King-Size Translations

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King-Size Translations

Postby voron » 2012-10-15, 11:34

This topic is for translating larger and more demanding texts from Turkish to English (perhaps one day we may try English->Turkish as well). For smaller texts, see our Turkish Translation Game. A text can come from a variety of sources: stories, poems, news articles, encyclopedia articles, songs, film scripts etc.

Rules:
The game starts with selecting a text, and a translation team. The players do their translations in a round-robin fashion, so that when the last player on the list posts his/her translation, the first one takes the turn again. Each player has 5 days to complete their translation, otherwise it is passed on to the next player. It is up to you to decide how large a piece you want to translate.

The list of players is not fixed and players can be added to or dropped from the list while the translation is in progress. Just post a message if you want to join or quit.

1. Ömer Seyfettin - Perili Köşk <-- Translated
http://www.bilgicik.com/yazi/perili-kos ... seyfettin/

2. Ahmet Ümit – Şeytan Ayrıntıda Gizlidir. Genelev Çiçekçisi <-- Translated
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-Mgts ... EJ6ZC1uN00

3. Orhan Pamuk - Kar (Chapter 1) <-- Translated
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-Mgts3 ... hGRms/edit
http://www.belgeler.com/blg/1vu2/kar

4. Gülse Birsel - Gayet Ciddiyim (3 stories) <-- Translated
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwhPyAi ... Wg5ZzBRTFU
Last edited by voron on 2014-10-08, 11:29, edited 55 times in total.

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby voron » 2012-10-15, 11:37

Sermet Bey döndü, arkasındaki bekçiye,

- İşte bir boş köşk daha! Dedi.

Küçük bir çam ormanının önünde beyaz, şık bir bina, mermerdenmiş gibi göz kamaştıracak derecede parlıyordu. Tarhlarını yabani otlar bürümüş. Bahçesinin demir kapısında büyük bir “Kiralıktır” levhası asılıydı. Bekçi başını salladı:

- Geç efendim, geç!… Orası size gelmez.

- Niçin canım?

- Demin gösterdiğim evi tutunuz. Küçük ama çok uğurludur. Kim oturursa erkek çocuğu dünyaya gelir.

- On iki kişi nasıl sığarız beş odaya! Buraya bakalım, buraya… Tam bize göre…
Bekçi tekrar, katî bir işaretle,

- Buraya oturamazsınız efendim… dedi.


Mr. Sermet turned round and told to the watchman that followed him:
-Here is another empty villa!

In front of a small pine forest there was an elegant white building, which shone to the extent that it dazzled the eye, as if it was made of marble. Its flower beds were covered with wild grass. On the iron door of the garden hung a sign which read "For rent". The watchman shook his head:
-Move along, sir, move along... It won't suit you.

-Why, dear?

-Take the house that I just showed you. It is small but it brings good luck. Whoever lives there has a boy born.

-How would 12 of us squeeze into 5 rooms? Let's look at this one... It is perfect for us...

The watchman repeated, with a firm gesture:

-You won't be able to live here, sir...

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby modus.irrealis » 2012-10-18, 9:38

(Lots of tricky things here for me, so I'd appreciate all comments and corrections.)

Sermet Bey, gözünü köşkten alamıyordu. Her tarafında geniş balkonları vardı. Temellerinin üzerine yaslanmış sanılacaktı. Kuluçka yatan beyaz bir Nemse tavuğu gibi yayvandı. Yirmi senedir, çocuğa kavuşalıdan beri hep böyle bir yuva tahayyül ederlerdi. Asabî bir istical ile,

- Niye oturamayız? diye sordu.

- Efendim, bu köşkte peri vardır.

- Ne perisi?

- Bayağı peri! Gece çıkar. Evdekilere rahat vermez.

Sermet Bey, gözüyle gördüğüne, kulağıyla işittiğine inananlardan değildi. Eliyle sıkı sıkıya tutup hissetmeyince bir şeyin varlığına hükmetmezdi, gözle kulak onca birer yalan kovuğuydu. Yalanla hep bize bu dört kapıdan girerdi. Fakat el… fakat Lâmise, hiç dolma yutmazdı. Bütün hurafeler, bâtıl itikatlar dimağımıza hücum için gözle kulağa koşardı. Güldü:

- Perinin bize zararı dokunmaz! dedi:


Mr. Sermet could not take his eyes off the mansion. On each of its sides it had wide balconies. It would have been thought to have grown old over its foundations. It was sprawling like a brooding white hen. For twenty years, since he had finally gotten a child, they always imagined such a home. With an irritable haste:

- Why won't we be able to stay? he asked.

- Sir, there are spirits in this mansion.

- What sort of spirits?

- Vulgar spirits! They come out at night. They do not leave the people in the house in peace.

Mr. Sermet was not one of those who believed what they saw with their eyes and heard with their ears. When he had not grasped something very tightly with his hand and felt it, he would not decide about its existence; the eye and ear according to him were each a recess of untruth. Untruth would always enter us through these four doors. But the hand... but touch would never swallow a lie. All superstitions and false beliefs in order to assault our minds would run at the eye and ear. He laughed:

- The spirits won't harm us! he said.

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby kalemiye » 2012-10-19, 14:13

Bekçi bir küfür işitmiş gibi Sermet beyin yüzüne baktı.

- Her giren evvelâ böyle söyler, ama bir ay oturmaz.

- Senin nene lâzım. Haydi burasını gezelim.

- Anahtarı sahibindedir.

- Sahibi kim?

- Sahibi Hacı Niyazi Efendi. İşte şu yandaki köşkte oturan…

- Haydi anahtarı alalım.

- Peki, ama…

Döndüler. Sık ağaçlar arasından yalnız üst katının çatısı görünen kırmızı aşıboyalı bir eski eve doğru yürüyorlardı.

İhtiyar bekçi yolda beyaz köşkün tarihini kısaca anlattı. On senedir buraya girenler bir aydan ziyade oturamamışlardı. Evvelâ peri görünüyor, sonra büyük büyük taşlar atıyor, nihayet gelip camları kırıyor, içeridekilere geceleri hiç rahat vermiyordu. Kiracılardan ikisinin yüreğine inmiş, üçünün evlâtlıkları çarpılmış, birisinin karısı korkudan altı aylık çocuğunu düşürmüştü. Gölgelerinde koyunlar otlayan çiçekli badem ağaçlarının altından geçtiler. Kırmızı köşkün kapısını açtılar.


The gatekeeper looked at Sermet Bey as if he had heard a swearword.

- All of those who have entered the house say this, but then they don't stay longer than a month.

- So what is it to you. Come on, let's wander in.

- The owner has the keys.

- Who is the owner?

- The owner is Hacı Niyazi Efendi. He lives in then neighboring.

- Alright, let's take the keys.

- Ok, but…

They returned. They walked straight to the old house of which only the top floor's red orcher-coloured-roof could be seen.

The old gatekeeper explained the mansion's story briefly. It had been ten years that all of those who entered the house couldn't stay longer than a month. First of all a spirit is seen, afterwards it throws huge stones, and finally comes and breaks the windows, and doesn't leave the people inside the house in peace. The first two tenants were struck with great fear, the third's handmaids were paralyzed, and the wife of one of them had an abortion at six months out of fear. They crossed under the flowering almond trees which the sheeps were pasturing in the shadows (not sure about this sentence). They opened the red mansion's door.

Sıra sende Voron!
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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby voron » 2012-10-19, 15:39

kalemiye wrote:Sıra sende Voron!

Oh wow, you are fast, I didn't have time to look through modus's translation yet.

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby voron » 2012-10-20, 8:38

modus.irrealis wrote:Temellerinin üzerine yaslanmış sanılacaktı.
It would have been thought to have grown old over its foundations

It's yaslanmış, not yaşlanmış. ;) The balconies seemed to rest on the house's foundation.

- Ne perisi?
- Bayağı peri!


- What sort of spirits?
- Vulgar spirits!

I am not sure, but I think "bayağı" here means "common, usual". "What sort of spirits? - Usual sort!"

kalemiye wrote:Gölgelerinde koyunlar otlayan çiçekli badem ağaçlarının altından geçtiler.
They crossed under the flowering almond trees which the sheeps were pasturing in the shadows

...under the flowering almond trees in whose shadows the sheeps were pasturing.

There's a paragraph in Jaklin Kornfilt's Turkish - Descriptive Grammar that deals with this kind of construction. I will put it on the forum so we can discuss it later.
Last edited by voron on 2012-10-20, 9:03, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby voron » 2012-10-20, 8:55

Hacı Niyazi Efendi eski bir evkaf memuruydu. Hürriyet’te tazminat olarak daireden çekilmiş, ev alıp satmakla geçinmeğe başlamıştı. Fakat çok doğru bir adamdı. Senede belki yüz ev sattığı halde kendi perili köşkünü hariçten gelip Hanya’dan Konya’dan haberi olmayan enayi bir müşteriyi sokmuyor: “Allah’tan korkarım neme lâzım!” diyordu. Köşkünün perili olduğunu hiç saklamazdı. Kapıyı kendi açtı. Sermet Bey evi gezmek istediğini söyledi:
- Pekâlâ, buyurun! Dedi.

Önlerine düştü. Bahçeden geçtiler. Hacı Niyazi Efendi sokakta sarı aba cübbesinin cebinde pirinç bir anahtar çıkardı. Bahçe kapısını açtı, Sermet Beye,
- Bu anahtar köşkü de açar… dedi.

Yürüdüler, bahçe hakikaten biraz vahşiydi. Bakımsızlıktan, ayak basmamış bir dere içine dönmüştü. Köşkün arkasındaki küçük çam ormanında da vahşi bir sükun vardı. Bekçi köşke girmedi. Kapıda kaldı. Sermet Bey, ev sahibiyle gezdi. Tezyinata hiç diyecek yoktu. Alt kat bütün mermerdi. Sarnıç, banyo, kuyu, kümes, ahır… Hepsi tamamdı.


Hacı Niyazi Efendi was an old evkaf* clerk. After the revolution** he retired and started to earn a living by buying and selling houses. In fact he was a very honest man. Although he probably sold a hundred houses a year, he would not palm off his haunted mansion on an unsuspecting customer who came from a different place and was not very knowledgable***. He used to say: "I am afraid of Allah, why would I do that". He did not hide that the mansion was haunted.

He opened the door himself. Mr. Sermet said that he wanted to walk around the house, and he replied:
- Well, you are welcome!

He hurried forward in front of them. They passed the garden. In the street Hacı Niyazi Efendi took a brass key out of a pocket of his yellow felted robe. He opened the garden door and said to Mr. Sermet:
- This key also opens the mansion.

They walked along. The garden really looked somewhat wild. Because of neglection, it turned into a (brook??) where noone set foot. Wild tranquility was also in the small pine forest behind the mansion. The watchman did not enter the mansion. He stayed by the door. Mr. Sermet and the house owner walked in. The decoration was flawless. The upper floor was all of marble. Cistern, bathroom, well, coop, stables... it was all there.

* If I understand this article correctly, evkaf was an Ottoman institution that took care of mosques' and medreses' property.

** I assume Hürriyet refers to the 1908 revolution and the events that followed? I don't understand the meaning of "tazminat olarak" here. Was the mosques' property confiscated by the new government? kalemiye you should be able to help me out here as a historian.

*** I firstly translated it as "not very knowledgable about Hanya and Konya" thinking these are places' names, but now I think it's a set expression

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby kalemiye » 2012-10-20, 18:17

..under the flowering almond trees in whose shadows the sheeps were pasturing.

There's a paragraph in Jaklin Kornfilt's Turkish - Descriptive Grammar that deals with this kind of construction. I will put it on the forum so we can discuss it later.


Yes, please. It made my head spin.
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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby kalemiye » 2012-10-20, 18:44

voron wrote:Because of neglection, it turned into a (brook??)


Dere does mean 'brook', but I think that is not an adequate translation into English here. What this expression tries to convey here is that the garden was now growing wildly and disorderly, a place in which a human had not set a foot before. :|

* If I understand this article correctly, evkaf was an Ottoman institution that took care of mosques' and medreses' property.


Yes, you understood it right. Evkaf is the plural of vakıf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vakif) :).

** I assume Hürriyet refers to the 1908 revolution and the events that followed? I don't understand the meaning of "tazminat olarak" here. Was the mosques' property confiscated by the new government? kalemiye you should be able to help me out here as a historian.


Ömer Seyfettin died before the Republic was established, thus I guess it does allude to the Young Turk Revolution. As far as I know there were no big changes in the evkaf system during the short lived Young Turk rule (http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=qtwUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=evkaf+young+turk+era&source=bl&ots=ifZkS6pJoS&sig=IuMy97A7XHxAblu4j0AtoEUDKjc&hl=es&sa=X&ei=Ue2CUIrxC-TY4QSJ7YCoAg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=evkaf%20young%20turk%20era&f=false).
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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby modus.irrealis » 2012-10-20, 23:21

voron wrote:It's yaslanmış, not yaşlanmış. ;) The balconies seemed to rest on the house's foundation.

Thanks, that makes more sense.

I am not sure, but I think "bayağı" here means "common, usual". "What sort of spirits? - Usual sort!"

Ah, I thought he meant that they are bad spirits instead of good spirits.

voron wrote:I don't understand the meaning of "tazminat olarak" here.

I think there are some problems with the text at the website -- there's an entire line missing in the next portion that I translated. If you search google books, this story appears a lot, and there they have "tazminat alarak", which is much clearer.

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby modus.irrealis » 2012-10-20, 23:30

- Kirası ne kadar?

- Çok istemiyorum. Yüz seksen lira. Ama üç seneliğini peşin isterim.

- Niçin?

- Bakınız beyim, niçin: Düşmanlarım, köşk kiracısız kalsın diye peri lafı çıkarmışlar. Birisi girdi mi, herkes fisebilillâh peri propagandasına başlar. Nihayet kiracılar işittikleri yalanı, gördük sanıyorlar. Meselâ kış ortası köşkü başıma bırakıp savuşuyorlar. Daha fenası, çıkanlar propagandacılara katılıyor. İki sene daha böyle giderse malımı ne satabileceğim, ne de kiracı bulabileceğim.

Sermet Bey sordu:

- Köşkünüz ne kadar boş kaldı?*

- Vâkıa şimdiye kadar hemen hiç… Fakat giren, komşuların lafına kapılır. Çok durmaz. Ürker, kaçar.

- Ben ürkmem.

- İnşallah.

- Fakat üç senelik peşin, bu biraz ağır…

- Ne yapayım beyim. Canım yandı. İsterseniz…


* It was clear that something was missing, since what followed was not a question and then the wrong people were saying the wrong things, so I took this line from google books.

- How much is the rent?

- I don't want a lot. A hundred eighty liras. But I would like three years payment in advance.

- Why?

- Look, my sir, why: My enemies, in order that my mansion remain without tenants, have started talk about spirits. If somebody ever enters, everybody, expecting nothing in return [??], starts up propaganda about spirits. In the end the tenants think they have seen the nonsense they have heard. For example in the middle of winter they leave the mansion to me and sneak off. What's worse, the ones who leave join with the propagandists. If it goes on like this for two more years, I won't be able to sell my property, nor find a tenant.

Mr. Sermet asked:

- How long has your house remained empty?

- It is true that up to now hardly never**... but he who enters gets taken in by the neighbours' talk. He does not last long. He gets scared, runs away.

- I am not scared.

- Hopefully.

- But three years' payment, that's a bit hard...

- What can I do, my sir? I have suffered. If you would like...

** Edit: I just remembered that hiç can also mean never and that cleared this up.
Last edited by modus.irrealis on 2012-10-21, 7:46, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby kalemiye » 2012-10-21, 5:57

modus.irrealis wrote:
voron wrote:I am not sure, but I think "bayağı" here means "common, usual". "What sort of spirits? - Usual sort!"


Ah, I thought he meant that they are bad spirits instead of good spirits.


Peri is actually a term I am not well acquainted with and that its English counterpart has to be chosen according to the context. If we read the story completely here peri doubtlessly refers to a sort of wicked ghost.

TDK wrote:peri
isim Farsça per³
1. isim Doğaüstü güçleri olduğuna inanılan, hayal ürünü varlık
"Acaba böyle bir meraka uymak perilere karşı gelmek midir?" - H. R. Gürpınar
2. Çok güzel, alımlı, becerikli kadın


modus.irrealis wrote:
voron wrote:I don't understand the meaning of "tazminat olarak" here.

I think there are some problems with the text at the website -- there's an entire line missing in the next portion that I translated. If you search google books, this story appears a lot, and there they have "tazminat alarak", which is much clearer.


Thanks, that makes a lot more sense.

Share the Google Books' link here, and let's work on that text instead. I once had the printed version, but I gave it away :cry:.
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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby modus.irrealis » 2012-10-21, 7:44

kalemiye wrote:Peri is actually a term I am not well acquainted with and that its English counterpart has to be chosen according to the context. If we read the story completely here peri doubtlessly refers to a sort of wicked ghost.

I was actually surprised that nobody criticized my choice of using "spirits". My understanding is that a "peri" is more similar to a traditional fairy (plus "fairy tale" = "peri masalı"), but I don't think that word would be appropriate because it's hard to think of fairies as menacing anymore. But I guess different cultures tend to have different supernatural creatures in their folklore that don't quite match up with each other.

modus.irrealis wrote:Share the Google Books' link here, and let's work on that text instead. I once had the printed version, but I gave it away :cry:.

The problem is that all the versions I can find on google books are only snippet views and I have to search a few words and hope it shows up. For example http://www.google.com/search?q="tazminat+alarak+daireden"&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1
And unfortunately all the versions on websites seem to have "tazminat olarak".

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby kalemiye » 2012-10-21, 11:05

modus.irrealis wrote:
kalemiye wrote:Peri is actually a term I am not well acquainted with and that its English counterpart has to be chosen according to the context. If we read the story completely here peri doubtlessly refers to a sort of wicked ghost.

I was actually surprised that nobody criticized my choice of using "spirits". My understanding is that a "peri" is more similar to a traditional fairy (plus "fairy tale" = "peri masalı"), but I don't think that word would be appropriate because it's hard to think of fairies as menacing anymore. But I guess different cultures tend to have different supernatural creatures in their folklore that don't quite match up with each other.


I did not criticize it because it suits the context of the story and actually I suggest sticking to it :) . My choice of "ghost" is not very correct either, because a peri, as you have stated before, is normally a fairy or a feminine supernatural being and never a ghost in the sense of a wandering soul, but it matches with the last part of the story :) (no spoilers!).

modus.irrealis wrote:
kalemiye wrote:Share the Google Books' link here, and let's work on that text instead. I once had the printed version, but I gave it away :cry:.

The problem is that all the versions I can find on google books are only snippet views and I have to search a few words and hope it shows up. For example http://www.google.com/search?q="tazminat+alarak+daireden"&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1
And unfortunately all the versions on websites seem to have "tazminat olarak".


Let's keep working on this online version, then. I will try to find a printed version of the story in case we came across any other typo or unclear passage.

Ömer Seyfettin authored many interesting and well-written short-stories like "The Haunted Mansion" ("Perili Köşk"), after we are done with this one we could pick up another one, but this time one I own the printed version of :).

Also, Seyfettin actively supported the simplification of the Turkish language and thus, always used a clear language easy to understand by all. Also, he was active in the political and literary circles of his time, and through his works we are able to learn a bit more about the late Ottoman society and values.
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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby modus.irrealis » 2012-10-22, 18:58

Yeah, I really like this text in terms of the language and how it's not too hard to understand. I wouldn't mind sticking with Seyfettin.

While searching for the text, though, I did find http://youtu.be/yMb5wprL36A which based on the length may be the whole story in cartoon form (I didn't check to save me from any spoilers). I thought you guys might find it interesting if you hadn't seen it (but I have to admit I understand almost nothing of what they say).

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby kalemiye » 2012-10-23, 6:22

I thought you guys might find it interesting if you hadn't seen it (but I have to admit I understand almost nothing of what they say).


I will post the transcription of the dialogues once we are done with the story :).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sermet Bey köşkü çok beğenmişti. Hem kirası da ucuzdu. Şimdi üç odalı kulübelerin seneliğine yüz elli lira istiyorlardı.

Hemen o gün kontratı yaptılar. Üç senelik kira olan beş yüz kırk lira peşin verilecekti. Hacı Niyazi Efendinin evinden çıktıktan sonra Sermet Bey bekçiyi çıkardı, bahşişiye bir yirmi beşlik kağıt verdi. Bekçi,

- Paranıza yazık oldu efendi dedi, üç sene değil, üç ay oturamazsınız.

- Görürsün.

- Görürüz. Hacı Efendi her girenden böyle üç seneliğini peşin alır, ama hiç birisi bir yaz kalamaz. Verdikleri para da yanar.

Sermet Bey bir hafta sonra kalabalık ailesiyle köşke taşındı. Halis bir zevk ehliydi. Her gece çalgı çağanak, yemek, içmek, keyif, sefa gırla giderdi. Daima akrabalarından kadın, erkek, dört beş misafiri bulunurdu. Sermet Bey Türkiyeli’ydi. Fakat Avrupalıların “Gündüz cefa, gece sefa” düsturunu kabul etmişti. Çocukları mektebe giderlerdi. Kızlarını büyük ticarethanelere kâtip diye yerleştirmişti. Karısı kız mekteplerinde piyano dersi verirdi. Evde çalışmayan yalnız yetmiş beşlik annesiydi. O da mutfağa, hizmetçilere, filan bakardı. Yemeğe gece yarısına yakın yerler, yemekten sonra hiç oturmazlar, hemen yatarlardı. Aradan on beş gün geçmedi. Bir gece aşağı kattan bir çığlık koptu. Hizmetçi Artemisya, avazı çıktığı kadar haykırarak yukarı koştu. Arkada, çamların arasında beyaz bir şeyin gezindiğini haber verdi.


Sermet Bey liked the mansion very much. Plus, the rent was cheap. Nowadays they were asking for 150 liras per year for a three-room cottage.

Inmmediately a deal was made. Five hundred forty lira, three years worth of rent, were given in advance. After leaving Hacı Niyazi Efendi's house, Sermet bey called the gatekeeper, and gave him a 25 liras banknote as a tip. The gatekeeper said:

- It's such a waste of money, sir. You won't be able to stay there not even three months, let alone three years.

- You will see.

- We will see. Hacı Efendi always takes three years worth of rent in advance, but none of them could stay a summer. The money they gave also became useless.

Sermet bey moved with his large family to the mansion. He was in love with entertainment. Every night they would abundantly entertain themselves with music and merry making ,food and drink. There were always some relatives, women, men, four or five guests. Sermet Bey was Turkish, but had accepted the Europeans' motto "Hardship at daytime, entertainment at night". His children went to school. He had placed his daughters as secretaries in big firms. His wife taught piano at girls' schools. The only person in the house who did not work was his 75 years-old mother, who busied herself with the kitchen, the servants and so on. In the meantime, not even 15 days had gone by, when one night a scream came from downstairs. Artemisya, the servant, run upstairs screaming as much as she could. She told them that she had seen a white thing roaming between the pines behind (the house, i guess).
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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby voron » 2012-10-25, 23:02

- Gözünüze öyle görünmüştür! Dediler.

Gören diğer hizmetçilere de kanmadılar. Çoluk, çocuk, hepsi arka odanın balkonuna çıktılar. Artemisya’nın parmağıyla gösterdiği beyaz hayaleti gördüler. Ağaçların altında duruyor, sanki köşke bakıyordu. Sermet Bey gözlerini oğuşturdu:
- Vay anasına! dedi, telkinin kuvvetine bak!

Karısı, kızları, çocukları korkudan sapsarı kesildiler. Büyük kızı,
- Ne telkini beybaba! İşte karşımızda, görmüyor musun? Dedi.
- Görüyorum.
- Ey, o halde telkin ne demek?
- Buraya girdik gireli peri masalından başka bir şey işittik mi? Her gelen bir şey söyledi. Şimdi biz bu tesirle böyle hepimiz birden, olmayan bir şeyi görüyoruz.
- Bu mümkün değil.
- Nasıl değil?

Sermet Bey, hokkabaz Kazanöv’ün nasıl bütün bir tiyatro halkına ceplerindeki sanatı yanlış gösterdiğini filan anlattı. “Gözümüz kulağımızdan giren yalanları görür dedi, fakat elimizi bu gördüğümüz şeye sürmeyiz. Hemen kaybolur”. Sonra kalktı. Karısının menetmesini filan dinlemedi. Elini görünen hayale sürmek için bahçeye fırladı. Çamlara doğru gitti. Fakat hayal kaçtı. Kayboldu. O gece evin içinde Sermet Beyden başka kimse uyuyamadı.

Artık her gece bu hayali görüyorlardı. Sermet Bey, elini sürmeğe çıkınca hayal kaçıyordu. Biraz alışır gibi oldular. Fakat bir gece hepsi uyurken müthiş bir sarsıntı köşkü yerinden oynattı. Balkonlara koştular. Bir şey göremediler. Sabahleyin yemek odasının dibinde kocaman bir taş buldular. Sermet Bey annesi, “Bizi bu köşkten çıkarmazsan sana hakkımı helâl etmem” demeğe başladı. Beş yüz kırk liraya iki ay oturmak… Bu Sermet Beyin işine gelecek şey değildi. Ama gece aşırı büyük büyük taşlar ev halkına uyku uyutmuyor, hepsini heyecan içinde bırakıyordu. Sermet Bey, her defasında hayalin üzerine gidiyor, bir türlü elini süremiyordu. Taşların başladığını duyan komşular, “daha çıkmazsanız camlarınızı da kırar” diyorlardı. Sermet Bey kontratın, “Çıkarken bütün tamirat müstecire aittir” maddesini hatırlayarak daha ziyade canı sıkılıyor, bu cam kırma devresinin hululünden evvel bir şey yapmayı düşünüyordu.


They said:
- It was your imagination!

They didn't believe the other servants who saw it, either. All family members went out to the balcony of the back room. They saw a white spirit which Artemisya was pointing her finger at. It stood under the trees, it seemed that it was looking at the mansion. Mr. Sermet rubbed his eyes and said:
- Gosh! Look at the power of imagination!

His wife, his girls, his children(? girls are not children?) turned pale with fear. The eldest daughter said:
- What imagination, father! It's there, opposite us, don't you see?
- I do see.
- Hey, then what do you mean imagination?
- Since we moved in here, have we heard anything else but these ghost tales? Everyone who came here told something. Now under this influence we are all seeing something non-existent all of a sudden.
- It is not possible.
- Why not?

Mr. Sermet told something about a swindler Casanova who showed the whole theatre audience an imaginary watch (?) in their pockets. "Our eyes show us the illusions that enter through our ears, but our hands cannot touch these things that we see. They disappear immediately." Then he stood up. He did not listen to his wife's warnings and such. He rushed into the garden to touch with his hand the spirit that was seen. He went straight to the pines. But the spirit escaped. It disappeared. That evening noone in the house was able to fall asleep except for Mr. Sermet.

Then they saw the spirit every night. When Mr. Sermet went out to touch it, the spirit disappeared. They got somewhat used to it, so to say. However, one night when everybody was asleep, a terrible jolt shook the mansion. They ran to the balconies. They didn't see anything. In the morning they found a huge stone in the back of the dining room. Mr. Sermet's mother started to say: "If you do not get us out of this mansion, I will not give you my blessing." Staying for 2 months for 540 liras... This did not quite suit Mr. Sermet. But at night, gigantic stones did not let the people in the house fall asleep, they left everyone in anxiety. Every time Mr. Sermet went after the spirit, there was no way he could touch it. The neighbours, who heard that the story with the stones had started, said: "If you still do not leave, it will break your windows, too". When Mr. Sermet remembered the paragraph in the contract that said: "All reparation works are due to the tenant when he leaves", it stressed him even more. He thought to do something before the arrival of this window-breaking phase.

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby Hypocrisy » 2012-10-28, 10:17

I'd like to add some clarification to the debate. Peri mostly refers to a feminine ghost that generally doesn't do harm. Since it's an abstract being that is thought to live alongside humans without having a tangible visual existence and can be considered spooky because of this reason. That's how the author used it in the context. If it was written 30-40 years ahead of the original date, the author would probably use hayalet which is predominantly used in contemporary Turkish to add more of a frightening meaning into the context when you speak of supernatural creatures.


I'd also like to clear out the doubts on what meaning "bayağı" has in "Bayağı peri!". You can also say "Bildiğin peri!" there which has a meaning along the lines of "fairy as you know" (emphasis on the latter expression). It's like an interjection there. As voron stated above, it's very close to "usual" in terms of meaning but "usual" doesn't cover the whole contextual connotation in the interjection. The english counterpart of "bayağı" in this context would probably be "sheer, downright, mere/merely, real/really" or a phrase like "for real, as you know". Let me give you an example to clarify it a little bit more;

He wasn't cool to me, it was sheer rudeness. - Bana karşı iyi değildi, o bildiğin kabalıktı.

She was trying to be witty but she sounded downright stupid. - Esprili olmaya çalışıyordu ama bildiğin/tamamen/bayağı salak göründü.

Was it ghost for real? - O gerçekten/bildiğin/bayağı hayalet miydi?

I hope this wraps it up in your minds :) .
Last edited by Hypocrisy on 2012-10-28, 20:19, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby kalemiye » 2012-10-28, 11:12

Thank you Hyprocrisy! :)
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Re: King-Size Translations

Postby modus.irrealis » 2012-10-31, 9:06

Yavaş yavaş kendi itikadı da bozulmağa başladı. Nihayet çıkmağa karar verdiler. Fakat başka bir ev bulamıyorlardı. Köşke dair daha bin türlü hikayeler işitmeğe başladılar. Sözde burası eskiden kabristanmış. Mutfağın olduğu yerde beş yüz senelik bir evliya yatıyormuş… Sermet Bey, atılan taşlara, kırılan camlara rağmen hâlâ periye inanmıyordu. Bu peri daima çamlığın içine kaçıyor, orada sır oluyordu. Sermet Bey, bir gün çamlığın içine saklanıp birdenbire perinin karşısına çıkmayı, yahut arkasından yavaşça gidip elini sürüvermeyi düşündü. Evdekilerin hiçbiri buna razı olmadı: “Seni hemen oracıkta çarpar!” diyorlardı. Fakat Sermet Bey, bulanan gönlüne rağmen, periye, ecinniye filan bir türlü inanmıyordu. Ertesi akşam koruya gitti. Büyük bir çamın alt dallarından birine bindi. Bekledi, bekledi. Gece yarısı oldu. Köşktekiler de meraktan uyuyamıyorlardı. Zavallıların balkonlarda gezindiklerini [görüyordu]. Birdenbire yüreği hop etti. Hayal sökün etmişti.

Eliyle dokununca gölge gibi uçup silineceğini katiyen bildiği halde yine Sermet Beyin dizleri titremeğe başladı. İçinden, “Ben korkmuyorum, fakat [vücudum] korkuyor!” dedi. Yavaşça aşağı atladı. Hayalin arkasından yürüdü. Şeklinin hatları pek sarih gözüküyordu. Yaklaştığını hayalet hiç duymadı. Yavaşça elini uzattı. Beyaz cisme dokundu. Hayal birdenbire fena halde ürktü. Ama kaybolmadı. Döndü, Sermet Beyi görünce [alabildiğine] kaçmağa başladı.


Slowly his own belief too began to break down. In the end they decided to move out. But they could not find another house. They began to hear more than a thousand kinds of stories about the mansion. Supposedly this was formerly a cemetery. In the place where the kitchen was there lay a five-hundred-year old saint... Mr. Sermet, despite the stones that were beign thrown and the windows that were being broken, still did not believe in the spirit. This spirit always fled into the pine grove, and vanished there. Mr. Sermet thought of one day hiding in the pine grove and suddenly come out in front of the spirit, or going quietly from behind it and ??? its hand. No one of those in the house were willing to do this. "It will strike you immediately then and there!" they said. But Mr. Sermet, despite his disturbed heart, did not believe in any way in spirits, djinn, and such. The next evening he went to the grove. He got up onto one of the lower branches of a big pine tree. He waited, waited. It became midnight. Those inside the mansion could not sleep from worry. He saw the miserable people walking around on their balconies. Suddenly his heart jumped. A vision appeared.

Although he knew that when he touched it, it would fly way like a shadow and in no way be wiped away [???], again Mr. Sermet's knees began to shake. Inside him he said, "I do not fear, but my body fears." Quietly he jumped down. He walked form behind the vision. The lines of its form appeared very clear. The ghost did not sense at all that he was approaching. Quietly he stretched out his hand. He touched a white body. The vision suddenly took fright in a bad way. But it did not disappear. It turned, and when it saw Mr. Sermet, it started to slip to where it could take him [???].


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