2. Comparative Analysis of the Original and Translation

People often take a translation as something given, not even thinking about how difficult, in fact, the process of interpretation is. For a translator the goal is not only to present the direct content of a particular text, but also to keep up to the individual style of the author. However, often the language features of two languages do not match each other, and the translation differs widely from the original text.

Moreover, there are other reasons for such discrepancy. Personally I think that Marshak’s translations were influenced greatly by the Soviet ideology. In order to prove this point of view, a detailed analysis of some translations in comparison to the original Burns’ poems is given below.

In the process of translation Marshak is trying to follow the style of the author, maintaining its artistic particularities used by Burns in the original texts of his lyrics.

On the whole, the message of the translation accurately reflects the message of the original work. However, some discrepancies can be noticed.

2.1 Is There For Honest Poverty

“Is there For Honest Poverty” is one of the most well-known Burns poems narrating about the necessity of equality between people. It is actually the song that was sung on the opening day of the Scottish Parliament.

In addition, in the poem the poet expresses his contempt towards people who believe that the veneer can make them better. At the same time Robert Burns tends to support ordinary working people, which could not but be loved by the Soviet reader.

The first discrepancy between the original and translation can be seen in the phrase, repeated several times in the poem.

The original text says:

“The rank is but the guinea's stamp, The man's the gold for all that.”

Marshak gives such a translation:

“Богатство –

Штамп на золотом,

А золотой –

Мы сами!”

(Wealth is

The stamp on the gold coin

And we are the Gold coin ourselves)

Despite the presence of certain phraseology associated with gold in the Russian language, we can’t say that the man himself is"gold" for any merits. This explains some insignificant changes in the structure of the sentence without a shift from a human, respectively, of the humanity on the whole, to a certain group of people.

In this "we" no universal concept of the humanity, which was meant by Burns, but a very specific group of people – the Soviet citizens can be seen.

In addition, as readers perceive a poem on behalf of the author, even a phrase, identifying the Scottish poet as a member of this group, creates around him a certain stereotype. The author is accepted by readers not as an arrogant foreigner, writing about things he is not familiar with, but as an ordinary worker like them.

Undoubtedly this is a brilliant way to attract the Soviet audience. However, even the necessity of such a trick points to the ideological background.

Another major difference I see in the following lines of the original:

“The honest man, though ever so poor, Is king of men for all that.”

Marshak’s translation says:

“Судите не по платью.

Кто честным кормится трудом, -

Таких зову я знатью!”

(Judge not according to the dress. Those who feed themselves with honest work, - I call such persons nobles!)

In these lines the Scottish poet speaks of honesty as the cardinal virtues, while Samuel Marshak again changes the emphasis. In the Soviet Union it was not enough to be honest in your heart. Everyone was obliged to work, performing certain duties for the benefit of society. By adding “work” to “honesty” the poet with the help of this word turns Robert Burns, proclaiming the ideal of high moral principles, into just a workaholic.

I'm not saying that it is bad to be hard-working. But, being honest, I am not pleased with the idea that regardless to personal qualities a man can be judged only for his ability to work.

It is also worth noting that Marshak omits the word “king”, replacing it by the word “notables”. This action does not violate the meaning of the poem, but, at the same time, the fact that this word is taken away in other poems indicates that the motivation for it is not only tendency to the purity of style. Moreover, the translator as a rule extracts not only certain words but also whole phrases.

The original text says:

“The man of independent mind, He looks and laughs at all that.”

The deletion of these lines makes the reader wonder: "Why was the translator confused with the phrase about freedom of thought? Isn’t it bad to stick to your individuality?" But one has only to recall the time when Marshak was making his translations and everything will become clear. It was not the best idea to promote freedom of thought in that period.

Another substitution can be seen in another extract:

The original text says:

“A prince can make a belted knight, A marquis, duke, and all that!”

Marshak’s translation says:

“Король лакея своего

Назначит генералом...”

(The King will appoint his servant a general)

Replacing the noble aristocratic titles by a dismissive word "lackey", Marshak focuses on the fact that the members of the royal family can be surrounded only by servants.

Burns was not so categorical and meant the people whom monarchs treated almost as equals.

Later in the translation Marshak again omits the lines, marking that aristocrats can be morally pure people.

The original text says:

“Their dignities, and all that, The pith of sense and pride of worth Are higher rank than all that.”

Finally, it is worth adding that Marshak even doesn’t find it important to mention the fact that Robert Burns was not absolutely sure that “the very day and hour” when all the people become brothers was possible. Of course, Burns, looking at the future with hope but he said, «let us pray». It means "let us pray for" the coming of the day.

But this reference to religion could not be adequately interpreted in a country where atheism was promoted, and religion itself was called "the opium of the people."

To enhance the impression Burns repeatedly used the phrase «for ‘a'that, an 'a'that» (for everything and all that). Marshak does the same repeating: “При всем при том”.