Finnish
JUHANI. Tuhannen tulimmaista! eikö ole miehellä valta elää rauhassa ja tahtonsa mukaan omalla kannallansa, koska ei hän seiso kenenkään tiellä, ei loukkaa kenenkään oikeutta? Kuka voi sen kieltää? Mutta sanonpa kerran vielä: papit ja virkamiehet kirjoinensa ja protokollinensa ovat ihmisten häijyt henget.--Oh sinä musta sika! Voi päivää kirottua täällä! Niinpä nyt ylisniskoin meitä kohtaa kovan onnen nuijaukset ja ihmisten kiusanteot, että olen valmis juoksemaan pääni seinään. Oh sinä musta sonni! Venla meille antoi rukkaset; tehneet ovat he meistä myrkyllisen pilkkaveisun; lukkari meitä rääkkäsi kuin pahalainen itse; Toukolan pojat meitä hakkasivat kuin nummea vaan, selkäämme saimme kuin jouluporsaat ja oikeinhan joulupukkeina käyskelemme tässä ykssilmäisinä tonttuina, ryysyt päässä. Mitä vielä? Onhan kotomme nyt ilman köyhän ainoata kestiä, ilman kiukaan kohisevaa löylyä. Tuollahan kytee ja savuaa entisen armaan saunamme aherrus. Ja sittenhän on jäljellä vielä perkeleistä pahin. Hmh! Kymmenellä lävellä irvistelee meitä vastaan kirkonporstuasta jalkatukki. Kirkas tuli! Ellei tämänkaltainen kiusantemppujen rykelmä vie partaveistä miehen kurkkuun, mikä sitten? Oh sinä sarvipää sonni!
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English
Juhani. A thousand flaming goblins! hasn’t a man the right to live his own life as he likes in peace, when he stands in no one’s way, tramples on no one’s rights? Who’ll forbid it? But I say once again: parsons and officials with their books and papers are the evil spirits of mankind. O thou black sow! O cursed day on earth! we’re so knocked head over heels by the blows of hard fate and the cruelty of men, that I could dash my head against a wall. O thou black bull! Venla refused us; they’ve made a nasty, stinging song about us; the parish clerk tortured us like the Evil One himself; the Toukola lads hammered us like senseless earth, we were trounced like Christmas pigs and now strut here like real Christmas brownies, like one-eyes gnomes with rags round our heads. What more? Isn’t our home now without the poor man’s only treat, the roaring steam of the sauna? There the ruins of our sauna smoke and smoulder. And there’s still the worst of devils left. Hrrh! With all its ten holes the stocks grins at us from the church porch. Bright lightning! If such a bunch of worries doesn’t lift a razor to a man, what will? O thou horned bull! Juhani: Not at all. One thousand fiery devils! Can’t a man live by himself in peace and freedom if he meddles with no one, hurts no one’s rights? Who can argue with that? I’ll say it again: preachers and officials with their books and papers are the evil spirits of mankind. O you black pig! O this cursed day! We are so battered by fate and abused by people that I’m ready to run my head against a wall. O you black bull! Venla gave us the gate, they wrote a poisonous ballad about us, the sexton abused us like the devil, the men of Toukola hacked us like clods of earth, we were flayed like Christmas porkers, and now we stand here, heads wrapped in rags like one-eyed goblins, like real Christmas elves. And besides, our home lacks the poor man’s only pleasure, the hissing steam from a sauna stove. The ruins of our dear sauna lie smoldering there and the most devilish thing is still to come. Agh! The stocks across from the church porch leer at us with their ten mouths. Balls of Fire! If a pack of troubles like this won’t make a man put a razor to his throat, what will! O you horned bulls! JUHANI. Fiery hell! has a man not the right to live in peace and by his own lights on his own ground, when he stands in no man ‘s road, tramples no one ‘s rights? Who can denay that? But I ‘ll say it one more time: clerics and clerks with their books and their protocols are the baleful spirits of the human race. O you curst black pig of a day! So frusht are we here by ill hap and human ropery, I could joll my nowl full ‘gainst the wall. O you black bull! Venla spurn’d us; they ‘ve jigg’d a scurrilous lampoon anent us; the churchwarden hounded us like the hell-hound hisself; the Toukola boys pash’t us like the very dirt, spank’t us like Christmas pigs, and here we slink now like bedraggl’d Saint Nicks, one-ey’d elves with our sconces in rags. What next? Our home stands depriv’d of the poor man ‘s one comfort, the steamy susurrus of the sauna stove. Right out there in the yard smokes and smolders the ruin of our belov’d sauna. And then the worst Barbason of all. Brr! The stocks with their holes ten smirk at us from the church entranceway. Blood and thunder! An a clutch of calamities this cruel nill put a man ‘s razor to his throat, what will? O you fork’t devil of a day! |
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Questions: This is Juhani’s list of the brothers’ many woes, which will soon enough drive them out of their house for a ten-year stint in the wilderness, where they will be transformed from wild boys into decent, hard-working men. What is his mood as he lists those woes? What is his emotional state? How natural does his expression of that emotional state seem to you in this passage? Does anything ring false, wrong, “off”? What, and why? (Version 1929) The Finnish original is written in a stylized dialect that now sounds rather archaic. Has the translator attempted to reproduce that archaic dialect? If not, has the translator used a standardized version of the target language, or a colloquial version without slang, or a slangy vernacular, or what? Whichever way the translator went with the archaic dialect, does the attempt seem successful to you? Why or why not? (Version 1929) Does this passage sound like any existing novel you know in the target language, or like a certain author, or like a period novelistic style that you recognize? If so, what or whom? Does that feeling of familiarity make you like the passage more, or less, or have no effect on your response? (Version 1929) If you had time, would you want to read this entire translation? Why or why not? (Does it make you say “wow!”? Are you astonished at its brilliance?) (Version 1929) Does this translated passage make you think that Aleksis Kivi might be a great writer of World Literature, or not? Why or why not? (Version 1929)
Questions: This is Juhani’s list of the brothers’ many woes, which will soon enough drive them out of their house for a ten-year stint in the wilderness, where they will be transformed from wild boys into decent, hard-working men. What is his mood as he lists those woes? What is his emotional state? How natural does his expression of that emotional state seem to you in this passage? Does anything ring false, wrong, “off”? What, and why? (Version 1991) The Finnish original is written in a stylized dialect that now sounds rather archaic. Has the translator attempted to reproduce that archaic dialect? If not, has the translator used a standardized version of the target language, or a colloquial version without slang, or a slangy vernacular, or what? Whichever way the translator went with the archaic dialect, does the attempt seem successful to you? Why or why not? (Version 1991) Does this passage sound like any existing novel you know in the target language, or like a certain author, or like a period novelistic style that you recognize? If so, what or whom? Does that feeling of familiarity make you like the passage more, or less, or have no effect on your response? (Version 1991) If you had time, would you want to read this entire translation? Why or why not? (Does it make you say “wow!”? Are you astonished at its brilliance?) (Version 1991) Does this translated passage make you think that Aleksis Kivi might be a great writer of World Literature, or not? Why or why not? (Version 1991)
Questions: This is Juhani’s list of the brothers’ many woes, which will soon enough drive them out of their house for a ten-year stint in the wilderness, where they will be transformed from wild boys into decent, hard-working men. What is his mood as he lists those woes? What is his emotional state? How natural does his expression of that emotional state seem to you in this passage? Does anything ring false, wrong, “off”? What, and why? (Version 2016) The Finnish original is written in a stylized dialect that now sounds rather archaic. Has the translator attempted to reproduce that archaic dialect? If not, has the translator used a standardized version of the target language, or a colloquial version without slang, or a slangy vernacular, or what? Whichever way the translator went with the archaic dialect, does the attempt seem successful to you? Why or why not? (Version 2016) Does this passage sound like any existing novel you know in the target language, or like a certain author, or like a period novelistic style that you recognize? If so, what or whom? Does that feeling of familiarity make you like the passage more, or less, or have no effect on your response? (Version 2016) If you had time, would you want to read this entire translation? Why or why not? (Does it make you say “wow!”? Are you astonished at its brilliance?) (Version 2016) Does this translated passage make you think that Aleksis Kivi might be a great writer of World Literature, or not? Why or why not? (Version 2016)
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