Thread: Песня "Морзянка"

I'm translating this song, that I find somewhat difficult; some words I must be translating wrongly, however я сам был радистом много лет тому назад

Поёт морзянка за стеной
весёлым дискантом,
Кругом снега, хоть сотни вёрст исколеси.
Четвёртый день пурга качается над Диксоном,
Но только ты об этом лучше песню расспроси.

I translate:
Sings the morse through the wall
With a little merry song,
Around the snow (?) (or: all around there is snow)
However, go through hundreds of verstas!.
Fourth day of snow-storm (snow-storm of the forth day)
Stays (swings) over Dickson (Island),
But just you abouth this
Ask for the best song!

No doubt will be a better translation than mine. Thank you.

Behind the wall, the Morse code is singing with a merry boy soprano voice;
There are snows all around us, even if you drive around for hundreds of miles.
For the forth day now a blizzard has been hovering (literally, swinging) above Dikson,
But you better ask the song about this.

Дискант is the highest singing boy voice

Thank you; really it is the more difficult Russian song I have met. Thanks.

Originally Posted by translationsnmru

Дискант is the highest singing boy voice

In English the word for this is, surprisingly enough, descant.

Radomir, are you translating it from Russian into English?

Морзянка


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bgce0JyIG8

Музыка: М. Фрадкин Слова: М. Пляцковский

Поёт морзянка за стеной весёлым дискантом,
Кругом снега, хоть сотни вёрт исколеси.
Четвёртый день пурга качается над Диксоном,
Но только ты об этом лучше песню расспроси.

Палатки звёздами мохнатыми усеяны,
Их дальний свет в своём ты сердце не гаси.
Я тоже мог бы рассказать тебе о Севере,
Но только ты об этом лучше песню расспроси.

Листок зелёный для меня возьми у тополя,
В конверте лето доброй почте отнеси.
В морозы так нужны нам ваши письма тёплые!
Но только ты об этом лучше песню расспроси.

Меня домчат к тебе, когда зимовка кончится,
Олени в нартах, самолёты и такси.
Поверь, мне так твои глаза увидеть хочется!
Но только ты об этом лучше песню расcпроси...

Палатки звёздами мохнатыми усеяны,
Их дальний свет в [s:1w7adz67]твоём[/s:1w7adz67] своём ты сердце не гаси.

This is how it should be, grammar-wise, and this is what he is singing.

Дискакт looking it more carefully in my dictionary means: voice and boy with voice of tiple. Effectively the highest level of voice in choires. Thanks,

Originally Posted by quartz

In English the word for this is, surprisingly enough, descant.

It's a false friend, actually. This word has several meanings, but rarely, if ever, refers to boys' highest singing voice. Дискант, on the other hand, is very specific.

Другие записи песни:
http://www.russiandvd.com/store/album_a ... Fnumber=07 - Поёт Санкт-Петербург

http://www.russiandvd.com/store/album_a ... Fnumber=07 - Поёт Сергей Гоппен

http://www.russiandvd.com/store/album_a ... Fnumber=03 - Поют Добры молодцы

Originally Posted by translationsnmru

Originally Posted by quartz

In English the word for this is, surprisingly enough, descant.

It's a false friend, actually. This word has several meanings, but rarely, if ever, refers to boys' highest singing voice. Дискант, on the other hand, is very specific.

so the range of a treble? Would this be the same as countertenor?

I guess then the translation would be treble.

Very interesting the translation specially in a point. It's the first time I see Хоть + imperative. I see now various expressions in dictionaries: Хоть убей, я не знаю. = However you kill me, I don't know anything. In Spanish there is an expression even closer: Kill me!, but I don't know anything.

Originally Posted by radomir

Хоть убей, я не знаю. = However you kill me, I don't know anything.

Хоть убей = can't for the life of me

Хоть убей, я не знаю = I don't know this for the life of me

are you also learning English?

Am I learning English? Not at all. I just studied it many many years ago and must use it now as a tool.
As for the example I have shown it is the simple translation of what is in my dictionary: "Aunque me mates, no lo sé" = "However you kill me, I don't know".

It is more like "Even if you kill me, I don't know."

Thank you. It's somewhat surprising this union between conditional and imperative. I hadn't met it before.

I see in a verse of this song two versions
Листок зелёный для меня
Возьми у тополя,
В конверте лето
Доброй постой отнеси.
And:
В конверте лета
Доброй посте отнеси.

Since for none of the last lines I have a satisfactory translation, please, which of the versions is the authentic (if any).
For the first version I translate: "Send to me the summer in an envelope through a lovely post". (And the green leaf, I suppone it isn't marihuana , what about it?).
Листок I see that can be also a leaf of paper, but from a poplar?
Hearing the song it seems rather the second. Thank you.

"Get for me a green leaf from a poplar" - does that confuse you? You see, the guy is up North on Dikson where there are no trees at all (I am not exaggerating, no trees, period), and the local summer is only nominally called summer . For example, the average June temperature on Dikson is just below the freezing point, and it is not uncommon to have a snowfall in the middle of the summer (of course, warm days happen too... from time to time ). So he asks her to send him a green poplar leaf to remind him about the real summer.

"В конверте лето доброй почте отнеси" - this line is a bit awkward. It literally means "bring the summer in an envelope to the kind post service". Of course, it is implied that the post should then deliver that "summer in an envelope" to the guy who is singing.

Thank you, everything is clear like the (clear) water. You're really a wiseman.