'The Bridegroom', with 'Count Nulin', and 'The Tale of the Golden Cockerel' by Alexander s> Pushkin Antony Wood (review)

Abstract

714 SEER, 82, 3, 2004 detailed description of the manuscriptwhich forms the basis of this edition, the Vilna manuscript or, with much else, e.g. various books of the Bible and the chronicles of George Hamartolus and John Matalas, the 'Vilna Chronograph ', is given. We have a biography of Josephus Flavius, a comparison of the Slavonic translationwith the Greek original, and an exploration of issues concerningthelanguageof the original.Attentionthenfocuseson the Slavonic manuscript:evidence for Greek influence (Graecisms,calques), the style and linguisticcharacterof the Slavonictranslation(includingan enormousamount of data).Fromhere we move to considerthe time and place of the translation, bearingin mind archaisms(muchin evidence in spiteof the constantupdating of the original by the many copyists and editors through whose hands the manuscriptpassed).The case is alsomade forseeing the translationas a signal achievement of the 'Old Russian' language (it was made in Kievan Rus' no laterthan the eleventh century)and detailed referenceis made to the Hebrew ]osippon.Finally, evidence for the popularity of the work among generations of Russianreadersplaces it firmlyin the centre of Russiansocietyand culture. Bearing in mind that one of the editors, H. Leeming, was unwell at important times during the completion of the task, the entire text has been edited with admirablecare and is presentedin a way pleasing to the eye; only trivial misprintshave been noted, e.g. 'Mes_erskij'(p. xiii), and there are a few minor corrigendaand omissions. This is an immense contribution to scholarshipfor all students of Russian history,philology (in the European sense), and literature;it is the best type of edition, an unassuming one, which makes the text and much accompanying material available, exercising minimum judgement and applying judicious and expert selection the editors and those who helped them deserve our thanks. University ofStAndrews J. IAN PRESS Pushkin, Alexander. 'TheBridegroom', with 'Count Julin', and 'TheTaleof the Golden Cockerel'. Translatedwith an afterwordby Antony Wood. Angel Books,London, 2002. 6i pp. Illustrations.Notes. fI4.95; ?7.95. IF translatingverse is difficult,translatingPushkin'sverse is doubly so. Some translatorshalve the problemby ignoringthe rhymes,a stratagemakinto that of a footballerwho ignores the colour of his opponents' shirts.Antony Wood is not such a translator. His versions of these three poems follow both the metricalpatternand the rhyme scheme of the originals.Only in one area does he depart from the original:the alternation of 'masculine' (i.e. stressed)and 'feminine'(i.e. unstressed)rhymes.Anyone who has ever triedto emulate this major feature of Russian verse will find themselves with a surfeit of words ending in '-ing'. Rhyme is, as Wood points out, much easier in Russian than in English, and Pushkin is quite happy to rhyme past tenses and adjectival endings. Thus, in the opening stanza of TheBridegroom we find the rhyme propadala/vbezhala, rendered by Wood as disappeared/reappeared. In the seventh stanza Pushkin's'I perstni zolotye/I plat'ia parchevye' becomes 'Gold rings and necklaces/And rich-brocadeddresses'(p. iI), where the rhyme does not REVIEWS 7I5 work, a fact exacerbated by the extra syllable in the second line. Generally, however, Wood's rhymes are much more successful and, at their best, recapture Pushkin'sfluent lightness. Thus, in Count Nulin,we read how the latter-dayTarquin'Once more setsforthto seekLucretia/Resolved to hazard all to reach her' (p. 28). The three poems offered here a very different. 7he Bridegroom, Pushkin's contribution to Gothic verse, borrows both the metre and rhyme scheme of Burger'sLenore. Count Nulin,a witty parody of Shakespeare'sRapeofLucrece is in iambic tetrametre,while the pseudo-fairytaleTheTaleoftheGolden Cockerel is in trochaictetrametre.In each case Woodfollowsthe originalwith some style. Like all translators, Wood has to sacrifice something. Unlike some translators, however, he is clearly aware exactly what he is sacrificing. It behoves anyreviewerwho feelshe sacrificestoo muchto suggestimprovements and to takenote of Wood'sbriefbut usefulafterword.Here he regretsthat the rise in translation theory has not been matched by a rise in the quantity of good Pushkin translations. Only exponents of translation theory will be surprisedby this. Maidenhead D. M. PURSGLOVE Andrew,J. and Reid, R. (eds). TwoHundred Years ofPushkin. Studies in Slavic Literatureand Poetics,vols 37 and 39. EditionsRodopi, Amsterdamand New York, 2003. Volume i.- 'Pushkin's Secret'. RussianWriters ReadandReReadPushkin .xi + 213 pp...