Третият превод на житието на св. Антоний Велики
The Third Translation of the Life of St Antony the Great

Summary/Abstract: The Slavonic manuscript No 43 from the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church (14th c.) contains a unique copy of the Life of St. Antony by Athanasius of Alexandria (BHG 140). It presents a rendition that differs from the other two known translations: the one made in 10th century Preslav and the translation originating from fourteenth-century Tărnovo. The rendition in question dates back to the 13th-14th c. and it is known as “the third” translation in spite of the fact that it probably precedes the Middle Bulgarian one from Tărnovo. In this article I discuss some linguistic features of this text in comparison to the other two in order to more accurately assess the principles of translation, and to establish its date. The research is focused on some of the ways of rendering the Greek definite article, substantival and declarative infinitives, and the participles. The influence of the vernacular and the aspiration for readability and grammaticality are the features the first and the “third” translations have in common (e.g. postposition of the attributive phrase, or use of predicative participles with a conjunction). The so-called “third translation” shares with the second one several characteristics, typical for the Middle Bulgarian period: a very close adherence to the Greek original, use of inflexible and artificial means of expression, etc. (e.g. indeclinable иже, declarative infinitive, constructions such as accusativus cum infinitivo). The Life of St. Antony in MSPC 43 has probably come into existence in response to the need for a new translation. It is a good, readable translation, but it remained isolated after a new “official” translation appeared in the 14th c.

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