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A. Gee

A. Gee⁠

A. Gee has been playing with words since he was little, but has finally been talked into sharing.

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Translating Eugene Onegin

2 min readJul 7, 2024

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Few things as challenging as translating Pushkin while staying true to form. Here is the original text of the first stanza, and a somewhat literal, non-form translation:

Мой дядя самых честных правил,
Когда не в шутку занемог,
Он уважать себя заставил
И лучше выдумать не мог.
Его пример другим наука;
Но, боже мой, какая скука
С больным сидеть и день и ночь,
Не отходя ни шагу прочь!
Какое низкое коварство
Полуживого забавлять,
Ему подушки поправлять,
Печально подносить лекарство,
Вздыхать и думать про себя:
Когда же черт возьмет тебя!

The literal translation goes something like this:

My uncle, a righteous man of strict convictions,
once he got seriously ill, demanded my respect
and wouldn’t hear it any other way.
Let him be an example;
Is there a worse boredom then
be sitting by a patient’s bedside day and night
not leaving it for a minute, and
what a cunning low life thing to
entertain the half dead, fixing their pillow
and bringing them medicine, while sighing
and thinking to yourself, when will the devil take
you finally!

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A. Gee
A. Gee

Written by A. Gee⁠

A. Gee has been playing with words since he was little, but has finally been talked into sharing.