Here is another of my translations (or better, trapianti, transplantations) into Dialèt Bresà, my native dialect, a non-standard variety of Italo-Romance. This time I have taken up a new challenge: I have decided to translate a very well known Russian poem written by Alexander Alexandrovich Blok (188o –1921) in 1912, his very famous ‘Ночь, улица, фонарь, аптека’.
A quick note on one of my lexical choices: for the Russian word ‘аптека’, which literally means ‘pharmacy’ or ‘drugstore’, here I have chosen the more general word ‘botéga’, meaning ‘shop’ in Dialèt Bresà. I have decided to do so because the sound of this word is very similar to its Russian counterpart, and, more importantly, the stress falls on the same syllable. This permitted me to imitate the rhythm of the original version, especially its widely known opening line.
As usual, I have included a downloadable audio file and, this time, I made sure to include links to a couple of translations into English, as well as a YouTube link to give you the chance to appreciate the incantatory musicality of the original Russian version.
Click here for the audio file.
‘Nòt, viàl, lampiù, botéga’
(TRADUSIÙ DELA VALENTINA GOSETTI)
Nòt, viàl, lampiù, botéga,
En ciarùr stras e ‘nsensat.
Va avanti e vif amò vint agn –
L’è semper chèla. S’en va mia föra.
Te möret – e là töt che ricumincia amò
E töt che turna ‘ndré, come ‘na olta
Nòt – co’l sò crispì de giasöi söl canal,
Lampiù, botéga, viàl.
© ValentinaGosetti
Original Russian Version
‘Ночь, улица, фонарь, аптека’
| Ночь, улица, фонарь, аптека, Бессмысленный и тусклый свет. Живи ещё хоть четверть века — Всё будет так. Исхода нет.
Умрёшь — начнёшь опять сначала 10 октября 1912 |
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