The Master and Master

A Russian friend gave me a copy of The Master and Margarita for a present, Bulgakov’s well-known novel. Whereas the English editions all seem to include the article in the title, there is variation in the German editions: Der Meister und Margarita (Luchterhand and Books on Demand) vs. Meister und Margarita (Galiani and dtv). The translator’s problem begins before the very first word of the Russian text even appears. Russian does not have any articles. But one would not conclude from this that there should be no article in the English or German translation of the novel. Indeed, there are four in this sentence from the first page of the novel: “Upon reaching the shade of the freshly budding lindens, the waiters first dashed towards a brightly painted both carrying the sign Beer and Sodas“. So the translator has to decide whether what there is not in the original is to be translated or not.