Question about translations in diaries

[KFinn]

This may be meaningless in the grander scheme of things but I have reservations about some of the interpretations of diary entries.  This mostly involves the suspicions about whether there was any building animosity between Igor and Zina. 

In Zina's diary, dated 28 Jan, she says, "Igor was rude the whole evening, I just couldn't recognize him." Many have taken this to suggest that he was being mean to her and she didn't understand why or had never seen that side of him, etc.  However, in earlier in the same entry, she says, "last night the boys were rude. If we ignore them, maybe they will be less rude. And so far, nothing."  Meaning, the guys were being smart asses, and she and Lyuda just ignored them.  Looking at possible synonyms for "recognize," is "acknowledge." I believe that her reference to Igor being rude was her saying, "he continued being a smart ass and I refused to acknowledge it."

Translations can be tricky.  I was reading a translation from Swedish into English, describing a grave dig where the "fibers leapt out in the grave."  The fiber was a technique of thread manipulation called "sprang." The translation was right, synonyms of sprang would include leap. So I've read all of the diaries trying to be open minded about possible translation differences.  I do not speak Russian but for those if you who do, could this be a possible different translation?

[eurocentric]

I don't speak Russian, but the relevant text seems to reliably produce rude across numerous translators.

https://www.lexilogos.com/english/russian_translation.htm#

Игорь весь вечер хамил я просто не узнавала его.

There was this complex love triangle. She had fallen in love with Yuri D after he'd saved her from a brown bear on a previous hike, only for him to later dump her for another girl after his mother suggested Zina was "too old" for him. After that it seems Igor was keen, but she rebuffed him. Her photo was found in Igor's notebook.

Significantly it was Yuri D (Yurka's) birthday the very next day, so I suspect that was probably bothering Igor deep down, with him jealously thinking she'd be making a big fuss of the competition the next day, so that he became offhand with her.

From this site, earlier on the trip, it seems the Yurka-Zina ice had already broken 2 days earlier:

On the evening of January 26, Zina wrote: "I put Yurka’s mittens on today, though I was reluctant to do so. But the guys told me I was wrong, and so I did put them on. Talking to each other. Just a bit."

When Doroschenko considerately offered Zina his mittens to warm her hands, she initially refused them, since he was no longer her boyfriend and she didn’t want any such care from him – a normal reaction from a Russian girl, who wants all or nothing from the man she still has in her heart. Her friends, however, made her aware that this kind of behavior was not appropriate on an expedition where personal matters shouldn’t affect one’s decisions. So she accepted the mittens and even tried to talk to him, though it was not easy for her.

[KFinn]

I actually don't buy into the "love triangle" theories.  There is no evidence Igor liked Zina as any thing more than a friend.  The proof people post was her picture in amongst his things.  Which could have been tossed in when they were throwing the small items of the tent into the backpack, etc.  There is no other indication anywhere that Igor liked Zina or that they dated or any such thing.  No witness testimonies from friends, nothing.

We know definitively that she had dated Yuri based on her words, letters, diary entries and testimony from friends.  She didn't now how she felt about him going on the trip, but she also was the type of person to put personal feelings aside for the good of the group, as evidenced by witness testimonies about her character.  So the whole love triangle theory is only theory based on a picture that no one can even prove Igor had put anywhere purposely.  Nothing more. 

[eurocentric]

The new book reveals that Igor was regarded as obstinate, petulant and even foolhardy at times by some of his fellow hikers, so perhaps occasional rudenesss was also part of his nature.

Page 135, referencing one of the search team members, residing in a base camp tent.

From Grigoriev's diary
"We were talking about the deceased througout the whole evening. About why they had pitched their tent on the mountain, etc. It was said that Igor Dyatlov was very ambitious, prone to domineering. At one point he suggested to his group to cross from one bank of the river to another without any reason - with no reason at all. At one point the people were so outraged with his behaviour that they would not follow his orders. Then he retreated and declared a hunger strike. He was a good and diligent rank-and-file member of the group. All mistakes were attributed to him. Two people who happened to be with him spoke about it in particular. Kikoin as well spoke negatively about him. He said that it was stupid, that the group left at 3pm when it would get dark here in about an hour and a half, or two."

I have wondered, given Igor's bladder was fit-to-burst, if he may have had a physical problem affecting his behaviour, and potentially even his decisions, such as a bladder stone or urinary tract infection, which would prevent him urinating effectively, in which case his kidneys would be overloaded, particularly dicey in the extreme cold, his bloodstream full of unfiltered toxins from food digestion, and his blood pressure rising due to too much fluid in his veins. When the same happens to even the mildest little old lady it can affect their behaviour, even swearing and becoming aggressive.

It may have been either a physical or psychological thing.

Elsewhere in the book it does briefly confirm that Igor had hoped to take Yuri D's place.

[KFinn]

I've read the book, twice now.  I wouldn't say it confirms that Igor wanted to take Yuri's place, at all.  There is still no references given by anyone who knew him, no account of his, nothing.  It is all based on conjecture due to the one picture.  At the same time, Rustik had three letters on his person talking about Bienko (according to the case file.)  Should we suppose he was in love with Bienko then?