The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov discussion
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The Master and Margarita
google translate™ and TM&M
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This should be fun. LOL.
The opening is touching and beautiful:Один из них, горячий весенний вечер, когда солнце садилось, двое мужчин появились на Патриарших прудах. Один из них, лет сорока, одетый в серый летний костюм, был короткий, темноволосый, лысый сверху, пузатый, и держал его надлежащим шляпу в руках, черные очки в роговой оправе сверхъестественного пропорции украшавших его хорошо бритые лица. Другой-плечистый, красновато-черноволосый, лохматый молодой человек с клетчатой кепке поднял на затылке, был одет в ковбойские рубашки, мятые белые брюки и черные кроссовки.
which of course translates to:
One of them, a hot spring evening, when the sun was setting, the two men appeared at Patriarch's Ponds. One of them, forty, dressed in a gray summer suit, was a short, dark-haired, bald on top, paunchy, and held his hat in his hand properly, black horn-rimmed glasses of supernatural proportions adorned his well-shaven face. Other-shouldered, red-haired, shaggy-haired young man with a checkered cap lifted on his head, was wearing a cowboy shirt, wrinkled white trousers and black shoes.
I think I prefer this opening Jason.
I love hot spring evenings, Stephen M.That said, I wonder how much improved The Master and Margarita would be if somehow Jay Rubin learned Russian and then translated it for us!
I'm going to have to get the Russian digital version and translate that.
"That said, I wonder how much improved The Master and Margarita would be if somehow Jay Rubin learned Russian and then translated it for us!" Oh we could all guess how that would go.
Lengthy descriptions of what each person is doing from second to second followed by naked women throwing themselves at their feet, while one man muses on loneliness and deep existential fears.
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This is funny. :)
Stephen, what Google Translate did to Bulgakov's opening made me first shudder and then laugh for about a minute straight!
Haha! Especially with the butchered Russian above. I can only imagine what Mr. Google did to it.
Here is Russian --> English Google Translate 'creation":One day in the spring, at the hour of sunset unusually hot in Moscow, Patriarch's Ponds, there were two citizens. The first of them, dressed in a pair of greyish year, was short, well-fed, bald, his decent pie hat was carrying in his hand, and on the well-shaven face it placed supernatural size sunglasses black horn-rimmed spectacles. The second - a broad-shouldered, red-haired, shaggy young man cocked back his checkered cap - was a cowboy, chewing, white pants and black sneakers.
Mod
One day in the spring, at the hour of sunset unusually hot in Moscow, Patriarch's Ponds, there were two citizens. The first of them, dressed in a pair of greyish year."
I hear greyish year is in this season.
Hahaha! Oh my goodness. That was simply fantastic. Thanks for the "translation" work there.
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Kris wrote: "I hear greyish year is in this season. "You know, I have absolutely no idea how Google arrived at that sentence. The word Bulgakov uses is not "year" but "pair" - as in "matching suit", I suppose.
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Answer: Well, have you heard of google translate™? ....
I translated it from Russian to Polish to Vietnamese. This is what I ended up with:One hot spring evening, when the sun was setting, the two men appear Ponds Patriarch. One of them, 40, wearing a gray summer suit, a, short black hair, balding, paunchy, and held the hat in my right hand, black horn-rimmed glasses super rate However well-decorated shaving his face. Other weapons, red, shaggy young man with big checkered cap on his head, he wore a cowboy shirt, wrinkled white trousers and black shoes.
Mod
One hot spring evening, when the sun was setting, the two men appear Ponds Patriarch. One of them, 40, wearing ..."
That's the best one yet. I love this: "black horn-rimmed glasses super rate."
Kris wrote: "Later, when we are experienced google translate™rs, we can translate passages in chains across a whole series of languages - imagine a Russian to Arabic to Korean to English chain, for example."There's a program on the internet that does that. Then they post their best "findings" on the internet for everyone's amusement.
I don't know where that word "weapons" came from.
Kris wrote: "Later, when we are experienced google translate™rs, we can translate passages in chains across a whole series of languages - imagine a Russian to Arabic to Korean to English chain, for example."I just did Russian --> English --> Spanish --> Russian --> English (sticking to languages that I can read).
Result (drum roll!):
One day in the spring, at sunset unusually warm in Moscow, Patriarch's Pond, had two citizens. The first of them, dressed in a gray couple of years, was short, sleek, bald, with a decent pie hat in his hand, and put a clean-shaven black sunglasses tortoiseshell glasses razmerov. Vtoroy supernatural - a broad-shouldered young redhead hairy dropped his plaid hat - a cowboy, chewing pants, white sneakers and black.
Aloha wrote: "Other weapons, red, shaggy young man with big checkered cap on his head, he wore a cowboy shirt, wrinkled white trousers and black shoes."Woah... it's like surrealist poetry.... man.
Question tomorrow asked by colleagues: So, what did you do on Labor Day?
Answer: Well, have you heard of google translate™? ....
Haha! Oh my gosh, I can already see myself saying that tomorrow.
"put a clean-shaven black sunglasses tortoiseshell glasses razmerov"What delightful nonsense.
Nataliya wrote: "I just did Russian --> English --> Spanish --> Russian --> English (sticking to languages that I can read). "Oh God, chain translations are hilarious.
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Result (drum roll!):
One day in the spring, at sunset unusually warm in Moscow, Patriarch's Pond, had two citizens. The first of them, dressed in a gray couple of years, was short, sleek, bald, with a decent pie hat in his hand, and put a clean-shaven black sunglasses tortoiseshell glasses razmerov. Vtoroy supernatural - a broad-shouldered young redhead hairy dropped his plaid hat - a cowboy, chewing pants, white sneakers and black. "
The first sentence was surprisingly coherent, and then it went downhill really fast. Wow. I don't think I could diagram those sentences.
We have chewing pants again, I see, Ali. :)
I dragged this one through all kinds of linguistic madness.Russian --> English --> Spanish --> Latin --> English:
"I do not astounded by the driver or passenger, the thing, who not step into the mighty cat, that it is a bad one, but the fact that he loves going to pay"
How the hell did it end up in the first person?
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Russian --> English --> Spanish --> Latin --> English:
"I do not astounded by the driver or passenger, the thing, who not step into the mighty cat, that it is a bad one, but the fact that he loves going to pay"
This is the best one yet. Yes, the first person is a puzzle. I am loving "who do not step into the mighty cat." My overweight cat Liam appreciates that.
I just joined the group so I can follow this thread. This looks fun.
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"who do not step into the mighty cat."It's prophetic and striking. I picture an overweight tabby sitting atop a throne, chewing on a chicken's leg ordering around her human serfs.
Kris wrote: "We have chewing pants again, I see, Ali. :) "Chewing pants is the theme, yes. Because that's the language of the orginal. Chewed pants = wrinkled pants. Poor Google...
I'm going with the introduction of Woland here:Russian --> English --> Polish --> Spanish --> Ukrainian --> English --> Polish --> Ukrainian -->Spanish --> Russian --> English.
First, each leg is described, and the increase was small and not great, but at a high level. The teeth on the left side of the crown was platinum, and the right - gold. He was wearing a gray suit and expensive external color of the clothes and shoes. Gray is known crooked ear, carrying under his arm, in a black suit with a button in the form of a poodle's head. By the way - for over forty years. Sides of the curve. Shaved smooth. Brunette. Right eye black, green stuff is gone. Black eyebrows, but one above the other. In short - a foreigner.
(To compare - my translation of this passage from Russian - since I don't have a translated copy of the book):
"First of all - the newcomer was not limping on any foot, and was neither short nor giant but simply tall. As for his teeth, on the left side he had platinum crowns and gold on the right. He was wearing an expensive suit and expensive foreign shoes matching the suit. His grey beret was smartly cocked over one ear, and under his arm he was carrying a cane with a knob in the shape of a black poodle head. He appeared to be forty-something years old. His mouth was a bit crooked. Cleanly shaven. Brunette. Right eye was black, and the left eye green for some reason. Black eyebrows, one higher than the other. Basically - a foreigner.
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Russian --> English --> Polish --> Spanish --> Ukrainian --> English --> Polish --> Ukrainian -->Spanish --> Russian --> English.
First, each leg is described, and the increase was small and not great, but at a high level. The teeth on the left side of the crown was platinum, and the right - gold. He was wearing a gray suit and expensive external color of the clothes and shoes. Gray is known crooked ear, carrying under his arm, in a black suit with a button in the form of a poodle's head. By the way - for over forty years. Sides of the curve. Shaved smooth. Brunette. Right eye black, green stuff is gone. Black eyebrows, but one above the other. In short - a foreigner."
I'd like to see someone do a facial composite based on this description.
Mod
The warm spring evening, when the sun went down, the two men appear Patriarch Ponds. 40 One of them, we..."
I think Estonian was an excellent touch.
Russian -> Spanish -> Arabic -> English:One of them, warm spring evening, it appeared that the two men when the sun went down, the Patriarch pools. Adorn black held century glasses of supernatural proportions and forty-one of them, in a gray suit summer, and it was dark, short, bald upper abdomen and held his hat in his hand correctly, has a clean-shaven face. Last shoulders, red, shaggy hair young man with a lid carved raised above his head, wearing a cowboy shirt, white trousers and black shoes wrinkles.
Russian -> Filipino -> Persian -> Hebrew -> English:One of them, a warm spring night, when the sun is on the way, the pool appeared two grandchildren. One of them, 40, dressed in a gray suit in the summer, short dark hair, bald, paunchy, hat in hand, better reflect the Fund conducted a natural black decorated appeal shaved. More shoulder red man with wild hair young man with a checkered hat on his head raised, wearing a cowboy shirt, wrinkled white trousers and black shoes.
Mary wrote: "Russian -> Spanish -> Arabic -> English:One of them, warm spring evening, it appeared that the two men when the sun went down, the Patriarch pools. Adorn black held century glasses of supernatura..."
"bald upper abdomen". That's stylish. Definitely beats "black shoes wrinkles"!
It's like the game we played in elementary where u sit in a circle and the first person whispers a phrase to the person sitting next to him...and so on, and so on until the last person says the phrase out loud and it has morphed into some nonsensical phrase totally different than the original. What was that called? Telephone?
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Exactly! Yes, Telephone or Whisper Down the Lane.
Kris wrote: "Carol wrote: "It's like the game we played in elementary where u sit in a circle and the first person whispers a phrase to the person sitting next to him...and so on, and so on until the last perso..."bizarrely, in UK, we call that 'Chinese whispers'
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That is fascinating, Mark. I feel compelled to research that.
This is what happens when group members have been comparing many translations for weeks and weeks....
Credit for this innovative idea goes to Stephen M.