Writing about one of the earliest short stories of Anton Chekhov, the author writes:
The title of this story-the Russian word toska-has no exact English equivalent, but it is the emotion that characterizes much of human life as Chekhov saw it. The story itself could stand as an extended definition of the word. Constance Garnett translates it as “misery,” Pevear and Volokhonsky turn up the volume to “anguish,” but the sense is closer to “longing.” In Russian, when you miss someone, you toska (toskovat’) for him. We live missing something, longing for something, though we do not always know what.
Does this not remind you of SAUDADE ?
Saudade is a word for a sad state of intense longing for someone or something that is absent, is one definition.
there are so many definitions of Saudade.
“vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist.”
Having “enjoyed” or “suffered” multitudes of ecstatic moments of Saudade, I have my own definition: It is the sense of loss of something even before you have it.
Fado da saudade
Eu canto o fado pra mim
Open the doors to me
Abre-me as portas que dão
From the heart out
Do coração cá pra fora
E a minha dor sem ter fim
That is in that prison
Que está naquela prisão
Get out of prison, go away
Sai da prisão, vai-se embora
Ai, minha dor
Without the bitterness of your weeping
Sem o amargo do teu pranto
I didn’t sing like a song
Não cantava como canto
In my bitter corner
No meu canto amargurado
Ai, meu amor
What are you now that I suffer and cry?
Que és agora que eu sofro e choro?
After all, now that I love
It’s for you that I sing fado
É por ti que eu canto fado
Eu canto o fado pra mim
I’ve sung it for both of us
Já o cantei pra nós dois
But that was in the past
Mas isso foi no passado
Já que assim é, seja assim
You forgot me after
Já me esqueceste depois
Each has its own fado
Já cada qual tem seu fado
O mais feliz
It’s yours, I’m sure
É o teu, tenho a certeza
It is the fate of poverty
É o fado da pobreza
And that leads us to happiness
E que nos leva à felicidade
Se Deus o quis
I don’t envy you this achievement
Não te invejo essa conquista
Because mine is more fadista
Porque o meu é mais fadista
É o fado da saudade
Original Blogger URL: https://medicoanthropologist.blogspot.com/2020/10/toska-in-russian-could-it-be-saudade.html