தினசெய்தி – 1 10 2023
பக்கம் எண் : 4
அருந்தமிழும் அன்றாட வழக்கும் – 181
உண்மையில் களவாடப்படவில்லை
முனைவர் ஔவை அருள்
தில்லிப் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் யான் 28 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு வழங்கிய
முனைவர் பட்ட ஆய்வின் முப்பத்தொன்றாம் பகுதி வருமாறு:
By the early 60’s translation had reached a stage of maturity and Justice Maharajan may have reasoned that the challenge was worth taking, and hence may have attempted translating Shakespeare’s tragedies.
Endowed with a critical acumen, Justice Maharajan is perhaps the only translator who exhibited sound knowledge of tragedy as a literary form.
No wonder his introductions to the translated versions of the tragedies are as fascinating as his translations.
Justice Maharajan laid emphasis on Purgation or Purification, which is a necessary part of a great tragedy that arouses not only pity and fear, but also purifies the reader, who realizes the universal relation between character and destiny.
Unlike the early translations, neither did Justice Maharajan omit unfamiliar references or coarse passages, nor did he localize names.
While a translator like T.N.Seshachalam explained in side notes, the unfamiliar allusions or names, Justice Maharajan just left them as they were. Justice Maharajan’s translation of King Lear is probably the best of his three translations as it carries the full import of the tragic intensity of the original.
None other than C.Rajagopalachari has given a foreword praising Justice Maharajan and his translation.
Pity is the natural off-shoot of cruelty and the essence of tragedy is that it must evoke both terror and pity, which leave a residual feeling of purification.
For example, a scholarly translation like T.N.Seshachalam’s may be so pedantic that one would need explanatory notes for the translation of such feelings.
However, Justice Maharajan’s version is in lucid Tamil and credit goes to him for having introduced the great dramatist to the average Tamil reader.
Take the case of Macbeth. In his preface to the translation of Macbeth, Justice Maharajan says that Shakespeare’s philosophy of life can be deduced from his observation line, that goes:
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more, it is a tale
Told by an idiot full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
It is a bold assertion.
Why cannot life be held as such? In fact, instability and transitoriness of human life cannot be brought out better than in these expressions – Shadow, Stage, Tale and Nothing.
In Justice Maharajan’s opinion, it can be guessed by a deep observation of Shakespeare’s character portrayals and of certain ideas that he often reiterates through some characters.
In translating some images, Justice Maharajan takes into account the cultural context or geophysical setting, as for example in King Lear.
Had you not been their father, these white flakes
Had challenged pity of them, was this a face
To be exposed against the warring winds?
Take the example of White flakes, above.
He translates it into ‘Pichipoo’ a flower known to Tamils.
Though there is no correspondence between flakes of ice and the flower, the translator feels that this is the best way of rendering it to Tamils who are total strangers to flakes of ice.
Prof. A.C.Chettiar
Prof. A.C.Chettiar, a renowned Tamil scholar and Professor at Annamalai University has to his credit, just one translation of Shakespeare’s Othello.
The text is in simple and lucid Tamil.
In his introduction he has made several critical remarks on the characters in the play and the play in general.
Footnotes are sparingly used, probably because of the established familiarity of the Tamils with Shakespeare.
Among all the tragedies of Shakespeare, Othello is the most translated, by virtue of its being a domestic tragedy. A.C.Chettiar’s translation is simple, bringing out the emotional context of the original in his translation.
There is both, clarity as well as brevity, without ornamental verbiage that speaks well of the translator’s scholarship and genius.
Occasionally we have poetic renderings as well. As an example, where Othello appeals to the Duke to offer protection and care to Desdemona until he arrives from the Cyprus war, the translation goes thus:
என் மனைவியின் வளர்ப்பிற்கு ஏற்ற நல்ல
பெருமையும் இடமும் உதவியும் உறையுரும் மதிப்பும்
காட்டுதல் வேண்டும் எனக் கேட்டுக்கொள்கிறேன்.
(I iii 235 – 238)
The translation as can be seen brings out exactly the sentiments and emotions of the original.
Desdemona declares her true love to Othello when the occasion comes.
She whips out a storm of emotion defending her choice and defining the true nature of her love in Tamil as follows:
நான் தெரிந்தெடுத்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிற விழியும் என்
வாழ்க்கைப் புயலும் ஒத்தெல்லோவைக் காதலித்து
அவரோடு வாழ விரும்பினேன் என்பதைப்
பறையறையும். அவருடைய வாழ்வினால்தான்
அவருக்கு ஆட்பட்டேன். ஒத்தெல்லோவின் மனத்தில்
தான் அவருடைய முகத்தைக் கண்டேன். என்னுடைய
ஆன்மாவையும் என்னுடைய அதிர்வுகளையும்
அவருடைய மாண்புக்கும் அவருடைய திறமைக்கும்
உரியன ஆக்கிவிட்டேன்.
The storm brews in Othello, the storm of suspicion roused by Lago, which sets in motion a series of ruminations that disclose a jealous mind.
The volcano erupts, spitting fire and brimstone. Dr. A.C.Chettiar has recreated a verbal storm in Tamil that seems to match or even excel the original.
The passages are long in the original, but the translator has compressed a world of emotion in crisp language.
அவன் காமுற்றுக் களவு செய்தான் என்பதை
உரைய வழிஇருந்துளதா? நான் அதைக் கண்டேன்
இல்லை. அதுபற்றி எண்ணினேன் இல்லை அது
எனக்குத் துயரம் தரவில்லை. சுயேச்சையாகத்
திரிந்தேன். மகிழ்ச்சியாக இருந்தேன்.
கேஷியோவினுடைய முத்தங்கள் அவள் உதட்
டிற்கண்டேன் இல்லை. திருடப்படுவதொன்று
தேவைப்படாதவாறு ஒருவர் களவாடப்பட்டால்
அவர் அதனை அறியாதிருப்பாராக. அவர்
உண்மையில் களவாடப்படவில்லை.
– முனைவர் ஔவை அருள்
தொடர்புக்கு dr.n.arul@gmail.com
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