Translation

[alan-smith84.livejournal.com]

Hey everyone,

I am translating a bylichka for a paper that I am writing and I am having trouble with a few phrases. Here is the section of the bylichka where I am having problems if that helps for context.

А всё сказали. Аха тут а женщин. Иди говорят в китово. Там Бабка Марина. Поговори с ней. И ехай за ней. Вот он сьездил на лошади, поговорил с ней. Она говорит ой вези её домой. Вези домой её. А потом за мной приедешь. И отец поехал, привёз мать. А мы ж снинкой такие не большие были. Плачем, папа мама поправится поправится. А вот струк к нам залетел. Струк, кузнечек? покойнику, мы с ней плачем, света не было. Это мать привёз и привёз Бабку Марину. Бабку Марина почитала, говорить не надо тебе никакой операции. Ко мне бог не надо не надо делaть а тот ещё, они зарезали. Побыла она у нас денька четыре или пять. Всё залечила. Вот сглазу лечит

I need help with the following phrases...

А мы ж снинкой такие не большие были.
А вот струк к нам залетел
Струк, кузнечек?
покойнику, мы с ней плачем, света не было. I think there is a word missing here.
Ко мне бог не надо не надо делaть а тот ещё, они зарезали.
Побыла она у нас денька четыре или пять.

Also what is the meaning of the word прогон in this context. Ах... ой... вот одна на прогонe там жила у нeё глаз чёрный... не хорощий глаз.
Thank you

Comments

[spiderhood.livejournal.com]

Oh Lord. I really think most Russian people would also have trouble translating THAT. It's not correct Russian, it's highly colloquial, rural and written down quite sloppy.

>А мы ж снинкой такие не большие были.
It was meant "А мы же с Нинкой такие небольшие были", i.e. "Me and Ninka, we were so little". "Нинка" is diminutive of "Нина", female name.

> А вот струк к нам залетел. Струк, кузнечек?
Струк comes from стручок (pod), кузнечек is misspelt кузнечик (grasshopper). In this particular context they mean the same thing, and the second sentence is a non-grammatical explanation of that fact. No question sign here.

> покойнику, мы с ней плачем, света не было. I think there is a word missing here.
No. The world's not missing, it's just two intermixed sentences: "Покойнику света не было" (The dead man wasn't getting enough light) and "мы с ней плачем" (we were crying). In correct Russian it would've been marked as direct speech.

> Ко мне бог не надо не надо делaть а тот ещё, они зарезали.
I can't figure out this one completely cause it's so twisted, but you probably have trouble with "они зарезали". "Зарезать" (to knife) in this context means to fail a surgery attempt. The Old Lady Marina (Бабка Марина) is trying to convince them not to go for an operation because it can fail.

> Побыла она у нас денька четыре или пять.
This is one of a few grammatically correct sentences, it means "she spent something like four or five days at our place". "Денёк" is used instead of "день" due to spoken nature and to stress uncertainty.

> Also what is the meaning of the word прогон in this context.
In this context "прогон" means "русло". She mentions a "black eye" witch living by the river.

Ask more questions if you're lost, I'm amazed you could go that far already ;)

[alan-smith84.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your help. The text came from an interview that my professor conducted with a woman in a small village (I do not remember which village). The speaker was born before World War II. It took me quite awhile to transcribe the interview. I was concerned about some of those twisted sections and had a native speaker verify my transcription. Do you know what she meant by these two statements?

And here a pod flew towards us… pod, grasshopper. The dead man wasn't getting enough light, we were crying.

[khathi.livejournal.com]

In some dialects grasshoppers are called "струки", IIRC, so I believe the speaker is just explaning what she means.
As for "The dead man wasn't getting enough light, we were crying." -- I think that it's a reference to some folk belief, but the closest I could remember is that if a bird flies into a house, this means that some dead family member calls for a company.

[spiderhood.livejournal.com]

"Залетел" means "flew inside" (into the room, perhaps), not "flew towards us", that'd be "прилетел". "Струк" just means grasshopper in that dialect (bacause they look alike, I suppose).

Unfortunately, I can't be sure what the sentences mean exactly. Can you perhaps post the original recording? It's just that it can also be "Струк, кузнечик - к покойнику. Мы с ней плачем, света не было." which would mean that they consider a grasshopper an omen of a person dying, and then she went on describing the situation: they were crying and there was no light (it was switched off). It's very hard to come up with something when it's colloquial but you don't hear it but read it - I came up with the last version only when I tried to read it out loud ;)

[alan-smith84.livejournal.com]

I actually do not know how to post the recording. However, I just listened to the recording and I think you are right. Although I really can not be sure, there may be an entire word before покойнику. I may just leave those statements out since they are not vital.

[khathi.livejournal.com]

> Ко мне бог не надо не надо делaть а тот ещё, они зарезали.
The witch claims that the God is with her ("Ко мне бог"), and that she knew one person ("а тот ещё") who went for operation but died ("они зарезали"). It is also implied that she could heal the illness without operation.

[spiderhood.livejournal.com]

Well, it's a viable version, but it's still unclear. Taking into account numerous misspellings, we could also say that "а тот ещё" could actually be "а тут ещё" ("and there was...[missing name]"). Similarly, "ко мне бог" could be "ко мне - бух"? It's a really confusing place.

[khathi.livejournal.com]

Well, fisrt spelling varuiant basically means the same, albeit in a slightly different wording. The second one -- I doubt it, frankly speaking.

[alan-smith84.livejournal.com]

There are probably mispellings in the text. For example I am looking at the notes that my professor gave me for the transcription, she had changed струк to стрюк

[khathi.livejournal.com]

Then it would have completely different meaning, 'cause "стрюк" means "vagabond".

ага)

[the-oldest.livejournal.com]

Sure)

[spiderhood.livejournal.com]

What?

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Прогон, жила на прогоне
I have never heard about this word meaning "русло": in villages, прогон is a narrow unpaved road between two houses, i.e. perpendicular to the village's main street. Прогон usually leads into the fields and is used for driving cattle to the fields to graze (otherwise it takes too long to drive cattle around the whole village -- I remind that, due to the communal character of old Russia's agriculture, cattle from the whole village were brought together by the communal shepherd in the morning, taken to the pasture, and brought back by sunset.) Прогон from прогнать (drive through) - жила на прогоне means that her house had no entrance from the main street, only from this side-street.

[spiderhood.livejournal.com]

Good one, thanks! I didn't know of the meaning I mentioned either, but I stumbled upon it by googling. Your explanation makes more sense, however.

[belaja-belka.livejournal.com]

I think, "The Old Lady" better to change as "an old woman".

[spiderhood.livejournal.com]

I know it sounds weird, but I've seen this translation before. Anyway, I believe that's the part where alan_smith84 won't have any trouble ;)

[belaja-belka.livejournal.com]

that's right

[a1tyn.livejournal.com]

It is not easy for understanding for Russians too:)
> Струк, кузнечек? покойнику, мы с ней плачем, света не было.
My version: Струк, кузнечик - к покойнику, мы с ней плачем, света не было. That means if grasshopper flies in, there will be the dead man in the house (sign). The second part "мы с ней плачем, света не было" - we are crying so much that even can not see the light; "света не было" there is probably an equivalent of "света белого не видно" (saying).

> Бабку Марина почитала, говорить не надо тебе никакой операции. Ко мне бог не надо не надо делaть а тот ещё, они зарезали.
This one I would say: "Бабка Марина почитала, говорит - "Не надо тебе никакой операции. Ко мне бог - не надо не надо делaть, а <то ещё они зарежут>"." - Old Lady Marina conjured, says - "you don't need any surgery. God told to me, don't don't do that, they could cut to dead". There is почитала - does not mean read, but conjure, make a spell. IMHO.

[spiderhood.livejournal.com]

Good point there! I'm almost sure it was "Бабка Марина пошептала" ("Old Marina used her magic"), not "Бабку Марина почитала" ("Marina respected the old woman").

[the-oldest.livejournal.com]

There are many dialect and archaic words in text, so it isn`t easy to translate.

F.e.
"Побыла она у нас денька четыре или пять." - She was with us 4 or 5 days. - "Она была у нас 4 или 5 дней". in modern russian.