I’ve heard it said, though, that FitzGerald’s translated Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is poetically superior to the Persian original…
Some have also suggested that Pasternak’s Gamlet (Гамлет) improves on Shakespeare, but I’ve never found an English translation of the Russian translation. The subtitles for Kozintsev’s film merely give the Shakespearean text, but I can tell from the soundtrack that what’s being spoken is versed Russian.
Shakespeare in general (and Hamlet in particular) loses so much because it’s so heavy on puns, and puns rarely work outside of the original language.
Robert Heinlein (via one of his characters) had quite the opposite opinion of Russian (at least Leo Tolstoy’s Russian). He claimed that War and Peace, heavy as he thought it was in English, actually gained something in translation.
And as for “a translation can be either accurate or beautiful, but they cannot be both” - tell that to the editors of the King James Version, who managed to do both very well within the limits of contemporary scholarship (especially in the Old Testament). I found this out firsthand when I started learning Biblical Hebrew and reading the London Bible Society’s Hebrew-English Old Testament. One can’t convey everything in translation from the Hebrew by any means, but the KJV conveys an astonishing amount, both in meaning and in beauty.
MontanaLady over 14 years ago
what a “feel good” strip this is!!!
Llewellenbruce over 14 years ago
She must of gotten out of the right side of bed this morning.
GROG Premium Member over 14 years ago
Then I guess a stroll with Irwin the troll should be my goal.
The Duke 1 over 14 years ago
Longfellow she ain’t!!
Yukoner over 14 years ago
A stroll with a troll that is good for the soul should be everyone’s goal.
Sisyphos over 14 years ago
How droll! Quaint versifying, dear Broomie! But full of good vibrations!
comYics over 14 years ago
A stroll, a stroll…like butter on a roll.
Ursula A Kehoe Premium Member over 14 years ago
The Poetry School of Seuss …
Rakkav over 14 years ago
A troll a day keeps the ZAP! away. :)
Dkram over 14 years ago
I’m sitting here with the Weather Channel on, and their playing “Happy Together”. It fits.
\\//_
pschearer Premium Member over 14 years ago
Except an Internet troll.
Nighthawks Premium Member over 14 years ago
the vessel with the pestle has the pellet with the poison, the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true
linsonl over 14 years ago
I can’t top you guys this early iin the morniing.. Perhaps I should go out, find a troll, take a stroll, and then I might write something drole.
bald over 14 years ago
here is what i am getting from this strip today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC2gZMNkyJo
MontanaLady over 14 years ago
Hey, nighthawks,
another fan of The Court Jester….:)
margueritem over 14 years ago
How nice to wake up to these sentiments today.
BananaSlug over 14 years ago
I have a thing for both poetry and cute stuff. You, comic, are my new Desktop wallpaper.
Sherlock Watson over 14 years ago
Good thing it was Irwin instead of Gaylord; nothing rhymes with “buzzard.”
Bargrove over 14 years ago
Wonderful comments but your out of control with your troll.
fritzoid Premium Member over 14 years ago
Cast away dole, They’ve both returned whole From their desert atoll!
(One tree on this knoll has a hole in its bole.)
And now, en Español…
¡Tire dolor, Ambos han vuelto intacto Del su desierto atolón¡
(Un árbol en este otero tiene un hoyo en su tronco.)
fritzoid Premium Member over 14 years ago
Nabokov said “Translations can be either accurate or beautiful, but they cannot be both.”
They CAN, however, be neither.
fritzoid Premium Member over 14 years ago
I’ve heard it said, though, that FitzGerald’s translated Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is poetically superior to the Persian original…
Some have also suggested that Pasternak’s Gamlet (Гамлет) improves on Shakespeare, but I’ve never found an English translation of the Russian translation. The subtitles for Kozintsev’s film merely give the Shakespearean text, but I can tell from the soundtrack that what’s being spoken is versed Russian.
Shakespeare in general (and Hamlet in particular) loses so much because it’s so heavy on puns, and puns rarely work outside of the original language.
ChukLitl Premium Member over 14 years ago
I like trolls. They make funny noises when you poke them. If that makes me one, I’ve been called worse
Coyoty Premium Member over 14 years ago
She won’t be too happy with the troll when they come to a bridge and she has to pay him toll.
Rakkav over 14 years ago
Robert Heinlein (via one of his characters) had quite the opposite opinion of Russian (at least Leo Tolstoy’s Russian). He claimed that War and Peace, heavy as he thought it was in English, actually gained something in translation.
And as for “a translation can be either accurate or beautiful, but they cannot be both” - tell that to the editors of the King James Version, who managed to do both very well within the limits of contemporary scholarship (especially in the Old Testament). I found this out firsthand when I started learning Biblical Hebrew and reading the London Bible Society’s Hebrew-English Old Testament. One can’t convey everything in translation from the Hebrew by any means, but the KJV conveys an astonishing amount, both in meaning and in beauty.
comYics over 14 years ago
…and butter a roll.
cybergal29 over 14 years ago
They could add “good for the heart and soul” :-)