Thread: Разбитая судьба

Lampada quoted the song Разбитая судьба in another post. Меня затрудняет несколько строк:

Судьба разбитая в дугу

Всегда учил отец скажи мам

Не разъясните? Наверно я недопонял и другие строки. Вот мой предварительный перевод. Критика?

It's quite good. And I am serious.

The following issues are not the big mistakes but slight adjustments:

И спорить неуместно
And it's inappropriate to argue

Столыпинский вагон - вагон (a railroad car), в котором перевозили заключённых


Paddy wagon is close but I think it relates to an automobile. It's also called "вагон-теплушка".

Разбитая судьба is something like 'a ruined life'

Иголки не найти в стогу - You can't find a needle in a haystack
Ищи иголку в стоге сена means something that is difficult (or impossible) to find. I think there is an English equivalent to this idiom.

строгого режима - there are several security levels in prisons - общий, усиленный, строгий и особый. А higher security level means harder conditions for prisoners.

В клеточку заря - generally, your translation is correct. But there is an idiom -
небо в клеточку, друзья в полосочку:

Небо:


Друзья:


Да потому что бесполезно. = to no good, wastefully, in vain

Всегда учил отец, скажи мам - the comma is missing in the original. Здесь обращение к маме, т.е. - подтверди.

Originally Posted by Ramil

строгого режима - there are several security levels in prisons - общий, усиленный, строгий и особый. А higher security level means harder conditions for prisoners.

Hm. Maybe "maximum security" would be the better translation. Does строгий режим always include manual labor by the prisoners?

Originally Posted by Ramil

небо в клеточку, друзья в полосочку

So does the в полосочку imply that your friends are wearing striped prison clothing?

Originally Posted by Ramil

Всегда учил отец, скажи мам - the comma is missing in the original. Здесь обращение к маме, т.е. - подтверди.

Ещё не совсем понимаю. So is this like saying,

"Dad always taught me that you can't find a needle in a haystack. Isn't that right, Mom?"

Or have I missed the point?

Originally Posted by doninphxaz

Originally Posted by Ramil

строгого режима - there are several security levels in prisons - общий, усиленный, строгий и особый. А higher security level means harder conditions for prisoners.

Hm. Maybe "maximum security" would be the better translation. Does строгий режим always include manual labor by the prisoners?

Almost always. Особый режим, as far as I know, doesn't include any labour - it's for the imprisoned for life (or sentenced to death) only.
There is a difference between тюрьма (prison) и лагерь или колония (prison camp).
Тюрьма may be situated in a town and prisoners don't work there. Prison camp is somewhere at the end of geography and prisoners do work there.
Also the character of work differs. If общий режим may mean some lumbering, строгий режим may mean some hazardous environments like uranium mines or chemical industry.

Originally Posted by doninphxaz

Originally Posted by Ramil

небо в клеточку, друзья в полосочку

So does the в полосочку imply that your friends are wearing striped prison clothing?

Precisely

Originally Posted by doninphxaz

Originally Posted by Ramil

Всегда учил отец, скажи мам - the comma is missing in the original. Здесь обращение к маме, т.е. - подтверди.

Ещё не совсем понимаю. So is this like saying,

"Dad always taught me that you can't find a needle in a haystack. Isn't that right, Mom?"

Or have I missed the point?

You got it right, here's the original with punctuation:

Да потому что бесполезно, иголки не найти в стогу, - всегда учил отец, скажи, мам?!

He asks his mother to confirm the words he remembered his father has been saying.

I still can't quite picture what the в дугу part of разбитая в дугу means. Is the image that судьба is now shattered into pieces on the ground, and the path along which the shattered pieces lie is a дуга?

Originally Posted by doninphxaz

I still can't quite picture what the в дугу part of разбитая в дугу means. Is the image that судьба is now shattered into pieces on the ground, and the path along which the shattered pieces lie is a дуга?

It's just a figure of speech. Honestly I too have no idea about where did it come from. Neither I've heard that something can be разбитый в дугу (even figuratively speaking).

There is a set phrase пьяный в дугу (в дым, в стельку ... I can add several dozens of words that describe the state of being heavily drunk). I think that you can't have any more sense from it than that.
Разбивают обычно вдребезги (adverb), но не в дугу.

Just ignore it. Any Russian would say that you can't break something "в дугу", but in the context of this song it means 'broken to pieces', 'broken to smithereens' or just 'shattered'

Согнуть что-то в дугу = to bend something to the breaking point.

Ещё есть поговорка "не в дугу".
"Не в дугу кому, что сделать, что и без доп. — плохо, с неохотой; неточно, нечетко, неудачно, напр.: Что-то мне не в дугу работать (не хочется). Какую-то ты дрянь не в дугу ляпнул (сказал лишнее)."

http://slovari.gramota.ru/portal_sl.htm ... 4%F3%E3%F3

Originally Posted by Lampada

Согнуть что-то в дугу = to bend something to the breaking point.

Вот это интересно. Благодарю!