ISSN: 1579-9794
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
Translating Proverbs in The Gulistan of Sa‘di: Developing a
New Taxonomy Based on Baker’s (2011) Model
Traducir proverbios en el Gulistan de Sa‘di: Desarrollo de
una nueva taxonomía basada en el modelo de Baker (2011)
MAHMOUD AFROUZ
m.afrouz@fgn.ui.ac.ir
University of Isfahan
Fecha de recepción: 10/02/2021
Fecha de aceptación: 16/12/2021
Abstract: A translator needs to possess a wide socio-cultural and literary
knowledge in order to be able to translate idiomatic expressions in general,
and proverbs, in particular. The present study is an investigation into the
Rehatsek’s (1888) English translation of proverbs of Sa‘di’s Gulistan
(1258/2000), as a classical Persian masterpiece. Baker’s (2011) set of
strategies for translating idioms was employed as an initial framework for
data analysis. The findings indicated that Rehatsek had merely resorted to
either literal translation or total omission. Moreover, it was found that Baker’s
consideration of ‘paraphrasing’ as the most common way of translating
idioms could not be confirmed in the case of Persian proverbs in The
Gulistan. It was found that literal translation is by far the most common
strategy of translating Persian proverbs into English with 98 per cent. It was
found that there could potentially be some other strategies, besides those
referred to by Baker, for rendering proverbs. Finally, six strategies were
proposed for translating proverbs in literary texts.
Keywords: Proverbs translation; The Gulistan of Sa‘di; Classical Persian
literature; Baker’s (2011) model; Literary translation
Resumen: Parece fundamental que un traductor posea un amplio
conocimiento sociocultural y literario para poder traducir expresiones
idiomáticas y refranes. El presente estudio investiga las traducciones al
inglés de proverbios en el Gulistan de Sa‘di (1258/2000). El Gulistan es una
obra maestra clásica persa traducida por Rehatsek (1888). Las estrategias
de Baker (2011) de traducir modismos se utilizan como marco inicial para el
análisis de datos. Los hallazgos indicaron que Rehatsek simplemente había
utilizado una traducción literal o una omisión. Baker aparentemente había
considerado «parafrasear» como la forma más común de traducir
modismos. Su hallazgo no fue confirmado en este estudio. Se descubrió
54 Translating Proverbs in The Guslitan of Sa‘di […]
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que la traducción literal (98 %) es la estrategia más común para traducir
proverbios persas. Además de las estrategias de Baker, se encontró que
podría haber otras estrategias para traducir proverbios. Finalmente, se
presentaron seis estrategias para traducir refranes en textos literarios.
Palabras clave: Traducción de proverbios; El Gulistan de Sa‘di; Obra
maestra clásica persa; Modelo de Baker (2011); Traducción literaria
INTRODUCTION
For ages, translation has made feasible communication among
nations of various languages and cultures. The main goal of translation is to
import information, knowledge or wisdom embedded in the source-text (ST)
to the target-text (TT) readership. The way of such ‘transference’ is of
paramount importance. In some texts (e.g. scientific or informative), the most
essential criterion of a good translation seems to be ‘accuracy’ of the
content; however, in expressive and literary texts, both the ‘content’ and
‘container’ or the ‘matter’ and the ‘manner’ are important. In other words,
‘form’ and ‘meaning’ in such texts are so inseparably united that sacrificing
the form (or style) for the sake of the meaning can distort the aesthetic value
of the ST; on the other hand, adherence to the style, without considering the
content, usually can result in the failure of communicating the main message
of the ST. They constitute an inseparable whole which requires a great deal
of effort on the side of the translator, so that the TT could be as enjoyable to
the foreign reader as it is to the ST audience.
Proverbs have a long history in religious texts, popular language,
folklore and most importantly in literature. It seems sensible to claim that the
majority of ST proverbs sound familiar to a large number of people who live
in the same socio-cultural community. Proverbs exist in almost all literary
works and are sometimes considered a challenge for translators (Al-Azzam,
2018; Ismaili 2018).
According to Baker (2011, pp. 67-68), a proverb behaves «very much
like» an idiom since it allows «little or no variation in form», its meaning is
«more than the sum meanings of its words» and it should be considered «as
one unit to establish meaning». Baker’s (2011) model was employed as the
framework of the study. It consists of the following strategies:
(a) «Using an idiom of similar meaning and form»: it entails employing a
proverb in the target-language (TL) which transmits approximately
«the same meaning as that of the source-language» (SL) proverb
and «consists of equivalent lexical items» (Baker, 2011, p. 76);
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(b) «Using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form»: it involves
employing a proverb in the TL which conveys similar meaning as
that of the SL proverb, but embraces dissimilar words (ibid., p. 78);
(c) «Borrowing» the SL idiom (ibid., p. 79);
(d) Paraphrasing the SL idiom;
(e) «Translation by omission of a play on idiom»: it involves translating
just «the literal meaning of an idiom in a context that allows for a
concrete reading of an otherwise playful use of language» (ibid., p.
84);
(f) Omitting the idiom.
Declining that the strategy 'a' is «necessarily always» an «ideal
solution», Baker (2011) has proposed that the strategy 'd' «is by far the most
common way of translating idioms when a match cannot be found in» the TL
or «when it seems inappropriate to use idiomatic language» in the TT (ibid.,
pp. 76-80).
The present paper focuses on the translation of proverbs in Sa‘di's
Gulistan, as a classical Persian literary masterpiece. The main research
questions include:
1) What are the main formal features of proverbs in The Gulistan? In
other words, how are The Gulistan proverbs mostly formulated?
2) What are the main proverbial markers in The Gulistan?
3) What strategies are employed by the translator of The Gulistan in
rendering the proverbs?
4) What strategies were employed by the other translators of The
Gulistan that were not used in Rehatsek’s (1888) or mentioned in
Baker (2011)?
1. LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Proverb and Translation
Proverb can be observed as a familiar, fixed, sentential expression
that expresses a general belief, well-known truth, social norm, or moral
theme (Abrahams 1968; Mieder 1985; Norrick 1985; Crystal 1992; Gibbs &
Beitel 1995).
In the 18
th
century, the word proverb included metaphorical
expressions and was employed «far more loosely than it is today» (Simpson
and Speake, 1992, p. ix). Currently, a proverb is conventionally expected to
56 Translating Proverbs in The Guslitan of Sa‘di […]
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appear as a sentence. In The Gulistan, as a classical literary text, proverbs
were sometimes cast in the form of an anecdote or a very short moral story.
An example is presented in section 4.3.
Proverbs are «cultural linguistic products, created and used for social
purposes» (Honeck, 1997, p. 31). Proverbs of a nation have a close
relationship with the identity of the nation. Identity «has its roots in a nation’s
culture» and culture can mainly be manifested through language (Afrouz,
2017: 41). Proverbs are also steeply rooted in the culture of a nation and can
show their general beliefs, moral values and, in one term, their identity. The
fastest or best way to get familiar with a culture is to learn the proverbs of
that culture (Lunde & Wintle, 1943, p. vii; Manesh et al., 2019, p. 124).
Translating proverbs is one of the problematic areas in literary
translation since proverbs are deeply rooted in a nation’s culture (Issa, 2017;
Njui, 2019) and they «are characteristically open to multiple interpretations»
(Millar, 2020, p. 79). Furthermore, the adoption of the right type of translation
procedure, which often has an effect on the selection process of equivalents,
is a real challenge (Latifi Shirejini & Afrouz 2021a, 2021b; Afrouz, 2019,
2020, 2021a, 2021b, 2021d). A thumbnail sketch is provided in the next
subsections in order to come to a better understanding of proverbs and the
way they are translated.
1.2. Proverb Categorization in Persian
In Persian, proverbs are generally appeared in the following two
categories:
a) Literary proverbs: Proverbs which mainly can be found in classic
literary texts.
b) Colloquial proverbs: Proverbial expressions which are pervasive in
everyday speech but are not rooted in literary texts.
From a stylistic stance, literary proverbs are often in verse form (as
opposed to prose) and they consist of one line (called Mesr’a) or two lines
(called Beit) of a piece of poetry. In such cases, they are rhythmic and
contain figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, irony, metonymy,
alliteration, etc. They also include archaic lexical items and grammatical
structures. Colloquial proverbs, however, do not include archaic forms of any
kind. They usually appear in the form of a simple short sentence.
The source of the first category is the literary works of classical
Persian poets (e.g., Sa‘di, Rumi, Hafez, Firdausi). Such proverbs emerge in
different forms such as couplets, sentences, phrases and even anecdotes.
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From among such proverbs, we can find a large number of them pervasively
employed in people’s everyday conversation.
1.3. Previous Studies
Gibbs’s (2001) paper explored the way proverbs could provide
guidance to people from all walks of life. Proverbs, as he concluded, could
unite various nations through the concepts accepted by all people as truth.
The researcher pointed out that speakers could also produce new proverbs
which would not be in line with familiar themes appeared in already existed
proverbs. Gibbs did not explain what the logic behind such a creation would
be. The author could have also explained what the translators could do in
the face of such creative proverbs.
The purpose of El-Yasin and Al-Shehabat’s (2005) paper was to look
into the methods used in translating proverbs from Arabic into English. They
considered a corresponding TL proverb (with similar context of use) as the
best equivalent for a SL proverb, and concluded that attaining perfect
equivalence for proverbs would be impossible. Other researchers, such as
Afrouz and Shahi (2020) generally denied the existence of such a thing as
perfect or complete equivalence.
Analyzing and employing receptor language or TL proverb forms in
translation, Unseth (2006) focused on the Bible translations and posited that
translators, in translating proverbs, should search for a proper procedure
resulting in the communication of meaning. As he concluded, translators
should remold source-text proverbs into meaningful forms in the TL. As it
seems, he believes that the procedure of retention, or even compensation, in
some specific cases can preserve the effects of the original proverb. The
researcher could have provided readers with more details concerning the
usefulness of retention as a strategy for translating from or into languages
with quite different alphabetical letters.
Dabaghi et al. (2010) looked at proverbs through the lens of
translation. They first gave various definitions of proverb simply by making
consecutive quotations from different people. The researchers could have
operationally represented definitions of proverb based on the objectives of
their research. Then they referred to a number of characteristics shared by
proverbial expressions. Finally, they mentioned a number of strategies
proposed for rendering proverbs. The researchers just quoted the models
offered by Beekman and Callow (1974), Mollanazar (2001), and Baker
(1992) and did not critically examine them—as was claimed at the beginning
of their paper.
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Farahani and Ghasemi (2012) investigated nine English proverbs and
their Persian translation in the Adventures of Pinocchio. Referring only to 3
proverbs and their equivalents, they identified that, totally, 66% of the
English proverbs were replaced with «local» proverbs in Persian (p. 17).
They considered this strategy as the one which could preserve naturalness
of the SL proverbs. They did not, however, made any mention of possible
drawbacks of such a strategy—one of which could be the fact that if such a
strategy would be used by translators extensively, target-text readers would
lose their chances of getting familiarity with the culture of the SL through
proverbs. Moreover, Farahani and Ghasemi (2012) did not present a second
choice for translators when they could not find an equivalent proverb in the
TL.
Zarkub and Fayaz (2013) concentrated on Qur’anic proverbs. They
pointed out that proverbs in The Holy Qur’an are a means of guidance to
human being. The researchers found that proverbs in classical literary texts
are replete with speech figures like metaphors and similes. Based on their
findings, the distribution of various speech figures in proverbs appeared in
different chapters or Surahs of The Holy Qur’an was dissimilar. While
proverbs of the Surahs revealed to the Holy Prophet in Medina contained
more metaphorical expressions, the proverbs of the Surahs revealed in
Mecca included more similes. The Persian researchers could have
enhanced their work by proposing various strategies translators need to take
into account while dealing with speech figures in Arabic proverbs.
Rashidi and Ghaedi (2013) focused on the features of animal
proverbs about donkey, dog and cat by employing Bussmann's (1995)
framework of prototypes relating to the life of human and Duczmal's and
Schmitz's (1983) model in analyzing Persian and English animal proverbs.
English and Persian proverbs, based on their findings, are sources of
wisdom which demonstrate specifications of a community, their culture and
world-view. The researchers could have expanded their corpus by taking
more animals into consideration and provided the logic behind focusing only
on proverbs related to dog, cat and donkey. Moreover, they did not deeply
explored procedures of rendering proverbs.
Thalji (2015) in his thesis attempted to discover obstacles faced by
Jordanian translators while rendering proverbs from Arabic into English and
vice versa. He selected 20 novice translators and gave them 10 English and
10 Arabic proverbs. He found that culture-specific terms and unfamiliarity
with appropriate translation procedures, among others, were the root causes
of problems faced by translators. Although the researcher referred to
challenge posed by the unfamiliarity of translators with translation strategies,
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no specific model, or a comprehensive taxonomy of strategies, was
proposed by him.
Al-khresheh and Almaaytah (2018) investigated the problems that
machine translation (MT) could encounter in translating proverbs from
English into Arabic. Based on their findings, words with multiple meanings
posed great challenges for the MT. Their findings revealed that structural
differences between Arabic and English also presented myriad of difficulties
to MT. The major drawback of their paper seems to be that the researchers
did not focus on a specific corpus and just randomly selected a set of
English proverbs and processed them through Google Translate.
Diah (2018) considered religion as an important factor in describing
the meaning of Minangkabau classic proverbs. Based on his findings, all that
was presented in the proverbs, as either moral or immoral behavior, had its
roots in religious texts. The researcher did not focus on a specific corpus
and just claimed that he had taken proverbs extracted from non-fiction books
into consideration.
To the best of the author’s knowledge, almost none of the research
projects conducted until now has considered the issue of proverb translation
in a great Persian literary masterpiece like Sa‘di’s Gulistan. The present
study is conducted to fill the research gap.
2. METHOD
The present study is a corpus-based study with a descriptive
approach to the analysis of the strategies used in translating The Gulistan’s
Persian proverbs into English.
2.1. Corpus
Being a popular masterpiece and possessing a high status in the
world’s literature, The Gulistan of Sa‘di (1258/2000) was selected as the
sample since it was the most famous classical Persian literary text replete
with graceful proverbs.
The Gulistan is a 200-page classic book containing a detailed
introduction and 8 chapters on various themes—including the manners of
kings, the character of dervishes, the excellence of contentment, the
advantages of silence, love and youth, weakness and old age, the influence
of education, and the principles of social conduct. Like other works in
Persian classical literature, The Gulistan is a treasury of various types of
speech figures (Parvaz & Afrouz, 2021). Proverb is one of the most
prominent figures of speech in Sa‘di’s work. Overall, 314 proverbs were
found in The Gulistan, six of which were left untranslated by Rehatsek
60 Translating Proverbs in The Guslitan of Sa‘di […]
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(1888). This Persian classical masterpiece is translated into many languages
including English (by Francis Gladwin 1806, by James Dumoulin in 1807, by
James Ross in 1823, etc.), German (by Karl Heinrich Graf in 1846, by Dieter
Bellmann in 1982, and by Kathleen Göpel in 1997), Polish (by Wojciech
Biberstein-Kazimirski in 1876 and by Samuel Otwinowski in 1879), etc.
The Gulistan of Sa‘di (1258/2000) and its English translation by
Rehatsek (1888) was employed as the main corpus of the study. However,
for enriching the discussion, in some cases, translations by Ross (1823),
Eastwick (1880) and Newman (2004) were also referred to. From among the
two latest translations of The Gulistan, Rehatsek’s was selected since
Newman’s was not a complete one. Moreover, the researcher did not have
access to the printed books of Ross (1823) and Eastwick (1880).
2.2. Procedure
The succeeding steps were taken to analyze the collected data:
1) Identifying the main formal features and of proverbs and the main
proverbial markers in The Gulistan.
2) Specifying the source text proverbs and their English equivalents.
3) Determining the type of strategy adopted in rendering each
proverb.
4) Examining other strategies which were employed by the other
translators of The Gulistan and that were not used in Rehatsek’s
(1888) or mentioned in Baker (2011).
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Literature of each nation has its roots in that nation’s culture. The
interaction of cultures and universality (similarity or in some cases,
sameness) of some cultural concepts have emerged in the form of quite a
few number of similar proverbs in the literary works of different nations.
Persian and English languages are of the same family tree but of completely
different branches; therefore, it is not surprising to find some similarities
and/or differences between the moral points raised in the proverbs of the two
cultures. It would be quite interesting to explore the way translators of the
two cultures have dealt with various types of proverbs. Hence, the present
study was carried out to investigate the English translation of proverbs in
Sa‘di’s Gulistan.
3.1. Proverbs’ principles
According to Goodwin and Wenzel (1981, as cited in Gibbs 2001,
p.169), proverbs convey lasting «themes about everyday life because they
allude to general, perhaps universal, principles about intelligence or
Mahmoud Afrouz 61
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reasonable human behavior.» Some principles, being shared by English and
Persian languages, include:
1. «Cause-effect reasoning» (Gibbs, 2001, p. 169). The following two
instances were observed in The Gulistan:
/
Sa‘di, 2000, p.
177
Source Text (ST)
If a diver fears the crocodile’s throat / He will never
catch the pearl of great price. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.126)
Target Text (TT)
If you won't work you shan't eat. (Simpson and Speake,
1992, p.282)
English
Correspondent
Proverb (ECP)
/
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 293
ST
If an angel associates with a demon /He will learn from
him fear, fraud and hypocrisy. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.206)
TT
Who keeps company with wolf learns to howl. (Mieder et
al., 1992, p.665)
ECP
2. «Reasoning from effects to causes» (Gibbs, 2001, p. 169):
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 294
S
T
You will soon see your forehead broken / If you butt it in play against
a ram. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.208)
TT
He who plays with a cat must expect to be scratched. (Mieder et al.,
1992, p.86).
ECP
3. «Reasoning by analogy» (Gibbs, 2001, p. 169):
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 33
S
T
He whose foundation is bad will not take instruction from the good, /
To educate unworthy persons is like throwing nuts on a cupola.
TT
62 Translating Proverbs in The Guslitan of Sa‘di […]
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(Rehatsek, 1888, p. 28)
The leopard does not change his spot. (Simpson and Speake, 1992,
p.148)
ECP
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 107
ST
Of what use is preaching to a black heart? / An iron nail cannot be
driven into a rock. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.78)
Advice affects not those who cannot feel: / A nail of iron cannot
pierce a stone. (Eastwick, 1880: 89)
TT
You cannot get blood from a stone (Simpson and Speake, 1992,
p.25) or
Advice to a fool goes in one ear and out the other. (Mieder et al.,
1992, p.9).
ECP
4. «Reasoning from a specific instance to a more general conclusion»
(Gibbs, 2001, p.169):
ST
One flower does not make spring. (= One single flower
does not indicate that it is spring.)
Literal Translation
One swallow does not make summer.
ECP
5. «Proverbs about practical reasoning caution against inappropriate
generalizations» (Gibbs, 2001, p. 169), like those instances already
mentioned for the proverbial marker «Not every X is Y» and the following
example:
ST
Every round object cannot be called a ‘walnut’.
Literal Translation
All that glitters is not gold.
ECP
At this point, the question may arise that to what extent do proverbs
actually represent ‘truth’ about the world? There are some cases where the
truth of a proverb seems self-evident, such as in:
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Sa‘di, 2000, p. 256
S
T
Although both silver and gold come from stones / All stones do not
contain silver and gold. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.176)
TT
All clouds bring not rain. (Mieder et al., 1992, p.104)
ECP
However, there are other proverbial expressions which do not refer to
explicit truth, as in:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 77
ST
If you have heard heedless talk from your slave, be not offended. A
man who has seen the world utters much falsehood. (Rehatsek,
1888, p.59)
TT
Is it ‘true’ that travelers tell too much lie? It is noteworthy to state that
there is an ECP for this couplet in English: Travelers tell fine tales.
3.2. Contradictory Proverbs (CPs)
As far as conveying the thematic message is concerned, some of the
proverbs in English and Persian seem to be contradictory. Consider the
following instances where The Gulistan proverbs seem contradictory to their
ECPs (CECP):
ST
/
(Sa‘di, 2000, p.11)
TT
First deliberation, then speech; / The foundation was laid first, then
the wall. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.20)
CECP
Act first and think afterwards. (Mieder et al., 1992, p. 6)
ST
(Sa‘di, 2000, p. 239)
TTs
An arrow in the side of a young woman is better than an old man.
(Rehatsek, 1888, p.165)
An arrow in a young woman’s side is better than an old man in her
bed. (Newman, 2004, p. 16)
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CECP
It's better be an old man's sweetheart than a young man's slave
(Mieder et al., 1992, p. 400) or
Better be an old man's darling, than a young man's slave (Simpson
and Speake, 1992, p.17)
ST
(Sa‘di,
2000, p.62)
TTs
A falsehood resulting in conciliation is better than a truth producing
trouble. (Rehatsek, 1888, p. 23)
A lie that harmonizes dissonance is better than a truth that
produces discord. (Newman, 2004, p. 35)
CECP
Better suffer for truth than prosper by falsehood. (Mieder et al.,
1992, p.615)
ST
/
(Sa‘di, 2000, p.303)
TT
If you speak truth and remain in captivity,/ It is better than that your
mendacity deliver you therefrom. (Rehatsek, 1888, p. 220)
CECP
A necessary lie is harmless. (Mieder et al., 1992, p. 472)
The last two instances reveal that, not only there are some
contradictory proverbs across cultures, but also within the same culture we
can find them. A number of English contradictory proverbs include: Absence
makes the heart grow fonder (* Out of sight, out of mind); Don't judge a book
by its cover (* Clothes make the man); Never put off till tomorrow what you
can do today (* Don't cross the bridge until you come to it); You're never too
old to learn (* You can't teach an old dog new tricks).
The following subsections are presented in an attempt to provide a
detailed answer to each of the four research questions.
3.3. Formal Features of Proverbs in The Gulistan
Persian proverbs in The Gulistan have occurred in the following five
main forms:
a. A phrase:
ST
(Sa‘di, 2000, p. 300)
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Literal
Translation1
A scholar without practice, a tree without fruit
TTs
A scholar without practice is a tree without fruit. (Rehatsek,
1888, p.598)
A scholar who does not use his learning is a tree without
fruit. (Newman, 2004: 147)
ECP
A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of
weeds. (Mieder et al., 1992, p.648)
The SL proverb appeared in phrase-form is rendered as complete
sentences by the translators.
b. A line of a couplet (usually a phrase):
ST
(Sa‘di, 2000, p.11)
TT
First deliberation, then speech. (Rehatsek, 1888, p. 20)
Deliberate in silence first, then speak. (Newman, 2004, p. 31)
ECP
Think first and speak afterwards. (Simpson and Speake, 1992, p.
252)
In the example above, both translators have retained the form of the
SL proverb. Furthermore, format retention can be observed in the following
TTs:
c. A sentence:
ST
(Sa‘di, 2000, p. 292)
TT
Whatever takes place quickly is not permanent. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.
205)
ECP
Easy come, easy go. (Simpson and Speake, 1992, p. 74)
1
Whenever literal translation is not mentioned for the STs, it denotes that Rehatsek’s rendition
works the same.
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d. A couplet:
ST
/
(Sa‘di, 2000, p. 11)
TT
Take care of what you say in front of a wall/ Because an ear may be
behind the wall. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.199)
ECP
Walls have ears. (Simpson and Speake, 1992, p. 270)
e. A story:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 170
ST
A thief said to a mendicant: «Are you not ashamed to stretch out
your hand for a grain of silver to every sordid fellow?» He replied:
«To hold out the hand for a grain of silver Is better than to get it cut
off for half a dirhem.» (Rehatsek, 1888, p. 352)
TT
Better to beg than to steal, but better to work than to beg. (Mieder et
al., 1992, p. 43)
ECP
3.4. Proverbial markers
3.4.1. Proverbial markers in English
Gibbs (2001, p. 168) has referred to the following general markers of
English proverbs: Where there’s A, there’s B; No A without B; Like A, like B;
One A does not make a B (e.g., Where there’s smoke, there’s fire; No gain
without pain; Like father, like son; One swallow does not make a summer).
Other proverbial markers can also be found, like ‘No A, No B’, and ‘A
come, B go’ (e.g., No pain, no gain; no sweat, no sweet; No fight, no win;
Easy come, easy go; Light come, light go).
3.4.2. Proverbial markers in Persian
Various proverbial markers can also be found in Persian proverbs:
1. Y X /X beh æz Y/ (= X is better than Y):
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 172
ST
Mahmoud Afrouz 67
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A little beauty is better than much wealth. (Rehatsek, 1888, p. 119)
TT
Beauty is power. (Mieder et al., 1992, p. 41)
ECP
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 155
ST
Poverty is better than the degradation of asking. (Rehatsek, 1888,
p.106)
TT
It is better poor and free than rich and slave. (Mieder et al., 1992, p.
509)
ECP
2. Y X /X beh ke Y/ (= X is better than Y):
Sa‘di,
2000, p. 62
ST
A falsehood resulting in conciliation is better than a truth producing
trouble. (Rehatsek, 1888, p. 23)
TT
A necessary lie is harmless. (Mieder et al., 1992, p. 372)
ECP
(Sa‘di, 2000, p. 62)
ST
An ass who carries loads is better than a lion who destroys men.
(Rehatsek, 1888, p. 48)
TT
Better a little fire to warm us than a big one to burn us. (Mieder et al.,
1992, p. 49)
ECP
3. ‘Y’ ‘X’ / næ hær X Y æst/ (= Not every X is Y):
Sa‘di, 2000, p.
29
S
T
Neither is everything bigger in stature higher in price. (Rehatsek,
1888, p. 25)
TT
Beauty is only skin-deep. (Simpson and Speake, 1992, p. 13)
ECP
Sa‘di,
2000, p. 294
ST
Not everyone who is handsome in form possesses a good character.
(Rehatsek, 1888, p. 207)
TT
68 Translating Proverbs in The Guslitan of Sa‘di […]
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
Handsome apples are sometimes sour (Mieder et al., 1992, p. 24) or
The handsomest flower is not the sweetest (Mieder et al., 1992, p.
217).
ECP
Sa‘di,
2000, p. 294
ST
Not everyone who is brisk in dispute is correct in business.
(Rehatsek, 1888, p. 207)
TT
The reddest apple may have a worm in it (Mieder et al., 1992, p. 24).
ECP
3.5. Strategies of Rendering Proverbs
Frequency and percentage of Baker’s strategies, being abbreviated in
the following way, are presented in Table 1: employing a proverb of similar
meaning and form: SMF; employing a proverb of similar meaning but
different form: SMDF; Borrowing: B; Paraphrasing: P; Literal translation (with
no playful use of language) = L; Omission= O.
Strategies
SMF
SMDF
B
P
L
O
Frequency
0
0
0
0
308
6
Percentage
0%
0%
0%
0%
98%
2%
Table 1: Baker’s strategies used in rendering proverbs of The Gulistan
On the basis of Table 1, Rehatsek has merely resorted to two (out of
six) strategies of rendering proverbs. Omitting six (out of 314) proverbs
entirely, he has translated 98% of The Gulistan’s proverbs ‘literally’.
In the present paper, we found that Baker’s idiom translation
strategies do not completely work for the proverb translations, and therefore,
we attempted to adapt and enhance her model in order to formulate a new
taxonomy to be used by literary translators or researchers working on
proverbs.
3.6. Translating Persian Proverbs
Examining the practical examples of translated texts can improve the
theoretical issues of translation and enhance the current models and
taxonomies of translation procedures (Afrouz & Mollanazar 2016). Before
dealing with the last research question (What strategies were employed by
the other translators of The Gulistan that were not used in Rehatsek’s (1888)
Mahmoud Afrouz 69
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
or mentioned in Baker (2011)?), a number of selected proverbs and their
equivalents are analyzed in 4.6.1.
3.6.1. Analysis of 18 Proverbs and their Translations
Aesthetic elements (e.g. metaphor, personification, hyperbole,
paradox, alliteration etc.) can usually be detected in proverbs. A challenge
that literary translators grapple with is how to deal properly with «the implicit
information» and aesthetic elements embedded in the ST and transfer them
to the TT «with a minimal loss of effect» (Afrouz, 2021c, p. 2). In order to
show the possibility of rendering aesthetic elements, just in this section, the
author decided to consult with some other translations carried out by other
translators like Newman (2004), Ross (1823), and Eastwick (1880).
Some English proverbs are metaphorical, such as ‘You can’t judge a
book by its cover’. In The Gulistan, we can also find numerous metaphorical
proverbs, for instance:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 11
ST
It replied: «I was a despicable lump of clay; / But for a while in the
society of a rose. // The perfection of my companion took effect on
me / And, if not, I am the same earth which I am.» (Rehatsek, 1888,
p. 7)
TTs
It said, «I was a loathsome lump of clay. My companion’s scent
seeped into me. Otherwise, I am only the earth that I am.» (Newman,
2004, p. 24)
It replied, «I was a worthless piece of clay; but for a while associated
with the rose: thence I partook of the sweetness of my companion;
otherwise I am that vile piece of earth I seem». (Ross, 1823, p. 65)
A good company makes a good company. (Mieder et al., 1992, p.
260)
ECP
The lexical items «
» /gol/ (i.e. flower/rose) and «
» /gel/ (i.e. clay)
beside making the pun called «» /mohraf/, are metaphorical, because
«
» /gol/ refers to ‘a good company’; «
» /gel/, to ‘a humble person’.
Moreover the last line alludes to the creation of human from ‘clay’ which is
referred to in many verses of the Holly Quran. Rehatsek could have provided
the TT readers with a footnote and refer to the correspondent English
70 Translating Proverbs in The Guslitan of Sa‘di […]
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
proverb. Moreover, in the same footnote, he could have referred to the
existence of other aesthetic aspects (i.e. the pun and the allusion) as well.
Newman has omitted the metaphorical item ‘rose’; yet, he has attempted to
compensate for the aesthetic value of the ST by producing a sort of
alliteration between ‘loathsome’ and ‘lump’, on the one hand, and ‘scent’ and
‘seeped’, on the other hand. Another form of compensation can be detected
in his rendition of the non-metaphorical expression ‘ ’ /kamal-e
hamnešin/ (companion’s perfection) as a metaphorical expression
‘companion’s scent’—which implies that ‘the companion is like a rose’. Ross
not only omitted ‘rose’, but also metaphorically rendered the expression as
‘the sweetness of companion’. Only Rehatsek preferred a literal non-
figurative equivalent ‘perfection of the companion’. Although his rendition, in
this case, lacks any sort of aesthetic value, he has attempted to remain as
faithful as possible to the ST.
Some of the proverbial statements are on the basis of personification,
like ‘Misery loves company’ in English and the following two instances in The
Gulistan:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 147
ST
O contentment, make me rich / For besides you no other wealth
exists. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.101)
TTs
Come, contentment, I beg you, make me rich. If I have you, all other
forms of wealth lose their worth (Newman, 2004, p. 73)
O contentment! do thou make me rich, / for without thee there is no
wealth. (Ross, 1823, p. 167)
Contentment! do thou me enrich; for those / Who have thee not are
blest with wealth in vain. (Eastwick, 1880, p. 117)
Contentment is better than riches. (Simpson and Speake, 1992,
p.114)
ECP
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 80
S
T
O ignoble belly, be satisfied with one bread / Rather than to bend the
back in service. (Rehatsek, 1888, p. 61)
TTs
Be content, O ignoble belly! with a crust of bread, that thou mayest
not bend thy back double in servitude. (Ross, 1823, p. 121)
Mahmoud Afrouz 71
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
O glutton belly! let one loaf content / Thee, rather than the back [in
slavish mood] / Be to the ground in others' service bent. (Eastwick,
1880, p. 69)
It is better poor and free than rich and slave. (Mieder et al., 1992, p.
509)
ECP
Newman, Ross, Eastwick and Rehatsek preserved the personified
items in the ST; however, none of them have referred to any of the ECPs. A
proverb can also emerge in the form of a hyperbole, as the following
couplets from The Gulistan:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 147
S
T
By a sweet tongue, grace, and kindliness, / You will be able to lead
an elephant by a hair. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.122)
TTs
Speak softly, sweetly, use a gentle touch, / and you can steer an
elephant with a hair. (Newman, 2004, p. 85)
Use a sweet tongue, courtesy, and gentleness, and thou mayst
manage to guide an elephant with a hair. (Ross, 1823, p. 192)
With honeyed words, good humour on thy side, /Thou, with a hair, an
elephant mayst guide. (Eastwick, 1880, p. 142)
Honey catches more flies than vinegar. (Simpson and Speake, 1992,
p.129)
ECP
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 112
ST
A swarm of gnats will overpower an elephant / Despite of all his
virility and bravery. // When the little ants combine together / They
tear the skin of a furious lion. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.124)
TTs
Despite an elephant’s courage and strength, / it will give way before
a swarm of gnats, // and when ants swarm, acting with one purpose,
/ they can flay the skin from a fierce lion. (Newman, 2004,p. 86)
72 Translating Proverbs in The Guslitan of Sa‘di […]
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
Notwithstanding his huge and formidable aspect, when gnats act in
concert they will bring down an elephant; when ants set to work and
move in a body, they can strip a fierce lion of his hide. (Ross, 1823,
p. 193)
Union is strength. (Simpson and Speake, 1992, p. 266)
ECP
All of the above translators have been successful in preserving the
hyperbolic elements; nevertheless, none of them referred to any of the ECPs
in order just to show the readership how similar are the concepts in the
proverbs of the two cultures.
Some of the proverbial expressions are based on paradox, such as
«The nearer the church, the farther from God» (Gibbs, 2001: 169) and the
following proverb from The Gulistan:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 144
S
T
Those who are the wealthiest are the most needy. (Rehatsek, 1888,
p. 35)
TTs
Nonetheless, the man who has the most / comes before You bearing
the greater need (Newman, 2004, p. 39)
The richer they are the more they stand in need of succour (Ross,
1823, p. 91)
The wealthier they, their need is here the more. (Eastwick, 1880, p.
37)
The more you have, the more you want. (Mieder et al., 1992, p. 419)
ECP
Paradoxical expressions were soundly conveyed by the translators;
though, the imperfect or slant rhyme of the ST could not be detected in any
of the TTs. Eastwick, however, seemingly employed assonance (i.e., /r/ and
//) as a sort of compensation. Interestingly, the ECP in this case not only
conveys the same message, but also denotes the same meaning.
Furthermore, aesthetic value of the ST is perfectly preserved the ECP. Since
slant rhyme can pretentiously be seen, we can safely call it a perfect
equivalent wherein both ‘form’ and ‘content’ are observed closely.
Mahmoud Afrouz 73
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
Parallelism can appear in English proverbial expressions, such as ‘A
penny saved is a penny earned’. In The Gulistan, the following instance was
found:
Sa‘di,
2000, p. 297
ST
Little by little becomes much and drop by drop will be a torrent.
(Rehatsek, 1888, p. 213)
TTs
Savings become wealth little by little; a flood gathers drop by drop.
(Newman, 2004, p. 143)
Many a little make a mickle. (Simpson and Speake, 1992, p. 164)
ECP
None of the translators captured parallelism. Interestingly Rehatsek
could have done so by a simple replacement of the item ‘will be a’ by
‘becomes’ (= Little by little becomes much and drop by drop becomes
torrent).
English proverbial statements can also include alliteration (e.g., Live
and let live). Likewise, some proverbs in The Gulistan have the same
feature:
(Sa‘di, 2000, p. 62)
S
T
If you desire God to condone your transgressions, Do good to the
people whom God has created. (Rehatsek, 1888, p. 49)
TTs
Wish thou that God shall be bountiful to thee, be thou good thyself to
the creatures of God. (Ross, 1823, p. 105)
Wouldst thou God's pardoning grace obtain? / Then to his creatures
good impart. (Eastwick, 1880, p. 53)
One good turn deserves another. (Mieder et al., 1992, p. 619)
ECP
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 7
ST
Who eats the corn he has sown while it is yet green, / Must at
harvest time glean the ears of it (Rehatsek, 1888, p.11)
TTs
Eat the corn you’ve planted when it’s green/ and you’ll feast on it
again at harvest time (Newman, 2004, p. 26)
74 Translating Proverbs in The Guslitan of Sa‘di […]
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
That man who can eat up his crop of unripe wheat must be content a
harvest to glean his neighbour's field (Ross, 1823, p. 68)
As you sow, so you reap. (Simpson and Speake, 1992, p. 235)
ECP
The alliteration of the phone // (/x/) is dexterously produced by Sa‘di
via employing the following lexical items ‘’ /xahi/, ‘’ /xoda/,‘ ’
/xalq/,‘ ’ /xod/,‘ ’ /xavid/,‘ ’ /xerman/, and ‘ ’ /xuše/. Only
Eastwick had seemingly attempted to reproduce the same aesthetic feature
by utilizing the terms ‘God’, ‘good’, and ‘grace’. Other translators have
apparently made no endeavor even to compensate for the feature via a
close feature like assonance.
In the following ST, the assonance of the phone // (/r/) can easily be
detected:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 147
S
T
An ass who carries loads is better than a lion who destroys men.
(Rehatsek, 1888, p. 48)
TTs
An ass who bears the loads placed on his back is better than a lion
who destroys men. (Newman, 2004, p. 47)
The burden-bearing ass is preferable to the man-devouring lion
(Ross, 1823, p. 105)
An ass that bears burdens is better than a lion that tears men.
(Eastwick, 1880, p. 53)
Better a little fire to warm us than a big one to burn us. (Mieder et al.,
1992, p. 49)
ECP
While the phone /r/ is appeared in 6 words (out of 8) in the Persian
proverb, only Ross has partially recreated the same aesthetic feature by
utilizing the terms ‘burden-bearing’, ‘preferable’, and ‘devouring’. Ross also
seems more successful than the rest in rendering the following proverb:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 147
S
T
Admonition is the address of superiors and then fetters. If they give
advice and you do not listen, they put you in fetters. (Rehatsek, 1888,
TTs
Mahmoud Afrouz 75
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
p. 222)
Princes, in chastising, admonish, and then confine; when they
admonish, and thou listen not, they throw thee into prison. (Ross,
1823p. 304)
The great admonish first-observant be! / Lest, if thou heed not words,
they shackle thee. (Eastwick, 1880, p. 237)
As it can be observed, the Persian proverbial expression has both
rhyme and assonance of the phone / / (/n/) and // (/h/). They were produced
via the lexical items ‘’ /pænd/, ‘’ /mehtaran/, ‘’ /angæh/, ‘’
/bænd/, ‘’ /dehænd/, ‘’ /næšnævi/, and ‘’ /nehænd/. Ross has
attempted to capture the aesthetic feature and reproduced assonance of the
phone /n/ and // by resorting to the following terms ‘princes’, ‘in’,
‘chastising’, ‘admonish’, ‘and’, ‘confine’, ‘when’, ‘listen’, ‘not’, ‘into’, ‘prison’,
‘then’, ‘they’, ‘thou’, ‘thee’. Interestingly, all words in his first line contained
the phone /n/.
3.6.2. Developing a New Model for Translating Proverbs
Consider the following proverb from The Gulistan and its English
translation:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 34
ST
At last a wolf’s whelp will be a wolf / Although he may grow up with a
man (Rehatsek, 1888, p. 29)
TT
While the phone // (/g/) is appeared six times in four lexical items
and has made assonance in the ST, the phone /w/ works the same in the TT
via its five-time appearance. Therefore, we can observe that although
Rehatsek literally rendered the proverb, the strategy of its translation is not
referred to in Baker’s (2011) model since the TT includes the playful use of
language. Consequently, the first strategy added to Baker’s model is ‘literal
translation (with playful use of language)’. However, there is no need to alter
the data presented in Table 1 since there was only one instance in the whole
corpus and; therefore, the percentages do not change.
76 Translating Proverbs in The Guslitan of Sa‘di […]
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
Interestingly, in its English Correspondent Proverb (ECP), «The fox may
grow gray, but never good» (Mieder et al., 1992, p. 232), there is an
alliteration produced by the phone /g/.
Through this example, we can also identify a new strategy which
involves recreating a proverb with similar meaning, similar structure, but
partially dissimilar lexical items. Bearing Rehatsek’s literal translation, we
can recreate through the English proverb «The man who is born in a stable
is not a horse» (Simpson and Speake, 1992, p. 163) a new proverbial
expression: The wolf who is born in a house is not a man.
This strategy is different from Baker’s second strategy (SMDF) since
in this case, the translator recreates an expression based on the existing TL
proverb. The benefit of this strategy, in comparison to literal translation or
paraphrasing, is that it brings to the mind of the TT reader that s/he is
dealing with a proverbial expression.
Let us observe the applicability of this strategy to other instances:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 41
ST
A man does not appreciate the value of immunity from a
misfortune until it has befallen him. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.
33)
TT
Health is not valued till sickness comes. (Mieder et al.,
1992, p. 289)
English Proverb
Immunity is not valued till misfortune comes.
Recreated
Proverb
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 269
ST
The ant collects in summer a subsistence / For spending
the winter in ease. (Rehatsek, 1888, p.185)
TT
The bee works in the summer and eats honey all winter.
(Mieder et al., 1992, p. 48)
English Proverb
The ant works in the summer and rests all winter.
Recreated
Proverb
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 53
ST
Mahmoud Afrouz 77
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
Till the antidote is brought from Eraq the snake-bitten
person dies. (Rehatsek, 1888, p. 42)
TT
While the grass grows the horse starves. (Mieder et al.,
1992, p. 265)
English Proverb
While the antidote arrives the snake-bitten dies.
Recreated
Proverb
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 293
ST
If an angel associates with a demon /He will learn from
him fear, fraud and hypocrisy. (Rehatsek, 1888, p. 206)
TT
Who keeps company with wolf learns to howl. (Mieder et
al., 1992, p. 665)
English Proverb
Who keeps company with demon learns to be deceitful.
or ‘Who keeps company with a Div* learns to be devious’.
(*Div is the transliterated from of the ST word ‘’ (i.e.,
demon)
Recreated
Proverbs
The third strategy can be called ‘Partial Replacement’ which involves
the substitution of just one part of the ST proverbial expression with a TT
established proverb or an ECP. The following can be considered as a
practical case in point:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 287
ST
As the friendship of friends is unreliable, what trust can be put in
the flattery of enemies? (Rehatsek, 1888, p.198)
TT
You can't trust your best friend. (Mieder et al., 1992, p. 239)
ECP
As ‘you can't trust your best friend’, what trust can be put in the
flattery of enemies?
Partially
Replaced
Proverb
Interestingly, in both the ST proverb and its PRP, we can observe a
sort of assonance made through the repetition of the phones // (/t/) in six
78 Translating Proverbs in The Guslitan of Sa‘di […]
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
Persian (// / //
) and seven English
lexical items (can't/ trust/ best/ what/ trust/ put/ flattery).
The last strategy can be called ‘Total Replacement’ which involves the
full substitution of an ST proverb with a TT one. The following is a practical
instance where the ECP can totally be replaced by the ST proverb:
Sa‘di, 2000, p. 227
ST
Blackness cannot be washed off from a negro. (Rehatsek, 1888,
p.157)
TT
Soap and water will not make a Negro's face white. (Mieder et al.,
1992, p. 651)
ECP
In such cases where the meaning of the ST proverb is the same as a
TL established proverb, it can be totally replaced. The TL proverb should
have similar structure and similar lexical items. In the above-mentioned
example, the words «» (i.e., to wash with water and things like soap)
and «» (i.e., negro), and the phrase « » (i.e., to
wash off blackness, or to make white) can be found in the ECP.
CONCLUSION
Some languages share proverbs with the same, or at least similar,
concepts. Encountering with such proverbs, translators can refer to the
similarity of the SL and the TL cultures through various strategies. The
present paper focused on the proverbs embedded in The Gulistan, as a
great Persian masterpiece replete with this literary element.
It was found that Baker’s consideration of ‘paraphrasing’ as the most
common way of translating idioms could not be confirmed in the case of
Persian proverbs in The Gulistan. The reason lies in the fact that, as Baker
(2011) has also referred to, despite the similarities between idioms and fixed
expressions like proverbs, there are differences. One difference she (2011,
pp. 67-68) pointed out is that «proverbs often have fairly transparent
meanings», and translators might not need to paraphrase proverbs because
they are straightforward, or at least most of them are more straightforward
than idioms. Therefore, proverbs in Persian classical literary texts do not
follow the ‘common’ pattern of translating idioms detected by Baker.
The venue is open to other researchers to test the validity of the claim
in other language pairs. But again it should be emphasized that what Baker
proposed was merely restricted to idioms. Therefore, although a proverb
Mahmoud Afrouz 79
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
behaves very much similar to an idiom, the case of the most common
translation strategy for dealing with them seems to be a horse of a different
color. The findings revealed that literal translation (98%) is by far the most
common strategy of translating Persian proverbs into English.
The researcher, realizing that the current models may not cover all
potential strategies for dealing with proverbial expressions, has offered the
following set of strategies as a step toward adapting Baker’s (2011) model to
be more applicable for translating proverbs:
• (a) Literal translation:
(a1) Literal translation (without playful use of language);
(a2) Literal translation (with playful use of language); and
(a3) Literal translation accompanied by informative footnotes
(mentioning the ECP);
• (b) Paraphrasing the SL proverb by only mentioning its sense;
• (c) Total Replacement: Replacing the SL proverb by a TL
proverb with similar meaning, similar structure, and similar
lexical items;
• (d) Partial Replacement: substituting only one part of the ST
proverbial expression with a TT proverb;
• (e) Recreating a proverb with similar meaning, similar
structure, but partially dissimilar lexical items; and
• (f) Omitting the entire proverb.
Among the abovementioned strategies, Rehatsek (1888) had
persistently resorted to literal translation, while he could have accompanied
his literal translation by some helpful notes to inform the reader of the
existence of the correspondent TT proverb, and in this way, observe ‘fidelity’
and also simultaneously preserve local color and aesthetic aspects of the
original text. As was discussed in previous sections, although all Persian
proverbs were rendered literally, their aesthetic features were in some cases
preserved, and in some other cases, they were just compensated or even
totally lost.
The findings of the present study confirmed Zarkub and Fayaz’s
(2013) claim that proverbs in classical literary texts were replete with speech
figures like metaphors and similes. Interestingly, however, the results of
Farahani and Ghasemi’s (2012) paper were disproved. They had identified
the replacement with a local proverb as the most frequently used strategy.
Finally, Thalji’s (2015) finding that unfamiliarity with appropriate translation
strategies would be a great challenge faced by translators of proverbs was
80 Translating Proverbs in The Guslitan of Sa‘di […]
Hikma 21 (1) (2022), 53 - 83
confirmed. In the present paper, Rehatsek (1888) had seemingly been
familiar with only literal translation and this limited choice had sometimes
resulted in the loss of the aesthetic features of proverbs.
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