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Consider the fragment below. Read both the original text and the translation with its notes.
Make your own comments in relation to what you have read:

The Woman in White

Femeia n alb

by W. Collins (1824-1889)

de W. Collins (1824-1889)

It was the last day of July. The long hot

summer was drawing to a close; and we, the weary
pilgrims of the London pavement1, were
beginning to think of the cloud-shadows on the
corn-fields2, and the autumn breezes3 on the seashore.

Era ultima zi a lui iulie. Lunga var fierbinte

era pe sfrite; iar noi, istovii pelerini ai strzilor
Londrei1, ncepeam s ne gndim la umbrele
norilor deasupra lanurilor de gru2 i la aerul
rcoros de toamn3 la malul mrii.

the weary pilgrims of the London pavement istovii pelerini ai strzilor Londrei. The translators final choice in
rendering the adjective weary in the original was istovit, which besides being adequate in terms of meaning (weary:
physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain, etc.; fatigued, tired Webster 1996:1617) and style
(especially when placed in front position, adding a poetic touch to the TT), also matches the co-text (the fading summer
left me out of health, out of spirits). The other variants suggested by the English-Romanian Dictionary (Banta,
Levichi 1999:1294), foarte obosit/ trudit/ epuizat/ frnt, could not be accepted on account of the following reasons:
- although rendering the meaning of the original, foarte obosit cannot take front position and would ruin the poetic
effect of the original.
- trudit, although its definition is quite close to that of weary, i.e. foarte obosit, despre cineva care a muncit din
greu sau a depus eforturi fizice sau intelectuale deosebite (DEX 1996:1117), would be inappropriate in this context and
would sound rather awkward in collocation with pelerini .
- epuizat/ extenuat, in spite of their matching the semantic dimension of the original, would be too modern and
stylistically inadequate.
- frnt/ sleit would be too strong and would bring about a slight semantic gain; moreover, such a collocation as
pelerini frni/ sleii (de puteri) ai strzilor Londrei would sound awkward in the TL.
The noun pavement seems to function as a collective noun in this context; that is why it was translated by a noun
in the plural, strzile, in the TT; it could not be rendered by trotuar, pavaj (according to the second meaning in Websters
Encyclopedic Dictionary 1996: 1059), which would also be inadequate in terms of collocability.
2
the corn-fields lanuri de gru. When speaking about synchronically used false friends / deceptive cognates, Leon
Levichi pointed out (1994:17) that the noun corn can be included among them as it means gru/ grne; cereale in British
English, porumb in American English, ovz in Scottish or Irish. However, considering that W. Collins is an English
novelist (1824-1889), the translators only possible choice in this context was gru; the other two variants already suggested
could not be accepted either in terms of collocability (there is no such collocation as lanuri de grne/ cereale in Romanian)
or in order to avoid a semantic gain (in Romanian, cereale covers a much wider range of plants: grup de plante din familia
graminaceelor (gru, porumb etc.) DEX 1996:164).
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the autumn breezes aerul rcoros de toamn, chosen instead of adieri / brize, both in terms of collocability and to
create a contrast with the previous syntagm long hot summer. Furthermore, the singular form is specific to Romanian.
Consequently, it is a case of non-equivalence.

For my own poor part, the fading summer

left me out of health, out of spirits, and, if the
truth must be told, out of money4 as well. During
the past year I had not managed my professional
resources as carefully as usual; and my
extravagance5 now limited me to the prospect of
spending the autumn economically6 between my
mother's cottage at Hampstead and my own

Ct despre umila-mi persoan, vara care se

sfrea m ls fr vlag, fr chef de via i,
de ce s nu recunosc, chiar i fr bani4. n ultimul
an nu-mi administrasem veniturile la fel de bine ca
de obicei, iar cheltuielile mele extravagante5 numi lsau acum dect posibilitatea de a-mi petrece
toamna ntr-un mod mai chibzuit6 ntre csua din
Hampstead a mamei i apartamentul meu din ora.

chambers in town.
4

out of health, out of spirits, out of money fr vlag, fr chef de via, fr bani; the repetitive pattern was chosen
to preserve the rhythm and the stylistic effect of the original.
5
my extravagance cheltuielile mele extravagante. In order to avoid making the sentence in the TT sound unnatural,
even ambiguous, the translator used an explanatory noun phrase, also considering its association in the co-text with
professional resources, spending the autumn economically
6
economically ntr-un mod mai chibzuit; the English adverb, used here with its second meaning (as regards the
efficient use of income and wealth Webster 1996:452) could not be rendered only by a one-word equivalent; consequently,
an adverbial phrase was used.

The evening, I remember, was still and

cloudy ; the London air was at its heaviest; the
distant hum of the street-traffic was at its faintest8;
the small pulse9 of the life within me, and the great
heart of the city around me, seemed to be sinking10
in unison, languidly and more languidly, with the
sinking sun. I roused myself from the book, which I
was dreaming over rather than reading and left my
chambers to meet the cool night air in the suburbs.
It was one of the two evenings in every week,
which I was accustomed to spend with my mother
and my sister. So I turned my steps northward in
the direction of Hampstead.
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Dup cte mi amintesc, n acea sear

linitit cerul era nnourat7; aerul Londrei era
mai apstor ca niciodat; zgomotul ndeprtat al
strzii era mai slab ca niciodat8; pulsul firav9 al
vieii dinluntrul meu i inima puternic a oraului
din jurul meu preau s se sting10 ncet, tot mai
ncet, odat cu soarele ce apunea. M-am desprins
de cartea deasupra creia mai mult visam dect
citeam i am ieit din cas ca s respir aerul rcoros
din suburbii. Era una din cele dou seri din
sptmn pe care eram obinuit s le petrec cu
mama i cu sora mea. Aa c mi-am ndreptat paii
ctre nord pe drumul spre Hampstead.

The evening was still and cloudy n acea sear linitit cerul era nnorat: a case of non-equivalence. The translator
could not follow the word-order in the original Subject + compound nominal predicate (copulative verb + two predicative
adjectives) as the Romanian sear does not collocate with nnourat (*Seara era linitit i nnorat.); consequently, the
meaning of the adjective cloudy was finally rendered by a full-fledged clause, whereas the meaning conveyed by the rest of
the sentence was rendered by means of an adverbial modifier of time.
8
at its heaviest at its faintest mai apstor ca niciodat; mai slab ca niciodat; the symmetrical structure was
rendered as such in order to preserve the stylistic effect of the original.
9
the small pulse pulsul firav. The translator chose firav in order to avoid the repetition of the adjective slab, previously
used to render at its faintest as well as to stress the contrast with the great heart inim puternic.
10
seemed to be sinking preau s se sting instead of c se sting to point out graduality and to refer back to the adverb
languidly; to sink was rendered by a se stinge instead of a cobor / a scdea / a disprea, in terms of collocability and in
order to maintain the rhetoric equilibrium with the sinking sun soarele ce apunea.

Events which I have yet to relate make it

necessary to mention in this place that my father
had been dead some years at the period of which I
am now writing; and that my sister Sarah and I
were the sole survivors of a family of five children.
My father was a drawing-master before me. His
exertions had made him highly successful in his
profession; and his affectionate anxiety to
provide for the future of those who were
dependent on his labours11 had impelled him,
from the time of his marriage, to devote to the
insuring of his life a much larger portion of his
income than most men consider it necessary to
set aside for that purpose12. Thanks to his
admirable prudence and self-denial my mother and
sister were left, after his death, as independent of
the world as they had been during his lifetime. I
succeeded to his connection, and had every reason
to feel grateful for the prospect that awaited me at
my starting in life.

ntmplrile pe care urmeaz s le povestesc

m oblig s menionez aici c tatl meu murise cu
civa ani naintea perioadei despre care scriu
acum; i c doar eu i sora mea Sarah mai
rmseserm din cei cinci copii. Tatl meu fusese i
el profesor de desen. Strdania sa i adusese mult
succes n profesie; iar grija sa plin de afeciune
pentru viitorul celor care depindeau de munca
lui11 l ndemnase nc de la nceputul csniciei, ca,
pentru a-i asigura restul vieii, s pun
deoparte o anumit sum din venitul su cu
mult mai mare dect cea considerat necesar n
acest scop de majoritatea brbailor12. Mulumit
admirabilei sale chibzuine i devotamentului su,
mama i sora mea au rmas, dup moartea lui, la
fel de independente de cei din jur ca i pe vremea
cnd tria el. Eu i-am clcat pe urme i am avut
toate motivele s fiu recunosctor pentru
perspectivele care mi se ofereau nc de la
nceputul vieii.

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his affectionate anxiety to provide for the future of those who were dependent on his labours grija plin de
afeciune pentru viitorul celor care depindeau de munca lui. The verb to provide was not rendered in the surface
structure, but its meaning (to make arrangements for supplying means of support, money, etc.: He provided for his children
in his will. Webster 1996: 1157) is implied in the co-text (see, in the TT, in the same sentence grijor pentru a-i
asigura restul vieii). Besides, the translator could not prefer such a variant as grija plin de afeciune pentru a asigura
viitorulin order to avoid the repetition of the verb a asigura and to avoid making the sentence sound unnatural in the TL.
As for the English noun labours, it could not be rendered by its Romanian equivalent, munc, in the plural because munci
occurs in completely different collocations and contexts (see DEX 1996: 661) and it would be inappropriate here.
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to devote to the insuring of his life a much larger portion of his income than most men consider it necessary to set
aside for that purpose pentru a-i asigura restul vieii, s pun deoparte o anumit sum din venitul su cu mult
mai mare dect cea considerat necesar n acest scop de majoritatea brbailor: a case of non-equivalence. In order to
render the meaning of the original as clearly as possible and to avoid making the TT sentence sound awkward in Romanian,
the translator finally chose to provide it with a rather communicative translation which, although bringing about some
changes in the word-order and even in the syntactic structure of the ST, perfectly renders its message and semantic content,
also being adequate in terms of style.

(W. Collins, The Woman in White in Elena Croitoru, Floriana Popescu, Gabriela Dima, Culegere de
texte pentru traducere. vol. I, Editura Evrika, Brila, 1996:24-25)
Translated, interpreted and commented by:
- Gabriela Colipc, major student in Translation and Interpretation , 1999-2000;
- Alina Marton, Isabela Meril, major students in Translation and Interpretation, 2001-2002;
- Ana Maria Ursu, major student in Translation and Interpretation, 2001-2002.

Translate, interpret and make similar comments on the following excerpt:

The quiet twilight was still trembling on the topmost ridges of the heath; and the view of London
below me had sunk into a black gulf in the shadow of the cloudy night, when I stood before the gate of
my mother's cottage. I had hardly rung the bell before the house door was opened violently; my worthy
Italian friend, Professor Pesca, appeared in the servant's place; and darted out joyously to receive me,
with a shrill foreign parody on an English cheer.
On his own account, and, I must be allowed to add, on mine also, the Professor merits the honour
of a formal introduction. Accident has made him the starting-point of the strange family story which it is
the purpose of these pages to unfold.
I had first become acquainted with my Italian friend by meeting him at certain great houses where
he taught his own language and I taught drawing. All I then knew of the history of his life was, that he
had once held a situation in the University of Padua; that he had left Italy for political reasons (the nature
of which he uniformly declined to mention to any one); and that he had been for many years respectably
established in London as a teacher of languages.
Without being actually a dwarf - for he was perfectly well proportioned from head to foot - Pesca
was, I think, the smallest human being I ever saw out of a show-room. Remarkable anywhere, by his
personal appearance, he was still further distinguished among the rank and file of mankind by the
harmless eccentricity of his character. The ruling idea of his life appeared to be, that he was bound to
show his gratitude to the country which had afforded him an asylum and a means of subsistence by doing
his utmost to turn himself into an Englishman. Not content with paying the nation in general the
compliment of invariably carrying an umbrella, and invariably wearing gaiters and a white hat, the
Professor further aspired to become an Englishman in his habits and amusements, as well as in his
personal appearance. Finding us distinguished, as a nation, by our love of athletic exercises, the little man,
in the innocence of his heart, devoted himself impromptu to all our English sports and pastimes whenever
he had the opportunity of joining them; firmly persuaded that he could adopt our national amusements of
the field by an effort of will precisely as he had adopted our national gaiters and our national white hat.
I had seen him risk his limbs blindly at a fox-hunt and in a cricket-field; and soon afterwards I saw
him risk his life, just as blindly, in the sea at Brighton...
Yet so it was. If I had not dived for Professor Pesca when he lay under water on his shingle bed, I
should in all human probability never have been connected with the story which these pages will relate - I
should never, perhaps, have heard even the name of the woman who has lived in all my thoughts, who has
possessed herself of all my energies, who has become the one guiding influence that now directs the
purpose of my life.
(W. Collins, The Woman in White in Elena Croitoru, Floriana Popescu, Gabriela Dima, Culegere de
texte pentru traducere. vol. I, Editura Evrika, Brila, 1996:25-27)