Clothes and nickname

[Pauk]

panpredseda, if you find mistakes in meaning in the transcript, I would be more than glad to discuss them.

[panpredseda]

Yesterday I look for English subtitles for Stalker a in the one, that I found "gnida" is translated as "a louse", it isn't exact translation "a louse" is in Russian "vosh" and as Malishas said "a nit" is louse's egg. Word "louse" better express hypocritical, two-faced man.

[Pauk]

I agree that Writer means Stalker is a louse, but I still doubt whether Stalker himself wants to say he is 'two-faced', when he says 'ja gnida'. I understand his words as acknowledgment of his misery, not of two-facedness.

[panpredseda]

I think that Stalker wants say that he's two-faced, but not in the meaning of hypocrisy:

STALKER:
"Yes, you're right, l'm a louse.
l haven't done any good in this world, and l can't do any.
l couldn't give anything even to my wife.
l can't have any friends either.
But don't take mine from me!
They'd already taken everything from me back there, behind the barbed wire.
So all that's mine is here.
You understand? Here! ln the Zone!
My happiness, my freedom, my self-respect, it's all here!
l bring here people like me, desperate and tormented.
People who have nothing else to hope for.
And l can help them!
No one else can help them, only l, the louse, can!
l'm so happy to be able to help them that l want to cry.
And that's all.

One Stalker's face is shown outside the Zone: reprobate, lonesome (except his wife & daugther), unhappy man
And other Stalker's face is in the Zone: he is in harmony with nature (scene where Stalker relax near to water - Malishas's avatar, scene with flowers, which was destroyed by Porcupine, but they bloom again. He's happy in the Zone, next unhappiness is caused by his fellow-travellers, by their doings...
In the Zone Stalker isn't worthless man.

[Pauk]

My translation as it stands in the transcript is:
STALKER: (...) Yes, you’re right, I’m a nit, I haven’t done anything in this world and I cannot do anything... And neither could I give anything to my wife! And I do not have any friends and I cannot have, but you cannot take what’s mine from me! Everything is already taken from me, there, on the other side of the barbed wire. All I have is here. Can you understand! Here! In the Zone! My happiness, my freedom, my dignity – everything’s here! For I lead the same as me in here, unhappy ones, suffering. They... They have no other hope left! And I – I am able to! Can you understand – I am able to help them! Nobody else can help them, but I, nit, I, nit, am able to! I am ready to shed tears of happiness that I am able to help them. That’s all! And I want nothing else.
It's important, that when Writer uses word gnida, it never stands alone, but appears only in expression 'licemernaja gnida', that is, hypocritical nit (or a louse). Stalker misunderstands him in a way, acknowledging that he is gnida, though not a 'licemernaja gnida'. And here it is not the matter of real world vs. nature and the Zone (however, it's the content of Stalker's speech). Stalker explains what he means saying 'gnida' by following words: I haven’t done anything in this world and I cannot do anything. So what I'm trying to say is that Writer's suspicion that Stalker is a hypocrite has nothing to do with duality in Stalker's life.

[panpredseda]

2MALISHAS: I watched the scene again, and you're most probably right.

as Writer says:
"l have no wish to argue with you.
Truth is born of argument,
d**n it!"

But I think that word "gnida" is translation problem in the context.
Writer's "licomernaja gnida" should be translated "a louse", so it represents hypocrisy,
but Stalker's "gnida" should be translated "a nit" or maybe better "a worm", because "a nit" express foolishnes and stupidity, but "a worm" means misery...

So to protect the purport of dialogue it can be translated as:
Writer: "You hypocritical louse"
...
Stalker: "Yes, you're right I'm a worm (a nit)"

but this is disconnected, illogical...

[Pauk]

Hmm,

what about:
WRITER: You're a hypocritical louse!
STALKER: Yes, I am a louse...

as rambler gives translation to louse - parshivyj chelovek, gnida. Writer and Stalker each give a specific description of the term, so it's ok, that it can be understood in many ways.

Dear panpredseda, as I already asked you, couldn't you look at the transcript (the one behind the barbed wire..), and find more questionable places?

[panpredseda]

OK, I think I can have look at the transcript, but I have to wait for some train with insulators to pass the barbed wire ;D

[The Ferret]

In the Italian version he says: 'I'm a worm'.

The two-faces affair doesn't really apply to the whole context, in my humble opinion. It doesn't fit, since the Stalker is *NOT* hypocritical at all and I don't think he just sees himself as such.
What's so meaningful in the term 'NIT'? The nit is an egg, the egg of a Louse. It doesn't make sense.

[panpredseda]

It's difficult task to translate it correctly to some other language and prevent the sense of this one word in the dialogue

I'm not so learned in Russian language to know exactly meanings of word "gnida" = "a nit", but I think, it can be used to represent hypocrisy and misery in the same way

In Czech
"hnida"(CZ)="gnida"(RUS - in pronunciation transcription - Russian alphabet doesn't work correctly when I write posts at this board)="a nit"(ENG) represents firstly laziness, secondly misery/poverty and then hypocrisy afterwards
"veš"(CZ)="vosh"(RUS)="a louse"(ENG) represents hypocrisy in itself
"červ"(CZ)="cherv (or cherw?)"(RUS)="a worm"(ENG) represents misery, but it's more bookish

In English
"a nit" is synonym of foolishness or stupidity
"a louse" represents hypocrisy and badness (synonyms to a louser are bastard, gunk, scamp, bad s**t etc.)
"a worm" represents verbs to cringe, to kowtow, to truckle and can be also synonym to misery

I and Malishas agrees (well, I think that Malishas agree...) to translate "gnida" as "a louse" in English, but you might must find your own animal or insect that is used in your language to express misery and hypocrisy in the same way (What about "pidocchio"(IT)="a louse"(ENG)? or what word is used in Italian version?)

Well, next translation problem is that "Martyshka" is translated as "Monkey" or "Little Monkey". Couldn't be "Martyshka" diminutive name "Marta"? Is name Marta used in Russia?

[Pauk]

>Ferret> It is Writer's opinion that Stalker is hypocritical.

>Panpredseda> I do agree.

About Martishka: I've seen it translated into English as Little Monkey (Monkey in the lib.ru text), Marta or left as it is, Martishka.

In the Picnic daughter's name is Maria, but she is always called Martishka by her father. Martishka is a playful form of Maria (the usual gentle form is Masha or Mashenka). And it means in Russian 'a monkey'. It is translated into my language as 'Little Monkey' (Bezhdzhionele) in Picnic.

SPOILERS FOR FUTURE 'PICNIC' READERS
Moreover, it is connected with what is happening with her, that is, the alienation - she comes to remind an animal in the end - the fur, the eyes and communication with other creations of the Zone.
END OF SPOILERS

I find it acceptable that she also has a nickname just like the three others.

[Pauk]

>Panpredseda> Be careful with these trains. I'd advise you to use the tunnel under the fence, it's in the southern side, entrance in the abandoned village, there's a metal nut hanged at the door to that certain house.
You should only take the train port when you have to perplex your customers..

[panpredseda]

2MALISHAS: Thank you for your advice
In the Czech version of Roadside Picnic, Stalker's (Roderick's) daughter is called Agnes, so I can't see any connection between Maria => Martyshka

[Pauk]

What? I mean she IS called Mariia in the original, Russian Piknik na oboshchine, in the English translation on the net, in the Lithuanian translation. She is called after Redrick's mother.
Marta exists in Russian as Marfa, diminutives Marfunya, Marfuta, Marfushka. (I found that it can be canadianized both as Martha and Mary).
Diminutives of Mariia are Maria, Masha, Mashenka, Manya.
As I said it can be a playful form of the name Mariia, made with a specific deminutive ending -ishka and changing a couple of letters. All the time Redrick and Stalker utter that name, there's a deeper feeling in it, than it would be using a usual name.

Is she called Agnes by Redrick, or by Nunan?
It's like "Emil from Lioneberg", a Swedish children book, the boy from it named Emil got a German name in a German translation.
But it's no children book, Piknik. How come they do such things with literature?

[panpredseda]

She's called Agnes by Roderick, by Noonan and by Roderick's wife too (is Roderick's wife in original Guta? or is it some "special" translation again? Maybe I must read the English version to find what else was changed in Czech version)
Maybe the Czech translater was "initiative" or maybe she have problem with interpretation of Martyshka so she simply change her name to Agnes.
In Slovak version is it correct, she's called Opička which means Monkey or Little Monkey.
Maybe there is some connection between words Agnes and Monkey in Czech language, but can't see it