So I thought, why not a new topic in English :).
I've come across one phrase which is actually a title of a magazine article. "The Once and Future Has Been". I wonder what is the way to translate the idea into Russian. Here grammar concerns a lot. The article is about a cinema tycoon whose career is at its critical moment.
There's a book: the once and future king (about King Arthur). It's translated: Король минувшего и грядущего (I hope this is right).
mmm... I've heard «король в прошлом, король в грядущем». ::)
Not so pretty
I just opened the book, and it says:
Король былых и грядущих времён.
Maybe. But to me the first variant that I've heard always seems the best. The same occures with different translations of books and films... ::)
Цитата: Peamur
There's a book: the once and future king (about King Arthur). It's translated: Король минувшего и грядущего (I hope this is right).
Ah, thanks a lot, Peamur :) . It's to the point.
But the problem is still here, how to translate "has been" in this context?
Вот и не стало того что было и того что будет
Вот и отгремело минувшее и грядущее
I have no idea ???
Когда-нибудь и будущее пройдёт ;D
Если я правильно понял саму фразу, то как-то так:
Прошлого и будущего больше нет.
Прошлое и будущее уже кончились.
But I understood "has been" as a noun here, the person to whom the article is devoted.
Do you mean "has been <noun>"?
Lucretia
and why is the Once is first, then the Future and then this Has been and not
Once Has been Future?
Though, I think that you''re right, it's a noun here
Цитата: Peamur
Lucretia
and why is the Once is first, then the Future and then this Has been and not
Once Has been Future?
As logic is different here. :)
Как выяснилось, этот роман уже переводили. Эту строчку перевели "Человек с несостоявшимся будущим".
Hm...
A "has been" also implies that a person was very sucessful in the past. So, even though the translation "Человек с несостоявшимся будущим" is not word for word, it does get the point through. It is a hard line to translate into Russian.
Цитата: Смайлик
A "has been" also implies that a person was very sucessful in the past. So, even though the translation "Человек с несостоявшимся будущим" is not word for word, it does get the point through. It is a hard line to translate into Russian.
"Человек с несостоявшимся будущим"? Uhm.... I don't see how it gets the point through. This translation doesn't mention the past success at all, it can also be about an ordinary person who just happens to have no future because he's dead or something. The other point is that the cited line was a reference to the book title mentioned above (The Once and Future King), and it's lost completely in the translation ...
What about something like "Бывший король (or even Бывший кинокороль) былого и грядущего"? Here we'd have both implications preserved... right?
Btw, I like this phrase a lot (The Once and Future Has Been)! Hey, it's this kind of grammatical potential that makes English so flexible, one reason (among many others) to be in love with this language. Cool, isn't it? :)
Yeah, ginko you're right.
I didn't think about the fact that the future is irrelevant when talking about a has been, so I guess the line does miss on the point. By the way, here is what rambler's dictionary has for the term "has been":
has-been n разг.
1. 1) человек, потерявший былую популярность, красоту и т. п.; «бывший»
she is one of the has-beens — у неё всё в прошлом
2) конченый человек
2. что-л. поблёкшее, утратившее свежесть, краски, новизну
it is better to be a has-been than a never-was — амер. посл. лучше хоть день быть кем-то, чем всю жизнь никем
Based on the King Arthur translation, I would say something along the lines of "Конченый былых и грядущих времен"
But otherwise, this is a great example how hard titles can be to translate.
Цитата: Смайлик
By the way, here is what rambler's dictionary has for the term "has been": <...>
Thanks, Смайлик , I wasn't even aware that it was a dictionary term, I thought it was an occasionalism here :)
Цитата: Смайлик от But otherwise, this is a great example how hard titles can be to translate.
Yes, sure. And not only titles.
Цитата: ginkgo
By the way, here is what rambler's dictionary has for the term "has been": <...>
Thanks, Смайлик , I wasn't even aware that it was a dictionary term, I thought it was an occasionalism here :)
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Yes, Smilick, thank you. As for me, ginko, I didn't check the word in the dicitonary either. So now we know for sure that it's a noun here.