Linguocultural transformations in the translation of kissa texts into the Tatar language

Gilemshin Fler Foatovich ORCID: 0000-0003-1957-5042 Doctor of Philology Associate Professor; Institute of International Relations, History and Oriental Studies; Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University Chief Researcher; G.Ibragimov Center for Written Heritage and Translation of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan; Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan Leading Researcher ; MGAKF Laboratory of the KazNC RAS 420111, Russia, Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan, Bauman St., 20, Fler.Gilemshin@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Arzamazov Aleksei Andreevich ORCID: 0000-0001-7577-5917 Doctor of Philology Professor; Institute of the Russian Language; P. Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia Head of the Laboratory of Multifactorial Humanitarian Analysis and Cognitive Philology; Kazan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences 420111, Russia, Rep. Tatarstan, Kazan, Vakhitovsky district, Lobachevsky str., 2/31 arzami@rambler.ru Other publications by this author

We consider translation as the creation of a new text, equivalent to the original in content and style, but adapted to the norms of the recipient language. The quality of the translation largely depends on the psychological and value orientation of the translator, whose main task is to achieve the adequacy of the translation. In the old Tatar literary language, which was full of Arabic-Persian and Turkish borrowings, translators often used these lexemes unchanged, since their semantics were understandable to native speakers.

Such a picture is also observed in the Tatar translation of the work "One Thousand and One Nights". The author often tries to bring the content of the kisser closer to the realities of the Tatar world by replacing some details. This can be clearly seen in The Tale of the Merchant and the Spirit. For example, in the Arabic original, the elder tells his story to Jin.:

اتعلم يا أيها العفريت أن هذه الغزالة هي بنت عمي ومن لحمي ودمي وكنت تزوجت بها وهي صغيرة السن وأقمت معها نحو ثلاثين سنة فلم أرزق منها بولد فأخذت لي سرية فرزقت منها بولد ذكر كأنه البدر إذا بدا بعينين مليحتين وحاجبين مزججين وأعضاء كاملة فكبر شيئًا فشيئًا إلى أن صار ابن خمس عشرة سنة فطرأت لي سفرة إلى بعض المدن فسافرت بمتجر عظيم وكانت بنت عمي هذه الغزالة تعلمت السحر والكهانة من صغرها فسحرت ذلك الولد عجلًا وسحرت الجارية أمه بقرة وسلمتها إلى الراعي .^{[5, c. 13]}

‘Know, O Ifrit," the elder said then, "that this gazelle is my uncle's daughter and, as it were, my flesh and blood. I married her when she was very young, and lived with her for about thirty years, but had no child with her; and then I took a concubine, and she gave me a son like the moon at full moon, and his eyes and eyebrows were perfect in beauty! He grew up, and became big, and reached the age of fifteen; and then I had to go to some city, and I went with different goods. And my uncle's daughter, this gazelle, learned witchcraft and sorcery from an early age, and she turned the boy into a calf, and that slave girl, his mother, into a cow and gave them to a shepherd’^{[6, p. 28]}.

A comparison of the passage from the Arabic original with the Russian translation shows that M. Salye's translation accurately conveys the meaning of this passage in the original. However, when comparing the Turkish text with the Arabic original, at first glance, it seems that the Turkish translation is identical to the original, but a careful comparison revealed that the Turkish translator focuses on the infertility of the wife of the narrator and skips description of the external data of the child: افندم المده اولان اوشبو کیك بنم عمم قزی اولوب کچك ایکن بکا تزویج ایتمشلر ایدی بونیچه سنین بینمزده معامله ده زوجیت اولمش ایسه عقمیه اولمق حسبیله اولادی اولمدیغندن بر اشترا واستفراش ایلدم جاریه و بر اندن اوغلم دنیایه کلدی اوغلم اون بش یاشنه وارمقده ایکان لاجل التجاره کز طشره بنده یه عاظم اولدیغمده اوشبو زوجه م اوغلم ایله جاریه می چکا میوب زیاده سیله سحاره اولدیغندن سحر ایله اوغلمی بوزاغو صوره تنه جاریه می اینك صوره تنه تحویل ایدوب چوبانمزه تسلیم ایتمش ^{[7, c. 12]}.

E fendem elemde ulan i š bu kijek benim amym qyzy ulub k üč ek iken bana tezvic itme š ler ide bu ni č e sinin bejnemezde muamele zevcijet ulmy š ise de ğ aqamije ulmaq xesabijla evlade ulmadyndan bir carije i š tire ve istifra š ejledem ve andan bir o lum Dunjaje Geldi oi lum unbi š je š ene varmaqda iken liecli et-ticere bendeniz ta š raja, azim uldu, umda i, bu zevcem o, lum ile carijeme ç akamejub zijedesile saxxara uldy, yndan sixer ile o, lumu buza, u suretine carijeme inek suretine texvil id ü b, ubanymyza teslim itme š. ‘... my lord, this game that I brought is my uncle's daughter, and at a very young age she was married to me; we were married for many years, and because of her infertility, we had no children, so I bought myself a concubine; my son was born to her. When my son reached the age of fifteen, I had to leave because of the trade. My wife did not love my son and concubine, moreover, being a sorceress, with the help of witchcraft, she turned her son into a calf and her concubine into a cow, and handed them over to our shepherd’ (our translation).

The emphasis on the infertility of the wife of the elder narrator, in our opinion, is caused by an attempt to justify the purchase of a slave, i.e. the spouse had to take this step in order to have an heir.

The Tatar translation basically corresponds to the Turkish version of the text: qart äjtäder äfändem qulymdağy kijek bänem ğamym qyzy ulyb jäš waqytda bän a nikax ideb wirmešlär ide, ničä jyllar bergä irle xatynly bulyb torsaq da, balalarymyz bulmağanlyqdan, ber carijä satyb aldym, andan ber uğyl dönjağa kileb unbiš jäšenä kerdekdä bän säwdä öčen čit šähärgä kitdem, bu xatynym carijä berlän uglymny ber jaratmajynča, bik säxirä ukdyğynnan sixer ilän uglymny bozaw surätenä carijämne käcä surätenä qujmyšda, kötüčemezne h älenä tabšyryb ^{[8, p. 12]} ‘The old man says: ‘My lord, this game that I have brought is my uncle's daughter, and at a very young age she became my wife; Despite the fact that we had been married for many years, we had no children; so I bought myself a concubine, and she bore me a son. When my son reached the age of fifteen, I went to another city to engage in trade. My wife was a witch and did not love my son and concubine; she turned her son into a calf and the concubine into a goat and handed them over to our shepherd’ (our translation).

As we can see, the creative "transformative" approach of the Tatar translator in this case is manifested in the form of replacing a detail. In the Arabic and Turkish versions, it is said that the wicked witch wife of a merchant turns his slave and son into a cow and a calf, and Fatih Khalidi in the Tatar version, for unknown reasons, replaced the cow with a goat. Perhaps this approach was due to the fact that in fairy tales that were known to the Tatar people, turning someone into a goat with the help of witchcraft was a fairly common plot.

The situation of replacing a part can be traced back to other authors. In the translation of the work "Kalila and Dimna", made by G. Faizkhanov, we recorded a remarkably piquant transformation: if in the Arabic original the monkey pinched his tail with a log, then in the Tatar translation the tail was replaced by genitals.:

فقام القرد و تكلّف ما ليس من شأنه فركب الخشبة و جعل ظهره قبل الوتد و وجهه قبل الخشبة فتدلى ذنبه في الشقّ و نزع الوتد فلزم الشّقّ عليه فكاد يغشى عليه من الألم .^{[9, c. 69]}

She climbed onto the trestle and sat on a log, not noticing that her tail had fallen into the gap. When she pulled out the wedge, the log pinched her tail and the monkey lost consciousness from the pain’ ^{[10, p. 84]}; Ul ke še ber jaq a kitk ač tiz ü k any n urynyna kileb xasij a l a ren jaryq a salyndyryb utyrdy. Alaj-bolaj iteb teše tyrnağay belän tartyb jaryqğa qalğan čöjne suyrdy. Ul waqyt jaryq jabylyb kitde dä monyη xasijäläre qysylyb qaldy. Majmun awyrtudan issez bulyb jyğyldy .^{[11, c. 35]} ‘When that man went to the side, (the monkey) quickly sat down in his place and its accessories got into the gap, it tried to extract the wedge from the gap in various ways, with teeth and nails. Suddenly, the gap closed and the log pinched his buttocks. The monkey lost consciousness from the pain...’ (our translation).

The parable of the raven and the venomous black viper tells of a heron that tricked the fish on the lake.:

قال ابن آوى: زعموا أن علجوماً عشش في أجمةٍ كبيرة السمك؛ فعاش بما ما عاش .^{[9, c. 85]}

And the jackal began: "They say that one heron settled in a swamp where there were many fish, and lived quietly there for a long time" ^{[10, p. 99]}.

The Tatar translation is about a seagull: Ber aq çarlaq ber k ül jaqasynda maqam tota ide .^{[11, p. 47]} ‘Once upon a time there was a seagull on the shore of a lake’ (our translation).

The same parable tells how a raven stole a precious necklace from a young rich woman.:

فانطلق الغراب محلّقا في السّماء فوجد امرأة من بنات العظماء فوق سطح تغتسل و قد وضعت ثيابها و حليّها ناحية فانقضّ‌ و اختطف من حليّها عقدا و طار به .^{[9, c. 87]}

‘Flying over the city, he saw on the roof of a tall house a young woman, the daughter of a rich nobleman, who was washing, taking off her clothes and jewelry and putting them aside. The raven fell like a stone onto the roof, grabbed a brilliantly precious necklace and took off’ ^{[10, p. 101]}.

In the Tatar translation, in this episode, the raven stole a bundle with a lot of jewelry.: Ber baj xatyny ü ze su? a kereb cä w ? hird ? n bel ? zekl ? ren, j ? zekl ? ren, alqalaryn, k ? l jaqasynda ber jawlyq ? a t ? jn ? b qaldyr ? an ik ? n, qar? a ? ul t ? jenne k ? t ^{[11, p. 49]} ‘When the rich man's wife went swimming, she wrapped her bracelets, rings, earrings and other jewelry in a shawl and left it on the shore of the lake. The raven grabbed this bundle and flew away’ (our translation).

In the original Arabic, there is a story about a hermit who is looking for a thief who stole his belongings and witnessed a massacre between two sheep.:

فمرّ في طريقه بوعلين‌ يتناطحان حتى سالت دماؤهما .^{[9, c. 69]}

‘On the side of the road, he saw two sheep, which bumped horns and fought so cruelly that they inflicted deep wounds on each other’ ^{[10, p. 95]}.

In the Tatar translation, the same story is not about sheep, but about bulls.:

Menä julda ike ügez ber bere belän oryšyb mögezläre belän sözešeb či qanğa töškännär ^{[11, c. 45]} ‘Here on the road two bulls were fighting each other with their horns and spilling blood...’ (our translation).

The "innovation" of Tatar translators is also observed in other aspects. Although these changes do not relate to the lexico-semantic level, they demonstrate adaptation at the substantive and mental levels of the original text, which can be traced to such a technique as comparison. Consider the Arabic original of the tale "One Thousand and One Nights":

قالت: بلغني أيها الملك السعيد، أن السندباد البحري لما زاد تعجبه من الطائر الذي رآه في الجزيرة تذكر حكاية أخبره بها قديماً أهل السياحة والمسافرون، وهي أن في بعض الجزائر طيراً عظيماً يقال له الرخ يزق أولاده بالأفيال فتحققت أن القبة التي رأيتها إنما هي بيضة من بيض الرخ؛ ثم إني تعجبت من خلق الله تعالى. فبينما أنا على هذه الحالة وإذا بذلك الطير نزل على تلك القبة وحضنها بجناحيه وقد مد رجليه من خلفه على الأرض ونام عليها .^{[12, c. 125]}

‘... she said: It came to me, O happy king, that Sinbad the sailor was even more surprised at the bird when he saw it over the island; and he remembered a story that people who traveled and traveled had told him long ago, namely, that on certain islands there is a huge bird called a Roc, which feeds its children with elephants. "And I became convinced," he said, "that the dome I saw was a Roc's egg, and I began to wonder what Allah the Great had created. —And at that time, a bird suddenly landed on this dome, and hugged it with its wings, and stretched its legs on the ground behind it, and fell asleep on it."^{[13, c. 394]}.

A comparison of the Arabic original and the Russian translation does not give any reason to make any critical opinions about the quality of M. Salye's masterfully executed translation.

The Turkish translation at the semantic level almost repeats the Arabic original of the fairy tales, the only feature of the Turkish text is the Roc bird feeding its children with elephant cubs.:

پس اول عظیم الجثه مانند کوه اولان مرغ جزیره یه تقرب ایله اول قبه اوزرینه قونوب قنادلر ایله اورتوب یاتدی چون بن من القدیم سیاح و سفر زمین ایدن ذواتدن بر حکایه ایشتمش ایدم شویله کی بعض اطه لرده رخ نامنده بر بیوک قوش وار ایدکه یارولری فیل یاورورایله یوررایدی اول حکایه حاطریمه کلوب قبه مذکوره رخ یمورطه سی اولدغنی بیلدوم و اوزرینه قونوب یاتمغله زیادجه تقینم حاصل اولدی دینجه شهرزاد صباح تقرب ایتدیکنی کوروب سکوت ایلدی... .^{[14, c. 50]}

Here is a transcription of this text: pes ul azim -l- cessa meninde guh olan mere a cezireje taqarrub ejle ul qubbe uzrene qunub qanadlar ile uratub jatdy cun ben min -l- qadim sejax ve sefer zemin iden zevetdan bir xikeje išetmeš idem šöile ki bağze atalarda rux namynda bir büjük quš var ideki javrulari fil javrularile jururide ul xikaje xatyryma gelib qubbe-i mezkurä rux jumurtasy uldyğyny bildüm ve uzerene qunub jatmağla zijedece tagjynym xasil oldu dejnce Šährezad sabax taqarrub itdegen kürüb sukut ejledi ‘...then the Roc bird, which has a huge body, approached the island, landed on this dome and, embracing it with its wings, lay down on it. Once upon a time, I heard a story from travelers that huge birds named Roc live on some islands, feeding their chicks with elephant cubs; remembering this story, I realized that the dome in question is a Roc egg. The manner of her sitting out further convinced me of this," Shahrezada said, "and when she saw that it was morning, she stopped her speech."

In the above examples from the Arabic and Turkish translations, it is said that the elephant serves as food for Roc chicks. In the Tatar translation, the lexeme phil (kebek) (as) ‘elephant’ is used to express the size of Roc chicks: š undyj zur qo š taw kebi kileb bu k ü bb ä neη ü zren ä qunyb qanatlary il ä uratyb jatdy b ä n b äğ ze ad ä ml ä rd ä n i š edeb idem rux dig a n qo š bar anyη jomyrqadan ç yq ğ anda balasy fil kebi zur ulyr dijeb bu s ü zl a r x a teremg a kileb k ü bb a bu qo š nyη jomyrqasy ik a nen beldem – čö nki bu qo š basyb jatuyndan beldem - Šä hrezad taη jaqyn dijeb s ü k ü t a jl a de. "A big bird, like a mountain, flew to this dome and, embracing it with its wings, lay down on it. I have heard from some people that there is a Roc bird and its chicks that hatch from elephant–sized eggs, I remembered this and realized that this dome is the egg of this bird - I learned from the manner of its incubation. Shahrezada, saying that it was morning, stopped her speech ’our translation).

In Oriental literature, the face of a beautiful girl is often likened to the moon on the fourteenth night of the month. In the Tatar text, the translator compares the beautiful face of a girl with the moon on the fifteenth night of the month: bik matur qyz janyna kileb čähräse ajnyη unbišenče kičäse kebi jaltyrar ide ^{[8, p. 138]} ‘A beautiful girl came up to him, her face shining like the moon on the fifteenth night of the month.

In the Turkish version:

بر صاحبة الجمال دختریانمزه کلدیکه چهره سی ایك اون دردی کبی لمعان ایدوب .^{[7, c. 93]}

bir saxibetu-l cemal duxter janimiza geldeki čehresi ajin undürdi gebi lemğan idüb ‘A beautiful girl came up to us, her face shone like the moon on the fourteenth night of the month’ (our translation).

Comparisons of the Arabic and Turkish versions of the collection of fairy tales "One Thousand and One Nights" show that the Turkish translator tried to convey the content of the original as fully and accurately as possible. This is noticeable when researching different texts. Consider an excerpt from the Arabic original:

وبعد ذلك قمت على حيلي وتمشيت في الجزيرة يميناً وشمالاً وصرت لا أستطيع الجلوس في محل واحد. ثم إني صعدت على شجرة عالية وصرت أنظر من فوقها يميناً وشمالاً فلم أر غير سماء وماء وأشجار وأطيار وجزر ورمال، ثم حققت النظر فلاح لي في الجزيرة شيء أبيض عظيم الخلقة فنزلت من فوق الشجرة وقصدته وصرت أمشي إلى ناحيته، ولم أزل سائراً إلى أن وصلت إليه، وإذا به قبة كبيرة بيضاء شاهقة في العلو كبيرة الدائرة فدنوت منها ودرت حولها، فلم أجد لها باباً ولم أجد لي قوة ولا حركة في الصعود عليها من شدة النعومة فعلمت مكان وقوفي ودرت حول القبة أقيس دائرتها فإذا هي خمسون خطوة وافية، فصرت متفكراً في الحيلة الموصلة إلى دخولها .^{[12, c. 126]}

So I got up and walked around the island to the right and left, and I couldn't sit in one place anymore, and then I climbed a tall tree and looked from it to the right and left, but I couldn't see anything but the sky, the water, the trees, the birds, the islands, and the sands. And I looked carefully, and suddenly something white and big flashed in front of me on the island; and then I got down from the tree, and went to this object, and walked towards it until I reached it, and suddenly it turned out that it was a big white dome going up. and huge in circumference. And I went to this dome and walked around it, but I did not find any doors in it and did not feel the strength and agility to climb it, because it was very smooth and slippery. And I marked the place where I was standing, and walked around the dome, measuring its circumference, and suddenly it turned out to be fifty full steps. And I began to figure out how I could get in there’ ^{[13, p. 394]}.

The Turkish translator, trying to convey the inner feelings of the sailor in the content of the fragment of the translation of the Arabic original, expands the description of the hero's state of mind with the sentence: ... me c nun gebi c ezirede gezerek o aryzsyz etrafa sapub jurur idem ... ‘... like a madman, wandered around the island without a purpose ...’:

و شدت قساوتمدن بر یرده تك طورمغه قدرت بولمیوب مجنون کبی جزیره ده کزرك غرضسز اطرافه صاپوب یورر ایدم اغاجدن وقوم و طوپراقدان و کوك و دکزدن غیری بر شئ کورمدم اول وجهله حرکت قسریه ایله یورر ایکن قارشومه بر عظیم بیاض قبه نمایان اولمغله صو بنه عزیمت و یاننه وصول ایتدیکمده غایت مرتفع و دوز بر قبه جسیمه کوروب هر نقدر قپوسنی ارامش ایسه مده بوله میوب اطرافنده طولاشور قالدم و دائرةمحیطه سینی اولچوب ایللی خطوه قدر اولدیغنی بولدم .^{[14, c. 50]}

Here is a transcription of this text: ve š iddet qasavetimden bir jirde tik turma, a qudret bulmajub mecnun gebi cezirede gezerek, aryzsyz etrafa sapub jurur idem, a , a, dan ve qum ve tupraqdan ve k ü k ve dinezden, ajre ber š ej kurmedem ul vecehile xareket qasrije ile jurer iken qar š yma ber ğ azyjm bejaz qubbe nemejan ulma ? ile subene ? azimet ve janyna vusul itdekemde ? ajet murtafi ? ve d ü z bir qubbe cesime kurub her nikad ? r qapusyn aramy ? isemde bulamujub atrafynda tula ? ur qaldym ve daire muhiteseni ? l č eb ille xatve qader uldy ? ny buldum . ‘Because of my very harsh situation, I couldn't stay in one place and, like a madman, wandered around the island without a purpose and saw nothing but trees, sand, soil, sky and sea. I walked like this until a huge white dome appeared in front of me, and when I approached this large structure, I saw a very tall, smooth, huge dome. No matter how hard I tried to find the entrance to it, I couldn't and stayed wandering around it. Having measured its circumference, I determined that it was within fifty paces’ (our translation).

As for the Tatar translation, F. Khalidi pays little attention to the psychological state of the character, resorting to shortening the text, he ignores the description of the size of the dome. As a result, the Tatar version of this fragment turned out to be shorter: a xyr xafamdan ber jird a tik tora almaj d a im a n j ö reb ber k ö n qar š ymda bik bijek ber aq qubb a k ü reneb janyna bardym š ul qad a r qapusyn ezl a dem tabmaj atrafyndan qarab j ö rdem ^{[15, p. 80]} ‘Because of fear, I could not stay in one place and constantly walked. One day I saw a tall, white dome in front of me, went up to it, walked around, trying to find the entrance, but I couldn't' (our translation).

We have already noted above that for the translation of F. Khalidi is characterized by dryness of language and parsimony of description. The translator pays great attention to actions, while ignoring descriptive strategies and various visualization techniques.

The shortening of the text and the departure from the detailed presentation of the source text is also observed in other tales of the Tatar translation of the collection "One Thousand and One Nights". For example, in the Arabic original, in the tale of Sinbad the sailor, there is such a passage:

ولم نزل سائرين إلى أن أتينا بستاناً في جزيرة عظيمة مليحة وفيها شجر الكافور وكل شجرة منها يستظل تحتها مائة إنسان، وإذا أراد أن يأخذ منه أحد يثقب من أعلى الشجرة ثقباً بشيء طويل ويتلقى ما ينزل منه فيسيل منه ماء الكافور ويعقد مثل الشمع وهو عسل ذلك الشجر وبعد ذلك تيبس الشجرة وتصير حطباً.^{[12, c. 130]}

‘And we walked until we came to a garden on a large and beautiful island, and camphor trees grew in the garden, under each of which a hundred people could find shade. And when someone wants to get camphor, he drills a hole in the top of the tree with something long and collects what flows out of it, and camphor water pours out of it and thickens like glue — this is the juice of the camphor tree. And after that, the tree withers and goes to firewood’ ^{[13, p. 402]}.

Undoubtedly, M. Salye's Russian translation adequately conveys the content of the Arabic original. The Turkish translator also tried to convey the content of the original to the reader, but there is a parsimony of descriptions in it.:

اول باغچه ده کافوراغاچنی کوردم هر بر اغاچ یوز کشی کولکه سنه اوتوره بیلورو کافوری المق استدکلرنده اغاجی دلرلر ایمش دلندکده اندن بر صو اقوب بعده طونوب کافوراولور و صمغ کبی انعقاد ایدر لکن اغاج قورر کیدر .^{[14, c. 53]}

Transcription of this text: ul bağčada kefur ağačyn gördüm her bir ağač jüz keše külegesene utyra bilur ve kefury almaq istediklerinde ağačy d elerler emi š delendekde andan bir su aqub beğde tunub kefur ve samuğ kebi inğiqad ider lekin ağač qurur kider . ‘I saw a camphor tree in that garden, a hundred people can fit in the shade of each tree; if they want to extract camphor, they drill it and a liquid flows out of the hole, which hardens and turns into camphor and thickens like glue, but the tree dies’ (our translation).

The Tatar translation of this fragment is characterized by excessive brevity and understatement. Fa Khalidi did not consider it necessary to convey to the reader information about the method of camphor extraction and the future fate of the tree: Ul baq ç ada k ä fur a ğ a č y k ü rdem h ä r ber a ğ a č ynyη k ü l ä g ä send ä j ö z ke š e utyryrlyq ide h a m bu baq ç ada a nwa a y xajwanlar k ü rdem .^{[15, p. 82]} ‘I saw a camphor tree in that garden, a hundred people can fit in the shade of each tree, and I also saw various animals in this garden...’ (our translation).

The shortening of the text and the avoidance of a detailed presentation of the source text are also characteristic of other works under study.

However, the presence of such short versions of Tatar translations is not always found. Usually, the volume of Tatar texts is larger than the original works. In other words, it is not entirely correct to say that translations are aimed at shortening the original text or the Turkish version. For example, in K. Nasiri's Abugalisina, on the contrary, we observe an expansion of the text: in the Turkish text: Bir qa çg ü n bir k ü š ede aram ve teneffus idub bir g ü n tama š aji k ü č e ve bazar idereken july č er š evi xelve fru š ene ... irde ^{[17, p. 22]} ‘He rested for a few days, calmed down and caught his breath. One day, when he was out strolling through the streets and bazaars, the road led him to a stall selling sweets...’ (our translation).

In Tatar translation: Berničä k ö n ber jirdä qarar ideb sačyny kitäreb saqal wä tyrnaqlaryn kiseb adäm syjfatyna kerde, čönki ber jyl m äğarädä jatyb, ğoli biabanğa bi η zäleš, jägni biğajnihi urmandağy šüräle kebek bulğan ide. Ber k ön käseb hawa öcen tama ša qylyb bazarlarda wä uramlarda gizeb j örg ändä July x älwäfrušlär jägni x älwä satucylar uramyna turğy kilde ^{[17, p. 24]} ' After a few days, he decided to make a stop, make himself human: he raised his hair, cut his beard and nails, because after living for a whole year in the cave, they looked like steppe ghosts, that is, on the shural. One day, when he went out for a breath of air and strolled through the bazaars and streets, the road led him to the street of sellers of sweets...' (our translation).

This technique is also common to other authors. That is, in the works we observe both a reduction and an expansion of the texts, including full compliance with the original, which we will discuss in more detail.

The authors-translators approach the transmission of the content of the original texts in a very original way. The author's approach to translation is noticeable, they reinterpret texts based on the needs of readers. Most of the stories in the interpreted works fully convey the content of both the Arabic original (in the case of The Arabian Nights) and the Turkish versions. Here is a fragment from the Arabic original, which deals with Sinbad's attempt to leave an uninhabited island.:

فعند ذلك فككت عمامتي من فوق رأسي وثنيتها وفتلتها حتى صارت مثل الحبل وتحزمت بها وشددت وسطي وربطت نفسي في رجلي ذلك الطير وشددتها شداً وثيقاً وقلت في نفسي لعل هذا يوصلني إلى بلاد المدن والعمار ويكون ذلك أحسن من جلوسي في هذه الجزيرة.^{[16, c. 126]}

‘... and then I got up and, untying my turban, took it off my head, and folded it and twisted it until it became like a rope, and then I tied it around my waist, tied myself to the feet of this bird and tightened the knot tightly, saying to myself: ‘Maybe this bird will take me to countries with cities and populations. It will be better than sitting here on this island’ ^{[13, p. 394]}.

A comparison of the fragment of the Turkish translation with the text of the original shows that the translator managed to fully convey the content of the passage from the Arabic original.:

چن بن مرغ مذکور رخ اولدیغنی تیقن ایتدم و بن بو اطه دن خلاص و نجاتم انجق بو قوشك واسطه سیله اوله بیلورو الامطلقاسنی کمیسه بوندن قورتارمزدیوب وصاریغمی چیقاروب ایب کبی بوکدم بعده بلمه اوچیله کوزلجه باغلیوب ودیکراوجی قوشك ایاغنه بندایدوب تحتنده یاتدم و بهر حال بو قوش بنی اشبو خراب اطه دن چیقاروب معمور یره کیتروروبو کیفیت بوراده اقامتمدن کوزلدر .^{[14, c. 51]}

Here is a transcription of this text: un ben mere y mezkur rux uldy y tejqyn itdem ve ben bu atadan xalas ve necatym ancaq bu qu š un vasitasi ile ula bilur -l-imtileqasyny kimise bundan qurtarmaz dijub ve sary ymy ç iqarub jib kebi bukdim be y de belme u ču ile guzelce ba lajub ve diger u č u qu š uη aja ─ yna bendejdub taxtinda jatdim ve biherxel bu qu š beni i š bu xarab adadan ç iqarub me ─ mur jire kiterur ve bu kejfijet burada iqametden g ü zeld ü r. ‘When I became convinced that this bird was a Roc bird, and thought that my salvation from this island could only be achieved with the help of this bird, I untied my turban, twisted it like a rope, tied one end to my belt, the other to the bird's leg, and lay down next to it. In any case, this bird will take me away from this abandoned island to a human-inhabited land, it will be better than staying here’ (our translation).

A comparison of the Tatar and Turkish translations gives us reason to assert that the Tatar translator relied on the Turkish text: bä dä bän bu qošny n rux qošy ideken beldem bašymda n y chalmany alyb išeb ber bašyn bilemgä ba ğ lab ber bašyn qošny n aja n yna ba ğ ladym da qošny n kütärelgänen köteb jatdym čönki niček bulsa da qoš bane bu xarab cäzirädän qotqaryb ber jaxšy cäzirägä atar dijeb tordym .^{[15, p. 80]}. ‘Then I found out that this bird is a Roc bird. And, untying my turban, I tied it, and tied one end to my belt, the other to the bird's leg, lay down and waited for its departure, as I hoped that this bird would somehow take me from this abandoned island to a better island’ (our translation).

A comparison of the Tatar and Turkish texts shows that F. Khalidi reproduced the nuances of the Turkish text very accurately in his translation, and was able to reliably convey the emotional background and semantic context of the Turkish translation: könlärdä ber kön mälik xozurynda utyrğan waqytda bän a äjtde äj Sindbad bezlär sine küb mäxäbbät ideb väyjzzät wäxörmät äjlädem – imde sine šähäre ü jibärergä bezne n täqatemez juqdyr bänem si n a äjtäse süzem bar ägär qabul idär isä n died – bän äjtdem äj üyjzzätle šahymyz nä färman bulsa seznekeder bän sezne n qoly n yzmyn didekemdä mälik äjtde äj Sindbad bänem muradym šuldyr bänem ber matur güzäl bäkirä qyzym bar šuny si n a bireb sin bezdä qalyb häm si n a ber uryn täğajen idäsem kiläder dide ^{[15, c. 91]} ‘One day, when I was sitting with the king, he said: ‘Sinbad, we love you very much, cherish and respect you; we don't have the strength to let you go to our city. I have a conversation for you, if you don't mind?"I said, ‘Oh, my dear king, whatever you say will be done, I am your slave! ’... The king said, ‘Sinbad, my goal is this: I have a beautiful, chaste daughter, I want to marry her to you, leave you here and appoint you to a position' (our translation).

Confirmation that the authors often took the original literally can be found in large numbers in other works, for example, in "Tutiynama": Tuti ejtde: zaman euvelde dijer Hindde bir bazarken var ide ^{[19, p. 12]} 'The parrot said: in ancient times, there was a certain merchant in India...’ (our translation). Tatar equivalent: Tutyj äjtde: äwälge zamanda Hind jortynda ber säwdägär bar ide ^{[20, p. 10]} ‘The parrot said: in ancient times, there was a certain merchant in India...’ (our translation).

Atrafynda dexi čuq šeherler ve biled ve der ve dijer var ide ^{[19, p. 3]} ‘Many cities, towns and houses were built around him'. The Tatar translation completely repeats the Turkish original: W atrafynda k ü b awyllar w š h rl ö zelme š ide ^{[20, p. 2]} ‘Many villages and towns were built around it’ (our translation), etc.

When comparing the Tatar and Turkish texts of "Kyrik vazir kitaba", the Tatar translator also follows the Turkish original, for example: Mehmüde h xas Ijes namynda ber süekle xezmetkere var ide ^{[21, p. 1]} 'Mahmoud had a special, beloved servant named Iyas’ (our translation).

The Tatar translation fully corresponds to the Turkish text: Soltan Mäxmüdne h Ijäs isemle ber süekle xas xezmätčese bar ide ^{[23, p. 2]} ‘Sultan Mahmud had a special, beloved servant named Iyas’ Sin däxi adämlärne künder ki, šäjxe totsynlar dide.^{[21, c. 16]} ‘He said, you send people again, let them capture the sheikh’; Sin šul waqytda adämlär künder, šäjxne totsynlar dide ^{[23, p. 11]} ‘He said, you send people at that time, let them capture the sheikh' (our translation).

Here are some examples from "Kyrik vazir kyissasy": in the Turkish version: Vezir ejder Hindstanda ber xuca var ide, ve any n ber cemile xatuny var ide ^{[21, p. 22]} ‘The vizier says: there was a certain rich man in India, he had a beautiful wife...’ (our translation). The Tatar text corresponds to the original: Vezir äjtde Hindstanda ber xuca bar ide, any n ber güzäl xatyny bar ide .^{[23, p. 14]} ‘The Vizier says: there was a certain rich man in India, he had a beautiful wife...’ (our translation), etc.

In the Turkish text: Gylme simija quete ile Äbuğalisina Nilden Misra çyqdy ^{[17, p. 10]} ‘With the help of the power of magic, Abu Ali Sina came out of the Nile into Egypt' (our translation). In the Tatar translation: Äbuğalisina simija quäte belän Nil därjasyndan Misyr š äharenä çyqdy ^{[18, p. 8]} ‘With the help of the power of magic, Abu Ali Sina came out of the Nile into Egypt' (our translation).

Often, the authors of the studied works resort to the use of lexical substitution, this occurs mainly in cases where the designated realities are either absent from the Tatar linguistic space, or are characterized by a passive nature of use. In such a situation, translators update the language equivalents or synonymous constructions that are most relevant and close to the perception of the Tatar reader.

As an illustration of this thesis, it is advisable to refer to examples from the work "Kyryk vazir kitaba": Ä j š ah, bu u ğ lan k ä lb č uqur kebider ^{[21, p. 17]} 'Hey, ruler, this kid looks like a rabid dog' (our translation). In the Tatar version, the original phrase kälb chuqur is replaced by the stable expression qotyrğan et: A j padi š ah, bu u lan qotyr a an et kebider ^{[24, p. 11]} ‘Hey, ruler, this kid looks like a rabid dog' (our translation).

Xatun a jde, š u ile rivajet iderler ki, c ihan sarajynda ber ulu a mir var ide ^{[21, p. 17]} ‘A woman says: they say there was a great ruler in the world...’ (our translation).

In translation, the title amir, which had a low frequency in the Old Tatar language, is replaced by the more commonly used Persian Padishah in historical and folklore monuments.: Xatyn a jtde, a jtälär, c ihan sarajynda ber olu ?padi ? ah bar ide ^{[24, p. 12]} ‘A woman says: they say that there was a great king in the world...’ (our translation), which reflects the author's desire to choose the option that best suits the linguistic worldview of the Tatar reader.

A similar transformation is presented in the following context: Ul mämläkätä šahzadä ädäb säbäbe ilä ana wä ata wä ostaz tärbijäse bäräkäte ilä šah uldy ^{[21, c. 20]} ‘The prince, because of his culture and the result of the upbringing of his parents and teachers, became the ruler of that kingdom’ (our translation). The lexeme shahzada (‘prince') is replaced by the descriptive and semantically more transparent expression padishah uly (‘son of a padishah’) for the Tatar language: Ul mämläkätkä šul kilgän padišah uğly ädäb säbäble ata-ana, ostaz tärbijäse bäräkätendä vadel padišah buldy ^{[24, p. 14]} ‘The visiting son of the king, thanks to his culture and the result of the upbringing of his parents and teachers, became the just ruler of that kingdom’ (our translation).

An example of the neutralization of Sufi connotation is also indicative: Cafany čikmäjän ğašiq safany n qaderen belmäs ^{[21, p. 18]} ‘A lover who has not experienced difficulties will not appreciate pleasure’; in the Tatar translation, the author replaces the specific lexeme gashik (‘in love’, ‘follower’), associated with Sufi terminology, with a commonly used and generalizing one the concept of adam (‘man'): Cafany čikmägän adäm safany n qaderen belmäz ^{[24, p. 18]} ‘A person who has not experienced difficulties will not appreciate pleasure' (our translation).

Another case demonstrates the choice of a more natural expression for the Tatar syntax: Ve bir qa ç dexi ğ aqyl kemseler c emi ğ ejledi ^{[21, p. 90]} 'has also been analyzed by several scientists ...'. The translation uses a different but equivalent construction: d ä xi ğ aqyl ij ä send ä n berni čä ke šene c yjyb ^{[24, p. 54]} 'has also been compiled by several scholars ...' (our translation).

For each language studied, there are many similar examples where lexico-semantic transformation performs the most important function of adapting the text for the Tatar reader.

Thus, consideration of the most common extra- and intra-linguistic transformations in the studied works, primarily of a lexico-semantic and semantic nature, allows us to come to the following conclusion. These transformations not only enriched Tatar literature with new subjects, and the language with new stylistic techniques and lexical units, but also contributed to the formation of new linguistic traditions. The orientation and nature of these changes were determined both by the objective needs and capabilities of the language of the relevant period, as well as by the specifics of the worldview and cultural expectations of the Tatar audience.

The study of the universal features of the translation strategy for the entire corpus of texts leads to the conclusion that the translation authors managed to achieve a difficult balance: to convey the oriental flavor and literary traditions of the originals, while preserving their structural basis; to strengthen the didactic component by introducing Quranic hadiths and commentaries of a religious and moral nature; and also to convey aesthetic and semantic saturation Kissa through the synthesis of the means of the Old Tatar literary language and the vernacular style. It was this synthesis that predetermined the wide popularity and durability of these works among the Tatar readership throughout the entire historical period.

The article is published in its final version as approved following the last positive peer review recommending acceptance for publication. It incorporates revisions made by the author in response to prior negative peer review reports that did not recommend publication. All peer review reports, including initial negative reviews, are published in open access alongside the article. All versions of the author’s revisions are archived in the publisher’s repository and may be made available upon reasonable request in accordance with Elsevier’s editorial policies and applicable data availability requirements.
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