you raised this flag yourself". Likewise, on p. 376 "Dixi" should not be left without explanation at the bottom of the page "That's what I said" (from Latin), then after "that the weak will rebel again" he forgot "что разорвут порфиру еј...until греха", which means "that they will tear her purple cloth and strip her filthy body naked. But then I will stand up and show you thousands of millions of happy children who have not known sin."

On p.380 it should have been translated forever "Everything is permissible", as the author has "all allowed" everywhere, this does not move, because it has to do with the worldview of Ivan (one of the main characters of the work), it is the quintessence of his worldview, and not to be translated once "to allow yourself everything", times "everything is allowed" and times "everything is allowed".

This concludes the remarks for the chapter "The Grand Inquisitor", chapter, which, for its greatness and for the inaccuracies we found, forces me to say two words now about the translations of the three masterpieces of Russian literature analyzed by me to date: "Crime and Punishment", "Doctor Zhivago" and "The Brothers Karamazov". So, the conclusion is that the relevant publishing houses are not at that level to be able to properly translate the works of the "generals" of world literature. Another is the desire and another is the ability.

Read too "Fire and Fury": Linguistic Inaccuracies in the Translation of Michael Wolff's Work