Cristina Nistor - Translation Cafe - CTITC - Centre for the translation and interpretation of the contemporary text - Centrul pentru traducerea si interpretarea textului contemporan

CTITC

CENTRE FOR THE TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE CONTEMPORARY TEXT
CENTRUL PENTRU TRADUCEREA SI INTERPRETAREA TEXTULUI CONTEMPORAN

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TRANSLATION CAFÉ

MTTLC
MA Programme for the

TRANSLATION OF THE CONTEMPORARY LITERARY TEXT

Review of Contemporary Texts in Translation and E-Learning

Parallel translations

RUTH FAINLIGHT

A Fairy Story

The princess in the fairy story
Discovered that a happy ending
Had unexpected consequences.
The castle in the wood concealed
A certain chamber. Her knight revealed
A taste for flagellation. And when
He tired of protests and capitulation,
He rode away - until another kingdom,
Dragon, maiden who could not be won
By any simpler method, was stumbled on.

He then would stay, enter the lists.
He loved the risk, the praise, that combat
Or the guessing game where death
Remained the final forfeit. He loved
A distraught princess, never could resist.
Their fear attracted, their wavering spirit.

Once upon a time, their taming was
The reason for his quest, but now exhaustion,
Boredom, made him pleased his dragon-
Surrogate could test them first.
If they survived the monster's ardent breath
That smoky taint made them delicious.

The rescued princesses compared
Sad stories, boasted of their sufferings,
Exaggerating the ordeal.
They dressed each others' hair, changed
Robes and jewels, waited impatiently
To see the girl who next would join them.

One day, outside the crumbling walls
Of some obscure and unimportant
Principality, the knight was bested.
The dragon fled, dragging bruised coils
Through hedges, across muddy plough-land.
The princess would not follow him,
But turned her back and went inside the town.
The watchers were not more nonplussed.

The knight rode home, sent messages
To all his friends. They drank and sang,
Tortured his wives - they had a ball.
Next day he bade farewell to each
Blood-brother, each noble companion,
Vowed the remaining years to penance
Somewhere far from this vile shambles.

But first, before he set off with his squire
Down that faint narrow path which lured
Deep into the misty forest,
A splendid tomb must be constructed:
Memorial to those princesses,
Obedient victims of his destiny.
The monument still stands, although
The castle fell to ruins long ago.
The knight died on a battlefield.
Their legend: fatalistic, gory,
Fit matter for a fairy story.

©Ruth Fainlight
Published with the author's permission

RUTH FAINLIGHT

Basm

Domnita din basmul nostru
Descoperi ca orice final fericit
Avea urmari neasteptate.
Castelul din codru ascundea
O odaie speciala. Cavalerul vadea
Tendinte clare pentru flagelare.
Cind i se acrea de proteste si capitulari,
Urca in sa - galopul nu-l oprea decit
Daca dadea de alt regat, balaur ori fecioara
Mai greu de cucerit.

Acolo raminea si se baga in lupta.
Iubea primejdia si slava, turnirul
Ori sarada - gajul suprem: chiar viata.
Adora domnitele la ananghie - irezistibile tentatii!
Teama si sovaiala lor il prindeau in mreje.

Demult, tare demult, sa le domesticeasca
Fusese telul pribegiei lui; acuma,
Stors de oboseala, plictisit,
Ii facea hatirul balaurului.
De rezistau dogorii monstrului,
Izul de afumatura le facea delicioase.

Domnitele salvate isi depanau una alteia
Povestile triste, se laudau cu ce-ndurasera,
Isi exagerau chinurile.
Se pieptanau una pe alta, faceau schimb
De straie si giuvaeruri, asteptind nerabdatoare
Ca urmatoarea fata sa li se alature.

Intr-o buna zi, in fata zidurilor farimicioase
Ale unui principat obscur si prapadit,
Cavalerul fu infrint. Balaurul fugi,
Tirindu-si solzii striviti prin tufisuri,
Ogoare si glod.
Domnita refuza sa il urmeze:
Ii intoarse spatele si pleca inapoi in oras.
Cavalerul ramase mai uimit decit toti gura-casca.

Intors acasa, trimise veste
tovarasilor lui. Cu ei bau, cinta,
Si-si schingiui nevestele - un chef adevarat.
A doua zi, isi lua ramas-bun
De la toti fratii de cruce, tovarasii lui nobili,
Cu legamint ca-n anii ce-o sa vina
Sa isi spele pacatele - undeva, departe
De lume si de groaznicu-i macel.

Dar, mai intii, pina sa-si ia scutierul
Si-n doi sa o porneasca pe poteca
Ce-l ademenea spre negura padurii,
Puse sa se ridice o lespede splendida:
In memoria acelor domnite cazute
Victime docile ale destinului sau de cuceritor.
Lespedea e inca acolo, linga castelul
Cazut prada ruinii de ceva veacuri.
Cavalerul a murit pe cimpul de batalie.
Iar soarta cruda a domnitelor-neveste
Ramase material pentru poveste.

Traducerea: Cristina Nistor (asistent universitar, doctoranda Prof. Dr. Lidia Vianu)

LICENTA LUCRARI DE DIPLOMA DOCTORATE TRANSLATION CAFÉ THE JOI JOY GRUP DE DISCUTII Translation in high school CONTACT

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Lidia Vianu - Director of CTITC (CENTRE FOR THE TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE CONTEMPORARY TEXT), Bucharest University, Professor of Contemporary British Literature at the English Department of Bucharest University, Member of the Writers’ Union, Romania.




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