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March 19, 2005
Surrealist skorogovorki
There is something quite beautiful and absurdist about these English translations of Russian tongue-twisters.
Sasha walked down the highway and sucked on a dry (ring-shaped) cracker. (Shla Sasha po shosse i sosala sushku.)
Hey you, lions, wasn't it you roaring at the Neva river? (Ai, vy l'vy, ne vy ne vyli u Nevy?)
By the road there stands a mountain with bags. Every time I go up there, I fix a bag. (U dorogi kholm s kulyami. Vyidu l' na kholm - kul' popravliu.)
In a taxi the dachshund asked the taxi driver about the fare. The taxi driver replied, "The ride for dachshunds is free." (Sev v taksi prosila taksa: "Za proezd kakaya taksa?" A taksist otvetil tak: "Vozim taks miy prosto tak-s.")
Full collection, in English and Russian, here, part of the 1st International Collection of Tongue Twisters.
The simplest and prettiest - and apparently a "favourite test of intoxication" - is Sireneven'kaya admiralteiskaya igla, "the lilac spire of the Admiralty" (in Petersburg). This is pretty much a White Nights haiku, as the spire is, of course, gold-plated: "lilac", then, refers to the spire as it appears at a certain hour at a certain time of year. Beautiful.
Posted by michele at March 19, 2005 2:57 PM
Comments
These are great. And I think the last one (the lilac spire of the Admiralty) is just as difficult in English!
Posted by: Michèle at March 19, 2005 8:09 PM