MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
Department of English Language and Literature
Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Translation and Analysis
Master Thesis
Brno 2009
Author: Lucie Laníková Supervisor: PhDr. Tamara Váňová Bibliografický záznam
LANÍKOVÁ, Lucie. Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God - Translation and Analysis: master thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2009. 107 pages. The supervisor of the master thesis is PhDr. Tamara Váňová.
Anotace
Stěţejním úkolem magisterské práce nazvané „Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God - Translation and Analysis“ je český překlad prvních tří kapitol románu afro-americké autorky Zory Neale Hurstonové Their Eyes were Watching God a jeho následná analýza. Práce dále v kapitolách věnovaných teorii pojednává o překládání příznakového jazyka, především afroamerické angličtiny, tradici pouţívání dialektu v dílech amerických autorů a jeho zachycení v českých překladech, kapitola s názvem Translation analysis se potom zabývá problémy a potíţemi, které se při překladu objevily.
Annotation
The primary objective of the master thesis “Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching - Translation and Analysis“ is a Czech translation of the first three chapters of the novel written by an African-American author Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God and its subsequent analysis. Further, the translation of non-standard language varieties, particularly the translation of the African American Vernacular English, the tradition of the use of dialect in American works and its rendition in Czech translations are dealt with in the theoretical chapters, problems and difficulties of the translation are discussed in the chapter called Translation analysis.
2 Klíčová slova
Zora Neale Hurstonová, Their Eyes Were Watching God, afro-americká angličtina, dialekt, tradice, překlad, teorie překladu, analýza
Keywords
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, African-American Vernacular English, dialect, tradition, translation, translation theory, analysis
3
Declaration
I declare that I wrote this master thesis on my own and all the materials used are stated in the bibliography.
I agree with the placing of this thesis in the Library of the Faculty of Education at the Masaryk University and with the access for academic purposes.
Brno, December 10 2009 Lucie Laníková
......
4
Acknowledgement
In the first place, I would like to thank heartily to my supervisor PhDr. Tamara Váňová for her helpful comments, advice and suggestions while I was writing the thesis. Secondly, my thanks are to all the amateur readers, especially to my mother, Lenka Laníková, who helped me with their remarks on the translation. Thirdly, I thank my native speaker consultant, Robert Johnson Rogers, M.A. for explanation and demonstration of problematic expressions and finally my thanks are to all those who supported me in any way while I was working on the thesis.
5 Table of Contents
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………..9
1 Zora Neale Hurston and Their Eyes Were Watching God ……………………………12
1.1 Zora Neale Hurston‟s Life ………………………………………………………….12
1.1.1 List of Zora Neale Hurston‟s published books ………………………………..13
1.1.1.1 Their Eyes Were Watching God ………………………………………..14
2 Perspectives on translation …………………………………………………………….16
2.1 What is translation? ………………………………………………………………...16
3 Translation of non-standard language varieties ……………………………………...19
3.1 Translating African American Vernacular English (AAVE) ………………………21
3.1.1 Translating African American Vernacular English into Czech ……………….23
4 Tradition of African American Vernacular English in American literary works and dealing with the translation of dialect into Czech …………………………………..25
4.1 Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom’s Cabin ……………………………………….25
4.2 Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ………………………………..28
4.3 Langston Hughes: The Best of Simple and Ku Klux ………………………………..29
4.4 Richard Wright: Native Son ………………………………………………………...31
4.5 John Oliver Killens: And Then We Heard the Thunder ……………………………32
4.6 Ishmael Reed: Flight to Canada ……………………………………………………33
4.7 Alice Walker: The Color Purple …………………………………………………...34
4.8 Toni Morrison: Beloved …………………………………………………………….35
4.9 Octavia E. Butler: Wild Seed and Dawn ……………………………………………36
6 4.10 Barbara Neely: Blanche among the Talented Tenth ………………………………36
5 The translation of the first three chapters from the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston …………………………………………………………38
6 Translation analysis ……………………………………………………………………77
6.1 Style of Their Eyes Were Watching God …………………………………………..77
6.1.1 Style of my translation ………………………………………………………...78
6.1.1.1 Rendition of the white mistress‟s speech in Czech …………………….80
6.1.1.2 Tense changes in English ………………………………………………82
6.1.1.3 Punctuation in a part of direct speech ………………………………….82
6.2 Translation of proper names ……………………………………………………….83
6.2.1 Translation of “Nanny” …………………………………………………….....83
6.3 Understanding of a text ………………………………………………………….....84
6.3.1 Understanding individual words but not in context …………………………...84
6.3.2 Difficulty with Czech expressions ………………………………………….....84
6.3.2.1 Personal difficulty with Czech expressions ………………………….....87
6.3.3 Specific terms ……………………………………………………………...... 88
6.3.4 Different linguistic and paralinguistic experience ………………………….....88
6.3.4 1 Omitting information …………………………………………………...89
6.3.4.2 Adding information ………………………………………………….....90
6.3.4.3 Analogy ………………………………………………………………...90
6.3.5 The relation of a thought and an expression ………………………………...... 92
6.3.6 Rendering metaphorical expressions ……………………………………….....93
6.3.7 Ambiguity in the text ……………………………………………………….....94
6.4 Neologisms …………………………………………………………………………95
6.5 Up-to-date non-standard expressions ………………………………………………96
7 6.6 „Unfindable‟ words …………………………………………………………………97
6.7 Amateur readers‟ perception of the translation of Their Eyes Were Watching God………………………………………………………………………………………99
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………102
Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………….103
8 Introduction
When I was to choose the topic of my bachelor thesis I was rather helpless and therefore peeked at topics that were suggested by the English department. Even though I did not want to write a literary thesis, one woman author caught my eye. At the time, I did not know that Zora Neale Hurston was such an established American writer. I had not heard about her before so I immediately started to do a little research in order to find out more information about her. After some investigation, I was surprised to discover that she was an important African-American author of the beginning of the twentieth century, a member of a literary, cultural and social movement called Harlem Renaissance, who was very famous at the beginning of her career but who felt into oblivion and died completely forgotten. I felt embarrased because of the lack of knowledge and decided to dedicate my bachelor thesis to the investigation of her life as well as to the cognition of the African-American history, tradition and culture. Throughout the whole investigating and writing process I was constantly remembering a respectable and honorable black woman, Tyjuana Thomas, I briefly encountered and who I will never forget for her attitude to life.
When collecting sources for my bachelor thesis, I naturally came across Hurston‟s most acclaimed as well as discussed work Their Eyes Were Watching God published in 1937 and after reading it I tried to find its Czech translation. Not entirely surprised, I realized that there has not been a Czech translation of the book. I let it be for a while and when I started to think about the topic for my diploma thesis, I swiftly remembered the book and my supervisor of the bachelor thesis, Rita Collins, who had mentioned that a translation of the book could be a good idea for me for the future. Since then I did not consider working on anything else but translation for my master thesis. I wanted Czech people to know about this author and her most famous work. I was a bit worried about being able to translate as I had not had much experience with translating but I was told that I can do a translation thesis even if I am not an experienced translator.
9 I gathered books, enrolled in the translation seminars and hoped to get better before I started to work on the translation. There was one moment when I panicked. It was just before submitting the topic to the information system when my teacher, Martin Němec, I thought I was going to consult my thesis with, told me that he could not be my supervisor as he already had too many students. I was desperate and my “dream almost changed into a nightmare“. I had no idea what to do because doing a translation thesis was a sort of a package deal for me. Fortunately, he advised me to contact another teacher, Tamara Váňová, who agreed to be the supervisor of my diploma thesis. I am very thankful to her for the opportunity.
At the very beginning I was told that the translation I had chosen was rather difficult and I did not know how to interpret it but once I started translating, I completely understood. Even though Their Eyes Were Watching God is, in my opinion, an amazing book, translating it is very different from just reading it. As a reader I understood the story without knowing every single word, however, in translation, details mattered much more. I found out that some expressions are impossible to find anywhere or if found they make no sense in context. I had quite a problem with finding a correct and commonly used Czech expression of an English utterance. Nevertheless, in spite of all the troubles and hours spent on it, I am very glad that I attempeted to tackle the translation. It was very creative and I enjoyed working on it most of the time. I sometimes got desperate and thought I was going to change the book and translate something else, something easier, but a few minutes, hours or days later I could not help myself and I had to get back to it and as a matter of fact many times I was successful to come up with new and better ideas. Looking back at the whole process now, I cannot imagine I would translate for a living but I can definitely imagine I translate for pleasure in the future.
My initial idea about the structure of the thesis differed from the final version. However, the adjustments, which have been made, were so as to make the order of the chapters more logical and easier for a reader to absorb the thesis. It may be mentioned that the whole thesis basically consists of three main parts, i.e. firstly, theoretical discussion of rendering
10 dialects in translation, secondly, my own translation of the first three chapters of the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, and thirdly, my analysis of the translation.
The first chapter introduces the author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston, more accurately her life, career and perception of both her, as a writer, and her works. A list of Hurston‟s works is also included as well as the plot and background information of Their Eyes.
The second chapter introduces the notion of translation and defines what a translation is. It also presents translation theorists‟, such as Levý‟s, Newmark‟s, Bell‟s or Knittlová‟s among others, views about translation.
The third chapter, which is the theoretical pillar of the thesis, describes how to approach non-standard language varieties and how they may be rendered in the target language. It presents options of translating dialect that a translator has to consider before he or she starts translating. Further on, ways of translating African American Vernacular English are suggested and at the end of the chapter possibilities how to render this variety in Czech are stated.
The next chapter is focused on the history of African American Vernacular English or other dialects in American literary works written either by African American or white writers as well as their translations into Czech.
The fifth chapter includes my translation of the first three chapters of Their Eyes.
Finally, the last chapter is dedicated to descriptions of problems and difficulties I came across when translating and to their subsequent solutions that are accompanied by justifications of my choices.
11 1 Zora Neale Hurston and Their Eyes Were Watching God
1.1 Zora Neale Hurston‟s life
Zora Neale Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama on Januray 7, 1891 and died on January 28, 1960 in Fort Pierce, Florida (“Zora Neale Hurston” qtd. in Laníková 17). She was “an anthropologist, novelist, folklorist, memoir and short story writer, essayist and a journalist” (Lillios qtd. in Laníková 17).
Even if Hurston‟s mother‟s parents did not agree with their marriage, Hurston‟s parents got married and left for Florida in order to settle down in Eatonville, a town that was inhabited entirely by African-Americans. Hurston spent most of her childhood at home with her mother and seven siblings as her father was a man of many activities and was rarely at home. When Hurston was thirteen, her mother died and Hurston was sent to school. In the next few years, Hurston alienated from her family, experienced various jobs and went back to school. Some of her early works became popular, she gained literary awards and was offered a scholarship at Barnard College. At the time she had been living in New York and she had been a member of the literary, cultural and artistic movement of the beginning of the twentieth century called Harlem Renaissance (Laníková 18-19).
Hurston received a grant and spent time collecting folklore in Florida. Her first novels Jonah’s Gourd Vine and Mules and Men were published and during her stay in Haiti, which she visited with support of the Gugenheim fellowship, she wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God. Her contribution to the literary tradition lies in the “embedment of African American Vernacular English, depicting ordinary rural people in everyday life situations, and solving common problems” (Laníková 22) as well as in the portrayal of “complete and complex individuals, undiminished by the negative stereotypes or characterizations depicted by the society” (Danielle qtd. in Laníková 23).
It might have been the criticism of Hurston‟s contemporary writers that her books received (her works did not deal with the racial issues and were written in dialect), her struggle with
12 publishers or the accusation of a child molestation that caused Hurston‟s seclusion and the end of her literary career. She was buried in an unmarked grave which was discovered by Alice Walker in the 1970s, who provided a tombstone saying:
Zora Neale Hurston “A Genious of the South” Novelist and Folklorist 1901 - 1960
(“Who was Zora Neale Hurston?” qtd. in Laníková 24).
1.1.1 List of Zora Neale Hurston‟s published books
Color Struck (1925)
Sweat (1926)
How It Feels to Be Colored Me (1928)
Hoodoo in America (1931)
The Gilded Six-Bits (1933)
Jonah’s Gourd Vine (1934)
Mules and Men (1935)
Tell My Horse (1937)
Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939)
Dust Tracks on a Road (1942)
Seraph on the Suwanee (1948)
I Love Myself When I Am Laughing … And Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive: A Zora Neale Hurston’s Reader (1979)
Sanctified Church (1981)
13 Spunk: Selected Stories (1985)
Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life (1991)
The Complete Stories (1995)
Barracoon (1999)
Collected Plays (2008)
Since no Czech translations of the above mentioned Hurston‟s works have been available, it is believed that neither of them has been translated into Czech.
1.1.1.1 Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God is Hurston‟s masterpiece which was published in 1937 and it is included in the TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005 (“Their Eyes”, Wikipedia). The location of the story is in Florida and it takes place at the beginning of the twentieth century (Hurston).
The main character of Their Eyes is a forty-year-old woman, Janie, who is coming back to her town. Because of her beauty and unconventional behavior, people in the town gossip about her. When Janie‟s friend Pheobe visits her, Janie confides in Pheobe with her life story. She is a daughter of a mullato girl and a white man, who raped her. Her mother goes crazy and runs away, and Janie is brought up by her grandmother who is called Nanny. When Janie reaches her womanhood, Nanny arranges a marriage for her granddaughter to a much older man. Janie first thinks that she will fall in love with her husband but when it does not come true a year later, she escapes with another man (Nanny is dead by that time). Janie and her second “husband” settle down in Eatonville, the only black town in Florida, and her husband becomes a mayor. The initially ideal relationship changes as Janie realizes she should be a model and obedient wife and does not have any freedom. After his death, a younger poor man enters her life. She is suspicious of him at first as she thinks he just wants her money but finally she departs with him. They settle down in the Everglades in south Florida, however, during a hurricane Tea Cake is bitten by a dog, gets rabies and dies. After his death Janie leaves Everglades for Eatonville (Hurston).
14 When the book was published in 1937, it met a lot of criticism from Hurston‟s contemporaries, especially from Richard Wright. They particularly criticized the use of African American Vernacular English, the depiction of African-American people, especially of black man, and the lack of discrimination issues (Laníková 22, 26-27).
15 2 Perspectives on translation
2.1 What is translation?
There has always been a debate whether the object of translation has a status of an art or a science. Levý mentions that Otokar Fischer defines translation as a borderline activity between an art and a science, however, Levý also points out that other theorists one time emphasize the philological, i.e. scientific nature of the activity, another time its artistic character (49). Bell states that it is the linguists who “inevitably approach translation from a „scientific‟ point of view, seeking to create some kind of „objective‟ description of the phenomenon” (4). Yet Bell concurrently admits that “translation is an „art‟ or a „craft‟ and therefore not amenable to objective, „scientific‟ description and explanation” (4).
Newmark suggests that it is not hard to “recognize a translation” (“About Translation” 27) but it is much more complicated to “define translation” (“About Translation” 27). He attempts to provide a definition:
What is a translation? … it is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text. … this ought to be simple, as one ought to be able to say something as well in one language as in another. On the other hand … it is complicated, artificial and fraudulent, since by using another language you are pretending to be someone you are not. Hence in many types of text (legal, administrative, dialect, local, cultural) the temptation is to transfer as many SL (Source Language) words to the TL (Target Language) as possible.
(“A Textbook” 5)
Bell agrees that “„translation‟ has been variously defined and, not infrequently, in dictionaries of linguistics, omitted entirely” (Gregory qtd. in Bell 5) and administers the following definitions: “Translation is the expression in another language (or target language) of what has been expressed in another, source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences” (Bell 5) and “Translation is the replacement of a representation of a
16 text in one language by a representation of an equivalent text in a second language (Sperber and Wilson qtd. in Bell 6).
It is declared that it is impossible and not even desirable to write a manual for translation (Levý 16). Newmark supports this opinion:
Translation is for discussion. All one can do is to produce an argument with translation examples to support it. Nothing is purely objective or subjective. There are no cast-iron rules. Everything is more or less … qualifications such as „always‟, „never‟, „must‟ do not exist – there are no absolutes.
(“A Textbook” 21)
Bell informs that some linguists espouse the view that “it would be almost true to say that there are no universally accepted principles of translation” (10), however, “lists of approved techniques and rules for translation continue to appear” (10). A treatise Essay on the Principles of Translation by Alexander Fraser Tytler is considered to have “set the ground- rules for the study of translation (Bell 10).
Two types of translation may be distinguished – a literal translation, i.e. word-for-word, and free translation, i.e. meaning for meaning (Bell 7; Levý 73). It seems that whichever type of translation is chosen, a translator can hardly succeed – in literal translation “the translator is criticized for the „ugliness‟ of a „faithful‟ translation, in free translation the „inaccuracy‟ of a „beautiful‟ translation is criticized” (Bell 7).
Based on the Essay on the Principles of Translation mentioned above Bell suggests that a definition of a good translation may be described:
17 A good translation is that in which the merit of the original work is so completely transfused into another language, as to be as distinctly apprehended, and as strongly felt, by a native of the country to which that language belongs, as it is by those who speak the language of the original work.
(Brown and Yule qtd. in Bell 11)
Newmark defines a good translation as follows: “[A good translation] is likely to look surprisingly like the original text to a reader competent in both languages …” (“About Translation” 34). He then mentions a “classical definition of translation as the reproduction of the closest natural equivalent of the source language message” (Nida qtd. in “About Translation” 34) which he specifies:
... this type of translation is distinguished by its elegance and concision, its attention to a natural word order, to the deployment of clauses and phrases more frequently used than their formal equivalents in the source language, to the occasional unobtrusive distribution of the meaning of important „untranslatable‟ words … over two or three target language words or a clause: a good translation is deft, neat, closely shadowing its original.
(“About Translation” 34)
Further, Newmark adds that “a good translation is accurate and economical” (“About Translation” 39), and a poor translation is identified as “defective, either due to the translator‟s ignorance or negligence ... [and] appears in verbal inaccuracy where improper words are put in improper places” (“About Translation” 39).
18 3 Translation of non-standard language varieties
The first step in translating a non-standard language variety from a source language into a target language, e.g. dialect, slang, etc. is to recognize that the particular book, passage, sentence, etc. are not written in a standard language. Once such a text is recognized, the translator has to assess it and decide whether the non-standard language variety is worth transfering into the target language. If it is, the translator has to decide how to render the variety in the target language (Knittlová 63-64). If a dialect is used in some parts of a book, it becomes an artistic device. If such a device is translated into the target language by a standard form of a language, it loses its characteristic value (Levý 84). Levý mentions that it is not possible to characterize a Bavarian speaker or a speaker from Brittany with Czech language devices. However, he states that what a translator might achieve is to differentiate country men‟s language from a more distinguished characters who speak the standard language (84-85).
Both Knittlová and Levý mention that it is not possible to grasp a dialect entirely but only insinuatingly. It means that a specific dialect should not be used; instead phonetic, lexical and syntactic features that are common to several dialects and invoke a general image of the country should be employed (64; 85). According to Knittlová, two principles may be applied. The first principle consists in a partial reproduction of a pragmatic information when the reproduction of the semantic information is total. This means placing a colloquial word of the target language with the same semantic information instead of slang or dialectal words of the source language. The second principle consists in the separation of semantic and pragmatic information. Knittlová mentions that Jäger recommends a compensation if a pragmatically neutral equivalent of a pragmatically dialectal lexical unit of the source language is used in a translation. This change has to be compensated by a combination with another pragmatically dialectal counterpart of a neutral lexical unit of the source language (64).
Epstein suggests that a translator basically has two possibilities how to approach a dialect in a source text. The first possibility is to “ignore the dialect and translate it as standard
19 language in the target language”. He admits that it is “an easy, if not faithful, solution, and in general should probably be avoided” as “an author … has chosen to use dialect for a reason, and dismissing that choice is not respectful of the author or his work”. At the same time Epstein, however, states that “for some languages, ignoring the dialect may in fact be the only solution. Not all cultures represent spoken language as it truly is in the written language; for some languages only a standard written style is acceptable”. He continues that “there may be no actual way to express dialect in the target language, or the written language may have a strict style that does not correspond to the spoken and thus does not allow for the expression of dialects”.
The second possibility is to translate dialect. Epstein mentions three available methods for translating dialect. Firstly, it is a geographic translation, i.e. a translator chooses a roughly equivalent region of the target culture and picks one of its dialects with which he will translate the source text. Secondly, a socioeconomical translation, i.e. a lower class dialect in the source text is translated with a lower class dialect in the target language. He adds that the source dialect and the target dialect do not have to be related geographically. Thirdly, a translation by equivalency of meaning, i.e. translating by “meaning or feeling”. He says “if an author chooses a dialect to suggest a character is unintelligent, or whiny or especially happy, an equivalent dialectical representation can be picked in the target language.” Epstein points out that “not all languages have dialects with the same stereotypes, and not all people who speak a language have the same understanding of which dialect is considered cranky or serious, or silly”. Moreover, “this translation technique will be unsuccessful and possibly confusing if readers do not understand what is meant or implied by the choice of dialect.”
Finally, Epstein concludes that a right way of translating does not exist and “each choice a translator makes is based on the context and the situation and what may work in one translation could be completely inappropriate for another one”.
Dickens declares that dealing with and translating dialects is a “permanent problem and every case has to be treated on its own merits”. At the Nordic Translation Conference in
20 London in March 2008, Dickens stated three approaches which can be applied when translating dialects. These approaches are in accordance with those of Sutton mentioned below. Firstly, translators may attempt to “find an approximate rural dialect”, secondly, “translate it straight into standard English” and thirdly, “hint at dialect”. When explaining each approach, he points at their drawbacks. If translators choose to find a rural dialect of the target language into which they will translate the source text, they have to take into account that not every reader of the target language will understand the dialect. Then translators have to consider their ability of writing at length in the chosen dialect as not every translator is capable of this. Finally, geographically speaking, readers will associate the dialect with an area where the dialect is spoken rather than with the area of the dialect in the source text. If the second approach, i.e. translating everything into standard language, is chosen, translators have to be aware of the fact that target language readers will not read the work in the same way as readers of the source text and that “the specifically regional aspect is lost” (Dickens). Dickens inclines to the last approach which “involves hinting at dialect usage by the odd word, the odd phrase”. Dickens admits that such a solution is a compromise between the above mentioned approaches and probably “will please no one entirely”.
3.1 Translating African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
The issue of translating dialects was raised in the Translator Café‟s discussion forum. Sutton suggests that a translator has two options how to translate a dialect. The first option is to “translate the work into the dialect of its target readership, standard Danish or whatever” the second option is to “translate the work into an existing lower-prestige dialect related to the dialect of its target readership, if such a dialect exists, and say so explicitly”. Sutton mentions the third option, which he, however, considers “insulting and intellectually untenable”. It is to invent a “set of arbitrary and inevitably inconsistent „celluloid Indian‟ errors to ham-fistedly play on the divergence between the author's native dialect and standard US English”. He states that the third option “is insulting because it implies that the people who speak African American English are in some way intellectually inferior to
21 those who speak standard US English”. Finally, Sutton expresses regret over the fact that the least suitable third option prevails in translations of dialect.
Sutton further notes that translating a dialect from the source text by a dialect of the target language might be risky as it would require the translator to know dialects thoroughly in order to be able to choose the dialect that is identical with the dialect of the source text. Finding such a dialect is, however, almost impossible. Sutton in addition highlights that in practice “the translator simply downgrades the coherence of the standard dialect, producing arbitrarily defective material” as he mentioned above. Sutton continues that while the source text includes a legitimate dialect, the „dialect‟ in the target text is “non-existent of his own fancy, much in the way that Indians are prevented from conjugating verbs in old Westerns”. Sutton concludes that translators may translate a dialect adequately only if they do not judge the text, do not improve it and translate it in accordance with the author‟s intentions.
Horne agrees with Sutton that inventing a language with errors is undesirable as it could leave a negative impression of African American people on readers, which certainly was not the intention of the author. Instead, Horne suggests using “proper Danish with a hint of informality so as to provide a subtle contrast with any dialogue in standard Danish”. The reason for such a choice is, that no dialect that would be a counterpart to African American Vernacular English exists in Danish. According to Horne, providing a low-prestige rural Danish dialect is not sufficient or satisfactory.
Wu and Chang state that when translating a dialect of the source text, translators have several possibilities how to deal with it. “Translators may opt for the classical variety throughout (version 1), one of the vernaculars throughout (version 2) or one of the vernaculars for less formal speech and the classical for more formal speech (version 3)” (Hatim and Mason qtd. in Wu and Chang). Wu and Chang indicate that translators who decide to render the source text‟s dialect in a target text must be aware of the fact that the translation might deal with problems caused by “incongruity and misplacement” (Stag qtd. in Wu and Chang). Stag, as well as Sutton, notes that “there is no completely satisfactory
22 way of translating the varieties of dialects mentioned by the author due to the difficulty of finding equivalent varieties that properly associate with a place or a social group in the target culture”. Wu and Chang provide an insight into two studies that tackled the problem of “rendering of African American Vernacular English into a local dialect” in a different way. First of all, an insight into Gloria and Herman Wekker‟s study which “focuses on the feasibility of using Surinamese Dutch for the translation of AAVE in The Color Purple” is offered. Wekkers claims that “in terms of linguistic and socio-cultural aspects, Surinamese Dutch serves as an adequate equivalent for the translation of AAVE into Dutch in terms of the similarity of linguistic and socio-cultural aspects of these two languages”.
Secondly, Wu and Chang examines Lin‟s diploma thesis called Translation and Commentary of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Lin solved the translation of Jim‟s dialect by “means of Taiwanese and Taiwanese Mandarin” which in her opinion was possible to use in order to render the original‟s, sometimes considered non- standard by speakers of Standard American English, African American Vernacular English.
Wu and Chang also suggest that if translating AAVE without its “distinct syntactic features”, translators should mention either in preface or post script that AAVE was used in the source text and they should inform the readers about linguistic characteristics that are typical of this dialect. Translators should do that “so readers have a chance to appreciate the writer‟s deliberate use of a particular language style” (Wu and Chang).
3.1.1 Translating African American Vernacular English into Czech
Knittlová notes that nowadays, based on grammatical research, it is known that AAVE is not a deformation of Standard American English but “an African American variety of American English” (“African American”) with its own system which underwent stages of creolization and decreolization, and was gradually approaching the norm. Despite the fact that African American Vernacular English is not a primitive and simplified version of English, it is impossible to tolerate this circumstance due to the Czech linguistic situation.
23 Knittlová explains that a translator is always limited by the linguistic situation of the target language, as well as by norms of style, and is influenced by usage and tendencies (62).
If distinctive features of AAVE of both white authors who used the variety to depict their African American characters along with their language, and African American authors who presented AAVE in more or less the same way, should be depicted in Czech translation, the following features ought to be taken into consideration: phonetic aspect and its written representation; gradual removal of phonetic and morphological distinctions; retention of the most characteristic features, and development and elaboration of rather syntactic features; and finally, the use of a special vocabulary (Knittlová 62).
In the past, infinitives, instead of appropriate verb forms, were used for rendering the language variety, however, currently there is a tendency to use obecná čeština, a primarily spoken variety, which is of an above-dialect character in Bohemia, i.e. it is perceived as a variety that is acceptable and used regardless of various dialects whose role has been decreasing distinctively (Čermák), mixed with elements of a colloquial literary language, as well as a common non-literary language, a countryside dialect without specific regional elements, and slang (Knittlová 62).
24 4 Tradition of African American Vernacular English in American literary works and dealing with the translation of dialect into Czech
First of all, it should be noted that when exploring African American authors and their works accessible in the Czech Republic either in their original language or their Czech translations, it was rather complicated to approach those that had been previously chosen. Therefore, the books that were investigated were more or less chosen on the basis of availability in libraries, and on their Czech translations in order to examine the approach that had been applied for translating dialect. Mark Twain‟s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was also included in the research for its specific usage of several dialects, among which slave‟s Jim‟s AAVE, and its consequent dealing with the problem of translating these dialects. It was attempted to find the same book in its original language and Czech translation, nevertheless, owing to the previously mentioned difficulty with the availability, this intention was not in all cases accomplished. However, what was achieved was that books by the same author, even though not of the same title, were gathered and investigated. There were two authors whose books‟ Czech translations were not available (Flight to Canada by Ishmael Reed, and Blanche, among the Talented Tenth by Barbara Neely), and on this account, only the language of the original versions was analyzed. Similarly, there was one translated book into Czech (A potom jsme uslyšeli hřmění from its original And Then We Heard the Thunder by John Oliver Killens) whose original had not been found, however, the translation was examined in order to find out more about translations of African American authors into Czech. The findings of the research on the use of dialect in American literature are sorted according to the year of the books‟ publication.
4.1 Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Even though Encyclopedia.com states that the use of AAVE in American literary works can be traced back to before 1790 (e.g. Attestation from Crevecoeur, Cotton Mather, Benjamin Franklin, the court records of Massachusetts, etc.), my earliest work, which includes the use
25 of AAVE is Stowe‟s Uncle Tom’s Cabin published in 1852. The novel is not written merely in the variety, the dialect is used only with some people – e.g. Aunt Chloe (a wife of the main character, Tom, a slave), Mr Haley (a slave trader who bought Tom). Interestingly, Haley‟s dialect is very similar to the one of slaves. Burkette noted that “recent studies in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and the investigation of its origins have suggested a close relationship between AAVE and Southern White Vernacular English (SWVE) as a result of the sociohistorical context in which AAVE began”. Therefore, Stowe‟s depiction of these two characters shows that their dialects were “historically accurate” (Burkette). Characters speaking in Standard American English were, for instance, a slave George and his wife Eliza, or George‟s master, Mr Shelby. The examples of these characters‟ language are listed below.
Non-standard language Aunt Chloe English (En): “La bless, you, Mas‟r George! …you wouldn‟t be for cuttin‟ it wid data ar great heavy knife! …” (Stowe 25). “Dem Lincolns an‟t much count, no way! … They‟s „spectable folks in a kinder plain way …” (Stowe 25). Czech (Cz): „Ts, jemináčku, pane Jiří! ... Přece byste ji nechtěl krájet takovýmhle těţkým zabijákem! ...“ (Stoweová 32). „Ti Lincolnovic, do těch nic není, copak na nich vůbec záleţí! ... Jináč jsou docela slušní, jenţe tak po obyčejnsku ...“ (Stoweová 32).
26 Mr Haley En: “I say now, Shelby, this yer‟s a most extro‟rnary business!” (Stowe 44). “Now, I tell ye what, Tom, … I mean to start fa‟r with ye, as I gen‟ally do with my niggers … I an‟t never hard on my niggers…” (Stowe 104-105). Cz: „Jářku, Shelby, tohle je prachzatracená věc! (Stoweová 51). „Tak já ti něco povím, Tome ... chci to s tebou začít slušně, jak uţ obyčejně se svými negry začínám“ (Stoweová 119).
Standard language George En: “There now, Eliza, it‟s too bad for me to make you feel so, poor girl! … It‟s too bad: O, how I wish you never had seen me – you might have been happy!” (Stowe 17). Cz: „Ale, neplač přece, Elizo! Hrozně mě mrzí, ţe ti dělám takovou lítost, dušinko ubohá! ... Hrozně mě to mrzí. Ach, jaká škoda, ţes mě vůbec potkala – mohlas být tak šťastná!“ (Stoweová 23). Eliza En: “George! George! How can you talk so? What dreadful thing has happened, or is going to happen? I‟m sure we‟ve been very happy, till lately.” (Stowe 17). Cz: „Ale Jiří, Jiří! Jak jen můţeš takhle mluvit? Nebo co se snad teprv stane? Donedávna jsme přeci byli takoví šťastní!“ (Stoweová 23). Mr. Shelby En: “I‟m afraid mine are not properly brought up, then, …” (Stowe 9). Cz: „To se tedy bojím, ţe já své lidi patřičně vychované nemám.“ (Stoweová 14).
As it is obvious from the above listed examples, the Czech translation, which was published in 1964 and translated by Emanuela and Emanuel Tilschovi as Chaloupka strýčka Toma, rendered the dialect of the source language by less formal expressions than those used in standard language. Such a small distinction between the use of standard and non-standard language in the source text may not provide readers with the intended difference between individual speakers.
27 4.2 Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The second oldest book from my list, in which the author used dialect plentifully, is Mark Twain‟s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The book contains various dialects, which are at the beginning of the book in the Explanatary stated by Twain himself to “wit” readers. The dialects were: “the Missouri Negro Dialect, the extremest form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect, the ordinary Pike County dialect and four modified varieties of this last”. Dobrodružství Huckleberryho Finna is the name of the Czech translation of The Adventures from 1965, which was translated by František Gel.
Examples of the language used in Huckleberry Finn (Huck - a fourteen-year-old boy, whose father is a drunk; Jim – Miss Watson‟s escaped slave; Ben Rogers – a boy; Tom Sawyer - a boy from an honorable family; Miss Watson – Huck‟s caretaker; Judge Thatcher – a fair local judge who takes care of Huck‟s money).
Huck En: “Well, likely it was minutes and minutes that there warn‟t sound, and we all there so close together. There was a place on my ankle that got to itching, but I dasn‟t scratch it; and then my ear begun to itch…” (“The Adventures” 5). Cz: „Snad několik minut nebylo slyšet vůbec nic, ačkoliv jsme byli tak blízko sebe. Najednou mě začalo svrbět na kotníku, ale netroufal jsem si podrbat se. A potom mě začalo svrbět ucho ...“ (“Dobrodruţství” 12). Jim En: “Say, who is you? Whar is you? Dog my cats ef I didn‟ hear smuf‟n. Well, I know what I‟s gwyne to set down here and listen tell I hears it ag‟in” (“The Adventures” 5). Cz: „Jářku, kdo je tam? A kde jste? Ať se propadnu, jestli jsem něco neslyšel. No, já vím, co udělám. Já si tady sednu a počkám, aţ to uslyším ještě jednou” (“Dobrodruţství” 12).
28 Ben Rogers En: “Here‟s Huck Finn, he ain‟t got no family; what you going to do „bout him?” (“The Adventures” 8). Cz: „Tuhle Huck Finn nemá rodinu; jak to bude s ním?” (“Dobrodruţství” 15). Tom Sawyer En: “Well, hain‟t he got a father?” (“The Adventures” 8). Cz: „No, přece má otce, ne? ” (“Dobrodruţství” 15). Miss Watson En: “Don‟t put your feet up there, Huckleberry”; and “Don‟t scrunch up like that, Huckleberry – set up straight” (“The Adventures” 2). Cz: „Dáš ty nohy dolů, Huckleberry“ a „Nehrb se tak, Huckleberry – seď rovně” (“Dobrodruţství” 10). Judge Thatcher En: “Why, my, boy, you are all out of breath. Did you come for your interest?” (“The Adventures” 18). Cz: „Copak se děje, chlapče, jsi celý udýchaný. Přišel sis pro úroky? ” (“Dobrodruţství” 23).
Having listed the examples of the book‟s several characters above in both the source and target language, it may be seen that the translator did not worry about translating the dialect very much. Undoubtedly, there was an attempt to depict dialects by means of using colloquial expressions, such as “jářku“, “tuhle“, or “ať se propadnu“, however, in the cited extracts and assumingly in the rest of the work, such a use is rather scarce and when reading individual characters‟ speeches in Czech there is hardly any distinction among them, which does not create a feeling of characters‟ diversity, and certainly not the author‟s intention to wit.
4.3 Langston Hughes: The Best of Simple and Ku Klux
Hurston‟s contemporary colleague, also a Harlemite, Langston Hughes is an author of a prose The Best of Simple, stories whose main character, Jesse B. Semple, may remind African Americans of themselves as he acts, experiences and lives his life in the same way
29 as many of them do. Hughes is also well-known for his poems. Before looking into Hughes‟s poems, some extracts with a sample of the language used in The Best of Simple will be listed. No Czech translation of this work was available.
Semple “… I done wore out seven hundred pairs of shoes …” (“Best” 2). “I know how to handle women who act like ladies but my landlady ain‟t no lady … I could have my own place and not have no landladies …” (“Best” 4). Landlady “I am not deef” …”does you know who tore …” (“Best” 4).
The above mentioned extracts include examples of non-standard language variety, used by both Semple and his landlady. Nonetheless, it should be said that his characters‟ dialect is much subtler than those in the previously mentioned books or in Hurston‟s Their Eyes.
Hughes’ poem Ku Klux En: Cz (Jaroslav Bouček): Cz (Jiří Valja): They took me out Vedli mě na pusté místo Vyvedli mě To some lonesome place. Říkali „Černý prase, z města kousek výš. They said, “Do you believe Jestlipak chováš úctu Řekli: V slavnou bílou In the great white race?” K vznešený bílý rase?“ rasu nevěříš?
I said, “Mister, „Abych Vám řekl pravdu, Řek jsem: Jářku, mister, To tell you the truth, Mister,“ řek‟ jsem mu, to je složité. I‟d believe in anything „Pusťte mě a budu chovat Budu věřit všemu, If you‟d just turn me loose.” Úctu ke všemu.“ když mě pustíte.
The white man said, “Boy, Bílý muţ pravil: „Chlape, Řek ten běloch: Chlape, Can it be To bys byl rád, to jsem věděl hned,
30 You‟re a-standin‟ there Kdybys mě tak moh že mě budeš ještě A-sassin‟ me?” Voddělat.“ k tomu urážet!
They hit me in the head Potom mě praštili Do hlavy mě třískli, And knocked me down. Do hlavy, knokautovali. And then they kicked me Povalili mě a Na zemi pak do mne On the ground. Kopali. všichni kopali.
A Klansman said, “Nigger, „Černý zvíře“, řek jeden Jeden zabiják řek: Look me in the face- A vyrval mi chomáč vlasů, Negře, polez blíž – And tell me you believe in „Přísahej, ţe budeš ctít tak co, v slavnou bílou rasu The great white race.” Vznešenou bílou rasu.“ nevěříš?
The poem in the source text is not written in a non-standard language variety, only in some places rather informally. However, both Czech translations seem to contain more expressions which sound more informal and which may lead readers to assume that the poem in the original language was written in a language variety. Bouček‟s translation is in addition much freer than the one of Valja.
4.4 Richard Wright: Native Son
Richard Wright was a huge critic of Zora Neale Hurston and her works. He mainly criticized her themes (culture and traditions of common black people), the depiction of black people, predominantly men, and her use of „black‟ language which he thought was degrading the efforts for enhancing African Americans. Wright thought that African American authors should describe their people‟s struggle for the rights, discrimination, inconveniences they had to cope with, in Standard American English in order to show that they are not an inferior race but that they are fully capable of writing in the same way as white writers do. (Laníková 26-27, 30-31). Therefore, his most famous novel Native Son
31 from 1940 was written in SAE and Černý translated it into Czech by standard Czech (spisovná čeština) as Syn černého lidu in 1947.
4.5 John Oliver Killens: And Then We Heard the Thunder
The next book whose language was examined is John Oliver Killens‟ A potom jsme uslyšeli hřmění, translated by Zdeněk Lahoda in 1975. The translation contains examples of both standard and non-standard language, therefore, even without the original And Then We Heard the Thunder from 1962, it may be assumed that the source text might have been written partly in non-standard English. Some examples follow below.
Standard language African American woman „To je baječné ... Doufejme, ţe to tak zůstane, aţ se vrátíš, řekla. „Jestli se do tvého oddělení dostane více barevných, budeš to mít těţké. Za stavu, jaký je tam teď, s tebou bílí zacházejí dobře ... (11).
Non-standard language Sergeant „Hergot, vojáku, eště tu ani pořádně nejsi a uţ píšeš domů? Řek bych, ţe za tu chvilku nikdo ani neměl čas šlápnout ti na kuří oko ...“ (17). Soldier „Kdyţ jsi takovej chytrák, tak mi aspoň řekni, co je to zač ten Pepík Hoblík, co tu vo něm kdekdo řeční?“ (17). White soldier „Co má člověk dělat ... Tady holt vládnou jiţanský móresy.“ „Tak uţ hergot jeď ... Jenom tu pitomou válku zdrţuješ“ (125). Police „Kdyţ tě to tak zajímá ..., tak tě vezmu s sebou ... A vy vostatní koukejte, ať uţ ste v autobusu“ (128).
32 Apart from the direct speech, in which standard language can be sometimes found, the narrative is also written in standard Czech. It may be reminded that the use of variety is not always connected with black people (e.g. white soldiers, police) and vice versa - the standard language is spoken by African Americans (the woman in the first extract).
4.6 Ishmael Reed: Flight to Canada
Ishmael Reed is said to be one of the best contemporary African-American writers. He is known for his satires of the American society in which he emphasizes feelings of oppression (“Ishmael Reed”). The language of Reed‟s social satire Flight to Canada from 1976 was investigated in the original book only as a Czech translation had not been available. Examples of both standard and non-standard use of language are listed below.
Standard language Arthur Swille (a slave owner) “Look, Robin, if they‟d came to me and if they‟d asked to buy themselves, perhaps we could have arranged terms. But they didn‟t; they furtively pilfered themselves ...“ (19). “Robin, what have you heard about this place up North, I think they call it Canada?” (19). Uncle Robin (a black slave) “I was keeping busy around here, and now that Swille‟s finished I think I‟ll return to my old job, and let Pompey handle the figures. It‟s about time he learned … He puts on animal clothes and will do an impersonation of any animal you know…” (175). Aunt Judy (uncle Robin‟s wife) “Why did you provide that man with those poor slave mother‟s milk each morning? That was hard to swallow. But you were my husband and so I never brought it up…” (174).
33 Mr. Moe (a white slave) “Uncle Robin, are you abusing your phone privileges? I don‟t know why the Master lets you use it. He doesn‟t let any of us use it” (40).
Non-standard language Uncle Robin “Well, sometimes I just be reflectin, suh. Ain‟t no harm in that“ (41). Mammy Barracuda (a black slave) “It‟s your wife, Mr. Swille, sir. She say she tired of being a second class citizen and she say she don‟t want to feed herself no more…” (20). Quickskill (a literate black slave who escaped to Canada) “Aw, 40s, put it away. We‟re not in Virginia no more” (76). 40s (a black slave who escaped) “You ought to get your own home instead of watching them for peoples. I got my home. Nothing like having your own home. Don‟t have to take care nobody‟s plants and they cats or forward they mail” (76-77).
It is possible to see that the author did not use standard language forms only for depicting the language of white people, masters, but also of some slaves (Uncle Robin and Aunt Judy). The intelligence of Uncle Robin was shown in the conversation between him and another slave, white Mr. Moe, by Robin‟s speaking in dialect, contrary to his usual speech in standard language. On the other hand, the author showed, that even if the white slave spoke in Standard English, it definitely did not reflect his civility.
4.7 Alice Walker: The Color Purple
Alice Walker was the one who rediscovered Zora Neale Hurston and her legacy. Walker‟s most famous work The Color Purple was written entirely in dialect (AAVE) and published in 1982. However, the spelling of the words was more or less standard. The Czech translation by Jiří Hrubý entitled Barva nachu and published in the Czech Republic in 2001 was written in rather non-standard Czech, however, a single dialect was not chosen for its rendition. Obecná čeština with some colloquial expressions was used, punctuation was not
34 always adhered, and sometimes the word order differed from the established one so as to show that the passage is not usual. In both the source text and its target text, direct speech is not accompanied by inverted commas. The examples are given below.
En: Dear God, Mr. ______be gone all night Saturday, all night Sunday and most all day Monday. Shug Avery in town for the week-end. He stagger in, throw himself on the bed. He tired. He sad. He weak. He cry. Then he sleep the rest of the day and all night. He wake up while I‟m in the field. I been chopping cotton three hours by time he come. Us don‟t say nothing to each other. But I got a million question to ast. What she wear? Is she still the same old Shug, like in my picture? How her hair is? What kind lipstick? Wig? She stout? She skinny? ... (Walker 27). Cz: Milý Boţe, Pan ______byl pryč celej sobotní večer, pak celou neděli a eště i skoro celý pondělí. Do města přece na víkend přijela Shug Averyová. Připotácel se domů a skácel se na postel. Je utahanej. Smutnej. A zesláblej. Brečí. Pak prospal zbytek dne a celou noc. Vzbudil se dyţ sem byla na poli. Dyţ přišel uţ sem okopávala bavlnu tři hodiny. Neřekli sme si ani slovo. Přitom mám tak million otázek. Co měla na sobě? Je to eště ta Shug co mám na fotce? Jaký má vlasy? Jak měla namalovanou pusu? Měla paruku? Je při těle? Nebo je hubená? …(Walkerová 34). Direct speech En: Why you don‟t work no more? He ast his daddy. No reason for me to. His daddy say. You here, ain‟t you? He say this nasty. Harpos feeling be hurt … (Walker 29). Cz: Proč ty uţ nepracuješ? Ptá se táty. Nemusim, řekne mu. Mám přece tebe. Řekne to vošklivě a harpa se dotkne ... (Walkerová 35).
4.8 Toni Morrison: Beloved
The last work which was successfully traced in both the original language and its Czech translation in order to look into its language use is Nobel Prize‟s winner Toni Morrison and her novel Beloved published in 1987, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction a year later
35 in 1988 (“Toni Morrison”). The book was translated into Czech by Hana Ţantovská in 1996. Standard language was used in the narrative; direct speech differentiates from the rest of the novel by the use of dialect, in both the original text and its Czech translation. Some examples can be seen below.
En: “How you been, girl, besides barefoot?” (Morrison 6). “You looking good” (Morrison 7). “Devil‟s confusion. He lets me look good long as I feel bad” (Morrison 7). “These people I‟m taking you to will give you what help you need. Name of Bodwin. A brother and a sister. Scots. I been knowing them for twenty years or more” (Morrison 141). Cz: „Jak seš na tom ty, děvče, kromě toho, ţes bosá?“ (Morrisonová 14). „Vypadáš dobře“ (Morrisonová 15). „Čertova práce. Nechá mě dobře vypadat, dokuď se cejtim špatnej“ (Morrisonová 15). „Ty lidi, ke kterým tě vezu, ti pomůţou ve všem, co budeš potřebovat. Bodwinovi. Bratr a sestra. Skoti. Uţ je znám dvacet let nebo tak nějak“ (Morrisonová 146).
4.9 Octavia E. Butler: Wild Seed and Dawn
The penultimate author whose books were examined in order to find out about the language use is Octavia E. Butler, an African American science fiction writer. Examining the Czech translation of her book Dawn published in 1987 named Úsvit by Petr Kotrle in 1997, it was found that only standard language was used. As the same book had not been traced in the original, another book of hers, Wild Seed, was examined in its original. As well as Úsvit, Wild Seed does not include any non-standard varieties either.
4.10 Barbara Neely: Blanche among the Talented Tenth
Finally, Blanche among the Talented Tenth by Barbara Neely and published in 1994 was investigated. It should be reminded that only the original version was examined. In this
36 criminal story, the use of standard language predominates, however, there are also passages in which a non-standard language appears. It seems as if the author wanted sometimes to remind her readers that the main character and her friends are black. The occurance of dialect is rather random, however, it seems that it is used whenever the main‟s character black girlfriend is around. An extract in order to give an example is provided below.
“Damn girl! Amber Cove is definitely the resort from hell. Lotta bad, bad vibes at the place. The kids OK? Musta been really scary finding his clothes like that ...“ (113). „They seem to be OK, but who can tell? Casey reacted just like a child of doctors, but the others, who knows?“ (113). “None of them seem like hiders… If stuff comes up, you‟ll know about it. Hummm. Young brother like that is bound to leave some broken hearts behind. I wonder if he cared? …“ (113).
In conclusion, based on the selected books and their extracts above, it is possible to state that AAVE has been used in the works of both African American writers and white authors. However, not every African American author uses dialect, or writes solely in dialect. It was shown that writers include the dialect in their works in order to hint the origin of the character(s) or to contrast white and black characters, intelligent and unintelligent which are not always meant as intelligent – white and unintelligent - black. It may also be observed that no standard form of depicting the dialect is used. Some writers may be called radical, i.e. they try to transfer spoken speech into the written form completely, others, on the other hand, only include dialectal expressions or spelling differences. Concerning the depiction of dialect in Czech translations, it may be noted that some works were translated in dialect, others were not. That means, that some works which were written in dialect in the original text were not translated in dialect in the target language, but at the same time some works in SAE were translated in much more non-standard way.
37 5 Practical part - the translation of the first three chapters from the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Chapter 1 Kapitola 1
Ships at a distance have every man‟s Lodě v dáli s sebou vozí přání kaţdého wish on board. For some they come in muţe. Pro někoho připlouvají za přílivu. with the tide. For others they sail forever Pro další věčně plují, nikdy se však on the horizon, never out of sight, never neztratí z dohledu a vylodí se, teprve landing until the Watcher turns his eyes kdyţ Pozorovatel odevzdaně odvrátí oči a away in resignation, his dreams mocked jeho sny jsou Časem odsouzeny k zániku. to death by Time. That is the life of men. Takový je ţivot muţů.
Now, women forget all those things they Ţeny zase zapomínají na všechno, co si don‟t want to remember, and remember nechtějí pamatovat, a pamatují si everything they don‟t want to forget. The všechno, co nechtějí zapomenout. Sen je dream is the truth. Then they act and do pro ně skutečností. Podle toho se pak také things accordingly. chovají a jednají.
So the beginning of this was a woman Na začátku tohoto všeho byla ţena, která and she had come back from burying the se vrátila z posledního rozloučení. dead. Not the dead of sick and ailing with Nepřicházela od nemocného a trpícího, friends at the pillow and the feet. She had který byl na smrtelném loţi obklopen come back from the sodden and the přáteli. Vrátila se od těl vodnatých a bloated; the sudden dead, their eyes flung nafouklých, těch náhle zesnulých, jejichţ wide open in judgment. oči se při posledním rozsudku vytřeštily.
The people all saw her come because it Všichni ji viděli přicházet, protoţe slunce was sundown. The sun was gone, but he právě zapadalo. Jiţ nebylo vidět, ale had left his footprints in the sky. It was na obloze po něm stále zůstávaly stopy. the time for sitting on porches beside the Tou dobou se posedávalo na verandách road. It was the time to hear things and vedle silnice. Tou dobou se povídalo a
38 talk. These sitters had been tongueless, naslouchalo. Po celý den byli tito lidé earless, eyeless conveniences all day němé, hluché a slepé existence. Přišli long. Mules and other brutes had do styku pouze s mulami a jinými occupied their skins. But now, the sun zvířaty. Ale teď, kdyţ slunce i pán byli and the bossman were gone, so the skins pryč, se znovu cítili jako lidské bytosti. felt powerful and human. They became Stávali se pány zvuků i věcí méně lords of sounds and lesser things. They důleţitých. Vyprávěli si příběhy svých passed nations through their mouths. předků. Hodnotili. They sat in judgment.
Seeing the woman as she was made them Jakmile ji spatřili, hned se jim vybavila remember the envy they had stored up závist, kterou k ní kdysi cítili. Tak from other times. So they chewed up the zavzpomínali na skoro zapomenuté back parts of their minds and swallowed pocity a slastně polkli. Vytvořili palčivé with relish. They made burning výroky s otazníky na koncích a smíchem statements with questions, and killing vyrobili vraţedné nástroje. Byla to jejich tools out of laughs. It was mass cruelty. společná krutost. Nálada oţila. Slova A mood come alive. Words walking plynula bez zábran, plynula naprosto jako without masters; walking altogether like harmonie v písni. harmony in a song.
“What she doin‟ coming back here in „Copaţe sem leze v těch lacláčích? Si dem overhalls? Can‟t she find no dress to nemůţe voblíct ňáký šaty? – Kde má ty put on? - Where‟s dat blue satin dress she modrý saténový šaty v kerejch vodsud left here in? – Where all dat money her vodešla? – Kde sou všecky ty prachy husband took and died and left her? – kerý vobstaral její chlap a umřel a nechal What dat ole forty year ole ‟ oman doin‟ jí je? – Ţe ji neni blbý nechat si wid her hair swingin‟ down her back lak rozpuštěný vlasy aby jí vlály jak ňáký some young gal? – Where she left dat dvacítce? – Kde nechala toho mladýho young lad of a boy she went off here kluka s kerým vodsud vodešla? – Si snad wid? – Thought she was going to marry? mysela ţe si ju veme? – Kde ju nechal? – – Where he left her? – What he done wid Co udělal se všema jejíma prachama? –
39 all her money? – Betcha he off wid some Vsadim se s vama ţe utek s ňákou holkou gal so young she ain‟t even got no hairs – kerá eště neumí ani do pěti napočítat – why she don‟t stay in her class?-” proč rači nezvostane tam kam patří? -“
When she got to where they were she Kdyţ se dostala k místu, kde byli turned her face on the bander log and shromáţdění, obrátila se k nim čelem a spoke. They scrambled a noisy “good pozdravila. Vydrali ze sebe hlasité evenin‟” and left their mouths setting „dobrej večír“ a s otevřenou pusou, plni open and their ears full of hope. Her naděje, napnuli uši. Její pozdrav vyzněl speech was pleasant enough, but she kept přívětivě, ale nezastavila se. Pokračovala walking straight on to her gate. The porch rovnou k brance. Celá veranda z ní couldn‟t talk for looking. nemohla spustit oči.
The men noticed her firm buttocks like Muţi si všimli jejího pevného zadku. she had grape fruits in her hip pockets; Vypadal, jako by měla zadní kapsy the great rope of black hair swinging to vycpané grepy. Té nádherné hřívy her waist and unraveling in the wind like černých vlasů pohupujících se k pasu a a plume; then her pugnacious breasts vznášejících se ve větru jako peří. trying to bore holes in her shirt. They, the Vzdouvajících se ňader, která se snaţila men, were saving with the mind what provrtat díry do trička. Muţi si pokoušeli they lost with the eye. The women took zapamatovat, co nemohli spatřit pouhým the faded shirt and muddy overalls and okem. Ţeny si vybraly vybledlé tričko a laid them away for remembrance. It was zablácené lacláče, které jim měly a weapon against her strength and if it připomenout, kdo je, kdyby náhodou turned out of no significance, still it was a chtěly zapomenout. Byla to zbraň hope that she might fall to their level proti její síle, a i kdyby se ukázalo, ţe some day. nemá ţádný význam, přesto to byla naděje, ţe ta ţenská přece jen moţná jednou klesne na jejich úroveň.
But nobody moved, nobody spoke, Neţ za ní ale zapráskla brána, nikdo se nobody even thought to swallow spit ani nepohnul, nikdo nepromluvil, nikoho until after her gate slammed behind her. ani nenapadlo polknout.
40 Pearl Stone opened her mouth and Pearl Stoneová otevřela pusu, a protoţe ji laughed real hard because she didn't nenapadlo nic lepšího, rozřehtala se know what else to do. She fell all over na celé kolo. Kdyţ se smála, navalila se Mrs. Sumpkins while she laughed. Mrs. na paní Sumpkinsovou. Paní Sumpkins snorted violently and sucked Sumpkinsová zlostně zaúpěla a zasyčela. her teeth.
"Humph! Y'all let her worry yuh. You „Ehm! Všici se necháte votravovat jejima ain't like me. Ah ain't got her to study starostma. Nejste jak já. Nechcu se s ňou 'bout. If she ain't got manners enough to zabejvat. Dyţ nemá dost slušnýho stop and let folks know how she been vychování na to, aby se zastavila a makin' out, let her g'wan!" prohodila s nama pár slov vo tom, jak se jí vede, ať si de!”
"She ain't even worth talkin' after," Lulu „Ále, dyť ani nestojí za to, aby se vo ní Moss drawled through her nose. "She sits vykládalo,“ pronesla přes nos jiţanským high, but she looks low. Dat's what Ah přízvukem Lulu Mossová. „Hraje si say 'bout dese ole women runnin' after na fajnofku, ale přitom je coura. To já young boys." řikam vo starejch ţenskejch, co se honěj za mladejma klukama.“
Pheoby Watson hitched her rocking chair Předtím neţ Pheoby Watsonová forward before she spoke."Well, nobody promluvila, pošoupla si houpací křeslo don't know if it's anything to tell or not. dopředu. „Nó, nikdo neví, esi je vo čem Me, Ah'm her best friend, and Ah don't mluvit. Já su její nejlepší kamoška a know." nevim.“
"Maybe us don't know into things lak you „Moţná my do toho nevidíme tak jak ty, do, but we all know how she went 'way ale všici víme, ţe vodsud vodešla a teď ju from here and us sho seen her come back. tady vidíme zpátky. Pheoby, nemusíš se 'Tain't no use in your tryin' to cloak no zastávat ţádný starý ţenský, kerou Janie ole woman lak Janie Starks, Pheoby, Starksová je, ať je nebo neni kamoška.“ friend or no friend."
41 "At dat she ain't so ole as some of y'all „Ale vona ani neni tak stará, jak někerý dat's talking." z vás, co vo tom melete.“
"She's way past forty to my knowledge, „Pheoby, pokud vim, tak jí je mnohem Pheoby." víc neţ štyrycet.
''No more'n forty at de outside." „Na pohled by jí nikdo neřek víc neţ štyrycet.“
"She's 'way too old for a boy like Tea „Je aţ móc stará na kluka jako Tea Cake." Cake.“
''Tea Cake ain't been no boy for some „Tea Cake uţ ňákou dobu neni kluk. Mu time. He's round thirty his ownself." uţ je taky vokolo třiceti.“
"Don't keer what it was, she could stop „Mně je jedno, vo co de, mohla se přece and say a few words with us. She act like zastavit a prohodit s nama pár slov. Dělá we done done something to her," Pearl jako bysme jí něco udělali,“ stěţovala si Stone complained. "She de one been Pearl Stoneová. „Vona je ta mrcha.“ doin' wrong."
"You mean, you mad 'cause she didn't „Hele, ty chceš řict, ţe seš naštvaná, pač stop and tell us all her business. Anyhow, se nezastavila a nevykecala nám všecko what you ever know her to do so bad as vo sobě? Ať je to jak chce, co podle Vás y'all make out? The worst thing Ah ever udělala tak špatnýho? Co já vim, tak knowed her to do was taking a few years nejhorší snad mohlo bejt, ţe si ubrala pár offa her age and dat ain't never harmed let, a to, pokud vim, nikomu nikdy nobody. Y'all makes me tired. De way neublíţilo. Uţ mně všici lezete na nervy. you talkin' you'd think de folks in dis Podle toho, jak ţvaníte, by si jeden řek, town didn't do nothin' in de bed 'cept ţe lidi v tomle městě nedělaj v posteli nic praise de Lawd. You have to 'scuse me, jinýho, neţ ţe se modlej. Musíte mě 'cause Ah'm bound to go take her some vomluvit, pač já ji musim zanýst něco supper." Pheoby stood up sharply. k večeři.“ Pheoby se prudce zvedla ze ţidle.
"Don't mind us," Lulu smiled, " just go „Nevšímej si nás,“ usmála se Lulu, „jen
42 right ahead, us can mind yo' house for běţ, neţ se vrátíš, vohlídáme ti zatim you till you git back. Mah supper is done. barák. Já uţ mám hotovou večeři. Rači se You bettah go see how she feel. You kin uţ běţ podívat, jak se cejtí. Pak nám to let de rest of us know." můţeš povykládat.”
"Lawd," Pearl agreed, ''Ah done „Se ví,“ souhlasila Pearl, „Spálila sem scorched-up dat lil meat and bread too maso i chleba, ale to nestojí za řeč. Můţu long to talk about. Ah kin stay 'way from bejt pryč, jak dlouho chcu. Můj chlap home long as Ah please. Mah husband neni vztekloun.“ ain't fussy."
"Oh, er, Pheoby, if youse ready to go, Ah „Á, Pheoby, esi chceš, mohla bych tam jít could walk over dere wid you," Mrs. s tebou,“ nabízela se paní Sumpkinsová. Sumpkins volunteered. "It's sort of „Uţ se docela smráká. Moh by tě duskin' down dark. De booger man might vystrašit klekáníček.“ ketch yuh."
"Naw, Ah thank yuh. Nothin' couldn't „Né, díky. Nic mně na těch pár krocích ketch me dese few steps Ah'm goin'. nehrozí.“ A navíc můj chlap řiká, ţe mě Anyhow mah husband tell me say no first by ţádnej sebelepší klekáníček nedostal. class booger would have me. If she got Pokud vám něco vzkáţe, tak vám to anything to tell yuh you'll hear it." povykládam.“
Pheoby hurried on off with a covered Pheoby svírala v rukou přikrytou misku a bowl in her hands. She left the porch spěchala pryč. Pádila z verandy, která jí pelting her back with unasked questions. bombardovala záda nepoloţenými They hoped the answers were cruel and otázkami. Všichni si přáli, aby odpovědi strange. When she arrived at the place, byly kruté a drsné. Kdyţ se Pheoby Pheoby Watson didn't go in by the front Watsonová dostala na místo, nevstoupila gate and down the palm walk to the front dovnitř přední brankou, kterou by se, door. She walked around the fence corner po palmami lemované cestičce, dostala and went in the intimate gate with her ke dveřím. Místo toho na rohu plotu heaping plate of mulatto rice. Janie must zatočila a s talířem přetékajícím be round that side. mulatskou rýţí prošla úzkou brankou.
43 Janie je určitě na té straně.
She found her sitting on the steps of the Našla ji, jak sedí na schodech zadní back porch with the lamps all filled and verandy. Všechny lampy byly naplněné a the chimneys cleaned. komíny vyčištěné.
"Hello, Janie, how you comin'?" „Ahoj Janie, jak to de?“
"Aw, pretty good, Ah'm tryin' to soak „Á, docela dobře, snaţím se přemoct some uh de tiredness and de dirt outa únavu a dostat špinu z noh.“ Trochu se mah feet.'' She laughed a little. zasmála.
"Ah see you is. Gal, you sho looks good. „To vidim. Holka, ty ale furt vypadáš You looks like youse yo' own daughter." dobře. Vypadáš, jako bys byla svoje They both laughed. "Even wid dem cera.“ Obě se zasmály. „I dyţ máš overhalls on, you shows yo' na sobě lacláče, je pořád vidět, ţe seš kus womanhood." ţenský.“
"G'wan! G'wan! You must think Ah „Hele! Hele! Asi si myslíš, ţe sem ti něco brought yuh somethin'. When Ah ain't přinesla. Ale já sem nedonesla dom nic brought home a thing but mahself." jinýho neţ sebe.“
"Dat's a gracious plenty. Yo' friends „Ale to je sakramentsky hodně. Tvý wouldn't want nothin' better." kamošky by si nepřály nic lepšího.“
"Ah takes dat flattery offa you, Pheoby, „Pheoby, beru tvý lichotky, pač vim, ţe 'cause Ah know it's from de heart." Janie sou vod srdce.“ Janie natáhla ruku. „Pane extended her hand. ''Good Lawd Pheoby! boţe, Pheoby! Kdy mně uţ dáš tu večeři, ain't you never goin' tuh gimme dat lil cos přinesla? Sem eště neska nedala nic rations you brought me? Ah ain't had a do huby krom palce.“ Obě se nenuceně thing on mah stomach today exceptin' zasmály. „Naval to a sedej.“ mah hand. "They both laughed easily. "Give it here and have a seat."
"Ah knowed you'd be hongry. No time to „Sem si myslela, ţe budeš vyhládlá. Ţes be huntin' stove wood after dark. Mah neměla čas zajít za světla na dřevo. mulatto rice ain't so good dis time. Not Neska neni ta rejţe zrovna nejlepší. Neni
44 enough bacon grease, but Ah reckon it'll tam dost mastnýho ze slaniny, ale kill hongry." myslím, ţe hlad zaţene.“
"Ah'll tell you in a minute," Janie said, „Hnedka ti řeknu,“ reagovala Janie lifting the cover. ''Gal, it's too good! You při odkrývání misky. „Holka, je to aţ switches a mean fanny round in a móc dobrý! Umíš se v kuchyni votáčet.“ kitchen."
"Aw, dat ain't much to eat, Janie. But „Ále Janie, toho se moc nenajíš. Vsaď se Ah'm liable to have something sho nuff ale, ţe zejtra bude určitě něco dobrýho, good tomorrow, 'cause you done come." páč teďka seš tady ty.“
Janie ate heartily and said nothing. The Janie se cpala a nic u toho neříkala. varicolored cloud dust that the sun had Pestrobarevné mračno prachu, které stirred up in the sky was settling by slow na obloze rozvířilo slunce, se pomalu degrees. vytrácelo.
"Here, Pheoby, take yo' ole plate. Ah ain't „Ná, Pheoby, vem si ten talíř. Co mám got a bit of use for a empty dish. Dat grub z prázdýho talíře? Však von se ti bude sho come in handy." zejtra zase hodit.“
Pheoby laughed at her friend's rough Pheoby se zasmála kamarádčinu drsnému joke. "Youse just as crazy as you ever vtípku. „Seš pořád tak střelená, jaks was. dycky byla.“
"Hand me dat wash-rag on dat chair by „Holka, podej mně z tamletý ţidle u tebe you, honey. Lemme scrub mah feet." She tu ţíňku. Potřebuju si vodrhnout nohy.“ took the cloth and rubbed vigorously. Vzala ţínku a silně drhla. Ze silnice byl Laughter came to her from the big road. slyšet smích.
"Well, Ah see Mouth-Almighty is still „Hele, tak se mně zdá, ţe všemohoucí sittin' in de sameplace. And Ah reckon Drbny sedávaj pořád na stejnym místě. they got me up in they mouth now." A vsadim se, ţe teď maj v hubě mě.“
"Yes indeed. You know if you pass some „No jo. Dyť víš, ţe pokud projdeš kolem people and don't speak tuh suit 'em dey lidí a neřekneš jim, co chtěj slyšet, tak got tuh go way back in yo' life and see strčej čumáky hluboko do tvý minulosti a
45 whut you ever done. They know mo' vyhrabou na tebe tu největší špínu. Ví 'bout yuh than you do yo' self. An vo tobě víc neţ ty sama. Nepřející srdce envious heart makes a treacherous ear. má zrádný ucho. Slyšeli vo tobě jenom They done 'heard' 'bout you just what to, co chtěj slyšet, ţe se stalo.” they hope done happened."
"If God don't think no mo' 'bout 'em then „Esi si vo nich Bůh nemyslí víc neţ já, Ah do, they's a lost ball in de high grass.'' tak sou ztracenou jehlou v kupě sena.“
"Ah hears what they say 'cause they just „Vim, co říkaj, pač se scházej kolem mý will collect roundmah porch 'cause it's on verandy, pač je u hlavní silnice. Mýho de big road. Mah husband git so sick of chlapa to někdy tak sere, ţe je všecky 'em sometime he makes 'em all git for vypakuje dom.“ home."
"Sam is right too. They just wearin' out „Sam má zatraceně recht. Jen vám yo' sittin' chairs." vopotřebávaj ţidle.“
"Yeah, Sam say most of 'em goes to „Jo, Sam říká, ţe věčina z nich chodí church so they'll be sure to rise in do kostela jenom proto, aby se pak měli Judgment. Dat's de day dat every secret is čim předvíst u posledního soudu. Je to s'posed to be made known. They wants to den, kdy i ta nejmenší tajnost vypluje be there and hear it all." na povrch. Všici tam chtěj bejt a všecko slyšet.“
"Sam is too crazy! You can't stop laughin' „Sam je fakt potrhlej! Člověk se nemůţe when youse round him." přestat chlámat, dyţ je s nim.“
''Uuh hunh. He says he aims to be there „Hmmm. Von řiká, ţe tam chce taky bejt, hisself so he can find out who stole his aby zjistil, kdo mu ukrad fajfku.“ corn-cob pipe."
"Pheoby, dat Sam of your'n just won't „Pheoby, ten tvůj Sam s tim nikdy quit! Crazy thing!" nepřestane. Cvok!“
"Most of dese zigaboos is so het up over „Zajímáš většinu z těch bezvýznamnejch yo' business till they liable to hurry negrů tak, ţe pokud se vo tobě zavčasu
46 theyself to Judgment to find out about nic nedoví, poletí k poslednímu soudu, you if they don't soon know. You better jen aby se vo tobě něco domákli. Rači make haste and tell 'em 'bout you and Tea bys sebou měla fofrem hodit a řict jim, ţe Cake gittin' married, and if he taken all sis vzala Tea Cakea, a esi sbalil všecky yo' money and went off wid some young tvoje prachy a utek s ňákou mladou gal, and where at he is now and where at holkou, a kde je teďka a kde sou všecky is all yo' clothes dat you got to come back tvý hadry, ţe ses sem musela vrátit here in overhalls." v lacláčích.“
"Ah don't mean to bother wid tellin' 'em „Pheoby, ani mě nehne, abych jim něco nothin', Pheoby 'Tain't worth de trouble. vykládala, nestojej mně za námahu. Esi You can tell 'em what Ah say if you chceš, klidně jim řekni, co ti vykládam. wants to. Dat's just de same as me 'cause To je úplně to stejný jako vode mě, pač mah tongue is in mah friend's mouf." má kamoška ví všecko.“
"If you so desire Ah'll tell 'em what you „Pokud si to přeješ, řeknu jim, co chceš, tell me to tell'em." abych jim řekla.“
"To start off wid, people like dem wastes „Tak na začátek, lidi jako voni ztrácej aţ up too much time puttin' they mouf on moc času tim, ţe kecaj vo věcech, things they don't know nothin' about. vo kerejch nic neví. Teď se zabejvaj tim, Now they got to look into me loving Tea esi sem milovala Tea Cakea a probíraj, Cake and see whether it was done right or esi to bylo správně nebo špatně! Ví not! They don't know if life is a mess of kulový vo tom, co je ţivot a láska!“ corn-meal dumplings, and if love is a bed-quilt!"
"So long as they get a name to gnaw on „Pokud maj někoho, do koho se můţou they don't care whose it is, and what naváţet, je jim jedno, kdo to je a vo co about, 'specially if they can make it sound de, hlavní je, ţe to zní co nejhnusnějc.“ like evil."
"If they wants to see and know, why they „Pokud chtěj vidět a vědět, proč nepřídou don't come kiss and be kissed? Ah could a nezeptaj se? Klidně bych jim všecko
47 then sit down and tell 'em things. Ah been řekla. Sem vyslankyní toho velkýho a delegate to de big 'ssociation of life. společenstva ţivota. Jeţiši! Dyť já sem, Yessuh! De Grand Lodge, de big za ten poslední rok a půl ,co ste mě convention of livin' is just where Ah been neviděli, nedělala nic jinýho, neţ chodila dis year and a half y'all ain't seen me." na shromáţdění.“
They sat there in the fresh young Seděly blízko sebe obklopené právě darkness close together. Pheoby eager to nadcházející temnotou. Pheoby byla celá feel and do through Janie, but hating to nedočkavá, chtěla se Janie dotýkat a show her zest for fear it might be thought probrat skrz naskrz, ale ze strachu, aby si mere curiosity. Janie full of that oldest Janie nemyslela, ţe to dělá z pouhé human longing- self revelation. Pheoby zvědavosti, nedávala tu obrovskou radost held her tongue for a long time, but she ani přinejmenším najevo. Janie zase couldn't help moving her feet. So Janie prahla po nejstarší lidské touze – sebe spoke. odhalení. Pheoby drţela jazyk za zuby dost dlouho, nedařilo se jí ale nechat nohy na jednom místě. Takţe Janie prolomila ticho.
"They don't need to worry about me and „Dokavaď mám v bance eště devět set my overhalls long as Ah still got nine babek, nemusej si vo mě a mý lacláče hundred dollars in de bank. Tea Cake got dělat vobavy. Tea Cake mě donutil, me into wearing 'em-following behind abych si prachy nechala a ţádný mu him. Tea Cake ain't wasted up no money nedávala. Tea Cake mně nepromrhal ani of mine, and he ain't left me for no young cent a taky mě nenechal kvůli ňáký gal, neither.He give me every consolation mladý holce. Poskytoval mně veškerou in de world. He'd tell 'em so too, if he útěchu na světě. Taky by jim to řek, dyby was here. If he wasn't gone." tady byl. Dyby nebylo po něm.“
Pheoby dilated all over with eagerness, Pheoby dychtivě vyvalila oči: „Tea Cake "Tea Cake gone?'' je mrtvej?“
"Yeah, Pheoby, Tea Cake is gone. And „Jo, Pheoby, Tea Cake je mrtvej. A to je dat's de only reason you see me back here taky jedinej důvod, ţe mě tady zase vidíš.
48 - cause Ah ain't got nothing to make me Uţ nemám důvod, proč bych zůstávala happy no more where Ah was at. Down tam, kde sem byla. Uţ tam nejsu štastná. in the Everglades there, down on the Tam v Evergladeských močálech, tam muck.'' v blatě.“
"It's hard for me to understand what you „Tím, jak vo tom mluvíš, skoro ničemu mean, de way you tell it. And then again nerozumim. Byla bych rači, dybys mně to Ah'm hard of understandin' at times." vobjasnila polopaticky.“
''Naw, 'tain't nothin' lak you might think. „Nó, neni v tom nic takovýho, jak si to So 'tain't no usein me telling you moţná představuješ. Takţe nemá cenu, somethin' unless Ah give you de abych ti něco řikala, pokud ti to solidně understandin 'to go 'long wid it. Unless nevysvětlim. Pokud ti neřeknu, jak to fakt you see de fur, a mink skin ain't no všecko dovopravdy bylo. Hele, Pheoby, different from a coon hide. Looka heah, nečeká na tebe Sam, abys mu dala Pheoby, is Sam waitin' on you for his večeři?“ supper?"
''It's all ready and waitin'. If he ain't got „Všecko má nachystaný. Pokud neni dost sense enough to eat it, dat's his hard chytrej na to, aby to sněd, pak je to jeho luck." boj.“
"Well then, we can set right where we is „Tak to pak můţeme zůstat, kde sme a and talk. Ah got the house all opened up kecat. Votevřela sem celej barák, aby to to let dis breeze get a little catchin'. tady krapet profouklo.“
''Pheoby, we been kissin'-friends for „Pheoby, sme nejlepší kamošky uţ twenty years, so Ah depend on you for a dvacet let, takţe sem vodkázaná na tvý good thought. And Ah'm talking to you dobrý mínění. A z toho budu při mým from dat standpoint." vykládání vycházet.“
Time makes everything old so the Čas plyne a všechno stárne, takţe jak kissing, young darkness became a Janie vyprávěla svůj příběh, ta letmá monstropolous old thing while Janie začínající temnota se měnila talked. v příšerovitější.
49 Chapter 2 Kapitola 2
Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf Janie viděla svůj ţivot jako obrovský with the things suffered, things enjoyed, vzkvétající strom, který je poznamenaný things done and undone. Dawn and doom utrpením, radostí, událostmi proţitými i was in the branches. neproţitými. Tam ve větvích byl počátek i konec.
“Ah know exactly what Ah got to tell „Já přesně vim, co všecko ti chcu řict, ale yuh, but it‟s hard to know where to start je těţký se rozhodnout, u čeho začít.” at.
“Ah ain‟t never seen mah papa. And Ah „Nikdy sem neviděla tátu. A pokud sem didn‟t know „im if Ah did. Mah mama ho viděla, tak sem to nevěděla. Ani svou neither. She was gone from round dere mámu. Zmizela vodtamtaď dávno long before Ah wuz big enough tuh před tim, neţ sem byla dost velká na to, know. Mah grandma raised me. Mah abych to chápala. Vychovala mě babička. grandma and de white folks she worked Babička a běloši, u kterejch makala. wid. She had a house out in de back-yard Ve dvoře měla bejvák a tam sem přišla and dat‟s where Ah wuz born. They was na svět. Voni tam v Západní Floridě byli quality white folks up dere in West bezva běloši. Menovali se Washburnovi. Florida. Named Washburn. She had four Měli štyry vnoučata a všici sme si spolu gran‟chillun on de place and all of us hráli. A protoţe všici říkali mý bábince played together and dat‟s how come Ah Chůvo, taky sem jí nikdy neřekla jináč. never called mah Grandma nothin‟ but Dycky, dyţ nás Chůva načapala Nanny, „cause dat‟s what everybody on při lumpárnách, kaţdý děcko hned de place called her. Nanny used to ketch seřezala a pani Wasburnová dělala to us in our devilment and lick every samý. Dyţ vo tom teď přemejšlim, youngun on de place and Mis‟ Washburn uznávám, ţe nás nikdy nemlátily pro nic did de same. Ah reckon dey never hit us za nic, pač ti tři kluci a my dvě holky sme ah lick amiss „cause dem three boys and dost prudili.” us two girls wuz pretty aggravatin‟, Ah speck.
50 “Ah was wid dem chillun so much till Ah „Byla sem s těma děckama tak často, ţe didn‟t know Ah wuzn‟t white till Ah was aţ asi do šesti sem ani nevěděla, ţe nejsu round six years old. Wouldn‟t have found bílá. Asi bych se vo tom ani nedověděla, it out then, but a man come long takin‟ dyby jednou nešel vokolo chlap a nefotil, pictures and without askin‟ anybody, a dyby mu Shelby, nejstarší kluk, Shelby, dat was de oldest boy, he told bez zeptání neřek, ať nás vyfotí. Asi him to take us. Round a week later de za tejden ten chlap přines pani man brought de picture for Mis‟ Washburnový tu fotku ukázat, a chtěl, Washburn to see and pay him which she aby mu ju zaplatila, coţ taky udělala, a did, then give us all a good lickin‟. pak nás všecky pěkně seřezala.”
“So when we looked at de picture and „Takţe dyţ sme se koukali na tu fotku a everybody got pointed out there wasn‟t ukázali sme na kaţdýho, nikdo jinej, nobody left except a real dark little girl krom malý, děsně černý holky with long hair standing by Eleanor. Dat‟s s dlouhejma vlasama, kerá stála where Ah wuz s‟posed to be, but Ah u Eleanory, nezůstal. To bylo místo, kde couldn‟t recognize dat dark chile as me. sem měla bejt já, ale nemohla sem se So Ah ast, „where is me? Ah don‟t see v tom černým děcku poznat. Tak sem se me.‟ zeptala: „Kde su já? Nevidim se.“
“Everybody laughed, even Mr. „Všici se řehtali, dokonce i pan Washburn. Miss Nellie, de Mama of de Washburn. Pani Nellie, máma vod děcek, chillun who come back home after her kerá se po muţově smrti vrátila husband dead, she pointed to de dark one k rodičům, namířila prstem na to černý and said, „Dat‟s you, Alphabet, don‟t you děcko a řekla: „To seš ty, Alfabetko, know yo‟ ownself?‟ copak se nepoznáváš?“
“Dey all useter call me Alphabet „cause „Všici mi říkávali Alfabetko, pač mně so many people had done named me fůra lidí dávala všelijaký ména. Čuměla different names. Ah looked at de picture sem na ten vobrázek dost dlouho a dyţ a long time and seen it was mah dress and sem uviděla mý šaty a vlasy, tak sem mah hair so Ah said: řekla:
“ „Aw, aw! Ah‟m colored! „ ‚Ó, ó! Já su barevná!”
51 “Den dey all laughed real hard. But „Pak se všici řezali smíchem. Ale neţ before Ah seen de picture Ah thought Ah sem viděla ten vobrázek, fakt sem si wuz just like de rest. myslela, ţe su stejná jak vostatní.”
“Us lived dere havin‟ fun till de chillun at „Uţívaly sme si to tam aţ do tý doby, neţ school got to teasin‟ me „bout livin‟ in de se mně ve škole začali posmívat za to, ţe white folks‟ back-yard. Dere wuz uh bejvám u bílejch lidí vzádu na dvorku. knotty head gal name Mayrella dat useter Byla tam děsná holka, kerá se menovala git mad every time she look at me. Mis‟ Mayrella, a kerá se dycky rozzuřila, jen Washburn useter dress me up in all de se na mě podívala. Paní Washburnová mě clothes her gran‟chillun didn‟t need no voblíkala do hader po děckách, kerý uţ mo‟ which still wuz better‟n whut de rest nepotřebovaly, ale kerý byly pořád lepší uh de colored chillun had. And then she neţ voblečení, co nosily vostatní barevný useter put hair ribbon on mah head fuh děcka. A taky mně dávala mašlu me tuh wear. Dat useter rile Mayrella uh do vlasů. To lezlo Mayrelle děsně lot. So she would pick at me all de time na nervy. Takţe do mě furt rejpala a and put some others up tuh do de same. pošťuchovala vostatní, aby dělali to They‟d push me „way from de ring plays samý. Vodstrkovali mě z kruhu, dyţ sme and make out they couldn‟t play wid hrávali hry, a vymejšleli si, ţe nemůţou nobody dat lived on premises. Den they‟d hrát s nikým, kdo bejvá u někoho cizího. tell me not to be takin‟ on over mah looks Pak mně říkávali, ţe se nebudou „cause they mama told „em „bout de rozčilovat kvůli mý vizáţi, pač jim jejich hound dawgs huntin‟ mah papa all night máma řekla vo loveckejch psech, keří long. „Bout Mr. Washburn and de sheriff honili mýho tátu celou noc. Vo tom, jak puttin‟ de bloodhounds on de trail tuh pan Washburn a šerif nasadili vohaře ketch mah papa for whut he done tuh na stopu, aby chytli tátu za to, co udělal mah mama. Dey didn‟t tell about how he mý mámě. Nemluvili vo tom, ţe ho pak wuz seen tryin‟ tuh git in touch wid mah lidi viděli, jak se pozdějc snaţil s mámou mama later on so he could marry her. spojit, aby si ju moh vzít. Né, vo tom Naw, dey didn‟t talk dat part of it at all. vůbec nemluvili. Snaţili se, aby to Dey made it sound real bad so as tuh vyznělo co nejhůř, pač mně chtěli ublíţit.
52 crumple mah feathers. None of „em Ţádnej z nich si ani nepamatoval jeho didn‟t even remember whut his name méno, ale všici znali nazpaměť tu část wuz, but dey all knowed de bloodhound vo psech. Chůva mě strašně nerada viděla part by heart. Nanny didn‟t love tuh see se svěšenou hlavou, tak došla k tomu, ţe me wid mah head hung down, so she pro mě bude lepší, dyţ budem mít vlastní figgered it would be mo‟ better fuh me if barák. Zehnala pozemek a všecko a pak jí us had uh house. She got de land and taky pani Washburnová pomohla s celou everything and then Mis‟ Washburn kupou věcí.“ helped out uh whole heap wid things.”
Pheoby‟s hungry listening helped Janie to Pheobyino dychtivé naslouchání tell her story. So she went on thinking pomáhalo Janie s vyprávěním příběhu. back to her young years and explaining Pokračovala vzpomínáním na svá mladá them to her friend in soft, easy phrases léta a tichým hlasem a jednoduchými while all around the house, the night time slovními obraty je popisovala a put on flesh and blackness. vysvětlovala své kamarádce, zatímco všechno kolem domu se ztrácelo s přibývající temnotou noci.
She thought awhile and decided that her Chvilku přemýšlela a došla na to, ţe její conscious life had commenced at vědomý ţivot začal před Chůvinou Nanny‟s gate. On a late afternoon Nanny brankou. Jednou pozdě odpoledne si ji had called her to come inside the house Chůva zavolala dovnitř, protoţe zahlédla because she had spied Janie letting Janie, jak dovoluje Johnnymu Taylorovi, Johnny Taylor kiss her over the gatepost. aby jí dal přes branku pusu.
It was a spring afternoon in West Florida. V Západní Floridě bylo jarní odpoledne. Janie had spent most of the day under a Janie strávila většinu dne vzadu blossoming pear tree in the back-yard. na dvorku pod rozkvetlou hrušní. Uţ tři She had been spending every minute that dny trávila pod tímto stromem veškerý she could steal from her chores under that volný čas, který si dokázala vyšetřit tree for the last three days. That was to od své práce. Bylo to asi od chvíle, kdy say, ever since the first tiny bloom had vykvetl první malinkatý kvítek. Přivolal
53 opened. It had called her to come and ji, aby přihlíţela zázraku. Od holého gaze on a mystery. From barren brown hnědého kmenu k zářivým pupenům, stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the od pupenů k bělostné nevinnosti květu. leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom. It Ohromně to s ní zamávalo. Jak? Proč? stirred her tremendously. How? Why? It Bylo to jako písnička na flétnu, která byla was like a flute song forgotten in another jednou zapomenutá a pak znovu existence and remembered again. What? vybavená. Co? Jak? Proč? Tato píseň, How? Why? This singing she heard that kterou slyšela, neměla nic společného had nothing to do with her ears. The rose se sluchem. Růţe světa uvolňovala vůni. of the world was breathing out smell. It Pronásledovala ji, kdyţ byla bdělá a followed her through all her waking hladila ve spánku. Spojila se s dalšími moments and caressed her in her sleep. It matně prociťovanými záţitky, které si connected itself with other vaguely felt sice neuvědomovala, ale které se jí zaryly matters that had struck her outside do masa. Teď se objevily a snaţily se, observation and buried themself in her aby si je uvědomila. flesh. Now they emerged and quested about her consciousness.
She was streched on her back beneath the Leţela na zádech pod hrušní a byla pear tree soaking into the alto chant of zabraná do bzučení včel, které právě the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and navštěvovaly strom, zlatícího se slunce a the panting breath of the breeze when supivého dechu vánku, kdyţ k ní dolehl inaudible voice of it all came to her. She neslyšitelný hlas toho všeho. Spatřila saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the včelu nesoucí pyl, jak se noří do svatyně sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister- květu; tisíce spřízněných kalichů, jak se calyxes arch to meet the love embrace potkávají v láskyplném objetí a blaţené and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from zachvění stromu od kořene aţ root to tiniest branch creaming in every k nejmenším větvičkám, které zdobily blossom and frothing with delight. So this napěněné kvítky oplývající slastí. Tak was a marriage! She had been summoned tohle bylo manţelství! Byla přizvaná to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a spatřit odhalení. Pak Janie ucítila bolest,
54 pain remorseless sweet that left her limp jeţ byla ukrutně sladká, a po které zůstala and languid. ochablá a malátná.
After a while she got up from where she Po chvilce se zvedla z místa, kde leţela a was and went over the little garden field přešla celou zahradu. Hledala soulad entire. She was seeking conformation of hlasu a zraku, který našla na kaţdém the voice and vision, and everywhere she místě a utvrdila se v odpovědích. Našla found and acknowledged answers. A odpovědi pro všechna stvoření personal answer for all other creations kromě sebe. Cítila, ţe odpověď hledá ji, except herself. She felt an answer seeking ale kde? Kdy? Jak? Zjistila, ţe je u dveří her, but where? When? How? She found kuchyně a vpotácela se dovnitř. herself at the kitchen door and stumbled V místnosti se vzduchem proháněly inside. In the air of the room were flies mouchy, které zpívaly, uzavíraly sňatek a tumbling and singing, marrying and poddávaly se manţelství. Kdyţ se dostala giving in marriage. When she reached the do úzké chodby, vzpomněla si, ţe narrow hallway she was reminded that babička je doma a děsně ji bolí hlava. her grandmother was home with a sick Leţela na posteli a spala, proto se Janie headache. She was lying across the bed po špičkách vytratila z domovních dveří. asleep so Janie tipped on out of the front Ó, být tak hrušní - jakýmkoliv kvetoucím door. Oh to be a pear there – any tree in stromem S líbajícími se včelami, které bloom! With kissing bees singing of the zpívají o počátku světa! Bylo jí šestnáct. beginning of the world! She was sixteen. Měla lesklé listy a pukající poupata a She had glossy leaves and bursting buds chtěla se prát se ţivotem, ale zdálo se, ţe and she wanted to struggle with life but it ten se jí vyhýbá. Kde byly ty její zpívající seemed to elude her. Where were the včely? Z tohoto místa, ani z babiččina singing bees for her? Nothing on the domu nedostala ţádnou odpověď. place nor in her grandma‟s house Prozkoumala tolik ze světa, kolik jenom answered her. She searched as much of mohla od vstupního schodiště k brance the world as she could from the top of the před domem, přes kterou se naklonila a front steps and then went on down to the hleděla na silnici. Dívala se, čekala a front gate and leaned over to gaze up and netrpělivostí dýchala přerývaně. Čekala,
55 down on the road. Looking, waiting, aţ bude svět stvořen. breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made.
Through pollinated air she saw a glorious Přes pyl vznášející se ve vzduchu viděla being coming up the road. In her former kráčet nahoru po silnici nádhernou blindness she had known him as shiftless bytost. Ve své dřívější zaslepenosti ho Johnny Taylor, tall and lean. That was znala jako lenivého Johnnyho Taylora, before the golden dust of pollen had vysokého a hubeného. To bylo předtím, beglamored his rags and her eyes. neţ zlatý prášek popela očaroval jeho hadry a její oči.
In the last stages of Nanny‟s sleep, she Chůvě se krátce před probuzením zdálo, dreamed of voices. Voices far-off but ţe slyší hlasy. Vzdálené hlasy, ale persistent, and gradually coming nearer. vytrvalé a postupně se přibliţující. Hlas Janie‟s voice. Janie talking in whispery Janie. Janie šeptala v útrţcích spolu snatches with a male voice she couldn‟t s muţským hlasem, který se jí nedařilo quite place. That brought her wide rozeznat. To ji zcela probudilo. Napřímila awake. She bolted upright and peered out se a zírala z okna. Viděla, jak Johnny of the window and saw Johnny Taylor Taylor ubliţuje její Janie tím, ţe ji líbá. lacerating her Janie with a kiss.
“Janie!” „Janie!”
The old woman‟s voice was so lacking in Ve stařenčině hlasu chyběly rozkaz i command and reproof, so full of výčitka, hlas se úplně vytrácel, a proto crumbling dissolution,-that Janie half Janie trochu doufala, ţe ji Chůva believed that Nanny had not seen her. So neviděla. Takţe se oprostila od svého snu she extended herself outside of her dream a odešla dovnitř do domu. To byl konec and went inside of the house. That was jejího dětství. the end of her childhood.
Nanny‟s head and face looked like the Chůvina hlava a obličej vypadaly jako standing roots of some old tree that had kořeny starého stromu, jeţ byly bouřkou
56 been torn away by storm. Foundation of vyrvány ze země. Základ prastaré ancient power that no longer mattered. autority, na které uţ nezáleţelo. Chladící The cooling palma christi leaves that listy palmy christi pomáhající od bolesti Janie had bound about her grandma‟s hlavy, které Janie omotala babičce kolem head with a white rag had wilted down hlavy kouskem bílého hadru, zvadly a and become part and parcel of the staly se nedílnou součástí této ţeny. Její woman. Her eyes didn‟t bore and pierce. oči nebodaly a neprovrtávaly. Rozšířily They diffused and melted Janie, the room se, propojily Janie, pokoj a svět, a and the world into one comprehension. najednou všechno dávalo smysl.
“Janie, youse uh „oman, now, so-” „Janie, ty seš teďka ţenská, ták -”
“Naw, Nanny, naw Ah ain‟t no real „Né, né, Chůvo, eště nejsem ţádná „oman yet.” vopravdická ţenská.”
The thought was too new and heavy for Ta představa byla pro Janie moc nová a Janie. She fought it away. těţko uvěřitelná. Odehnala ji.
Nanny closed her eyes and nodded a Chůva zavřela oči a před tím, neţ slow, weary affirmation many times promluvila, nesčetněkrát pomalu a before she gave it a voice. unaveně souhlasně pokývala.
“Yeah, Janie, youse got yo‟ womanhood „Jo, Janie, ty seš teďka ţenská. Tak ti uţ on yuh. So Ah mount ez well tell yuh taky můţu říct, co sem nechávala aţ whut Ah been savin‟ up for uh spell. Ah na teďka. Chcu, aby ses fofrem dostala wants to see you married right away.” pod čepec.”
“Me, married? Naw, Nanny, o ma‟am! „Já, pod čepec? Né, Chůvo, ne paní! Co Whut Ah know „bout uh husband?” já vim vo manţelství?”
“Whut Ah seen just now is plenty for me, „To, co sem teďka viděla, mně úplně honey, Ah don‟t want no trashy nigger, stačí, dítě. Nechci ţadnýho mizernýho no breath-and-britches, lak Johnny Taylor negra, ţádnýho vyzáblýho Johnnyho usin‟ yo‟ body to wipe his foots on.” Taylora, kerej by s tebou zacházel jako s kusem hadru, do kerýho by se votíral.”
Nanny‟s words made Janie‟s kiss across Po Chůviných slovech měla Janie pocit,
57 the gatepost seem like a manure pile after jako by se její polibek nad brankou a rain. proměnil v hromadu hnoje po dešti.
“Look at me, Janie. Don‟t set dere wid „Podívej se na mě, Janie. Nečuč do země. yo‟ head hung down. Look at yo‟ ole Podívej se na svou starou bábu!” grandma!” Her voice began snagging on Pod tíhou emocí se její hlas začal trhat. de prongs of her feelings. “Ah don‟t want „Nechci s tebou takle mluvit. Pravdou je, to be talkin‟ to you lak dis. Fact is Ah ţe uţ su dlouho na kolenách před Pánem, done been on mah knees to mah Maker mockrát sem Ho uţ prosila, aby mně many‟s de time askin‟ please-for Him not nedával tak těţký břímě, kerý nemůţu to make de burden too heavy for me to unýst.” bear.”
“Nanny, Ah just-Ah didn‟t mean nothin‟ „Chůvo, já jenom, já sem nechtěla udělat bad.” nic špatnýho.”
“Dat‟s what makes me skeered. You „Toho se právě bojim. Nechceš nikomu don‟t mean no harm. You don‟t even ublíţit. Dyť ani nevíš, co bolest je. Já uţ know where harm is at. Ah‟m ole now. su stará. Nevochráním tě dycky Ah can‟t be always guidin‟ yo‟ feet from před nebezpečím. Proto tě chcu vidět co harm and danger. Ah wants to see you nejdřív pod čepcem.” married right away.”
“Who Ah‟m goin‟ tuh marry off-hand lak „A koho si takle z placu vemu? dat? Ah don‟t know nobody.” Vo nikom nevim.”
“De Lawd will provide. He know Ah „Pán se vo to postará. Však Von ví, ţe done bore de burden in de heat uh de day. sem celý dny makala. Uţ je to dlouho, ale Somebody done spoke to me „bout you někdo se mnou vo tobě mluvil. Já sem long time ago. Ah ain‟t said nothin‟ na to nic neřikala, pač sem si to tak „cause dat wasn‟t de way Ah placed you. nepředstavovala. Chtěla sem, aby ses Ah wanted yuh to school out and pick trochu povohlídla a vybrala si toho from a higher bush and a sweeter berry. nejlepšího. Ale jak vidim, tak ty to vidíš But dat ain‟t yo‟ idea, Ah see.” jináč.”
58 “Nanny, who-who dat been askin‟ you „Chůvo, kdo…kdo se vo mě zajímal?” for me?”
“Brother Logan Killicks. He‟s a good „Logan Killicks. Je to fakt dobrej chlap.” man, too.”
“Naw, Nanny, no ma‟am! Is dat whut he „Né, Chůvo, ne paní! Tak proto se tady been hangin‟ round here for? He look like vochomejtal? Vypadá jak dyby měl bejt some ole skullhead in de grave yard.” uţ dávno pod kytkama.”
The older woman sat bolt upright and put Starší ţena si sedla zpříma, poloţila nohy her feet to the floor, and thrust back na zem a z obličeje si odstrčila palmové leaves from her face. listy.
“So you don‟t want to marry off decent „Tak ty se nechceš slušně vdat, co? like, do yuh? You just wants to hug and Chceš se jenom vobjímat, líbat a kiss and feel around with first one man vošahávat s prvním chlapem, kerej ti and then another, huh? You wants to přeběhne přes cestu a pak s dalšim, co? make me suck de same sorrow yo‟ mama Chceš, abych si zaţila stejný peklo jako did, eh? Mah ole head ain‟t grey enough. s tvou mámou, viď ţe jo? Eště asi nemám Mah back ain‟t bowed enough to suit dost šedivejch vlasů. Eště asi pořád nejsu yuh!” dost zvohlá na to, abys byla spokojená!”
The vision of Logan Killicks was Představa Logana Killicka hanobila její desecrating the pear tree, but Janie didn‟t hrušeň, ale Janie nevěděla, jak to Chůvě know how to tell Nanny that. She merely vysvětlit. Nezmohla se na nic jiného, neţ hunched over and pouted at the floor. ţe seděla shrbená, koukala do země a trucovitě špulila ústa.
“Janie.” „Janie.”
“Yes, ma‟am.” „Ano, pani.”
“You answer me when Ah speak. Don‟t „Vodpovíš mně, dyţ se tě zeptám. you set dere poutin‟ wid me after all Ah Po tom, co sem pro tebe všecko udělala, done went through for you!” se tu nevopovaţuj jen tak sedět a trucovat!”
59 She slapped the girl‟s face violently, and Dala jí takovou facku, ţe jí sklopená forced her head back so that their eyes hlava vylítla nahoru a jejich rozohněné met in struggle. With her hand uplifted oči se bojovně střetly. Měla napřaţenou for the second blow she saw the huge tear ruku k další ráně, kdyţ v tom ale uviděla, that welled up from Janie‟s heart and ţe z Jainina srdce vytryskla obrovská stood in each eye. She saw the terrible slza, která se odráţela v obou očích. agony and the lips tightened down to hold Jakmile spatřila tu příšernou bolest, back the cry and desisted. Instead she pevně sevřela ústa, zadrţela slzy a brushed back the heavy hair from Janie‟s upustila od svého záměru. Místo toho face and stood there suffering and loving odhrnula Janie její husté vlasy z obličeje and weeping internally for both of them. a ve stoje trpěla a milovala a uvnitř ronila slzy za obě dvě.
“Come to yo‟ Grandma, honey. Set in her „Má milá, pod´ za svou bábinkou. Sedni lap lak yo‟ use tuh. Yo‟ Nanny wouldn‟t si jí do klína tak, jaks sedávala. Tvá harm a hair uh yo‟ head. She don‟t want Chůva by ti přece nezkřivila ani jedinej nobody else to do it neither if she kin vlásek na hlavě. Nechce, aby to dělal help it. Honey, de white man is de ruler kdokoliv jinej, i dyţ tomu nemůţe nijak of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh zabránit. Má milá, pokud vim, bílej chlap find out. Maybe it‟s some place way off je panem všeho. Třebas někde in de ocean where de black man is in za voceánem je místo, kde vládne power, but we don‟t know nothin‟ but černoch, ale my nevime nic vo tom, co what we see. So de white man throw nevidime. Takţe bílej se vysere a řekne down de load and tell de nigger man tuh černýmu, ať to sebere. Von to sebere, pač pick it up. He pick it up because he have musi, ale nevodnese to. Podá to ţenský. to, but he don‟t tote it. He hand it to his Vidim to tak, ţe černá ţenská je womanfolks. De nigger woman is de největšim mezkem na světě. Modlim se, mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see. aby tys na tom byla jináč. Pane, Pane, Ah been prayin‟ fuh it tuh be different Pane!” wid you. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd!”
For a long time she sat rocking with the Dlouho seděla a s dívkou přitisknutou
60 girl held tightly to her sunken breast. pevně v náručí se houpala v křesle. Janie‟s long legs dangled over one arm of Jaininy dlouhé nohy visely z jedné strany the chair and the long braids of her hair přes područku křesla a její dlouhé copy se swung low on the other side. Nanny half pohupovaly nízko nad zemí na straně sung, half sobbed a running chant-prayer druhé. Nad hlavou plačící dívky Chůva over the head of the weeping girl. napůl zpívala, napůl naříkala chorálovou motlitbu.
“Lawd have mercy! It was a long time on „Pane, slituj se! Bylo to uţ dlouho de way but Ah reckon it had to come. Oh na cestě, ale myslim, ţe to muselo přijit. Jesus! Do, Jesus! Ah done de best Ah Ó Jeţíši! Pomoz, Jeţíši! Udělala sem could.” všecko, co bylo v mejch silách.”
Finally they both grew calm. Konečně se obě uklidnily.
“Janie, how long you been lowin‟ Johnny „Janie, jak dlouho se uţ necháváš Taylor to kiss you?” vod Johnnyho Taylora volizovat?”
“Only dis one time, Nanny. Ah don‟t „To bylo poprvý, Chůvičko. Já ho vůbec know love him at all. Whut made me do nemám ráda. Proč sem to udělala - já fakt it is-oh, Ah don‟t know.” nevim.”
“Thank yuh, Massa Jesus.” „Děkuju ti, Pane Jeţíši.”
“Ah ain‟t goingtuh do it no mo‟, Nanny. „Chůvičko, já to uţ nikdy neudělám. Please don‟t make me marry Mr. Prosím tě, nenuť mě vzít si pana Killicks.” Killicka.”
“ „Tain‟t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to „Logan Killicks, neni to, co pro tebe have, baby, it‟s protection. Ah ain‟t chcu, malá, chcu pro tebe vochranu. Já gittin‟ ole, honey. Ah‟m done ole. One nestárnu, broučku. Já uţ su stará. Jednou mornin‟ soon, now, de angel wid de ráno, teďka uţ brzo, se tady pro mě sword is goingtuh stop by here. De day zastaví zubatá. Nevim dne ani hodiny, ale and de hour is hid from me, but it won‟t nebude to trvat dlouho. Dyţs byla be long. Ah ast de Lawd when you was mimino, prosila sem Pána, ať mě tady uh infant in mah arms to let me stay here nechá, dokud nevyrosteš. Nechal mě
61 till you got grown. He done spared me to doţit se toho dne. Teďka se kaţdej den see de day. Mah daily prayer now is tuh modlim za to, aby tyto skvělý chvilky let dese golden moments rolls on a few trvaly ještě vo pár dní víc, aţ tě uvidim days longer till Ah see you safe in life.” zavopatřenou.”
“Lemme wait, Nanny, please, jus‟ a lil bit „Chůvičko, prosim tě, počkej, dej mně mo‟.” eště vo trošičku víc času.”
“Don‟t think Ah don‟t feel wid you, „Nemysli si, Janie, ţe tě nechápu. Já tě Janie, „cause Ah do. Ah couldn‟t love chápu. I dybych tě sama porodila, yuh no more if Ah had uh felt yo‟ birth nemohla bych tě milovat víc. Vlastně tě pains mahself. Fact uh de matter, Ah miluju vo moc víc neţ tvou mámu, tu loves yuh a whole heap more‟n Ah do kerou sem přivedla na svět. Ale musiš si yo‟ mama, de one Ah did birth. But you uvědomit, ţe nejseš stejná jak věčina got to take in consideration you ain‟t no vostatních. Nemáš tátu, taky bys mohla everyday chile like most of „em. You klidně řict, ţe nemáš mámu, za to, co ti ain‟t got no papa, you might jus‟ as well udělala. Kromě mě nemáš nikoho. A má say no mama, for de good she do yuh. hlava je stará a je uţ skoro pod drnem. You ain‟t got nobody but me. And mah Nemuţeš ale zůstat sama. Pomyšlení head is ole and tilted towards de grave. na to, ţe se potuluješ vod čerta k ďáblu, Neither can you stand alone by yo‟self. strašně bolí. Kaţdá slza, kerou ukápneš, De thought uh you bein‟ kicked around naplní hrnek krví z mýho srdce. Musím from pillar tuh post is uh hurtin‟ thing. se snaţit a udělat pro tebe něco, neţ Every tear you drop squeezes a cup uh naposledy vydechnu.” blood out amah heart. Ah got tuh try and do for you befo‟ mah head is cold.”
A sobbing sigh burst out of Janie. The old Z Janie vyrazil srdceryvný nářek. Stará woman answered her with little soothing ţena na to zareagovala konejšivými pats of the hand. dotyky ruky.
“You know, honey, us colored folks is „Víš, srdíčko, my černí sme větve branches without roots and that makes bez kořenů, a proto se věci vyvrbí ták ňák things come round in queer ways. You in divně. A zvlášť u tebe. Já se narodila
62 particular. Ah was born back due slavery v době votroctví, takţe splnit si svý sny so it wasn‟t for me to fulfill my dreams of vo tom, jaká by měla ţenská bejt a co by whut a woman oughta be and to do. Dat‟s měla dělat, nebylo nic pro mě. Tohle je one of de hold-backs of slavery. But jedno z vomezeních votroctví. Ale tobě nothing can‟t stop you from wishin‟. You nemůţe nikdo vzit tvý sny. Nemůţeš can‟t beat nobody down so low till you nikoho srazit aţ k zemi, dokud jim can rob „em of they will. Ah didn‟t want nesebereš vůli. Nechtěla sem, aby mě to be used for a work-ox and a brood-sow pouţívali jako taţnej dobytek, nechtěla and Ah didn‟t want mah daughter used sem, abych byla kvočnou a nechtěla sem, dat way neither. It sho‟ wasn‟t mah will aby mou ceru pouţívali stejně. Vopravdu for things to happen lak they did. Ah sem nechtěla, aby se všecko stalo tak, jak even hated de way you was born. But, all se stalo. Těţko sem snášela i vokolnosti, de same, Ah said thank God, Ah got za kerejch ses narodila. Ale pokaţdý sem another chance. Ah wanted to preach a si řekla, díky bohu, ţe sem dostala eště great sermon about colored women sittin‟ šanci. Chtěla sem mít bezvadný kázání on high, but they wasn‟t no pulpit for me. vo barevnejch ţenskejch na nebesích, ale Freedom found me wid a baby daughter neměla sem ţádnou kazatelnu. Svoboda in mah arms, so Ah said Ah‟d take a mě zastihla s dcerkou v náručí, tak sem si broom and a cook-pot and throw up a řekla, ţe si vemu pometlo a hrnec a highway through de wilderness for her. vydám se kvůli ní po cestě, kerá vede She would expound what Ah felt. But přes divočinu. Pochopila by, co sem somehow she got lost offa de highway cejtila. Ale ňák se mi z tý cesty ztratila a and next thing Ah knowed here you was pak další, co sem věděla, bylo, ţe seš in de world. So whilst Ah was tendin‟ na světě. Takţe dyţ sem se pak vo tebe you of nights Ah said Ah‟d save de text po nocích starala, řekla sem si, ţe skovám for you. Ah been waitin‟ a long time, ten text pro tebe. Čekám uţ dlouho, Janie, but nothin‟ Ah been through ain‟t Janie, ale nic, čím sem si prošla, neni tak too much if you just take a stand on high strašný, pokud si jenom stoupneš ground lak Ah dreamed.” před lidi a budeš kázat, jak sem vo tom snila já.”
63 Old Nanny sat there rocking Janie like an Stařenka seděla v křesle a houpala Janie, infant and thinking back and back. Mind- jako by byla nemluvně a nořila se při tom pictures brought feelings, and feelings víc a víc do vzpomínek. Obrazy, které jí dragged out dramas from the hollows of vytanuly na mysli, vzbuzovaly pocity a her heart. pocity vyvolávaly vzpomínky na proţité strasti, které si uchovávala v rozbolavělém srdci.
“Dat mornin‟ on de big plantation close „Tenkrát ráno přicválal na velkou plantáţ to Savannah, a rider come in a gallop blízko Savannah jezdec a oznamoval, ţe tellin‟ „bout Sherman takin‟ Atlanta. se generál Sherman zmocnil Atlanty. Syn Marse Robert‟s son had done been kilt at Marse Roberta pad u Chickamaugy. Von Chickamauga. So he grabbed his gun and teda popad flintu, nased na svýho straddled his best horse and went off wid nejlepšího koně a vodjel se zbytkem de rest of de gray-headed men and young prošedivělejch chlapů i mladejch kluků boys to drive de Yankees back into vystrnadit Seveřany zpátky Tennessee. do Tennessee.”
“They was all cheerin‟ and cryin‟ and „Všici jásali, slzeli a křičeli za chlapama, shoutin‟ for de men dat was ridin‟ off. Ah keří vodjíţděli. Nic sem neviděla, pač tvý couldn‟t see nothin‟ cause yo‟ mama mámě nebylo víc neţ tejden a já leţela wasn‟t but a week old, and Ah was flat v posteli jak plást. Ale za chvíli dělal, uh mah back. But pretty soon he let on he jako ţe si něco zapomněl, přiběh ke mně forgot somethin‟ and run into mah cabin do chajdy a naposled mě donutil, abych and made me let down mah hair for de se s ním vodvázala. Ták ňák zabořil ruku last time. He sorta wropped his hand in it, do mejch vlasů, jak dycky mě polaskal pulled mah big toe, lak he always done, po celym těle, a po zbytku vylít jak and was gone after de rest lak lightnin‟. namydlenej blesk a byl fuč. Slyšela sem, Ah heard „em give one last whoop for jak na něj naposled zakřičeli. A pak him. Then de big house and de quarters najednou velkej barák i vostatní vobydlí got sober and silent. utichly.”
“It was de cool of de evenin‟ when Mistis „Dyţ se večer vochladilo, ve dveřích se
64 come walkin‟ in mah door. She throwed vobjevila pani. Rozrazila dveře dokořán, de door wide open and stood dere lookin‟ zůstala v nich stát a vejrala na mě. at me outa her eyes and her face. Look Vypadala, jako by ţila celou věčnost lak she been livin‟ through uh hundered v lednu bez jedinýho jarního dne. Došla years in January without one day of k posteli a naklonila se nade mnou.” spring. She come stood over me in de bed.
“ „Nanny, Ah come to see that baby uh „ ,Chůvo, přišla jsem se podívat na to yourn.‟ tvoje mimino.‟”
“Ah tried not to feel de breeze off her „Snaţila sem se nevnímat závan chladu, face, but it got so cold in dere dat Ah was kerej sem cejtila z jejího ksichtu, ale freezin‟ to death under the kivvers. So Ah vevnitř se tak vochladilo, ţe sem couldn‟t move right away lak Ah aimed pod peřinou skoro umrzla. Proto sem se to. But Ah knowed Ah had to make haste nemohla hnedka pohnout, jak sem and do it. původně chtěla. Věděla sem ale, ţe sebou musim rychle hodit.
“ „You better git dat kivver offa dat „ ,Raděj bys měla toho spratka okamţitě youngun and dat quick!‟ she clashed at odkrýt!‟ vobořila se na mě. ,Zdá se, ţe me. „Look lak you don‟t know who is nevíš, kdo je paní na této plantáţi, dámo. Mistis on dis plantation, Madam. But Ah Já ti to ale ukáţu.‟ ” aims to show you.‟
“By dat time I had done managed tuh „To se mi uţ podařilo vodkrejt mý dítě unkivver mah baby enough for her to see natolik, aby viděla hlavičku a vobličej.” de head and face.
“ „Nigger, whut‟s yo‟ baby doin‟ wid „ ,Černá hubo, jak to, ţe má tvé dítě šedé gray eyes and yaller hair? She begin tuh oči a světlé vlasy?‟ Hnedka mě začala slap mah jaws ever which a‟way. Ah z vobou stran fackovat. Ty prvni sem never felt the fust ones „cause Ah wuz necejtila, pač sem měla co dělat, abych too busy gittin‟ de kivver back over mah děcko zase zakryla. Ty poslední mě ale
65 chile. But dem last lick burnt me lak fire. pálily jak čert. Mejchalo se ve mně tolik Ah had too many feelin‟s tuh tell which pocitů, ţe sem nevěděla, kerejma se mám one tuh follow so Ah didn‟t cry and Ah řídit, a proto sem nebrečela a nedělala ani didn‟t do nothin‟ else. But then she kept nic jinýho. Pak se mě ale furt vyptávala, on astin me how come mah baby look jak je moţný, ţe mý děcko je skoro bílý. white. She asted me dat maybe twenty- Ptala se mě na to snad pětadvacetkrát five or thirty times, lak she got tuh sayin‟ nebo třicetkrát - jako by si nemohla dat and couldn‟t help herself. So Ah told pomoct a pořád to musela vopakovat. Tak her, „Ah don‟t know nothin‟ but what sem jí řekla, ´Nevim, nedělám nic jinýho, Ah‟m told tuh do, „cause Ah ain‟t nothin‟ neţ co mně přikáţou, pač sem jenom but uh nigger and uh slave.‟ černá huba a votrokyně.‟ ”
“Instead of pacifyin‟ her lak Ah thought, „Myslela sem si, ţe ju to uklidní, ale look lak she got madder. But Ah reckon místo toho mně přišlo, ţe je eště she was tired and wore out „cause she vzteklejší. Zdálo se mně, ţe je unavená a didn‟t hit me no more. She went to de vycuclá, pač mě uţ nemlátila. Přešla foot of de bed and wiped her hands on k nohám postele, kde si votřela ruce her handksher. „Ah wouldn‟t dirty mah do kapesníku. „Já si s tebou nebudu špinit hands on yuh. But first thing in de ruce. Hned ráno tě dovede dohlíţitel mornin‟ de overseer will take you to de na pranýř, půjdeš na kolena, sváţe tě a whippin‟ post and tie you down on yo‟ seřeţe tu tvou světlou kůţi na zádech. knees and cut de hide offa yo‟ yaller Dostaneš sto ran bičem ze surové kůţe back. One hundred lashes wid a raw-hide na holý záda. Nechám tě bičovat, dokud on yo‟ bare back. Ah‟ll have you z tebe krev nepoteče proudem! Věř, ţe ty whipped till de blood run down to yo‟ rány sama spočítám. A pokud to heels! Ah mean to count de licks mahself. nepřeţiješ, já se se ztrátou vyrovnám. Ať And if it kills you Ah‟ll stand de loss. to s tebou dopadne jak chce, hnedka jak Anyhow, as soon as dat brat is a month bude tomu spratkovi měsíc, prodám ho old Ah‟m going to sell it offa dis place.‟ odsud.‟“
“She flounced on off and let her „Vyřítila se ven a nechala po sobě ten wintertime wid me. Ah knowed mah chlad. Věděla sem, ţe mý tělo ešte neni
66 body wasn‟t healed, but Ah couldn‟t uzdravený, ale na to sem nemohla ani consider dat. In de black dark Ah pomyslet. Ve tmě sem zabalila mou wrapped mah baby de best Ah knowed holčičku jak nejlíp sem uměla a vydala se how and made it to de swamp by de river. k močálu u řeky. Věděla sem, ţe je to tam Ah knowed de place was full uh plný mokasínů a dalších jedovatejch moccasins and other bitin‟ snakes, but Ah hadů, ale víc sem se bála toho, co sem was more skeered uh whut was behind nechala za sebou. Skovávala sem se tam me. Ah hide in dere day and night and ve dne i v noci a pač sem se bála, ţe suckled de baby every time she start to někdo uslyší mý děcko řvat a najde mě, cry, for fear somebody might hear her dycky, dyţ začala brečet, nakojila sem ju. and Ah‟d git found. Ah ain‟t sayin‟ uh Neřikam, ţe se mnou to peklo friend or two didn‟t feel mah care. And neproţívaly jedna nebo dvě kamošky. A den de Good Lawd seen to it dat Ah taky Dobrotivý Pán dohlíd na to, ţe mě wasn‟t taken. Ah don‟t see how come nechytli. Divim se, ţe dyţ sem měla mah milk didn‟t kill mah chile, wid me so takovej strach, ţe to mlíko nezabilo mou skeered and worried all de time. De noise cerušku. Soví houkání mně nahánělo uh de owls skeered me; de limbs of dem hrůzu; vobrovský větve cypřišů se cypress trees took to crawlin‟ and movin‟ po setmění kolem nás plazily a hejbaly, a round after dark, and two three times Ah dvakrát nebo třikrát sem slyšela, jak heered panthers prowlin‟ round. But vokolo vobchází pumy. Ale nikdy se mně nothin‟ never hurt me „cause de Lawd nic nestalo, pač Pán viděl, jak to se mnou knowed how it was. je.”
Den, one night Ah heard de big guns „Pak sem jednou večer slyšela velký boomin‟ lak thunder. It kept up all night pušky burácet jak hromy. Trvalo to celou long. And de next mornin‟ Ah could see noc. Druhej den ráno sem v dálce viděla uh big ship at a distance and a great velikánskou loď a hafo pohybu. Tak sem stirrin‟ round. So Ah wrapped Leafy up zamotala Leafy do mechu, pevně ji in moss and fixed her good in a tree and připevnila ke stromu a vydala se picked mah way on down to de landin‟. vomrknout to vylodění. Všici chlapy byli The men was all in blue, and Ah heard v modrym, slyšela sem, jak lidi řikaj, ţe
67 people say Sherman was comin‟ to meet příde generál Sherman a potká se de boats in Savannah, and all of us slaves s posádkama v Savannah, a taky ţe my was free. So Ah run got mah baby and všici votroci sme uţ volní a svobodní. got in quotation wid people and found a Tak sem pádila pro děťátko, horko těţko place Ah could stay. sem zjišťovala, co se stalo, a našla místo, kde sem mohla zvostat.”
“But it was a long time after dat befo‟ de „Ale to bylo dávno před velkou Big Surrender at Richmond. Den de big kapitulací u Richmondu. Pak přišla bell ring in Atlanta and all de men in gray na řadu velká zvonice v Atlantě a všici uniforms had to go to Moultrie, and bury chlapy v šedejch uniformách museli jít their swords in de ground to show they do Moulturie, kde zakopáním šavlí was never to fight about slavery no mo‟. ukázali, ţe uţ nikdy víckrát nebudou So den we knowed we was free. bojovat za votroctví. Takţe aţ pak sme věděli, ţe sme svobodní.
“Ah wouldn‟t marry nobody, though Ah „I dyţ sem měla hafo příleţitostí dostat se could have uh heap uh times, cause Ah pod čepec, nikdy sem se nevdala, pač didn‟t want nobody mistreating mah sem nechtěla, aby kdokoli blbě zacházel baby. So Ah got with some good white s mou holčičkou. Tak sem se dostala people and come down here in West k hodnejm bělochům a přišla sem sem Florida to work and make de sun shine on do Západní Floridy, abych tady makala a both sides of de street for Leafy. dobře Leafy zavopatřila.”
“Mah madam help me wid her just lak „Moje pani mi s ňou, stejně tak jako she been doin‟ wid you. Ah put her in s tebou, pomáhala. Dyţ se pro ni school when it got so it was a school to vobjevila škola, dala sem ji tam na to put her in. Ah was „spectin‟ to make a tata. Čekala sem, ţe se z ní stane school teacher outa her. učitelka.”
“But one day she didn‟t come home at de „Ale jednou nedorazila dom tak, jak usual time and Ah waited and waited, but měla, a já čekala a čekala, ale vona se she never come all dat night. Ah took a za celou noc nevobjevila. Popadla sem lantern and went round askin‟ everybody lucernu, vobcházela kaţdej barák a ptala
68 but nobody ain‟t seen her. De next se na ňu, ale nikdo ju neviděl. Ráno mornin‟ she come crawlin‟ in on her přilezla po štyrech. Jakej to byl pohled! hands and knees. A sight to see. Dat Její učitel ji zatáh do lesa a znásilnil a school teacher had done hid her in de eště před tim, neţ vylezlo slunko, utek.” woods all night long, and had done raped mah baby and run on off just before day.
“She was only seventeen, and somethin‟ „Bylo jí jenom sedumnáct, a stalo se jí lak dat to happen! Lawd a‟mussy! Look něco tak hroznýho! Pane, slituj se! Jako lak Ah kin see it all over again. It was a bych to teď všecko viděla znova. Trvalo long time before she was well, and by dat dlouho, neţ se z toho vzpamatovala, a to time we knowed you was on de way. And uţ sme věděli, ţe seš na cestě. Po tom, co after you was born she took drinkin‟ ses narodila, začala chlastat a bejvala likker and stayin‟ out nights. Couldn‟t git pryč celý noci. Nedokázala sem ju her to stay here and nowhere else. Lawd přinutit, aby vodsud nevodcházela. Pánbů knows where she is right now. She ain‟t ví, kde je jí teďka konec. Eště neni mrtvá, dead, „cause Ah‟d know it by mah pač to bych cejtila, ale někdy si přeju, feelings, but sometimes Ah wish she was aby vodpočívala v pokoji.” at rest.
“And, Janie, maybe it wasn‟t much, but „A, Janie, asi to nebylo nic moc, ale Ah done de best Ah kin by you. Ah raked snaţila sem se, abych se vo tebe and scraped and bought dis lil piece uh postarala, jak sem nejlíp uměla. Voháněla land so you wouldn‟t have to stay in de sem se a dřela, abych mohla koupit tento white folks‟ yard and tuck yo‟ head befo‟ kousek země, abys nemusela bydlet other chillun at school. Dat was all right u bělochů na dvorku a chodit před when you was little. But when you got vostatníma děckama ve škole se svěšenou big enough to understand things, Ah hlavou. Fakčilo to, dyţs byla malá holka. wanted you to look upon yo‟self. Ah Ale dyţs byla dost velká na to, abys don‟t want yo‟ feathers always crumpled pochopila určitý věci, chtěla sem, aby ses by folks throwin‟ up things in yo‟ face. nad sebou pořádně zamyslela. Nechcu, An Ah can‟t die easy thinkin‟ maybe de aby ti vostatní pořád vopakovaně něco
69 menfolks white or black is makin‟a spit předhazovali a tim ti ubliţovali. A cup outa you: Have some sympathy fuh nemůţu se s klidem vodebrat na věčnost, me. Put me down easy, Janie, Ah‟m a dyţ budu vědět, ţe tě chlapi, ať uţ bílí cracked plate.” nebo černí, budou mít akorát jak hadr na podlahu. Měj se mnou aspoň krapánek slitování. Nech mě v klidu strčit hlavu do rakve, Janie, su nakřáplej talíř.”
Chapter 3 Kapitola 3
There are years that ask quetions and V určitých letech se lidé ptají a v určitých years that answer. Janie had had no odpovídají. Janie ještě nemohla všechno chance to know things, so she had to ask. znát, tak se musela ptát. Skončí Did marriage end the cosmic loneliness manţelstvím ta nesmírná samota of the unmated? Did marriage compel nesblíţených? Přináší manţelství lásku love like the sun the day? tak jako slunce den?
In the few days to live before she went to Během těch pár dní neţ odešla bydlet Logan Killicks and his often-mentioned k Loganovi Killickovi a jeho nesčetněkrát sixty acres, Janie asked inside of herself zmiňovaných šedesáti akrům, se Janie and out. She was back and forth to the ptala v duchu sama sebe i nahlas pear tree continuously wondering and ostatních. Chodila sem a tam k hrušni, thinking. Finally, out of Nanny‟s talk and při čemţ se neustále divila a přemýšlela. her own conjectures she made a sort of Nakonec, po Chůvině hovoru a svých comfort for herself. Yes, she would love vlastních domněnkách, se tak nějak Logan after they were married. She could utěšila. Ano, po svatbě bude Logana see no way for it to come about, but milovat. Nedokázala si představit, jak Nanny and the old folks had said it, so it k tomu dojde, ale Chůva a ostatní staří must be so. Husbands and wives always lidé to tvrdili, tak to musí být pravda. loved each other, and that was what Manţelé a manţelky se vţdycky marriage meant. It was just so. Janie felt milovali, a to je to, co znamená glad of the thought, for then it wouldn‟t manţelství. Bylo to tak. Janie byla za tuto seem so destructive and mouldy. She myšlenku ráda, protoţe takhle to
70 wouldn‟t be lonely anymore. nevypadalo tak zničující a mizerné. Uţ nebude nikdy víc osamělá.
Janie and Logan got married in Nanny‟s Janie a Logan se vzali v sobotu večer parlor of a Saturday evening with three v Chůvině salonku, kde byly připraveny cakes and big platters of fried rabbit and tři dorty a velké mísy plné smaţených chicken. Everything to eat in abundance. králíků a kuřat. Všeho byl nadbytek. Nanny and Mrs. Washburn had seen to Chůva a paní Washburnová se o to that. But nobody put anything on the seat postaraly. Sedadlo Loganova vozu of Logan‟s wagon to make it ride zůstalo prázdné, protoţe cesta do jeho glorious on the way to his house. It was a domu měla vypadat slavnostně. Bylo to lonesome place like a stump in the zcela opuštěné místo, jako pařez middle of the woods where nobody had uprostřed lesa, kam předtím nikdo ever been. The house was absent of nevkročil. Dům ani neměl ţádný pach. flavour, too. But anyhow Janie went on Ale i tak vešla Janie dovnitř a čekala, aţ inside to wait for love to begin. The new mezi nimi propukne láska. Po tom, co se moon had been up and down three times na obloze třikrát vystřídal úplněk, se before she got worried in mind. Then she začala Janie v duchu bát. Toho dne se went to see Nanny in Mrs. Washburn‟s vydala za Chůvou do kuchyně paní kitchen on the day for beaten biscuits. Washburnové na sušenky.
Nanny beamed all out with gladness and Chůva zářila štestím a pokynula jí, ať k ní made her come up to the bread board so přistoupí, aby ji mohla políbit. she could kiss her.
“Lawd a‟mussy, honey, Ah sho is glad „Pane na nebi, srdíčko. Já tě ták ráda tuh see mah chile! G‟wan inside and let vidim, dítě! Pocem dovnitř a řekni pani Mis‟ Washburn know youse heah. Umph! Washburnový, ţe seš tady. Ááá! Ááá! Umph! Umph! How is dat husband uh Ááá! Japak se má ten tvůj manţílek?” yourn?”
Janie didn‟t go in where Mrs. Washburn Janie nešla za paní Washburnovou. was. She didn‟t say anything to match up Neřekla ani nic, co by ladilo s Chůvinou with Nanny‟s gladness either. She just radostí. Jenom zapadla do ţidle a seděla
71 fell on a chair with her lips and sat there. tam. Samými sušenkami a zářící pýchou Between the biscuits and her beaming si Chůva chvíli ničeho nevšimla. pride Nanny didn‟t notice for a minute. Zanedlouho si uvědomila, ţe je rozhovor But after a while she found the jednostranný, a tak se na Janie podívala. conversation getting lonesome so she looked up at Janie.
“Whut‟s de matter, sugar? You ain‟t none „Copaţe se děje, zlatíčko? Neska seš ňák too spry dis mornin‟.” potichu.”
“Oh, nothin‟ much, Ah reckon. Ah come „Ále, vo nic nejde. Jenom sem se to get a lil information from you.” za tebou přišla trochu poradit.”
The old woman looked amazed, then Stařenka vypadala nejdřív ohromeně, ale gave a big clatter of laughter. “Don‟t tell pak se řinčivě rozchechtala. “Neřikej, ţe me you done got knocked up already, less uţ seš v tom. To bysme měli - tuto sobotu see - dis Saturday it‟s two month and two to budou dva měsíce a dva tejdny.” weeks.”
“No‟m, Ah don‟t think so anyhow.” Janie „Né, aspoň si to nemyslim.” Janie se blushed a little. trošičku začervenala.
“You ain‟t got nothin‟ to be shamed of, „Nemáš se za co stydět, děvče, seš vdaná honey, youse uh married „oman. You got ţenská. Stejně jako paní Washburnová yo‟ lawful husband same as Mis‟ nebo kdokoli jinej máš právoplatnýho Washburn or anybody else!” muţe!”
“Ah‟m all right dat way. Ah know „tain‟t „Vo to mně nejde. Já vim, ţe to je nothin‟ dere.” v pohodě.”
“You and Logan been fussin‟? Lawd, Ah „Pohádali ste se s Loganem? Pane Boţe, know dat grassgut, liver-lipted nigger snad ten hovadskej, velkohubej negr uţ ain‟t done took and beat mah baby nemlátí mou holčičku! Vemu klacek a already! Ah‟ll take a stick and salivate dám mu co pro to!” „im!”
“No‟m, he ain‟t even talked „bout hittin‟ „Né, von neřek ani slovo vo tom, ţe mě
72 me. He says he never mean to lay de zmlátí. Říká, ţe na mě nechce nikdy weight uh his hand on me in malice. He stáhnout ruku ve zlym. Poseká tolik chops all de wood he think Ah wants and dřeva, kolik si myslí, ţe potřebuju, a den he totes it inside de kitchen for me. dotáhne ho pro mě aţ do kuchyně. Kyble Keeps both water buckets full.” s vodou sou dycky plný.”
“Humph! don‟t „spect all dat tuh keep up. „Ááá! Nemysli si, ţe to tak bude furt. He ain‟t kissin‟ yo‟ mouf when he carry Nebude tě takle hejčkat, aţ se tě nabaţí. on over yuh lak dat. He‟s kissin‟ yo‟ foot Teďka ti leţí u noh, ale von chlap tam and „tain‟t in uh man tuh kiss foot long. nebude leţet dlouho. To je stejný s tim Mouf kissin‟ is on uh equal and dat‟s hejčkánim, neni to nic nevobvyklýho, ale natural but when dey got to bow down dyţ tě maj fakt milovat, tak to je rychlo tuh love, dey soon straightens up.” přejde.
“Yes‟m.” „Jo.”
“Well, if he do all dat whut you come in „Hele, dyţ to všecko dělá, tak proč tady heah wid uh face long as mah arm for?” sedíš jak hromádka neštěstí?”
“ „Cause you told me Ah mus gointer „Pačs říkala, ţe ho budu mít ráda a, a já love him, and, and Ah don‟t. Maybe if nemam. Moţná dyby mně někdo řek jak somebody was to tell me how, Ah could na to, tak to pude.” do it.”
“You come heah wid yo‟ mouf full uh „Plácáš blbosti, na kerý neni v rušným foolishness on uh busy day. Heah you got dni čas. V těchto skvělejch dnech se máš uh prop tuh lean on all yo‟ bawn days, vo koho vopřít, vochranu, kaţdej musí and big protection, and everybody got tuh nadzvednout klobouk, dyţ tě zdraví a tip dey hat tuh you and call you Mis‟ musí ti řikat paní Killicková, a ty si sem Killicks, and you come worryin‟ me přídeš a votravuješ mě s láskou.” ‟bout love.”
“But Nanny, Ah wants to want him „Ale Chůvo, já chcu, abych ho někdy sometimes. Ah don‟t want him to do all chtěla. Nechcu, aby jenom von pořád de wantin‟.” chtěl za nás za voba.”
73 “If you don‟t want him, you sho oughta. „Esi ho nechceš, tak bys fakt měla. Seš Heah you is wid de onliest organ in town, jediná barevná ve městě, kerá má amongst colored folks, in yo‟ parlor. Got v salónu piáno. Máš koupenej a splacenej a house bought and paid for and sixty barák a šedesát akrů země hnedka acres uh land right on de big road and … u hlavní cesty … Pane Boţe! To je Lawd have mussy! Dat‟s de very prong přesně to, vo co se my černošky snaţíme. all us black women gits hung on. Dis Tahle láska! To je to, za čim se love! Dat´s just whut´s got us uh pullin‟ plahočíme, mrskáme sebou, potíme a and uh haulin‟ and sweatin‟ and doin‟ makáme vod samýho rána do samýho from can‟t see in de mornin‟ till can‟t see večera. Proto staří říkaj, ţe blbost nikoho at night. Dat‟s how come de ole folks say nezabije. Jenom se u toho zapotíš. dat bein‟ uh fool don‟t kill nobody. It jus‟ Vsadim se, ţe chceš ňákýho vyfiknutýho makes you sweat. Ah betcha you wants frajírka, kerej ale nemá nic víc neţ jedny some dressed up dude dat got to look at prošoupaný boty, kerý mu stačej tak tak de sole of his shoe everytime he cross de na přejití ulice. Takovejch bot si s tim, co street tuh see whether he got enough máš, můţeš koupit i prodat kolik chceš. leather dere tuh make it across. You can Vlasně si takový můţeš koupit a buy and sell such as dem wid what you vyhodit.” got. In fact you can buy ‟em and give ‟em away.”
“Ah ain‟t studyin‟ „bout none of „em. At „Ţádnejma se nezabejvam. Stejně tak de same time Ah ain‟t takin‟ dat ele land kašlu na tu zatracenou půdu. Klidně bych tuh heart neither. Ah could throw ten mohla kaţdej den hodit deset akrů acres of it over de fence every day and přes plot a nikdy se nevohlídnout, kde je never look back to see where it fell. Ah jim konec. A stejně tak to je i s panem feel de same way „bout Mr. Killicks too. Killickem. Někeří lidi zkrátka nebudou Some folks never was meant to be loved nikdy milovaní a von je jednim z nich.” and he‟s one of „em.”
“How come?” „Jak to?”
“ „Cause Ah hates de way his head is so „Pač se mi hnusí, jak má hlavu na jednu
74 long one way and so flat on de sides and stranu protáhlou a na druhou tak spláclou dat pone uh fat back uh his neck.” a taky ta kost vzadu na jeho tlustým krku.”
“He never made his own head. You talk „Von si tu hlavu nevybral. Kecáš fakt so silly.” hloupě.”
“Ah don‟t keer who made it, Ah don‟t „Mně je jedno, kdo ju vybral, mně se like de job. His belly is too big too, now, nelíbí. Břicho má teďka taky moc velký a and his toe-nails look lak mule foots. And nehty na nohách má jak mezek. A to není „tain‟t nothin‟ in de way of him washin‟ nic voproti tomu, jak si večer, před tim his feet every evenin‟ before he comes neţ de spat, nemůţe umejt nohy. Proč by tuh bed. „Tain‟t nothin‟ tuh hinder him si je proboha nemoh umejt, dyţ mu tu „cause Ah places de water for him. Ah‟d vodu dycky nachystám. Rači bych, aby rather be shot wid tacks than tuh turn mě ukamenovali, neţ se votáčet ve stejný over in de bed and stir up de air whilst he posteli a vířit vzduch, dyţ von tam taky is in dere. He don‟t even never mention je. Dyť von mně ani nikdy neřekne nic nothin‟ pretty.” pěknýho.”
She began to cry. Rozbrečela se.
“Ah wants things sweet wid mah „Chcu, aby všecko v mym manţelství marriage lak when you sit under a pear bylo sladký, jako dyţ sedíš pod hrušní a tree and think. Ah…” přemejšlíš. Ó…”
“ „Tain‟t no use in you cryin‟, Janie. „Nemáš proč bulet, Janie. Bábinka uţ Grandma done been long uh few roads toho dost zaţila. A lidi bulej herself. But folks is meant to cry „bout kvůli tomuhle a támle tomu. Bude lepší, somethin‟ or other. Better leave things de dyţ necháš věci bejt, tak jak sou. Eště seš way dey is. Youse young yet. No tellin‟ mladá. Neřeknu ti, co se eště asi stane whut mout happen befo‟ you die. Wait předtim, neţ umřeš. Vyčkej času, dítě. awhile, baby. Yo‟ mind will change.” Změníš názor.“
Nanny sent Janie along with a stern mien, Chůva poslala Janie s přísným výrazem but she dwindled all the rest of the day as pryč, po zbytek dne ale při práci
75 she worked. And when she gained the nevnímala okolní svět. A kdyţ měla privacy of her own little shack she stayed ve své chýši trochu soukromí, klečela on her knees so long she forgot she was na kolenou tak dlouho, aţ zapomněla, ţe there herself. There is a basin in the mind tam je. V mysli je přístaviště, ve kterém where words float around on thought and plují slova a vytvářejí myšlenku a thought on sound and sight. Then there is myšlenka zvuk a zvuk obraz. Potom je a depth of thought untouched by words, zde hloubka myšlenky slovy nedotčená a and deeper still a gulf of formless ještě hlouběji se nachází myšlenky, které feelings untouched by thought. Nanny neregistrují nepopsatelné pocity. Chůva entered this infinity of conscious pain opět na svých kolenou vstoupila do této again on her old knees. Towards morning nekončící bolesti. K ránu mumlala: she muttered, “Lawd, you know mah „Pane, znáš mý srce. Udělala sem to heart. Ah done de best Ah could do. De nejlepší, co sem mohla. Zbytek je rest is left to you.” She scuffled up from na tobě.” Vyštrachala se z kleku nahoru a her knees and fell heavily across the bed. praštila sebou na postel. Za měsíc byla A month later she was dead. mrtvá.
So Janie waited a bloom time, and a Tak Janie čekala rozkvět a pučení a zrání. green time and an orange time. But when Ale kdyţ pyl opět pozlatil slunce a sypal the pollen again gilded the sun and sifted se na svět, začala postávat kolem branky down on the world she began to stand a čekat, co se stane. Na co? Přesně around the gate and expect things. What nevěděla. Dýchala krátce a přerývaně. things? She didn‟t know exactly. Her Znala věci, o kterých jí nikdo předtím breath was gusty and short. She knew nepověděl. Například řeč stromů a větru. things that nobody had ever told her. For Častokrát mluvila s poletujícími semínky instance, the words of the trees and the a říkala: „Doufám, ţe dopadnete wind. She often spoke to falling seeds do měkkýho,” protoţe slyšela, jak si to and said, “Ah hope you fall on soft přávaly padající listy, kdyţ se míjely. ground,” because she had heard seeds Věděla, ţe svět je cválající hřebec saying that to each other as they passed. na modré pastvině nebes. Věděla, ţe Bůh She knew the world was a stallion rolling kaţdé ráno boří starý svět a staví nový
76 in the blue pasture of ether. She knew před východem slunce. Bylo úţasné that God tore down the old world every pozorovat, jak se pod slunečními paprsky morning and built a new one by sun-up. It vytváří a vystupuje z šedého prachu was wonderful to see it take form with tvoření. Lidi a věci, které znala, ji zradili, the sun and emerge from the gray dust of tak postávala u branky a dívala se its making. The familiar people and na cestu ztrácející se v dáli. Teď uţ things had failed her so she hung over the věděla, ţe manţelstvím nevzniká láska. gate and looked up the road towards way Jainin první sen se rozplynul, a ona se tak off. She knew now that marriage did not stala ţenou. make love. Janie‟s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.
6 Translation analysis
Their Eyes Were Watching God includes a lot of biblical references and therefore, the first three chapters, which were translated into Czech in this thesis, were not an exception. I was aware of this reality and I understood that if the work were to be translated thoroughly, the allusions ought not to be omitted. However, I decided to try to translate the extract regardless of this fact, i.e. not to look up expressions and implicit meanings of the biblical references in the Old and New Testaments in order to see what the translation would be like without them and how the work would be perceived by readers.
6.1 Style of Their Eyes Were Watching God
The author of Their Eyes, Zora Neale Hurston, wrote the book in both Standard American English (SAE) that was used for the narrative, and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) which can be found in direct speech. Hurston was criticized for the use of AAVE by some of her contemporary African American writers who “wanted to remove the usage of the African American Vernacular English as well as the frequent occurrence of black idioms in quest of proving that the language of black Americans and white Americans was
77 the same” (Laníková 30). Distinctive features of the AAVE are stated below and illustrated with some examples from the novel. Examples of the Czech translation are provided as well.
Verbs or appropriate verb forms are omitted AAVE: “Where all dat money her husband took and died and left her?” Cz: „Kde sou všecky ty prachy kerý vobstaral její chlap a umřel a nechal jí je?“ AAVE: “What he done wid all her money?” Cz: „Co udělal se všema jejíma prachama?“ No –s in the third person singular AAVE: “Why she don‟t stay in her class?“ Cz: „Proč rači nezvostane tam kam patří?“ Inaccurate word forms AAVE: “'Tain't no use in your tryin' to cloak no ole woman lak Janie Starks, Pheoby, friend or no friend.” Cz: „Pheoby, nemusíš se zastávat ţádný starý ţenský, kerou Janie Starksová je, ať je nebo neni kámoška.“ Abbreviated words AAVE: “Dat's what Ah say 'bout dese ole women runnin' after young boys.” Cz: „To já řikam vo starejch ţenskejch, co se honěj za mladejma klukama.“ Double negative AAVE: “Well, nobody don't know if it's anything to tell or not.” Cz: „Nó, nikdo neví, esi je vo čem mluvit.” Altered spelling AAVE: “ De booger man might ketch yuh.” Cz: „Moh by tě vystrašit klekáníček.”
6.1.1 Style of my translation
“The choice of language has a relevant communicative value when it is used in the text of dialects, other languages or if the use of language is unusual” (Knittlová 59). Knittlová continues that “When a spoken standard is stylized and elements of non-standard language
78 are used … authors [intend to] create a certain atmosphere, an aesthetic function of the text” (59). Finally, Knittlová concludes that:
In an artistic text, colloquial style evokes the atmosphere of the colloquial expression, colloquial color which highlights the surrounding, it expresses an informal to familiar relation to the subject of the message, to the addressee or even to the situation. There are typical evaluative, particularly emotionally evaluative expressions, expressive colloquial phrases as well as elements from the non-literary systems including slang, which are formed in order to name the reality picturesquely [and] expressively, to evaluate and express an opinion.
(59)
After looking into the options of rendering dialect in the translation (in the third chapter called Translation of non-standard language varieties), I chose to depict it by obecná čestina with a hint of Moravian dialect (e.g. ňou, ju, su), which was not entirely intentional but rather occurred spontaneously as a result of my origin. Some typical features of obecná čeština (Ocz) may be seen in the examples below and they are contrasted with spisovná čeština, standard Czech (Scz).
Ý/í instead of é Ocz: „Pheoby, nemusíš se zastávat ţádný starý ţenský …” Scz: „Pheoby, nemusíš se zastávat ţádné staré ţenské ...“ Ej instead of ý, sometimes even í Ocz: „Nechci se s ňou zabejvat” Scz: „Nechci se s ní zabývat.“ V instead of o at the beginning of words Ocz: „Mu uţ je taky vokolo třiceti.“ Scz: „Mu uţ je taky okolo třiceti.“ Omission of –l at the end of words Ocz: „Podle toho jak ţvaníte, by si jeden řek …” Scz: „Podle toho, jak mluvíte, by si jeden řekl ...“
79 Simplification of consonant groups Ocz: „Seš pořád tak střelená, jaks dycky byla.“ Scz: „Jsi pořád tak střelená, jak jsi vţdycky byla.
Other examples of my stylization are words that are written in a non-standard way, shortened.
Ocz: pani Scz: paní Ocz: nevim Scz: nevím Ocz: fakčit Scz: fungovat
Even though the expression fakčit is not as established as fachčit, I used the formerly mentioned one as it is commonly used in my surroundings.
6.1.1.1 Rendition of the white mistress‟s speech in Czech
At the end of Chapter two, Janie‟s grandmother is telling Janie about her meeting with the mistress of the plantation where Nanny used to be a slave. There is a dialogue between the mistress and Janie‟s grandmother right after Janie‟s mother was born. The language in the passages which are said by the white mistress is not consistent. An example of Nanny‟s speech is given as well.
Mistress “Nanny, Ah come to see that baby uh yourn.” “You better git dat kivver offa dat youngun and dat quick!” “Ah wouldn‟t dirty mah hands on yuh. But first thing in de mornin‟ de overseer will take you to de whippin‟ post and tie you down …” Nanny “… it got so cold in dere dat Ah was freezin‟ to death …”
80 “By dat time I had done managed …” “She asted me dat …” “Ah couldn‟t consider dat.”
As it is obvious from the above mentioned examples, the language of the white mistress is very similar to the language of the black slave. However, the language is not the same. As it is possible to see in the examples, the white woman sometimes uses standard expressions (that or you) whereas Nanny uses the non-standard expressions (dat) in the same passage consistently. One more language point can be highlighted from the passage with the mistress. This is the mistress‟s consistent use of to while Nanny uses once to and another time tuh. Examples are provided below.
Mistress “Nanny, Ah come to see that baby uh yourn.” “Ah aims to show you.” “Ah‟ll have you whipped till de blood run down to yo‟ heels! Ah mean to count de licks mahself. Nanny “Ah tried not to feel de breeze off her face …” “… lak Ah aimed to.” “By dat time I had done managed tuh unkivver mah baby …” “She begin tuh slap mah jaws …”
Even though it may seem that the differences of the speech of the mistress and Nanny are rather negligible, none the less, some differences are present and therefore it was necessary to differentiate black and white English in the translation as well. I decided to separate the language of Nanny and the mistress in Czech by adding formality to the mistress‟s speech. It means that I depicted the mistress‟s speech in rather formal Czech interwoven with a few non-standard expressions. Such a rendition is shown below. The non-standard expressions are in bold.
81 Mistress‟s speech in Czech „Raděj bys měla toho spratka okamţitě odkrýt!” „Černá hubo, jak to, ţe má tvé dítě šedé oči a světlé vlasy?” „Ať to s tebou dopadne jak chce, hnedka jak bude tomu spratkovi měsíc, prodám ho odsud.”
6.1.1.2 Tense changes in English
Levý wrote that “the language of the original and the language of the translation are not straightforward commensurate. Language means of two languages are not equivalent, and therefore cannot be transmitted mechanically” (38). This was particularly true in my translation when I was dealing with tense shifts in indirect speech in the original. I tended to shift the tense even in Czech so I had to pay special attention to it in order not to sound alien in the translation. The problem is illustrated below.
En: “Ah was wid dem chillun so much till Ah didn‟t know Ah wuzn‟t white till Ah was round six years old.” Cz: „Byla sem s těma děckama tak často, ţe aţ asi do šesti sem ani nevěděla, ţe nejsem bílá.”
6.1.1.3 Punctuation in a part of direct speech
At the beginning of the novel, when Janie enters the town which she left some time ago, everyone is talking about her. It is not obvious who says what and also there are no pauses, people interrupt one another. As Knittlová suggests that “information should be conveyed invariably” (71), this stream of speaking is indicated by no commas in the Czech translation. Various speakers are indicated only by dashes so as to maintain the intended fuss.
AAVE: “Thought she was going to marry? – Where he left her? – What he done wid all her money? – Betcha he off wid some gal so young she ain‟t even got no hairs – why she don‟t stay in her class?-”
82 Cz: „Si snad mysela ţe se s ňou voţení? – Kde ju nechal? – Co udělal se všema jejíma prachama? – Vsadim se s vama ţe utek s ňákou holkou kerá eště neumí ani do pěti napočítat – proč rači nezvostane tam kam patří? -“
6.2 Translation of proper names
One of the very first translation problems I had to consider was dealing with proper names. Even though I was aware of the fact that “foreign names might disturb the familiar atmosphere [and] problems with declension might occur” (Levý 58), none the less I arrived at the conclusion that I would leave the names in the same form as they are in the original text so as to imply that the novel describes people who are not Czech and who differentiate culturally. Such a decision stemmed from Levý who says that “there are situations when a reader wants to know that he or she reads a translation, and it is necessary to provide him or her with the knowledge by maintaining the color“ (60). Once the decision was made, it obviously included all the proper names so as not to confuse readers. Of course, the feminine endings of a surname or inflections were adhered according to the Czech tradition.
6.2.1 Translation of “Nanny”
Another problem connected with names that I encountered was how to translate Nanny. In the original it sounds rather soft and as a diminutive, while the Czech Chůva sounds very harsh. The reason why there might not be a more tender expression for chůva in Czech is that the word has scarcely been used in the Czech Republic in the last fifty years and therefore no alternations have appeared. However, nowadays the services of nannies are rising and becoming popular so it is possible that an alternation of the word chůva will occur in the future. In any case, the word Chůva is used in the translation as mentioned above, no other Czech word could express it more precisely. Stařenka was also considered but the meaning of somebody who looks after children, would be lost.
83 6.3 Understanding of a text
6.3.1 Understanding individual words but not in context
Levý claims that the first stage of translating is “the understanding of the text” (25). Prevailingly, this was not an obstacle. Yet, there were moments when I understood the individual words or expressions but could not imagine what the author meant. When such a situation occured I asked a native speaker for a demonstration, and based on it I found the appropriate Czech expression.
AAVE: “...sucked her teeth.“ Cz: „... zasyčela.“ AAVE: “... Lulu Moss drawled through her nose.“ Cz: „... pronesla přes nos jiţanským přízvukem Lulu Mosová.“
6.3.2 Difficulty with Czech expressions
Some words were obvious from the context and I precisely knew what they denoted but it was very difficult to find the correct Czech expressions. Even though I knew they exist in Czech I could hardly imagine using them when speaking.
En: arm of the chair Cz: područka křesla
My first idea that I thought of was translating it as rameno křesla because it sounded natural to me. However, when other people read it, they disapproved of the term because, according to them, it was rarely used. Thinking about it more, I realized that I would probably not use the term either. I was considering the words opěradlo or opěrka which I coincidentally heard from a friend of mine who was talking about sitting on the arm of the chair in Czech. What I did not like about either of these two expressions was the fact that readers could imagine the back side of a chair instead of the arm. Finally, I consulted the word with a producer of chairs who said that the established term for the arm is područka.
84 Suddenly I felt that it is the right expression and I came to conclusion that this term would be used in the translation as it best expresses the meaning.
Second problem I faced is shown in the example.
En: She fell all over Mrs. Sumpkins while she laughed. Cz: Kdyţ se smála, navalila se na paní Sumpkinsovou.
My original translation included the word povalila instead of navalila se. However, when imagining the situation I realized that Mrs Sumpkins did not necessarily have to find herself on the ground as the movement caused by laughing was not probably so vigorous that would make Mrs Sumpkins fall down. Moreover, my original translation was not precise as povalila would rather mean falling on the ground and not only trushing in somebody. Once I imagined the situtation properly, I was reasoning other Czech words. One of them was vrazila which none the less created an impression that it would be a too harsh and abrupt movement. Another expression was svalila se or skácela se, however, both the expressions might again indicate falling down rather than only trushing in. Concluding my discussion, the verb that expresses the situation most closely is navalila se as it means trushing in but not falling down and at the same time the verb does not imply as much force as vrazila.
The third problem can be seen in the example below.
En: It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep. Cz: Pronásledovala ji, kdyţ byla bdělá a hladila ve spánku.
I understood what the author was conveying through waking moments but it was rather difficult to retain her idea with Czech words. I had to ponder over words and search those that would be most appropriate. Finally, I produced a few expressions such as v době bdění, když bděla or když byla bdělá and decided that the last mentioned option fit into the context most.
85 En: It connected itself with other vaguely felt matters that had struck her outside observation and buried themself in her flesh. Cz: Spojila se s dalšími matně prociťovanými záţitky, které si sice neuvědomovala, ale které se jí zaryly do masa.
The above mentioned sentences are another example of a problematic rendition of the original text. At first, I translated buried themself in her flesh as ukryly se v jejím těle which was not incorrect but somewhat mild and moderate. I overcame the initial fear of translating flesh as maso and formed zaryly se jí do masa. The newly created expression is in my opinion better because it makes the translation more engaging and also more true to the original text.
En: She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace … Cz: Spatřila včelu nesoucí pyl, jak se noří do svatyně květu; tisíce spřízněných kalichů, jak se potkávají v láskyplném objetí …
A very difficult choice of Czech words was with the English sister-calyxes arch. When I saw the expression for the first time I thought that it was an established collocation and I searched for the meaning. However, to my surprise, I found out that no such collocation exists and that it must be the author‟s use of words. After the first-draft suggestion of tisíce obloučků sesterských kalichů, I resolved to omit the word arch and substitute sesterských for spřízněných so as to sound better. Since there was no established collocation, I could afford such a change. Concerning the substitution of the word sesterský for spřízněný, I wanted to keep the notion of relationship and the word spřízněný complied with my demand. When dealing with the translation of the expression, I examined a lot of images of a calyx (“the green part covering a flower before it opens” (Macmillan)) as well as I read descriptions of it.
Finally, there is one more expression that I would like to comment on in connection with the difficulty of finding suitable words.
86 En: “Ah been waitin‟ a long time, Janie, but nothin‟ Ah been through ain‟t too much if you just take a stand on high ground lak Ah dreamed.” Cz: Čekám uţ dlouho, Janie, ale nic, čim sem si prošla, neni tak strašný, pokud si jenom stoupneš před lidi a budeš kázat, jak sem vo tom snila já.”
The very first and at that time the only rendition of the stand on high ground was postavíš se na stupínek. I thought it was a perfect expression as I found and confirmed my assumption that a synonym of pulpit, in Czech kazatelna, which was obviously meant by high ground, is stupínek. When the translation was read by other people, it was, however, pointed out that stupínek is associated with school more than with church and therefore readers may comprehend it in a wrong way. Because no confusion had been intended, I reconsidered my translation and changed it into more obvious stoupneš před lidi a budeš kázat. I was trying to think about and find another synonym of stupínek and kazatelna but unfortunately I was not successful and therefore the last mentioned expression remained in the translation.
6.3.2.1 Personal difficulty with Czech expressions
Similarly, some words exist in Czech and as the matter of fact they are almost total equivalents, nonetheless, they were new to me. An example is provided below.
En: the foot of the bed Cz: nohy postele
When I saw the expression in English I knew what it was but I could not think of a Czech counterpart. To my surprise, I immediately discovered that the opposite of the čelo postele is nohy postele on the internet. I could not believe that the expression nohy postele exists in Czech. I was considering omitting the word nohy as it really sounded alien to me but eventually I used it because it seemed impossible to express what I needed without nohy. I realized that if I do not know or use an expression in Czech it does not necessarily mean that it does not exist or it is not used by other speakers.
87 6.3.3 Specific terms
Some words from the source language had no counterparts in the target language. Levý says that “an explanation is appropriate if the reader of the target language misses something that is included for the original reader in the source text” (82).
En: the cooling palma christi leaves ... Cz: chladící listy palmy christi pomáhající od bolesti hlavy ...
As no Czech translation for palma christi was available and Czech readers would not probably know that its leaves relieve pain, the problem was solved by adding a description of what the leaves of the plant are good for.
Or words from the source language that have their counterparts in the target language but which are not very known in Czech.
En: “Ah knowed de place was full uh moccasins and other bitin‟ snakes …” Cz: “Viděla sem, ţe je to tam plný mokasínů a dalších jedovatejch hadů …”
In the above mentioned example no further explanation was necessary because what a mokasín is was explained later in the sentence.
6.3.4 Different linguistic and paralinguistic experience
Knittlová stated that a translator should “take into account different linguistic and paralinguistic experience of speakers of the source language and target language” and the translator should “make accessible and approachable reality and experience of the linguistic community of the source language to the addressees of the target language” (49).
This can be implemented by omitting or adding information or by analogous substitution.
88 6.3.4.1 Omitting information
There was an expression, a meal, typical of the area where the story is set, and which Czech readers would probably not be familiar with, however, this expression does not affect the content if readers do not know what it is. It is redundant therefore the explanation of the meal was omitted.
En: mulatto rice Cz: rejţe
Another example of an omission is mentioned below.
En: beaten biscuits Cz: sušenky
I searched various types and names of biscuits in Czech but the only way of naming I found was according to the ingredients or flavors (e.g. oříškové, kakaové, skořicové, etc.), not according to the way of preparing. Hence, I decided to omit the word beaten and only translate biscuits. The omission does not affect the perception of the context.
The last example of omission follows.
En: corn-cob pipe Cz: fajfka
Since the description of the pipe is not as important as the fact, that somebody stole it, the information was omitted and just the word fajfka instead of fajfka z kukuřičného klasu, which would sound rather complicated and long, was used.
89 6.3.4.2 Adding information
Knittlová noted that when “a name [of a place, a famous person, etc.] is unknown, translators add a general classifier which places the name into the appropriate conceptual area“ (49).
En: “Dat mornin‟ on de big plantation close to Savannah, a rider come in a gallop tellin‟ „bout Sherman takin‟ Atlanta.” Cz: „Tenkrát ráno přicválal na velkou plantáţ blízko Savannah jezdec a oznamoval, ţe se generál Sherman zmocnil Atlanty.”
The word generál was added into the translation as I assumed that people would not know who Sherman was.
6.3.4.3 Analogy
Analogy is a “substitution of a reality and experience” (Knittlová 50). An example of an analogy can be the expression there in English which was, however, translated into Czech as tu.
En: “You answer me when Ah speak. Don‟t you set dere poutin‟ wid me after all Ah done went through for you!” She slapped the girl‟s face violently, and forced her head back so that their eyes met in struggle. Cz: „Vodpovíš mně, dyţ se tě zeptám. Po tom, co sem pro tebe všecko udělala, se tu nevopovaţuj jen tak sedět a trucovat!” Dala jí takovou facku, ţe jí sklopená hlava vylítla nahoru a jejich rozohněné oči se bojovně střetly.
Since Nanny is able to slap Janie‟s face, it is obvious that both the speakers are sitting close to each other and therefore the Czech expression tam would not be appropriate as it would express someone who is distant from the speaker, and consequently it could be hard to imagine the situation in which one person is slapping another one at the other end of the room.
90 One more example of a substitution of an example is provided below.
En: “Heah you is wid de onliest organ in town, amongst colored folks, in yo‟ parlor.” Cz: „Seš jediná barevná ve městě, kerá má v salónku piáno.”
I dare to say that if the equivalent Czech expression of the English word organ, varhany, was used in the translation people would imagine “a large musical instrument with pipes of different length, played by pressing keys on it” (Macmillan). Based on the definition of a parlor, which is “a room or a small lounge for receiving and entertaining visitors” (The Free Dictionary), such a huge instrument would be barely imaginable in such a room. Thus I was attempting to render the object by one of the same function but a smaller size. I was briefly considering the use of spinet, “a small, compact upright piano” (The Free Dictionary), however, I assumed that people would not be as acquainted with spinet as with piáno, “a keyboard instrument that is played by depressing keys that cause hammers to strike tuned strings and produce sounds” (The Free Dictionary) and accordingly the latter mentioned term is present in the translation.
Knittlová mentioned that there are also expressions that lay between analogy and paraphrase when a “different reality is named by an approximate functional counterpart“ (50).
En: porch Cz: veranda
Even though a porch as it exists in Florida does not exist in the Czech Republic, veranda is a close enough expression - it is a “semi roofed, open or glazed area attached to a house” (Filipec 488).
91 6.3.5 The relation of a thought and an expression
Sometimes a text in the target language was altered in order to be logical. “The basic translator‟s effort is to interpret the work to the target language readers, i.e. to make it understandable, to express it in such a way that is understandable to the reader“ (Levý 98).
En: “Ah ain't had a thing on mah stomach today exceptin' mah hand.” Cz: „Sem eště neska nedala nic do huby krom palce.”
In my opininon dát něco do břicha is not as established as dát něco do pusy in Czech language and this is the reason why I substituted stomach with mouth in order to make it more understandable to Czech readers. At first I decided to put a cígo into her mouth, however, I realized that it is not known if she smoked, or as it is not mentioned anywhere in the novel it could be assumed that she did not smoke at all, and consequently such an expression may be too distant from the reality. Instead, I eventually chose the word thumb as she definitely had it and it was more probable that she would put it into her mouth, and moreover it is more similar to the expression in the original text which was a hand. Even though I altered the expression, the meaning remained the same, i.e. that Janie had not eaten anything that day until her friend came and brought her some food.
When translating the expression new moon, a Czech reader was taken into consideration as well.
En: The new moon had been up and down three times before she got worried in mind. Cz: Po tom, co se na obloze třikrát vystřídal úplněk, se začala Janie v duchu bát.
Even though there is an expression nov which is equivalent to the English new moon, it is rarely used in general Czech language. Firstly, I included nov in my translation, however, I found out that not many amateur readers understood it as they kept asking me what it was. Hence, I replaced unusual nov by a more common úplněk. The reason for the replacement was that it is also a phase of the moon and it also signifies a three-month time. Another
92 reason for the selection of the word úplněk was that even though with the help of a different expression, it evokes the same impression in a Czech reader as new moon evokes in a reader of the original text.
Lastly, there is one more expression that is worth mentioning in this category.
En: “De booger man might ketch yuh.” Cz: „Moh by tě vystrašit klekáníček.“
Booger man is “the mythical monster who is often called the „boogeyman‟; a frightening imaginary being, often used as a threat in disciplining children” (“Their Eyes”) and the best Czech counterpart known by every reader would be klekánice, i.e. “A spirit who stalks around after the evening chimes and entraps children she still finds out of doors” (“Mythology”). However, booger man is a male ghost, whereas klekánice is female. If there was no sexual allusion later in the text (“Anyhow mah husband tell me say no first class booger would have me” (Hurston, 4).), klekánice would fit perfectly. I searched the internet in order to find out a male counterpart of klekánice and fortunately I succeeded in finding klekáníček, i.e. “In Bohemia this is a kind of spirit which gets hold of children remaining out of doors after the Ave Maria has been rung” (“Mythology”). When I asked some Czech people what they imagine klekáníček is, they answered right, i.e. that it is a male counterpart of klekánice, therefore I included the word klekáníček in my translation. It corresponds with the English booger man and at the same time Czech readers understand what ghost it is and what characteristics it has.
6.3.6 Rendering metaphorical expressions
Quite a few metaphors were used in the novel, which were sometimes difficult to cope with. An example of one of them is given below:
En: “If God don't think no mo' 'bout 'em then Ah do, they's a lost ball in de high grass.” Cz: „Esi si vo nich Bůh nemyslí víc neţ já, tak sou ztracenou jehlou v kupě sena.”
93 Newmark mentions that “when translators change the image of a metaphor, they may do it for several reasons … If the SL [(source language)] metaphor is a standard metaphor which does not exist in the TL [(target language)], they [translators] have to change it…” (“About Translation”171). “Where a word does not have the meaning by itself, only as a part of a unit, [then] the unit is translated regardless of the meanings of individual words” (Levý 86). Levý continues that “With a metaphorical expression, indirect implications of individual words, their relations to sensual reality and a relation between a thought and its artistic expression are also important“ (86).
The meaning of the original metaphor is that the people cannot be found and helped. I was not sure if Czech readers would understand it the same way as the source text readers, therefore I substituted a ball with a needle and high grass with a heap of hay as there is an established expression jehla v kupce sena in Czech which means that something is difficult, almost impossible to find. Based on the explanation, it is obvious that the meaning of the metaphors in both languages remains the same.
6.3.7 Ambiguity in the text
It is important for a translator to be imaginative. A translator must be able to imagine the situation and the author‟s thought as well as semantic connection induced by the original language. Misunderstanding may be caused by accidental linguistic analogy or by the ambiguity of the text (Levý 27).
Below is given an example of a phrase that could be perceived ambiguously.
En: She went on thinking back to her young years and explaining them to her friend in soft, easy phrases while all around the house, the night time put on flesh and blackness. Cz: Pokračovala vzpomínáním na svá mladá léta a tichým hlasem a jednoduchými slovními obraty je popisovala a vysvětlovala své kamarádce, zatímco všechno kolem domu se ztrácelo s přibývající temnotou noci.
94 At first I understood the phrase as it is written in the example above, i.e. the night was progressing, it was darker and darker outside and due to this fact everything around the house was disappearing. However, I have to admit that I am aware of another possible understanding of the phrase in which the word flesh would stand for animals. Then, the phrase would consequently mean that the all around the house was becoming alive, that animals, which are hidden during a day, appear.
6.4 Neologisms
Newmark defines neologisms as “newly coined lexical units or existing lexical units that acquire a new sense” (“A Textbook” 140). He discusses “the translators right to create neologisms” (“A Textbook” 149). And continues that “it is his [translator‟s] duty to re- create any neologism he meets on the basis of the SL [source language] neologism” (“A Textbook” 149). Further Newmark adds that “…neologisms … must be re-created systematically and ingeniously, always however with the principle of equivalent naturalness in mind, whether relating to morphology (roots and inflections) or sound (alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance)” (“A Textbook” 143). Levý warns that “when creating neologisms, translators must be even more cautious than the original authors“ (71). “Even an excellent translation generally has a lesser developmental effect for the national literature, it is less established than the original work, therefore linguistic new-creation in translation has a lesser chance of success than in the original book“ (Levý 71).
Hurston invented one of her own words, a neologism, and hence, based on Newmark, I created a neologism as well.
En: monstropolous Cz: příšerovitější
“Their Eyes” study guide explained the word as “hyperbole invented by Hurston; perhaps an extension of monstrous”. I based my neologism on the Czech adjective příšerný (as Hurston did on monstrous) which I intensified by adding the suffix –ovitější and příšerovitější came into existence.
95 6.5 Up-to-date non-standard expressions
Knittlová states that “a characteristic feature of slang is novelty and inconstancy... every generation has its style and current expressions may be problematic, may not be found in a dictionary“ (63). I tried to comply with her demand for the use of current epressions and depict the non-standard speech with the most up-to-date expressions. Some examples are given below.
En: “... dat's his hard luck.” Cz: „... pak je to jeho boj.“
Even if dat’s his hard luck should be traditionally translated as pak má smůlu, I chose to translate it as pak je to jeho boj as it sounds like a more up-to-date expression. The inspiration came from my brother whom I heard to use the word quite frequently.
En: “... „cause dem three boys and us two girls wuz pretty aggravatin‟.” Cz: „...pač ti tři kluci a my dvě holky sme dost prudili.”
When translating aggravating, I was considering more options. Apart from prudili, words like votravovali or vyváděli came into consideration. Eventually, prudili sounded most up- to-date and therefore was chosen.
En: “... a great stirrin‟ round.” Cz: „... hafo pohybu.“
In the last example I was not only considering the translation of great but also of stirring around. At first, as a matter of fact, I wanted to translate stirring around as hemžení but could not think of a good expression that would collocate with hemžení and meant great. Then the word hafo came to my mind and I thought it was the right word to use. However, it did not seem to sound good with hemžení (hafo hemžení). So finally I thought of pohyb and a new expression arose.
96 6.6 „Unfindable‟ words
At the beginning of the chapter „Undefinable words‟, Newmark informs that “tracing apparently „unfindable‟ words and phrases can be a difficult and time-consuming task; it is a problem in translation theory … outside the scope of theoretical or applied linguistics” (“A Textbook” 176).
The unfindable words from Newmark‟s divison that I encountered are groups named as “Dialect, patois and specialized language which is spoken more often than written” (“A Textbook” 176) and “Colloquialisms, slang, taboo words … words commonly used in, say, remote anglophone areas rather than UK” (“A Textbook” 176). Newmark mentions that “colloquialisms are the most rapidly changing, recurrent and ephemeral form of neologism, particularly at present with the large-scale influx of formerly taboo words …all the translation theorist can do is to warn” (“A Textbook” 180).
Newmark further suggested a procedure of how to proceed when tracing unfindable words. First of all, a translator should consult all available dictionaries. Secondly, he or she “has to consider the possibility of a misprint, misspelling or variant spelling” (“A Textbook 178). Finally, Newmark concludes that:
The translator can never „abandon‟ an unfinadable word, must never assume, because it appears to be nonsensical (a non-existent word, or an existing word clearly out of place), that nothing was intended, that it can be ignored. On the contrary, he must finally make some kind of a guess at the word that he cannot find, some compromise between the most likely contextual meaning of the word … and the meaning suggested by the morphology or form of the word, if such exists.
(“A Textbook” 183)
Since the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God was published at the beginning of the twentieth century and written in dialect, a lot of expressions were hard to trace. First of all, according to Newmark‟s suggested procedure of tracing unfindable words I examined dictionaries and encyclopedias, both printed and electronic, consulted the words with a
97 white native speaker from North Carolina and when I was not still successful understanding it, I searched the internet. The most difficult ones are listed below.
Breath-and-britches En: “Ah don‟t want no trashy nigger, no breath-and-britches, lak Johnny Taylor usin‟ yo‟ body to wipe his foots on.” Cz: Nechci ţadnýho mizernýho negra, ţádnýho vyzáblýho Johnnyho Taylora, kerej by s tebou zacházel jako s kusem hadru, do kerýho by se votíral.”
This expression was posted on the internet by Shari Handley as one of the phrases that are typical of the area of Maryland and Virginia. The exact sentence provided was “He‟s just breath and britches” and explained as “describing a person who is thin” (Handley).
Yaller En: “Nigger, whut‟s yo‟ baby doin‟ wid gray eyes and yaller hair?” Cz: „Černá hubo, jak to, ţe má tvé dítě šedé oči a světlé vlasy?” En: “… but first thing in de mornin‟ de overseer will take you to de whippin‟ post and tie you down on yo‟ knees and cut de hide offa yo‟ yaller back. Cz: „Hned ráno tě dovede dohlíţitel na pranýř, půjdeš na kolena, sváţe tě a seřeţe tu tvou světlou kůţi na zádech.”
In the discussion forum on Word Reference.com, yaller is explained as a “dialectical pronunciation of „yellow‟” (GreenWhiteBlue) which would correspond with the formerly shown example and as “persons of mixed-race ancestry („mulattoes‟ and „quadroons‟, to use the old terms for persons who were half white and half black, or three-quarters white and one-quarter black)” (GreenWhiteBlue) which may be indicated in the latter example. Concerning the latter definition, a participant of the language discussion forum called Karoba shares the same view with GreenWhiteBlue giving the explanation of yaller as “a colored guy with a lighter skin”. I decided to translate yaller also by just one word – světlý, which implies that the African Americans being described by this word were not pure African Americans but mixed with white Americans.
98 Grussgut En: “You and Logan been fussin‟? Lawd, Ah know dat grassgut, liver-lipted nigger ain‟t done took and beat mah baby already! Ah‟ll take a stick and salivate „im!” Cz: „Pohádali ste se s Loganem? Pane Boţe, snad ten hovadskej, velkohubej negr uţ nemlátí mou holčičku! Vemu klacek a dám mu co pro to!”
This expression was probably the most difficult to trace. As it may be obvious from the context, grassgut was intended to express Janie‟s husband in a negative way. After a long- time investigation, I found out that Grass Gut is another expression for a Cracker horse, which was historically “an essential part of the cattle industry in Florida” (“Florida Cracker Horse”). When rendering the expression grassgut in Czech, I was considering several aspects. First of all, it should have been an animal. Secondly, it should have been fairly big and lastly, it should have sounded rather negatively. I chose the word hovado as it seemed to be the most suitable expression - an animal, it is big enough and it has a negative connotation.
6.7 Amateur readers‟ perception of the translation of Their Eyes Were Watching God
When the translated extracts were read by amateur readers, i.e. readers who were asked to read the translation in order to find out if it sounded Czech and who did not have the original text in English, they helped with certain problems but overlooked others. What they helped with was the word order in a sentence as I had troubles with forming a sentence so that it would sound Czech enough. Very often the word order in my translation sounded too English.
En: “What dat ole forty year ole ‟ oman doin‟ wid her hair swingin‟ down her back lak some young gal?” Cz: „Co si ta štyrycetiletá ţenská myslí že dělá dyţ nechá svý vlasy aby jí vlály jak ňáký mladý holce”.
99 However, I have to admit that even advice about the word order was not always valuable. As they are not professionals in this field, they ignored several problems that I was solving later.
En: It was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. Cz: Tou dobou se posedávalo na verandách vedle silnice.
Originally, there was not tou dobou se but byla to doba, kdy se again an expression whose structure is more English than Czech. When I asked them why they did not correct that expression, they answered that they had left it there because of emphasis.
I also consulted the choice of vocabulary, I tried to observe the impressions the text made on them so that I could alter it where it was necessary for the purpose of understanding.
En: new moon Cz: úplněk instead of nov
As it was described earlier, not many people knew, what a nov was in Czech, however, when I explained, everyone suggested the use of úplněk instead.
En: “Ah‟d rather be shot wid tacks …” Cz: Rači bych, aby mě ukamenovali …”
At the very early stage, one of the options for translating shot wid tacks was zastřelili hřebíkama. It sounds rather funny to me now but when I first translated it, it seemed normal. When I discussed the translation with an amateur reader, she told me than when she was reading the expression she was really amused and could not stop laughing. I realized then that it is probably strange and changed it into ukamenovali.
On the other hand, they remarked that several simple sentences could have been combined together so that the text is more fluent.
100 En: ”The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.” Cz: „Sen je pro ně skutečností. Pak se podle toho chovají a jednají.”
Such a suggested alternative was not implemented as it would certainly change the author‟s intention of having two simple sentences instead of one complex and the intended effect on readers would disappear.
Another suggestion mentioned by amateur readers was not taken into account. This was their substitution of non-standard expressions by more formal ones.
En: “Ah takes dat flattery offa you, Pheoby, 'cause Ah know it's from de heart.” Cz: „Pheoby, beru tvý lichotky, pač vim, ţe sou vod srdce.”
They suggested that I use protože or poněvadž instead of pač. This was not feasible because the change would affect the style and perception of the text. It would differ from the author‟s intention and it would not dovetail into the passage.
I also noticed that some readers had a lot of corrections at the beginning of the text but as the text progressed, there were less and less. I presupposed that they were getting tired and simply missed mistakes they would have seen if they had not been in such a condition. My presumption proved to be correct and when they looked at it again, they pointed out more problem matters.
I was also considering the translation of the English expression a manure pile after rain used in the original. Even though it sounds fine in Czech I thought it could be expressed in a better way. Since I could not produce any other expression and amateur readers assured me that the phrase fits well in the text and that they like it, hromada hnoje po dešti remained in the final version.
All in all, I have to confess that the amateur readers were help to me and their insights allowed me to see the translation in a different light.
101 Conclusion
At the very beginning, Zora Neale Hurston and her masterpiece Their Eyes Were Watching God, whose three chapters were translated into Czech in this thesis, were introduced to readers.
In the first part of the thesis, theoretical problems were dealt with. First of all, a definition and views on translation were provided, afterwards translating non-standard language varieties and rendering African American English in translations followed and the tradition of dialects in American works along with their Czech translations closed up this section.
The second part was directed more practically – it involved my own translation of the first three chapters of Their Eyes Were Watching God. The original text can be found on the left side and its Czech translation on the right.
In the third and last part I focused on problems and difficulties I came across during the translation process. First of all, the problems were divided into several groups and within each group they were described in more detail. Whenever I was considering more possibilities of translation, I included them in my discussion. I also tried to justify the final version in order to offer readers my insights and views on the problem. I have to admit that it was impossible to cover all the problem areas in the chapter Translation analysis as I did not have enough space. However, I tried to focus on those problems that were the most difficult for me and that I felt comments were necessary.
All in all, I am grateful that I was able to write the master thesis in the field of translation as it was very challenging and seemed to me purposeful. It enriched my knowledge from this field and it both inspired me for future translations, but only as a hobby or for pleasure, and it discouraged me to translate to earn the living as in my opinion I would not be able to sit down and translate consistently from the beginning to the end without a break.
102 Bibliography
Primary sources
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.
Secondary sources
“African American Vernacular English.” Wikipedia. 2 Oct. 2009. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Web. 11 Oct. 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAVE>. Bell, Roger T. Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice. Ed. C. N. Candlin. London: Longman, 1991. Print. Berthele, Rafael. “Translating African-American Vernacular English into German: The problem of „Jim‟ in Mark Twain‟s Huckleberry Finn.” Journal of Sociolinguistics Nov (2000): 588-613. Web. 4 Oct. 2009.
103 Eric [Eric Dickens]. “Re: Dialect”. World Literature Forum: On Translation - Literary Translation. Post #8. Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. 9 Dec. 2008. Web. 11 Oct. 2009.
104 ---. O Americe Zpívám. Trans. Jaroslav Bouček, Zbyněk Koţnar, Jan Štern. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1950. Print. ---. The Best of Simple. New York: Hill and Wang, 1961. Print. “Ishmael Reed.” Wikipedia. 26 Sept. 2009. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_Reed>. Karoba. “Yaller”. Word Reference.com Language Forums. Post #1. Jelsoft Enterprises, Ltd. 19 March 2008. Web. 11 Nov 2009.
105 126/>. Neely, Barbara. Blanche among the talented tenth. New York: Penguin Books, 1995. Print. Newmark, Peter. About Translation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2001. Print. ---. A Textbook of Translation. New York: Prentice Hall. 1988. Print. Nicholas, Sinclair. Velký americko-český slovník. Čelákovice: WD Publications, 1998. Print. “Obecná čeština.” Wikipedie. Mediawiki. 4 Sept. 2009. Web. 4 Nov. 2009.
106 Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2000-2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2009.
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