தினசெய்தி – 17 9 2023
பக்கம் எண் : 4
அருந்தமிழும் அன்றாட வழக்கும் – 179
செம்மாந்த தமிழ் மொழியில் ஷேக்ஸ்பியர் நாடகங்கள்
முனைவர் ஔவை அருள்
தில்லிப் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் யான் 28 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு வழங்கிய
முனைவர் பட்ட ஆய்வின் இருபத்தொன்பதாம் பகுதி வருமாறு:
T.N.Seshachalam’s notes not only explain difficult words and phrases, but also add his reactions as comments, explanations, analogies and literary ethos.
His notes also point out the anachronisms, irony, puns and flaws in the sequence of time, if any.
The prose is elevated and dignified and sometimes even poetical.
His translation is on a par with the original, not only in respect of style, but also in the use of subtle and ironic statements.
His writing has a racy style, with some tough prose and chaste Tamil, but at the same time, his notes provide meanings in Tamil for his Tamil passages and Tamil words.
In this sense, he was unique and different from the other translators.
His translations had the double aim of acquainting the readers with Shakespeare’s text and increasing their awareness of the resourcefulness of the Tamil language.
The songs of Ariel in The Tempest are lyrically rendered, maintaining the spirit of the original, while retaining the swiftness and the metrical pattern of the poem in Tamil.
Moreover, the scholarly comments given side by side with the translations add value to the reader.
He analysis of the characters of Brutus easily leads to the conclusion that he is dishonest.
He also considers Prospero as Shakespeare himself.
The courtship of Ferdinand and Miranda is admirably portrayed with references from Kamba ramayanam and Thirukkural.
Qualitatively, T.N.Seshachalam’s translation is a tribute to the original and he did not compromise with the style and scholarship for the sake making it understandable to even a commoner.
If Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar’s translations are meant for the stage and the masses, T.N.Seshachalam’s are for the scholars who desire an advanced study of Shakespeare.
If one takes up T.N.Seshachalam’s translation of Julius Caesar, it can be seen that it is a homogeneous work in line with the Shakesperean conception of a Roman play.
In the act of translating and regenerating Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in Tamil, the shift towards Tamil is only in terms of time.
In the very first scene of the play, one can see the normalization of the Roman routines.
The dialogue between Marullus and the commoners is rendered in such a way in Tamil that it looks like a simplistic question, but it is actually topped with a larger question with a dash of pun.
மருல்லஸ் : என்னடா பேசுகிறாய்? ஏதுட்டப் பயலே,
என்னைத் திருத்துவாயா?
இரண்டாம் நகரவாசி ஏனைய? சரிப்பட்டாலென்ன,
செருப்பிட்டாலென்ன? ஒன்று தானே.
In the Tamil translation, for example, for the cobbler, the author cobbles words together and uses pun to great effect with the intelligent use of slang.
The cobbler comes out as “Tholaan”, a mender of “bad soles”.
He is “Padham serum Iratchai Seibhavan”.
His pun mixes humor and irony judiciously and adds to the effect in Tamil as exemplified below.
ஆண்டனி : ஓடும் வேகத்தில் கல்பர்னியாவைத் தீண்டுதற்கு மறவாதே !
இந்தத் தூய ஓட்டத்தில் துண்டப் பெற்றால் மலடியர் தம்மைம்மைச் சாபத்தை உதிர்த்துவிடுவார்களென்று நமது பெரியோர் சொல்லியிருக்கிறார்களன்றோ?
(ACT I – 2-வதுகாட்சி)
The assonance in the original is brought out and the oxymoronic intensity of that experience is suggested by words/expressions like “Theendappetra” and ‘Maladiyar Tham Maimmai, Saabham Udhirthu vidivaargal yenru’.
This gives rise to many posers. Is curse external and cosmetic that one can belabor it? Is ‘Maimmai Saabam’ (sterile curse) curses at all? The translator, by suggestion and implication brings these out.
Caesar: Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear
A tongue, shriller than all the music, cry, “Caesar”
Speak: Caesar is turned to hear. (I (ii) 15 – 17)
The above lines are given at the start as the nature of Caesar’s use of his own name in the third person.
T.N.Seshachalam explains that this use of ‘Caesar’ reveals that he is continuously conscious of his own superiority.
In the exchanges between Cassius and Brutus, there is a lot of incipient thought.
The words of Cassius and Brutus deserve the reader’s attention.
T.N.Seshachalam’s notes in Tamil in this context prepare the reader to look into the conspiracy as follows:
என்னைக் காப்பாற்று, காஸ்ஸியஸ், இல்லையேல்
முழுகிப் போவேன்“ என்று ஸீஸர் கதறினான். நமது
பெரிய முன்னோன் இனியஸ், ட்ராயின் தீயினின்று
முதியோன் ஆன்கைஸஸைச் சுமந்தது போலடைபரின்
அலைகளிலிருந்து நான் களைத்துப் போன ஸீஸரைச்
சுமந்து வந்தேன். இந்த மனிதன்தான் இப்போது ஒரு
தெய்வமாகியிருக்கின்றான். காஸ்ஸியஸோ கடைகெட்ட
பிராணி பார், ஸீஸர் பாராமுகமாய் அவன் பக்கம் தலையை
அசைத்தாலும், தன்உடலை வளைக்க வேண்டும்.
(Act I (ii) 111 – 118)
The central problem of T.N.Seshachalam’s translation here was, how to support the proof of the arrangement that rests between Cassius and Brutus.
While it had to be made clear for the common man to understand, he also had to guard against too much of notes dampening the enthusiasm of the reader.
– முனைவர் ஔவை அருள்
தொடர்புக்கு dr.n.arul@gmail.com
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