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Жизнь коротка

Кончается история моя.
Мы не постигнем тайны бытия
вне опыта законченной игры.
Иная жизнь, далекие миры —
все это бред. Разгадка в нас самих.
Ее узнаешь ты в последний миг.
В последнюю минуту рвется нить.
Но поздно, поздно что-то изменить…
 
Μετάφραση

Life is short

My story now is nearing the end
Life’s mystery we’ll never understand
Except within a game that has been played
Another life, `worlds that are far away
It’s all BS. The clue is within us
In your last moment, you will get it thus
At the last minute, the thread will be torn
Too late to change a thing, It’s all forlorn.
 
Σχόλια
Kevin RainbowKevin Rainbow    Κυρ, 30/05/2021 - 16:16

Consider "Too late to change a thing, it's all forlorn" for the last line.

Dr_IgorDr_Igor
   Κυρ, 30/05/2021 - 16:27

Kevin,
thanks for the suggestion. Would you care to explain why you think it is so much better that it would justify the change?
I'm seriously curious. In my book "it's late to change" given the context obviously means "it's too late to change".
And curiously, in Russian, if I wanted to be exceedingly "clear" I would say "Слишком поздно" (too late) and not just "поздно"(late).
Nuances, nuances...

Kevin RainbowKevin Rainbow    Κυρ, 30/05/2021 - 16:37

In English "late to" isn't used as an alternative to "TOO late to (do something)". It doesn't have any of the same force.

Dr_IgorDr_Igor
   Κυρ, 30/05/2021 - 17:03
Kevin Rainbow napisał:

In English "late to" isn't used as an alternative to "TOO late to (do something)". It doesn't have any of the same force.

Apparently, in some versions of English, it is -https://theprint.in/opinion/sometimes-its-late-to-reach-for-the-gun-does....
But I agree, it's not the same non-ambiguous force. I probably will make the change.
Interestingly, Dovlatov could have said "Но cлишком поздно что-то изменить" but he chose not to. Who knows maybe he wanted
to keep this bit of ambiguity, of hope that is not totally dead.
BTW, there's a song by Queen "It's late" present here. Lots of play on "it's late but not too late" and finally "it's late, it's all too late"

Kevin RainbowKevin Rainbow    Κυρ, 30/05/2021 - 17:58
Apparently, in some versions of English, it is -[quote napisał:

https://theprint.in/opinion/sometimes-its-late-to-reach-for-the-gun-does....

That is probably a foreignism. The newsgroup is headquartered in India. In any case news headlines are not a very reliable example to go by. They often include oddball omissions of words to save space.

Cytat:

BTW, there's a song by Queen "It's late" present here. Lots of play on "it's late but not too late" and finally "it's late, it's all too late"

For sure. But that's not the same. When you specify too late TO DO something with an infinitive following "late", "late to" (without "too) isn't used to express that meaning.

Dr_IgorDr_Igor
   Κυρ, 30/05/2021 - 18:58

>That is probably a foreignism
Probably. And I agree that some journalists are not reliable experts on correct language use. As aren't some authors. I have no doubts
about Dovlatov's competency. He was a brilliant guy. But also as an author of fiction, he often put on this hat of his characters with their imperfect language use. He was also a very tongue-in-cheek guy.
Also, as I'm known here as a propagandist of "IMHO" qualifier, I like qualifiers. When you say "isn't used to express" something, the absolutism of that phrase rubs me the wrong way. There are lots of "versions" of English and what's absolutely incorrect in one can be a colloquialism in another. As a translator, I am not committed to some ideal version of English. Say, if 90% of English speaking world never uses a certain expression but the remaining 10% does I would consider it. Talking in general, I already agreed that "too late to" is better than "late to" and will
make the change, though I will go more informal by losing the complete sentence.