"Ах! Бесмысленность Всегд А Где Действует – Есть", or "Stork, Hippopotamus, Sparrow, Mushroom – on the Transl Ator’s Alphabet in the Non-Alphabetical Approach

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyse the Polish translation of S. Marshak’s poem for children Веселая азбука про все на свете. The source text is rhymed and reveals the author’s travel through consecutive letters of the Russian alphabet. This already puts the translator in a difficult position since the Polish alphabet differs from the Russian one. The greatest problem, however, turns out to be not the disruption of the order of the alphabet, but failure to adhere to the artistic shape of the work. The translation is de-rhythmical, often unrhymed, and its literal translation results in making the poem nonsensical in some stanzas without sticking to the rhyme.