Parakraaffi

FinnishFinnish

AAPO. Sallitaanko minulle sananvuoro?

JUHANI. Kernaasti. Mitä mielit sanoa?

AAPO. Etten kiltaa minäkään tuota rangaistus-parakraaffia, jonka tahtoisit käytettäväksi välillemme asettaa, vaan katsonpa sen veljesten keskenä liian törkeäksi, pedolliseksi.

JUHANI. Vai et kiltaa? Etkö kiltaa? Etkö totisesti kiltaa? Sanoppas sitten viisaampi parakraaffi, koska minä en milloinkaan käsitä mikä on oikein, mikä väärin.

AAPO. Sitä en sano.

JUHANI. Sanoppas se uusi, kiilattava parakraaffi, sinä Jukolan tietäjä.

AAPO. Kaukana tietäjän arvosta. Mutta tämä ...

JUHANI. Parakraaffi, parakraaffi!

AAPO. Tämähän on ...

JUHANI. Parakraaffi, parakraaffi! Sanoppas se viisas parakraaffi!

AAPO. Oletko hullu? Huutelethan tuossa kuin istuisit tulisissa housuissa. Miksi kirkut ja keikuttelet päätäs kuin tarhapöllö?

JUHANI. Parakraaffi! huudan minä huikeasti. Se ihka uusi ja vanha, viisas parakraaffi! Sanoppas se, ja minä kuultelen äänetönnä kuin särki sammakon motkotusta.

EnglishEnglish

Aapo: May I be allowed to say a word?

Juhani: Willingly. What didst thou wish to say?

Aapo: That neither do I approve of that punishment paragraph, which thou wouldst lay down for us, but look upon it as too cruel, too savage amongst brothers.

Juhani: Oh, thou dost not approve? Thou dost not approve? Dost thou really not approve? Then tell us a wiser paragraph, as I never seem to know what is right, what wrong.

Aapo: That I won’t do.

Juhani: Tell us the new, approved paragraph, thou Jukola’s sage.

Aapo: Far from the honour of sage. But this …

Juhani: The paragraph! The paragraph!

Aapo: This is …

Juhani: The paragraph, the paragraph! Out with the wise paragraph!

Aapo: Art thou mad? Shouting there as though thy breeches were ablaze. What art thou shrieking and wagging thy head for like a garden-owl?

Juhani: The paragraph! I cry madly. The brand new and old wise paragraph! Say it and I’ll listen speechless as a roach to a frog’s croaking. (108-9)

Aapo: Could I have the floor?

Juhani: Gladly. What’s on your mind?

Aapo: I don’t approve the proviso for punishment that you want to set up for us either. I think it’s too harsh and brutal to apply among brothers.

Juhani: So you don’t approve? You don’t approve? You really don’t approve? Tell us a wiser one then, since I never know right from wrong.

Aapo: I won’t.

Juhani: Tell us the wise proviso to approve, you wise man of Jukola.

Aapo: I fall far short of wisdom. But this …

Juhani: The proviso, the proviso!

Aapo: This is really …

Juhani The proviso! The proviso! Tell us the wise proviso!

Aapo: Are you crazy? You’re yelling as if your pants were on fire. Why are you screaming and shaking your head like a screech owl?

Juhani: The proviso, that’s what I’m screaming about! The brand-new, age-old wise proviso! Tell it to us, and I’ll listen as still as a fish when a frog is croaking. (98)

AAPO. May I speak?

JUHANI. Gladly. What would you say?

AAPO. That I hold not with that punitive codicil that you would set amongst us either, but find it too severe, too brutal amongst brothers.

JUHANI. La, you hold not withal? You hold not withal? Soothly, you hold, you hold not, you hold not withal? Hoyday, then, give us a wiser codicil, Mr Aapo the Capo, King Aapo the Wise, seeing ‘s how I ne’er wot what ‘s right and what ‘s wrong.

AAPO. Nay, I nill say.

JUHANI. Tell us the new codicil you do hold withal, say us sooth, you Jukola soothsayer.

AAPO. I ain’t no soothsayer, from from it. But this …

JUHANI. The codicil! The codicil!

AAPO. This is …

JUHANI. The codicil! The codicil! Tell us the wise codicil!

AAPO. Gone barmy, have you? You ‘re skriking like your strossers was aflame. Wherefore be you whooping and wauling and waggling your head like a woodcock?

JUHANI. The codicil! ‘Tis that I ‘m whooping and wauling anent. That new and old wise codicil! Say it, and I ‘ll sit here mum, bending a mum ear like a paddlefish to the parping of a paddock.

    Version

  • 1929
  • 1991
  • 2016

Questions:

  1. What register is the translation written in? (Formal, semiformal, informal, etc.) Is there any bureaucratic jargon in it? If so, how does it sound? Plausible, implausible? Natural, awkward? (Version 1929)

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  2. What are the prevailing emotions in the scene? What is Juhani feeling, and what is Aapo feeling? Do they seem to be expressing those emotions in a natural, idiomatic way? Or does the expression of those emotions sound somewhat strange? If it sounds a bit strange, is the strangeness pleasurable? (Version 1929)

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  3. 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)

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  4. 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)

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  5. 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)

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  6. 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)

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Questions:

  1. What register is the translation written in? (Formal, semiformal, informal, etc.) Is there any bureaucratic jargon in it? If so, how does it sound? Plausible, implausible? Natural, awkward? (Version 1991)

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  2. What are the prevailing emotions in the scene? What is Juhani feeling, and what is Aapo feeling? Do they seem to be expressing those emotions in a natural, idiomatic way? Or does the expression of those emotions sound somewhat strange? If it sounds a bit strange, is the strangeness pleasurable? (Version 1991)

    Hide comments
  3. 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)

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  4. 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)

    Hide comments
  5. 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)

    Hide comments
  6. 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)

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Name *


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Questions:

  1. What register is the translation written in? (Formal, semiformal, informal, etc.) Is there any bureaucratic jargon in it? If so, how does it sound? Plausible, implausible? Natural, awkward? (Version 2016)

    Hide comments
  2. What are the prevailing emotions in the scene? What is Juhani feeling, and what is Aapo feeling? Do they seem to be expressing those emotions in a natural, idiomatic way? Or does the expression of those emotions sound somewhat strange? If it sounds a bit strange, is the strangeness pleasurable? (Version 2016)

    Hide comments
  3. 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)

    Hide comments
  4. 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)

    Hide comments
  5. 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)

    Hide comments
  6. 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)

    Hide comments

Name *


Scholar
Translator
Independent Reader

Email *