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С.Л. Кошелев

Commentary

        Taking into account the diversity of genres in the modern English and American literature and the constant flow of gifted authors coming forward each year, it was not easy for us to choose a theme for this diploma paper. Still, arriving at last at the decision that we should translate an extract from J.R.R.Tolkien's trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" and comment on the works of this English author, we have had several sound reasons for it. The main reasons, which we shall try to state here, are three.

        (1) It is difficult to overestimate the significance that science fiction and fantasy have acquired in the modern English language literature. These adjacent branches of literature have so many fans all over the world, and especially in the English-speaking countries, and their popularity increases so swiftly, that it will be no wonder if they surpass all the other genres in this aspect in few years. Of course, it is not due to the dirty flood of penny "thrillers" and "space criminal stories". Science fiction owes much of its popularity to the brilliant works by progressive writers, well known to the Soviet reader: K. Vonnegut Jr, J. Wyndham, R. Bradbury, I. Azimov, R. Sheckley, H. Kuttner, H. Harrison and many others. At the same time, fantasy, or more correctly, heroic fantasy, is practically "terra incognita" not only for Soviet readers but even for the Soviet philologists and literary critics. One cannot help wondering why the Soviet critics and translators keep neglecting so stubbornly a trend that is not at all an uncommon phenomenon in modern Western literature. It does not form an epoch, but it is an integral part of our epoch, and cannot therefore be overlooked or cast away as non-existent. The significance that it has obtained in the sixties and has not lost up to the present day has formed the subject-matter of many a work written by Western literary critics, but it seems to have escaped somehow the eyes and ears of the specialists in this country.

        (2) If it is possible to overestimate the welcome the reading public gives almost every book of heroic fantasy fresh from printing house, we have failed to notice it. The popularity of fantasy is tremendous. The books by C.S. Lewis, Ch. Williams, P. Anderson, M. Moorcock are always met with an uproar of delight. But none of them could match "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R.Tolkien in this respect. In the late fifties and sixties it did not fail to create such a boom that even in the seventies many people still call it "the most popular book of our times". By 1969 the book was printed in Great Britain, the USA and Canada 47 times. For many people it was a turning point in life, for many others it introduced drastic and not-so-drastic changes into their lives. "The Lord of the Rings" is a fantastic odyssey written by J.R.R.Tolkien, and it forms a part of our private Gospels..." [1], writes an American in his travelogue. For thousands upon thousands did "The Lord of the Rings" serve as a road-sign, pointing which way to go. And it has every right to do so at all times, because " Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear... It is a man's part to discern them..." [2].

        (3) And last but not least, our choice was made by the book itself, by its strangeness and brilliance, its valour and love of life, the appealing personality its author lends "The Lord of the Rings", depth and profound humanism. The composition of the trilogy took Tolkien thirteen years (1936-1949), and it is easy to notice that he did not waste his time. The book is written as any book should be written: its author's whole heart is in it, as well as all his skill and knowledge. Such a book should not be neglected. True, it should be treated warily - but only to line off what in it is born by the limited due to the social standing and bourgeois upbringing views of the author from what is organic for every human being, because "The Lord of the Rings" belongs to the entire world in many respects. Its humanism, its apology of struggle against Evil with clenched teeth no matter what disasters might befall any of its heroes, would, no doubt, find their way to the heart and mind of the Soviet reader.

       Speaking about "The Lord of the Rings" it is necessary to give an account of the author's life and other works created by him.

        John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontain, South Africa. He came to England and attended King Edward VI School in Birmingham. Early in his boyhood Ronald began to show great interest towards languages, even making up a few tongues of his own. In 1910 he entered Exeter College, Oxford, where he studied old languages and took his Bachelor of Arts in 1915. Having married in 1916, he immediately went to war with the Lancashire Fusiliers and was invalided in 1918. The war failed to bar his way to the degree of Master of Arts which he took at Exeter in 1919. Still the giant slaughter proved to be a blow for Tolkien which he never completely got over. Tolkien often said sadly that by 1918 all his friends but one were dead.

        His first job was that of an assistant on the Oxford English Dictionary in 1918-20, then he taught for five years in the University of Leeds. In 1925 he returned to Oxford as a lecturer and retired only in 1959, being by that time a Merton Professor of English language and literature and a member of several scientific societies. He has been given several awards for his work in the field of language and literature.

        Tolkien literary activities began in the thirties. After publishing an excessive study of the famous Old English epic poem "Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics" he decided to try his hand at fantasy. It is said that he first composed "The Hobbit" for the amusement of his children, but then decided to get the book printed. It was published in 1937 under the title "The Hobbit or There and Back Again" and the following year Tolkien got the New York Herald Tribune Children's Spring Book Festival award for it. Afterwards Tolkien claimed that "The Hobbit" was not written for children but that being inexperienced he has used the wrong tone as if he were talking to children. Whatever the case might be, "The Hobbit" is no longer significant as a separate work and serves rather as a kind of introduction to "The Lord of the Rings".

        By that time Tolkien had already began his work on the trilogy. Through the following years of war, hardships and privations he continued to create the strange and appealing world of Middle-earth, though he really had many other things to do, being a prominent figure in the system of Britain's Civil Defense and never neglecting his responsibilities. It is hard to imagine a middle-aged man in a London apartment covered with black-out writing about wide grass-lands of Rohan swelling under the wind in the moonlight. In 1944 Tolkien also wrote one of his prominent philosophic fairy-tales, "Leaf by Niggle".

        When war was over, the writer set to work with renewed energy. Endlessly he wrote and rewrote almost every episode of the book until he was sure that he has fulfilled his task perfectly. Even after publishing the trilogy for the first time Tolkien revised it several times and, considering it too short, supplied it with a giant network of appendices, providing in them glimpses of the history of Middle-earth, a study of its languages and its people and even a genealogy of hobbit families.

        In 1947 Tolkien published an essay "On Fairy-Stories" in which he expressed his views on what a fairy tale is, why it exists and why we need it. To confirm his opinion he wrote another philosophic fairy-tale, "Farmer Giles of Ham" in 1949. According to Tolkien's views, any fairy story should give people Recovery, Escape and Consolation. By Recovery he means regaining a clear view of the world which may have been obscured by the everyday routine. Fairy tales help us seeing everything as it is, not as our habits have made it., in a new and glorious light. Escape opens the door to other time, end if we pass through, we find ourselves outside our time, outside time itself, maybe. So we manage to escape from the race of time that enslaves and ensnares us. All that leads to Consolation, which is ensured by "eucatastrophy", that is, by the happy ending. Tolkien wrote that "the eucatastrophic tale is the true form of fairy tale, and its highest function" [3]

        Later Tolkien composed "The Homecoming of Beorthnoth" dealing with the Norman invasion, and "The adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book", a collection of poems. His work at "Silmarillion", a tale of the First Age of Middle-earth, is not finished yet. It is noteworthy that George Allen and Unwin published a song cycle "The Road Goes Ever On" by Donald Swann with lyrics by J.R.R. Tolkien from "The Lord of the Rings".

        Professor Tolkien lives in Oxford now.

       Being Tolkien's major work ant practically the most outstanding book of all contemporary heroic fantasy, "The Lord of the Rings" requires careful study, deep understanding and appreciation. Here, of course, we have no possibility to analyze it to the degree it deserves, but still we shall try to point out the main features and pecularities of this extraordinary book.

        Following is a brief summary of the tale.

        In "The Hobbit" the principal character of the novel, Bilbo Baggins of the Shire finds a ring with a magic power of making invisible anybody who puts it on. "The Lord of the Rings" opens with Bilbo, now very old, leaving the Shire and going east. He leaves the ring, the house and almost all his belongings to his young cousin Frodo whom he adopted as a heir. But it is only nine years later that Frodo learns of the true nature of the ring, when Gandalf the Grey, one of the Wizards, shows him a fiery inscription on it:

Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for mortal men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness to bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

        It becomes clear that now Sauron, the Dark Lord, possesses almost all the Rings, and those he does not have in his possession are hidden or destroyed and have no power against him. But the One Ring which he himself forged he has lost after the war of the Last Alliance in which he was defeated. It was found by a small creature Deagol, probably of hobbit-kind, but his friend Smeagol killed him and took the Ring from him. Beside invisibility the Ring causes obsession. Almost nobody can part with it voluntary. It also grants long life., but he who possesses it and uses frequently, fades away so that in the long run he can vanish altogether. Ever after Smeagol has been wandering in loneliness, because he discovered the magic properties of the Ring and could not think of anything save "his Precious". He come to be called Gollum for the strange sounds he made in his throat. It is in Gollum's cave that Bilbo came by the Ring.

        Gandalf tells Frodo about the preparations for war but assures him that Enemy still lacks one thing to send forth his armies, and that this thing is Frodo's Rong. Unfortunately, Gollum has visited Mordor and Sauron now knows that the Ring has been fiound and even associates its present location with the Shire and hobbits. So Frodo has to leave the Shire to save the Ring from the grasp of the Enemy and, if possible, protect it from the Dark Lord forever. This is to be his heroic Quest.

        Frodo, his servant Samwise Gamgee and his friends Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrine Took sat out and after many perilous encounters with the terrifying Ring wraiths get to Rivendell to takr part in the Council of Elrond the Half-elven. Here the representatives of all the Free People of Middle-earth have gathered to discuss what needs to be done against Sauron. Elves, Dwarves and Men learn here that the time has come when the heir of the ancient dynasty of Numenorean Kings in exile, Aragorn, is ready to regain his throne and that even for the hobbits thair Time has prepared an outstanding Quest. The decision of the Council is that the Ring should be taken to Orodruin, the Fire-mountain in the land of Mordor where it was forged, and cast into the Cracks of Doom. Frodo volunteers. "I will take the Ring", he says, "though I do not know the way". [4]

        The members are chosen of the Fellowship of the Ring. Beside the four hobbits, it includes Legolas the Elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn, Boromir son of the Steward of Gondor and Gandalf the Wizard. Soon the Company goes south.

        Their long and dangerous journey is marked by the loss in Moria of Gandalf, dragged into the abyss by a fearful Balrog: the time of rest and healing among the Elves of Lothlorien; the breaking of Fellowship through Boromir's treachery at Amon Hen; the capture of Pippin and Merry by the orcs, their escape and their meeting with Treebeard the Ent; the return of Gandalf, his meeting with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, and the victory which they together with Theoden, the King of Rohan, won over the Wizard Saruman and the power of Isengard; Sauron's siege of Minas Tirith, in which Gandalf and other members of the Fellowship enable the defenders to triumph not only over orcs and evil men and huge machines but even the terrific winged Nazgul; and the ordeal of Frodo and Sam, guided by the treacherous Gollum, in bearing the Ring to Mount Doom in Mordor.

        But there, on the brink of chasm, Frodo cries out to Sam's astonishment and horoor: "I have come. But I do not choose not to do what I came to do... The Ring is mine!" [5] He sets it on his finger and vanishes. At that moment Gollum rushes down of the shadows, wrestles with unseen Frodo, bites off his ring finger and falls into the precipice with an wailing cry "Precious!" The Dark Tower crushes down, the hard-pressed defenders of Minas Tirith unexpectedly get the upper hand, and Frodo and Sam are rescued from Mordor by the great eagle Gwaihir the Windlord.

        Then Aragorn enters Minas Tirith as its long-promised king, and the hobbits return to the Shire. There they find that things have changed as a result of the influence of Saruman and the compliance of certain weak-spirited hobbits. The four lead the rebellion and restore the Shire to its former state. Frodo, however, is relatively inactive and often ill. finally, two years after their return, he joins "The Last Riding of the Keepers of the Ring" and goes with Bilbo and several of E;rond's folk to the Grey Havens and them across the sea. Sam, Merry and Pippin bid him farewell and return to the Shire. The Third Age has come to an end.

        At first glance it becomes obvious that the main conflict of the story is between abstract Good and Bad, embodied in a number of characters which are either basically good or basically bad. This impression, however, might lead one to consider "The Lord of the Rings" a bare scheme altogether deprived of life and movement. Of course, it is not so. The dynamic development of the narrative is ensured by the dynamic development of characters. Unfortunately, we know almost nothing of the remote past of such participants in the tale as Sauron, but it is specifically noted that even Sauron was not evil from the beginning. The above-mentioned development can be traced best of all in Frodo, Saruman and Gollum. In the beginning of the story Frodo is just a hobbit who likes to eat and drink and visit friends and receive guests, although even then one may notice an embryo of the future Ring-bearer in him. When Gandalf tells him that it is his part to go to Mordor with the Ring, he is not only uncertain but plainly afraid. "I wish it need not have happened in my time" [6], says he. He is not willing to stand forth in the great war that is at hand. But he needs to, and the sense of responsibility leads him forward. At the Council of Elrond Frodo is already able to say that he will undertake the Quest. After the breaking the Fellowship he continues his way, accompanied only by the faithful Sam. This is the hardest stage of the Quest. In the immediate vicinity of Mordor the power of the Ring increases immensely and it becomes almost an unbearable burden; the companions run out of supplies and their path is unthinkably rough and full of danger. Still it does not even occur to Frodo to give up his task. At the moment of complete despair, when he sees an army issuing from Minas Morgul and understands that all hope is lost, he still feels that "what he had to do, he had to do, if he could, and that whether Faramir or Aragorn or Elrond or Galadriel or Gandalf or anyone else ever knew about it was beside the purpose". [7] In the last stage of the Quest Frodo becomes a real hero who towers above all the great wizards and warriors, a real saviour of the world, a triumph of human nature that has rebelled against its alleged inconsistence. For it is clear that while fulfilling the Quest Frodo struggles mainly not just against the outer obstacles and perils but rather against a part of his own self that calls him to submit to the Ring.

        This struggle - the struggle of a rational being against the evil part of its self - constitute the general meaning of the story. "How Frodo fails or succeeds is the burden of the story - and it is not simple. Comparable tests are placed before other characters and are passed or failed in varying degrees, so that, in all, there are few aspects of challenge and response in the area of inexorable moral responsibility that Tolkien does not exemplify for us in this tale" [8], writes Edmund Fuller in his article "The Lord of the Hobbits: J.R.R.Tolkien". Almost everybody has to face the test of the Ring, and nobody is indifferent to its call. Gandalf, Galadriel and even Aragorn who sometimes seems too good to be real, only with a great difficulty manage to withstand the challenge, and it proves too much for Saruman, Gollum and Boromir. Some of these nay have overcome the Rimg, but they have not offered enough resistance. "Saruman and Gollum provide the main case histories of the gradual destructive effect of willing submission to evil wills but Gandalf makes it clear that the result of much submission must always be the same, even for one predominantly virtuous at the outset" [9], writes Patricia Meyer Spacks. But whatever predicaments Tolkien has in store for his characters, he always grants them free will. Moral choice is fundamental for Tolkien's conception of man or any other rathional being, and he preserves it at all costs. Even though his world has a clearly expressed cosmic order and a supernatural being, "human (or hobbitic or elvish or dwarfish or antish) free will coexists with a providential order and promotes this order, not frustrates it" [10]. All the Free Peoples of Middle-earth retain their right to choose, and it is all the more important because the victory for the good is never automatic but must be earned anew by every individual taking part in the struggle.

        Tolkien says plainly that the struggle of Good against Evil is far from finished. Many times before Sauron was defeated but never destroyed. With every defeat he suffers a great loss, but never a complete one. Even he turns to a cloud of black smoke in the end of the War of the Ring and is blown away by the wind, there is no indication that he is gone forever. The implication has a deep meaning. Good must have an alternative to exist. Therefore the struggle of Good and Evil is eternal. "...Signs are not lacking that sooner or later one will arise again on Middle-earth or out of the Undying Lands - another Morgoth, a more vicious Feanor, a Denethor more wholly lost to good" [11].

        But "The Lord of the Rings" is a hopeful tale. In the most terrible disasters, in battles against a seemingly invincible enemy, or sneaking to the den of the Dark Lord with every opportunity to fall into his hands, its heroes preserve their hope, sometimes against hope, and this enables them to win. However long and desperate is the war Evil has no chance of the final victory. In the depths of Mordor, on the verge of catastrophe, Sam suddenly sees a star shining over the waste of tormented earth and realizes that in the end the Shadow is only a small and passing thing, that there is light and beauty forever beyond its reach. And Gandalf says to Denethor, that while a thing that is able to grow and bloom lasts in Middle-earth, his mission will have not failed though Gondor might lay in ashes.

        Mordor can be found everywhere in the world, it lies almost in every human soul. This land "has no geographical limit, and is wherever its victims are" [12]. It is for every man to locate his own Mordor and sweep it out. That is why Edmund Fuller was right when he said: "Thus, at its core, still leaving unreckoned all the wealth of its detailed unfolding, this wonder tale is rich with teaching for life as we we lead it. This places it among the true elite of books that can claim to offer such rewards" [13].

        Tolkien often said that the art of creating myths is the art of creating other worlds. To convey his ideas he created Middle-earth, a world so unfamiliar and at the same time familiar, so picturesque and at the same time stern that one cannot help wondering at the force of his imagination that managed to breathe life into this continent and make the reader believe that the seas that surround Middle-earth, the mountain ridges that divide it, the rivers that flow across it and the horses on the wide pastures of Rohan are real seas, mountains, rivers and horses, and the one might actually came across a hobbit every moment were they not so timid and so shunning the Big People. "No imaginary world has been projected which is at once as multifarious and as true to its own inner laws... none so relevant to the actual human situation yet so free of allegory..." wrote C. S. Lewis in "Time and Tide". And E. Fuller describes it as follows: "For this world he has created a self-contained geography, with maps, a mythology and balladry, a history in great depth and completeness of organization, stretching back for behind the time-span of his story. He has created several languages and runic alphabets, and within them traced elaborate interrelationships and pursued many etymologies. The historical frame of his world is filled out with genealogies and what might be called ethnic treatises on his other-than-human species. There are extensive flora and fauna in addition to those already known to us. All these elements are woven in the tale. but so deep is Tolkien's immersion in this world that in the end of the trilogy there are sis appendices, totaling 103 pages, elaborately footnoted, dealing with the subjects remarked above" [14].

        One of the very interesting features of the trilogy is its language. Professor Tolkien has proved that he not only has a highly developed sense of language and values the right word in the right place but also that his linguistic knowledge comes handy for his literature work. He knows the way to make the narrative vivid and lively, and he also keeps in mind that the imaginary frame of the trilogy allows of the wide use of archaic words and historisms. These he always inserts in due quantities and places perfectly so as to increase the air of solemnity characteristic of many chapters of the "Lord of the Rings". On the other hand, some Old English roots and words are used for names of some characters and geographic names. Here we can also find some Old Norse influences.

        Creating a new world, Tolkien did not fail to describe it with such precision and at the same time so artistically that it seems every bush and every stone in Middle-earth has long been known to the reader or that he sees it with his own eyes and is never going to forget it. Tolkien's skill in landscape drawing is amazing. So is his skill of creating tenseness in the dramatic episodes of the trilogy.

       It is worth noting that, remembering to introduce individual speech characteristics, Tolkien at the same tame managed to characterize whole peoples by means of language. For instance, men of Gondor and Rohan and also the Wizards converse in somewhat archaic and in any case high-flown language, hobbits talk standard English, and orcs substandard. Of course. this simplifies identification of Good and Evil and Great and Small, but the structure of the fairy-tale allows of such simplification.

        In conclusion , we can say that, creating his new and marvelous world of struggle, daring, valor, true friendship and eternal hope for the best, Professor Tolkien has enriched modern fantasy and world literature with a wonderful fairy-tale.

        In the course of translation we have come across some interesting points that, to our mind, can serve as illustrations for several devices that have been universally adopted in the practice of translation and have received a sufficient coverage in the mourn theory of translation. As the syntax of the trilogy is rather simple, for the author avoids long periods and complicated syntactical structures, we are going to confine ourselves to the analysis of lexical transformations in the translation.

       Ya. I. Retsker gives the following definition of the lexical transformation: "Приемы логического мышления, с помощью которых мы раскрываем значение иноязычного слова в контексте и находим ему русское соответствие, не совпадающее со словарным, принято называть лексическими трансформациями"[15].

       Then he numerates seven major varieties of lexical transformations:

        (1) differentiationof meanings;
        (2) concretization of meanings;
        (3) generalization of meanings;
        (4) development of meanings;
        (5) antonymous translation;
        (6) full rearrangement;
        (7) compensation of losses in the course of translation.

        Translating the two chapters from "The Lord of the Rings" we have used all these devices. Comparing the original text with the translation we found out that the frequency of their use is far from equal. For instance, in the two chapters antonymous translation is used in 35 cases, whereas compensation is used only once. All in all, lexical transformations were used in the course of translation 123 times.

        Following are the most typical or interesting cases of lexical transformation used in the process of translation.

(1) Differentiation of meanings
Across the narrow valley, now almost on a level with his eyes, the walls of the evil city stood, and its cavernous gate, shaped like an open mouth with gleaming teeth, was gaping wide.
На другой стороне узкой долины, почти на одном уровне с его глазами, стоял зловещий город. Его ворота, похожие на разверстую пасть со сверкающими зубами, были широко распахнуты.
        Here differentiation is used in favour of the word "пасть"with a negative connotation, because "рот", stylistically neutral, would not suit the purpose of the uathor - rendering of the feelingof dread that takes hold of the hobbits. The sentence is split in two to give the Russian sentence the more natural structure.

There was a dull clang. The gates of Minas Morgul had closed.
Ворот Минас Моргула захлопнулись с глухим лязгом.
        The reason for using differentiation is the same. In this sample of expressive prose the neutral word "закрылись"would be out of place. That is why "захлопнулись" is used and "There was a dull clang" is turned into an adverbial modifier.

(2) Concretization of meanings
At length they were once more aware of a wall looming up, and once more a stairway opened before them.
Наконец, они снова увидели поднимающуюся вверх стену, и перед ними вновь появились первые ступени лестницы.
        Here concretization by adding "первые ступени" is necessary to exclude misunderstanding, because otherwise the reader might get the idea that the hobbits saw the whole stairway, while it was impossible in the dark gloom.

Some of the Gondor food they ate, and wafers of the waybread of the Elves, and they drank a little.
Они поели пищи Гондора и эльфийского хлеба путников и выпили немного воды.
        The concretizing addition "воды" is indispensable here, because the verb "выпить" without an object can denote only the consumption of alcohol. Thus, the translation of the sentence into Russian is impossible without concretization. In the same sentence generalization is used: it is quite enough to say that Frodo and Sam ate bread.

        In the following sentence concretization is used to increase the stylistic effect.

Why wait till now, and go through all the labour of the climb, and come so near the land he fears? He could probably have betrayed us to Orcs many times since we met him.
Зачем ему было медлить до сих пор, совершать такое трудное восхождение и подходить так близко к стране, которой она страшится? С тех пор как мы с ним встретились, он, наверное, сотню раз мог выдать нас оркам.
(3) Generalization of meanings
I think you ought to rest now, Mr. Frodo. I don't know what time of day or night it is, but we've kept going for hours and hours.
Я думаю, вам надо бы отдохнуть, хозяин Фродо. Не знаю, день сейчас или ночь, а только мы идем уже много часов.
        The Russian variant "день сейчас или ночь" is quite sufficient to express the meaning of "what time of day or night" and at the same time a clumsy construction "который сейчас час дня или ночи" is left out.

But for a while they could still feel, and indeed the senses of their feet and fingers at first seemed sharpened almost painfully.
Но некоторое время они еще не треляи способности чувствовать; в первые минуты осязание даже обострилось почти до боли.
        Here generalization is caused by the fact that there is no way to render fully the meaning of the word-group "the senses of their feet and fingers" into Russian save the descriptive translation, which is obviously out of place. The word "осязание" in the Russian variant is quite adequate in this context.

.
(4) Development of meaning
Paler indeed than the moon ailing in some slow eclipse was the light of it now, wavering and blowing like a noisome exhalation of decay, a corpse-light, a light that illuminated nothing.
Слабее, чем недужный полусвет лунного затмения, этот отблеск раскачивался и клубился, как зловонные испарения, - мертвый свет, не освещающий ничего.
        In this example the process is replaced by its effect (moon ailing - недужный полусвет), but the meaning and the expressive colouring of the phrase are retained. Some elements of the English sentence are left out of the translation to make it easier for perception and to fit it into the natural Russian structure.

Earth, air and water all seem accursed. But so our path is laid.
Земля, воздух, вода - на всем, кажется, лежит проклятье. Но путь наш проходит именно здесь.
        In this case the process is used instead of its cause. In the English sentence the doer of the action is not mentioned, and we considered it preferable to change the sentence in the Passive Voice, making it Active by turning the object into the subject, developing the meaning of the predicate and inserting the word "именно".

(5) Antonymous translation

        As was noted above, antonymous translation was used in the course of translation 35 times, more often than the other transformations. The text of the trilogy allows of a wide utilization of this device which has frequently helped us cope with phrases somewhat difficult for translation.

Gollum, crawling on the ground like a frightened animal, was already vanishing into the gloom.
Голлама, который полз по земле, как испуганный зверь, уже почти не было видно.
        The direct translation "уже исчезал в темноте" is impossible in Russian. The antonymous translation is a typical Russian impersonal sentence. Similar cases are not uncommon in practice. Many English sentences of the same structure are easily translated into Russian with the help of this device.

There's something still alive in that place, something with eyes, or a seeing mind, if you take me; and the longer we stay in one spot, the sooner it will get on to us.
Здесь есть еще кто-то, кто может видеть - не знаю, глазами или как-нибудь еще; надеюсь, вы меня понимаете. Надо отсюда уходить, пока он до нас не добрался.
        The absurdity of the translation "чем дольше мы здесь пробудем, тем быстрее он до нас доберется" is clear. Here also the antonymous translation is the only way out.

        But there are many cases when both antonymous and direct translations are possible. Then the question of preferability should be approached from the stylistic point of view.

Care was certainly needed.
Без осторожности здесь действительно было не обойтись.
        The variant "Несомненно, осторожность была необходима" is also possible, but the antonymous translation is preferable.

"...If he's false, fe's false." "All the same, I'd rather have him under my eyes", said Sam.
"Если он нас обманывает, ничего не поделаешь". "Все равно, я бы предпочел не упускать его из виду" - сказал Сэм.
        The possible translation "Я бы предпочел держать его под наблюдением" cannot appear in the given context.

(6) Full rearrangement

        The simplest case of this can be illustrated by the finding of the contextual meaning of the elliptical phrase "Not yet!" which, depending on the context, can be translated as "Пока еще нет!", "Еще рано!" or "Подожди".

Tugging at Frodo's sleeve, he /Gollum/ pointed towards the path: but Frodo would not move. "Not yet", he said, "not yet".
Он тянул Фродо за рукав, указывая на тропинку. Но Фродо не двинулся с места. "Подожди, - сказал он. - Подожди".
        Here are two examples of more complicated cases:

"I don't like anything here at all", said Frodo, "step or stone, breath or bone".
"Мне здесь все не нравится, - сказал Фродо, - камни и скалы, башни и провалы".
        The lexical components are fully rearranged because of the necessity to retain the rhyme.

I don't make no mistake: I don't doubt he'd hand me over to Orcs as gladly as kiss his hand".
Нечего и рядить: я уверен, выдать меня оркам ему все равно что раз плюнуть.
        The full rearrangement is needed because the word-for-word translation would be clumsy and obscure. At the same time, "раз плюнуть" compensates the double negation in the sentence, and therefore loses the part of its roughness.

(7) Compensation
Sam laughed grimly. "Cobwebs!" he said. "Is that all? Cobwebs! But what a spider! Have at 'em, down with 'em!"
Сэм мрачно засмеялся. "Паутина! - воскликнул он. - И только-то? Паутина! Ну и паучок! А ну-ка, сорвем ее!"
        Colloquial Russian phrases "И только-то?" and "Ну и паучок!" compensate for the impossibility of translating adequately the colloquial English form of the pronoun " 'em".

        Taking into consideration the data of the analysis, we can say that lexical transformations are indispensable while dealing with the original English lexical material and that no translator can do without them in the process of making an adequate translation.

        In conclusion, we would like to recommend once again to the Soviet translators the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, one of the outstanding figures in modern English literature, and especially the trilogy "The Lord of the Rings".

Примечания.

[1]. Peter S. Beagle. "I See by My Outfit". Ballantine Books, NY, 1965. p. 14.
[2]. J.R.R.Tolkien. "The Lord of the Rings". George Allen and Unwin. Lnd, 1969. p. 469.
[3]. J.R.R.Tolkien. "Tree and Leaf". George Allen and Unwin. Lnd, 1965. p.18.
[4]. J.R.R.Tolkien. "The Lord of the Rings", p. 283.
[5]. J.R.R.Tolkien. "The Lord of the Rings", p. 981.
[6]. J.R.R.Tolkien. "The Lord of the Rings", p. 64.
[7]. J.R.R.Tolkien. "The Lord of the Rings", p. 735.
[8]. E. Fuller. "The Lord of the Hobbits: J.R.R.Tolkien" in "Tolkien and Critics. Essays on J.R.R.Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings". Notre Dame, 1964. p.26.
[9]. P.M.Spacks. "Power and Meaning in "The Lord of the Rings" in "Tolkien and Critics". p. 92.
[10]. Paul H. Kocher. "Master of Middle-earth. The Fiction of J.R.R.Tolkien". Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. p. 36.
[11]. Paul H. Kocher. "Master of Middle-earth". p. 53.
[12]. Paul H. Kocher. "Master of Middle-earth". p. 63.
[13]. E. Fuller. "The Lord of the Hobbits".p.31.
[14]. E. Fuller. "The Lord of the Hobbits".p.17.
[15]. Я.И. Рецкер. "Теория перевода и переводческая практика". Международные отношения, М., 1974. стр. 38.


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