(no subject)

[battersby.livejournal.com]

I found this surfing the net. All I can gather is that the walls eavesdrop and can betray. May I have some help for a more accurate translation? Thank you!

Будь на чеку,
В такие дни
Подслушивают стены.
Недалеко от болтовни
И сплетни
До измены.

Comments

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Roughly:

Be on the alert:
In the days like this
The walls can overhear.
It is not far from chattering
and gossips
to the treason.

[battersby.livejournal.com]

thanks, that's all I needed.

[beowabbit]

Будь на чеку,

Be on the alert

Oh, so was the acronym ЧК an allusion to the phrase на чеку, as well as an acronym? (And what's the nominative of чеку here? I'm assuming that this is an irregular prepositional case and the nominative is чек, but I can imagine it being a feminine accusative, and чека ("pin, linch pin, cotter pin", per lingvo.yandex.ru) seems to make a (tiny) little more sense here.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

The correct word is "начеку", not "на чеку". It is an adverb. Until the mid-1950s reform its correct form was "на-чеку". Fasmer's "Этимологический словарь" says that it derives from the verb "чекать", which means "to wait" in several Southern Russian dialects (BTW in Ukrainian, "to wait" is "чекати"). It belongs to a group of complex adverbs like "дотла" (сжечь дотла - to burn into ashes? -- don't know if it's correct English,) "наружу" (from inside to the outside,) "невзначай" (suddenly, occasionally) etc. It has nothing to do with the abbreviation ЧК which definitely sounds like "че-ка", but stands for Чрезвычайная Комиссия (Extraordinary Commission) - in full, Чрезвычайная комиссия по борьбе с контрреволюцией и саботажем (Extraordinary Commission for Fighting the Counter-Revolution and Sabotage,) 1918-1922. There is also a noun "чека" which means the tiny ring that prevents a grenade from blowing up before it is minded to; in the 19th century, it also meant the tiny part of a wheeled cart's equipment that prevented the leather belts from falling out.

[ex-novia.livejournal.com]

I would translate this as "Be alert"

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

I've checked up two different dictionaries, they both give "to be on the alert." English is not my native language, so I use not my own brain but dictionaries :))

[ex-novia.livejournal.com]

hmm..I'll check,
it just sounds so strange to me.

[ex-novia.livejournal.com]

it looks like both are used...hmmm

[russian-bob.livejournal.com]

Будь начеку - "watch out", or even closer "be wary"

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Why invent many unnecessary versions if the dictionary firmly gives one, "be on the alert.."?

[russian-bob.livejournal.com]

"be on the alert" - IMHO, звучит больше как "будь наготове" или "не спи"
"alert" - watchful and prompt to meet danger or emergency
b : quick to perceive and act (Webster)

"Будь начеку" можно ещё перевести как "be on guard"...
хотя, написал это и посмотрел в Webster - "on guard" синоним "alert".
But it sounds right.

Зачем новые переводы придумывать? It's fun! :))

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

I would dearly love to remind that the working language of this community is English, and if you reply or post in Russian, you are expected to provide an English translation as well.

Sir, yes, sir !!!

[russian-bob.livejournal.com]

Oops, I'm sorry.
I'm novice here, that will not happen again. :))

Re: Sir, yes, sir !!!

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

At ease... dismiss! :))

[melkore.livejournal.com]

No rhyme?

M.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

If you can read Russian, you can also see that there definitely is some rhyme in Russian original.
As for the English translation, what I provided here was a word-for-word translation, more or less exact, not a poetic version. You have probably heard that the exact translation of almost any poetry that would keep the meter and the rhyme of the original verses is impossible. If the rhyme is kept somehow, the translated version is normally pretty far from the original.

P.S.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

It is a 1941 poster. 1941 was the year when Hitler invaded the U.S.S.R., and Russia entered the World War II.