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Translating Proverbs Mohammed K. El-Yasin Abdulla K. Al-Shehabat 1. Introduction The purpose of this paper is to look into the possibility of translating proverbs used in an Arabic text into English.1 Peter Theroux’s English translation of Mu- nif’s Taqaasiimu l-Layli wa n-Nahaar (‘Variations on Night and Day’) will be used to provide examples of the points to be discussed. (c) John Benjamins Delivered by Ingenta 1.1 on: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:41:46 Proverbs, like other linguistic expressions, have form and meaning.2 Form is a de- to: University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign fining characteristic of proverbs, since they are usually said to have a fixed form IP: 130.126.32.13 (see e.g. Norrick 1985: 31). In this way they share with other types of expressions such as greetings and courtesy phrases the feature of being fossilized expressions, i.e., expressions which are unable to change form in different contexts. If they do change form, then they are no longer proverbs in the strict definition3. After al- teration, what is left of a proverb can be termed a proverbial expression (Norrick 1985:13). The sentence in (1), which comes from an Arabic song,4 is a proverbial expression, since it is based on the proverb in (2). (1) haw 9ašr 9aSaafiir 9aššajara wwala waaHad bil’iid there ten birds on-the-tree and-no one in-the-hand “And there are ten birds on the tree (but) none in the hand” (used to complain of unrealized promises). (2) 9aSfuur bil’iid wala 9ašara 9aššajara bird in-the-hand and-not ten on-the-tree. “A bird in the hand and not ten on the tree”, (i.e. A bird in the hand is better than ten on the tree.). Babel 51:2 (2005), 161–173. issn 0521–9744 / e-issn 1569–9668 © Fédération des Traducteurs (fit) Revue Babel 162 Mohammed K. El-Yasin / Abdulla K. Al-Shehabat Proverbial expressions as defined here may be found more in normal usage than strictly-defined proverbs. Speakers (or writers) very often adapt proverbs into the syntax of their text, thus altering their fixed form. Another common form of alter- ation is the use of only part of the proverb, leaving the rest for the recipient to de- tect. For example, commenting on somebody’s complicating a problem when trying to solve it, a speaker can say: (3) ’ija ta ykaHHilha came-he so-that put-kuhl-(to)-her “He came with the intention of putting kuhl in her eyes” (Kuhl is a substance used as a cosmetic or medication). which prompts in the recipient the full proverb: (4) ’ija ta ykaHHilha 9awar 9eenha ............................ gouged-he eye-her “He came with the intention of putting kuhl in her eyes, (but) he gouged her eyes (instead)”. A proverb has its standar(dc in)t eJrporehtantio nB, wehnichja ism givienns to it by its speech community (Ntshinga 1999). NDorericlkiv (e198r5e: 1d) cballys thInis g“ceusntotmaary meaning [the] stan- dard proverbial interpretation (SPI)” which may or not coincide with its literal on: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:41:46 meaning; if the SPI does not coincide with the literal meaning “the proverb is said to: University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to be figurative” (ibid. 1). The usual meaning of the proverb in (1) and its English IP: 130.126.32.13 equivalent “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” does not necessarily concern birds, trees, or bushes: rather, it is a judgement on the difference between re- alized and unrealized wishes, promises, etc. Even when a proverb is literal in Norrick’s terminology, it seems that its meaning, and that of other fixed expressions for that matter “is somewhat more than the sum of meanings of its words”, to use Baker’s (1992: 46) words. The use of such expressions “conjures up in the mind of the reader or hearer all the aspects of experience which are associated with the typical contexts in which the expression is used” (ibid: 64). This is precisely why the use of proverbs in literature enriches the literary text in the sense of creating all these associations through the economical use of a compressed expression which conveys to the recipient much more than the literal meaning the words would typically convey. The use of an altered form, i.e. a proverbial expression, is equal in its contextualizing effect to the use of a proverb in its original form and, therefore, is equally significant in enriching the text: it does bring in the original proverb at some level of structure although it doesn’t appear in full on the surface. Proverbs and proverbial expressions endowed with such rich associations are no longer literal, if literality means limiting the whole meaning to the denotative meaning of the words and their combination. If figurative signif- Translating Proverbs 163 icance is given a wide definition meaning more than what is said, then proverbs and proverbial expressions are all figurative, Norrick’s classification notwithstand- ing. (Cf. Nida [1990] who classifies most proverbs as “types of figurative language” (151)). 1.2 The ability of proverbs to enrich meaning in such an economical manner as ex- pressed above poses a serious problem to the translator who is trying to attain equivalence between the original text in the SL and his product in the TL. Optimal translation is that in which the translator can achieve optimal equivalence; that is to say, it is the translation which creates in the target-language audience the same effect that the SL text creates on its audience. But Kingscott (1998) calls for greater concern with the message rather than the text and would therefore accept “freer” translation where the translator moves closer the meaning pole rather than that of form. Pérez (1993: 160) speaks of the two poles as “a faithfulness to the author [.....] or alternatively to the reader”, the former resulting in closer correspondence to the original and the latter in( fcre)er Jtroanhslanti oBn.enjamins Delivered by Ingenta 1.2.1 on: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:41:46 to: University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Complete faithfulness to the SL text in the sense of word-for-word substitution IP: 130.126.32.13 produces gloss-translation, which is useful only in linguistics writings, but which is rather absurd for all other practical purposes. This is especially true if the two languages are remote from each other in origin and structure. But even with geneti- cally-related languages, word-for-word translation produces natural TL text only accidentally, the more frequent result being those unnatural, very often uninter- pretable word sequences. 1.2.2 Complete ignorance of form and maximal concern with meaning implies recasting the original message in the TL in the lexical and syntactic patterns which the translator deems most appropriate. This avoids meaningless stretches of words which strict adherence to form would produce, and the end-product seems to be a natural expression of the message from the TL viewpoint. 1.2.3 Ignoring form in translation means losing any function this form can contribute to the overall effect of the text. Poetic devices such as alliteration or rhyme, which 164 Mohammed K. El-Yasin / Abdulla K. Al-Shehabat are formal phenomena, are rendered useless in such a translation. The relation that can obtain between two rhyming words giving special weight to these words in the overall functional load would be lost. Giving due attention to form is therefore of significance, especially where form is accorded special status in the linguistic activ- ity as in the case of poetry. Proverbs are also instances of language use where form is of paramount importance. Very often, the apparent form of a proverb is meaningless in the context it appears in, but has meaning only because form is to some extent ignored and receptors of the message fill in from their experience the neces- sary links to make the proverb meaningful. In the use of proverbs, then, form has a special role since it sheds its usual role and assumes a new one based on its fixed or fossilized character. In translation, the ideal situation is to be able to translate an SL proverb into a TL proverb in the hope that the effect of using a proverb is maintained. Finding an equivalent proverb, though, is not a matter of course (Bak- er 1992: 68). Even when an equivalent proverb exists in the TL, its context of use is not expected to be the same as the original proverb in the SL; one-to-one correspondence is an unrealistic expectation on the part of the translator. One can only hope for near-equivalence, not for complete equivalence. (c) John Benjamins Delivered by Ingenta 1.3 on: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:41:46 We now move on to the novel and its translation, which are the source of our data. to: University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The novel is Munif’s Taqaaseemu l-Layli wa N-Nahaar (in Arabic) translated into IP: 130.126.32.13 English by Peter Theroux as Variations on Night and Day. 1.3.1 Munif’s novel uses quite a number of proverbs and proverbial expressions, a practice not uncommon in many literary works. Mieder (1992), for example, cites Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dickens, and others as profuse users of proverbs in their writings. As is often the case, Munif puts a proverb into the mouth of his characters, not in his narration paragraphs. Baker (1992: 71) believes that “Languages such as Arabic and Chinese which make a sharp distinction between written and spoken discourse [...] tend, on the whole, to avoid using idioms in written texts”. This probably explains why Munif’s proverbs are mainly parts of dialogues, but not part of the narrator’s own words, the latter being a written text and not the report- ed speech of characters in the novel. For this speech to be natural, it should imi- tate what real people say, and people in their daily life do use proverbs. One has to point out, though, that there are instances of using proverbs in Munif’s text apart from the fragments of dialogue in the novel. But there are not many of these. His use of sentence (5) in the author’s narration paragraph is clearly based on the proverb in (6). Translating Proverbs 165 (5) la yumkinu li ’amiirayni ’an yajtami9a NEG be-possible for prince-two that meet 9ala 9aynin waaHidatin lil-maa’i on spring one for—the-water “It is not possible for two princes to be at the same spring at the same time”. (6) ’il- 9een ma tiHmil iθneen the-spring NEG sustain two “A spring cannot sustain two”. 1.3.2 Tracing Munif’s use of proverbs in his novel is hampered by a special type of difficulty. Munif does not belong to a single, clearly-defined speech community. His literature cannot be easily classified as Saudi, Iraqi, Egyptian or Jordanian (see al-Ma- sudi 2000: 39). This particular novel seems to be set in Saudi Arabia, but there is no explicit reference to any specific place, and, moreover, Saudi Arabia as a state en- compasses different speech communities. What this means in the diaglossic situation of Arabic, where all( Acr)ab Jic ocohunntr iBes earne tjhaomughitn tos share a common written form but so widely diffeDr ien lthiveier srpeokden b vayr ieItniegs, eis nthtea difficulty of determining which spoken variety is employed by the speakers in the novel. Different speech on: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:41:46 communities have different sets of proverbs, and determining whether a certain to: University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign expression is a proverb (or just proverbial) requires the possession of an all-know- IP: 130.126.32.13 ing competence in the local dialects of a large number of different communities,5 a capacity which can hardly be expected to be found in an individual speaker. A for- eign translator like Theroux can readily be pardoned for committing mistakes in identification and, consequently, in translation. 2 Al-Shehabat (2000) reports on an experiment in which 15 subjects were asked “to paraphrase [thirty] translated proverb[s] in [their] own words” (69). Differ- ent translation strategies had been employed by Theroux resulting in some cases in formal renderings of the proverbs and in others in translating “functionally” or “ideationally”. The subjects were given enough context to help them understand the translations. Only 12 proverbs were reasonably paraphrased in the authors’ judgement; the rest were misinterpreted. Of the 18 misinterpreted translations, 5 had been “mistranslated” in al-Shehabat’s judgement. Although al-Shehabat tries to explain the failure vs. the success of the translator on the basis of inappropriate vs. appropriate use of the right type of equivalence (formal, functional or ideation- al), we will concentrate here on the success vs. the failure on the part of the translator judging by the readers’ responses. 166 Mohammed K. El-Yasin / Abdulla K. Al-Shehabat Regardless of the type of equivalence Theroux chooses in his translation of the proverbs in Munif’s novel, he seems to commit quite a number of mistakes. Out of a hundred proverbs and proverbial expressions identified by the authors of the present paper, only 51 are correctly translated according to our intuitional judgement of the Arabic text and our knowledge of English. Even these 51 correctly translated expressions are not necessarily all successful. Many of them fail to cre- ate an effect in the TL audience similar to the effect originally intended to be cre- ated in the SL audience (see 3.2 below). This certainly detracts from the translation as a faithful representation of the novel. But this seems to be the case with translation, especially of literature. 3 Al-Shehabat’s experiment involved 30 items where one can easily identify more than a hundred instances of the use of expressions of the type he included, whether they be proverbs, proverbial expressions or other expressions enjoying tradi- tional approval. (c) John Benjamins Delivered by Ingenta 3.1 on: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:41:46 to: University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign For the purposes of the present paper, a hundred proverbs, proverbial expressions IP: 130.126.32.13 and idiomatic expressions of similar value were identified in the Arabic novel. To- gether with their English translations, they were written on index cards. On one corner of the card we described the translation as either ‘literal’ or ‘idiomatic’ in the sense of conveying the message without following the form. Next to this remark, we indicated whether the translation was correct or not. By “correct” is meant either that a literal translation is furnished which conveys the message in our per- sonal judgement or an equivalent idiomatic expression is given which conveys the message of the original text. ‘Incorrect’ translations were due to misreading or failure to comprehend a cultural point. For example, in reading the word bardaan “feeling cold” the translator seems to have made the mistake of taking the b- to be the preposition meaning ‘in’ and raddaan to mean ‘two answers’ (or ‘two responses’) and hence the translation ‘in two answers, he told me all I needed to know’ (p. 286) for the Arabic proverb in (7). (7) bardaan TaaH 9ala mitlaHHif rduunuh feeling-cold fell on covered-with his-sleeves “someone feeling cold came to someone using his sleeves as a bed cover”, (i.e. someone seeking help from someone who needs to be helped himself). Translating Proverbs 167 If one reads the whole paragraph in the English translation, one finds Theroux’s translation contradictory in informing the reader that the Sultan tells Ibn Bakhit about al-Ajrami having told the Sultan all he needed to know in two answers, and a second later saying ‘We wanted his help but now it is he who needs our help”. This last quote of the Sultan is a more explicit way of saying what the proverb says. An example of Theroux’s failure to understand a cultural point is his translation of (8) as (9). (8) ’illi ma yuHður wlaadit 9anztuh who NEG be-present-at delivery goat-his tjiib luh tees gives-birth-to to-him he-goat “whoever is absent when his goat delivers gets a he-goat” (9) whoever doesn’t assist at the birth of a goat will get a kid (p. 290). The use of tees in the proverb in (8) indicates loss, because a tees in the culture of Arabic is a symbol of stupidity; therefore, getting a tees is very much like getting a stupid child who is not wanted by the parents. Hence, loss. Using “kid” in the translation means getting( cso)m Jetohihngn g oBode, snomjaetmhinign wsanted. The whole point of the proverb is missed. ThDee trlainvselatrieond w abs yco mInplgeteelyn mtaisunderstood by the subjects who failed to give it an appropriate paraphrase in al-Shehabat’s experiment. on: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:41:46 Another example is his translation of xaal as “uncle” which should be “maternal to: University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign uncle”; the point of the proverb in (10) hinges on the difference between relatives IP: 130.126.32.13 on the mother’s side and those on the father’s side. English “uncle” obliterates this difference. (10) θilθeen l-walad la xaaluh two-thirds the-boy to uncle (maternal)-his “A boy is two thirds his maternal uncle” 3.2 In translating these expressions, Theroux resorts to one of three strategies: literal translation; being creative in the sense of making up a proverb-like expression or just putting the message into his own words as some kind of paraphrase; or translating a proverb into an English proverb (see Baker 1992: 71 ff. where she discusses different strategies for translating idioms). 3.2.1 Of these three strategies, the one most commonly used by Theroux is literal translation. Out of the 100 expressions identified by the authors, 64 are literally trans- 168 Mohammed K. El-Yasin / Abdulla K. Al-Shehabat lated, including 14 mistranslated. Because his literal translations here are translations of proverbs or proverbial expressions, they occasionally sound very much like proverbs in English. 11b is his translation of 11a. (11) a ’iddinya daaluub yoom foog wiθθaani taHt the-world wheel day up and-the-second down b “The world is a wheel: one day up, and tomorrow at the bottom” (p. 7). Among the mistranslated expressions is his translation of 12a as 12b. (12) a ’ilxeel bila ’a9inna miθl arrjaal bila ’asinna the-horses without reins like the-men without spears b “A horse without reins is like a man without teeth”. He must have confused ’asinna with ’asnaan the plural of sinn “tooth”. A literal translation is not always necessarily successful even when correctly done. Theroux’s translation of (13a) as (13b) is literal and precise. But the popular medical practice of cupping and cautery is alien to the culture of English. Result: readers do not get the message. (c) John Benjamins (13) a ’iða ma faad li-Hjaam yfiid l-kayy Delivered by Ingenta if NEG was-useful the-cupping be-useful the-cautery on: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:41:46 b “if cupping doesn’t work, we’ll heat up the cautery irons” (p. 322). to: University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The same cultural context is aroused by the Arabic proverb in (14) (also used in IP: 130.126.32.13 “Munif’s novel), which Theroux more appropriately translates as (14b) without re- sorting to literal translation. (14) a ’aaxir iddawa l-kayy last the-medicine the-cautery “The last medication is cautery” b “When medicine fails extreme measures are called for.” (14b) is still not the best translation; a better one would run along the lines of “If all else fails, extreme measures are called for.” 3.2.2 Next to literal translation comes a freer strategy in which Theroux would put the intended meaning into his own words, sometimes coming up with an expression that sounds like an idiom or proverb in English. (cf. 3.2.1 ex. 11). Unfortunately, it is here that he makes the most mistakes. Out of 30 instances the authors deem as “free” translations, 20 are mistranslated. The Arabic proverb in (15) is intended as advice for people to be moderate and not to insist on doing the same thing all the Translating Proverbs 169 time. In Munif’s novel Duheem is trying to persuade the Sultan not to be too strict in bringing up his children and uses the proverb to make his point. (15) marrah 9ala l-Haafir w marrah 9ala n-naafir once on the-hoof and once on the-protruding “Once on the hoof, and another of the protruding thing” (i.e., once hammer the hoof and next hammer the nail being driven into the hoof (in shoeing a horse)). What the proverb teaches is that one should distribute one’s effort here and there, something seen in the culture as a type of moderation. Theroux’s translation in (16) misses the point completely and “on the hoof” is interpreted as “riding on a horse”. (16) “Once on steed, they’d stop a stampede” (p. 17). 3.2.3 Theroux’s third strategy i(sc to) trJanoshlatne a Bpreovnerjba inmto ian psroverb or an idiomatic expression existing in EnDgliseh,l ibvuet trheis dis hbisy l eIanst gfreeqnuetnatly employed procedure. Of the 100 expressions investigated here only four are translated in this way. These on: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:41:46 are: (the b sentences in 18–22 are Theroux’s translations.) to: University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (17) a iddam ’abad IPma: 13yS0iir. 126m.a3yy2.13 the-blood never NEG become water b “... blood is thicker than water”. (p. 75) (18) a ’illi biih 9aadih ’abad ma yutrukha that in-him habit never NEG leave-it b “... old habits never die”. (p. 75) (19) a ’iða 9urifa s-sabab baTal l-9ajab if be-known the-reason disappear the-surprise b “... now that it’s known, so much for surprise!” (p. 244). (20) a ’il-gayib 9uðruh ma9uh the-absent excuse-his with-him b “why not give him the benefit of the doubt”, (p. 147) Two more sound like such expressions, probably because of the rhyming words. Whether these translations are existing idioms or proverbs, we could not deter- mine. (21) a kul ya mjawwa9 ma hu kull yoom 9iid eat o starved NEG he every day feast b “Let the starving eat; not every day is a feast”. (p. 154) 170 Mohammed K. El-Yasin / Abdulla K. Al-Shehabat (22) a da9eenaak tSiir lina 9oon taraak we-called upon- you become to-us help it–happened Tili9it 9aleena far9oon turned-out (you) on-us pharaoh b “we called you here to give advice, and you offer only the vice” (p. 236). Many of the proverbs in Munif’s novel seem to us to have English equiva- lents, but Theroux does not use these English versions. The Arabic proverb in (23a) is translated as (23b) although the English proverb in (23c) could probably have served the purpose better. (23) a ’al-malduug min l-Habl yxaaf the-bitten from the-rope be-scared b ... anyone bitten by a snake is wary even of a rope. c A burnt child dreads the fire. The literal translation in (23b) is precise and clear but translating an SL idiom into a TL idiom wherever possible is the best a translator can hope for (see as-Safi and ash-Sharifi, pp. 71–2). (c) John Benjamins Delivered by Ingenta 3.2.4 on: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:41:46 to: University at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Before leaving the assessment of the success or failure of Theroux’s translation, IP: 130.126.32.13 we should say a positive word about it after all these criticisms of his translation of proverbs. Translating proverbs and other idiomatic expressions is very difficult. Proverbs are rich in connotations and are special in form (Norrick 1985: 25 ff., see also Baker 1992: 64, 68 and 69). Maintaining these special features is possible only if the translator can find a TL proverb that fits exactly in the context. Such a task, if possible at all, is very difficult. It is this difficult aspect of translation that we have been discussing in relation to Theroux’s translation of Munif’s novel. This can give the impression that the translation is a complete failure with all these unsuccessful examples under consideration. A more comprehensive look at the translation in general should give a brighter picture, since Theroux does a much better job else- where in the novel. All we want is to be fair to the man who has undertaken an ambitious project. 4 We conclude from the discussion above that anyone translating fixed forms like proverbs, courtesy phrases (Farghal and Borini 1998), or greetings (El-Yasin 1999)