... الترجمة الأدبية مكتوبة دكتور خالد توفيق

‫دكتور‬
‫خالد توفيق‬
‫كود (‪)424‬‬
‫المحاضرة (‪)1‬‬
‫الترم (‪)8‬‬
‫نسخ المحاضرات‬
Lecture One
Literary Translation
Objectives:
1) Students will be introduced to the concept of literary translation.
2) Students will be introduced to the responsibilities of the literary
translator.
What is Literary Translation
Literary translation is commonly regarded as a challenging area of
translation as the translator is not only required to produce an informative,
accurate and communicative translation which is the ultimate aim of other
types of translation. This means that the translator’s job is not confined to
rendering language A into language B in a way that wins the reader's
approval and keeps the literary flavour of the original. S/he is also required
to produce a text that transfers the same (or similar) literary pleasure of the
original. This means that s/he should never end up with an informative,
accurate translation, but devoid of the literary nature or flavour. In such a
case, the literary translation loses that distinctive aspect that distinguishes
it from other types of translation. This is due to the fact that the reader of a
literary translation expects to elicit the same pleasure that the original
reader got from the original text.
This means that the translator of a literary text should have a refined
literary taste that enables and guides him/ her to produce a translation that
maximally communicates the pleasure of reading the original text and
preserves its literary flavour. In other words, s/he should do his/her best to
keep all the distinctive literary features of the original text and present them
to the target reader in a form and language common to him.
)1( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬
Translating is not a process of transferring meaning from one
language to another. It involves transferring one culture (or frame of
thought) to another. This simply means that the translator’s job is not
confined to the search for semantic equivalents, but s/he should try to find
functional equivalents and cultural substitutes that would help to convey,
maximally, the message of the source text and bridge the gap between the
source text and the target reader, specially if they belong to two completely
cultural backgrounds.
One of the distinctive features of literary translation is figurative
language. It usually represents a quicksand area to the translator because
it sometimes implies certain features or phenomena in the source language
that might have no equivalent in the target language. In other words,
figures of speech reflect the mentality, attitude, philosophy and frame of
thought of a certain people. The same image, when translated, may not
evoke the same atmosphere in the target language or cannot evoke the same
emotive response from the target reader. Thus cultural considerations have
to be taken into account when a figure of speech is translated.
A good example of such figurative language is the one used by the
Ghost in Hamlet when talking to Hamlet about virtues and vices i.e.
personification (Act I, Scene V). Both English and Arabic poetry abound
with very similar personifications of abstractions, especially when taking
about the conflict between vices and virtues, good and evil, integrity and
corruption…etc. Arabic poetry has a line of verse like the following:
‫ عالم تنتحب الفتاة؟‬:‫فقلت‬ ‫مررت على الفضيلة وهي تبكي‬
‫جميعا ً دون خلق هللا ماتوا‬ ‫ كيف ال أبكي وأهلي‬:‫فقالت‬
Ghost: But virtue, as it never will be moved,
Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
So lust, though to a radiant angel linked,
Will sate itself in a celestial bed,
And prey on garbage.
But, soft! Methinks I scent the morning air.
Al Qut: ً ‫كما أن الفضيلة ال تستجيب أبدا‬
‫إلغراء الفاحشة ولو تبدت في زى سماوي‬
‫تعاف‬-‫وإن ارتبطت بمالك نوراني‬-‫فإن الشهوة‬
‫فراشها الطاهر ثم تقتات األقذار‬
Awad: ،‫ولكن كما أن الفضيلة لن تتزعزع‬
-‫ولو جاءها اإلغراء في صورة سماوية‬
‫ مهما اقترن بملك كريم‬، ‫فكذلك العهر‬
‫ورقد في فراش سماوي‬
.‫فلن يتورع االنغماس في القمامة‬
Enani: ‫تأبى أن تسقط حتى‬، ‫لكن العفة إن كانت حقة‬
،‫لو أغواها الشيطان المتمثل بخيال علوي‬
،‫حتى لو كان الزوج مالكا ً وضا ًء‬،‫أما الشهوة‬
‫فلسوف تمل اإلشباع بفرش من فرش المأل األعلى‬
.‫وتميل إلى أطعمة الحطة في أكوام قمامة‬
The three translators are so keen on keeping the figurative content of
the personification by keeping all its details and constituents. Al Qut, Awad
and Enani render virtue as ‫الفضيييييلة‬،‫ الفضيييييلة‬and ‫( العفة‬they literally mean
virtue) respectively. Al Qut renders lewdness as ‫( الفاحشة‬debauchery), Awad
as ‫( اإلغراء‬seduction) and Enani as ‫( الشيييطان‬the devil). The different choices
suggested by the three translators do not change the propositional content
of the personification and achieve the skopos (purpose) of the
personification in question. The same can be said of the translation of lust

as ‫( شييييهوة‬lust) by Al Qut and Enani and ‫( العهر‬harlotry - prostitution) by
Awad.
In his book, Literary Translation: A Practical Guide, Clifford
Landers states the following stages of literary translation:
1) Read the entire work at least twice. For those who might contend that
this is not actually a step in the translation process, I argue that no
translation can succeed without a thorough grounding in the SL text.
2) Determine the authorial voice. This will affect virtually every choice in
the thousands of words to be translated. Note any shifts in tone from one
part of text to another.
3) Do the first draft, marking troublesome areas in square brackets
and/or bold face for further attention. At this stage there is relatively less
emphasis on smoothness and fluency and more on capture ng thesemantic
gist of the text.
4) Consult with an educated native speaker to clarify any points that are
still vague. For especially vexing items, consult the author.
5) Revise the manuscript, with emphasis on phraseology, fluency, and
naturalness. At this stage it should come as close as possible to reading
as if it had been written originally in English.
6) Have a highly literate native speaker of English, preferably one with no
knowledge of the SL, go over the manuscript and indicate any rough
spots – i.e., parts that are awkward, stilted, ‘translationese,’ or that
make no sense. Make any necessary changes.
7) Go over the manuscript line by line with a native speaker of the SL who is
also fluent in English. Read it aloud while the other person follows in
the SL text.

8) Make the final changes, run it through a spell-check, and let it rest for a few
days. Then give it one last reading (typos may have been introduced in
the revision phase) and send it off.
Application: Translate the following passage into Arabic:
Nothing is more painful to the human mind than, after the feelings have
been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of
inaction and certainty which follows and deprives the soul both of hope and
fear. Justine died, she rested, and I was alive. The blood flowed freely in my
veins, but a weight of despair and remorse pressed on my heart which
nothing could remove. Sleep fled from my eyes; I wandered like an evil
spirit, for I had committed deeds of mischief beyond description horrible,
and more, much more (I persuaded myself) was yet behind. Yet my heart
overflowed with kindness and the love of virtue. I had begun life with
benevolent intentions and thirsted for the moment when I should put them
in practice and make myself useful to my fellow beings. Now all was blasted;
instead of that serenity of conscience which allowed me to look back upon
the past with self-satisfaction, and from thence to gather promise of new
hopes, I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me
away to a hell of intense tortures such as no language can describe.
(Frankenstein, Chapter 9)

‫دكتور‬
‫كود (‪)424‬‬
‫الترم (‪)8‬‬
‫ إنجليزي‬- ‫برنامج اآلداب والترجمة‬ – ‫مركز جامعة القاهرة للتعليم المفتوح‬
2 : ‫المحاضرة‬ 8 : ‫الترم‬ 424 : ‫الكود‬
Lecture Two
Role of Culture in Translating Literature
Objectives:
1) Students will be introduced to the role of culture in translation.
2) Students will be introduced to the role of the translator as a cultural
mediator.
This lecture handles the interrelationship between culture, language
and thought pointing out how language reflects and expresses the culture in
which it is ‘born’ and used, and how language determines the ideological
framework of its users. The problem of cultural and linguistic differences
will also be handled clarifying how the translators try to overcome these
differences hoping to offer translations that do not sound culturally weird
or odd to the target reader.
The language of a people asserts and reflects the way they see the
universe; a common sentence usually used in socio-linguistic studies to
indicate how language is the carrier or communicator of the ideology,
beliefs, value system … etc. of a certain community. This means that people
express their ideas, beliefs, dreams … etc. through language. This language
changes and develops to keep pace with the changes in people’s life and
ideas, scientific progress and technological advancement. For example,
Shakespeare’s English is different from contemporary English which is full
of scientific terms reflecting the technological aspects of the modern man’s
life. This implies the fact that any human language is capable of change,
development and even sophistication. This means that human language
must be in a state of constant change to match man’s mental processes and

how they develop and sophisticate.
There is a kind of interrelationship between language, thought and
culture. But before going deep into this idea, it is important to differentiate
between two definitions of culture: culture may mean “refinement of mind,
tastes, and manners; artistic and intellectual development; the artistic and
intellectual side of civilization” (The New Shorter Oxford, Vol. I: 568). This
definition implies man’s interest in reading, music, fine arts … etc. The
second definition refers to some features shared by a community, especially
those ones which might distinguish it from other communities. The New
Shorter Oxford gives a similar definition: “the distinctive customs,
achievements, products, outlook, etc., of a society or group; the way of life
of a society or group” (Vol. I: 568). That is to say, we are concerned with
that concept of culture in which a language is born, grows, develops and
finally reflects that culture.
The differences in human languages are clearly reflected in
translation: there may be a word in Arabic, for example, which has no
equivalent in other languages e.g. ‫ زكاة‬، ‫ عمرة‬، ‫ ُخلع‬, … etc. This highlights
that part of the difficulty of translation is attributed to the fact that no two
languages are culturally or linguistically the same way. For example, in
Arabic, there are two different, distinctive words for an old man and old
woman, that is "‫ "شيييخ‬and "‫ "عجوز‬and this does not exist in English which
modifies ‘man’, ‘woman’ using ‘old’ to indicate the same fact. Similarly,
"‫ "يأكل‬in Arabic and ‘eat’ in English apply to both man and animal, but in
German, people ‘essen’ and animals ‘fressen’.

For example, linguists and anthropologists discovered that the

Eskimos have from eight to twelve distinct words for snow distinguishing
its colour, structure, shape … etc, but in the heart of Africa where there is
no snow, such lexical items (with their connotations or semantic
implications) will be totally irrelevant. Another good example is related to
the sounds made by camels: the Bedouin Arab, who lives in the desert with
only the camel as a society, can distinguish between seventeen different
sounds produced by a camel, a European who hardly knows the camel will
find such lexical items describing a camel’s sound sophisticated, far-fetched
or at least culture-bound. Eth-thacaliby mentions this fact:
‫ أرزمت (وذلك على ولدها حتى ترأمه) * والحنين أشد‬:‫إذا أخرجت الناقة صوتا ً من حلقها ولم تفتح به فاها قيل‬
‫من الر زمة * فإذا قطعت صوتها ولم تمده قيل بغمت وتزغمت * فإذا ضجت قيل رغت * فإذا طربت فى إثر‬
‫ سجعت * فإذا بلغ‬:‫ سجرت * فإذا مدت الحنين على جه ٍة واحد ٍة قيل‬:‫ حنت * فإذا مدت حنينها قيل‬:‫ولدها قيل‬
‫ كت وقبقب * فإذا‬:‫ كشكش وقشقش * فإذا ارتفع قليالً قيل‬:‫ كش * فإذا زاد عليه قيل‬:‫الذكر من اإلبل الهدير قيل‬
‫ زغد * فإذا جعل كأنه‬:‫ قرقر * فإذا جعل يهدر كأنه يقصره قيل‬:‫ هدر * فإذا صفا صوته قيل‬:‫أفصح بالهدير قيل‬
(227) .‫ قلخ‬:‫يقلعه قيل‬
The translator’s role is not only a mediator between the source text
and the target reader: s/he acts as a creator of new target-language
structures that do not sound alien to the target reader and preserve the
rhetorical effect and metaphorical content of the message of the source text.
This is due to the fact that the effectiveness and the communicativeness of
the image depend largely on the shared knowledge of the hearer (or target
reader) and the speaker (or source text). The problem occurs when there is
a discrepancy between the cultural background of the source text and that
of the target reader.

For example, the common image "‫"أثلج صييدرى‬, which is part of daily
usage, represents an example of culture-specific images. The cultural
equivalent of this idiomatic expression is “it warmed my heart”.
Paradoxically "‫ "أثييلييج‬in Arabic is rendered as “warm” in English due to
cultural differences. To make this point clearer, the Arab who lives in hot
atmosphere, believes that "‫ "الثلج‬is something pleasing and this is why ‫"أثلج‬
"‫ صدرى‬refers to something pleasing to the speaker. In contrast, the English
man who lives in a cold atmosphere considers warmth one of the pleasures
of life and this is why s/he says “it warmed my heart”. Another revealing
example is Shakespeare’s famous line of verse “shall I compare thee to a
summer’s day”. The beauty of the line is highly appreciated by an English
man who considers summer one of the pleasures of life, but to an Arab, to
whom summer is totally unpleasant, the comparison will be strange and
alien. A good translator will be satisfied to translate summer here as ‫"نسمة‬
"‫صيف‬, which is a good functional choice.
Similarly the image "‫ "جميلة كالقمر‬in Arabic is functionally translated
in English as “she is as beautiful as a rose”. The beauty of the moon is felt
by people, Arabs, who live in the desert where the moon is the only source
of light at night: it represents light, romance and love. The English man who
lives in a foggy climate will hardly appreciate the image in question. In the
English culture, the moon is metaphorically used in some idioms to refer to
a person’s changeability and moodiness e.g. “Jane is as changeable as the
moon”. Another illustrating example is the English weather idioms: the
English people are famous for using expressions related the weather which
are very difficult to translate such as “come rain”, “come shine” … etc.
Another interesting example is the word “owl”, "‫ "البومة‬and its different
connotations in both Arabic and English. In Arabic, the word "‫ " بومييية‬is
associated with ill-omen, gloom and jinx. This is pointed out by Ibn
Manzour when he mentions "‫"ينعق كالبوم‬. In the English culture the owl is
associated with wisdom and respectability: in Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English, the adjective “owlish” is defined as “serious and
clever” e.g. “Professor Jay looked owlish in his horn-rimmed spectacles”
(1014) meaning respectable and solemn. This meaning will be odd to the
Arab reader who has totally different connotations of the same adjective,
‘owlish’. Such examples reveal the cultural differences between languages:
what is common and acceptable in one language may be abnormal and
weird in another.
In literary works, authors resort to cultural details to create an
atmosphere of realism and complete the picture they want to create and
instil in the readers' (or audience's) minds. Such details are important to
translate, but sometimes they are problematic as revealed by the following
extract from Al-Mawardi Cafe:
‫ الحزن يفي‬.‫ أشييارت برعبها إلى باع حجرة شييعبان‬.‫أبصيير ممدوأ أم شييعبان تلطم خديها بال صييوت‬
‫ كف عن المذاكرة‬.‫ امتحانه في الغد‬.‫ مزق كتب الطب‬:‫ قالت‬.‫ شيييييفتاها يمصيييييها الهلع‬.‫من عينيها أنهارا‬
‫ أشيييعلت النار‬.‫ عملت له عروسييية‬.‫ الحسيييد مذكور في القرلن‬.‫ عين أصيييابته‬.‫ كان يذاكر ليل نهار‬، ‫فجأة‬
.‫ عينا واسعة‬.‫ رأيت العين التي أصابته‬.‫فيها‬
This extract contains four cultural elements: the title, slapping the face,
the evil eye and the (paper) doll. To put it more clearly, when a woman gives
birth to a child in the Arab world, she has a title consisting of the word
'mother' and the name of her eldest son/daughter; slapping the face is a
physical act or a cultural behaviour showing grief; the evil eye refers to the

eye of evil and the (paper) doll refers to those who envy the person whose
eyes are pierced by a needle to put an end to their evil.
The translator is expected to find no difficulty in rendering the first three

elements. Slapping the face might not have the same connotations in the
target culture: a person slapping himself/herself will look like a lunatic, but
still it indicates sadness, pain or rage. Referring to the evil eye is understood
by the English reader who has 'evil eye' in his culture, that is, "a malicious
look; such a look superstitiously believed to do material harm; the ability to
cast such looks" (The New Shorter Oxford, vol. I 867). The real problem
consists in the translation of the "doll": to be appropriately translated, it
has to be modified by 'paper' and accompanied by a footnote or bracketing
to disambiguate this cultural act or behaviour.
Let's judge the following translation provided by Marlyn

Iskandar (1998):
Mamdouh saw Om Shaaban silently slapping her face with her hands.
Fearfully she pointed to Shabaan's bedroom door. Grief was overflowing
her eyes like rivers. Her lips were sucked by terror. She said: "He tore the
medical books. His exam is tomorrow. He stopped studying suddenly. It is
an evil eye. Evil eyes are mentioned in the Koran. I made him a doll. I burnt
it. I saw the eyes that struck him. Wide eyes."

Application: Read the following translation then do the following:

1) Point out the difficulties faced by the translator and how he
overcame them.
2) How he succeeded in rendering the extract.
‫ تغنى عبدهللا بفوله‬.‫ نادى عم سيييييييد بصييييييوته الجهير على جرالده‬.‫تفتح النهار في شييييييارع المواردي‬
:‫ تراقص سييييييفروت‬.‫ زقزق أطفال المنيرة حول عربته المزدانة‬.‫ تمايل عم طه بالع الحلوى‬.‫الكهرمان‬
.‫ هللا‬:‫ ارتفع صوت وقور‬.‫ انطلق الشيخ الطبالوي يرتل سورة يوسف من مقهى المواردي‬.‫صباحنا لبن‬
(7).‫ تصاعدت رالحة البخور‬.‫هللا‬
Morning settled over Mawardi Street. Sayed cried out with blaring voice
for newspaper; Abdullah for his delicious beans; Taha, the sweets vendor
swayed gracefully; the children of the Mounira district chirped around his
colorfully decorated cart; Safroot danced around calling: 'Morning Milk';
Sheikh Tablawi's voice came chanting the Picture of Yussef from Mawradi
café; a loud, dignified voice said: Allah, Allah. The smell of incense filled the
place. (Iskander 5)

‫دكتور‬
‫كود (‪)424‬‬
‫الترم (‪)8‬‬
3:‫المحاضرة‬ 8 : ‫الترم‬ 424: ‫الكود‬
Lecture Three
Domestication versus Foreignization

Objectives:
1-Students will be introduced to the concept of domestication.
2- Students will be introduced to the concept of Foreignization.
Another issue which is closely related to crossing cultural barriers in

literary translation and rendering culturemes (cultural elements or
features) is the conflict or debate between domestication and Foreignization
as two approaches or strategies adopted when the translator renders a text
(especially that which contains culture-specific elements). Domestication
describes using a strategy to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for
the TL readers. In other words, it refers to the translator’s tendency to
undertake a cultural naturalization or neutralization of the translated text.
S/he tries to neutralize the culture-specific features of the original text to
produce a text that matches the target reader’s environment as the reader
is given the priority over the text or faithfulness, as it were, is to win the
reader’s approval. Supporters of this trend or tendency believe that a
‘domesticated text’ will be more acceptable, enjoyed and understood by the
readers whose cultural context might be totally different from that to which
the original text belongs.
However, those who oppose this trend believe that domestication
makes the original text lose its cultural specificity and flavour and no
‘cultural addition’ is introduced to the readers (and audience). Thus the
pleasure of reading other literatures is lost or at least minimized.
Foreignization indicates faithfulness to the original, that is,
maintaining the alien, culture-specific nature of the original text. This
implies that the translator’s main job is to preserve the distinctive identity
(cultural and linguistic) of the original. This tendency takes the target
readers and audience into new cultural and linguistic realms (of the original
text) different from theirs.
Let's see how the translators of Hamlet followed different strategies:
sometimes they ‘domesticate’ the text, sometimes ‘foreignize’ it and in other
cases neutralize it (they neither keep the original content, nor find an
equivalent in the target culture). For example, in Act III, Scene II, Hamlet
says to Rosencrantz:
Hamlet: Ay, sir, but ‘while the grass grows’—the proverb is something
musty
In fact, Hamlet mentions half of an old saying: “while the grass grows,
the simple horse starves”. The three translators are required to
disambiguate this proverb to the target readers and audience and to do so,
they follow different strategies:
Al Qut: "‫ إنه مثل مبتذل‬،‫ لكن على أن ينمو العشب‬،‫" اجل يا سيدي‬
Al Qut keeps the original proverb literally (Foreignization), but in his

footnotes, he completes the proverb and translates it, without providing the
Arab reader with an Arabic equivalent.
Awad: "‫"إلى أن ينبت العشب‬:‫"ولكني ما أخالك إال عالما ً بالمثل القديم‬
Awad almost follows the same strategy: keeping the original proverb
(Foreignization), but he feels that this might not be clear to the Arab readers
and therefore resorts to footnotes in which he completes the English proverb
and provides a colloquial Arabic equivalent that alleviates the degree of the
Foreignization of the translation provided; “the donkey dies before the
grass is brought”.
Enani: "‫ إلى أن يجيء الترياق من العراق‬-‫"نعم يا سيدي! لكن – كمل يقول المثل‬
Enani’s approach is different: he is a professor of translation and a

firm supporter of domestication believing that a translator’s role is to
bridge, and not to widen, the gap between the ST and the target reader.
Therefore, he opts for a standard Arabic equivalent that carries the same
meaning and connotation “till antidote comes from Iraq”. Enani tries to
achieve a kind of ‘proverbial equivalence’ which refers. In his endnotes, he
(Enani) not only justifies his choice, but also gives the reader another
colloquial equivalent; the same one used by Awad.
Thus, the strategies adopted by the three translators are clear: both
al Qut and Awad favour Foreignization, whereas Enani favours
domestication. This simply means that each one of them tries to render this
cultureme or cross this cultural barrier in his own way, although Enani
seems to be the most successful in my personal estimation as it will be clear
to the audience when the translation (i.e. the play) is performed. The choices
provided by Al Qut and Awad will not be as clear as the one provided by
Enani. This shows that Enani gives priority to the addressee, who is the core
of the skopostheorie.
Another cultureme that represents a cultural barrier is the one used
by Polonius in a dialogue with Ophelia (Act I, Scene III) about Hamlet’s
love for her:
Polonius: Ay, springes to catch woodcocks
The editor of one of the editions of Hamlet points out that "
Woodcocks are common symbols of foolishness and stupidity in the English
culture: woodcocks were easily snared and were therefore considered to be
foolish. The phrase used by Polonius was proverbial; it meant ‘traps to
catch fools’, and this is what he believes Hamlet’s vows to be. (Lott: 32).
This symbol (of stupidity) is culture-specific and would seem alien or
strange to the Arab readers or audience. This means that it is the
translators’ task to adopt an appropriate strategy to alleviate the weirdness
of the symbol used:
Al Qut: "‫"حبالل الصطياد طيور الغابة الحمقى‬

Awad: "‫"تلك أحابيل الصطياد الدجاج البري‬
Enani: "‫"نعم! أحابيل اصطياد ساذج الطيور‬
It is obvious that the three translators follow different strategies.
Awad favours Foreignization; he renders woodcock as ‫( الدجاج البري‬a literal
equivalent of springes); this choice highlights the foreign identity of the
original. Al Qut seems to be wavering between domestication and
Foreignization: he seems to be convinced that a literal translation of
‘woodcock’ would not win the readers’ or audience’s approval
(domesticating tendency) and at the same time would like to stick to the
original (Foreignization). He reaches a kind of compromise: he renders
woodcock as ‫( طيور الغابة الحمقى‬foolish birds of the wood); a technique known
as translation by a superordinate. This is a very common strategy adopted
by translators to fill in any semantic or cultural gap if the target language
lacks a hyponym equivalent to the one used in the original text or if the
hyponym is available, but does not carry the same connotations and
propositional content of the original. Along the same lines, Enani seems not
to favour Foreignization: he realizes, as indicated in his endnotes, that this
is the wrong strategy. He resorts to the same technique used by Al Qut but
in a more general way; he renders the word as ‫( سيييياذج الطيور‬foolish birds)
and it is up to the readers and audience to imagine the bird (symbolic of
foolishness) in their culture. What Enani does is not domestication proper,
but a kind of neutralization or naturalization that helps not to block the
channel of communication between the text and the target reader:
Application: Read the following translation then do the following:
1-Point out the difficulties faced by the translator and how he overcame
them.
2- How he succeeded in rendering the extract.
‫ ثم بدأ يرسم ومرت لحظات وهو منهمك في الرسم حتى ظن‬،‫طلب الفولي من مساعديه ورقة وقلما‬
‫ لكن الفولي لم يلبث أن انتهى من الرسم ثم أدار الورقة بيديه ناحية‬،‫الحاج عزام أن في األمر خطأ ما‬
:‫ وظل صامتا فترة ثم سأل بود‬،‫عزام الذي فوجئ بأن الرسم يمثل أرنبا كبيرا‬
‫ال أفهم ما تقصده سعادتك‬-
:‫فرد الفولي بسرعة‬
..‫ وأنا رسمت لك المطلوع‬،‫ وتسأل عن المطلوع‬،‫أنت عاوز تضمن النجاأ في االنتخابات‬
‫ دا كتير جدا‬..!‫أرنب بحاله؟! مليون جنيه يا كمال بك؟‬
.. ‫كان عزام يتوقع المبلغ لكنه لثر المساومة لعل وعسى‬
!‫اسمع يا حاج!! تصدق باهلل؟‬:‫وقال الفولي‬
"‫فردد الحاضرون جميعا "ال إله إال هللا‬
‫لكن‬..‫ ياسييير ابني أهو قدامك يقولك‬،‫ مليون‬2‫أنا بأخذ في دوالر أقل من قصييير النيل مليون ونصيييف و‬
‫ أنا‬..‫ وبعدين المبلغ دا ال لخذه وحدي‬..‫وهللا العظيم أنا أحبك يا حاج ونفسييييييي تبقى معانا في المجلع‬
)‫ عالء األسواني‬-‫ (عمارة يعقوبيان‬.‫بوسطجي لخذ منك وأوصل لغيرك وإنت سيد العارفين‬
El Fouli asked his helpers for pen and paper. Then he started to draw and
for a few moments was absorbed in his task that Hagg Azzam thought that
something was wrong. El Fouli soon finished, however, and turned the piece
of paper toward Azzam, who was astonished to see that the drawing
represented a large rabbit. He said nothing for a moment, then asked him
in an amicable way, "I don't understand what you mean, Your Excellency."

El Fouli answered quickly, "You want to guarantee your success in the

elections, and you're asking what's needed. I've drawn a picture of what is
needed."
"A whole rabbit? A million pounds, Kamal Bey? That's a huge amount!"
Azzam had been expecting the amount but preferred to bargain, just in
case. El Fouli said, "Listen Hagg, as God is my witness…"
(Here all present repeated, "There is no god but God."
"… In constituencies smaller than Kasr el Nil I take a million and a half,
two million, and my son Yasser is standing here in front of you and he can
tell you. But I love you, and I swear to God, Hagg, and I really want you
with us in the assembly. Plus I don't take all that for myself. I'm just the
postman- I take from you and deliver to others, and a nod's as good as a
wink." (Translated by Humphrey Davies)

‫دكتور‬
‫كود (‪)424‬‬
‫الترم (‪)8‬‬
Lecture Four
Translating Figures of Speech

Objectives:
1-Students will be introduced to the major figures of speech.
2- Students will be introduced to the difficulties of translating figurative
language.
What Are the Major Figures of Speech:
Metonymy: In metonymy, the name of one thing is replaced with

something that is closely related to it, e.g. The White House asked the
television networks for broadcasting on Monday night.
Personification: Associating an inanimate object to human quality, e.g. My
car was happy to be washed.
Simile: Simile is a figure of speech where two essentially unlike things are
compared with each other, using 'as', 'than' or 'like', e.g.O my love is like
a red, red rose.
Synecdoche: It is a part of speech similar to metonymy, where a part of a
particular object is used to refer to the whole thing, e.g. America won the
gold medal (American athletes).
Irony: Irony is used to convey the opposite meaning of a word. It is usually
used in sarcasm or in humor. It is also used to convey an ugly truth in a
subtle manner, e.g. The boy is so intelligent that he failed in all the subjects.
(Verbal Irony)
Metaphor: Metaphor is used for the purpose of comparison with a thing
which is not applicable to it literally. It is an indirect comparison of two
unrelated things, e.g. He was a lion in the battlefield.
One of the distinctive features of literary writing is the use of
figurative language. In other words, authors resort to figurative language
to convey deeper meanings and create more effective pictures. The
following speech by Claudius is a case in point:
Claudius: Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death

The memory be green, and that it us befitted
To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom
To be contracted in one brow of woe,
Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature
That we with wisest sorrow think on him,
Together with remembrance of ourselves. (Act I, Scene
II)
Claudius in this speech uses two figures of speech: colour imagery, "the
memory be green" and a synecdoche, "to be contracted in brow", (a part,
brow, referring to a whole, face) to show his feigned sadness to lose his
brother. The use of figure of speech reveals his hypocritical nature and
acting manner: he is never off-stage. This is why the images in question are
important to be translated to keep the portrayal of this character as
intended by Shakespeare.
The translators of Hamlet seem to have different approaches as
revealed by the following:
Al Qut: ،‫الذكرى‬ ‫إن يكن موت هاملت أخينا العزيز مازال غ‬

‫جبينا‬ ‫ وتغدو مملكتنا كلها‬،‫ كما هو خليق بنا‬،‫وإن يمأل الحزن قلوبنا‬
‫ فإن سداد الرأي مع ذلك قد غالب‬،‫واحدا ً يغضنه األسى‬
‫حتى نذكره بحزن أكثر حكمة ونذكر أنفسنا معه الطبيعة‬
Awad: ،‫على الرغم من موت أخينا هاملت‬
،‫ما برحت ذكراه ماثلة في خاطرنا‬
،‫وإننا جديرون أن تمتلئ قلوبنا حزنا ً وكمدا‬
،‫مملكتنا كلها‬ ‫وأن تنقب‬
‫كأنها جبهة غضنتها الكآبة؟‬
،‫فإن العقل لم يزل يكافح الطبع‬
‫حتى أصبحنا نفكر بحزن يخالطه الحزم‬
.‫والشعور بالواجب الملقى علينا‬
Enani: ‫إن كانت ذكرى فقد أخينا المحبوع الراحل هاملت‬

‫وإذا كان من األنسب من ثم لنا‬،‫مازلت خضراء‬
ً ‫ بل أن تمسي هذه المملكة جميعا‬،‫أن نتحمل ثقل قلوع مفعمة بالهم‬
‫ فالواقع أن سداد الرأي‬،‫جبهة حزن واحدة جهمه‬
‫لم يلبث أن صارع ذاك الحزن الفطري‬
‫حتى انتصرت فينا أحزان الحكماء‬
!‫وغدونا نذكره دون تجاهل أنفسنا‬
The three translators adopt different approaches: Enani is the one

keen on keeping the two original images (colour imagery + synecdoche) to
keep the Shakespearean portrayal of characters. Al Qut and Awad agree
with Enani on keeping the synecdoche, but the three of them replaced the
brow with the forehead as the former is not the common body part
associated with sorrow and sadness in Arabic. As for the colour imagery,
Awad paraphrased it as ‫' ما برحت ذكراه ماثلة في خاطرنا‬his memory is still alive
in our minds', whereas Al Qut uses an equivalent image, ‫موت هاملت أخينا‬
‫' العزيز مازال غ الذكرى‬the memory of the death of our brother Hamlet is
still soft'. Both of them sacrifice the colour imagery which is not the case
of Enani who prefers to keep the maximum degree of figurative
equivalence and renders it as " ( ‫إن كييانييت ذكرى فقييد أخينييا المحبوع الراحييل هيياملييت‬
"‫' مازلت خضيييراء‬the memory of the loss of our late beloved brother is still
green'.
The image used by the author might be more problematic if it is a
case of lexical ambiguity resulting from the ambiguity of a word. The
following image used by Biff in Death of a Salesman (Act II) reveals this
feature:
Biff: I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You
were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed
in the ash can like all the rest of them! I’m one dollar an hour,
Willy I tried seven states and couldn’t raise it. A buck an hour!
Do you gather my meaning? I’m not bringing home any prizes
any more, and you’re going to stop waiting for me to bring them
home!
This is a confrontation between Willy and Biff, his son, in which he

(Biff) tries to open his father's eyes to the truth making him believe that
his whole life has been a big lie. This macabre image sums up the capitalist
American society according to Miller: a man is nothing but a cog in a
machine, when the machine wears off, he is thrown along with the scrap
and the garbage. This image is a key and functional one that carries the
philosophy that Miller wants to impart in this play about the brutality of
the capitalist system.
The image in question is a bit confusing for the student because it
contains a homonym: a homonymous word is the one that has totally
unrelated meanings. "Drummer" has two unrelated meanings (and both
can be functional in this context): "1- A person who beats a drum …2-A
person who solicits custom or orders; a commercial traveller; a salesman.
colloq." (The New Shorter Oxford: vol. I 757). The first meaning is the
more figurative one as it presents Willy as a person who has beating the
drums all through his life: he has been exaggerating his success and creates
an illusory world from which he cannot escape. The English language has
an idiom related to this meaning, that is, beat or thumb the (big) drum(s)
meaning "to make loud or ostentatious advertisement or protest" (The
New Shorter Oxford: vol. I 756). The second meaning of the drummer, a
salesman, carries a realistic, literal picture. What helps in increasing the
confusion is that both (the salesman and the one who beats the drums) can
land "in the ash can like the rest of them!"
In such cases of lexical ambiguity, the translator has two choices: to
opt for one choice and ignore the other, or to choose one and explain the
other in a footnote or between brackets to keep this kind of lexical richness.
Atta was quite decisive about this in his translation and opted for the first
(literal) choice as shown by the following:
‫ لم تكن أبدا إال بياعا عابرا للطرقات مثابرا على‬..‫وال أنت‬..‫ لسيييييييت أنا قالدا للرجال يا ويلي‬:‫بيف‬
‫ إن‬..‫ ثم حططت رحالك لخر األمر في رماد كما عمل غيرك من البياعين والرواد‬،‫عرض المشتروات‬
‫ جبت سيييبع واليات ولم أسيييتطع ان‬..‫ جبت من أجل هذا الدوالر‬،‫أجري يا ويلي هو دوالر في السييياعة‬
‫ وسيييتتوقف أنت عن‬..‫؟ ولم أسيييتطع أن أرجع معي جوالز او حوافز‬..‫ أتفهم مغزى ذلك‬..‫أحصيييل عليه‬
.‫انتظار رجوعي‬

‫برنامج اآلداب والترجمة ‪ -‬إنجليزي‬ ‫–‬ ‫مركز جامعة القاهرة للتعليم المفتوح‬
‫المحاضرة‪4:‬‬ ‫الترم ‪8 :‬‬ ‫الكود ‪424:‬‬
‫‪Application: Read the following translation then do the following:‬‬

‫‪1-Point out the difficulties faced by the translators and how they overcame‬‬
‫‪them.‬‬
‫‪2- How they succeeded in rendering the extract.‬‬
‫‪Claudius:‬‬ ‫‪Break not your sleeps for that. You must not think‬‬
‫‪That we are made of stuff so flat and dull‬‬
‫‪That we can let our beard be shook with danger,‬‬
‫‪And think it pastime. You shortly shall hear more.‬‬
‫;‪I loved your father, and we love ourself‬‬
‫‪And that, I hope, will teach you to imagine.‬‬
‫‪Al Qut:‬‬ ‫مضجعك‬ ‫ال تدع هذا األمر يق‬

‫وال تظنن أنا جبلنا من طينة خالرة‬
‫خاملة حتى ليعبث الخطر بلحيتنا‬
‫فنحسه متعة وتسلية!‬
‫لقد كنت أحب أباك‪..‬ونحن نحب أنفسنا‪،‬‬
‫ولعلك لهذا تستطيع أن تتخيل‪.‬‬
‫‪Awad:‬‬ ‫ال حاجة أن يسهد طرفك من أجل هذا‪،‬‬

‫وما ينبغي لك أن تظن أو تتوهم‬
‫أننا صنعنا من مادة بليدة‪،‬‬
‫بحيث نسمح لألخطار أن تعبث بلحيتنا‪،‬‬
‫ونعد هذا ضربا ً من التسلية‪ ،‬وعما قريب تسمع المزيد‬
‫إنا نكن الحب ألبيك‪ ،‬كما أننا نحب أنفسنا‪،‬‬
‫ورجالي أن تتعلم من هذا كيف تتصور‪.‬‬
‫(‪)5‬‬ ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

‫‪Enani:‬‬ ‫هذا األمر مضجعك! وال تظن أننا‬ ‫حذار أن يق‬

‫خلقنا هكذا من طينة الخمول والبالدة‬
‫حتى يمسنا الخطر – يعبث في لحيتنا ونحن ال نراه‬
‫غير له ٍو أو لعب! لسوف تسمع المزيد عن قريب!‬
‫لعل ذاك أن يساعدك‪ -‬على تصور الذي‪.‬‬

‫دكتور‬
‫كود (‪)424‬‬
‫الترم (‪)8‬‬
Lecture Five
Translating Poetry
Objectives:
1-Students will be introduced to the difficulty of translating poetry.
2- Students will be introduced to the common strategies adopted by
translators in translating poetry.
Translating poetry has been considered by a lot of translation

scholars and theorists to be the most onerous and strenuous type of
translation, because translation loss is maximal in this case. Peter Newmark
(1988), one of the most famous scholars of translation, indicates the reasons
for this loss, when he says “the more the text uses the resources of language
and therefore the more important its form, the greater the losses of
meaning; the greatest loss is in poetry, since it uses all forms of language”.
One major translation difficulty confronting translators, when
attempting to render poetry, is how to translate figures of speech. Some of
them are universal images and represent no problem to the translator e.g.
“the stone” as an image of hardness and cruelty, “roses” as image of beauty,
“the sea” as an image of loss, ambiguity and passage of time … etc. But some
culture-specific images represent a nightmare to translators who should
realize that one beautiful figure of speech in one culture may sound ugly,
foolish, weird or at least odd in another. However, this does not mean that
the translator has utter freedom to make changes that may make the poem
lose its cultural identity.
Another major problem related to the translation of poetry resides in the

phonic aspect of poetry, that is, part of the pleasure of reading or reciting
poetry comes from the musical aspect created by the rhyme scheme,
rhythm, alliteration, assonance, consonance … etc. Preserving such aspects
in the translation is a hard, and in many cases an impossible, task to the
translator due to the morpho-syntactic differences between languages. A
musical structure in one language, when translated, might not result in a
similar one in terms of music or musical effect.
Another difficulty confronting translators of poetry is the language
used in the poem. In other words, the poetry chosen to be translated may be
written in a language that is totally different from that of the age of the
translator. For example, the language used in the pre-Islamic poetry
abounds in archaic, obsolete vocabulary items that are no longer used in
MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) representing a problem even to native
speakers of Arabic nowadays. Such vocabulary items are related to a life
style, customs and tradition, world view, interests … etc that no longer have
place in our modern life.
Let's evaluate the strategies adopted by two translators in rendering

two famous poems: “Al-Mu’allaqa” by Desmond O’Grady, an American
who was invited to teach at American University in Cairo and published his
translation in 1997. “Al-Burda” is translated by Thoraya Mahdi Allam, an
Egyptian Muslim who was born in Cairo and spent twelve years of her
childhood in England with her family. However, it is noteworthy to mention
that such an evaluation is not meant to undermine the efforts made by the

two translators because their translations are “remarkable feats” and the
two poems selected are considered by a lot of translators to be
untranslatable or at least a challenge that is hard to overcome.
I- Translation by Omission:
This very title, or strategy, may seem paradoxical to many readers
who, rightly, believe that a translation is expected to “add” not to “omit”.
However, the adoption of this strategy is justified in the field of translation
especially in cases where mentioning certain details will, according to the
best of the translator’s knowledge, create an ambiguous target text, and
consequently block the channel of communication between the target text
and target reader.
In the case of rendering culture-specific poetry, translators resort to
this strategy to avoid the “translational nuisance” caused by the culture-
bound details, symbols, element, images … etc that such poetry abounds in.
Nevertheless, it is important to indicate that omitting such details will make
the reader lose part of the pleasure of reading poetry in general. That is to
say, such details constitute an integral part of the cultural and
environmental flavour of the poem.
The following example O’Grady’s translation will unveil this
argument:
‫وإن كنت قد أزمعت صرمى فأجملى‬ ‫هذا التدلل‬ ‫أفاطم مهالً بع‬
Even if you’re bent on a break with me
break with me gently.

The original verse refers to ‫ فاطمة‬: the woman whom the poem addresses,
the poet’s beloved. Yet the translator omits this very important name. This
is an inappropriate strategy. For example, it is really hard to imagine
reading a translation of John Milton’s Paradise Lost in which the translator
omits the names of places, mountains, rivers, angels … etc. The same holds
true for reading a translation of William Wordsworth’s poetry devoid of
names of flowers common in the English countryside. Following this
strategy all through also deprives the target text of what can be called the
“poetic authenticity” of the original.
Allam, on the other hand, does not follow this strategy in her
translation, maybe due to loyalty to a religious poem, unconvinced of this
strategy, to win the target reader’s approval by mentioning all the minute
cultural details of the poem or to preserve the cultural specifity of the poem.
The following verses support this view:
‫مزجـت دمعا ً جرى من مقـلة بـدم‬ ‫أمـن تذكـر جيران بذى سلم‬
‫البرق فى الظلماء من إضم‬ ‫وأوم‬ ‫أم هبت الريح من تلقاء كاظمة‬
Do memories of neighbours
of Dhu Salam cause in woe
The blending of the blood with tears
that from yours eyes thus flow
Or does the wind that from Kazima blows
your eyes now smite
Or lightning is flashes from Idam
in darkness of the night?
Allam mentions the three places in the original in her translation. Not
only that, she mentions in the endnotes, in both English and Arabic,
explanation of the places in question to eradicate any ambiguity: “Dhu

Salam: A place between Mecca and Madina”, “Kazima: A path to Mecca”
and “Idam: A vale near Madina” (153). This means that such details are of
prime importance to the reader who might belong to a totally different
culture.
II-Translation by Paraphrase:
Paraphrase is one of the “safe” and common strategies used by
translators when dealing with culture-specific texts in general. Translators
resort to this strategy when the concept expressed by the source text is not
lexicalized in the target language. A lot of translation theorists and scholars
do not prefer to adopt such a strategy in the translation of poetry, because
we might end up with a prose translation and thus lose the pleasure of
reading a poetic target text. In addition to this, resorting to this strategy
extensively will break the flow of poetic diction and thus spoil the poetic
nature of the original text.
Paraphrase can be a successful strategy if the translator uses it
economically: s/he should resort to this strategy in the case of translating
culture-bound words and phrases that might be ambiguous to the target
reader, or in the case where certain words or phrases in the original create
a semantic void that has to be filled by a paraphrased expression. The
following verses drive this idea home.
‫والفريقين من عرع ومن عجم‬ ‫محمـد سيد الكونيـن والثقـلين‬
‫أبـر فى قـول ال منه وال نعم‬ ‫نبينـا اآلمـر النـاهى فال أحد‬
‫لكل هول من األهـوال مقتحم‬ ‫هو الحبيب الذى ترجى شفاعته‬

The words written in bold represent semantic voids to the translator

as they are self-explanatory in Arabic, but in English, they cause semantic
ambiguity. For example, both "‫ "الكونين‬and "‫ "الثقلين‬create a semantic and
grammatical void. Grammatically speaking, both are “dual” and the dual
number is no longer used in English. Semantically, concerning the first
word, the reader has to know what the two worlds are and this is why Allam,
having rendered it as “the two worlds”, adds more explanation in the
endnotes: “the two worlds: This world and the Hereafter” (155). Regarding
‫الثقلين‬, she paraphrases it s “Man and the jinn” and she does not explain it
in the endnotes, but her option is self-explanatory. She follows the two
strategies (translation alone, or translation plus endnotes) in rendering
‫ اآلمر‬، ‫ الناهى‬، ‫ الحبيب‬and ‫ شفاعة‬.
Allam’s translation reveals how she finds paraphrase the only way
out of these problematic, semantically complex words:
Mohamed, Lord of the two worlds,
and of Man and the jinn,
Lord also of the Arabs and
non Arabs and their kin
Our prophet, Commander of right,
prohibits evil’s way,
Yet no one’s speech more gentle could be
than his nay or yea.
Beloved by God is he upon
Whose pleading we depend
From terrors of the Day of Judgment,
which on us descend.
Similarly, O’Grady faces semantic and cultural voids that compel

him to resort to paraphrase due to the absence of an adequate equivalent in
the target culture. The following verse unveils this fact:
‫إذا ما استبكرت بين درع ومجول‬ ً‫إلى مثلها يرنو الحليم صبابة‬
On a girl like that girl an older man gazes
with the adoration of an adolescent.
She’s trim, tall, caught between God’s clear
outline of the child and
the curvaceous warmth of womanhood
It’s crystal clear that O’Grady faces problem with ‫ صييييييبابة‬which is
“‫ رقة الهوى‬: ‫ وقيل‬، ‫ رقته وحرارته‬: ‫ وقيل‬، ‫( ”الشوق‬Ibn Manzour, Vol. VII: 270) ‫درع‬
which is “‫( ”قيييييميييييييييييص اليييييميييييرأة‬Az-Zawzany: 27) and ‫ اليييييميييييجيييييول‬which is
“‫( ”ثوع تلبسه الجارية الصغيرة‬ibid: 27).
He paraphrases ‫ صيييبابة‬as “adoration of an adolescent”, a translation
which can be criticized because “adoration” alone would have been enough.
When he comes to ‫ درع‬and ‫ المجول‬, he prefers to mention the hidden meaning
behind these two types of clothes, that is, the poet’s beloved combines two
types of beauty; that of little girls and the one of mature women.
III- Translation by Cultural Substitution:

Translators resort to this strategy when the source text contains
culture-specific terms or expressions that do not have adequate equivalents
in the target language and consequently they search for cultural equivalents
in the target language that have the same propositional meaning of the

original term or expression. The following verse reveals O’Grady’s

adoption of this strategy
‫بسهميك فى أعشار قلب معطل‬ ‫وما ذرفت عيناك إال لتضربى‬
Surely your eyes
did not well up and weep tears like daggers

to mindlessly splinter
my lovesick heart !
He replaces "‫ "بسهميك‬with daggers for no obvious reason. The original
image is a universal one and if literally translated, it will be understood by
all readers regardless of their different cultural backgrounds. Most
languages of the world know Cupid “the Roman god of love, son of Mercury
and Venus (represented as a beautiful naked winged boy with a bow and
arrows)” (The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. I: 571). Thus,
the arrow of love is a universal image and the English language has the
idiom “Cupid’s dart” which indicates “the conquering power of love” (ibid:
571).
O’Grady makes a more grievous mistake in the translation of the
following verses.
‫تتابع كفيـه بخيـط موصـل‬ ‫درير كخذروف الوليد أمره‬
‫وإرخاء سرحان وتقريب تتفل‬ ‫له أيطال ظبى وساقا نعامة‬
He’s quicker than quicklime,
quick as the peg-top flicked by a child
off a tight spinning top’s string.
My camel has the haunches of gazelle in gallop,
his legs the leanness of ostrich loping.
He sports the jerky jog of the jackal

looks fox frisky.
Throughout the history of Arabic poetry, Imru’ Al-Qay’s description
of his horse’s quickness, skill, boldness and ability to maneuver has been
frequently quoted. In other words, Arabs, readers, critics and poets
unanimously agree that in the above verses, the poet is talking about his
horse. In spite of this, O’Grady replaces “horse” with “camel” for no
obvious reason. His inaccurate choice does not convey the idea behind the
description because throughout the history of Arabs, even till today, the
horse is the classical example of knighthood, bravery and warriorship. Also,
in Pre-Islamic Age, a noble warrior, famous prince and matchless poet like
Imru’ Al-Qays would never be proud of riding a camel in a war or in
hunting.
Allam sometimes believes that cultural substitution is the best policy
when certain culture-specific images are involved: she realizes that such
images, if literally translated, might not be understood by the target reader.
To clarify this point, some images are derived from the environment itself
and rendering them literally might not be comprehended or accepted by the
target reader who may belong to a totally different environment. The
following example highlights the above fact:
‫لقد ظفرت بجبل هللا فاعتصم‬ ‫قرت بها عين قاريها فقلت له‬
The soul of those who read these verses
reach bliss, so I say
“God’s rope you’ve gained, to it adhere
and never go astray”

The image written in bold is a culture-specific one because ‫ قرت‬comes

from ‫“ القر‬coldness” and ‫“ القرور‬cold water”. Out of this literal meaning, a
metaphorical expression has been created, that is "‫"تقر العين‬. Ibn Manzour
reveals this fact: ‫أقر هللا عينه من القرور وهو الماء البارد مثل قولنا أبرد هللا دمعة عينيه ألن‬
‫(دمعة الفرأ باردة‬Vol. II: 100). Similarly, Al-Asfahani points out: ‫أصيييله من القر‬
‫…أى البرد‬
‫ ولذلك يقال‬، ‫فقرت عينها (أى أم موسى) ألن للسرور دمعة باردة قارة وللحزن دمعة حارة‬
.‫(فيمن يدعى عليها أسخن هللا عينه‬398).
IV- Using Endnotes:

It is almost a long-established rule in the field of translation to use
endnotes, footnotes or a glossary in the case of translating culture-specific
texts to explain all the cultural and semantic ambiguities or complexities
that the target reader may face.
Allam is not blind to cultural differences. She realizes that Al-Burda
is replete with Islam-bound terminology e.g. "‫ "الصييراط‬، "‫ "الحوض‬، "‫"الميزان‬
"‫ "الصييديق‬، "‫ "األشييهر الحرم‬، "‫ "الحبيب‬، culture-specific expressions ، "‫"نار القرى‬
"‫ "الهوى العييذرى‬Qur’anic quotations "‫… "قيياع قوسييييييين‬etc. Such features are
expected to represent a meaning barrier to the target reader. To remove
such a barrier, she resorts to endnotes in both English and Arabic (to the
Arab reader who reads her translation). For example, she, in her endnotes,
explains that "‫ "الصييييييديق‬is “the trusting one: Abu Bakr El-Sideek” (158),
"‫ "الهوى العذرى‬comes from “Udhrite: pertaining to Udhra, a tribe in Yemen
whose men were famed for their extreme chastity” (ibid: 153) and "‫"الحوض‬
means
The Pool: After the wicked are punished in Hell for a certain
period, they are released after having been purged of their sins.
Before they enter paradise, they bathe themselves at the Pool,
where their faces regain their original colour after having been
charred in Hell. (160)

V- Translation by a more general word (superordinate)

This is a very common strategy used by translators since the
hierarchical structure of semantic fields is universal. It can be said that
translators resort to this strategy when the target language lacks a hyponym
equivalent to the one in the original text, and to fill in any semantic gap
created by the hyponym in question.
Allam uses superordinates in very few cases, when she thinks that this
strategy is more accurate and will fill in the semantic or cultural void in
question. Let’s see the following example:
‫من حيث لم يدر أن السم فى الدسم‬ ‫كم حسنت لذة للمرء قاتلة‬
How often what to man is fatal
did it thus disguise,
And render so delightful that
he could not realize
The poison in the rich food
or it even recognize
‫والورد يمتاز بالسيما عن السلم‬ ‫شاكى السالأ لهم سيما تميزهم‬
"‫ "السلم‬is "‫( "شجرة من العضاة‬Az-Zawzany: 64), namely, a type of thorny
bushes. Allam uses the superordinate “thorn bushes” due to absence in the
target culture of the same element and as the closest possible approximation
to ST meaning.

VI- Transliteration:
Transliteration is another expected strategy in rendering culture-
specific texts. That is to say, the translator who translates such texts is
expected to find terms peculiar to a certain culture expressing that culture’s
specifity, identity and distinction. In such cases, a lot of translators resort to
transliteration for different reasons the most important of which is to
introduce that concept, with its original articulation, to the target culture
or, logically, due to the absence of an adequate equivalent in the target
culture. But an alert translator is not expected to excessively use this
strategy to avoid ending up with a text dominated by a labyrinth of
transliterated words.
In her translation, Allam follows this strategy par excellence. She tries
to introduce to the target reader a lot of Islam-related and Arabic-bound
terms that colour the poem, but she uses endnotes to clarify the term in
question. The following verse is an example:
‫مثل البهار على خديك والعنم‬ ‫وضنى‬
ً ‫وأثبت الوجد خطى عبرة‬
Love’s passion draws two lines of langour
and of tears which streak
Like yellow bahar and like red anam
upon your cheek.
In her endnotes, she points out that “bahar” is “a plant whose flower
is yellow, and is a symbol of yellowness” (153), whereas “anam” is “a plant
whose flower is red, and is a symbol of redness” (ibid: 153). This emphasizes
that transliteration, when accompanied by endnotes, can be a successful and
reliable strategy.

Application: Translate the following poem into Arabic:

Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement
looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and
imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he
talked; But still he fluttered pulses when he said, "Good-morning," and he
glittered when he walked.
And he was rich – yes, richer than a king –And admirably schooled in every
grace: In fine, we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we
were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light, And went without the meat, and
cursed the bread; And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head. Edwin Arlington Robinson.

‫دكتور‬
‫كود (‪)424‬‬
‫الترم (‪)8‬‬
Lecture Six
Translating Register and Tone
Objectives:
1-Students will be introduced to the concept of 'register' in translation.
2- Students will be introduced to the role of 'tone' in translation.
I- Register:
Register is “the words, style and grammar used by speakers and writers
in a particular situation or in a particular type of writing” (Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English 1190). As far as the translation process
is concerned, the translator tries to choose the variety of language that
matches the text (whether spoken or written) s/he is translating. In other
words, the translator has to choose the variety of language that achieves the
maximum degree of communicativeness between the target reader and the
translated text i.e. the variety that s/he considers appropriate to a specific
situation. The following extract from The Scarlet Letter throws light on this
feature:
Hester Prynne,” said he, leaning over the balcony, and looking down
steadfastly into her eyes, “thou hearest what this good man says, and seest
the accountability under which I labour. If thou feelest it to be for thy soul’s
peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual
to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and
fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for
him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place,
and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so
than to hide a guilty heart through life. What can thy silence do for him,
except it tempt him—yea, compel him, as it were—to add hypocrisy to sin?
Heaven hath granted thee an open ignominy, that thereby thou mayst work
out an open triumph over the evil within thee and the sorrow without. Take
heed how thou deniest to him—who, perchance, hath not the courage to
grasp it for himself—the bitter, but wholesome cup that is now presented to
thy lips!”(73)
This extract represents the first scaffold scene in The Scarlet Letter.
The novel has three scaffold scenes that represent three climatic points in
the action of the novel. Dimmesdale, the clergyman, is asking Hester to
reveal the name of her fellow-sinner, the person with whom she committed
adultery. The language, i.e. register he uses matches his position as a
clergyman: his language is formal, accurate, lofty and of course religious as
revealed by "soul's peace'', "fellow-sinner", "punishment", "salvation"
"guilty "…etc. These features, however, intensify the irony of the whole
situation because he himself is her fellow-sinner, the yet-to-be-discovered
partner! What is needed on the part of the translator here is to use elevated,
dignified and standard Arabic that keeps both the register used by the
writer and the irony of the situation.
Standard Arabic brimful with religious diction that keeps both the
register and the irony should be used. This simply achieve the skopos,
purpose, of the scene, that is, the dramatic irony stemming from having a
sinful clergyman asking his fellow in adultery to reveal his name in public.
This is identically the technique adopted by Kiwan in her translation
as shown by the following:
‫قال وهو يتكئ على جدار ال شييييييرفة وينظر في عينيها مباشييييييرة‪" :‬أنت تسييييييمعين ما يقوله هذا الرجل‬
‫الصالح يا أستير برين‪ ،‬وترين المسؤولية التي أنوء تحتها‪ .‬أوصيك باإلفصاأ عن اسم شريكك في اإلثم‬
‫والمعاناة إن كنت تشييعرين أن هذا سيييؤدي إلى سييالمك الروحي‪ ،‬وأن عقابك الدنيوي سييوف يؤدي من‬
‫خالل ذلك إلى خالص فعال أكثر! ال تصمتي جراء أي إشفاق خاطئ وحنو عليه؛ ألنه صدقيني يا أستير‪،‬‬
‫مع أن عليه الهبوط من مكان مرتفع والوقوف هناك إلى جانبك‪ ،‬على قاعدة العار‪ ،‬من األفضيييييييل ان‬
‫تفعلي‪ ،‬على أن تخفي قلبا لثما طوال الحياة‪ .‬فما الذي يمكن لصمتك ان يفعل له سوى حثه على ارتكاع‬
‫الخطايا – نعم‪ ،‬أن تدفعيه باألحرى – إلى إضافة الرياء إلى الخطيئة؟ لقد سلمت السماء بخزيك الصريح‬
‫الذي يمكنك من خالله تحقيق انتصار صريح على الشر الكامن في داخلك والحزن البادي عليك‪ .‬انتبهي‬
‫على‬ ‫إلى كيف أنت تنكرين أن تكون له عالقة بما حدث لك‪ -‬وهو ربما يفتقر إلى الشييييييجاعة للقب‬
‫الكأس المر‪ ،‬لكن الناجع‪ ،‬الذي يقدم اآلن إلى شفتيك!"‪(56-57).‬‬
‫‪The problem of register becomes more confounded when a shift of‬‬
‫‪register is used in the same dialogue, that is, we have characters of different‬‬
‫‪backgrounds using different registers. The following dialogue from The‬‬
‫‪Yacoubian Building is a revealing example:‬‬
‫يعني أسقط نفسي ويبقى حالل؟!‪ ..‬من يقول كده؟!‪ ..‬ال يمكن أصدقك لو حلفت لي على‬
‫المصحف!‬
‫الحاج عزام واقترع منها وصاأ غاضبا‪:‬‬ ‫وهنا نه‬
‫بأقولك كلمي سيدنا الشيخ بأدع‬
‫فوقفقت سعاد وصاحت وهي تلوأ بذراعيها‪:‬‬
‫سيدنا الشيخ إيه!! كل حاجة بانت‪ ..‬إنت مقبضه فلوس علشان يقول كلمتين خايبيين‪ ..‬بقى‬
‫اإلجهاض حالل أول شهرين؟!‪ ..‬يا شيخ حرام عليك‪ ..‬تروأ من ربنا فين‪..‬؟!‬
‫لم يتوقع الشيخ ذلك الهجوم المفاجئ فأربد وجهه وقال محذرا‪:‬‬
‫احترمي نفسك يا بنيتي وإياك أن تتجاوزي حدودك‬
It is clear that Soad and sheikh As-Samman use two different

registers: Soad uses Egyptian slang and he uses standard Arabic revealing
his educational background and religious status. The students were fully
aware of the shift in register and this is why they used standard formal
English to refer to sheikh As-Samman, but when Soad is concerned, they
use slang, informal expressions like "humbug', "lousy clown"," gonna',
"wanna", "phony sheikh", "you cashed him", "rubbish", "raffish", "
damn it", "God damn it", "dirty work", "shame on you" in addition to
other linguistic devices like the use of contracted forms of words and
punctuation hints like the extensive use of exclamation marks and question
tags.
The professional strategies adopted by the students are identical with

those used by Davies:
"So if I abort myself it won't be a sin? Who could say such a thing? There
is no way I could believe you even if you swear on the Qur'an!"
At this Hagg Azzam stood up, went over to her, and shouted angrily, "I'm
telling you, be polite when you speak to the reverend sheikh!"
Soad rose and shouted, waving her arms, "What reverend sheikh?
Everything is clear now. You have paid him off to say a couple of stupid
things. Abortion's okay in the first two months? Shame on you, sheikh! How
can you sleep at night?"
Sheikh As-Samman, taken unaware by this sudden attack, assumed a
glowering expression and said warningly, "Mind your manners, my
daughter, and watch you don't overstep your bounds."

II- Tone:
Clifford Landers defines tone as “the overall feeling conveyed by an
utterance, a passage or an entire work including both conscious and
unconscious resonance”. In the following scene, Polonius, this time, plays
on the word “matter” to endow it with negative connotations when talking
to the King, the Queen and others about the play Hamlet is preparing “to
catch the conscience of the king”.
Polonius: ‘T is most true
And he beseeched me to entreat your majesties
To hear and see the matter.
To describe the play as “the matter” is meant to show how Polonius
looks down upon what Hamlet is doing to show his allegiance to the King,
who is also rejecting what Hamlet is doing. He (Polonius) appears as an old
doddering fool whose main business in life is political survival in the
complex and deceptive world of the court. Lott , the editor, points out that
“the word sounds rather condescending and Polonius no doubt intends it to
do so” (94). This negative meaning meant by Polonius has to be
communicated to the Arab readers and audience in translation by opting
for a choice that has the same ‘condescending’ overtones; in other words,
the translator’s job is not confined to finding a linguistic and cultural
equivalent that communicates the meaning of the original to win the
reader’s and audience’s approval, but s/he “must be able to distinguish the
tone in order to allow his intuition to adopt a comparable tone” (Enani:
151).

Al Qut: ‫ وقد سألني أن أرجوكما‬.‫ هذا صحيح‬:‫بولونيوس‬

‫سماع المسرحية ومشاهدتها‬
Awad: ،‫وقد رجاني أن التمع من جاللتيكما‬، ‫ هذا صحيح‬:‫بولونيوس‬
‫أن تشهدا وتستمعا إلى هذا الحفل‬
Enani: ‫ هذا صحيح!وقد رجاني أن أقول إنه‬:‫بولونيوس‬
‫يرجو جاللتيكما أ ن تحضرا وتشهدا‬
‫أداء تلك المسرحية‬
Both Al Qut and Enani opt for ‫( المسرحية‬the play) which carries
neutral connotations in Arabic, and does not convey any of the
condescending connotations meant by Polonius. Thus the function of the
wordplay is not preserved in the translation. Their choice could have been
modified with a negative adjective meaning silly, worthless or trivial …etc.
Awad unsuccessfully renders the word as ‫( الحفل‬the party) which does not
describe what is actually happening in the play! This means that the three
translations suggested do not keep the skopos meant by Shakespeare. This
is why what we actually have is what can be called ‘tone violation’ which
occurs when the translator ignores the requirements of the right tone to be
used. Thus the lexical or ‘tone’ barrier in question is not crossed or at least
appropriately removed as the translations suggested are not functionally
adequate!
Application: Comment on the translation of tone in the following
extract taken from Death of a Salesman translated by Kamel Atta
(1977):
Willy (stopping him). I’m talking about your father! There were
promises made across this desk! You mustn’t tell me you’ve got

‫‪people to see — I put thirty-four years into this firm, Howard,‬‬

‫‪and now I can’t pay my insurance! You can’t eat the orange‬‬
‫‪and throw the peel away — a man is not a piece of fruit! (After‬‬
‫‪a pause.) Now pay attention. Your father — in 1928 I had a big‬‬
‫‪year. I averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in commissions‬‬
‫ويلي‪( :‬وهو يمنعه) إنني أحكي عن والدك! وهناك وعود قد قدمت عبر هذا المكتب! وال ينبغي عليك‬
‫الناس‪ .‬لقد أضييعت أربعا وثالثين سيينة من عمري في هذه‬ ‫إن عليك أن تقابل بع‬ ‫أن تقول لي‬
‫ال أسييتطيع دفع قسييط التأمين‪ .‬أنت ال تقوى على أكل البرتقالة وقذف‬ ‫الشييركة يا هوارد‪ ..‬واآلن‬
‫ضربا من الفاكهة (بعد توقف) كان عام ‪ 1928‬أيام والدك‬ ‫قشرتها على األرض‪ .‬إن اإلنسان ليع‬
‫عام إدرار وإكثار‪ ..‬كان معدل عمولتي مالة وسبعين دوالرا في األسبوع‪.‬‬

‫دكتور‬
‫كود (‪)424‬‬
‫المحاضرة ( ‪) 7‬‬
‫الترم (‪)8‬‬
‫وحدة نسخ المحاضرات‬

Lecture Seven
Some Language Problems in Literary Translation

Objectives:
1) Students will be introduced to the principles and methods of
translation.
2) Students will be introduced to the importance of translating political
terminology.
Pronouns:
Rendering Pronouns is not usually a serious problem. But in some
Shakespearean plays, they do have a different function that has to be
rendered. Pronouns are subtly and cleverly used by Shakespeare to convey
his ideas and portray his characters, especially in the cases of the shift from
‘I’ to ‘we’ and the shift from ‘thou’ to ‘you’. Such shifts serve a lot of
dramatic purposes of which the translator has to be aware. S/he has to be
aware of the connotations connected with the shifts in the use of pronouns.
An outstanding example is the use of the ‘royal we’ by Claudius to indicate
power, authority and domination.
Claudius: Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death

The memory be green, and that it us befitted
To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom
To be contracted in one brow of woe,
Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature
That we with wisest sorrow think on him,
Together with remembrance of ourselves. (Act I, Scene II)
Al Qut: ،‫الذكرى‬ ‫إن يكن موت هاملت أخينا العزيز مازال غ‬

‫وتغدو مملكتنا كلها‬،‫ كما هو خليق بنا‬،‫وإن يمأل الحزن قلوبنا‬
‫فإن سداد الرأي مع ذلك قد غالب الطبيعة‬،‫جبينا ًواحدا ً يغضنه األسى‬
‫حتى نذكره بحزن أكثر حكمة ونذكر أنفسنا معه‬

Awad: ،‫على الرغم من موت أخينا هاملت‬

،‫ما برحت ذكراه ماثلة في خاطرنا‬
،ً‫وإننا جديرون أن تمتلئ قلوبنا حزنا ً وكمدا‬
،‫مملكتنا كلها‬ ‫وأن تنقب‬
‫كأنها جبهة غضنتها الكآبة؟‬
،‫فإن العقل لم يزل يكافح الطبع‬
‫حتى أصبحنا نفكر بحزن يخالطه الحزم‬
.‫والشعور بالواجب الملقى علينا‬
: Enani ‫إن كانت ذكرى فقد أخينا المحبوع الراحل هاملت‬

‫وإذا كان من األنسب من ثم لنا‬،‫مازلت خضراء‬
ً ‫ بل أن تمسي هذه المملكة جميعا‬،‫أن نتحمل ثقل قلوع مفعمة بالهم‬
‫ فالواقع أن سداد الرأي‬،‫جبهة حزن واحدة جهمه‬
‫لم يلبث أن صارع ذاك الحزن الفطري‬
‫حتى انتصرت فينا أحزان الحكماء‬
!‫وغدونا نذكره دون تجاهل أنفسنا‬
It should be pointed out that Claudius as a shrewd politician and
calculating statesman does not only use the royal ‘we’ to indicate power and
authority as previously mentioned, but also to reveal a sense of
identification with the people (represented by the lords and attendants in
this scene): he wants to say that the loss of the late Hamlet was a real shock
to all of ‘us’ and it is our role right now to stand firm and steadfast.
It is noteworthy to mention that the shift of pronoun is not only
confined to Claudius alone: Hamlet, as a scholar and a man of outstanding
tact, knows how to shift from one pronoun to another when addressing
people to indicate his feelings towards them. For example, when he meets
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for the first time, he uses the first person
singular pronouns ‘I’ and ‘my’ as he thinks that he is addressing his old
‘trustable’ friends:

Hamlet: Beggar that I am even poor in thanks; but
I thank you. And sure, dear friend, my thanks

Are too dear a halfpenny. (Act II, scene II)
However, when he realizes that they spy on him and are totally
manipulated by Claudius to know the cause of his ‘feigned’ madness, he
rewears the mask of the prince who addresses people as a prince and not as
a friend:
Hamlet: We shall obey, were she ten times our mother.

Have you any further trade with us? (Act III, scene II)
His changed attitude is shown by the use of the first person plural
pronouns ‘we’ and ‘us’. Lott comments that the use of the royal ‘we’ here
indicates that “Hamlet has put on a regal attitude”(124) and that trade
means “business—again ironic use”(ibid:124) and this is why Rosencrantz
shows his shock at Hamlet’s changed attitude:
Rosencrantz: My lord, you once did love me.
This significant shift has to be conveyed to the target readers and
audience in order not to lose any of the linguistic hints used by the
characters especially those of Hamlet, whose language is an expression of
his suffering and inner conflict.
Al Qut: .‫أجدني في حال فقري هذا عاجزا ً عن الشكر‬

‫ وإن كان شكري ال يساوي دره ًما‬،‫لكني أشكركما‬
Al Qut: .‫سنطيع أمرها ولو كانت أما ً لي عشر مرات‬

‫ألديك لنا شيء لخر؟‬
Awad: ‫ ولكني أشكركما‬،‫إني مع فقري وعجزي لشديد العجز عن الشكر‬
‫ومع ذلك فإن شكري يعد غاليا ً بدرهمين‬
Awad: .‫ ولو كانت عشر أمهات ال أما ً واحدة‬،‫سنلبي طلبها‬

‫هل هناك أمر لخر تبغي التحدث فيه معنا‬
Enani: !‫إني فقير ال أملك حتى توجيه الشكر الكافي! ولكني أشكركما‬
.‫وإن كان شكري يا صديقي العزيزين يكلفني أكثر قليالَ مما أستحق‬
Enani: ‫ ولو كانت أما ً لي عشر مرات!هل لديك‬،‫سوف نطيع أمرها‬
‫مهمة أخرى معنا؟‬
Change of Addressee's Gender:
Translators usually face the problem of gender when translating from
Arabic into English due to the fact that Arabic has feminine and masculine
affixes, a grammatical feature which does not exist in English. A gender-
related problem, but a different one, occurs in Yacoubian Building, in a
situation where one of the characters, Soad, holds a dialogue with her
husband and then shifts to address him as a female; a linguistic behaviour
or style common in the Egyptian dialect as a kind of endearment.
The writer gives a clue to both the reader (and the translator) that she
shifts from the masculine pronoun to the feminine one as a kind of
endearment. The English reader does not feel it due to the morphosytnactic
differences between English and Arabic: the feminine endings in Arabic do
not exist in English and the English reader fails to feel the shift or
understand its significance. The shift of pronouns might seem weird or at
least odd to him/her:
!‫ ماللك يا حبيبي؟‬-
:‫ ابتسم الحاج وتمتم‬-
.‫مشاكل الشغل كثيرة‬
‫ الحمد هلل على الصحة أهم حاجة‬-
‫ الحمد هلل‬-
‫ وهللا العظيم الدنيا ما تستاهل قولي مالك؟‬-
‫ أنا ناوي أرشح نفسي لمجلع الشعب‬..‫ بإذن هللا‬-

!‫ مجلع الشعب؟‬-
....‫ أيوه‬-
!‫هم يالقوا أحسن منك؟‬.. ‫ طبعا تدخل‬-
:‫ ثم مدت شفتيها وكأنها تناغي طفال صغيرا وتكلمه بضمير المؤنث‬-
‫بع أنا أخاف عليكي يا حلوة انتي لما تطلعي في التليفزيون ويشوفوكي كده زي القمر يقوموا‬
)Yacoubian Building: 79-80( .‫يخطفوكي مني‬
The translation-by-omission is adopted by Humphrey Davies (2006) in
his translation:
"What's wrong, my dear?"
The Hagg smiled and mumbled, "Lots of problems at work."
"Praise God you have got your health. That's the most important
thing."
"Praise God."
"I swear to Almighty God, the world isn't worth a second's worry! Say
what is wrong?"
"God willing, I intend to put myself forward for the People's
Assembly."
"The People's Assembly?"
"Yes"
"…Of course you will get in. Could they find anyone better than you?"
Then she puckered up her lips as though talking down to a child and said to
him (using the words one would to a little girl), "But I'm scared, sweetie,
that when you appear on television and everyone sees you looking cute,
they'll go steal you away from me!") 55-56(
Spelling-related Technique:
Another problem faced by translators is the one related to spelling,
that is to say, when the spelling is used by the author as a tool or technique
substantial to the action of the novel or play as shown in the following
extract from The Scarlet Letter:
In such emergencies, Hester’s nature showed itself warm and rich—a well-
spring of human tenderness, unfailing to every real demand, and
inexhaustible by the largest. Her breast, with its badge of shame, was but
the softer pillow for the head that needed one. She was self-ordained a Sister
of Mercy, or, we may rather say, the world’s heavy hand had so ordained
her, when neither the world nor she looked forward to this result. The letter
was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her—so much
power to do, and power to sympathise—that many people refused to
interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant
Able, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength. (177)
The novel presents the character of Hester; a woman who commits
adultery and then embarks upon a spiritual journey of change and
repentance. She is forced by the Puritan society to wear the letter A that
stands for adulteress. Part of the symbolism of the novel relies on this letter.
A, as mentioned before, stands for Adulteress, but also refers to Adam and
his first sin. When the heroine faces both herself and her Puritan society
and decides to embark upon a journey of repentance, the significance of A
changes according to the spiritual and psychological changes she
undergoes: A shifts to mean Able and even Angel.
The translator here faces a spelling-meaning problem because all the
connotations meant by the author are associated with words starting with
the letter A: Adam (i.e. original sin of man), Adulteress (i.e. the sin Hester
commits), Able (i.e. when she is courageous enough to face her society and
changes its view of her), and Angel (i.e. when she becomes "a well-spring of
human tenderness"). This is undoubtedly meant by the title of the novel.
This requires that the translator should not be separated from the world of
the novel
This is not an easy task because the Arabic equivalents (of Adam,
Adulteress, Able and Angel), i.e. the nouns and adjectives unveiling Hester's
development start with different letters. Thus this symbolism created by the
letter A cannot be kept in the translation emphasizing that "perfect
translation does not exist" (Snell-Hornby 52). This dilemma cannot be
resolved even by professional translators as revealed by Kiwan's
translation:
‫ أظهرت طبيعة أسييييييتير نفسييييييها دافئة وغنية؛ نبع متفجر من الحنان‬،‫في مثل هذه الحاال ت الطارلة‬
‫ لم يكن صييدرها بشييارة عاره سييوى أنعم‬.‫ وال ينضييبه أضييخمها‬،‫ غير خاذل لكل مطلب حقيقي‬،‫البشييري‬
‫ أن يد الدنيا‬،‫ لقد وسييمت نفسييها أختا للرحمة؛ أو من األفضييل أن نقول‬.‫وسييادة للرأس الذي احتاج إليه‬
‫ لقد كان الحرف رمزا لدافعها‬.‫ عندما لم تنتظر الدنيا وال هي هذه النتيجة‬،‫الثقيلة قد وسييييييمتها هكذا‬
‫ بحيث‬،‫ وقوة للتعاطف‬،‫ فلديها قوة كبيرة لتنفذ‬،‫ مثل هذه المساعدة كانت موجودة في صميمها‬.‫الباطني‬
‫ قالوا إنه يعني القادرة؛ لقد كانت‬.‫رف الكثير من الناس أن يفسيييروا الحرف أ حسيييب مفاده األصيييلي‬
(304).‫ بقوة المرأة‬،‫أستير برين قوية جدا‬
Deviation from Grammatical Norms:
Writers sometimes deviate from grammatical norms and make
mistakes not because they are unable to write well, but because they wish to
draw attention to the mistake. In such a case, the translator's professional
background should guide him/her to judge whether this mistake has to be
imparted to the reader or not. That is to say, does s/he have to make a
similar or an equivalent mistake in the target language? Does s/he have to
correct the mistake and use normal language with non-violated norms?
In the following extract, we have violation of grammatical norms. To
put it more clearly, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tackles the
adventures of Huck, a vagabond or a picaro who satirizes society and
sharply criticizes the social norms of the American society in the 19 th
century. He is a boy with no education or cultural background, and his
language reflects this class of people in the 19 th century American society.
In rendering a literary work like this, the translator has to be keen on
keeping this class-bound language which is part and parcel of the realistic
world of the novel. Mark Twain, to clearly reflect this, uses a violation of
grammatical norms, violation of spelling norms in fact. He replaces the 'c'
letter in 'civilized' with 's':
The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize
me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal
regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn't
stand it no longer I lit out. I got into my old rags and my sugar-hogshead
again, and was free and satisfied. But Tom Sawyer he hunted me up and
said he was going to start a band of robbers, and I might join if I would go
back to the widow and be respectable. So I went back.(3)
This credibility is lost in the translation provided by Maher Nassim (1958):
‫ ولكني ضقت بالحياة في منزلها بسبب صرامة‬،‫ وقررت أن تهذبني‬،‫واتخذت األرملة دوجالس مني ابنا‬
‫ حينما‬،‫ ومن ثم بادرت بالفرار‬،‫ رغم ما كانت األرملة نفسييييييها تتصييييييف به من دماثة الخلق‬،‫النظام‬
،‫ وعدت إلى ارتداء أسيييمالي البالية‬،‫ فهربت‬،‫اسيييتعصيييى على احتمال صيييرامة النظام في منزل األرملة‬
‫ وقال لي أنه قرر تكوين جماعة من‬،‫ ولكن توم سييييييوير اسييييييتطاع أن يعثر علي‬،‫والنوم في البراميل‬
‫وأن أكون رجال‬, ‫المغامرين وأن في اسييييييتطاعتي أن أنضييييييم إليها بشييييييرط أن أعود ثانية إلى األرملة‬
(10).‫ وهكذا عدت‬،‫محترما‬

‫‪Nassim's translation can be seen as inappropriate because he uses the‬‬

‫‪wrong register, standard Arabic, and ignores the misspelling used by Twain‬‬
‫‪and thus the translation loses the credibility and depth needed. The‬‬
‫‪following suggested translation keeps the realistic atmosphere by using the‬‬
‫‪Egyptian slang, achieving what we can call 'dialectal equivalence' and‬‬
‫‪keeping the significance of linguistic deviation meant by Twain.‬‬
‫والسييت دوجالس اتبنتني واعتبرتني زي ابنها‪ ،‬وكانت عايزه تخليني إنسييان "متحدر"‪ ،‬ولكن العيشيية‬
‫معاها كانت تطهق دي كانت سييييييت كئيبة ومحترمة في كل حاجة‪ ،‬بع لما فاض بي قمت خالع‪ .‬روحت‬
‫لبسييييت الهدمتين بتوعي‪ ،‬ورجعت للنوم في البراميل وحسيييييت إني حر ومرضييييي‪ .‬ولكن توم عتر في ‪،‬‬
‫وقالي إنه هيعمل عصيييابة هجامين‪ ،‬وعايزني معاهم‪ ،‬على شيييرط أرجع أعيش تاني مع األرملة‪ ،‬وأبقى‬
‫محترم‪ ،‬وهو ده اللي رجعني‪.‬‬

Different English: The Case of Shakespeare’s English

The above title in fact refers two lexical aspects: the English used in
Shakespeare’s day (the lexical aspect only in this case) and Shakespeare’s
‘own’ English, the words he coined or invented or the words he used in a
very ‘Shakespearean sense’. Many of such words underwent semantic
changes that translators have to pay heed to. Sometimes the suggested
translations show that the translators are fully aware of the semantic
changes of words and thus opt for successful choices (achieving the function
of the original) and consequently remove any barriers like the following
example:
Hamlet: Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven
Or ever I had seen that day Horatio. (Act I, Scene II)
The adjective ‘dear’ or the superlative ‘dearest’ is used in modern
English to mean “regarded with esteem and affection; beloved; loved,
cherished; precious to” (The New Shorter Oxford: Vol. I, 602). Thus the
word is nowadays used to signify intimate positive connotations of intimacy
and closeness and thus would never collocate with a word like ‘foe’, unless
for a satirical, or any other rhetorical, purpose. However, ‘dear’ was used
in Shakespeare’s day to mean two opposite things. Lott points out that "The
word was used to denote things which were deeply felt, whether pleasantly
or unpleasantly. Hamlet means that he would rather have died, rather have
met his worst enemy in heaven, than seen the day of his mother’s second
marriage. (20). The above interpretation means that the word underwent
specialization, a semantic process. The following translations reveal that the
three translators are not deceived by the modern sense of the word and
could easily remove this lexical barrier:
Al Qut: ‫ليتني لقيت في اآلخرة ألد أعدالي‬
‫قبل أن أشهد هذا اليوم يا هوراشيو‬
Awad: ‫أهون علي أن أقابل ألد أعدالي في السماء‬
‫من أن أشهد ذلك اليوم يا هوراشيو‬
Enani: ‫و ليتني قابلت في األخرى ألد أعدالي‬
‫وما شهدت ذاك اليوم يا هوراشيو‬

Application: Read the following translation and comment on the

translator's success in rendering the dialect used:
“It's natural and right for 'em to talk different from each other,
ain't it?”
“Course.”
“And ain't it natural and right for a cat and a cow to talk different from
us?”
“Why, mos' sholy it is.”
“Well, then, why ain't it natural and right for a frenchman to talk
different from us? You answer me that.”
“Is a cat a man, Huck?”
“No.”
“Well, den, dey ain't no sense in a cat talkin' like a man. Is a cow a man? –
er is a cow a cat?”
“No, she ain't either of them.”
“Well, den, she ain't got no business to talk like either one er the yuther of
'em. Is a Frenchman a man?”
“Yes.”
“Well, den! Dad blame it, why doan' he talk like a man? You answer me
dat!”
I see it warn't no use wasting words – you can't learn a nigger to argue. So
I quit.(68)
‫ وهل من الطبيعي أن يختلف كالم كل منهما عن االخر؟‬-
!...‫ بالطبع‬-
‫ إذا أليع من الطبيعي أن يختلف كالم البقرة والقطة عن كالمنا؟‬-
.‫ بالتأكيد نعم‬-
‫إذا لماذا ال يكون طبيعيا أن يتكلم الرجل الفرنسي لغة تختلف عن لغتنا؟ أجب عن هذا السؤال؟‬... ‫حسنا‬
‫هل القطة رجل يا "هاك"؟‬
...‫ ال‬-

‫حسنا‪ ...‬إذا ليع من العقل في شيء أن تتكلم القطة كاإلنسان‪ ...‬وهل البقرة إنسان؟ ثم هل البقرة‬
‫قطة؟‬
‫‪ -‬ال‪...‬إنهما ليستا مثل اإلنسان‪.‬‬
‫‪ -‬إذن فمن غير المعقول أن تتكلم إحداهما مثل األخرى‪...‬وهل الرجل الفرنسي إنسان؟‬
‫‪ -‬نعم‪...‬‬
‫‪ -‬حسنا‪ ،‬إذا لماذا يتكلم كاإلنسان؟‪ ...‬أجب عن هذا السؤال؟‬
‫وأيقنت أال جدوى من إضاعة الوقت هباء‪ ،‬فأنت ال تستطيع أن تعلم زنجيا كيف يجادل‪ .‬وعندلذ كففت‬
‫عن الحديث‪.‬‬

‫دكتور‬
‫د‪ /‬خالد توفيق‬
‫كود (‪)424‬‬
‫تطبيق (‪)1‬‬
‫الترم (‪)8‬‬
1 :‫تطبيق‬ 8 : ‫الترم‬ 424: ‫الكود‬
Application One
Passage 1:
NIGHT DRIVE
by Rubem Fonseca
I arrived home with my briefcase bulging with papers, reports,
studies,
research, proposals, contracts. My wife, who was playing solitaire in bed,
a
glass of whiskey on the nightstand, said, without looking up from the cards,
‘You look tired.’ The usual house sounds: my daughter in her room
practicing
voice modulation, quadraphonic music from my son’s room. ‘Why don’t
you
put down that suitcase?’ my wife asked. ‘Take off those clothes, have a nice
glass of whiskey. You’ve got to learn to relax.’
I went to the library, the place in the house I enjoy being by myself,
and as
usual did nothing. I opened the research volume on the desk but didn’t see
the
letters and numbers. I was merely waiting.
‘You never stop working. I’ll bet your partners don’t work half as
hard and
they earn the same.’ My wife came into the room, a glass in her hand. ‘Can
I
tell her to serve dinner?’
The maid served the meal French style. My children had grown up,
my
wife and I were fat. ‘It’s that wine you like,’ she said, clicking her tongue
with
pleasure. My son asked for money during the coffee course, my daughter
asked for money during the liqueur. My wife didn’t ask for anything; we
have
a joint checking account.
‘Shall we go for a drive?’ I asked her. I knew she wouldn’t go – it was time
for her soap opera.
‘I don’t see what you get out of going for a drive every night, but the car
cost a fortune, it has to be used. I’m just less and less attracted to
material
things,’ she replied.
The children’s cars were blocking the garage door, preventing me
from
removing my car. I moved both cars and parked them in the street,
removed
my car and parked it in the street, put the other two cars back in the
garage,
and closed the door. All this maneuvering left me slightly irritated, but
when I
saw my car’s jutting bumpers, the special chrome-plated double
reinforcement,
I felt my heart race with euphoria.
I turned the ignition key. It was a powerful motor that generated its
strength silently beneath the aerodynamic hood. As always, I left without
knowing where I would go. It had to be a deserted street, in this city with
more people than flies. Not the Avenida Brasil – too busy.
I came to a poorly lighted street, heavy with dark trees, the perfect
spot. A
man or a woman? It made little difference, really, but no one with the right
characteristics appeared. I began to get tense. It always happened that
way,

and I even liked it – the sense of relief was greater. Then I saw the woman.
It
could be her, even though a woman was less exciting because she was
easier.
She was walking quickly, carrying a package wrapped in cheap paper –
something
from a bakery or the market. She was wearing a skirt and blouse.
There were trees every twenty yards along the sidewalk, an
interesting
problem demanding a great deal of expertise. I turned off the headlights
and
accelerated. She only realized I was going for her when she heard the
sound of
the tires hitting the curb. I caught her above the knees, right in the middle
of
her legs, a bit more toward the left leg – a perfect hit. I heard the impact
break
the large bones, veered rapidly to the left, shot narrowly past one of the
trees,
and, tires squealing, skidded back onto the asphalt. The motor would go
from zero to sixty in eight seconds. I could see that the woman’s broken
body
had come to rest, covered with blood, on top of the low wall in front of a
house.
Back in the garage, I took a good look at the car. With pride I ran
my hand
lightly over the unmarked fenders and bumper. Few people in the world
could match my skill driving such a car.
The family was watching television. ‘Do you feel better after your
spin?’
my wife asked, lying on the sofa, staring fixedly at the TV screen.
‘I’m going to bed,’ I answered, ‘good night everybody. Tomorrow’s going
‫تطبيق‪1 :‬‬ ‫الترم ‪8 :‬‬ ‫الكود ‪424:‬‬
‫’‪to be a rough day at the office.‬‬

‫نزهة ليلية بالسيارة ‪ Night Drive‬لروبيم فونسيكا ‪Rubem Fonseca‬‬
‫عدت إلى منزلي حامال حقيبتي التي تمتلئ باألوراق‪ ،‬والتقارير‪ ،‬والدراسات‪ ،‬واألبحاث‪،‬‬
‫والعروض‪ ،‬والعقود‪ .‬فقالت لي زوجتي التي كانت في سريرها تلعب لعبة سوليتير‪ ،‬وبجانبها كأس‬
‫من الويسكي‪" :‬تبدو متعبا"‪ .‬وصل إلى سمعي نفع األصوات التي تعودت عليها في منزلي‪ :‬صوت‬
‫ابنتي ينبعث من غرفتها ‪ ،‬وهي تتدرع على طبقات الصوت المختلفة‪ ،‬وتلك الموسيقى تنبعث من‬
‫حجرة ابني‪ .‬وسألتني زوجتي‪" :‬لماذا ال تضع هذه الحقيبة جانبا؟ وتغير مالبسك ‪ ،‬وتتناول كأسا من‬
‫الويسكي‪ .‬يجب أن تتعلم كيف تسترخي‪".‬‬
‫اتجهت إلى غرفة المكتب‪ ،‬وهو ذلك المكان الوحيد في البيت الذي أخلو فيه إلى نفسي‪،‬‬
‫وجلست كالعادة مسترخيا ال أفعل شيئا‪ ،‬فتحت ذلك الدفتر على مكتبي ‪ ،‬ولكني لم أر الحروف و‬
‫األرقام‪ ،‬فقد كنت أنتظر‪.‬‬
‫دلفت زوجتي إلى الغرفة‪ ،‬وهي تمسك في يدها بكأس من الويسكي‪ ،‬وخاطبتني قاللة‪ " :‬أنت‬
‫ال تتوقف عن العمل‪ ،‬أنا أراهن انا زماللك في العمل ال يعملون نصف ما تعمل‪ ،‬ويحصلون على نفع‬
‫الراتب‪ .‬هل أطلب من الخادمة أن تعد لك طعام العشاء؟"‬
‫وقامت الخادمة بإعداد طعام العشاء بالطريقة الفرنسية‪ .‬كبر األوالد‪ ،‬وزاد وزني أنا وزوجتي‪.‬‬
‫أومأت زوجتي برأسها وقالت‪" :‬هذا هو نوع الخمر الذي تفضله"‪ .‬طلب ابني ماال وأنا أحتسي‬
‫القهوة‪ ،‬أما ابنتي فقد طلبته هي األخرى وأنا أشرع الخمر‪ ،‬أما زوجتي فلم تطلب شيئا‪ ،‬فهي تشترك‬
‫معي في حسابي البنكي‪.‬‬
‫‪ ،‬فقد حان وقت‬ ‫سألتها ‪" :‬هل تحبين الخروج في نزهة بالسيارة"‪ ،‬وكنت أعلم أنها سترف‬
‫المسلسل اليومي الذي تتابعه‪.‬‬
‫وردت علي زوجتي قاللة‪" :‬ال أعرف ما هو جدوى الخروج بالسيارة ليال‪ ،‬فالسيارة تكلفنا‬
‫الكثير‪ ،‬ولذا يجب أن نستخدمها ونستغلها‪ .‬في الحقيقة لم تعد األشياء المادية تجتذبني كذي قبل"‪.‬‬
‫كانت سياراتا األوالد تسدان باع المأرع‪ ،‬وبالتالي تمنعاني من الخروج بالسيارة؛ فقمت‬
‫بتحريكهما ‪ ،‬وركنهما في الشارع‪ ،‬وأخرجت سيارتي‪ ،‬ثم عدت مرة أخرى ألعيد السيارتين إلى المرأع‬
‫مرة اخرى‪ ،‬ثم أغلق باع المرأع؛ أصابني كل هذا ببع التوتر‪ ،‬ولكن ما أن وقعت عيناي على مصد‬
‫سيارتي بلونه الكرومي الفاقع حتى أحسست بقلبي يثب من مكانه‪ .‬وما أنا وضعت مفتاأ السيارة فى‬
‫مكانه‪ ،‬وأدرتها حتى سمعت صوت محركها القوي الهادر‪ .‬وتحركت بالسيارة دون أن أعرف وجهتي‬
‫كما هو حالي دالما‪ .‬كان علي أن أذهب إلى أحد الشوارع المهجورة في تللك المدينة‪ ،‬مدينة أفينيدا‬
‫‪ Avenida‬في البرازيل التي يزيد فيها عدد البشر على عدد الذباع‪.‬‬
‫قادني الطريق إلى أحد الشوارع‪ ،‬به إضاءة خافتة‪ ،‬ويزخر باألشجار الضخمة التي حجبت‬
‫كثيرا من هذا الضوء الخافت‪ .‬يا ترى من سيظهر في األفق‪ :‬رجل أم امراة؟ مسألة النوع التعنيني‪،‬‬
‫المهم أن يظهر الشخص المطلوع‪ .‬بدأت أشعر – كما يحدث دالما – بالتوتر‪ ،‬ولكن الشعور باالرتياأ‬
‫عادة ما يعقب هذا التوتر‪ .‬ثم رأيت امرأة تظهر في الشارع‪ ،‬هل يمكن أن تكون هي؟ على الرغم من‬
‫أن ظهور امرأة في هذا الوقت يبدو أقل إثارة‪ .‬كانت تمشي مسرعة‪ ،‬وهي تحمل شيئا ملفوفا بنوع‬

‫رخيص من الورق‪ ،‬ربما كان ما تحمله هو ما اشترته من أحد األسواق أو من احد محالت البقالة‪.‬‬
‫كانت ترتدي تنورة‪ ،‬وبلوزة‪.‬‬
‫كان يوجد صف طويل من األشجار على الرصيف‪ ،‬وكان يفصل بين كل شجرة وأخرى مسافة‬
‫تقدر بعشرين ياردة‪ ،‬وهي مشكلة ممتعة تتطلب خبرة طويلة في قيادة السيارات‪ ،‬أطفئت انوار السيارة‬
‫األمامية‪ ،‬وزدت من سرعتي‪ .‬أدركت المرأة انني استهدفها حينما سمعت صوت اإلطارات نتيجة‬
‫الضغط على كابح السيارة‪ .‬اعتقد أنني صدمتها في ركبتيها‪ ،‬في منتصف الساق تماما‪ ،‬ربما ناحية‬
‫الساق اليسرى‪ ،‬كانت إصابة مباشرة رالعة‪ ،‬وصل لسمعي صوت تكسر عظامها من أثر االصطدام‪.‬‬
‫ثم انحرفت بالسيارة إلى جهة اليسار في لمح البصر‪ ،‬وكدت ان أصطدم بأحد األشجار‪ ،‬وسمعت صراخ‬
‫إطارات السيارة‪ ،‬وهي تنزلق من على الرصيف إلى أرض الشارع‪ .‬انطلقت سيارتي من سرعة الصفر‬
‫إلى سرعة الستين كيلو مترا في ثوان معدودة‪ .‬واستطعت أن أرى جسد المرأة المحطم وهو ممدد‬
‫على حالط منخف أمام أحد المنازل‪ ،‬وقد غطته الدماء‪.‬‬
‫أدخلت سيارتي إلى المرأع ‪ ،‬ونظرت إليها نظرة حانية‪ ،‬ثم مررت بيدي على مصد السيارة‬
‫وذلك الحامي الحديدي الذي يحميه بشعور من الكبرياء‪ .‬فالذين يتساوون معي في مهارة قيادة مثل‬
‫هذه السيارة في هذه الدنيا نفر قليل‪.‬‬
‫وجدت أفراد أسرتي يشاهدون التلفاز‪ ،‬وسألتني زوجتي وهي تجلع على األريكة مثبتة عينيها‬
‫على شاشة التلفاز ‪" :‬هل تشعر بتحسن بعد هذه النزهة؟"‬
‫فأجبتها‪" :‬تصبحون جميعا على خير‪ ،‬فلدي الكثير من العمل في مكتبي غدا"‬
‫(ترجمة الدكتور خالد توفيق)‬
‫‪Passage 2:‬‬
‫صمت الحاج عزام لحظة ثم أخرج دفتر الشيكات وقال وهو يفتح قلمه الذهبي‪:‬‬
‫طيب‪ ..‬على بركة هللا‪ ..‬أكتب شيك بالنصف وبعد النجاأ بإذن هللا أدفع الباقي‬
‫ال يا حلو‪ ..‬كده تزعلني الكالم دا تعمله مع التالمذة‪ ..‬النظام عندي سلم واستلم‪ ..‬ادفع المبلغ‬
‫كله وأنا أبارك لك على المجلع وأقرأ معك الفاتحة حاال‪(.‬‬
‫‪Hagg Azzam was silent for a moment. Then he took out his checkbook and‬‬
‫‪said as he undid his gold pen, "Fine. Let's do it. I'll write a check for half.‬‬
‫"‪Then when I win, God willing, I'll pay the rest.‬‬
‫‪"No way, sugar! Shame on you – you'll get me upset if you go on like that.‬‬
‫‪Keep that kind of stuff for school kids. The way I do things is pay first,‬‬
‫‪take later. Pay the whole amount and I'll congratulate you on getting into‬‬
‫‪the Assembly and read the fatiha with you right now!".‬‬
WE have as yet hardly spoken of the infant; that little creature, whose
innocent life had sprung, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely
and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion. How
strange it seemed to the sad woman, as she watched the growth, and the
beauty that became every day more brilliant, and the intelligence that
threw its quivering sunshine over the tiny features of this child! Her
Pearl!—For so had Hester called her; not as a name expressive of her
aspect, which had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre that
would be indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant “Pearl,”
as being of great price,—purchased with all she had,—her mother’s only
treasure!
(The Scarlet Letter: 96)

‫نحن قلما تحدثنا عن الطفلة‪ ،‬المخلوقة الصييييييغيرة التي نمت‪،‬بحكم العناية اإللهية الغامضيييييية‪ ،‬كزهرة‬
‫جميلة وخالدة‪ ،‬من نتانة عاطفة شييييييديدة يشييييييوبها الذنب‪ .‬كم بدا غريبا للمرأة التعيسيييييية وهي تراقب‬
‫نموها‪ ،‬والجمال الذي أصييييبح أكثر تألقا يوما بع يوم‪ ،‬والذكاء الذي ألقى بنور شييييمسييييه المرتعش‬
‫فوق المالمح الصيييغيرة لهذه الطفلة! إنها ابنتها بيرل! – إذ هكذا نادتها أسيييتير؛ ليع كاسيييم يعبر عن‬
‫مظهرها الذي يخلو من البريق الهادئ غير المتقد الذي تمليه المقارنة‪ .‬لكنها أسمت الطفلة بيرل ألنها‬
‫غالية الثمن –اشترتها بكل ما لديها – إنها كنز أمها الوحيد!‬

‫دكتور‬
‫كود (‪)424‬‬
‫تطبيقات (‪)2‬‬
‫الترم (‪)8‬‬
)2( ‫تطبيقات‬ 8 : ‫الترم‬ 424: ‫الكود‬
Application Two
Poem 1:
"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne
If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two;
Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if the' other do.
And though it in the centre sit,
Yet when the other far doth roam,
It leans, and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.
Such wilt thou be to me, who must
Like th' other foot, obliquely run;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end, where I begun.
‫نحن روحان‬
‫تشبهان إبرتي البوصلة‬
‫روحك تشبه تلك الثابتة‬
‫التي ال تتحرك إال إذا تحركت األخرى‬
‫وعلى الرغم من أنك في مركز البوصلة ساكنة‬
‫إال أنه حينما تتحرك اإلبرة األخرى‬
‫تطبيقات (‪)2‬‬ ‫الترم ‪8 :‬‬ ‫الكود ‪424:‬‬
‫تميلين وتصغين‬
‫وتقومين حينما تعود األخرى‬
‫وهكذا أنت لي‬
‫كاإلبرة األخرى التي أدور حولها بميل‬
‫فثباتك يجعلني أدور بانتظام‬
‫وانتهي من حيث بدأت‬
‫‪Poem 2:‬‬
‫‪Down Time's quaint stream‬‬
‫‪Without an oar‬‬
‫‪We are enforced to sail‬‬
‫‪Our Port a secret‬‬
‫‪Our Perchance a Gale‬‬
‫‪What Skipper would‬‬
‫‪Incur the Risk‬‬
‫‪What Buccaneer would ride‬‬
‫‪Without a surety from the Wind‬‬
‫— ‪Or schedule of the Tide‬‬
‫)‪(Emily Dickinson‬‬
‫في بحر الزمان العجيب‬
‫بال مجداف‬
‫لم نجد بديالً عن اإلبحار‬
‫لمرفأ سري‬
‫حيث صادفتنا رياأ هو جاء‬
‫فمن ذا الذي يتحمل األخطار‬
‫حتى القرصان المغوار‬
‫ال يستطيع أن يركب موج البحار‬
‫إال إذا كان على يقين من اتجاه الريح‬
‫أويعرف اتجاه التيار‬
Poem 3:
Sonnet LXXIII: That Time of Year thou mayst in me Behold
Sonnet LXXIII: That Time of Year thou mayst in me Behold
By William Shakespeare 1564–1616 William Shakespeare
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire,
Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
‫قد أبدو لك في هذا الوقت من العام‬

‫حينما يخلو ذلك الغصن الذي يرتعد من البرد‬
‫ أو ال أوراق‬،‫سوى من أوراق صفراء قليلة‬
‫وحيث تغني الطيور الجميلة كجوقة بال أبواق‬
‫في وجهي ترين شفق يوم‬
‫غاع في غياهب الغروع‬
‫وجاء الليل البهيم فأخذه إلى عالم الغيوع‬
‫صنوالموت الذي يقودنا لنهاية الدروع‬
‫قد أبدولك كالنار في اضطرام‬

‫ترقد على رماد شباع قد طوته األيام‬
‫كفراش الموت الذي تلفظ عليه لخر األنفاس‬
‫قضت نحبها على يد ما كانت به تقتات‬
‫هذا كما ترين من يجعل حبك أكثر قوة‬
‫أن تحبي هذا الينبوع الذي ستتركيه مهما طال الزمان‬
)‫(ترجمة الدكتور خالد توفيق‬
Poem 4:
"Answers" by Elizabeth Jennings
I keep my answers small and keep them near;
Big questions bruised my mind but still I let
Small answers be a bulwark to my fear.
The huge abstractions I keep from the light;
Small things I handled and caressed and loved.
I let the stars assume the whole of night.
But the big answers clamoured to be moved
Into my life. Their great audacity
Shouted to be acknowledged and believed.
Even when all small answers build up to
Protection of my spirit, I still hear
Big answers striving for their overthrow
And all the great conclusions coming near.
"‫إجابات‬ 
‫احتفظت بإجاباتي الصغيرة بالقرع مني‬
‫ووخزت عقلي األسئلة الكبيرة ولكني‬
‫اتخذت إجاباتي الصغيرة وجا ًء من الخوف‬
‫واحتفظت بالمجردات الكبرى بعيدا ً عن النور‬
‫واألمور الصغيرة احتويتها بلطف وحبور‬
‫وتركت للنجوم أمر الليل بأكمله‬

‫ولكن اإلجابات الكبرى أبدت العصيان‬
‫لتدخل حياتي بجرأة وعنفوان‬
‫تصرخ ألقر بها وأعلن اإليمان‬
‫وحتى حينما كانت اإلجابات الصغيرة وموللي‬
‫تحمي روحي فما زال يرد إلى مسامعي‬
‫مضاجعي‬ ‫تلك اإلجابات الكبرى تحاول ق‬
‫وأصبحت النتالج الكبرى في متناول أصابعي‬
‫‪Poem 5:‬‬
‫دخل الشتا وقفل البيبان ع البيوت‬
‫وصبح شعاع الشمع خيط عنكبوت‬
‫وحاجات كتير بتموت في ليل الشتا‬
‫تموت‪.‬‬ ‫لكن حاجات أكتر بترف‬
‫عجبي!!‬
‫(صالأ جاهين – الرباعيات)‬
‫‪Winter came in and shut all doors quite tight,‬‬

‫‪Turned the rays of the sun into a spiderweb.‬‬
‫‪Many things do die in winter’s dreary night,‬‬
‫‪Yet many refuse to die, they stay and fight.‬‬
‫!‪Lo and Behold‬‬
‫)‪(Translated by Nehad Salem‬‬

‫‪Poem 6:‬‬
‫فتحت شباكي لشمع الصباأ‬
‫ما دخلش منه غير عويل الرياأ‬
‫وفتحت قلبي عشان أبوأ باأللم‬
‫ما خرجش منه غير محبة وسماأ‪.‬‬
‫عجبي!!‬
‫(صالأ جاهين – الرباعيات)‬
‫‪I opened my window to the morning glow,‬‬

‫‪Only the wind came in with a howl and scream.‬‬
‫‪I opened my heart to let the sadness flow.‬‬
‫‪Only love and mercy came out in a stream .‬‬
‫!‪Lo and Behold‬‬
‫)‪(Translated by Nehad Salem‬‬

‫دكتور‬
‫كود (‪)424‬‬
‫تطبيقات (‪)3‬‬
‫الترم (‪)8‬‬
Application Three
Translate the following into Arabic:
Passage 1:
Four Skinny Trees
They are the only ones who understand me. I am the only one who
understands them. Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows
like mine. Four who do not belong here but are here. Four raggedly excuses
planted by the city. From our room we can hear them, but Nenny just sleeps
and doesn't appreciate these things.
Their strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the
ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between
their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their
anger. This is how they keep.
Let one forget his reason for being, they'd all droop like tulips in a
glass, each with their arms around the other. Keep, keep, keep trees say
when I sleep. They teach.
)The House on Mango Street)
Passage 2:
MY sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, was more than twenty years older than I, and
had established a great reputation with herself and the neighbours because
she had brought me up `by hand'. Having at that time to find out for myself
what the expression meant, and knowing her to have a hard and heavy
hand, and to be much in the habit of laying it upon her husband as well as
upon me, I supposed that Joe Gargery and I were both brought up by hand.
She was not a good-looking woman, my sister; and I had a general
impression that she must have made Joe Gargery marry her by hand.
(Great Expectations 7)

Passage 3:
In such emergencies, Hester’s nature showed itself warm and rich—a well-
spring of human tenderness, unfailing to every real demand, and
inexhaustible by the largest. Her breast, with its badge of shame, was but
the softer pillow for the head that needed one. She was self-ordained a Sister
of Mercy, or, we may rather say, the world’s heavy hand had so ordained
her, when neither the world nor she looked forward to this result. The letter
was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her—so much
power to do, and power to sympathise—that many people refused to
interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant
Able, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength.
(The Scarlet Letter)
Passage 4:
I took the opportunity of being alone in the court-yard, to look at my coarse
hands and my common boots. My opinion of those accessories was not
favourable. They had never troubled me before, but they troubled me now,
as vulgar appendages. I determined to ask Joe why he had ever taught me
to call those picture-cards, Jacks, which ought to be called knaves. I wished
Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been
so too.
She came back, with some bread and meat and a little mug of beer. She put
the mug down on the stones of the yard, and gave me the bread and meat
without looking at me, as insolently as if I were a dog in disgrace. I was so
humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended, angry, sorry - I cannot hit upon the
right name for the smart - God knows what its name was - that tears started
to my eyes.
(Great Expectations)
Passage 5:
`Biddy,' said I, after binding her to secrecy, Ì want to be a gentleman.'
Òh, I wouldn't, if I was you!' she returned. Ì don't think it would answer.'
`Biddy,' said I, with some severity, Ì have particular reasons for wanting to
be a gentleman.'
`You know best, Pip; but don't you think you are happier as you are?'

‫‪`Biddy,' I exclaimed, impatiently, Ì am not at all happy as I am. I am‬‬

‫‪disgusted with my calling and with my life. I have never taken to either,‬‬
‫'‪since I was bound. Don't be absurd.‬‬
‫)‪(Great Expectations‬‬
‫‪Biff: He walked away. I saw him for one minute. I got so mad I‬‬
‫‪could’ve torn the walls down! How the hell did I ever get the‬‬
‫‪idea I was a salesman there? I even believed myself that I’d‬‬
‫—‪been a salesman for him! And then he gave me one look and‬‬
‫‪I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been! We’ve‬‬
‫‪been talking in a dream for fifteen years. I was a shipping‬‬
‫‪clerk‬‬
‫)‪(Death of a Salesman, Act II‬‬
‫‪Translate the following into English:‬‬
‫له يا أخي! ده بارد برود! أبوه مات من أكل المش والعيش الدكر وهوا داير يأكل ملبن ويشتري‬
‫أرض! لو كان امال يخفى من البلد خالص قبل ما يشطب عليها على رأيك! بقى يا ناس ينقلوا خاله‬
‫الشيخ حسونة في لخر الدنيا‪ ،‬الشيخ حسونة الراجل العاقل يتنقل ‪ ،‬والمخفي ده يقعد لنا؟ صحيح ما‬
‫يقعد عا المرابط غير شر البقر! أنا عارف برود إيه ده يا اخواتي؟ نصايب إيه دي؟! (األرض‪-‬‬
‫عبدالرحمن الشرقاوي)‬
‫فإذا أقيم في القرية المجاورة مولد أو ذكر وأقبل من بالد بعيدة رجال صفر الوجوه‪ ،‬طوال الشعر‪،‬‬
‫يتطوحون تحت البيارق‪..‬إذا حدث هذا‪ ،‬انخرط شعبان في الموكب‪ ،‬وتطوأ في حلقات الذكر‪ ،‬وهز‬
‫نفسه في حركات متشنجة‪ ،‬وظل يتواثب حتي يصرخ بكالم مختلط ال معنى له‪ ،‬فيقول الناس عنه إنه‬
‫يضرع بالسرياني وإنه وصل! (األرض‪ -‬عبدالرحمن الشرقاوي)‬

... الترجمة الأدبية مكتوبة دكتور خالد توفيق

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... الترجمة الأدبية مكتوبة دكتور خالد توفيق

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‫دكتور‬

)3( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

)4( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

)5( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

must be in a state of constant change to match man’s mental processes and

)2( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

For example, linguists and anthropologists discovered that the

)3( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

)5( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

The translator is expected to find no difficulty in rendering the first three

Let's judge the following translation provided by Marlyn

)6( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

Application: Read the following translation then do the following:

)7( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

Domestication versus Foreignization

Another issue which is closely related to crossing cultural barriers in

Al Qut keeps the original proverb literally (Foreignization), but in his

Awad: "‫"إلى أن ينبت العشب‬:‫"ولكني ما أخالك إال عالما ً بالمثل القديم‬

Enani’s approach is different: he is a professor of translation and a

Al Qut: "‫"حبالل الصطياد طيور الغابة الحمقى‬

)4( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

El Fouli answered quickly, "You want to guarantee your success in the

)5( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

Translating Figures of Speech

What Are the Major Figures of Speech:

Metonymy: In metonymy, the name of one thing is replaced with

Claudius: Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death

Al Qut: ،‫الذكرى‬ ‫إن يكن موت هاملت أخينا العزيز مازال غ‬

Enani: ‫إن كانت ذكرى فقد أخينا المحبوع الراحل هاملت‬

The three translators adopt different approaches: Enani is the one

This is a confrontation between Willy and Biff, his son, in which he

)4( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

‫‪Application: Read the following translation then do the following:‬‬

‫‪Al Qut:‬‬ ‫مضجعك‬ ‫ال تدع هذا األمر يق‬

‫‪Awad:‬‬ ‫ال حاجة أن يسهد طرفك من أجل هذا‪،‬‬

‫(‪)5‬‬ ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

‫‪Enani:‬‬ ‫هذا األمر مضجعك! وال تظن أننا‬ ‫حذار أن يق‬

‫(‪)6‬‬ ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

Translating poetry has been considered by a lot of translation

Another major problem related to the translation of poetry resides in the

Let's evaluate the strategies adopted by two translators in rendering

)2( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

)3( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

explanation of the places in question to eradicate any ambiguity: “Dhu

)5( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

The words written in bold represent semantic voids to the translator

Similarly, O’Grady faces semantic and cultural voids that compel

III- Translation by Cultural Substitution:

)7( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

original term or expression. The following verse reveals O’Grady’s

did not well up and weep tears like daggers

He sports the jerky jog of the jackal

)9( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

The image written in bold is a culture-specific one because ‫ قرت‬comes

IV- Using Endnotes:

)11( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

V- Translation by a more general word (superordinate)

)12( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬

)13( ‫نسخ المحاضرات‬