Accurate translation---no "gist" translation please! :))))

[msmiss.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone! My Russian friend gave me this quote by Dostoevsky and wants me to get an accurate translation of it (no "gist" type that online-translators do). In two of the words endings, his writing is illegible. Sorry! Here it is:

"Умом Россию не понл--(?),
В Россию можно только вери--(?)."

Thanks for any help anyone can give and I apologize about the endings.

EDIT: It is from Tyutchev; not Dostoevsky. I apologize for my stupidity and ignorance.

Comments

[annyway.livejournal.com]

http://www.ruthenia.ru/tiutcheviana/publications/trans/umomrossiju.html

[upwave.livejournal.com]

Умом Россию не понять,
Аршином общим не изменить,
У ней особенная стать.
В Россию можно только верить.

Тютчев.

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

*измерить

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

You cannot understand Russia with the mind, in Russia you can only believe.

[oryx_and_crake]

First, please tell your friend that it is not Dostoevsky. It is a quote from a poem by Tyutchev, see here: http://www.ilibrary.ru/text/1276/p.1/index.html

Second, it means "Russia is inscrutable by reason; the only thing you can do with it is to believe in it."

Third, please tell your friend that online translators do not give you any "gist" of anything. What they do give you is a bunch of rubbish.

[ashalynd.livejournal.com]

Seconded :)

I feel somewhat ashamed that somebody from Russia could mix up Dostoevsky and Tyutchev... probably did not attend his Russian lit classes at all.

[msmiss.livejournal.com]

He probably did said Tyutchev because he's very well-read. I'm probably the dumbass who thought he said Dostoevsky. Sorry for the retarded error. I feel really bad about that... And, yes, translators online are complete rubbish which is why I came here.

[ashalynd.livejournal.com]

Well, in the future just remember that Dostoevsky never wrote poetry ;) or may be he did but his poetic experiments never got as widely cited as his non-poetic ones.

The verses you quote are really the common knowledge in Russia and neatly summarize the impression of the professional diplomat Tyutchev about Russia and its ways of being :)

[msmiss.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my friend didn't clarify what type of material it was derived from (poetry, prose, or if it was just a random quote...). And I've read some Dostoevsky and so I just assumed it came from something he had quoted or written it in a book/story which I've never read before. Now that I see from other posters the WHOLE verse, I can see how dumb it was of me to have said Dostoevsky---yeah, I've never heard of him writing poetry either...

Anyways, thanks a lot for the information and for correcting me. You've helped a lot! Now, I will go and do a little research on Tyutchev! ;)

[lantse.livejournal.com]

Indeed Dostoevsky did write some poetry, e.g. ode for the intronisation of the Tzar Alexander II (in order to improve his condidtion as a convict in 1856) and a couple of witty epigrams.

A very convenient way to start your research on Tyutchev is to look at this book which offers some very decent English translations from Tyutchev's poetry.
http://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/1497902/

[msmiss.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you so much! I will definitely take a look at that. What little I have actually read of Tyutchev I truly enjoy and am intrigued to learn more of this man and his writings... so all the more info on him is great! Thanks again! :)))

[tzpasha.livejournal.com]

"Давно пора, ебена мать, УМОМ Россию понимать!"

© И. Губерман

[elina-k.livejournal.com]

it's time for you, motherfuckers, to start understand Russia)))

[msmiss.livejournal.com]

Yeah, thanks there for your kind words of wisdom.