# Трухтуар



## gvozd

From Gogol's "Overcoat".



> Он ничего этого не заметил, и потом уже, когда натолкнулся на будочника,  который, поставя около себя свою алебарду, натряхивал из рожка на мозолистый  кулак табаку, тогда только немного очнулся, и то потому, что будочник сказал:  "Чего лезешь в самое рыло, разве нет тебе *трухтуара*?"



A translation from Russian to English. I didn't find out who the author is.



> He did not notice it; and only when he ran against a watchman, who, having planted his halberd beside him, was shaking some snuff from his box into his horny hand, did he recover himself a little, and that because the watchman said, "Why are you poking yourself into a man's very face? Haven't you the *pavement*?"



"Трухтуар" means "тротуар". A distorted word brings a comical effect, mocking the speech of a hillbilly. Does English have any possibilities of conveying such effects, at least to some extent? I think it will be very difficult to make this trick with Leskov's "Аболон Полведерский" (Аполлон Бельведерский), but maybe it is possible with the pavement?


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## willem81

I guess it's a very tricky task to distort 'pavement' in the same manner as "трухтуар". I find it also strange that they translate "рыло" as 'face'. Why not to use 'snout' instead?


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## ykuptsof

How about 'peement' for "трухтуар"?


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## rusita preciosa

ykuptsof said:


> How about 'peement' for "трухтуар"?


От слова pee??

 А может быть что-то типа podestrian path или pedestran path (вместо pedestrian)?

Сложность в том, что тротуар для русского языка звучит как иностранное слово, а pavement для английского - нет.


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## ykuptsof

'Pee' carries a meaning and 'ment' is an accepted suffix - to form a word similar to 'document' or 'settlement.' So what's wrong with 'peement' for a comic effect?


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## willem81

ykuptsof said:


> 'Pee' carries a meaning and 'ment' is an accepted suffix - to form a word similar to 'document' or 'settlement.' So what's wrong with 'peement' for a comic effect?



You have a point though, the idea is smart. But we can only guess how it would impress English reader.)


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## Maroseika

ykuptsof said:


> 'Pee' carries a meaning and 'ment' is an accepted suffix - to form a word similar to 'document' or 'settlement.' So what's wrong with 'peement' for a comic effect?


The problem is that only a foreigner might distort the native word like that. Readers may think the guard was not Russian, but a foreigner. To represent the Russian text in due way the word for the pavement must be not English by origin or at least too bookish for the guard. Maybe pediment or banquette. The latter he might pronounce like banquet (['bæŋkwɪt] instead of [bæŋ'ket]).


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## ykuptsof

OK. I'll go to a native Ebglish speaker.


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## palomnik

I volunteer!

Actually, I have to say that "peement" would not impress a native English speaker. It just sounds silly.

Rusita's suggestion of a "pederastian path" has potential. However, there is a problem with that as well.

A number of comedians have built their style of humor around this sort of thing. However, they are almost always associated with New York City, for some reason; New Yorkers have a reputation for using big words wrongly. 

But that is the wrong impression for your context. It may be better to try to reflect the "hillbilly" speech some other way, maybe in the phrasing of the entire sentence.


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## willem81

palomnik said:


> It may be better to try to reflect the "hillbilly" speech some other way, maybe in the phrasing of the entire sentence.



I think one should rephrase it somehow like: 'What you're running into one's very snout, have you not this blessed pavement right before you?' in order to imitate that kind of speech. Am I right?


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## rusita preciosa

willem81 said:


> What you're running into one's very snout,


You're all up in my grill!


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## palomnik

What are you in everybody's face for, mate? Don't you know where the pavement is? 

I can appreciate everybody's earnest attempt to find a suitable translation for рыло, but the odd fact is that there really aren't any current slang words for "face/nose/muzzle" in English that I am aware of. All the ones I can think of - "gob", "snout", "kisser" - have an old fashioned ring to them. English speakers just don't joke about that part of the anatomy any more.


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## Maroseika

palomnik said:


> All the ones I can think of - "gob", "snout", "kisser" - have an old fashioned ring to them.


Isn't it just the thing then? Language of Gogol is really old fashioned (although not the word рыло, of course).


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## gvozd

palomnik said:


> English speakers just don't joke about that part of the anatomy any more.



Really? How boring!


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## willem81

I have found the German translation of 'Overcoat' ('Der Mantel'): 
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27973/27973-h/27973-h.htm

Here is the phrase: »Mußt du mir denn ins Maul kriechen? Wozu ist denn das Trottoir da?«

"Must you creep to me right into the maw ? What is the pavement here for?"


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## lectrice

А вот перевод на французский 1856 года - 
(Чего лезешь в самое рыло, разве нет тебе *трухтуара?)
*_- Que cherches-tu ici ? s’écria le rude surveillant, *ne peux-tu suivre le trottoir *?
-... Не можешь идти по тротуару?
_http://bibliotheque-russe-et-slave.com/Livres/Gogol - Le Manteau.htm

В другом переводе тоже - 
_– Que viens-tu faire ici ? lui cria le rude gardien de la paix publique ; *ne peux-tu point suivre comme il faut le trottoir* ?
_http://www.ebooksgratuits.com/html/gogol_le_manteau_le_nez.html


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## willem81

All the mentioned translations leave_ тротуар_ undistorted, but the word _рыло_ (das Maul) can be found only in the German version


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## rusita preciosa

A Spanish translation also uses simply _тротуар_ (and nostrils for _рыло).

_Sólo cuando se dio de cara con un guardia, que habiendo colocado la alabarda junto a él echaba rapé de la tabaquera en su palma callosa, se dio cuenta porque el guardia le gritó:
-¿Por qué te metes debajo de mis narices? ¿Acaso no tienes la acera?


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