Stories of Russian authors may be included into Program of studying English to show pupils the best way of translation, for teaching them to find proper equivalents for Russian words and phrases, trying not to lose the first meaning of the word in Russian context while transforming it into English; to show children the differences in structures while translating from Russian into English, to speak on the common problems in two different languages, two different cultures.
This aspect of teaching may be included in Common Program in classes with intensive English studying, when pupils have 4-5 hours a week for English in their timetable and 1-2 hours for English optional classes, as studying Russian authors can’t be included into the Common Program and may be studied only in optional ones.
It’s an opportunity to pupils working over the translated text to learn more about synonyms, antonyms, derivates of words. They enlarge their knowledge of English, its vocabulary using articles from English-English dictionaries, interpreting the meanings of the words. The differences in grammar structures of two languages also are reflected in translated texts, that makes pupils think more abstractly without trying make any parallels with Russian and English in translation following only sentences with Russian grammar.
Translation is essential part in studying foreign language developing the skills and abilities of speakers to concentrate their attention on the gist of the text, understanding it in the proper and right way while reading and then interpreting to another language, realizing the great mission of mediator between a writer and readers.
Father-Cloud, Mother – Sun
(a modern Russian fairy-tale for children and adults)
Once upon a time there were Mother, Father and a small girl Asya. Summer they spent in the country. Mother often scolded Father, and he took offence.
Once in a hot-hot day the three of them were walking in the full blaze of the sun, and Mother said to Father, ‘There is more use from a tree then from you – it gives a shadow at least!’
On the same day Father disappeared. Asya walked round the whole belt of the land, went up to the second floor of their country house, searched on the bank of the stream. But there was no sight of Father.
Coming back from the walk through the woods Asya saw on the road a tree, that kind of it hadn’t been there early.
The tree was waving friendly with its greed branches.
‘Mother, Father has turned into a tree, as you’ve wished!’ said Asya, returning home.
‘What you are talking about!’ Mother became angry.
Asya gave Mother a pull in the direction of her moving and led her to that place, where the tree was standing. And Mother also couldn’t remember if she had seen that tree before.
‘It’s Father!’ Asya was assuring. ‘You see, how he’s waving to us with his branches!’
Now the whole days Asya was spending near the tree. Swung on its branches, climbed up the trunk, examined ants, creeping on the coarse bark, slept in the shadow of tree in hot hours.
‘It’s not Father’, Mother was telling, ‘It’s just a tree. Go home. Father’s gone, leaving us!’
‘And you ask him pardon!’ Asya said, ‘Tell him, that you won’t curse any more. And he’ll come back!’
At last, she persuaded Mother to come up to the tree, touch with a hand a coarse trunk and say: ‘Forgive me, please!’
When Asya and Mother returned home that evening they saw on the veranda Father, sitting, as if nothing were wrong, and eating raspberries from the plate.
‘Father!’ Asya rejoiced and ran up to him. ‘You’ve come back! You are not a tree any more!’
Mother baked a soft cake with raspberries, and then all together were bathing in a warm night river, and Father was showing stairs to Asya in the sky and telling of them.
Again they started life good.
But after several days Mother told Father: ‘Living near the river we don’t even have a boat, shabby at least!’
On the same day Father vanished, and by the planked footway going down to the river appeared a boat with one oar.
‘Mother, Father’s turned into a boat, as you’ve wished’, said Asya.
‘It’s somebody else’s boat, just possibly has been brought by stream and the owner is looking for it, and soon comes to us’, Mother said.
But no proprietor visited us, and nor did Father.
Now Asya was spending all her free time on the bank. Sometimes sitting in the boat motionlessly, sometimes asked in a whisper: ‘Father, let’s swim to that island!’
And gently moved the oar.
The boat slowly floated off the bank, following to the island, overgrown with willows and rushy.
‘Asya! Sail back!’- Mother ran out from the house – ‘Now!’
Asya, sighing, moved the oar, and the boat made back to the bank.
‘We wanted to have a walk a bit, and you don’t allow!’ – said Asya.
‘Stop making up!’- Mother was cross with her.
‘If you beg Father’s pardon he will come back!’ – continued Asya.
Mother again got angry and said that Father left them, he doesn’t love them, and the boat is just the boat, and it’s unclear why the owner doesn’t search it.
But at last, Mother listened to her daughter, came up to the boat, touched with her hand its side and said: ‘Forgive me, please! I won’t curse any more!’
In the evening through the garden’s gate came Father.
Asya rushed to him and threw her arms round his neck: ‘Father! You’ve come back!’
And again Mother baked a tasty cake with raspberries, again they were bathing in the warm night river, and Father was showing to Asya stairs in the sky and telling of them.
And the boat near the planked footway disapperad, as it wasn’t there at all. Was it, may be, drifted?
Again they started life good.
But after a week Mother didn’t contain herself and told Father: ‘You, for example, water beds as you’re only reading and reading! There is more use from a cloud in the sky than from you!’
On the same day Father vanished. And in the sky appeared a small cloud, black and shaggy.
‘It’s Father!’ – Asya said to Mother – ‘He’s turned to the cloud. Now he’ll be watering the beds as you wished!’
And really such heavy rain broke out, that the beds were watered much more than they ought to have been, and all land was washed out.
Then the cloud floated away at the horizon, but Father didn’t appear.
Now the whole days Asya spent observing the sky. She sometimes was sitting at home by the window, sometimes lying in a hammock in the garden, examining running clouds in the sky.
Mother invited a friend with her daughter, but with that girl Asya didn’t make friends.
‘Where is your father?’ – asked the alien girl.
‘My Father ‘s become a cloud’, answered Asya.
The guests went away, but Asya as usual was lying in the hammock, examining clouds.
‘It’s not Father, it’s too round’, whispered she ‘And this is too long….And this is may be Father, when he is smiling!..’
Mother also started looking into the sky as if she was thinking which cloud she should ask pardon.
Once Mother was cooking supper at home and Asya was lying in the hammock, peering into the sky.
Suddenly Father came through the garden’s gate.
‘Father!’ exclaimed Asya and rushed to him -‘You’ve come back!’
‘Asya, would you like to live with me? Would you like to leave together right now?’ – ‘Yes!’ – nodded Asya.
Taking hand in hand, they were following their way to the gate and away the house.
‘Wait!’ – ran out Mother – ‘Don’t go!’
Asya and Father were going away further and further, not turning round.
‘Wait!’ – Mother cried much louder. – ‘I’ll become a sun!’
Asya turned round.
Great light struck on her face. From the edge of a shaggy cloud, hanging over the house, floated Sun and suffused all around with a warm pink colour. She illumed the garden, the house, the path and Asya with Father.
‘Father, Mother’s become a sun, she loves us!’- Asya said. – ‘Let’s stay with her!’
Father stopped.
Looked at Asya, at Sun, shining to his face.
‘Think, she loves?’ – asked he.
‘Yes! Very much!’ – replied Asya with all her heart.
‘Well, if it’s so...’-Father gave a hug to his daughter and followed his way to the house.
Sun floated round the house, and then on the porch appeared Mother.
She ran up to them and embraced them.
‘I love you so much!’ – whispered she.
And Father hugged her.
‘Forgive me!’ – said Mother.
‘And you’, - said Father.
They embraced much stronger.
‘Promise, that you will become no one any more!’ – said Asya. – ‘Otherwise I’ll become a stair in the blue sky!’
‘Promise!’ – answered Father and Mother simultaneously.
Since that they lived happily.
By Roza Husnutdinova
Glossary:
scold v. to angrily criticize somebody about something they have done
take offence to feel offended because of something someone says or does
search v. to try to find someone or something by looking very carefully
sight n. something you can see
turn into phr. v. to change by magic one thing into another, or to make something do this
give a pull an act of using force to move something towards you or in the same direction that you are moving
assure v. to tell somebody that something will definitely happen or is definitely true
trunk n. the thick central woody stem of a tree
curse v. to say bad things about somebody because they have made you angry
raspberries n. plural a soft sweet red berry, or the bush that this berry grows on
rejoice v. literary to feel or show that you are very happy
oar n. a long pole with the wide flat blade at one end, used for rowing a boat
motionless adj. not moving at all. –motionlessly adv.
be cross with smb be angry or annoyed
hammock n. a large piece of cloth that is hung between two trees or posts so that you can sleep in it
suffuse v. if warmth, colour, liquid etc suffuses something or someone, it covers or spreads through them
embrace v. to put your arms round someone and hold them in a friendly or loving way
simultaneous adj. happen at exactly the same time. – simultaneously adv.
TRUE-FALSE
Some of the statements below are true and some of them are false. Choose the false statements and correct them.
- Mother often argued with Father.
- Father never disappeared.
- Second time Father turned into a boat.
- Asking Father’s pardon Mother told each time that she wouldn’t scold him any more.
- After Father had turned into the boat Asya spent all her free time on the bank.
- Mother thought that Asya was making up a lot.
- When Father became a cloud, Asya turned into a stair.
- Asya wanted to be with Father.
- Mother didn’t turn into anything.
- Mother and Father didn’t promise at the end of this fairy-tale that they would become no one any more.
Key: 1. T; 2. F; 3. T; 4. T; 5. T; 6. T; 7. F; 8. T; 9. F; 10. F.
MEANING FROM CONTEXT
Choose the meaning that is closest to the meaning in the context.
I.
- Blaze
- sparkle
- fire
- shine
- shadow
- gloom
- shelter
- spy
- belt
- small area
- ribbon
- region
- branch
- twig
- side
- line
- creep
- crawl
- go
- slide
- bake
- do
- cook
- grill
- proprietor
- owner
- host
- landlord
- peer into
- look at
- watch
- observe
Key: 1.c; 2. a; 3. a; 4. a; 5. a; 6. b; 7. a; 8. a.
II. Explain with your own words the meaning of the word beds.
Key: an area of a garden, park etc that has been prepared for plants to grow in: rose beds.
WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING?
- Who was the most intolerant person in this family?
- Why did Father turn into something each time when his wife wasn’t satisfied with him?
- Why did Asya try to be as close to Father as it was possible?
- Why did Mother invent a friend with her daughter?
- What was the main thing for Asya in her family?
- Why did Asya decide to leave Mother and be with Father when she was made to choose between them?
WHAT IS YOUR INTERPRETATION?
- Why were chosen such objects for turning into as a tree, a boat and a cloud from Father’s side and the sun from Mother’s?
- Why did Asya promise that she would become a stair? Why exactly a stair?
- Why were the words ‘mother’ and ‘father’ written with the capital letters? Explain.
By Galkina Anastasia