Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Russian term or phrase:
Это - кошка, это мышка (here)
English translation:
taking a stab...
Added to glossary by
Tevah_Trans
Jul 25, 2007 18:46
17 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Russian term
Это - кошка, это мышка (here)
Russian to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
This is from a poem by Brodsky. I would like to know whether he is playing on an actual children's rhyme, or just sounding like he is.
If the former I would try to play on a comparable nursery rhyme in English rather than being literal.
"От любви бывают дети.
Ты теперь один на свете.
Помнишь песню, что, бывало,
я в потемках напевала?
Это - кошка, это - мышка.
Это - лагерь, это - вышка.
Это - время тихой сапой
убивает маму с папой".
If anyone has ever seen this in English already, I would also be interested to know!
Zaranee blagodarna...
If the former I would try to play on a comparable nursery rhyme in English rather than being literal.
"От любви бывают дети.
Ты теперь один на свете.
Помнишь песню, что, бывало,
я в потемках напевала?
Это - кошка, это - мышка.
Это - лагерь, это - вышка.
Это - время тихой сапой
убивает маму с папой".
If anyone has ever seen this in English already, I would also be interested to know!
Zaranee blagodarna...
Proposed translations
(English)
Change log
Aug 8, 2007 14:10: Tevah_Trans Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+8
1 hr
Selected
taking a stab...
Babies come from love and care
You're alone now, my teddybear.
How did that fable go
In the dark, so long ago:
Here's a cat, and there's a mouse.
Vultures circling your house.
Old man Time, the sly and clever,
Taking Mom and Dad forever.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2007-07-25 21:29:44 GMT)
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As Mark was typing his note, here's mine:
Old McDonald had a chicken;
Soup turned out finger-lickin'.
Time gets older by the second,
Birth will cause the death to happen.
Hey, just having fun, no?
Note from asker:
Wow! If I use it, I'll have to credit you! I'd really like to keep the lager'/vyshka imagery in there somehow, because the article I'm writing concerns it... |
Peer comment(s):
agree |
SirReaL
: And a nice stab at that
24 mins
|
Thanks :) I assumed the asker was looking for a serious translation, but it may totally not work if the irony is what we're after. :)
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agree |
Mark Berelekhis
: It's fun, ain't it? There should definitely be a poetry translation contest on this site. + You're too kind :) Although I often wish one could still make a living being a poet.
1 hr
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I am up for it! :) But you will win without a doubt; I looked at your profile. :)
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agree |
Alexander Demyanov
3 hrs
|
Thanks Alexander!
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agree |
Vladimir Dubisskiy
: America's got talent, no doubt :-))
6 hrs
|
Thank you Vladimir! :)
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agree |
Zoya Askarova
: :))
7 hrs
|
Thanks Zoya!
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agree |
Kirill Semenov
: great :)
8 hrs
|
Thanks Kirill!
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agree |
tutta_karlson
: what a nice stab!
8 hrs
|
Thanks :)
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agree |
Blithe
: WOW!!! я в восхищении:)
20 hrs
|
Thanks! :)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
8 mins
just sounding
I don't know of any direct source. It's just the spirit of them nursery rhymes...
9 mins
below
There is no "кошки-мышки" rhyme. "Играть в кошки-мышки" is rather an idiom used to describe a situation of trying to be evasive, usually figuratively, by trying to misrepresent, bend, distort and, sometimes, hide the facts from some sort of an authority.
2 hrs
Here's the cat, and here's the mouse...
Here's the cat, and here's the mouse,
Here's the camp, and here's the guardhouse...
Here's the camp, and here's the guardhouse...
+4
1 hr
Brodsky parodying nursery rhymes
I remember this poem (ПРЕДСТАВЛЕНИЕ) very well. Here's the whole thing:
http://www.lib.ru/BRODSKIJ/present.txt
Notice a bunch of these throughout the poem:
"Жизнь - она как лотерея".
"Вышла замуж за еврея".
"Довели страну до ручки"
"Дай червонец до получки".
"Не смотри в глаза мне, дева:
все равно пойдешь налево".
"У попа была собака".
"Оба умерли от рака".
"Сочетался с нею браком".
"Все равно поставлю раком".
"Эх, Цусима-Хиросима!
Жить совсем невыносимо".
Etc.
Occasionally, you will find references to known nursery rhymes such as "У попа была собака", but mostly, it's just Brodsky as if jeering at them, which becomes quite clear once you read the entire poem. Many of them just "reek" of Маяковский and Михалков in structure and rhyme patterns, and the trick is the new oh-so different content that is now occupying these oh-so familiar rhymes.
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Note added at 8 hrs (2007-07-26 02:51:03 GMT)
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Here's my rough attempt to tackle this baby:
Sometimes children from love stem.
You -- now a desert under the sun.
Remember the song that time and again
In the twilight I sung?
Here is a violet, there is a rose
Here is a campfire, there is a hose.
And here is time -- softly waning the day
Taking your mommy and daddy away.
http://www.lib.ru/BRODSKIJ/present.txt
Notice a bunch of these throughout the poem:
"Жизнь - она как лотерея".
"Вышла замуж за еврея".
"Довели страну до ручки"
"Дай червонец до получки".
"Не смотри в глаза мне, дева:
все равно пойдешь налево".
"У попа была собака".
"Оба умерли от рака".
"Сочетался с нею браком".
"Все равно поставлю раком".
"Эх, Цусима-Хиросима!
Жить совсем невыносимо".
Etc.
Occasionally, you will find references to known nursery rhymes such as "У попа была собака", but mostly, it's just Brodsky as if jeering at them, which becomes quite clear once you read the entire poem. Many of them just "reek" of Маяковский and Михалков in structure and rhyme patterns, and the trick is the new oh-so different content that is now occupying these oh-so familiar rhymes.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2007-07-26 02:51:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Here's my rough attempt to tackle this baby:
Sometimes children from love stem.
You -- now a desert under the sun.
Remember the song that time and again
In the twilight I sung?
Here is a violet, there is a rose
Here is a campfire, there is a hose.
And here is time -- softly waning the day
Taking your mommy and daddy away.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Tevah_Trans
: Thank you for finding this page, this is a brilliant read that I had totally forgotten about, i wish I could give you all my browniz and half of my kudoz.
38 mins
|
Thank you very much :) No need for any of that, though; this is the kind of thing I do for fun on my own time.
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agree |
SirReaL
: Awesome
58 mins
|
Thank you :)
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agree |
Alexander Demyanov
: Perfect explanation! Except most the "household" rhymes and saying used in the poem are not exactly "nursery" rhymes. However, that doesn't really matter for the concept.
3 hrs
|
Thank you. And yes, I did mean household, almost "national" rhymes, rather than children's.
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agree |
Kirill Semenov
8 hrs
|
Thank you.
|
+1
17 mins
It's a cat, and it's a rat
A word play with the popular game of cat and mouse. The metaphore for hide and find, a pray and a victim.
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Note added at 18 mins (2007-07-25 19:05:03 GMT)
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a prey and a predator
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Note added at 10 hrs (2007-07-26 05:08:38 GMT)
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Here's a mouse, here's a cat,
Here's a guard, and here's a camp,
Here's the time that go in circles
Killing slowly mom and dad.
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Note added at 12 hrs (2007-07-26 07:30:07 GMT)
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tjhat runs in circles
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Note added at 18 mins (2007-07-25 19:05:03 GMT)
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a prey and a predator
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Note added at 10 hrs (2007-07-26 05:08:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Here's a mouse, here's a cat,
Here's a guard, and here's a camp,
Here's the time that go in circles
Killing slowly mom and dad.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2007-07-26 07:30:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
tjhat runs in circles
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
Irene N
: Кирилл, нейтраль за одинаковые мысли наверно странна, но... Rat image is too strong for a helpless prey. I'd stick with the mouse, and I feel pretty strong about it:-)
4 mins
|
играл с рифмой, ничего больше
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agree |
Jahongir Sidikov
25 mins
|
1 day 14 hrs
spider/fly
Some of the answers already given are brilliant. I am just offering the spider/fly pair as an alternative to cat/mouse.
By the way, I am not aware of an existing translation of this poem, but that does not necessarily mean that there isn't one.
See the spider, see the fly
See the mirador, blocking the sky
See, as Time goes trudging on
Mummy and Daddy dead and gone
By the way, I am not aware of an existing translation of this poem, but that does not necessarily mean that there isn't one.
See the spider, see the fly
See the mirador, blocking the sky
See, as Time goes trudging on
Mummy and Daddy dead and gone
Discussion
Just kidding; I had to justify my own chutzpah somehow! :)
Just kidding; I had to justify my own chutzpah somehow! :)
Also, as a general note, translating Brodsky is a major, major undertaking. I am both terrified and in awe of what's in store for you, all at the same time :)