Интервью с профессором Сергеем Мироновым

Текст 13

артисты балета – ballet performers

сборные Союза – members of USSR national team

взлет духа – flights/a soaring of the spirit

физические нагрузки – physical stress/overload

предъявлять особое требование – to be a pretty tough customer

ненавязчивый «кремлевский» сервис – sophisticated/elegant/refined/kind of "Kremlin "/"Kremlinstyle"/service

материальная база – funds

палата – ward

операционная – operating room

лейкопластырь – bandaid

бинт – gauze bandage

сами наверное оценили – you have probably seen that yourself

вата – cotton

по блату – through connections/through pull

воротила – bigwig/big shot/big cheese

наемный труд – employees/hired labour/wage labour

зарабатывающий деньги на несчастьях ближнего своего – making money off his neighbor's misfortunes/raking it in over the next guy's problems/making money at the next guy's expense

унижать – humiliate

широкий человек – generous person

даже не очень большое застолье – even a small get-together/having a few people over/the food and drink for just a few guests/even entertaining modestly

городской транспорт – public transport

в непомятом состоянии – feeling crisp and clean

положение «дореволюционного» профессора – the situation of a "prerevolutionary" professor

всемирный конгресс по спортивной травматологии – world congress on sports injuries

лучшие силы мира – the best specialists/most knowledgeable experts

приток иногородних больных – flow of patients from other cities

сокращать число коек вдвое – to halve the number of beds

облегчить непосильное финансовое бремя – to ease the financial burden/plight

перелом любой сложности – a fracture of any degree of complexity

выписывать – to discharge

амбулаторные реабилитационные базы – ambulatory rehabilitation centers

замкнутый круг – vicious circle

семейственность – family business

пойти по чьим-то стопам – to follow in one’s footsteps

Комментарии:

1) ваши основные пациенты — the idea is not "basic" here, but rather who are most of them, who forms the bulk or majority of them.

2) Спортсмены... Артисты балета... Цирковые артисты — Артисты here are "performers,"or "performing artists,"not necessarily "artists," and спортсмены is usually translated as "athletes."

3) разными судьбами — "with different fates" is a much too literal translation. These people are "from different walks of life," "from different backgrounds,"even, colloquially, "all kinds of people."

4) к больничному обслуживанию предъявляют особые требования —they are demanding, insistent, "tough customers." The verb предъявляют is easily subsumed into any of these expressions and does not require literal translation.

5) нет для этого материальной базы — "material base" does not mean anything in English. He means, quite simply, that he does not have the money or the funds for this.

6) сами, наверное, оценили — the tone here is obviously sarcastic. "Assess" or "evaluate" is much too formal. "You've probably been through that" or "seen for yourself'is what is meant.

7) нет в помине — again, this is very colloquial. "Not one in sight,"or even "forget it"will get the concept across.

8) еще куда ни шло — this idiom can be translated as "is still livable,""is still bearable," meaning that though the situation is not good there are far worse situations.

9) давно считается — what is important here is the verb tense. This cannot be translated by a simple or compound present tense, as this is action begun in the past and continued into the present. "Has always/long/been considered prestigious"would be a good translation.

10) только по блату — the closest English translation is "to have connections,"or, colloquially, "to have pull." "You have to know someone"will also do; a very colloquial expression is "to have an in with someone."

1!) за лечение необходимо платить — the word необходимо does not require separate translation, as "you have to pay"covers that. "It is necessary to pay"is formal and awkward.

12) зарабатывающим деньги на несчастьях своего ближнего — while the idea here is that of "making money off someone else," or more formally, at someone else's expense, the use of "neighbor" keeps the biblical nuance of ближнего.

13) не дожить до этого — the English idiom needs "day" — i.e. "live to sec that day."

14) отечественная система — "The Russian system" or "The system in our country" are clear renditions of this phrase..

15) нашего человека — this has to be rephrased if it is to make any sense in English. "Our people," or "Russians" will do, but the plural must be used.

16) не по карману — "no one can afford that" or "afford to shell/fork out that kind of money"will do. Or, simply, "that's just too expensive."

17) широкий человек — a seemingly simple, but quite tricky phrase. The idea here is one of generosity, of living well but not in a selfish sense. "Broad" or "open" will not work. "I like to help out"or "I'm pretty generous"gets the idea across.

18) не очень большое застолье — застолье is one of those culturally determined concepts which always creates a headache for the translator/interpreter. This needs rephrasing: "a small get-together," or "having a few people over" is adequate. "Wining and dining" implies going out to a restaurant, not entertaining at home.

19) сумасшедшие деньги — "it costs an arm and a leg," or "a (small) fortune" are common colloquialisms in English for this. "It breaks the bank"is even more informal.

20) не могу — "I can't" is not a good translation, because the issue here is not one of being physically unable to take public transportation, but rather of not wanting to do so. Hence "I won't"or "don't"are needed here, not "I can't."

21) одна надежда на спонсоров — "the only hope is for sponsors" is a bit awkward; "our only hope" is much better. Or, "The only way out for us is to find sponsors."

22) замкнутый круг — is best translated by the idiom "a vicious circle"rather than by a "closed circle." This is an English idiom which has lost the original meaning of "vicious" as brutal or cruel.

23) это почему-то порицалось — the idea is not so much one of rejection, as of criticism.

24) в один прекрасный день плюнуть на эту муторную жизнь — this phrase needs some reworking, as a literal translation would be both silly and incomprehensible. "Throw in the towel"or "walk away from it all"would be good equivalents.

25) я далек от громких слов о патриотизме— here, too, reworking is needed. "I'm not given to making patriotic statements" is a possibility, or "I don't go around trumpeting patriotism/patriotic slogans."

26) дело — this is "cause" or "work,"or even "my life's work."