Idiomatic phrases have four main indices to their equivalency which are, to us, indiсеs for interpretation (переводческие показатели). They are: meaning (mng), conditions of usage (use), emotive overtones (o-t) and style (sty).

You can see that meaning, as an index for interpretation, describes the essence of the action (or event) whereas usage shows the conditions under which a given idiom may be used altogether, that is, the forms of the action, its aims, etc. For instance, in the phrase 'to pull the wool over smb.'s eyes' (mng: to deceive, to fool; use: when a person wants to do it by not letting smb. know smth.) the obligatory condition under which the phrase may be altogether used by a speaker, is 'by not letting smb. know smth.' (the form of the action).

If one takes, say, a number of synonyms (e.g., 'to throw dust in smb.'s eyes', 'to draw a red herring', 'to pull smb.'s leg', etc.) whose meaning is, naturally, the same (e.g., to deceive, to fool), one can see that most of them, if not all, differ by conditions of their usage. It is, then, the condition of the usage, the core of the idiom, Кузьмин С., Употребление - главное звено механизма переводческих показателей (на примере фразеологизмов). Тетради переводчика, М., 1972 that may and, often, should be considered first.

Case 1

The easiest case is when an interpreter who deals with an idiom like “сводить концы с концами” finds, among its English synonyms (e.g., 'to live from hand to mouth', 'to keep the wolf from the door', 'to make both ends meet', etc.), one (e.g., 'to make both ends meet') whose main indices coincide with those of the Russian phrase. The job is done, then. The required English idiom is in the bag. Translation begins.

Case 2

In case both of the usage indices (the cores of the idioms!) coincide and meanings do not, one may try to alter the image of the English phrase and adjust its meaning to the requirements of the Russian meaning. Thus, "He так страшен черт, как его малюют" becomes practically equivalent to 'The devil is not as terrible (instead of 'so black') as he is painted'.

In case meaning indices coincide and usage indices do not, the job of the interpreter is not a bed of roses. One is expected to know the items (i.e., every condition) of the Russian phrase's usage and be prepared to translate them idiomatically. Then, a descriptive translation of the idiom's meaning can be added to our idiomatic translation of the usage and placed after it as an 'explanation' of the English idiom (like 'explanation' in a pair of cause-and-effect relation statements) if the meaning is not clear from the context itself.

For instance, the phrase "пускать пыль в глаза" (mng: to deceive, to hoodwink) has at least three permanent items of its usage.

We have not been able to avail ourselves, in this case, of the English phrase 'to throw dust in smb.'s eyes' though its dust-in-the-eyes image is similar to the "пыль в глаза" image of the Russian phrase. The usage of this English phrase differs from that of the Russian idiom:

'to throw dust in smb.'s eyes'

use: to deceive by preventing a person from seeing the true state of affairs (as if by impairing a person's vision so that he cannot see things clearly).

Had one translated the phrase "пускать пыль в глаза" by means of `to throw dust in smb.'s eyes' (tr.: сбивать кого-л. с толку) it would have been an error which can be generally considered typical of inexperienced interpreters and translators.

2.1.5 Proverbs Figurativeness and Its Means

Translators are faced with formidable problems. Many writers and poets thought it necessary to voice their opinion of how one should approach proverbs. V. A. Zhukovsky Жуковский В.А., Предисловие к «Дон Кихоту». М., 1805, с. 2 stressed that translators "should produce the effect of the original." Not a few writers likewise opposed literal, word-for-word translations of proverbs (and we know this to be true), the question however remains: how should they be translated? V. G. Belinsky said that "the internal life of the translated expression should correspond to the internal life of the original." Белинский В.Г., Собр. соч., СПБ, 1896, т. 1, с. 299 This is true again. It seems therefore that we should do this, that and the other. We agree to do this, that and the other... But, apparently, we must focus our attention on figurativeness when translating proverbs. Федоров А.В., Введение в теорию перевода, М., 1967, с.172, 174 Thus, our translation of a proverb must either be, in fact, an English proverb or an idiomatic sounding metaphor. And this seems to be the right answer to the question of what we must do above all, especially because "The corresponding image as well as the corresponding phrase do not always present a visible adequacy of words."

The translation difficulties usually arise in cases when (a) there happens to be no corresponding English proverb that we can use for our translation or (b) when the existing "ready-made" equivalent (e.g., an English proverb) cannot be used as it is because, for example, the Russian proverb is innovated in speeсh and, thus, may convey a specific additional meaning.

An analysis of translators' work shows that we may have the following means at our disposal in order to overcome these difficulties and to ensure the figurativeness of our translation: (1) use of rhymed and/or rhythmically arranged metaphors, (2) use of English phrases, proverbs and their components as a basis of one's translation, (3) utilization of the structures of English proverbs, (4) use of innovation as a means of adequacy, (5) use of colloquialisms and special introductions , etc. It is the соmplex use of these means which could guarantee the desired result.

Rhymed Metaphors

A rhyme alone is a supplementary means. For instance, the rhymed words "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" have a meaning which is in no way metaphorical. These cigarettes are real, and one cannot say the same of the words "Либо дождик, либо снег--либо будет, либо нет". Both "дождик" and "снег" are metaphorical. This Russian saying was once translated as "Who knows -- maybe rain and maybe snow, maybe yes and maybe no."

And a rhymed metaphor made this sound proverbial.

Of course, it is hardly possible to make a satisfactory rhymed metaphor in the process of interpretation (not translation). However, it is good to know a number of rhymed metaphors by heart so that they could be used as "ready-made" equivalents of some of the 'difficult' and frequently used Russian proverbs.

Naturally translators must often translate Russian proverbs that do not have their "ready-made" English equivalents. Translations show that some of our colleagues seem to think that one should try to convey only the meaning of such proverbs. Thus, the proverb "Дело не медведь, в лес не убежит" was once translated as 'Business is no bear, to run away to the forest'. (And Prof. M. M. Morozov praised this particular translation. Морозов М.М., Пособие по переводу русской художественной прозы на английский язык. М., 1972, с. 9-10) Yet, the process of this translation was actually terminated at the stage of 'transposition'. It could have been continued: "Дело не медведь, в лес не убежит" -»- (Transposition:) 'Business is no bear, to run away to the forest' (Idiomatization by way of making the metaphor rhymed and by means of grammatical restructuring:) 'Business is no bear, it won't go nowhere'. One can see that we have excluded the word 'forest' as an obviously redundant detail, and used the grammatical colloquialism "won't go nowhere" (double negation).

Suppose we have to construct a pun. As soon as our translation is figurative (i.e. has an idiomatic background), we would have no problem at all in making a play on any of the metaphor's components. Example:

Это неправильно говорится: «Дело -- не медведь, в лес не уйдет». Дело и есть медведь, уходить ему незачем, оно облапило и держит. Дело человеку- барин. (Горький, Дело Артамоновых)

It is not true that 'Business is no bear, it won't go nowhere.' Business is a bear, and there's no reason for it to go. It's got too good a hold on us. Man is a slave of his business!

Use of Proverbs' Structures

Here is an example of an attempt to translate the English proverb "Make hay while the sun shines". This proverb was used in speech being innovated grammatically and lexically: 'to make hell while the sun shines'. The lexical innovation ('hell' instead of 'hay') presents a problem in translation. And life shows Левицкая Т., Фитерман А., Обновление фразеологических единиц, и передача этого приема в переводе. Тетради переводчика, №5, М., 1968, с. 46-48 that the translation practice does not exclude the following way of solving this problem. Example:

I positively refuse to understand those who anywhere and everywhere wish "to make hell while the sun shines."

Я решительно отказываюсь понимать людей, которые везде и повсюду стремятся к тому, чтобы, "пользуясь благоприятны» ми обстоятельствами, натворить как можно больше бед".

True enough, the translator cannot use here the Russian proverb "Куй железо пока горячо" but... we can use its structure to make the 'transposed' translation figurative, that is, to make a solid metaphor out of it.

The Russian proverb consists of two parts: "(1) Куй железо (2) пока горячо". The 'transposed' translation also consists of two parts: (1) пользуясь благоприятными обстоятельствами (2) натворить как можно больше бед.

The process of our translation would be as follows: 'to make hell while the sun shines' (Transposition:) > "пользуясь благоприятными обстоятельствами натворить как можно больше бед" > (Restructuring by means of using the Russian proverb's structure:) "ковать железо пока горячо" > "делать что-л. пока возможно" > "творить как можно больше бед пока возможно" > (Idiomatization by way of making a rhymed metaphor:) "вредить безбожно пока возможно". Thus:

I positively refuse to understand those who anywhere and everywhere wish "to make hell while the sun shines."

Я решительно отказываюсь понимать людей, которые везде и повсюду стремятся к тому, чтобы "вредить безбожно пока возможно."

The conclusion is that one should better not stop at the stage of 'transposition'. One should move farther, till the end of the translation process. As a poet said, "The inn that shelters for the night is not the journey's end."

See the following example of a translation from Russian into English, which is based on an American proverb's structure:

У русских есть такая поговорка: «Всяк кулик свое болото хвалит».

We Russians have a proverb which says that every snipe praises its own bog.

It is easy to see that the translation process was as follows: "Всяк кулик свое болото хвалит" -> (Transposition:) 'Everybody speaks well of one's own home [or the like]' -> (Restructuring and idiomatization by way of using the structure of the proverb 'Every cook praises his own broth') 'Every smb (smth) praises his (its) own smth' -> 'Every snipe praises its own bog.'

Metaphors Based on Phrases

The method of making a metaphor based on a "ready-made" phrase (or two), is both productive and substantial. It is substantial to the extent that it does not necessarily need rhyming a metaphor based on an English phrase. For instance, Y. Katzer and A. Kunin made it a point in their book on translation Катцер Ю., Кунин А., Письменный перевод с русского языка на английский, с. 94-100, 104-109 that the Russian proverb "Москва не сразу строилась" could be translated as 'Moscow was not built in a day', that is, they say, it could be constructed "according to the pattern" of the English proverb 'Rome was not built in a day'. In fact, they pointed to the method of making the proverb's translation based on an English saying (i.e., "Москва не сразу строилась" > 'Rome was not built in a day' > 'Moscow was not built in a day').

Some translators might say that to convey the subject-logical content of the information is what we should really want. And some others might say that we can consequently translate, for example, the proverb "Little pitchers have long ears" as "Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых". However, the emotive-and evaluating content of the information must not be ignored and should be translated. And one can see that "Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых" does not convey any emotive evaluation. Besides, this translation does not sound proverbial.

The question is what would you feel if you happen to hear the statement "Дети любят разговоры взрослых"? 'So what?' would be your most probable reaction.

Let us make this translation figurative and evaluating: 'Little pitchers have long ears' > (Transposition:) "Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых" > (Idiomatization on the basis of Russian phrases:) "У [этих] деток слишком длинные уши" or: "Бойтесь детей > у них на макушке любопытные ушки". Thus, we have based our first translation on the Russian phrase "у кого-л. слишком длинные уши" for the purpose of conveying negative overtones? And we based our second translation (a) on the Russian phrase "y кого-л. ушки на макушке", (b) we also added "Бойтесь детей" as a resume and a negative exaggeration bringing positive reaction, (c) and we used the internal addition "любопытные" (which is particularly used in the Russian phrase "Любопытной Варваре HOC оторвали"). As a result, we have got "Бойтесь детей -- у них на макушке любопытные ушки" which is a cause-and-effect relation statement : "Бойтесь детей [because] у них на макушке любопытные ушки". (This can be compared with the metaphor 'Who knows -- maybe rain and'maybe snow, maybe yes and maybe no' which is also a cause-and-effect relation statement.) And now one can make an experiment and check one's possible emotive reaction while comparing the following:

Original: Little pitchers have long ears.

Translation variants:

(1) Дети любят слушать разговоры взрослых. (2) Бойтесь детей -- у них на макушке любопытные ушки. (3) У [этих] деток слишком длинные уши.

Here is an example of a good and illustrative translation from Russian into English. The translator (Olga Shartse) had managed to make the proverb's translation figurative (by means of utilizing the English phrases 'to be brave as a lion' and 'to be like a lamb') which served, then, as a solid basis for her making a pun (and for conveying irony):

-- Люблю парня за ухватку. Сразу видно, что молодец среди овец. (Ю. Герман, Я отвечаю за все)

"I like a good chap for his brave ways'. I can tell right away that you'd be brave as a lion with a lamb." German Y., Eternal Battle, Progress Publishers, Moscow, p. 331

Use of Colloquialisms

The linguistic means to be used in the metaphorical translation of proverbs are lexical and grammatical colloquialisms.

I. K. Sazonova Сазонова И.К., Лексика и фразеология современного русского языка. М., 1963, с. 6 suggested the following examples of the different kinds of "stylistic colouring" which are (a) neutral, (b) bookish and (c) colloquial:

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