Филологические науки / 6. Актуальные проблемы перевода

Старший преподаватель кафедры английского языка факультета иностранных языков Бизикоева Л.С.

Северо-Осетинский Государственный Университет им. К.Л.Хетагурова, Россия

“The Narts' Legends” – the treasure-house of the world culture

The Ossetian folklore art is rich in various stories and legends. However if an Ossetian is asked to give an example of the most famous work of folklore art, he is sure to say “The Narts' Legends”. “The Narts' Legends” can easily be called an encyclopedia of the Ossetian people. Being the result of the century-old work of many people, it shows how the outlook of the Ossetians was formed. Those who created “The Narts' Legends” had their own views, concepts and ideas about the world, life, nature etc.

“The Narts' Legends” have always attracted the attention of different scientists. The first publications date back to the middle of the XIXth century. Some enthusiasts among whom were Vassily Tsoraev and two Shanaev brothers Dzantemir and Gatsir took a vivid interest in their national culture and started collecting the legends about the epic heroes. In 1868, Vassily Tsoraev handed a large number of legends to a famous Russian scientist A.Shiffner who translated them into Russian and published them in the Journal of the Academy of Science.

In 1871, another Russian scholar Dr. Pfaff published in the “Collected Articles about the Caucasus” the materials about the Narts, which he managed to collect while traveling across Ossetia.

It is also worth while mentioning the name of Vsevolod Miller, who was a great expert and connoisseur of the Ossetian folklore art. “The Narts' Legends” published by Vsevolod Miller were accompanied by valuable explanations that made the reading and understanding much easier.

All these publications, however, were the collection of only selected legends. Hence the work done by an outstanding French linguist and mythologist George Dumézil “Légendes sur les Nartes suivies de cinq notes mythologiques” published in Paris in 1930, overcame all the previous ones both in extend and in value. Dumézil's “Légendes sur les Nartes” include the French translation, summary and explanations of all the existing and published before 1930 the texts of not only Ossetian legends, but also those created by the Kabardinians, the Balkarians, the Chechens, the Ingushes and some other Caucasian nationalities. All the material is presented in a perfectly systemized way. Moreover, five tales written by the author himself make the book even more valuable.

In 1948, a Russian translator Yury Lebedinsky made a full translation of the Narts' Legends into the Russian language. Since then the Russian version has been republished several times.

In 2002 on the initiative of the late Vytaly Gussalov a historian and ethnographer, the English translation of several Ossetian legends better known as the “Nartæ Tales” were published in the first volume of the “Nartamongæ” a scientific journal. It is a joint North Ossetian (Vladikavkaz) – French (Paris) venture specializing in Alano-Ossetic studies: Epic, Mythology and Language.

The translation of the “Nartæ Tales” was done by Walter May, a poet and translator. Walter May was an Englishman. He had lived in Moscow for more than thirty years with his Russian wife. Walter May managed to master the Russian language so well, that he could translate from Russian into English national epics of the peoples inhabiting the former Soviet Union.

It was not his first experience in translating Ossetian texts into English. Walter May's translations of the poems of Kosta Khetagurov the founder of the Ossetian literature, can easily be called perfect examples of a translator’s work.

It is hard to estimate the contribution made by Walter May to the world culture by translating the Ossetian epic into the English language. The Narts' Legends is a cultural heritage of not only the Ossetian people but of the whole world. Being a good translator Walter May managed to render in English the impressive simplicity of the Ossetian phraseology and the grandeur of the Narts heroes.

We find it important to mention that it was only thanks to Zema Jiothi that the book “Selected Nartæ Tales” was published. Zema Jiothi is a great enthusiast and lover of both her mother tongue – Ossetian and the English language.

“The Narts' Legends” continue to attract the attention. In 1996 a group of professors from North Ossetian State University presented a complete translation of the epic texts. The importance of this particular translation is that the peculiarities of life, traditions and customs of the Narts – the ancestors of the Ossetians are presented in every single detail.

Literature

1. Аbaev V.I. Hystorico-Etimological Dictionary of the Ossetian Language in 4 volumes. – Moscow, Leningrad, 1958, 1973, 1979, 1989.

2. Нарты кадджытæ. – Vladikavkaz: Аlania, 1995. – 344 p.

3. Равзаргæ Нарты Кадджытæ. Selected Nartæ Tales. – Tskhinval: South Ossetia, Alania, 2007. – 217 p.

4. Dumézil G. Légendes sur les Nartes suivies de cinq notes mythologiques. – Paris: Imprimerie R.Bussier, 1930. – 216 p.