A Short Cut to Mushrooms (Chapter 4) J.R.R.

Tolkien

In the morning Frodo woke refreshed. He was lying in a bower made by a living
tree with branches laced and drooping to the ground; his bed was of fern and grass,
deep and soft and strangely fragrant. The sun was shining through the fluttering
leaves, which were still green upon the tree. He jumped up and went out.
Sam was sitting on the grass near the edge of the wood. Pippin was standing
studying the sky and weather. There was no sign of the Elves.
‘They have left us fruit and drink, and bread,’ said Pippin. ‘Come and have your
breakfast. The bread tastes almost as good as it did last night. I did not want to leave
you any, but Sam insisted.’
Frodo sat down beside Sam and began to eat. ‘What is the plan for today?’ asked
Pippin.
‘To walk to Bucklebury as quickly as possible,’ answered Frodo, and gave his
attention to the food.
‘Do you think we shall see anything of those Riders’asked Pippin cheerfully.
Under the morning sun the prospect of seeing a whole troop of them did not seem
very alarming to him.
‘Yes, probably,’ said Frodo, not liking the reminder.But I hope to get across the
river without their seeing us.’
‘Did you find out anything about them from Gildor?’
‘Not much - only hints and riddles,’ said Frodo evasively. ‘Did you ask about the
sniffing?’
‘We didn’t discuss it,’ said Frodo with his mouth full.
‘You should have. I am sure it is very important.’
‘In that case I am sure Gildor would have refused to explain it,’ said Frodo
sharply. ‘And now leave me in peace for a bit! I don’t want to answer a string of
questions while I am eating. I want to think!’
‘Good heavens!’ said Pippin. ‘At breakfast?’ He walked away towards the edge
of the green.
From Frodo’s mind the bright morning - treacherously bright, he thought - had
not banished the fear of pursuit; and he pondered the words of Gildor. The merry
voice of Pippin came to him. He was running on the green turf and singing.
‘No! I could not!’ he said to himself. ‘It is one thing to take my young friends
walking over the Shire with me, until we are hungry and weary, and food and bed
are sweet. To take them into exile, where hunger and weariness may have no cure, is
quite another - even if they are willing to come. The inheritance is mine alone. I
don’t think I ought even to take Sam.’ He looked at Sam Gamgee, and discovered
that Sam was watching him.
 The text that I am going to analyze is an extract from the book “The Lord of the Rings: The
Fellowship of the Ring” written by J.R.R.Tolkien. This book was translated by Ukrainian translator
A.Nemirova. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English writer, poet, philologist, and academic, best
known as the author of the high fantasy works “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”.

First of all, let’s take into consideration lexical transformations. Talking about formal
transformations, there are some names mentioned in the text, namely Frodo, Pippin, Sam, Gildor,
Elves. We can use transliteration (SL word or word combination is reproduced in the TL by a letter-for-
letter technique), and it will be Фродо, Сем, Гілдор. Besides it, for Elves, Pippin, we may use mixed
transcoding (transcription with some elements of transliteration) and reproduce it like Ельфи та Пін.

As for lexical semantic transformations, such a transformation as a modulation (the word or

word combination of the TL is the contextual equivalent of the SL word) can be used here: Frodo woke
refreshed - Фродо прокинувся повен свіжих сил, edge of the wood- узлісся; …studying the sky and
weather.-… дивився на небо, щоб визначити погоду.; there are also examples of differentiation (the
choice of a suitable word out of a number of different dictionary meanings): riddles- недомовки, voice-
гомін, said- відрізав;

Lexical grammatical transformations are also used here, for example, antonymic translation
(the change of meaning of SL word to its opposite in TL): Under the morning sun the prospect of
seeing a whole troop of them did not seem very alarming to him.- При світлі ранку він згоден був
зустрітися з цілим полком Вершників.,; fruit- овочів; The bread tastes almost as good as...- Хліб
аж ніяк не гірший від того...; сompression (omission of certain words or word combinations of SL in
the translation): He was lying in a bower made by a living tree with branches laced and drooping to the
ground; - Він лежав під пологом спадаючого гілля,; There was no sign of the Elves.- Ельфи зникли.;
He looked at Sam Gamgee,- Тут він поглянув на Сема; decompression (addition of words or word
combinations in the translation): He jumped up and went out.- Фродо скочив на ноги і вийшов на
галявину.; ‘Yes, probably,’ said Frodo, not liking the reminder.- Так, це ймовірно, - невдоволено
сказав Фродо (навіщо згадувати про таке?).; ‘At breakfast?- Міркувати під час сніданку?;
Now, let’s talk about grammatical transformations. In the translation of this text replacement,
partitioning and integration are used. Replacement is the change of word-order in the translated
sentence: The sun was shining through the fluttering leaves, which were still green upon the tree.- На
гіллі тріпотіло ще зовсім зелене листя, крізь нього світило сонце.; What is the plan for today?’
asked Pippin.- Пін спитав:- Які в нас плани на сьогодні?; Integration consists in converting a
complex or compound SL sentence into a simple TL sentence or in combining two or more SL sentences
into one TL sentence: and he pondered the words of Gildor. The merry voice of Pippin came to him. - й
довго розмірковував над тим, що казав Гілдор, аж поки до нього не долинув веселий гомін;
Partitioning is a translation device which involves the change of the sentence structure: his bed was of
fern and grass, deep and soft and strangely fragrant.- на постелі з папороті та м'якої, духмяної
трави. На гіллі тріпотіло ще зовсім зелене листя, крізь нього світило сонце;

As for stylistic transformations, expressivity (the SL neutral lexical unit is substituted by a

stylistically marked TL unit) is used in the translation: but Sam insisted- але Сем мене розраяв, began
to eat- заходився їсти.;