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If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Essay on the Principles of Translation - -Author: Alexander Fraser Tytler - -Release Date: March 20, 2021 [eBook #64890] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team - at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive/American - Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLES OF -TRANSLATION *** - - - - - - EVERYMAN’S LIBRARY - EDITED BY ERNEST RHYS - - ESSAYS - - ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLES - OF TRANSLATION - - - - -THE PUBLISHERS OF _EVERYMAN’S LIBRARY_ WILL BE PLEASED TO SEND FREELY -TO ALL APPLICANTS A LIST OF THE PUBLISHED AND PROJECTED VOLUMES TO BE -COMPRISED UNDER THE FOLLOWING TWELVE HEADINGS: - - TRAVEL ❦ SCIENCE ❦ FICTION - THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY - HISTORY ❦ CLASSICAL - FOR YOUNG PEOPLE - ESSAYS ❦ ORATORY - POETRY & DRAMA - BIOGRAPHY - ROMANCE - -[Illustration] - -IN TWO STYLES OF BINDING, CLOTH, FLAT BACK, COLOURED TOP, AND LEATHER, -ROUND CORNERS, GILT TOP. - - LONDON: J. M. DENT & CO. - NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. - - - - -[Illustration: MOST CURRENT FOR THAT THEY COME HOME TO MEN’S BUSINESS & -BOSOMS - -LORD BACON] - - - - -[Illustration: - - ESSAY on the - PRINCIPLES _of_ - TRANSLATION - _by_ ALEXANDER - FRASER·TYTLER - LORD WOODHOUSELEE - - LONDON: PUBLISHED - by J·M·DENT·&·CO - AND IN NEW YORK - BY E·P·DUTTON & CO] - - RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, - BREAD STREET HILL, E.C., AND - BUNGAY SUFFOLK. - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, author of the present essay -on Translation, and of various works on Universal and on Local History, -was one of that Edinburgh circle which was revolving when Sir Walter -Scott was a young probationer. Tytler was born at Edinburgh, October 15, -1747, went to the High School there, and after two years at Kensington, -under Elphinston—Dr. Johnson’s Elphinston—entered Edinburgh University -(where he afterwards became Professor of Universal History). He seems -to have been Elphinston’s favourite pupil, and to have particularly -gratified his master, “the celebrated Dr. Jortin” too, by his Latin verse. - -In 1770 he was called to the bar; in 1776 married a wife; in 1790 was -appointed Judge-Advocate of Scotland; in 1792 became the master of -Woodhouselee on the death of his father. Ten years later he was raised -to the bench of the court of session, with his father’s title—Lord -Woodhouselee. But the law was only the professional background to his -other avocation—of literature. Like his father, something of a personage -at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, it was before its members that he -read the papers which were afterwards cast into the present work. In -them we have all that is still valid of his very considerable literary -labours. Before it appeared, his effect on his younger contemporaries in -Edinburgh had already been very marked—if we may judge by Lockhart. His -encouragement undoubtedly helped to speed Scott on his way, especially -into that German romantic region out of which a new Gothic breath was -breathed on the Scottish thistle. - -It was in 1790 that Tytler read in the Royal Society his papers on -Translation, and they were soon after published, without his name. Hardly -had the work seen the light, than it led to a critical correspondence -with Dr. Campbell, then Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen. Dr. -Campbell had at some time previous to this published his Translations -of the Gospels, to which he had prefixed some observations upon the -principles of translation. When Tytler’s anonymous work appeared he was -led to express some suspicion that the author might have borrowed from -his Dissertation, without acknowledging the obligation. Thereupon Tytler -instantly wrote to Dr. Campbell, acknowledging himself to be the author, -and assuring him that the coincidence, such as it was, “was purely -accidental, and that the name of Dr. Campbell’s work had never reached -him until his own had been composed.... There seems to me no wonder,” -he continued, “that two persons, moderately conversant in critical -occupations, sitting down professedly to investigate the principles of -this art, should hit upon the same principles, when in fact there are -none other to hit upon, and the truth of these is acknowledged at their -first enunciation. But in truth, the merit of this little essay (if it -has any) does not, in my opinion, lie in these particulars. It lies in -the establishment of those various subordinate rules and precepts which -apply to the nicer parts and difficulties of the art of translation; in -deducing those rules and precepts which carry not their own authority _in -gremio_, from the general principles which are of acknowledged truth, and -in proving and illustrating them by examples.” - -Tytler has here put his finger on one of the critical good services -rendered by his book. But it has a further value now, and one that he -could not quite foresee it was going to have. The essay is an admirably -typical dissertation on the classic art of poetic translation, and of -literary style, as the eighteenth century understood it; and even where -it accepts Pope’s Homer or Melmoth’s Cicero in a way that is impossible -to us now, the test that is applied, and the difference between that test -and our own, will be found, if not convincing, extremely suggestive. In -fact, Tytler, while not a great critic, was a charming dilettante, and -a man of exceeding taste; and something of that grace which he is said -to have had personally is to be found lingering in these pages. Reading -them, one learns as much by dissenting from some of his judgments as -by subscribing to others. Woodhouselee, Lord Cockburn said, was not a -Tusculum, but it was a country-house with a fine tradition of culture, -and its quondam master was a delightful host, with whom it was a -memorable experience to spend an evening discussing the _Don Quixote_ -of Motteux and of Smollett, or how to capture the aroma of Virgil in an -English medium, in the era before the Scottish prose Homer had changed -the literary perspective north of the Tweed. It is sometimes said that -the real art of poetic translation is still to seek; yet one of its most -effective demonstrators was certainly Alexander Fraser Tytler, who died -in 1814. - - The following is his list of works: - - Piscatory Eclogues, with other Poetical Miscellanies of - Phinehas Fletcher, illustrated with notes, critical and - explanatory, 1771; The Decisions of the Court of Sessions, from - its first Institution to the present Time, etc. (supplementary - volume to Lord Kames’s “Dictionary of Decisions”), 1778; Plan - and Outline of a Course of Lectures on Universal History, - Ancient and Modern (delivered at Edinburgh), 1782; Elements of - General History, Ancient and Modern (with table of Chronology - and a comparative view of Ancient and Modern Geography), 2 - vols., 1801. A third volume was added by E. Nares, being a - continuation to death of George III., 1822; further editions - continued to be issued with continuations, and the work was - finally brought down to the present time, and edited by G. - Bell, 1875; separate editions have appeared of the ancient - and modern parts, and an abridged edition in 1809 by T. D. - Hincks. To Vols. I. and II. (1788, 1790) of the Transactions - of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Tytler contributed History - of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Life of Lord-President - Dundas, and An Account of some Extraordinary Structures on the - Tops of Hills in the Highlands, etc.; to Vol. V., Remarks on a - Mixed Species of Evidence in Matters of History, 1805; A Life - of Sir John Gregory, prefixed to an edition of the latter’s - works, 1788; Essay on the Principles of Translations, 1791, - 1797; Third Edition, with additions and alterations, 1813; - Translation of Schiller’s “The Robbers,” 1792; A Critical - Examination of Mr. Whitaker’s Course of Hannibal over the - Alps, 1798; A Dissertation on Final Causes, with a Life of - Dr. Derham, in edition of the latter’s works, 1798; Ireland - Profiting by Example, or the Question Considered whether - Scotland has Gained or Lost by the Union, 1799; Essay on - Military Law and the Practice of Courts-Martial, 1800; Remarks - on the Writings and Genius of Ramsay (preface to edition of - works), 1800, 1851, 1866; Memoirs of the Life and Writings of - the Hon. Henry Horne, Lord Kames, 1807, 1814; Essay on the - Life and Character of Petrarch, with Translation of Seven - Sonnets, 1784; An Historical and Critical Essay on the Life - and Character of Petrarch, with a Translation of a few of his - Sonnets (including the above pamphlet and the dissertation - mentioned above in Vol. V. of Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin.), 1812; - Consideration of the Present Political State of India, etc., - 1815, 1816. Tytler contributed to the “Mirror,” 1779-80, and to - the “Lounger,” 1785-6. - - Life of Tytler, by Rev. Archibald Alison, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - Introduction 1 - - CHAPTER I - - Description of a good Translation—General Rules flowing from - that description 7 - - CHAPTER II - - First General Rule: A Translation should give a complete - transcript of the ideas of the original work—Knowledge of - the language of the original, and acquaintance with the - subject—Examples of imperfect transfusion of the sense of the - original—What ought to be the conduct of a Translator where the - sense is ambiguous 10 - - CHAPTER III - - Whether it is allowable for a Translator to add to or retrench - the ideas of the original—Examples of the use and abuse of this - liberty 22 - - CHAPTER IV - - Of the freedom allowed in poetical Translation—Progress of - poetical Translation in England—B. Jonson, Holiday, May, - Sandys, Fanshaw, Dryden—Roscommon’s Essay on Translated - Verse—Pope’s Homer 35 - - CHAPTER V - - Second general Rule: The style and manner of writing in a - Translation should be of the same character with that of the - Original—Translations of the Scriptures—Of Homer, &c.—A just - Taste requisite for the discernment of the Characters of Style - and Manner—Examples of failure in this particular; The grave - exchanged for the formal; the elevated for the bombast; the - lively for the petulant; the simple for the childish—Hobbes, - L’Estrange, Echard, &c. 63 - - CHAPTER VI - - Examples of a good Taste in poetical Translation—Bourne’s - Translations from Mallet and from Prior—The Duke de Nivernois, - from Horace—Dr. Jortin, from Simonides—Imitation of the same by - the Archbishop of York—Mr. Webb, from the Anthologia—Hughes, - from Claudian—Fragments of the Greek Dramatists by Mr. - Cumberland 80 - - CHAPTER VII - - Limitation of the rule regarding the Imitation of Style—This - Imitation must be regulated by the Genius of Languages—The - Latin admits of a greater brevity of Expression than the - English; as does the French—The Latin and Greek allow of - greater Inversions than the English, and admit more freely of - Ellipsis 96 - - CHAPTER VIII - - Whether a Poem can be well Translated into Prose? 107 - - CHAPTER IX - - Third general Rule: A Translation should have all the ease of - original composition—Extreme difficulty in the observance of - this rule—Contrasted instances of success and failure—Of the - necessity of sacrificing one rule to another 112 - - CHAPTER X - - It is less difficult to attain the ease of original composition - in poetical, than in Prose Translation—Lyric Poetry admits of - the greatest liberty of Translation—Examples distinguishing - Paraphrase from Translation, from Dryden, Lowth, Fontenelle, - Prior, Anguillara, Hughes 123 - - CHAPTER XI - - Of the Translation of Idiomatic Phrases—Examples from Cotton, - Echard, Sterne—Injudicious use of Idioms in the Translation, - which do not correspond with the age or country of the - Original—Idiomatic Phrases sometimes incapable of Translation 135 - - CHAPTER XII - - Difficulty of translating _Don Quixote_, from its Idiomatic - Phraseology—Of the best Translations of that Romance—Comparison - of the Translation by Motteux with that by Smollett 150 - - CHAPTER XIII - - Other Characteristics of Composition which render - Translation difficult—Antiquated Terms—New Terms—_Verba - Ardentia_—Simplicity of Thought and Expression—In Prose—In - Poetry—_Naiveté_ in the latter—Chaulieu—Parnelle—La - Fontaine—Series of Minute Distinctions marked by characteristic - Terms—Strada—Florid Style, and vague expression—Pliny’s Natural - History 176 - - CHAPTER XIV - - Of Burlesque Translation—Travesty and Parody—Scarron’s _Virgile - Travesti_—Another species of Ludicrous Translation 197 - - CHAPTER XV - - The genius of the Translator should be akin to that of the - original author—The best Translators have shone in original - composition of the same species with that which they have - translated—Of Voltaire’s Translations from Shakespeare—Of the - peculiar character of the wit of Voltaire—His Translation - from _Hudibras_—Excellent anonymous French Translation of - _Hudibras_—Translation of Rabelais by Urquhart and Motteux 204 - - Appendix 225 - - Index 231 - - - - -ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLES OF TRANSLATION - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -There is perhaps no department of literature which has been less the -object of cultivation, than the _Art of Translating_. Even among the -ancients, who seem to have had a very just idea of its importance, -and who have accordingly ranked it among the most useful branches of -literary education, we meet with no attempt to unfold the principles -of this art, or to reduce it to rules. In the works of Quinctilian, of -Cicero, and of the Younger Pliny, we find many passages which prove that -these authors had made translation their peculiar study; and, conscious -themselves of its utility, they have strongly recommended the practice -of it, as essential towards the formation both of a good writer and -an accomplished orator.[1] But it is much to be regretted, that they -who were so eminently well qualified to furnish instruction in the art -itself, have contributed little more to its advancement than by some -general recommendations of its importance. If indeed time had spared to -us any complete or finished specimens of translation from the hand of -those great masters, it had been some compensation for the want of actual -precepts, to have been able to have deduced them ourselves from those -exquisite models. But of ancient translations the fragments that remain -are so inconsiderable, and so much mutilated, that we can scarcely derive -from them any advantage.[2] - -To the moderns the art of translation is of greater importance than -it was to the ancients, in the same proportion that the great mass of -ancient and of modern literature, accumulated up to the present times, -bears to the general stock of learning in the most enlightened periods -of antiquity. But it is a singular consideration, that under the daily -experience of the advantages of good translations, in opening to us -all the stores of ancient knowledge, and creating a free intercourse -of science and of literature between all modern nations, there should -have been so little done towards the improvement of the art itself, by -investigating its laws, or unfolding its principles. Unless a very short -essay, published by M. D’Alembert, in his _Mélanges de Litterature, -d’Histoire, &c._ as introductory to his translations of some pieces -of Tacitus, and some remarks on translation by the Abbé Batteux, in -his _Principes de la Litterature_, I have met with nothing that has -been written professedly upon the subject.[3] The observations of M. -D’Alembert, though extremely judicious, are too general to be considered -as rules, or even principles of the art; and the remarks of the Abbé -Batteux are employed chiefly on what may be termed the Philosophy of -Grammar, and seem to have for their principal object the ascertainment of -the analogy that one language bears to another, or the pointing out of -those circumstances of construction and arrangement in which languages -either agree with, or differ from each other.[4] - -While such has been our ignorance of the principles of this art, it is -not at all wonderful, that amidst the numberless translations which every -day appear, both of the works of the ancients and moderns, there should -be so few that are possessed of real merit. The utility of translations -is universally felt, and therefore there is a continual demand for them. -But this very circumstance has thrown the practice of translation into -mean and mercenary hands. It is a profession which, it is generally -believed, may be exercised with a very small portion of genius or -abilities.[5] “It seems to me,” says Dryden, “that the true reason why -we have so few versions that are tolerable, is, because there are so few -who have all the talents requisite for translation, and that there is -so little praise and small encouragement for so considerable a part of -learning” (_Pref. to Ovid’s Epistles_). - -It must be owned, at the same time, that there _have been_, and that -there _are_ men of genius among the moderns who have vindicated the -dignity of this art so ill-appreciated, and who have furnished us -with excellent translations, both of the ancient classics, and of the -productions of foreign writers of our own and of former ages. These -works lay open a great field of useful criticism; and from them it is -certainly possible to draw the principles of that art which has never yet -been methodised, and to establish its rules and precepts. Towards this -purpose, even the worst translations would have their utility, as in such -a critical exercise, it would be equally necessary to illustrate defects -as to exemplify perfections. - -An attempt of this kind forms the subject of the following Essay, in -which the Author solicits indulgence, both for the imperfections of his -treatise, and perhaps for some errors of opinion. His apology for the -first, is, that he does not pretend to exhaust the subject, or to treat -it in all its amplitude, but only to point out the general principles of -the art; and for the last, that in matters where the ultimate appeal is -to Taste, it is almost impossible to be secure of the solidity of our -opinions, when the criterion of their truth is so very uncertain. - - - - -CHAPTER I - - DESCRIPTION OF A GOOD TRANSLATION—GENERAL RULES FLOWING FROM - THAT DESCRIPTION - - -If it were possible accurately to define, or, perhaps more properly, to -describe what is meant by a _good Translation_, it is evident that a -considerable progress would be made towards establishing the Rules of -the _Art_; for these Rules would flow naturally from that definition -or description. But there is no subject of criticism where there has -been so much difference of opinion. If the genius and character of all -languages were the same, it would be an easy task to translate from one -into another; nor would anything more be requisite on the part of the -translator, than fidelity and attention. But as the genius and character -of languages is confessedly very different, it has hence become a -common opinion, that it is the duty of a translator to attend only to -the sense and spirit of his original, to make himself perfectly master -of his author’s ideas, and to communicate them in those expressions -which he judges to be best suited to convey them. It has, on the -other hand, been maintained, that, in order to constitute a perfect -translation, it is not only requisite that the ideas and sentiments -of the original author should be conveyed, but likewise his style and -manner of writing, which, it is supposed, cannot be done without a strict -attention to the arrangement of his sentences, and even to their order -and construction.[6] According to the former idea of translation, it is -allowable to improve and to embellish; according to the latter, it is -necessary to preserve even blemishes and defects; and to these must, -likewise be superadded the harshness that must attend every copy in which -the artist scrupulously studies to imitate the minutest lines or traces -of his original. - -As these two opinions form opposite extremes, it is not improbable -that the point of perfection should be found between the two. I would -therefore describe a good translation to be, _That, in which the merit of -the original work is so completely transfused into another language, as -to be as distinctly apprehended, and as strongly felt, by a native of -the country to which that language belongs, as it is by those who speak -the language of the original work_. - -Now, supposing this description to be a just one, which I think it is, -let us examine what are the laws of translation which may be deduced from -it. - -It will follow, - -I. That the Translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of -the original work. - -II. That the style and manner of writing should be of the same character -with that of the original. - -III. That the Translation should have all the ease of original -composition. - -Under each of these general laws of translation, are comprehended a -variety of subordinate precepts, which I shall notice in their order, and -which, as well as the general laws, I shall endeavour to prove, and to -illustrate by examples. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - FIRST GENERAL RULE—A TRANSLATION SHOULD GIVE A COMPLETE - TRANSCRIPT OF THE IDEAS OF THE ORIGINAL WORK—KNOWLEDGE OF - THE LANGUAGE OF THE ORIGINAL, AND ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE - SUBJECT—EXAMPLES OF IMPERFECT TRANSFUSION OF THE SENSE OF THE - ORIGINAL—WHAT OUGHT TO BE THE CONDUCT OF A TRANSLATOR WHERE THE - SENSE IS AMBIGUOUS - - -In order that a translator may be enabled to give a complete transcript -of the ideas of the original work, it is indispensably necessary, that -he should have a perfect knowledge of the language of the original, and -a competent acquaintance with the subject of which it treats. If he is -deficient in either of these requisites, he can never be certain of -thoroughly comprehending the sense of his author. M. Folard is allowed -to have been a great master of the art of war. He undertook to translate -Polybius, and to give a commentary illustrating the ancient Tactic, -and the practice of the Greeks and Romans in the attack and defence of -fortified places. In this commentary, he endeavours to shew, from the -words of his author, and of other ancient writers, that the Greek and -Roman engineers knew and practised almost every operation known to the -moderns; and that, in particular, the mode of approach by parallels -and trenches, was perfectly familiar to them, and in continual use. -Unfortunately M. Folard had but a very slender knowledge of the Greek -language, and was obliged to study his author through the medium of a -translation, executed by a Benedictine monk,[7] who was entirely ignorant -of the art of war. M. Guischardt, a great military genius, and a thorough -master of the Greek language, has shewn, that the work of Folard contains -many capital misrepresentations of the sense of his author, in his -account of the most important battles and sieges, and has demonstrated, -that the complicated system formed by this writer of the ancient art of -war, has no support from any of the ancient authors fairly interpreted.[8] - -The extreme difficulty of translating from the works of the ancients, -is most discernible to those who are best acquainted with the ancient -languages. It is but a small part of the genius and powers of a language -which is to be learnt from dictionaries and grammars. There are -innumerable niceties, not only of construction and of idiom, but even in -the signification of words, which are discovered only by much reading, -and critical attention. - -A very learned author, and acute critic,[9] has, in treating “of the -causes of the differences in languages,” remarked, that a principal -difficulty in the art of translating arises from this circumstance, -“that there are certain words in every language which but imperfectly -correspond to any of the words of other languages.” Of this kind, he -observes, are most of the terms relating to morals, to the passions, -to matters of sentiment, or to the objects of the reflex and internal -senses. Thus the Greek words αρετη, σωφροσυνη, ελεος, have not their -sense precisely and perfectly conveyed by the Latin words _virtus_, -_temperantia_, _misericordia_, and still less by the English words, -_virtue_, _temperance_, _mercy_. The Latin word _virtus_ is frequently -synonymous to _valour_, a sense which it never bears in English. -_Temperantia_, in Latin, implies moderation in every desire, and is -defined by Cicero, _Moderatio cupiditatum rationi obediens_.[10] The -English word _temperance_, in its ordinary use, is limited to moderation -in eating and drinking. - - Observe - The rule of not too much, by _Temperance_ taught, - In what thou eat’st and drink’st. - - _Par. Lost_, b. 11. - -It is true, that Spenser has used the term in its more extensive -signification. - - He calm’d his wrath with goodly _temperance_. - -But no modern prose-writer authorises such extension of its meaning. - -The following passage is quoted by the ingenious writer above mentioned, -to shew, in the strongest manner, the extreme difficulty of apprehending -the precise import of words of this order in dead languages: “_Ægritudo -est opinio recens mali præsentis, in quo demitti contrahique animo rectum -esse videatur. Ægritudini subjiciuntur angor, mœror, dolor, luctus, -ærumna, afflictatio: angor est ægritudo premens, mœror ægritudo flebilis, -ærumna ægritudo laboriosa, dolor ægritudo crucians, afflictatio ægritudo -cum vexatione corporis, luctus ægritudo ex ejus qui carus fuerat, -interitu acerbo._”[11]—“Let any one,” says D’Alembert, “examine this -passage with attention, and say honestly, whether, if he had not known -of it, he would have had any idea of those nice shades of signification -here marked, and whether he would not have been much embarrassed, had -he been writing a dictionary, to distinguish, with accuracy, the words -_ægritudo_, _mœror_, _dolor_, _angor_, _luctus_, _ærumna_, _afflictatio_.” - -The fragments of Varro, _de Lingua Latina_, the treatises of Festus and -of Nonius, the _Origines_ of Isidorus Hispalensis, the work of Ausonius -Popma, _de Differentiis Verborum_, the _Synonymes_ of the Abbé Girard, -and a short essay by Dr. Hill[12] on “the utility of defining synonymous -terms,” will furnish numberless instances of those very delicate shades -of distinction in the signification of words, which nothing but the -most intimate acquaintance with a language can teach; but without the -knowledge of which distinctions in the original, and an equal power -of discrimination of the corresponding terms of his own language, no -translator can be said to possess the primary requisites for the task he -undertakes. - -But a translator, thoroughly master of the language, and competently -acquainted with the subject, may yet fail to give a complete transcript -of the ideas of his original author. - -M. D’Alembert has favoured the public with some admirable translations -from Tacitus; and it must be acknowledged, that he possessed every -qualification requisite for the task he undertook. If, in the course of -the following observations, I may have occasion to criticise any part -of his writings, or those of other authors of equal celebrity, I avail -myself of the just sentiment of M. Duclos, “On peut toujours relever les -défauts des grands hommes, et peut-être sont ils les seuls qui en soient -dignes, et dont la critique soit utile” (Duclos, _Pref. de l’Hist. de -Louis XI._). - -Tacitus, in describing the conduct of _Piso_ upon the death of -Germanicus, says: _Pisonem interim apud Coum insulam nuncius adsequitur, -excessisse Germanicum_ (Tacit. An. lib. 2, c. 75). This passage is thus -translated by M. D’Alembert, “Pison apprend, dans l’isle de Cos, la -mort de Germanicus.” In translating this passage, it is evident that M. -D’Alembert has not given the complete sense of the original. The sense -of Tacitus is, that Piso was overtaken on his voyage homeward, at the -Isle of Cos, by a messenger, who informed him that Germanicus was dead. -According to the French translator, we understand simply, that when Piso -arrived at the Isle of Cos, he was informed that Germanicus was dead. -We do not learn from this, that a messenger had followed him on his -voyage to bring him this intelligence. The fact was, that Piso purposely -lingered on his voyage homeward, expecting this very messenger who here -overtook him. But, by M. D’Alembert’s version it might be understood, -that Germanicus had died in the island of Cos, and that Piso was informed -of his death by the islanders immediately on his arrival. The passage -is thus translated, with perfect precision, by D’Ablancourt: “Cependant -Pison apprend la nouvelle de cette mort par un courier exprès, qui -l’atteignit en l’isle de Cos.” - -After Piso had received intelligence of the death of Germanicus, he -deliberated whether to proceed on his voyage to Rome, or to return -immediately to Syria, and there put himself at the head of the legions. -His son advised the former measure; but his friend Domitius Celer argued -warmly for his return to the province, and urged, that all difficulties -would give way to him, if he had once the command of the army, and had -increased his force by new levies. _At si teneat exercitum, augeat vires, -multa quæ provideri non possunt in melius casura_ (An. l. 2, c. 77). This -M. D’Alembert has translated, “Mais que s’il savoit se rendre redoutable -à la tête des troupes, le hazard ameneroit des circonstances heureuses et -imprévues.” In the original passage, Domitius advises Piso to adopt two -distinct measures; the first, to obtain the command of the army, and the -second, to increase his force by new levies. These two distinct measures -are confounded together by the translator, nor is the sense of either of -them accurately given; for from the expression, “se rendre redoutable -à la tête des troupes,” we may understand, that Piso already had the -command of the troops, and that all that was requisite, was to render -himself formidable in that station, which he might do in various other -ways than by increasing the levies. - -Tacitus, speaking of the means by which Augustus obtained an absolute -ascendency over all ranks in the state, says, _Cùm cæteri nobilium, -quanto quis servitio promptior, opibus et honoribus extollerentur_ -(An. l. 1, c. 2). This D’Alembert has translated, “Le reste des nobles -trouvoit dans les richesses et dans les honneurs la récompense de -l’esclavage.” Here the translator has but half expressed the meaning -of his author, which is, that “the rest of the nobility were exalted to -riches and honours, in proportion as Augustus found in them an aptitude -and disposition to servitude:” or, as it is well translated by Mr. -Murphy, “The leading men were raised to wealth and honours, in proportion -to the alacrity with which they courted the yoke.”[13] - -Cicero, in a letter to the Proconsul Philippus says, _Quod si Romæ te -vidissem, coramque gratias egissem, quod tibi L. Egnatius familiarissimus -meus absens, L. Oppius præsens curæ fuisset_. This passage is thus -translated by Mr. Melmoth: “If I were in Rome, I should have waited -upon you for this purpose in person, and in order likewise to make my -acknowledgements to you for your favours to my friends Egnatius and -Oppius.” Here the sense is not completely rendered, as there is an -omission of the meaning of the words _absens_ and _præsens_. - -Where the sense of an author is doubtful, and where more than one -meaning can be given to the same passage or expression, (which, by the -way, is always a defect in composition), the translator is called upon -to exercise his judgement, and to select that meaning which is most -consonant to the train of thought in the whole passage, or to the -author’s usual mode of thinking, and of expressing himself. To imitate -the obscurity or ambiguity of the original, is a fault; and it is still -a greater, to give more than one meaning, as D’Alembert has done in the -beginning of the Preface of Tacitus. The original runs thus: _Urbem -Romam a principio Reges habuere. Libertatem et consulatum L. Brutus -instituit. Dictaturæ ad tempus sumebantur: neque Decemviralis potestas -ultra biennium, neque Tribunorum militum consulare jus diu valuit._ -The ambiguous sentence is, _Dictaturæ ad tempus sumebantur_; which may -signify either “Dictators were chosen for a limited time,” or “Dictators -were chosen on particular occasions or emergencies.” D’Alembert saw -this ambiguity; but how did he remove the difficulty? Not by exercising -his judgement in determining between the two different meanings, but by -giving them both in his translation. “On créoit au besoin des dictateurs -passagers.” Now, this double sense it was impossible that Tacitus should -ever have intended to convey by the words _ad tempus_: and between the -two meanings of which the words are susceptible, a very little critical -judgement was requisite to decide. I know not that _ad tempus_ is ever -used in the sense of “for the occasion, or emergency.” If this had been -the author’s meaning, he would probably have used either the words -_ad occasionem_, or _pro re nata_. But even allowing the phrase to be -susceptible of this meaning,[14] it is not the meaning which Tacitus -chose to give it in this passage. That the author meant that the Dictator -was created for a limited time, is, I think, evident from the sentence -immediately following, which is connected by the copulative _neque_ -with the preceding: _Dictaturæ ad tempus sumebantur: neque Decemviralis -potestas ultra biennium valuit_: “The office of Dictator was instituted -for a limited time: nor did the power of the Decemvirs subsist beyond two -years.” - -M. D’Alembert’s translation of the concluding sentence of this chapter is -censurable on the same account. Tacitus says, _Sed veteris populi Romani -prospera vel adversa, claris scriptoribus memorata sunt; temporibusque -Augusti dicendis non defuere decora ingenia, donec gliscente adulatione -deterrerentur. Tiberii, Caiique, et Claudii, ac Neronis res, florentibus -ipsis, ob metum falsæ: postquam occiderant, recentibus odiis compositæ -sunt. Inde consilium mihi pauca de Augusto, et extrema tradere: mox -Tiberii principatum, et cetera, sine ira et studio, quorum causas procul -habeo._ Thus translated by D’Alembert: “Des auteurs illustres ont fait -connoitre la gloire et les malheurs de l’ancienne république; l’histoire -même d’Auguste a été écrite par de grands génies, jusqu’aux tems ou la -necessité de flatter les condamna au silence. La crainte ménagea tant -qu’ils vécurent, Tibere, Caius, Claude, et Néron; des qu’ils ne furent -plus, la haine toute récente les déchira. J’écrirai donc en peu de mots -la fin du regne d’Auguste, puis celui de Tibere, et les suivans; sans -fiel et sans bassesse: mon caractere m’en éloigne, et les tems m’en -dispensent.” In the last part of this passage, the translator has given -_two_ different meanings to the same clause, _sine ira et studio, quorum -causas procul habeo_, to which the author certainly meant to annex -only one meaning; and that, as I think, a different _one_ from either -of those expressed by the translator. To be clearly understood, I must -give my own version of the whole passage. “The history of the ancient -republic of Rome, both in its prosperous and in its adverse days, has -been recorded by eminent authors: Even the reign of Augustus has been -happily delineated, down to those times when the prevailing spirit of -adulation put to silence every ingenuous writer. The annals of Tiberius, -of Caligula, of Claudius, and of Nero, written while they were alive, -were falsified from terror; as were those histories composed after their -death, from hatred to their recent memories. For this reason, I have -resolved to attempt a short delineation of the latter part of the reign -of Augustus; and afterwards that of Tiberius, and of the succeeding -princes; conscious of perfect impartiality, as, from the remoteness -of the events, I have no motive, either of odium or adulation.” In the -last clause of this sentence, I believe I have given the true version of -_sine ira et studio, quorum causas procul habeo_: But if this be the true -meaning of the author, M. D’Alembert has given two different meanings -to the same sentence, and neither of them the true one: “sans fiel et -sans bassesse: mon caractere m’en éloigne, et les tems m’en dispensent.” -According to the French translator, the historian pays a compliment first -to his own character, and secondly, to the character of the times; both -of which he makes the pledges of his impartiality: but it is perfectly -clear that Tacitus neither meant the one compliment nor the other; -but intended simply to say, that the remoteness of the events which -he proposed to record, precluded every motive either of unfavourable -prejudice or of adulation. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - WHETHER IT IS ALLOWABLE FOR A TRANSLATOR TO ADD TO OR RETRENCH - THE IDEAS OF THE ORIGINAL.—EXAMPLES OF THE USE AND ABUSE OF - THIS LIBERTY - - -If it is necessary that a translator should give a complete transcript -of the ideas of the original work, it becomes a question, whether it -is allowable in any case to add to the ideas of the original what may -appear to give greater force or illustration; or to take from them what -may seem to weaken them from redundancy. To give a general answer to -this question, I would say, that this liberty may be used, but with -the greatest caution. It must be further observed, that the superadded -idea shall have the most necessary connection with the original -thought, and actually increase its force. And, on the other hand, that -whenever an idea is cut off by the translator, it must be only such -as is an accessory, and not a principal in the clause or sentence. It -must likewise be confessedly redundant, so that its retrenchment shall -not impair or weaken the original thought. Under these limitations, a -translator may exercise his judgement, and assume to himself, in so far, -the character of an original writer. - -It will be allowed, that in the following instance the translator, the -elegant Vincent Bourne, has added a very beautiful idea, which, while -it has a most natural connection with the original thought, greatly -heightens its energy and tenderness. The two following stanzas are a part -of the fine ballad of _Colin and Lucy_, by Tickell. - - To-morrow in the church to wed, - Impatient both prepare; - But know, fond maid, and know, false man, - That Lucy will be there. - - There bear my corse, ye comrades, bear, - The bridegroom blithe to meet, - He in his wedding-trim so gay, - I in my winding-sheet. - -Thus translated by Bourne: - - Jungere cras dextræ dextram properatis uterque, - Et tardè interea creditis ire diem. - Credula quin virgo, juvenis quin perfide, uterque - Scite, quod et pacti Lucia testis erit. - - Exangue, oh! illuc, comites, deferte cadaver, - Qua semel, oh! iterum congrediamur, ait; - Vestibus ornatus sponsalibus ille, caputque - Ipsa sepulchrali vincta, pedesque stolâ. - -In this translation, which is altogether excellent, it is evident, that -there is one most beautiful idea superadded by Bourne, in the line _Qua -semel, oh!_ &c.; which wonderfully improves upon the original thought. -In the original, the speaker, deeply impressed with the sense of her -wrongs, has no other idea than to overwhelm her perjured lover with -remorse at the moment of his approaching nuptials. In the translation, -amidst this prevalent idea, the speaker all at once gives way to an -involuntary burst of tenderness and affection, “Oh, let us meet once -more, and for the last time!” _Semel, oh! iterum congrediamur, ait._—It -was only a man of exquisite feeling, who was capable of thus improving on -so fine an original.[15] - -Achilles (in the first book of the _Iliad_), won by the persuasion of -Minerva, resolves, though indignantly, to give up Briseis, and Patroclus -is commanded to deliver her to the heralds of Agamemnon: - - Ως φατο· Πατροκλος δε φιλω επεπεἰθεθ’ εταιρω· - Εκ δ’ ἄγαγε κλισιης Βρισηιδα καλλιπαρηον, - Δῶκε δ’ αγειν· τω δ’ αυτις ιτην παρα νηας Αχαιων· - Ἡ δ’ αεκουσ’ ἁμα τοισι γυνὴ κιεν. - - _Ilias_, A. 345. - -“Thus he spoke. But Patroclus was obedient to his dear friend. He brought -out the beautiful Briseis from the tent, and gave her to be carried away. -They returned to the ships of the Greeks; but she unwillingly went, along -with her attendants.” - - Patroclus now th’ unwilling Beauty brought; - _She in soft sorrows, and in pensive thought,_ - _Past silent, as the heralds held her hand,_ - _And oft look’d back, slow moving o’er the strand._ - - POPE. - -The ideas contained in the three last lines are not indeed expressed in -the original, but they are implied in the word αεκουσα; for she who goes -unwillingly, will _move slowly_, and _oft look back_. The amplification -highly improves the effect of the picture. It may be incidentally -remarked, that the pause in the third line, _Past silent_, is admirably -characteristic of the slow and hesitating motion which it describes. - -In the poetical version of the 137th Psalm, by Arthur Johnston, a -composition of classical elegance, there are several examples of ideas -superadded by the translator, intimately connected with the original -thoughts, and greatly heightening their energy and beauty. - - Urbe procul Solymæ, fusi Babylonis ad undas - Flevimus, et lachrymæ fluminis instar erant: - Sacra Sion toties animo totiesque recursans, - Materiem lachrymis præbuit usque novis. - Desuetas saliceta lyras, et muta ferebant - Nablia, servili non temeranda manu. - Qui patria exegit, patriam qui subruit, hostis - Pendula captivos sumere plectra jubet: - Imperat et lætos, mediis in fletibus, hymnos, - Quosque Sion cecinit, nunc taciturna! modos. - Ergone pacta Deo peregrinæ barbita genti - Fas erit, et sacras prostituisse lyras? - Ante meo, Solyme, quam tu de pectore cedas, - Nesciat Hebræam tangere dextra chelyn. - Te nisi tollat ovans unam super omnia, lingua - Faucibus hærescat sidere tacta meis. - Ne tibi noxa recens, scelerum Deus ultor! Idumes - Excidat, et Solymis perniciosa dies: - Vertite, clamabant, fundo jam vertite templum, - Tectaque montanis jam habitanda feris. - Te quoque pœna manet, Babylon! quibus astra lacessis - Culmina mox fient, quod premis, æqua solo: - Felicem, qui clade pari data damna rependet, - Et feret ultrices in tua tecta faces! - Felicem, quisquis scopulis illidet acutis - Dulcia materno pignora rapta sinu! - -I pass over the superadded idea in the second line, _lachrymæ fluminis -instar erant_, because, bordering on the hyperbole, it derogates, in -some degree, from the chaste simplicity of the original. To the simple -fact, “We hanged our harps on the willows in the midst thereof,” which is -most poetically conveyed by _Desuetas saliceta lyras, et muta ferebant -nablia_, is superadded all the force of sentiment in that beautiful -expression, which so strongly paints the mixed emotions of a proud mind -under the influence of poignant grief, heightened by shame, _servili non -temeranda manu_. So likewise in the following stanza there is the noblest -improvement of the sense of the original. - - Imperat et lætos, mediis in fletibus, hymnos, - Quosque Sion cecinit, _nunc taciturna!_ modos. - -The reflection on the melancholy silence that now reigned on that sacred -hill, “once vocal with their songs,” is an additional thought, the force -of which is better felt than it can be conveyed by words. - -An ordinary translator sinks under the energy of his original: the man of -genius frequently rises above it. Horace, arraigning the abuse of riches, -makes the plain and honest Ofellus thus remonstrate with a wealthy -Epicure (_Sat._ 2, b. 2). - - Cur eget indignus quisquam te divite? - -A question to the energy of which it was not easy to add, but which has -received the most spirited improvement from Mr. Pope: - - How _dar’st_ thou let one worthy man be poor? - -An improvement is sometimes very happily made, by substituting figure -and metaphor to simple sentiment; as in the following example, from Mr. -Mason’s excellent translation of Du Fresnoy’s _Art of Painting_. In the -original, the poet, treating of the merits of the antique statues, says: - - queis posterior nil protulit ætas - Condignum, et non inferius longè, arte modoque. - -This is a simple fact, in the perusal of which the reader is struck with -nothing else but the truth of the assertion. Mark how in the translation -the same truth is conveyed in one of the finest figures of poetry: - - with reluctant gaze - To these the genius of succeeding days - Looks dazzled up, and, as their glories spread, - Hides in his mantle his diminish’d head. - -In the two following lines, Horace inculcates a striking moral truth; but -the figure in which it is conveyed has nothing of dignity: - - Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas - Regumque turres. - -Malherbe has given to the same sentiment a high portion of tenderness, -and even sublimity: - - Le pauvre en sa cabane, où le chaume le couvre, - Est sujet à ses loix; - Et la garde qui veille aux barrieres du Louvre, - N’en défend pas nos rois.[16] - -Cicero writes thus to Trebatius, Ep. ad fam. lib. 7, ep. 17: _Tanquam -enim syngrapham ad Imperatorem, non epistolam attulisses, sic pecuniâ -ablatâ domum redire properabas: nec tibi in mentem veniebat, eos ipsos -qui cum syngraphis venissent Alexandriam, nullum adhuc nummum auferre -potuisse_. The passage is thus translated by Melmoth, b. 2, l. 12: “One -would have imagined indeed, you had carried a bill of exchange upon -Cæsar, instead of a letter of recommendation: As you seemed to think -you had nothing more to do, than to receive your money, and to hasten -home again. But money, my friend, is not so easily acquired; and I could -name some of our acquaintance, who have been obliged to travel as far -as Alexandria in pursuit of it, without having yet been able to obtain -even their just demands.” The expressions, “_money, my friend, is not so -easily acquired_,” and “_I could name some of our acquaintance_,” are not -to be found in the original; but they have an obvious connection with -the ideas of the original: they increase their force, while, at the same -time, they give ease and spirit to the whole passage. - -I question much if a licence so unbounded as the following is -justifiable, on the principle of giving either ease or spirit to the -original. - -In Lucian’s Dialogue _Timon_, Gnathonides, after being beaten by Timon, -says to him, - - Αει φιλοσκῴμμων συ γε· αλλα ποῦ το συμποσιον; ὡς καινον τι σοι - ασμα των νεοδιδακτων διθυραμβων ἥκω κομιζων. - -“You were always fond of a joke—but where is the banquet? for I have -brought you a new dithyrambic song, which I have lately learned.” - -In Dryden’s _Lucian_, “translated by several eminent hands,” this passage -is thus translated: “Ah! Lord, Sir, I see you keep up your old merry -humour still; you love dearly to rally and break a jest. Well, but have -you got a noble supper for us, and plenty of delicious inspiring claret? -Hark ye, Timon, I’ve got a virgin-song for ye, just new composed, and -smells of the gamut: ’Twill make your heart dance within you, old boy. A -very pretty she-player, I vow to Gad, that I have an interest in, taught -it me this morning.” - -There is both ease and spirit in this translation; but the licence which -the translator has assumed, of superadding to the ideas of the original, -is beyond all bounds. - -An equal degree of judgement is requisite when the translator assumes the -liberty of retrenching the ideas of the original. - -After the fatal horse had been admitted within the walls of Troy, Virgil -thus describes the coming on of that night which was to witness the -destruction of the city: - - _Vertitur interea cœlum, et ruit oceano nox,_ - _Involvens umbrâ magnâ terramque polumque,_ - _Myrmidonumque dolos._ - -The principal effect attributed to the night in this description, and -certainly the most interesting, is its concealment of the treachery of -the Greeks. Add to this, the beauty which the picture acquires from this -association of natural with moral effects. How inexcusable then must Mr. -Dryden appear, who, in his translation, has suppressed the _Myrmidonumque -dolos_ altogether? - - Mean time the rapid heav’ns roll’d down the light, - And on the shaded ocean rush’d the night: - Our men secure, &c. - -Ogilby, with less of the spirit of poetry, has done more justice to the -original: - - Meanwhile night rose from sea, whose spreading shade - Hides heaven and earth, and plots the Grecians laid. - -Mr. Pope, in his translation of the _Iliad_, has, in the parting scene -between Hector and Andromache (vi. 466), omitted a particular respecting -the dress of the nurse, which he thought an impropriety in the picture. -Homer says, - - Αψ δ’ ὁ παϊς προς κολπον ἐϋζωνοιο τιθηνης - Εκλινθη ἰαχων. - -“The boy crying, threw himself back into the arms of his nurse, whose -waist was elegantly girt.” Mr. Pope, who has suppressed the epithet -descriptive of the waist, has incurred on that account the censure of Mr. -Melmoth, who says, “He has not touched the picture with that delicacy of -pencil which graces the original, as he has entirely lost the beauty of -one of the figures.—Though the hero and his son were designed to draw -our principal attention, Homer intended likewise that we should cast a -glance towards the nurse” (_Fitzosborne’s Letters_, l. 43). If this was -Homer’s intention, he has, in my opinion, shewn less good taste in this -instance than his translator, who has, I think with much propriety, left -out the compliment to the nurse’s waist altogether. And this liberty of -the translator was perfectly allowable; for Homer’s epithets are often -nothing more than mere expletives, or additional designations of his -persons. They are always, it is true, significant of some principal -attribute of the person; but they are often applied by the poet in -circumstances where the mention of that attribute is quite preposterous. -It would shew very little judgement in a translator, who should honour -Patroclus with the epithet of _godlike_, while he is blowing the fire -to roast an ox; or bestow on Agamemnon the designation of _King of many -nations_, while he is helping Ajax to a large piece of the chine. - -It were to be wished that Mr. Melmoth, who is certainly one of the -best of the English translators, had always been equally scrupulous in -retrenching the ideas of his author. Cicero thus superscribes one of his -letters: _M. T. C. Terentiæ, et Pater suavissimæ filiæ Tulliolæ, Cicero -matri et sorori S. D._ (Ep. Fam. l. 14, ep. 18). And another in this -manner: _Tullius Terentiæ, et Pater Tulliolæ, duabus animis suis, et -Cicero Matri optimæ, suavissimæ sorori_ (lib. 14, ep. 14). Why are these -addresses entirely sunk in the translation, and a naked title poorly -substituted for them, “To Terentia and Tullia,” and “To the same”? The -addresses to these letters give them their highest value, as they mark -the warmth of the author’s heart, and the strength of his conjugal and -paternal affections. - -In one of Pliny’s Epistles, speaking of Regulus, he says, _Ut ipse mihi -dixerit quum consuleret, quam citò sestertium sexcenties impleturus -esset, invenisse se exta duplicata, quibus portendi millies et ducenties -habiturum_ (Plin. Ep. l. 2, ep. 20). Thus translated by Melmoth, “That he -once told me, upon consulting the omens, to know how soon he should be -worth sixty millions of sesterces, he found them so favourable to him as -to portend that he should possess double that sum.” Here a material part -of the original idea is omitted; no less than that very circumstance upon -which the omen turned, viz., that the entrails of the victim were double. - -Analogous to this liberty of adding to or retrenching from the ideas of -the original, is the liberty which a translator may take of correcting -what appears to him a careless or inaccurate expression of the original, -where that inaccuracy seems materially to affect the sense. Tacitus -says, when Tiberius was entreated to take upon him the government of the -empire, _Ille variè disserebat, de magnitudine imperii, suâ modestiâ_ -(An. l. 1, c. 11). Here the word _modestiâ_ is improperly applied. The -author could not mean to say, that Tiberius discoursed to the people -about his own modesty. He wished that his discourse should seem to -proceed from modesty; but he did not talk to them about his modesty. -D’Alembert saw this impropriety, and he has therefore well translated the -passage: “Il répondit par des discours généraux sur son peu de talent, et -sur la grandeur de l’empire.” - -A similar impropriety, not indeed affecting the sense, but offending -against the dignity of the narrative, occurs in that passage where -Tacitus relates, that Augustus, in the decline of life, after the death -of Drusus, appointed his son Germanicus to the command of eight legions -on the Rhine, _At, hercule, Germanicum Druso ortum octo apud Rhenum -legionibus imposuit_ (An. l. 1, c. 3). There was no occasion here for -the historian swearing; and though, to render the passage with strict -fidelity, an English translator must have said, “Augustus, Egad, gave -Germanicus the son of Drusus the command of eight legions on the Rhine,” -we cannot hesitate to say, that the simple fact is better announced -without such embellishment. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - OF THE FREEDOM ALLOWED IN POETICAL TRANSLATION.—PROGRESS OF - POETICAL TRANSLATION IN ENGLAND.—B. JONSON, HOLIDAY, SANDYS, - FANSHAW, DRYDEN.—ROSCOMMON’S ESSAY ON TRANSLATED VERSE.—POPE’S - HOMER. - - -In the preceding chapter, in treating of the liberty assumed by -translators, of adding to, or retrenching from the ideas of the original, -several examples have been given, where that liberty has been assumed -with propriety both in prose composition and in poetry. In the latter, it -is more peculiarly allowable. “I conceive it,” says Sir John Denham, “a -vulgar error in translating poets, to affect being _fidus interpres_. Let -that care be with them who deal in matters of fact or matters of faith; -but whosoever aims at it in poetry, as he attempts what is not required, -so shall he never perform what he attempts; for it is not his business -alone to translate language into language, but poesie into poesie; and -poesie is of so subtle a spirit, that in pouring out of one language into -another, it will all evaporate; and if a new spirit is not added in the -transfusion, there will remain nothing but a _caput mortuum_” (Denham’s -_Preface to the second book of Virgil’s Æneid_). - -In poetical translation, the English writers of the 16th, and the -greatest part of the 17th century, seem to have had no other care than -(in Denham’s phrase) to translate language into language, and to have -placed their whole merit in presenting a literal and servile transcript -of their original. - -Ben Jonson, in his translation of Horace’s _Art of Poetry_, has paid no -attention to the judicious precept of the very poem he was translating: - - _Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere, fidus_ - _Interpres._ - -Witness the following specimens, which will strongly illustrate Denham’s -judicious observations. - - Mortalia facta peribunt; - Nedum sermonum stet honos et gratia vivax. - Multa renascentur quæ jam cecidere, cadentque - Quæ nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus, - Quem penes arbitrium est et jus et norma loquendi. - - _De Art. Poet._ - - All mortal deeds - Shall perish; so far off it is the state - Or grace of speech should hope a lasting date. - Much phrase that now is dead shall be reviv’d, - And much shall die that now is nobly liv’d, - If custom please, at whose disposing will - The power and rule of speaking resteth still. - - B. JONSON. - - _Interdum tamen et vocem Comœdia tollit,_ - _Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore,_ - _Et Tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri._ - _Telephus et Peleus, cùm pauper et exul uterque,_ - _Projicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba,_ - _Si curat cor spectantis tetigisse querela._ - - _De Art. Poet._ - - Yet sometime doth the Comedy excite, - Her voice, and angry Chremes chafes outright, - With swelling throat, and oft the tragic wight - Complains in humble phrase. Both Telephus - And Peleus, if they seek to heart-strike us, - That are spectators, with their misery, - When they are poor and banish’d must throw by - Their bombard-phrase, and foot-and-half-foot words. - - B. JONSON. - -So, in B. Jonson’s translations from the _Odes_ and _Epodes_ of Horace, -besides the most servile adherence to the words, even the measure of the -original is imitated. - - Non me Lucrina juverint conchylia, - Magisve rhombus, aut scari, - Si quos Eois intonata fluctibus - Hyems ad hoc vertat mare: - Non Afra avis descendat in ventrem meum, - Non attagen Ionicus - Jucundior, quam lecta de pinguissimis - Oliva ramis arborum; - Aut herba lapathi prata amantis, et gravi - Malvæ salubres corpori. - - HOR. _Epod. 2._ - - Not Lucrine oysters I could then more prize, - Nor turbot, nor bright golden eyes; - If with east floods the winter troubled much - Into our seas send any such: - The Ionian god-wit, nor the ginny-hen - Could not go down my belly then - More sweet than olives that new-gathered be, - From fattest branches of the tree, - Or the herb sorrel that loves meadows still, - Or mallows loosing bodies ill. - - B. JONSON. - -Of the same character for rigid fidelity, is the translation of _Juvenal_ -by Holiday, a writer of great learning, and even of critical acuteness, -as the excellent commentary on his author fully shews. - - _Omnibus in terris quæ sunt a Gadibus usque_ - _Auroram et Gangem, pauci dignoscere possunt_ - _Vera bona, atque illis multum diversa, remotâ_ - _Erroris nebulâ. Quid enim ratione timemus,_ - _Aut cupimus? quid tam dextro pede concipis, ut te_ - _Conatûs non pœniteat, votique peracti._ - _Evertêre domos totas optantibus ipsis_ - _Dii faciles._ - - JUV. _Sat. 10._ - - In all the world which between Cadiz lies - And eastern Ganges, few there are so wise - To know true good from feign’d, without all mist - Of Error. For by Reason’s rule what is’t - We fear or wish? What is’t we e’er begun - With foot so right, but we dislik’d it done? - Whole houses th’ easie gods have overthrown - At their fond prayers that did the houses own. - - HOLIDAY’S _Juvenal_. - -There were, however, even in that age, some writers who manifested a -better taste in poetical translation. May, in his translation of Lucan’s -_Pharsalia_, and Sandys, in his _Metamorphoses_ of Ovid, while they -strictly adhered to the sense of their authors, and generally rendered -line for line, have given to their versions both an ease of expression -and a harmony of numbers, which approach them very near to original -composition. The reason is, they have disdained to confine themselves to -a literal interpretation, but have everywhere adapted their expression to -the idiom of the language in which they wrote. - -The following passage will give no unfavourable idea of the style and -manner of May. In the ninth book of the _Pharsalia_, Cæsar, when in Asia, -is led from curiosity to visit the plain of Troy: - - Here fruitless trees, old oaks with putrefy’d - And sapless roots, the Trojan houses hide, - And temples of their Gods: all Troy’s o’erspread - With bushes thick, her ruines ruined. - He sees the bridall grove Anchises lodg’d; - Hesione’s rock; the cave where Paris judg’d; - Where nymph Oenone play’d; the place so fam’d - For Ganymedes’ rape; each stone is nam’d. - A little gliding stream, which Xanthus was, - Unknown he past, and in the lofty grass - Securely trode; a Phrygian straight forbid - Him tread on Hector’s dust! (with ruins hid, - The stone retain’d no sacred memory.) - Respect you not great Hector’s tomb, quoth he! - —O great and sacred work of poesy, - That free’st from fate, and giv’st eternity - To mortal wights! But, Cæsar, envy not - Their living names, if Roman Muses aught - May promise thee, while Homer’s honoured - By future times, shall thou, and I, be read: - No age shall us with darke oblivion staine, - But our Pharsalia ever shall remain. - - MAY’S _Lucan_, b. 9. - - Jam silvæ steriles, et putres robore trunci - Assaraci pressere domos, et templa deorum - Jam lassa radice tenent; ac tota teguntur - Pergama dumetis; etiam periere ruinæ. - Aspicit Hesiones scopulos, silvasque latentes - Anchisæ thalamos; quo judex sederit antro; - Unde puer raptus cœlo; quo vertice Nais - Luserit Oenone: nullum est sine nomine saxum. - Inscius in sicco serpentem pulvere rivum - Transierat, qui Xanthus erat; securus in alto - Gramine ponebat gressus: Phryx incola manes - Hectoreos calcare vetat: discussa jacebant - Saxa, nec ullius faciem servantia sacri: - Hectoreas, monstrator ait, non respicis aras? - O sacer, et magnus vatum labor; omnia fato - Eripis, et populis donas mortalibus ævum! - Invidia sacræ, Cæsar, ne tangere famæ: - Nam siquid Latiis fas est promittere Musis, - Quantum Smyrnei durabunt vatis honores, - Venturi me teque legent: Pharsalia nostra - Vivet, et a nullo tenebris damnabitur ævo. - - _Pharsal._ l. 9. - -Independently of the excellence of the above translation, in completely -conveying the sense, the force, and spirit of the original, it possesses -one beauty which the more modern English poets have entirely neglected, -or rather purposely banished from their versification in rhyme; I mean -the varied harmony of the measure, which arises from changing the -place of the pauses. In the modern heroic rhyme, the pause is almost -invariably found at the end of a couplet. In the older poetry, the sense -is continued from one couplet to another, and closes in various parts -of the line, according to the poet’s choice, and the completion of his -meaning: - - _A little gliding stream, which Xanthus was,_ - _Unknown he past—and in the lofty grass_ - _Securely trode—a Phrygian straight forbid_ - _Him tread on Hector’s dust—with ruins hid,_ - _The stone retain’d no sacred memory._ - -He must be greatly deficient in a musical ear, who does not prefer the -varied harmony of the above lines to the uniform return of sound, and -chiming measure of the following: - - Here all that does of Xanthus stream remain, - Creeps a small brook along the dusty plain. - While careless and securely on they pass, - The Phrygian guide forbids to press the grass; - This place, he said, for ever sacred keep, - For here the sacred bones of Hector sleep: - Then warns him to observe, where rudely cast, - Disjointed stones lay broken and defac’d. - - ROWE’S _Lucan_. - -Yet the _Pharsalia_ by Rowe is, on the whole, one of the best of the -modern translations of the classics. Though sometimes diffuse and -paraphrastical, it is in general faithful to the sense of the original; -the language is animated, the verse correct and melodious; and when we -consider the extent of the work, it is not unjustly characterised by Dr. -Johnson, as “one of the greatest productions of English poetry.” - -Of similar character to the versification of May, though sometimes more -harsh in its structure, is the poetry of Sandys: - - There’s no Alcyone! none, none! she died - Together with her Ceÿx. Silent be - All sounds of comfort. These, these eyes did see - My shipwrack’t Lord. I knew him; and my hands - Thrust forth t’ have held him: but no mortal bands - Could force his stay. A ghost! yet manifest, - My husband’s ghost: which, Oh, but ill express’d - His forme and beautie, late divinely rare! - Now pale and naked, with yet dropping haire: - Here stood the miserable! in this place: - Here, here! (and sought his aërie steps to trace). - - SANDYS’ _Ovid_, b. 11. - - _Nulla est Alcyone, nulla est, ait: occidit una_ - _Cum Ceyce suo; solantia tollite verba:_ - _Naufragus interiit; vidi agnovique, manusque_ - _Ad discedentem, cupiens retinere, tetendi._ - _Umbra fuit: sed et umbra tamen manifesta, virique_ - _Vera mei: non ille quidem, si quæris, habebat_ - _Assuetos vultus, nec quo prius ore nitebat._ - _Pallentem, nudumque, et adhuc humente capillo,_ - _Infelix vidi: stetit hoc miserabilis ipso_ - _Ecce loco: (et quærit vestigia siqua supersint)._ - - _Metam._ l. 11. - -In the above example, the _solantia tollite verba_ is translated with -peculiar felicity, “Silent be all sounds of comfort;” as are these words, -_Nec quo prius ore nitebat_, “Which, oh! but ill express’d his forme -and beautie.” “No mortal bands could force his stay,” has no strictly -corresponding sentiment in the original. It is a happy amplification; -which shews that Sandys knew what freedom was allowed to a poetical -translator, and could avail himself of it. - -From the time of Sandys, who published his translation of the -_Metamorphoses_ of Ovid in 1626, there does not appear to have been much -improvement in the art of translating poetry till the age of Dryden:[17] -for though Sir John Denham has thought proper to pay a high compliment -to Fanshaw on his translation of the _Pastor Fido_, terming him the -inventor of “a new and nobler way”[18] of translation, we find nothing -in that performance which should intitle it to more praise than the -_Metamorphoses_ by Sandys, and the _Pharsalia_ by May.[19] - -But it was to Dryden that poetical translation owed a complete -emancipation from her fetters; and exulting in her new liberty, the -danger now was, that she should run into the extreme of licentiousness. -The followers of Dryden saw nothing so much to be emulated in his -translations as the ease of his poetry: Fidelity was but a secondary -object, and translation for a while was considered as synonymous with -paraphrase. A judicious spirit of criticism was now wanting to prescribe -bounds to this increasing licence, and to determine to what precise -degree a poetical translator might assume to himself the character of an -original writer. In that design, Roscommon wrote his _Essay on Translated -Verse_; in which, in general, he has shewn great critical judgement; but -proceeding, as all reformers, with rigour, he has, amidst many excellent -precepts on the subject, laid down one rule, which every true poet (and -such only should attempt to translate a poet) must consider as a very -prejudicial restraint. After judiciously recommending to the translator, -first to possess himself of the sense and meaning of his author, and then -to imitate his manner and style, he thus prescribes a general rule, - - Your author always will the best advise; - Fall when he falls, and when he rises, rise. - -Far from adopting the former part of this maxim, I conceive it to be the -duty of a poetical translator, never to suffer his original to fall. He -must maintain with him a perpetual contest of genius; he must attend -him in his highest flights, and soar, if he can, beyond him: and when -he perceives, at any time, a diminution of his powers, when he sees -a drooping wing, he must raise him on his own pinions.[20] Homer has -been judged by the best critics to fall at times beneath himself, and -to offend, by introducing low images and puerile allusions. Yet how -admirably is this defect veiled over, or altogether removed, by his -translator Pope. In the beginning of the eighth book of the _Iliad_, -Jupiter is introduced in great majesty, calling a council of the gods, -and giving them a solemn charge to observe a strict neutrality between -the Greeks and Trojans: - - Ἠὼς μεν κροκόπεπλος ἐκιδνατο πᾶσαν ἐπ’ αίαν· - Ζευς δε θεῶν ἀγορην ποιησατο τερπικέραυνος, - Ἀκροτάτη κορυφη πολυδειραδος Οὐλυμποιο· - Αὐτὸς δέ σφ’ ἀγόρευε, θεοὶ δ’ ἅμα πάντες ἄκουον· - -“Aurora with her saffron robe had spread returning light upon the world, -when Jove delighting-in-thunder summoned a council of the gods upon the -highest point of the many-headed Olympus; and while he thus harangued, -all the immortals listened with deep attention.” This is a very solemn -opening; but the expectation of the reader is miserably disappointed by -the harangue itself, of which I shall give a literal translation. - - Κέκλυτέ μευ, πάντες τε θεοὶ, πᾶσαὶ τε θέαιναι, - Ὄφρ’ εἴπω, τά με θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι κελεύει· - Μήτε τις οὖν θήλεια θεὸς τόγε, μήτε τις ἄρσην - Πειράτω διακέρσαι ἐμὸν ἔπος· ἀλλ’ ἅμα πάντες - Αἰνεῖτ’, ὄφρα τάχιστα τελευτήσω τάδε ἔργα. - Ον δ’ ἂν ἐγὼν ἀπάνευθε θεῶν ἐθέλοντα νοήσω - Ἐλθόντ, ἢ Τρώεσσιν ἀρηγέμεν, ἢ Δαναοῖσι, - Πληγεὶς οὐ κατα κόσμον ἐλευσεται Οὔλυμπόνδε· - Η μιν ἑλὼν ῥίψω ἐς Τάρταρον ἠερόεντα, - Τῆλε μάλ’, ἦχι βάθιστον ὑπο χθονός ἐστι βέρεθρον, - Ἔνθα σιδήρειαί τε πύλαι καὶ χάλκεος οὐδὸς, - Τόσσον ἔνερθ’ Ἀΐδεω, ὅσον οὐρανός ἐστ’ ἀπὸ γαίης· - Γνώσετ’ ἔπειθ’, ὅσον εἰμὶ θεῶν κάρτιστος ἁπάντων. - Εἴ δ’ ἄγε, πειρήσασθε θεοὶ, ἵνα εἴδετε πάντες, - Σειρην χρυσείην ἐξ οὐρανόθεν κρεμάσαντες· - Πάντες δ’ ἐξάπτεσθε θεοὶ, πᾶσαί τε θέαιναι· - Ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἂν ἐρύσαιτ’ ἐξ οὐρανόθεν πεδίονδε - Ζῆν’ ὕπατον μήστωρ’ οὐδ’ εἰ μάλα πολλὰ κάμοιτε. - Ἀλλ’ ὅτε δὴ καὶ ἐγὼ πρόφρων ἐθέλοιμι ἐρύσσαι, - Αὐτῆ κεν γάιῃ ἐρύσαιμ’, αὐτῆ τε θαλάσσῃ· - Σειρην μέν κεν ἔπειτα περὶ ῥίον Οὐλύμποιο - Δησαίμην· τὰ δέ κ’ αὖτε μετήορα πάντα γένοιτο· - Τόσσον ἐγώ περί τ’ εἰμὶ θεῶν, περί τ’ εἴμ’ ἀνθρώπων. - -“Hear me, all ye gods and goddesses, whilst I declare to you the dictates -of my inmost heart. Let neither male nor female of the gods attempt to -controvert what I shall say; but let all submissively assent, that I may -speedily accomplish my undertakings: for whoever of you shall be found -withdrawing to give aid either to the Trojans or Greeks, shall return to -Olympus marked with dishonourable wounds; or else I will seize him and -hurl him down to gloomy Tartarus, where there is a deep dungeon under the -earth, with gates of iron, and a threshold of brass, as far below hell, -as the earth is below the heavens. Then he will know how much stronger -I am than all the other gods. But come now, and make trial, that ye may -all be convinced. Suspend a golden chain from heaven, and hang all by -one end of it, with your whole weight, gods and goddesses together: you -will never pull down from the heaven to the earth, Jupiter, the supreme -counsellor, though you should strain with your utmost force. But when I -chuse to pull, I will raise you all, with the earth and sea together, and -fastening the chain to the top of Olympus, will keep you all suspended at -it. So much am I superior both to gods and men.” - -It must be owned, that this speech is far beneath the dignity of the -Thunderer; that the braggart vaunting in the beginning of it is nauseous; -and that a mean and ludicrous picture is presented, by the whole group -of gods and goddesses pulling at one end of a chain, and Jupiter at the -other. To veil these defects in a translation was difficult;[21] but -to give any degree of dignity to this speech required certainly most -uncommon powers. Yet I am much mistaken, if Mr. Pope has not done so. I -shall take the passage from the beginning: - - Aurora now, fair daughter of the dawn, - Sprinkled with rosy light the dewy lawn, - When Jove conven’d the senate of the skies, - Where high Olympus’ cloudy tops arise. - The fire of Gods his awful silence broke, - The heavens attentive, trembled as he spoke. - - Celestial states, immortal gods! give ear; - Hear our decree, and reverence what ye hear; - The fix’d decree, which not all heaven can move; - Thou, fate! fulfil it; and, ye powers! approve! - What God but enters yon forbidden field, - Who yields assistance, or but wills to yield, - Back to the skies with shame he shall be driven, - Gash’d with dishonest wounds, the scorn of Heaven; - Or far, oh far, from steep Olympus thrown, - Low in the dark Tartarean gulph shall groan; - With burning chains fix’d to the brazen floors, - And lock’d by hell’s inexorable doors; - As deep beneath th’ infernal centre hurl’d, - As from that centre to th’ ethereal world. - Let him who tempts me dread those dire abodes; - And know th’ Almighty is the God of gods. - League all your forces then, ye powr’s above, - Join all, and try th’ omnipotence of Jove: - Let down our golden everlasting chain, - Whose strong embrace holds Heav’n, and Earth, and Main: - Strive all, of mortal and immortal birth, - To drag, by this, the Thunderer down to earth: - Ye strive in vain! If I but stretch this hand, - I heave the gods, the ocean, and the land; - I fix the chain to great Olympus’ height, - And the vast world hangs trembling in my sight! - For such I reign, unbounded and above; - And such are men and gods, compar’d to Jove![22] - -It would be endless to point out all the instances in which Mr. Pope -has improved both upon the thought and expression of his original. -We find frequently in Homer, amidst the most striking beauties, some -circumstances introduced which diminish the merit of the thought or of -the description. In such instances, the good taste of the translator -invariably covers the defect of the original, and often converts it into -an additional beauty. Thus, in the simile in the beginning of the third -book, there is one circumstance which offends against good taste. - - Ευτ’ ορεος κορυφῆσι Νοτος κατεχευεν ὀμιχλην, - Ποιμεσιν ουτὶ φιλην, κλεπτη δε τε νυκτος αμεινω, - Τὸσσον τις τ’ επιλευσσει, ὅσον τ’ επι λααν ἵησιν· - Ὡς ἂρα των ὓπο ποσσι κονισσαλος ωρνυτ’ αελλης - Ερχομενων· μαλα δ’ ώκα διεπρησσον πεδίοιο. - -“As when the south wind pours a thick cloud upon the tops of the -mountains, whose shade is unpleasant to the shepherds, but more -commodious to the thief than the night itself, and when the gloom is so -intense, that one cannot see farther than he can throw a stone: So rose -the dust under the feet of the Greeks marching silently to battle.” - -With what superior taste has the translator heightened this simile, and -exchanged the offending circumstance for a beauty. The fault is in the -third line; τοσσον τις τ’ επιλευσσει, &c., which is a mean idea, compared -with that which Mr. Pope has substituted in its stead: - - Thus from his shaggy wings when Eurus sheds - A night of vapours round the mountain-heads, - Swift-gliding mists the dusky fields invade, - To thieves more grateful than the midnight shade; - While scarce the swains their feeding flocks survey, - Lost and confus’d amidst the thicken’d day: - So wrapt in gath’ring dust the Grecian train, - A moving cloud, swept on and hid the plain. - -In the ninth book of the _Iliad_, where Phœnix reminds Achilles of the -care he had taken of him while an infant, one circumstance extremely -mean, and even disgusting, is found in the original. - - οτε δη σ’ επ εμοισιν εγα γουνασσι καθισας, - Οψου τ’ ασαιμι προταμων, και οινον επισχων. - Πολλακι μοι κατεδευσας επι στηθεσσι χιτωνα, - Οινου αποβλυζων εν νηπιεη αλεγεινῆ. - -“When I placed you before my knees, I filled you full with meat, and gave -you wine, which you often vomited upon my bosom, and stained my clothes, -in your troublesome infancy.” The English reader certainly feels an -obligation to the translator for sinking altogether this nauseous image, -which, instead of heightening the picture, greatly debases it: - - Thy infant breast a like affection show’d, - Still in my arms, an ever pleasing load; - Or at my knee, by Phœnix would’st thou stand, - No food was grateful but from Phœnix hand: - I pass my watchings o’er thy helpless years, - The tender labours, the compliant cares.[23] - - POPE. - -But even the highest beauties of the original receive additional lustre -from this admirable translator. - -A striking example of this kind has been remarked by Mr. Melmoth.[24] It -is the translation of that picture in the end of the eighth book of the -_Iliad_, which Eustathius esteemed the finest night-piece that could be -found in poetry: - - Ὡς δ’ ὁτ εν ουρανῶ αστρα φαεινην αμφι σεληνην, - Φαίνετ’ ἀριπρεπέα, ὅτε τ’ ἔπλετο νήνεμος αἰθὴρ, - Ἔκ τ’ ἔφανον πᾶσαι σκοπιαί, καὶ πρώονες ἄκροι, - Καὶ νάπαι· οὐρανόθεν δ’ ἄρ’ ὑπεῤῥάγη ἄσπετος αἰθὴρ, - Πάντα δέ τ’ εἴδεται ἄστρα· γέγηθε δέ τε φρένα ποιμήν· - -“As when the resplendent moon appears in the serene canopy of the -heavens, surrounded with beautiful stars, when every breath of air is -hush’d, when the high watch-towers, the hills, and woods, are distinctly -seen; when the sky appears to open to the sight in all its boundless -extent; and when the shepherd’s heart is delighted within him.” How nobly -is this picture raised and improved by Mr. Pope! - - As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night, - O’er heav’n’s clear azure spreads her sacred light: - When not a breath disturbs the deep serene, - And not a cloud o’ercasts the solemn scene; - Around her throne the vivid planets roll, - And stars unnumber’d gild the glowing pole: - O’er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed, - And tip with silver every mountain’s head: - Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise, - A flood of glory bursts from all the skies: - The conscious swains rejoicing in the sight, - Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light.[25] - -These passages from Pope’s _Homer_ afford examples of a translator’s -improvement of his original, by a happy amplification and embellishment -of his imagery, or by the judicious correction of defects; but to fix -the precise degree to which this amplification, this embellishment, and -this liberty of correction, may extend, requires a great exertion of -judgement. It may be useful to remark some instances of the want of this -judgement. - -It is always a fault when the translator adds to the sentiment of the -original author, what does not strictly accord with his characteristic -mode of thinking, or expressing himself. - - Pone sub curru nimium propinqui - Solis, in terrâ domibus negatâ; - Dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo, - Dulce loquentem. - - HOR. _Od. 22_, l. 1. - -Thus translated by Roscommon: - - The burning zone, the frozen isles, - Shall hear me sing of Celia’s smiles; - All cold, but in her breast, I will despise, - And dare all heat, but that in Celia’s eyes. - -The witty ideas in the two last lines are foreign to the original; and -the addition of these is quite unjustifiable, as they belong to a quaint -species of wit, of which the writings of Horace afford no example. - -Equally faulty, therefore, is Cowley’s translation of a passage in the -_Ode to Pyrrha_: - - Qui semper vacuam, semper amabilem - Sperat, nescius auræ fallacis. - - He sees thee gentle, fair, and gay, - And trusts the faithless April of thy May. - -As is the same author’s version of that passage, which is characterised -by its beautiful simplicity. - - somnus agrestium - Lenis virorum non humiles domos - Fastidit, umbrosamque ripam, - Non zephyris agitata Tempe. - - HOR. 3, 1. - - Sleep is a god, too proud to wait on palaces, - And yet so humble too, as not to scorn - The meanest country cottages; - This poppy grows among the corn. - The Halcyon Sleep will never build his nest - In any stormy breast: - ’Tis not enough that he does find - Clouds and darkness in their mind; - Darkness but half his work will do, - ’Tis not enough; he must find quiet too. - -Here is a profusion of wit, and poetic imagery; but the whole is quite -opposite to the character of the original. - -Congreve is guilty of a similar impropriety in translating - - Vides, ut alta stet nive candidum - Soracte: nec jam sustineant onus - Sylvæ laborantes. - - HOR. i. 9. - - Bless me, ’tis cold! how chill the air! - How naked does the world appear! - Behold the mountain tops around, - As if with fur of ermine crown’d: - And lo! how by degrees, - The universal mantle hides the trees, - In hoary flakes which downward fly, - As if it were the autumn of the sky, - Whose fall of leaf would theirs supply: - Trembling the groves sustain the weight, and bow, - Like aged limbs which feebly go, - Beneath a venerable head of snow. - -No author of real genius is more censurable on this score than Dryden. - - Obsidere alii telis angusta viarum - Oppositi: stat ferri acies mucrone corusco - Stricta parata neci. - - _Æneis_, ii. 322. - -Thus translated by Dryden: - - To several posts their parties they divide, - Some block the narrow streets, some scour the wide: - The bold they kill, th’ unwary they surprise; - Who fights finds death, and death finds him who flies. - -Of these four lines, there are scarcely more than four words which are -warranted by the original. “Some block the narrow streets.” Even this -is a faulty translation of _Obsidere alii telis angusta viarum_; but -it fails on the score of mutilation, not redundancy. The rest of the -ideas which compose these four lines, are the original property of the -translator; and the antithetical witticism in the concluding line, is far -beneath the chaste simplicity of Virgil. - -The same author, Virgil, in describing a pestilential disorder among the -cattle, gives the following beautiful picture, which, as an ingenious -writer justly remarks,[26] has every excellence that can belong to -descriptive poetry: - - Ecce autem duro fumans sub vomere taurus - Concidit, et mixtum spumis vomit ore cruorem, - Extremosque ciet gemitus. It tristis arator, - Mœrentem abjungens fraterna morte juvencum, - Atque opere in medio defixa relinquit aratra. - -Which Mr. Dryden thus translates: - - The steer who to the yoke was bred to bow, - (Studious of tillage and the crooked plow), - Falls down and dies; and dying, spews a flood - Of foamy madness, mixed with clotted blood. - The clown, who _cursing Providence repines_, - His mournful fellow from the team disjoins; - With many a groan forsakes his fruitless care, - And in the unfinished furrow leaves the share. - -“I would appeal to the reader,” says Dr. Beattie, “whether, by debasing -the charming simplicity of _It tristis arator_ with his blasphemous -paraphrase, Dryden has not destroyed the beauty of the passage.” He has -undoubtedly, even although the translation had been otherwise faultless. -But it is very far from being so. _Duro fumans sub vomere_, is not -translated at all, and another idea is put in its place. _Extremosque -ciet gemitus_, a most striking part of the description, is likewise -entirely omitted. “Spews a flood” is vulgar and nauseous; and “a flood -of foamy madness” is nonsense. In short, the whole passage in the -translation is a mass of error and impropriety. - -The simple expression, _Jam Procyon furit_, in Horace, 3, 29, is thus -translated by the same author: - - The Syrian star - Barks from afar, - And with his sultry breath infects the sky. - -This _barking_ of a _star_ is a bad specimen of the music of the spheres. -Dryden, from the fervour of his imagination, and the rapidity with -which he composed, is frequently guilty of similar impropriety in his -metaphorical language. Thus, in his version of Du Fresnoy, _de Arte -Graphica_, he translates - - Indolis ut vigor inde potens obstrictus hebescat, - -“Neither would I extinguish the _fire_ of a _vein_ which is lively and -abundant.” - -The following passage in the second _Georgic_, as translated by Delille, -is an example of vitious taste. - - Ac dum prima novis adolescit frondibus ætas, - Parcendum teneris: et dum se lætus ad auras - Palmes agit, laxis per purum immissus habenis, - Ipsa acies nondum falce tentanda;— - - Quand ses premiers bourgeons s’empresseront d’eclore, - Que l’acier rigoureux n’y touche point encore; - Même lorsque dans l’air, qu’il commence à braver, - Le rejetton moins frêle ose enfin s’elever; - Pardonne à son audace en faveur de son age:— - -The expression of the original is bold and figurative, _lætus ad -auras,—laxis per purum immissus habenis_; but there is nothing that -offends the chastest taste. The concluding line of the translation is -disgustingly finical, - - _Pardonne à son audace en faveur de son age._ - -Mr. Pope’s translation of the following passage of the _Iliad_, is -censurable on a similar account: - - Λαοὶ μεν φθινυθουσι περι πτολιν, αιπυ τε τεῖχος, - Μαρναμενοι· - - _Iliad_, 6, 327. - - For thee great Ilion’s guardian heroes fall, - Till heaps of dead alone defend the wall. - -Of this conceit, of dead men defending the walls of Troy, Mr. Pope has -the sole merit. The original, with grave simplicity, declares, that the -people fell, fighting before the town, and around the walls.[27] - -In the translation of the two following lines from Ovid’s _Epistle of -Sappho to Phaon_, the same author has added a witticism, which is less -reprehensible, because it accords with the usual manner of the poet whom -he translates: yet it cannot be termed an improvement of the original: - - “Scribimus, et lachrymis oculi rorantur abortis, - Aspice, quam sit in hoc multa litura loco.” - - See while I write, my words are lost in tears, - The less my sense, the more my love appears. - - POPE. - -But if authors, even of taste and genius, are found at times to have made -an injudicious use of that liberty which is allowed in the translation -of poetry, we must expect to see it miserably abused indeed, where those -talents are evidently wanting. The following specimen of a Latin version -of the _Paradise Lost_ is an example of everything that is vitious and -offensive in poetical translation. - - Primævi cano _furta_ patris, _furtumque_ secutæ - _Tristia fata necis_, labes ubi prima notavit - Quotquot Adamæo genitos de sanguine vidit - _Phœbus ad Hesperias ab Eoo cardine metas_; - Quos procul _auricomis_ Paradisi depulit _hortis_, - Dira cupido atavûm, _raptique injuria pomi_: - Terrigena donec meliorque et major Adamus, - Amissis meliora bonis, majora reduxit. - Quosque dedit morti _lignum inviolabile_, mortis - Unicus ille _alio_ rapuit de limine _ligno_. - Terrenusque licet pereat Paradisus, at ejus - Munere _laxa patet Paradisi porta_ superni: - Hæc œstro stimulata novo mens pandere gestit. - Quis mihi monstret iter? Quis carbasa nostra profundo - Dirigat in dubio? - - _Gul. Hogæi Paradisus Amissus_, l. 1. - -How completely is Milton disguised in this translation! His Majesty -exchanged for meanness, and his simplicity for bombast![28] - -The preceding observations, though they principally regard the first -general rule of translation, viz. that which enjoins a complete -transfusion of the ideas and sentiments of the original work, have -likewise a near connection with the second general rule, which I shall -now proceed to consider. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - SECOND GENERAL RULE: THE STYLE AND MANNER OF WRITING IN A - TRANSLATION SHOULD BE OF THE SAME CHARACTER WITH THAT OF THE - ORIGINAL.—TRANSLATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES;—OF HOMER, ETC.—A JUST - TASTE REQUISITE FOR THE DISCERNMENT OF THE CHARACTERS OF STYLE - AND MANNER.—EXAMPLES OF FAILURE IN THIS PARTICULAR;—THE GRAVE - EXCHANGED FOR THE FORMAL;—THE ELEVATED FOR THE BOMBAST;—THE - LIVELY FOR THE PETULANT;—THE SIMPLE FOR THE CHILDISH.—HOBBES, - L’ESTRANGE, ECHARD, ETC. - - -Next in importance to a faithful transfusion of the sense and meaning -of an author, is an assimilation of the style and manner of writing -in the translation to that of the original. This requisite of a good -translation, though but secondary in importance, is more difficult to -be attained than the former; for the qualities requisite for justly -discerning and happily imitating the various characters of style and -manner, are much more rare than the ability of simply understanding an -author’s sense. A good translator must be able to discover at once the -true character of his author’s style. He must ascertain with precision -to what class it belongs; whether to that of the grave, the elevated, -the easy, the lively, the florid and ornamented, or the simple and -unaffected; and these characteristic qualities he must have the capacity -of rendering equally conspicuous in the translation as in the original. -If a translator fails in this discernment, and wants this capacity, let -him be ever so thoroughly master of the sense of his author, he will -present him through a distorting medium, or exhibit him often in a garb -that is unsuitable to his character. - -The chief characteristic of the historical style of the sacred -scriptures, is its simplicity. This character belongs indeed to the -language itself. Dr. Campbell has justly remarked, that the Hebrew is -a simple tongue: “That their verbs have not, like the Greek and Latin, -a variety of moods and tenses, nor do they, like the modern languages, -abound in auxiliaries and conjunctions. The consequence is, that in -narrative, they express by several simple sentences, much in the way of -the relations used in conversation, what in most other languages would -be comprehended in one complex sentence of three or four members.”[29] -The same author gives, as an example of this simplicity, the beginning of -the first chapter of Genesis, where the account of the operations of the -Creator on the first day is contained in eleven separate sentences. “1. -In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth. 2. And the earth -was without form, and void. 3. And darkness was upon the face of the -deep. 4. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 5. And -God said, let there be light. 6. And there was light. 7. And God saw the -light, that it was good. 8. And God divided the light from the darkness. -9. And God called the light day. 10. And the darkness he called night. -11. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” “This,” says -Dr. Campbell, “is a just representation of the style of the original. A -more perfect example of simplicity of structure, we can nowhere find. The -sentences are simple, the substantives are not attended by adjectives, -nor the verbs by adverbs; no synonymas, no superlatives, no effort at -expressing things in a bold, emphatical, or uncommon manner.” - -Castalio’s version of the Scriptures is intitled to the praise of elegant -Latinity, and he is in general faithful to the sense of his original; but -he has totally departed from its style and manner, by substituting the -complex and florid composition to the simple and unadorned. His sentences -are formed in long and intricate periods, in which many separate members -are artfully combined; and we observe a constant endeavour at a classical -phraseology and ornamented diction.[30] In Castalio’s version of the -foregoing passage of Genesis, nine sentences of the original are thrown -into one period. 1. _Principio creavit Deus cœlum et terram._ 2. _Quum -autem esset terra iners atque rudis, tenebrisque effusum profundum, et -divinus spiritus sese super aquas libraret, jussit Deus ut existeret -lux, et extitit lux; quam quum videret Deus esse bonam, lucem secrevit a -tenebris, et lucem diem, et tenebras noctem appellavit._ 3. _Ita extitit -ex vespere et mane dies primus._ - -Dr. Beattie, in his essay _On Laughter and Ludicrous Composition_, has -justly remarked, that the translation of the Old Testament by Castalio -does great honour to that author’s learning, but not to his taste. “The -quaintness of his Latin betrays a deplorable inattention to the simple -majesty of his original. In the Song of Solomon, he has debased the -magnificence of the language and subject by _diminutives_, which, though -expressive of familiar endearment, he should have known to be destitute -of dignity, and therefore improper on solemn occasions.” _Mea Columbula, -ostende mihi tuum vulticulum; fac ut audiam tuam voculam; nam et voculam -venustulam, et vulticulum habes lepidulum.—Veni in meos hortulos, -sororcula mea sponsa.—Ego dormio, vigilante meo corculo_, &c. - -The version of the Scriptures by Arias Montanus, is in some respects -a contrast to that of Castalio. Arias, by adopting the literal mode -of translation, probably intended to give as faithful a picture as he -could, both of the sense and manner of the original. Not considering -the different genius of the Hebrew, the Greek, and the Latin, in the -various meaning and import of words of the same primary sense; the -difference of combination and construction, and the peculiarity of idioms -belonging to each tongue, he has treated the three languages as if they -corresponded perfectly in all those particulars; and the consequence -is, he has produced a composition which fails in every one requisite -of a good translation: it conveys neither the sense of the original, -nor its manner and style; and it abounds in barbarisms, solecisms, and -grammatical inaccuracy.[31] In Latin, two negatives make an affirmative; -but it is otherwise in Greek; they only give force to the negation: -χωρις εμου ου δυνασθε ποιειν ουδεν, as translated by Arias, _sine me -non potestis facere nihil_, is therefore directly contrary to the sense -of the original: And surely that translator cannot be said either to -do justice to the manner and style of his author, or to write with the -ease of original composition, who, instead of perspicuous thought, -expressed in pure, correct, and easy phraseology, gives us obscure and -unintelligible sentiments, conveyed in barbarous terms and constructions, -irreconcileable to the rules of the language in which he uses them. _Et -nunc dixi vobis ante fieri, ut quum factum fuerit credatis.—Ascendit -autem et Joseph a Galilæa in civitatem David, propter esse ipsum ex domo -et familia David, describi cum Maria desponsata sibi uxore, existente -prægnante. Factum autem in esse eos ibi, impleti sunt dies parere -ipsam.—Venerunt ad portam, quæ spontanea aperta est eis, et exeuntes -processerunt vicum.—Nunquid aquam prohibere potest quis ad non baptizare -hos?—Spectat descendens super se vas quoddam linteum, quatuor initiis -vinctum.—Aperiens autem Petrus os, dixit: in veritate deprehendo quia non -est personarum acceptor Deus._[32] - -The characteristic of the language of Homer is strength united with -simplicity. He employs frequent images, allusions, and similes; but -he very rarely uses metaphorical expression. The use of this style, -therefore, in a translation of Homer, is an offence against the character -of the original. Mr. Pope, though not often, is sometimes chargeable with -this fault; as where he terms the arrows of Apollo “the feather’d fates,” -_Iliad_, 1, 68, a quiver of arrows, “a store of flying fates,” _Odyssey_, -22, 136: or instead of saying, that the soil is fertile in corn, “in wavy -gold the summer vales are dress’d,” _Odyssey_, 19, 131; the soldier wept, -“from his eyes pour’d down the tender dew,” _Ibid._ 11, 486. - -Virgil, in describing the shipwreck of the Trojans, says, - - _Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto_, - -Which the Abbé des Fontaines thus translates: “A peine un petit nombre -de ceux qui montoient le vaisseau purent se sauver à la nage.” Of this -translation Voltaire justly remarks, “C’est traduire Virgile en style de -gazette. Où est ce vaste gouffre que peint le poête, _gurgite vasto_? -Où est l’_apparent rari nantes_? Ce n’est pas ainsi qu’on doit traduire -l’Eneide.” _Voltaire_, _Quest. sur l’Encyclop. mot Amplification_. - -If we are thus justly offended at hearing Virgil speak in the style of -the _Evening Post_ or the _Daily Advertiser_, what must we think of the -translator, who makes the solemn and sententious Tacitus express himself -in the low cant of the streets, or in the dialect of the waiters of a -tavern? - -_Facile Asinium et Messalam inter Antonium et Augustum bellorum præmiis -refertos_: Thus translated, in a version of Tacitus by Mr. Dryden -and several eminent hands: “Asinius and Messala, who feathered their -nests well in the civil wars ’twixt Antony and Augustus.” _Vinolentiam -et libidines usurpans_: “Playing the good-fellow.” _Frustra Arminium -præscribi_: “Trumping up Arminius’s title.” _Sed Agrippina libertam -æmulam, nurum ancillam, aliaque eundem in modum muliebriter fremere_: -“But Agrippina could not bear that a freedwoman should _nose_ her.” And -another translator says, “But Agrippina could not bear that a freedwoman -should _beard_ her.” Of a similar character with this translation of -Tacitus is a translation of Suetonius by several gentlemen of Oxford,[33] -which abounds with such elegancies as the following: _Sestio Gallo, -libidinoso et prodigo seni_: “Sestius Gallus, a most notorious old Sir -Jolly.” _Jucundissimos et omnium horarum amicos_: “His boon companions -and sure cards.” _Nullam unquam occasionem dedit_: “They never could -pick the least hole in his coat.” - -Juno’s apostrophe to Troy, in her speech to the Gods in council, is thus -translated in a version of Horace by “The Most Eminent Hands.” - - _Ilion, Ilion,_ - _Fatalis incestusque judex, &c._ - - HOR. 3, 3. - - O Ilion, Ilion, I with transport view - The fall of all thy wicked, perjur’d _crew_! - Pallas and I have _borne a rankling grudge_ - To that _curst_ Shepherd, that incestuous judge. - -The description of the majesty of Jupiter, contained in the following -passage of the first book of the _Iliad_, is allowed to be a true -specimen of the sublime. It is the archetype from which Phidias -acknowledged he had framed his divine sculpture of the Olympian Jupiter: - - Η, και κυανεησιν επ’ οφρυσι νευσε Κρονιων· - Αμβροσιαι δ’ αρα χαιται επερρωσαντο ανακτος, - Κρατος απ’ αθανατοιο, μεγαν δ’ ελελιξεν Ολυμπον. - - He spoke, and awful bends his sable brows, - Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod, - The stamp of fate, and sanction of the God: - High heaven, with trembling, the dread signal took, - And all Olympus to its centre shook. - - POPE. - -Certainly Mr. Hobbes of Malmsbury perceived no portion of that sublime -which was felt by Phidias and by Mr. Pope, when he could thus translate -this fine description: - - This said, with his black brows he to her nodded, - Wherewith displayed were his locks divine; - Olympus shook at stirring of his godhead, - And Thetis from it jump’d into the brine. - -In the translation of the _Georgics_, Mr. Dryden has displayed great -powers of poetry. But Dryden had little relish for the pathetic, and -no comprehension of the natural language of the heart. The beautiful -simplicity of the following passage has entirely escaped his observation, -and he has been utterly insensible to its tenderness: - - _Ipse cavâ solans ægrum testudine amorem,_ - _Te, dulcis conjux, te solo in littore secum,_ - _Te veniente die, te decedente canebat._ - - VIRG. _Geor. 4._ - - Th’ unhappy husband, now no more, - Did on his tuneful harp his loss deplore, - And sought his mournful mind with music to restore. - On thee, dear Wife, in deserts all alone, - He call’d, sigh’d, sung; his griefs with day begun, - Nor were they finish’d till the setting sun. - -The three verbs, _call’d_, _sigh’d_, _sung_, are here substituted, with -peculiar infelicity, for the repetition of the pronoun; a change which -converts the pathetic into the ludicrous. - -In the same episode, the poet compares the complaint of Orpheus to the -wailing of a nightingale, robb’d of her young, in those well-known -beautiful verses: - - _Qualis populea mœrens Philomela sub umbra_ - _Amissos queritur fœtus, quos durus arator_ - _Observans nido implumes, detraxit: at illa_ - _Flet noctem, ramoque sedens miserabile carmen_ - _Integrat, et mœstis late loca questibus implet._ - -Thus translated by De Lille: - - Telle sur un rameau durant la nuit obscure - Philomele plaintive attendrit la nature, - Accuse en gémissant l’oiseleur inhumain, - Qui, glissant dans son nid une furtive main, - Ravit ces tendres fruits que l’amour fit eclorre, - Et qu’un leger duvet ne couvroit pas encore. - -It is evident, that there is a complete evaporation of the beauties of -the original in this translation: and the reason is, that the French -poet has substituted sentiments for facts, and refinement for the -simple pathetic. The nightingale of De Lille melts all nature with her -complaint; accuses with her sighs the inhuman fowler, who glides his -thievish hand into her nest, and plunders the tender fruits that were -hatched by love! How different this sentimental foppery from the chaste -simplicity of Virgil! - -The following beautiful passage in the sixth book of the _Iliad_ has -not been happily translated by Mr. Pope. It is in the parting interview -between Hector and Andromache. - - Ως ειπων, αλοχοιο φιλης εν χερσιν εθηκε - Παιδ’ ἑον· ἡ δ’ αρα μιν κηωδει δεξατο κολπω, - Δακρυοεν γελασασα· ποσις δ’ ελεησε νοησας, - Χειρι τε μιν κατερεξεν, επος τ’ εφατ’ εκ τ’ ονομαζε. - - He spoke, and fondly gazing on her charms, - Restor’d the pleasing burden to her arms; - Soft on her fragrant breast the babe she laid, - Hush’d to repose, and with a smile survey’d. - The troubled pleasure soon chastis’d by fear, - She mingled with the smile a tender tear. - The soften’d chief with kind compassion view’d, - And dried the falling drops, and thus pursu’d. - -This, it must be allowed, is good poetry; but it wants the affecting -simplicity of the original. _Fondly gazing on her charms—pleasing -burden—The troubled pleasure soon chastised by fear_, are injudicious -embellishments. The beautiful expression Δακρυοεν γελασασα is totally -lost by amplification; and the fine circumstance, which so much heightens -the tenderness of the picture, Χειρι τε μιν κατερεξεν, is forgotten -altogether. - -But a translator may discern the general character of his author’s -style, and yet fail remarkably in the imitation of it. Unless he is -possessed of the most correct taste, he will be in continual danger of -presenting an exaggerated picture or a caricatura of his original. The -distinction between good and bad writing is often of so very slender a -nature, and the shadowing of difference so extremely delicate, that a -very nice perception alone can at all times define the limits. Thus, -in the hands of some translators, who have discernment to perceive the -general character of their author’s style, but want this correctness of -taste, the grave style of the original becomes heavy and formal in the -translation; the elevated swells into bombast, the lively froths up into -the petulant, and the simple and _naïf_ degenerates into the childish and -insipid.[34] - -In the fourth Oration against Catiline, Cicero, after drawing the most -striking picture of the miseries of his country, on the supposition that -success had crowned the designs of the conspirators, closes the detail -with this grave and solemn application: - -_Quia mihi vehementer hæc videntur misera atque miseranda, idcirca in -eos qui ea perficere voluerunt, me severum, vehementemque præbeo. Etenim -quæro, si quis paterfamilias, liberis suis a servo interfectis, uxore -occisa, incensa domo, supplicium de servo quam acerbissimum sumserit; -utrum is clemens ac misericors, an inhumanissimus et crudelissimus esse -videatur? Mihi vero importunus ac ferreus, qui non dolore ac cruciatu -nocentis, suum dolorem ac cruciatum lenierit._ - -How awkwardly is the dignified gravity of the original imitated, in the -following heavy, formal, and insipid version. - -“Now as to me these calamities appear extremely shocking and deplorable: -therefore I am extremely keen and rigorous in punishing those who -endeavoured to bring them about. For let me put the case, that a -master of a family had his children butchered, his wife murdered, his -house burnt down by a slave, yet did not inflict the most rigorous of -punishments imaginable upon that slave: would such a master appear -merciful and compassionate, and not rather a monster of cruelty and -inhumanity? To me that man would appear to be of a flinty cruel nature, -who should not endeavour to soothe his own anguish and torment by the -anguish and torment of its guilty cause.”[35] - -Ovid, in describing the fatal storm in which Ceyx perished, says, - - _Undarum incursa gravis unda, tonitrubus æther_ - _Fluctibus erigitur, cœlumque æquare videtur_ - _Pontus._ - -An hyperbole, allowable in poetical description; but which Dryden has -exaggerated into the most outrageous bombast: - - Now waves on waves ascending scale the skies, - And in the fires above the water fries. - -In the first scene of the _Amphitryo of Plautus_, Sosia thus remarks on -the unusual length of the night: - - _Neque ego hac nocte longiorem me vidisse censeo,_ - _Nisi item unam, verberatus quam pependi perpetem._ - _Eam quoque, Ædepol, etiam multo hæc vicit longitudine._ - _Credo equidem dormire solem atque appotum probe._ - _Mira sunt, nisi invitavit sese in cœna plusculum._ - -To which Mercury answers: - - _Ain vero, verbero? Deos esse tui similes putas?_ - _Ego Pol te istis tuis pro dictis et malefactis, furcifer,_ - _Accipiam, modò sis veni huc: invenies infortunium._ - -Echard, who saw no distinction between the familiar and the vulgar, has -translated this in the true dialect of the streets: - -“I think there never was such a long night since the beginning of the -world, except that night I had the strappado, and rid the wooden horse -till morning; and, o’ my conscience, that was twice as long.[36] By the -mackins, I believe Phœbus has been playing the good-fellow, and ’s asleep -too. I’ll be hang’d if he ben’t in for’t, and has took a little too much -o’ the creature.” - -“_Mer._ Say ye so, slave? What, treat Gods like yourselves. By Jove, have -at your doublet, Rogue, for _scandalum magnatum_. Approach then, you’ll -ha’ but small joy here.” - -“Mer. _Accedam, atque hanc appellabo atque supparasitabo patri._” Ibid. -sc. 3. - -“_Mer._ I’ll to her, and tickle her up as my father has done.” - -“Sosia. _Irritabis crabrones._” Ibid. act 2, sc. 2. - -“_Sosia._ You’d as good p—ss in a bee-hive.” - -Seneca, though not a chaste writer, is remarkable for a courtly dignity -of expression, which, though often united with ease, never descends to -the mean or vulgar. L’Estrange has presented him through a medium of such -coarseness, that he is hardly to be known. - -_Probatos itaque semper lege, et siquando ad alios divertere libuerit, -ad priores redi.—Nihil æque sanitatem impedit quam remediorum crebra -mutatio_, Ep. 2.—“Of authors be sure to make choice of the best; and, -as I said before, stick close to them; and though you take up others by -the bye, reserve some select ones, however, for your study and retreat. -Nothing is more hurtful, in the case of diseases and wounds, than the -frequent shifting of physic and plasters.” - -_Fuit qui diceret, Quid perdis operam? ille quem quæris elatus, combustus -est._ _De benef._, lib. 7. c. 21.—“Friend, says a fellow, you may hammer -your heart out, for the man you look for is dead.” - -_Cum multa in crudelitatem Pisistrati conviva ebrius dixisset._ _De ira_, -lib. 3, c. 11. “Thrasippus, in his drink, fell foul upon the cruelties of -Pisistratus.” - -From the same defect of taste, the simple and natural manner degenerates -into the childish and insipid. - - J’ai perdu tout mon bonheur, - J’ai perdu mon serviteur, - Colin me délaisse. - Helas! il a pu changer! - Je voudrois n’y plus songer: - J’y songe sans cesse. - - ROUSSEAU, _Devin de Village_. - - I’ve lost my love, I’ve lost my swain; - Colin leaves me with disdain. - Naughty Colin! hateful thought! - To Colinette her Colin’s naught. - I will forget him—that I will! - Ah, t’wont do—I love him still. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - EXAMPLES OF A GOOD TASTE IN POETICAL TRANSLATION.—BOURNE’S - TRANSLATIONS FROM MALLET AND FROM PRIOR.—THE DUKE DE NIVERNOIS - FROM HORACE.—DR. JORTIN FROM SIMONIDES.—IMITATION OF THE SAME - BY DR. MARKHAM.—MR. WEBB FROM THE ANTHOLOGIA.—HUGHES FROM - CLAUDIAN.—FRAGMENTS OF THE GREEK DRAMATISTS BY MR. CUMBERLAND. - - -After these examples of faulty translation, from a defect of taste in the -translator, or a want of a just discernment of his author’s style and -manner of writing, I shall now present the reader with some specimens of -perfect translation, where the authors have entered with exquisite taste -into the manner of their originals, and have succeeded most happily in -the imitation of it. - -The first is the opening of the beautiful ballad of _William and -Margaret_, translated by Vincent Bourne. - - I - - When all was wrapt in dark midnight, - And all were fast asleep, - In glided Margaret’s grimly ghost, - And stood at William’s feet. - - II - - Her face was like the April morn, - Clad in a wintry-cloud; - And clay-cold was her lily hand, - That held her sable shrowd. - - III - - So shall the fairest face appear, - When youth and years are flown; - Such is the robe that Kings must wear, - When death has reft their crown. - - IV - - Her bloom was like the springing flower, - That sips the silver dew; - The rose was budded in her cheek, - And opening to the view. - - V - - But Love had, like the canker-worm, - Consum’d her early prime; - The rose grew pale and left her cheek, - She died before her time. - - I - - _Omnia nox tenebris, tacitâque involverat umbrâ._ - _Et fessos homines vinxerat alta quies;_ - _Cùm valvæ patuere, et gressu illapsa silenti,_ - _Thyrsidis ad lectum stabat imago Chloes._ - - II - - _Vultus erat, qualis lachrymosi vultus Aprilis,_ - _Cui dubia hyberno conditur imbre dies;_ - _Quaque sepulchralem à pedibus collegit amictum,_ - _Candidior nivibus, frigidiorque manus,_ - - III - - _Cùmque dies aberunt molles, et læta juventus,_ - _Gloria pallebit, sic Cyparissi tua;_ - _Cùm mors decutiet capiti diademata, regum_ - _Hâc erit in trabeâ conspiciendus honos._ - - IV - - _Forma fuit (dum forma fuit) nascentis ad instar_ - _Floris, cui cano gemmula rore tumet;_ - _Et Veneres risere, et subrubuere labella,_ - _Subrubet ut teneris purpura prima rosis._ - - V - - _Sed lenta exedit tabes mollemque ruborem,_ - _Et faciles risus, et juvenile decus;_ - _Et rosa paulatim languens, nudata reliquit_ - _Oscula; præripuit mors properata Chloen._ - -The second is a small poem by Prior, intitled _Chloe Hunting_, which is -likewise translated into Latin by Bourne. - - Behind her neck her comely tresses tied, - Her ivory quiver graceful by her side, - A-hunting Chloe went; she lost her way, - And through the woods uncertain chanc’d to stray. - Apollo passing by beheld the maid; - And, sister dear, bright Cynthia, turn, he said; - The hunted hind lies close in yonder brake. - Loud Cupid laugh’d, to see the God’s mistake: - And laughing cried, learn better, great Divine, - To know thy kindred, and to honour mine. - Rightly advis’d, far hence thy sister seek, - Or on Meander’s banks, or Latmus’ peak. - But in this nymph, my friend, my sister know; - She draws my arrows, and she bends my bow. - Fair Thames she haunts, and every neighbouring grove, - Sacred to soft recess, and gentle Love. - Go with thy Cynthia, hurl the pointed spear - At the rough boar, or chace the flying deer: - I, and my Chloe, take a nobler aim; - At human hearts we fling, nor ever miss the game. - - _Forte Chloe, pulchros nodo collecta capillos_ - _Post collum, pharetrâque latus succincta decorâ,_ - _Venatrix ad sylvam ibat; cervumque secuta_ - _Elapsum visu, deserta per avia tendit_ - _Incerta. Errantem nympham conspexit Apollo,_ - _Et, converte tuos, dixit, mea Cynthia, cursus;_ - _En ibi (monstravitque manu) tibi cervus anhelat_ - _Occultus dumo, latebrisque moratur in illis._ - _Improbus hæc audivit Amor, lepidumque cachinnum_ - _Attollens, poterantne etiam tua numina falli?_ - _Hinc, quæso, bone Phœbe, tuam dignosce sororem,_ - _Et melius venerare meam. Tua Cynthia longè,_ - _Mæandri ad ripas, aut summi in vertice Latmi,_ - _Versatur; nostra est soror hæc, nostra, inquit, amica est._ - _Hæc nostros promit calamos, arcumque sonantem_ - _Incurvat, Tamumque colens, placidosque recessus_ - _Lucorum, quos alma quies sacravit amori._ - _Ite per umbrosos saltus, lustrisque vel aprum_ - _Excutite horrentem setis, cervumve fugacem,_ - _Tuque sororque tua, et directo sternite ferro:_ - _Nobilior labor, et divis dignissima cura,_ - _Meque Chloenque manet; nos corda humana ferimus,_ - _Vibrantes certum vulnus nec inutile telum._ - -The third specimen, is a translation by the Duke de Nivernois, of -Horace’s dialogue with Lydia: - - HORACE - - Plus heureux qu’un monarque au faite des grandeurs, - J’ai vu mes jours dignes d’envie, - Tranquiles, ils couloient au gré de nos ardeurs: - Vous m’aimiez, charmante Lydie. - - LYDIE - - Que mes jours étoient beaux, quand des soins les plus doux - Vous payiez ma flamme sincére! - Venus me regardoit avec des yeux jaloux; - Chloé n’avoit pas sçu vous plaire. - - HORACE - - Par son luth, par sa voix, organe des amours, - Chloé seule me paroit belle: - Si le Destin jaloux veut épargner ses jours, - Je donnerai les miens pour elle. - - LYDIE - - Le jeune Calaïs, plus beau que les amours, - Plait seul à mon ame ravie: - Si le Destin jaloux veut épargner ses jours, - Je donnerai deux fois ma vie. - - HORACE - - Quoi, si mes premiers feux, ranimant leur ardeur, - Etouffoient une amour fatale; - Si, perdant pour jamais tous ses droits sur mon cœur, - Chloé vous laissoit sans rivale—— - - LYDIE - - Calaïs est charmant: mais je n’aime que vous, - Ingrat, mon cœur vous justifie; - Heureuse également en des liens si doux, - De perdre ou de passer la vie.[37] - -If any thing is faulty in this excellent translation, it is the last -stanza, which does not convey the happy petulance, the _procacitas_ of -the original. The reader may compare with this, the fine translation of -the same ode by Bishop Atterbury, “Whilst I was fond, and you were kind,” -which is too well known to require insertion. - -The fourth example is a translation by Dr. Jortin of that beautiful -fragment of Simonides, preserved by Dionysius, in which Danae, exposed -with her child to the fury of the ocean, by command of her inhuman -father, is described lamenting over her sleeping infant. - -_Ex Dionys. Hal. De Compositione Verborum_, c. 26. - - Οτε λαρνακι εν δαιδαλεα ανεμος - Βρεμη πνεων, κινηθεισα δε λιμνα - Δειματι ερειπεν· ουτ’ αδιανταισι - Παρειαῖς, αμφι τε Περσεῖ βαλλε - Φιλαν χερα, ειπεν τε· ω τεκνον, - Ὁιον εχω πονον. συ δ’ αυτε γαλαθηνω - Ητορι κνοσσεις εν ατερπει δωματι, - Χαλκεογομφω δε, νυκτιλαμπεῖ, - Κυανεω τε δνοφω· συ δ’ αυαλεαν - Υπερθε τεαν κομαν βαθειαν - Παριοντος κυματος ουκ αλεγεις - Ουδ’ ανεμου φθογγων, πορφυρεα - Κειμενος εν χλανιδι, προσωπον καλον· - Ει δε τοι δεινον το γε δεινον ην - Και μεν εμων ρηματων λεπτον - Υπειχες οὐας. κελομαι, ἑυδε, βρεφος, - Ἑυδετω δε ποντος, ευδετω αμετρον κακον. - Ματαιοβουλια δε τις φανειη - Ζευ πατερ, εκ σεο· ὁτι δη θαρσαλεον - Επος, ευχομαι τεκνοφι δικας μοι. - - Nocte sub obscura, verrentibus æquora ventis, - Quum brevis immensa cymba nataret aqua, - Multa gemens Danaë subjecit brachia nato, - Et teneræ lacrymis immaduere genæ. - Tu tamen ut dulci, dixit, pulcherrime, somno - Obrutus, et metuens tristia nulla, jaces! - Quamvis, heu quales cunas tibi concutit unda, - Præbet et incertam pallida luna facem, - Et vehemens flavos everberat aura capillos, - Et prope, subsultans, irrigat ora liquor. - Nate, meam sentis vocem? Nil cernis et audis, - Teque premunt placidi vincula blanda dei; - Nec mihi purpureis effundis blæsa labellis - Murmura, nec notos confugis usque sinus. - Care, quiesce, puer, sævique quiescite fluctus, - Et mea qui pulsas corda, quiesce, dolor. - Cresce puer; matris leni atque ulciscere luctus, - Tuque tuos saltem protege summe Tonans. - -This admirable translation falls short of its original only in a -single particular, the measure of the verse. One striking beauty of -the original, is the easy and loose structure of the verse, which -has little else to distinguish it from animated discourse but the -harmony of the syllables; and hence it has more of natural impassioned -eloquence, than is conveyed by the regular measure of the translation. -That this characteristic of the original should have been overlooked -by the ingenious translator, is the more remarkable, that the poem is -actually quoted by Dionysius, as an apposite example of that species -of composition in which poetry approaches to the freedom of prose; της -εμμελους και εμμετρου συνθεσεως της εχουσης πολλην ὁμοιοτητα προς την -πεζην λεξιν. Dr. Markham saw this excellence of the original; and in -that fine imitation of the verses of Simonides, which an able critic[38] -has pronounced to be far superior to the original, has given it its -full effect. The passage alluded to is an apostrophe of a mother to her -sleeping infant, a widowed mother, who has just left the deathbed of her -husband. - - His conatibus occupata, ocellos - Guttis lucidulis adhuc madentes - Convertit, puerum sopore vinctum - Qua nutrix placido sinu fovebat: - Dormis, inquiit, O miselle, nec te - Vultus exanimes, silentiumque - Per longa atria commovent, nec ullo - Fratrum tangeris, aut meo dolore; - Nec sentis patre destitutus illo - Qui gestans genibusve brachiove - Aut formans lepidam tuam loquelam - Tecum mille modis ineptiebat. - Tu dormis, volitantque qui solebant - Risus in roseis tuis labellis.—— - Dormi parvule! nec mali dolores - Qui matrem cruciant tuæ quietis - Rumpant somnia.—Quando, quando tales - Redibunt oculis meis sopores! - -The next specimen I shall give, is the translation of a beautiful -epigram, from the _Anthologia_ which is supposed by Junius to be -descriptive of a painting mentioned by Pliny,[39] in which, a mother -wounded, and in the agony of death, is represented as giving suck to her -infant for the last time: - - Ελκε τάλαν παρα μητρος ὅν οὐκ ἔτι μαζὸν ἀμελξεις, - Ελκυσον ὑστατιον νᾶμα καταφθιμενης - Ηδη γαρ ξιφέεσσι λιπόπνοος, ἀλλὰ τὰ μητρος - Φιλτρα καὶ εν ἀϊδη παιδοκομειν ἔμαθον. - -Thus happily translated into English by Mr. Webb: - - Suck, little wretch, while yet thy mother lives, - Suck the last drop her fainting bosom gives! - She dies: her tenderness survives her breath, - And her fond love is provident in death. - -Equal in merit to any of the preceding, is the following translation by -Mr. Hughes from _Claudian_. - -_Ex Epithalamio Honorii & Mariæ._ - - _Cunctatur stupefacta Venus; nunc ora puellæ,_ - _Nunc flavam niveo miratur vertice matrem._ - _Hæc modo crescenti, plenæ par altera Lunæ:_ - _Assurgit ceu fortè minor sub matre virenti_ - _Laurus; et ingentes ramos, olimque futuras_ - _Promittit jam parva comas: vel flore sub uno_ - _Seu geminæ Pæstana rosæ per jugera regnant._ - _Hæc largo matura die, saturataque vernis_ - _Roribus indulget spatio: latet altera nodo,_ - _Nec teneris audet foliis admittere soles._ - - The goddess paus’d; and, held in deep amaze, - Now views the mother’s, now the daughter’s face. - Different in each, yet equal beauty glows; - That, the full moon, and this, the crescent shows, - Thus, rais’d beneath its parent tree is seen - The laurel shoot, while in its early green - Thick sprouting leaves and branches are essay’d, - And all the promise of a future shade. - Or blooming thus, in happy Pæstan fields, - One common stock two lovely roses yields: - Mature by vernal dews, this dares display - Its leaves full-blown, and boldly meets the day - That, folded in its tender nonage lies, - A beauteous bud, nor yet admits the skies. - -The following passage, from a Latin version of the _Messiah_ of Pope, -by a youth of uncommon genius,[40] exhibits the singular union of ease, -animation, and harmony of numbers, with the strictest fidelity to the -original. - - _Lanigera ut cautè placidus regit agmina pastor,_ - _Aera ut explorat purum, camposque virentes;_ - _Amissas ut quærit oves, moderatur euntûm_ - _Ut gressus, curatque diu, noctuque tuetur;_ - _Ut teneros agnos lenta inter brachia tollit,_ - _Mulcenti pascit palma, gremioque focillat;_ - _Sic genus omne hominum sic complectetur amanti_ - _Pectore, promissus seclo Pater ille futuro._ - - As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care, - Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air; - Explores the lost, the wandering sheep directs, - By day o’ersees them, and by night protects; - The tender lambs he raises in his arms, - Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms: - Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage - The promis’d Father of the future age. - -To these specimens of perfect translation, in which not only the -ideas of the original are completely transfused, but the manner most -happily imitated, I add the following admirable translations by Mr. -Cumberland,[41] of two fragments from the Greek dramatists Timocles and -Diphilus, which are preserved by Athenæus. - -The first of these passages beautifully illustrates the moral uses of the -tragic drama: - - Nay, my good friend, but hear me! I confess - Man is the child of sorrow, and this world, - In which we breathe, hath cares enough to plague us; - But it hath means withal to soothe these cares: - And he who meditates on others’ woes, - Shall in that meditation lose his own: - Call then the tragic poet to your aid, - Hear him, and take instruction from the stage: - Let Telephus appear; behold a prince, - A spectacle of poverty and pain, - Wretched in both.—And what if you are poor? - Are you a demigod? Are you the son - Of Hercules? Begone! Complain no more. - Doth your mind struggle with distracting thoughts? - Do your wits wander? Are you mad? Alas! - So was Alcmeon, whilst the world ador’d - His father as their God. Your eyes are dim; - What then? The eyes of Œdipus were dark, - Totally dark. You mourn a son; he’s dead; - Turn to the tale of Niobe for comfort, - And match your loss with hers. You’re lame of foot; - Compare it with the foot of Philoctetes, - And make no more complaint. But you are old, - Old and unfortunate; consult Oëneus; - Hear what a king endur’d, and learn content. - Sum up your miseries, number up your sighs, - The tragic stage shall give you tear for tear, - And wash out all afflictions but its own.[42] - -The following fragment from Diphilus conveys a very favourable idea of -the spirit of the dialogue, in what has been termed the New Comedy of the -Greeks, or that which was posterior to the age of Alexander the Great. -Of this period Diphilus and Menander were among the most shining -ornaments. - - We have a notable good law at Corinth, - Where, if an idle fellow outruns reason, - Feasting and junketting at furious cost, - The sumptuary proctor calls upon him, - And thus begins to sift him.—You live well, - But have you well to live? You squander freely, - Have you the wherewithal? Have you the fund - For these outgoings? If you have, go on! - If you have not, we’ll stop you in good time, - Before you outrun honesty; for he - Who lives we know not how, must live by plunder; - Either he picks a purse, or robs a house, - Or is accomplice with some knavish gang, - Or thrusts himself in crowds, to play th’ informer, - And put his perjur’d evidence to sale: - This a well-order’d city will not suffer; - Such vermin we expel.—“And you do wisely: - But what is that to me?”—Why, this it is: - Here we behold you every day at work, - Living, forsooth! not as your neighbours live, - But richly, royally, ye gods!—Why man, - We cannot get a fish for love or money, - You swallow the whole produce of the sea: - You’ve driv’n our citizens to brouze on cabbage; - A sprig of parsley sets them all a-fighting, - As at the Isthmian games: If hare or partridge, - Or but a simple thrush comes to the market, - Quick, at a word, you snap him: By the Gods! - Hunt Athens through, you shall not find a feather - But in your kitchen; and for wine, ’tis gold— - Not to be purchas’d.—We may drink the ditches.[43] - -Of equal merit with these two last specimens, are the greatest part of -those translations given by Mr. Cumberland of the fragments of the Greek -dramatists. The literary world owes to that ingenious writer a very high -obligation for his excellent view of the progress of the dramatic art -among the Greeks, and for the collection he has made of the remains of -more than fifty of their comic poets.[44] - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - LIMITATION OF THE RULE REGARDING THE IMITATION OF STYLE.—THIS - IMITATION MUST BE REGULATED BY THE GENIUS OF LANGUAGES.—THE - LATIN ADMITS OF A GREATER BREVITY OF EXPRESSION THAN THE - ENGLISH;—AS DOES THE FRENCH.—THE LATIN AND GREEK ALLOW GREATER - INVERSIONS THAN THE ENGLISH,—AND ADMIT MORE FREELY OF ELLIPSIS - - -The rule which enjoins to a translator the imitation of the style of the -original author, demands several limitations. - -1. This imitation must always be regulated by the nature or genius of the -languages of the original and of the translation. - -The Latin language admits of a brevity, which cannot be successfully -imitated in the English. - -Cicero thus writes to Trebatius (lib. 7, ep. 17): - -_In Britanniam te profectum non esse gaudeo, quod et tu labore caruisti, -et ego te de rebus illis non audiam._ - -It is impossible to translate this into English with equal brevity, -and at the same time do complete justice to the sentiment. Melmoth, -therefore, has shewn great judgement in sacrificing the imitation of -style to the perfect transfusion of the sense. “I am glad, for my sake -as well as yours, that you did not attend Cæsar into Britain; as it has -not only saved you the fatigue of a very disagreeable journey, but me -likewise that of being the perpetual auditor of your wonderful exploits.” -_Melm. Cic. Lett._ b. 2, l. 12. - -Pliny to Minutianus, lib. 3, ep. 9, says, towards the end of his letter: -_Temerè dixi—Succurrit quod præterieram, et quidem serò: sed quanquam -preposterè reddetur. Facit hoc Homerus, multique illius exemplo. Est -alioqui perdecorum: a me tamen non ideo fiet._ It is no doubt possible -to translate this passage into English with a conciseness almost equal -to the original; but in this experiment we must sacrifice all its ease -and spirit. “I have said this rashly—I recollect an omission—somewhat too -late indeed. It shall now be supplied, though a little preposterously. -Homer does this: and many after his example. Besides, it is not -unbecoming; but this is not my reason.” Let us mark how Mr. Melmoth, -by a happy amplification, has preserved the spirit and ease, though -sacrificing the brevity of the original. “But upon recollection, I find -that I must recall that last word; for I perceive, a little too late -indeed, that I have omitted a material circumstance. However, I will -mention it here, though something out of its place. In this, I have -the authority of Homer, and several other great names, to keep me in -countenance; and the critics will tell you this irregular manner has its -beauties: but, upon my word, it is a beauty I had not at all in my view.” - -An example of a similar brevity of expression, which admits of no -imitation in English, occurs in another letter of Cicero to Trebatius, -_Ep._ l. 7, 14. - -_Chrysippus Vettius, Cyri architecti libertus, fecit, ut te non immemorem -putarem mei. Valde jam lautus es qui gravere literas ad me dare, homini -præsertim domestico. Quod si scribere oblitus es, minus multi jam te -advocato causâ cadent. Sin nostri oblitus es, dabo operam ut isthuc -veniam antequam planè ex animo tuo effluo._ - -In translating this passage, Mr. Melmoth has shewn equal judgement. -Without attempting to imitate the brevity of the original, which he knew -to be impossible, he saw that the characterising features of the passage -were ease and vivacity; and these he has very happily transfused into his -translation. - -“If it were not for the compliments you sent me by Chrysippus, the -freedman of Cyrus the architect, I should have imagined I no longer -possessed a place in your thoughts. But surely you are become a most -intolerable fine gentleman, that you could not bear the fatigue of -writing to me, when you had the opportunity of doing so by a man, whom, -you know, I look upon as one almost of my own family. Perhaps, however, -you may have forgotten the use of your pen: and so much the better, let -me tell you, for your clients, as they will lose no more causes by its -blunders. But if it is myself only that has escaped your remembrance, I -must endeavour to refresh it by a visit, before I am worn out of your -memory, beyond all power of recollection.” - -Numberless instances of a similar exercise of judgement and of good -taste are to be found in Mr. Murphy’s excellent translation of Tacitus. -After the death of Germanicus, poisoned, as was suspected, by Piso, with -the tacit approbation of Tiberius, the public loudly demanded justice -against the supposed murderer, and the cause was solemnly tried in -the Roman Senate. Piso, foreseeing a judgement against him, chose to -anticipate his fate by a voluntary death. The senate decreed that his -family name should be abolished for ever, and that his brother Marcus -should be banished from his country for ten years; but in deference to -the solicitations of the Empress, they granted a free pardon to Plancina, -his widow. Tacitus proceeds to relate, that this sentence of the senate -was altered by Tiberius: _Multa ex ea sententia mitigata sunt a principe; -“ne nomen Pisonis fastis eximeretur, quando M. Antonii, qui bellum patriæ -fecisset, Juli Antonii, qui domum Augusti violasset, manerent;” et M. -Pisonem ignominiæ exemit, concessitque ei paterna bona; satis firmus, -ut sæpe memoravi, adversus pecuniam; et tum pudore absolutæ Plancinæ -placabilior. Atque idem cum Valerius Messalinus signum aureum in æde -Martis Ultoris, Cæcina Severus aram ultioni statuendam censuissent, -prohibuit: ob externas ea victorias sacrari dictitans, domestica mala -tristitia operienda._ An. l. 3, c. 18. - -Thus necessarily amplified, and translated with the ease of original -composition, by Mr. Murphy: - -“This sentence, in many particulars, was mitigated by Tiberius. The -family name, he said, ought not to be abolished, while that of Mark -Antony, who appeared in arms against his country, as well as that of -Julius Antonius, who by his intrigues dishonoured the house of Augustus, -subsisted still, and figured in the Roman annals. Marcus Piso was left -in possession of his civil dignities, and his father’s fortune. Avarice, -as has been already observed, was not the passion of Tiberius. On this -occasion, the disgrace incurred by the partiality shewn to Plancina, -softened his temper, and made him the more willing to extend his mercy to -the son. Valerius Messalinus moved, that a golden statue might be erected -in the temple of Mars the Avenger. An altar to Vengeance was proposed by -Cæcina Severus. Both these motions were over-ruled by the Emperor. The -principle on which he argued was, that public monuments, however proper -in cases of foreign conquest, were not suited to the present juncture. -Domestic calamity should be lamented, and as soon as possible consigned -to oblivion.” - -The conclusion of the same chapter affords an example yet more striking -of the same necessary and happy amplification by the translator. - -_Addiderat Messalinus, Tiberio et Augustæ, et Antoniæ, et Agrippinæ, -Drusoque, ob vindictam Germanici grates agendas, omiseratque Claudii -mentionem; et Messalinum quidem L. Asprenas senatu coram percunctatus -est, an prudens præterîsset? Actum demum nomen Claudii adscriptum est. -Mihi quanto plura recentium, seu veterum revolvo, tanto magis ludibria -rerum mortalium cunctis in negotiis obversantur; quippe fama, spe, -veneratione potius omnes destinabantur imperio, quam quem futurum -principem fortuna in occulto tenebat._ - -“Messalinus added to his motion a vote of thanks to Tiberius and Livia, -to Antonia, Agrippina, and Drusus, for their zeal in bringing to justice -the enemies of Germanicus. The name of Claudius was not mentioned. -Lucius Asprenas desired to know whether that omission was intended. -The consequence was, that Claudius was inserted in the vote. Upon an -occasion like this, it is impossible not to pause for a moment, to make a -reflection that naturally rises out of the subject. When we review what -has been doing in the world, is it not evident, that in all transactions, -whether of ancient or of modern date, some strange caprice of fortune -turns all human wisdom to a jest? In the juncture before us, Claudius -figured so little on the stage of public business, that there was scarce -a man in Rome, who did not seem, by the voice of fame and the wishes -of the people, designed for the sovereign power, rather than the very -person, whom fate, in that instant, cherished in obscurity, to make him, -at a future period, master of the Roman world.” - -So likewise in the following passage, we must admire the judgement of -the translator in abandoning all attempt to rival the brevity of the -original, since he knew it could not be attained but with the sacrifice -both of ease and perspicuity: - -_Is finis fuit ulciscenda Germanici morte, non modo apud illos homines -qui tum agebant, etiam secutis temporibus vario rumore jactata; -adeo maxima quæque ambigua sunt, dum alii quoquo modo audita pro -compertis habent; alii vera in contrarium vertunt; et gliscit utrumque -posteritate._ An. l. 3, c. 19. - -“In this manner ended the enquiry concerning the death of Germanicus; a -subject which has been variously represented, not only by men of that -day, but by all subsequent writers. It remains, to this hour, the problem -of history. A cloud for ever hangs over the most important transactions; -while, on the one hand, credulity adopts for fact the report of the day; -and, on the other, politicians warp and disguise the truth: between -both parties two different accounts go down from age to age, and gain -strength with posterity.” - -The French language admits of a brevity of expression more corresponding -to that of the Latin: and of this D’Alembert has given many happy -examples in his translations from Tacitus. - -_Quod si vita suppeditet, principatum divi Nervæ et imperium Trajani, -uberiorem, securioremque materiam senectuti seposui: rarâ temporum -felicitate, ubi sentire quæ velis, et quæ sentias dicere licet_, Praef. -ad Hist. “Si les dieux m’accordent des jours, je destine à l’occupation -et à la consolation de ma vieillesse, l’histoire interessante et -tranquille de Nerva et de Trajan; tems heureux et rares, où l’on est -libre de penser et de parler.” - -And with equal, perhaps superior felicity, the same passage is thus -translated by Rousseau: “Que s’il me reste assez de vie, je réserve pour -ma vieillesse la riche et paisible matiere des regnes de Nerva et de -Trajan: rares et heureux tems, où l’on peut penser librement, et dire ce -que l’on pense.” - -But D’Alembert, from too earnest a desire to imitate the conciseness -of his original, has sometimes left the sense imperfect. Of this an -example occurs in the passage before quoted, _An._ l. 1, c. 2. _Cum -cæteri nobilium, quanto quis servitio promptior, opibus et honoribus -extollerentur_: the translator, too studious of brevity, has not given -the complete idea of his author, “Le reste des nobles trouvoit dans les -richesses et dans les honneurs la récompense de l’esclavage.” _Omnium -consensu capax imperii nisi imperasset_, Tac. Hist. 1, 49. “Digne de -l’empire au jugement de tout le monde tant qu’il ne regna pas.” This is -not the idea of the author; for Tacitus does not mean to say that Galba -was judged worthy of the empire till he attained to it; but that all -the world would have thought him worthy of the empire if he had never -attained to it. - -2. The Latin and Greek languages admit of inversions which are -inconsistent with the genius of the English. - -Mr. Gordon, injudiciously aiming at an imitation of the Latin -construction, has given a barbarous air to his translation of Tacitus: -“To Pallas, who was by Claudius declared to be the deviser of this -scheme, the ornaments of the prætorship, and three hundred seventy-five -thousand crowns, were adjudged by Bareas Soranus, consul designed,” -_An._ b. 12.—“Still to be seen are the Roman standards in the German -groves, there, by me, hung up,” _An._ lib. 1. “Naturally violent was the -spirit of Arminius, and now, by the captivity of his wife, and by the -fate of his child, doomed to bondage though yet unborn, enraged even to -distraction.” _Ib._ “But he, the more ardent he found the affections of -the soldiers, and the greater the hatred of his uncle, so much the more -intent upon a decisive victory, weighed with himself all the methods,” -&c. _Ib._ lib. 2. - -Thus, Mr. Macpherson, in his translation of Homer, (a work otherwise -valuable, as containing a most perfect transfusion of the sense of -his author), has generally adopted an inverted construction, which is -incompatible with the genius of the English language. “Tlepolemus, the -race of Hercules,—brave in battle and great in arms, nine ships led -to Troy, with magnanimous Rhodians filled. Those who dwelt in Rhodes, -distinguished in nations three,—who held Lindus, Ialyssus, and white -Camirus, beheld him afar.—Their leader in arms was Tlepolemus, renowned -at the spear, _Il._ l. 2.—The heroes the slaughter began.—Alexander first -a warrior slew.—Through the neck, by the helm passed the steel.—Iphinous, -the son of Dexius, through the shoulder he pierced—to the earth fell the -chief in his blood, _Ib._ l. 7. Not unjustly we Hector admire; matchless -at launching the spear; to break the line of battle, bold, _Ib._ l. 5. -Nor for vows unpaid rages Apollo; nor solemn sacrifice denied,” _Ib._ l. -1. - -3. The English language is not incapable of an elliptical mode of -expression; but it does not admit of it to the same degree as the Latin. -Tacitus says, _Trepida civitas incusare Tiberium_, for _trepida civitas -incepit incusare Tiberium_. We cannot say in English, “The terrified city -to blame Tiberius:” And even as Gordon has translated these words, the -ellipsis is too violent for the English language; “hence against Tiberius -many complaints.” - - Εννημαρ μεν ανα στρατὸν ωκετο κῆλα θεοῖο. - - _Il._ l. 1, l. 53. - -“For nine days the arrows of the god were darted through the army.” The -elliptical brevity of Mr. Macpherson’s translation of this verse, has no -parallel in the original; nor is it agreeable to the English idiom: - - “Nine days rush the shafts of the God.” - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - WHETHER A POEM CAN BE WELL TRANSLATED INTO PROSE - - -From all the preceding observations respecting the imitation of style, -we may derive this precept, That a Translator ought always to figure to -himself, in what manner the original author would have expressed himself, -if he had written in the language of the translation. - -This precept leads to the examination, and probably to the decision, of a -question which has admitted of some dispute, Whether a poem can be well -translated into prose? - -There are certain species of poetry, of which the chief merit consists in -the sweetness and melody of the versification. Of these it is evident, -that the very essence must perish in translating them into prose. What -should we find in the following beautiful lines, when divested of the -melody of verse? - - She said, and melting as in tears she lay, - In a soft silver stream dissolved away. - The silver stream her virgin coldness keeps, - For ever murmurs, and for ever weeps; - Still bears the name the hapless virgin bore, - And bathes the forest where she rang’d before. - - POPE’S _Windsor Forest_. - -But a great deal of the beauty of every regular poem, consists in -the melody of its numbers. Sensible of this truth, many of the prose -translators of poetry, have attempted to give a sort of measure to their -prose, which removes it from the nature of ordinary language. If this -measure is uniform, and its return regular, the composition is no longer -prose, but blank-verse. If it is not uniform, and does not regularly -return upon the ear, the composition will be more unharmonious, than -if the measure had been entirely neglected. Of this, Mr. Macpherson’s -translation of the _Iliad_ is a strong example. - -But it is not only by the measure that poetry is distinguishable from -prose. It is by the character of its thoughts and sentiments, and by -the nature of that language in which they are clothed.[45] A boldness -of figures, a luxuriancy of imagery, a frequent use of metaphors, a -quickness of transition, a liberty of digressing; all these are not only -_allowable_ in poetry, but to many species of it, _essential_. But they -are quite unsuitable to the character of prose. When seen in a _prose -translation_, they appear preposterous and out of place, because they are -never found in an _original prose composition_. - -In opposition to these remarks, it may be urged, that there are examples -of poems originally composed in prose, as Fenelon’s _Telemachus_. -But to this we answer, that Fenelon, in composing his _Telemachus_, -has judiciously adopted nothing more of the characteristics of poetry -than what might safely be given to a prose composition. His good taste -prescribed to him certain limits, which he was under no necessity of -transgressing. But a translator is not left to a similar freedom of -judgement: he must follow the footsteps of his original. Fenelon’s _Epic -Poem_ is of a very different character from the _Iliad_, the _Æneid_, or -the _Gierusalemme Liberata_. The French author has, in the conduct of his -fable, seldom transgressed the bounds of historic probability; he has -sparingly indulged himself in the use of the Epic machinery; and there -is a chastity and sobriety even in his language, very different from the -glowing enthusiasm that characterises the diction of the poems we have -mentioned: We find nothing in the _Telemaque_ of the _Os magna sonaturum_. - -The difficulty of translating poetry into prose, is different in its -degree, according to the nature or species of the poem. Didactic poetry, -of which the principal merit consists in the detail of a regular system, -or in rational precepts which flow from each other in a connected train -of thought, will evidently suffer least by being transfused into prose. -But every didactic poet judiciously enriches his work with such ornaments -as are not strictly attached to his subject. In a prose translation -of such a poem, all that is strictly systematic or preceptive may be -transfused with propriety; all the rest, which belongs to embellishment, -will be found impertinent and out of place. Of this we have a convincing -proof in Dryden’s translation of the valuable poem of Du Fresnoy, _De -Arte Graphica_. The didactic parts of the poem are translated with -becoming propriety; but in the midst of those practical instructions in -the art of painting, how preposterous appear in prose such passages as -the following? - -“Those things which the poets have thought unworthy of their pens, the -painters have judged to be unworthy of their pencils. For both those -arts, that they might advance the sacred honours of religion, have raised -themselves to heaven; and having found a free admission into the palace -of Jove himself, have enjoyed the sight and conversation of the Gods, -whose awful majesty they observe, and whose dictates they communicate to -mankind, whom, at the same time they inspire with those celestial flames -which shine so gloriously in their works. - -“Besides all this, you are to express the motions of the spirits, and the -affections or passions, whose centre is the heart. This is that in which -the greatest difficulty consists. Few there are whom Jupiter regards with -a favourable eye in this undertaking. - -“And as this part, (the Art of Colouring), which we may call the utmost -perfection of Painting, is a deceiving beauty, but withal soothing and -pleasing; so she has been accused of procuring lovers for her sister -(Design), and artfully engaging us to admire her.” - -But there are certain species of poetry, of the merits of which it will -be found impossible to convey the smallest idea in a prose translation. -Such is Lyric poetry, where a greater degree of irregularity of thought, -and a more unrestrained exuberance of fancy, is allowable than in any -other species of composition. To attempt, therefore, a translation of a -lyric poem into prose, is the most absurd of all undertakings; for those -very characters of the original which are essential to it, and which -constitute its highest beauties, if transferred to a prose translation, -become unpardonable blemishes. The excursive range of the sentiments, and -the play of fancy, which we admire in the original, degenerate in the -translation into mere raving and impertinence. Of this the translation of -Horace in prose, by Smart, furnishes proofs in every page. - -We may certainly, from the foregoing observations, conclude, that it is -impossible to do complete justice to any species of poetical composition -in a prose translation; in other words, that none but a poet can -translate a poet. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - THIRD GENERAL RULE—A TRANSLATION SHOULD HAVE ALL THE EASE OF - ORIGINAL COMPOSITION.—EXTREME DIFFICULTY IN THE OBSERVANCE OF - THIS RULE.—CONTRASTED INSTANCES OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE.—OF THE - NECESSITY OF SOMETIMES SACRIFICING ONE RULE TO ANOTHER - - -It remains now that we consider the third general law of translation. - -In order that the merit of the original work may be so completely -transfused as to produce its full effect, it is necessary, not only that -the translation should contain a perfect transcript of the sentiments -of the original, and present likewise a resemblance of its style and -manner; but, That the translation should have all the ease of original -composition. - -When we consider those restraints within which a translator finds himself -necessarily confined, with regard to the sentiments and manner of his -original, it will soon appear that this last requisite includes the most -difficult part of his task.[46] To one who walks in trammels, it is -not easy to exhibit an air of grace and freedom. It is difficult, even -for a capital painter, to preserve in a copy of a picture all the ease -and spirit of the original; yet the painter employs precisely the same -colours, and has no other care than faithfully to imitate the touch and -manner of the picture that is before him. If the original is easy and -graceful, the copy will have the same qualities, in proportion as the -imitation is just and perfect. The translator’s task is very different: -He uses not the same colours with the original, but is required to -give his picture the same force and effect. He is not allowed to copy -the touches of the original, yet is required, by touches of his own, -to produce a perfect resemblance. The more he studies a scrupulous -imitation, the less his copy will reflect the ease and spirit of the -original. How then shall a translator accomplish this difficult union of -ease with fidelity? To use a bold expression, he must adopt the very soul -of his author, which must speak through his own organs. - -Let us proceed to exemplify this third rule of translation, which regards -the attainment of ease of style, by instances both of success and failure. - -The familiar style of epistolary correspondence is rarely attainable -even in original composition. It consists in a delicate medium between -the perfect freedom of ordinary conversation and the regularity of -written dissertation or narrative. It is extremely difficult to attain -this delicate medium in a translation; because the writer has neither -a freedom of choice in the sentiments, nor in the mode of expressing -them. Mr. Melmoth appears to me to be a great model in this respect. -His Translations of the _Epistles of Cicero_ and of Pliny have all the -ease of the originals, while they present in general a very faithful -transcript of his author’s sense. - -“Surely, _my friend_, your couriers are _a set of the most unconscionable -fellows_. _Not that they have given_ me any particular offence; but as -they never bring me a letter when they arrive here, _is it fair_, they -should always press me for one when they return?” Melmoth, _Cic. Ep._ 10, -20. - -_Præposteros habes tabellarios; etsi me quidem non offendunt. Sed tamen -cum a me discedunt, flagitant litteras, cum ad me veniunt, nullas -afferunt._ Cic. Ep. l. 15, ep. 17. - -“Is it not more worthy of your _mighty_ ambition, to be blended with your -learned brethren at Rome, than to stand _the sole great wonder of wisdom_ -amidst a _parcel of paltry provincials_?” Melmoth, _Cic. Ep._ 2, 23. - -_Velim—ibi malis esse ubi aliquo numero sis, quam isthic ubi solus sapere -videare._ Cic. Ep. l. 1, ep. 10. - -“_In short_, I plainly perceive your _finances_ are in no flourishing -situation, and I expect to hear the same account of all your neighbours; -so that famine, _my friend, most formidable famine_, must be your _fate_, -if you do not provide against it in due time. And since you have been -reduced to sell your horse, _e’en mount_ your mule, (the only animal, -_it seems_, belonging to you, which you have not yet _sacrificed to your -table_), and _convey yourself_ immediately to Rome. _To encourage you to -do so_, you shall be honoured with a chair and cushion next to mine, and -sit the second _great pedagogue_ in my _celebrated_ school.” Melmoth, -_Cic. Ep._ 8, 22. - -_Video te bona perdidisse: spero idem isthuc familiares tuos. Actum -igitur de te est, nisi provides. Potes mulo isto quem tibi reliquum dicis -esse (quando cantherium comedisti) Romam pervehi. Sella tibi erit in -ludo, tanquam hypodidascalo; proxima eam pulvinus sequetur._ Cic. Ep. l. -9, ep. 18. - -“Are you not a _pleasant mortal_, to question me concerning the fate of -those estates you mention, when Balbus had just before been _paying you a -visit_?” Melmoth, _Cic. Ep._ 8, 24. - -_Non tu homo ridiculus es, qui cum Balbus noster apud te fuerit, ex me -quæras quid de istis municipiis et agris futurum putem?_ Cic. Ep. 9, 17. - -“_And now_ I have raised your expectations of this piece, _I doubt_ you -will be disappointed when _it comes to your hands_. In the meanwhile, -however, you may expect it, as something that will please you: _And who -knows but it may?_” Plin. Ep. 8, 3. - -_Erexi expectationem tuam; quam vereor ne destituat oratio in manus -sumpta. Interim tamen, tanquam placituram, et fortasse placebit, -expecta._ Plin. Ep. 8, 3. - -“I consent to undertake the cause which you so earnestly recommend to me; -but _as glorious and honourable as it may be, I will not be your counsel -without a fee_. Is it possible, you will say, that _my friend Pliny_ -should be so mercenary? _In truth it is_; and _I insist upon_ a reward, -which will do me more honour than the most disinterested patronage.” -_Plin. Ep._ 6, 23. - -_Impense petis ut agam causam pertinentem ad curam tuam, pulchram -alioquin et famosam. Faciam, sed non gratis. Qui fieri potest (inquis) -ut non gratis tu? Potest: exigam enim mercedem honestiorem gratuito -patrocinio._ Plin. Ep. 8, 3. - -To these examples of the ease of epistolary correspondence, I add a -passage from one of the orations of Cicero, which is yet in a strain -of greater familiarity: “A certain mechanic—_What’s his name?—Oh, I’m -obliged to you for helping me to it_: Yes, I mean Polycletus.” Melmoth. - -_Artificem—quemnam? Recte admones. Polycletum esse ducebant._ Cicero, -Orat. 2, in Verrem. - -In the preceding instances from Mr. Melmoth, the words of the English -translation which are marked in Italics, are those which, in my opinion, -give it the ease of original composition. - -But while a translator thus endeavours to transfuse into his work all -the ease of the original, the most correct taste is requisite to prevent -that ease from degenerating into licentiousness. I have, in treating of -the imitation of style and manner, given some examples of the want of -this taste. The most licentious of all translators was Mr. Thomas Brown, -of facetious memory, in whose translations from Lucian we have the most -perfect ease; but it is the ease of Billingsgate and of Wapping. I shall -contrast a few passages of his translation of this author, with those of -another translator, who has given a faithful transcript of the sense of -his original, but from an over-scrupulous fidelity has failed a little in -point of ease. - -GNATHON. “What now! Timon, do you strike me? Bear witness, Hercules! O -me, O me! But I will call you into the Areopagus for this. TIMON. Stay a -little only, and you may bring me in guilty of murder.”[47] Francklin’s -_Lucian_. - -GNATHON. “Confound him! what a blow he has given me! What’s this for, old -Touchwood? Bear witness, Hercules, that he has struck me. I warrant you, -I shall make you repent of this blow. I’ll indite you upon an action of -the case, and bring you _coram nobis_ for an assault and battery.” TIMON. -“Do, thou confounded law-pimp, do; but if thou stay’st one minute longer, -I’ll beat thee to pap. I’ll make thy bones rattle in thee, like three -blue beans in a blue bladder. Go, stinkard, or else I shall make you -alter your action, and get me indicted for manslaughter.” _Timon_, Trans. -by Brown in Dryden’s _Lucian_. - -“On the whole, a most perfect character; we shall see presently, with -all his modesty, what a bawling he will make.” Francklin’s _Lucian_, -_Timon_.[48] - -“In fine, he’s a person that knows the world better than any one, and is -extremely well acquainted with the whole Encyclopædia of villany; a true -elaborate finished rascal, and for all he appears so demure now, that -you’d think butter would not melt in his mouth, yet I shall soon make -him open his pipes, and roar like a persecuted bear.” Dryden’s _Lucian_, -_Timon_. - -“He changes his name, and instead of Byrria, Dromo, or Tibius, now takes -the name of Megacles, or Megabyzus, or Protarchus, leaving the rest of -the expectants gaping and looking at one another in silent sorrow.” -Francklin’s _Lucian_, _Timon_.[49] - -“Straight he changes his name, so that the rascal, who the moment -before had no other title about the house, but, you son of a whore, you -bulk-begotten cur, you scoundrel, must now be called his worship, his -excellency, and the Lord knows what. The best on’t is, that this mushroom -puts all these fellows noses out of joint,” &c. Dryden’s _Lucian_, -_Timon_. - -From these contrasted specimens we may decide, that the one translation -of Lucian errs perhaps as much on the score of restraint, as the other on -that of licentiousness. The preceding examples from Melmoth point out, -in my opinion, the just medium of free and spirited translation, for the -attainment of which the most correct taste is requisite. - -If the order in which I have classed the three general laws of -translation is their just and natural arrangement, which I think will -hardly be denied, it will follow, that in all cases where a sacrifice is -necessary to be made of one of those laws to another, a due regard ought -to be paid to their rank and comparative importance. The different genius -of the languages of the original and translation, will often make it -necessary to depart from the manner of the original, in order to convey -a faithful picture of the sense; but it would be highly preposterous -to depart, in any case, from the sense, for the sake of imitating the -manner. Equally improper would it be, to sacrifice either the sense -or manner of the original, if these can be preserved consistently -with purity of expression, to a fancied ease or superior gracefulness -of composition. This last is the fault of the French translations of -D’Ablancourt, an author otherwise of very high merit. His versions are -admirable, so long as we forbear to compare them with the originals; they -are models of ease, of elegance, and perspicuity; but he has considered -these qualities as the primary requisites of translation, and both the -sense and manner of his originals are sacrificed, without scruple, to -their attainment.[50] - - - - -CHAPTER X - - IT IS LESS DIFFICULT TO ATTAIN THE EASE OF ORIGINAL COMPOSITION - IN POETICAL, THAN IN PROSE TRANSLATION.—LYRIC POETRY ADMITS OF - THE GREATEST LIBERTY OF TRANSLATION.—EXAMPLES DISTINGUISHING - PARAPHRASE FROM TRANSLATION,—FROM DRYDEN, LOWTH, FONTENELLE, - PRIOR, ANGUILLARA, HUGHES. - - -It may perhaps appear paradoxical to assert, that it is less difficult -to give to a poetical translation all the ease of original composition, -than to give the same degree of ease to a prose translation. Yet the -truth of this assertion will be readily admitted, if assent is given to -that observation, which I before endeavoured to illustrate, viz. That -a superior degree of liberty is allowed to a poetical translator in -amplifying, retrenching from, and embellishing his original, than to a -prose translator. For without some portion of this liberty, there can -be no ease of composition; and where the greatest liberty is allowable, -there that ease will be most apparent, as it is less difficult to attain -to it. - -For the same reason, among the different species of poetical composition, -the lyric is that which allows of the greatest liberty in translation; as -a freedom both of thought and expression is agreeable to its character. -Yet even in this, which is the freest of all species of translation, -we must guard against licentiousness; and perhaps the more so, that we -are apt to persuade ourselves that the less caution is necessary. The -difficulty indeed is, where so much freedom is allowed, to define what -is to be accounted licentiousness in poetical translation. A moderate -liberty of amplifying and retrenching the ideas of the original, has -been granted to the translator of prose; but is it allowable, even to -the translator of a lyric poem, to add new images and new thoughts to -those of the original, or to enforce the sentiments by illustrations -which are not in the original? As the limits between free translation -and paraphrase are more easily perceived than they can be well defined, -instead of giving a general answer to this question, I think it safer to -give my opinion upon particular examples. - -Dr. Lowth has adapted to the present times, and addressed to his own -countrymen, a very noble imitation of the 6th ode of the third book -of Horace: _Delicta majorum immeritus lues_, &c. The greatest part of -this composition is of the nature of parody; but in the version of the -following stanza there is perhaps but a slight excess of that liberty -which may be allowed to the translator of a lyric poet: - - _Motus doceri gaudet Ionicos_ - _Matura virgo, et fingitur artubus_ - _Jam nunc, et incestos amores_ - _De tenero meditatur ungui._ - - The ripening maid is vers’d in every dangerous art, - That ill adorns the form, while it corrupts the heart; - Practis’d to dress, to dance, to play, - In wanton mask to lead the way, - To move the pliant limbs, to roll the luring eye; - With Folly’s gayest partizans to vie - In empty noise and vain expence; - To celebrate with flaunting air - The midnight revels of the fair; - Studious of every praise, but virtue, truth, and sense. - -Here the translator has superadded no new images or illustrations; but he -has, in two parts of the stanza, given a moral application which is not -in the original: “That ill adorns the form, while it corrupts the heart;” -and “Studious of every praise, but virtue, truth, and sense.” These moral -lines are unquestionably a very high improvement of the original; but -they seem to me to transgress, though indeed very slightly, the liberty -allowed to a poetical translator. - -In that fine translation by Dryden, of the 29th ode of the third book of -Horace, which upon the whole is paraphrastical, the version of the two -following stanzas has no more licence than what is justifiable: - - _Fortuna sævo læto negotio, et_ - _Ludum insolentem ludere pertinax,_ - _Transmutat incertos honores,_ - _Nunc mihi, nunc alii benigna._ - - _Laudo manentem: si celeres quatit_ - _Pennas, resigno quæ dedit: et mea_ - _Virtute me involvo, probamque_ - _Pauperiem sine dote quæro._ - - Fortune, who with malicious joy - Does man, her slave, oppress, - Proud of her office to destroy, - Is seldom pleas’d to bless. - Still various and inconstant still, - But with an inclination to be ill, - Promotes, degrades, delights in strife, - And makes a lottery of life. - I can enjoy her while she’s kind; - But when she dances in the wind, - And shakes her wings, and will not stay, - I puff the prostitute away: - The little or the much she gave is quietly resign’d; - Content with poverty, my soul I arm, - And Virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm. - -The celebrated verses of Adrian, addressed to his Soul, have been -translated and imitated by many different writers. - - Animula, vagula, blandula, - Hospes, comesque corporis! - Quæ nunc abibis in loca, - Pallidula, frigida, nudula, - Nec ut soles dabis joca? - -By Casaubon. - - Ερασμιον ψυχαριον, - Ξενη και εταιρη σωματος, - Ποι νυν ταλαιν ελευσεαι, - Αμενης, γοερατε και σκια, - Ουδ’ ὁια παρος τρυφησεαι; - -Except in the fourth line, where there is a slight change of epithets, -this may be termed a just translation, exhibiting both the sense and -manner of the original. - -By Fontenelle. - - Ma petite ame, ma mignonne, - Tu t’en vas donc, ma fille, et Dieu sache ou tu vas. - Tu pars seulette, nue, et tremblotante, helas! - Que deviendra ton humeur folichonne? - Que deviendront tant de jolis ébats? - -The French translation is still more faithful to the original, and -exhibits equally with the former its spirit and manner. - -The following verses by Prior are certainly a great improvement upon the -original; by a most judicious and happy amplification of the sentiments, -(which lose much of their effect in the Latin, from their extreme -compression); nor do they, in my opinion, exceed the liberty of poetical -translation. - - Poor little pretty flutt’ring thing, - Must we no longer live together? - And do’st thou prune thy trembling wing, - To take thy flight, thou know’st not whither? - - The hum’rous vein, the pleasing folly, - Lies all neglected, all forgot; - And pensive, wav’ring, melancholy, - Thou dread’st and hop’st thou know’st not what. - -Mr. Pope’s _Dying Christian to his Soul_, which is modelled on the -verses of Adrian, retains so little of the thoughts of the original, -and substitutes in their place a train of sentiments so different, that -it cannot even be called a _paraphrase_, but falls rather under the -description of _imitation_. - -The Italian version of _Ovid_ in _ottava rima_, by Anguillara, is a work -of great poetical merit; but is scarcely in any part to be regarded as -a translation of the original. It is almost entirely paraphrastical. In -the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, the simple ideas announced in these two -lines, - - Tempore crevit amor: tædæ quoque jure coïssent; - Sed vetuere patres quod non potuere vetare, - -are the subject of the following paraphrase, which is as beautiful in its -composition, as it is unbounded in the licence of its amplification. - - Era l’amor cresciuto à poco à poco - Secondo erano in lor cresciuti gli anni: - E dove prima era trastullo, e gioco, - Scherzi, corrucci, e fanciulleschi inganni, - Quando fur giunti a quella età di foco - Dove comincian gli amorosi affanni - Che l’alma nostra ha si leggiadro il manto - E che la Donna e’l huom s’amano tanto; - - Era tanto l’amor, tanto il desire, - Tanta la fiamma, onde ciascun ardea: - Che l’uno e l’altro si vedea morire, - Se pietoso Himeneo non gli giungea. - E tanto era maggior d’ambi il martire, - Quanto il voler de l’un l’altro scorge. - Ben ambo de le nozze eran contenti, - Ma no’l soffriro i loro empi parenti. - - Eran fra i padri lor pochi anni avanti - Nata una troppo cruda inimicitia: - E quanto amore, e fè s’hebber gli amanti, - Tanto regnò ne’ padri odiò e malitia. - Gli huomini della terra piu prestanti, - Tentar pur di ridurli in amicitia; - E vi s’affaticar piu volte assai; - Ma non vi sepper via ritrovar mai. - - Quei padri, che fra lor fur si infedeli - Vetaro à la fanciulla, e al giovinetto, - A due si belli amanti, e si fedeli - Che non dier luogo al desiato affetto: - Ahi padri irragionevoli e crudeli,[51] - Perche togliete lor tanto diletto; - S’ogn’un di loro il suo desio corregge - Con la terrena, e la celeste legge? - - O sfortunati padri, ove tendete, - Qual ve gli fa destin tener disgiunti? - Perche vetate, quel che non potete? - Che gli animi saran sempre congiunti? - Ahi, che sara di voi, se gli vedrete - Per lo vostro rigor restar defunti? - Ahi, che co’ vostri non sani consigli - Procurate la morte a’ vostri figli! - -In the following poem by Mr. Hughes, which the author has intitled an -imitation of the 16th ode of the second book of Horace, the greatest part -of the composition is a just and excellent translation, while the rest is -a free paraphrase or commentary on the original. I shall mark in Italics -all that I consider as paraphrastical: the rest is a just translation, in -which the writer has assumed no more liberty, than was necessary to give -the poem the easy air of an original composition. - - I - - Indulgent Quiet! _Pow’r serene,_ - _Mother of Peace, and Joy, and Love,_ - _O say, thou calm, propitious Queen,_ - _Say, in what solitary grove,_ - _Within what hollow rock, or winding cell,_ - _By human eyes unseen,_ - _Like some retreated Druid dost thou dwell?_ - _And why, illusive Goddess! why,_ - _When we thy mansion would surround,_ - _Why dost thou lead us through enchanted ground,_ - _To mock our vain research, and from our wishes fly._ - - II - - The wand’ring sailors, pale with fear, - For thee the gods implore, - When the tempestuous sea runs high - And when through all the dark, benighted sky - No friendly moon or stars appear, - To guide their steerage to the shore: - For thee the weary soldier prays, - Furious in fight the sons of Thrace, - And Medes, that wear majestic by their side - A full-charg’d quiver’s decent pride, - Gladly with thee would pass inglorious days, - Renounce the warrior’s tempting praise, - And buy thee, if thou might’st be sold, - With gems, and purple vests, and stores of plunder’d gold. - - III - - But neither boundless wealth, nor guards that wait - Around the Consul’s honour’d gate, - Nor antichambers with attendants fill’d, - The mind’s unhappy tumults can abate, - Or banish sullen cares, that fly - Across the gilded rooms of state, - _And their foul nests like swallows build_ - _Close to the palace-roofs and towers that pierce the sky?_ - Much less will Nature’s modest wants supply: - And happier lives the homely swain, - Who in some cottage, far from noise, - His few paternal goods enjoys; - Nor knows the sordid lust of gain, - Nor with Fear’s tormenting pain - His hovering sleeps destroys. - - IV - - Vain man! that in a narrow space - At endless game projects the darting spear! - For short is life’s uncertain race; - Then why, capricious mortal! why - Dost thou for happiness repair - To distant climates and a foreign air? - Fool! from thyself thou canst not fly, - Thyself the source of all thy care: - _So flies the wounded stag, provoked with pain,_ - _Bounds o’er the spacious downs in vain;_ - _The feather’d torment sticks within his side,_ - _And from the smarting wound a purple tide_ - _Marks all his way with blood, and dies the grassy plain._ - - V - - But swifter far is execrable Care - Than stags, or winds, that through the skies - Thick-driving snows and gather’d tempests bear; - Pursuing Care the sailing ship out-flies. - Climbs the tall vessel’s painted sides; - Nor leaves arm’d squadrons in the field, - But with the marching horseman rides, - And dwells alike in courts and camps, and makes all places yield. - - VI - - Then, since no state’s completely blest, - Let’s learn the bitter to allay - With gentle mirth, and, wisely gay, - Enjoy at least the present day, - And leave to Fate the rest. - Nor with vain fear of ills to come - Anticipate th’ appointed doom. - Soon did Achilles quit the stage; - The hero fell by sudden death; - While Tithon to a tedious, wasting age - Drew his protracted breath. - And thus, old partial Time, my friend, - Perhaps unask’d, to worthless me - Those hours of lengthen’d life may lend, - Which he’ll refuse to thee. - - VII - - Thee shining wealth, and plenteous joys surround, - And all thy fruitful fields around - Unnumber’d herds of cattle stray; - Thy harness’d steeds with sprightly voice, - Make neighbouring vales and hills rejoice, - While smoothly thy gay chariot flies o’er the swift-measur’d way. - To me the stars with less profusion kind, - An humble fortune have assign’d, - And no untuneful Lyric vein, - But a sincere contented mind - That can the vile, malignant crowd disdain.[52] - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - OF THE TRANSLATION OF IDIOMATIC PHRASES.—EXAMPLES FROM COTTON, - ECHARD, STERNE.—INJUDICIOUS USE OF IDIOMS IN THE TRANSLATION, - WHICH DO NOT CORRESPOND WITH THE AGE OR COUNTRY OF THE - ORIGINAL.—IDIOMATIC PHRASES SOMETIMES INCAPABLE OF TRANSLATION. - - -While a translator endeavours to give to his work all the ease of -original composition, the chief difficulty he has to encounter will be -found in the translation of idioms, or those turns of expression which -do not belong to universal grammar, but of which every language has its -own, that are exclusively proper to it. It will be easily understood, -that when I speak of the difficulty of translating idioms, I do not -mean those general modes of arrangement or construction which regulate -a whole language, and which may not be common to it with other tongues: -As, for example, the placing the adjective always before the substantive -in English, which in French and in Latin is most commonly placed after -it; the use of the participle in English, where the present tense is -used in other languages; as he is writing, _scribit_, _il écrit_; the -use of the preposition _to_ before the infinitive in English, where the -French use the preposition _de_ or _of_. These, which may be termed the -_general_ idioms of a language, are soon understood, and are exchanged -for parallel idioms with the utmost ease. With regard to these a -translator can never err, unless through affectation or choice.[53] For -example, in translating the French phrase, _Il profita d’un avis_, he -may choose fashionably to say, in violation of the English construction, -_he profited_ of _an advice_; or, under the sanction of poetical licence, -he may choose to engraft the idiom of one language into another, as Mr. -Macpherson has done, where he says, “Him to _the strength of Hercules_, -the lovely Astyochea bore;” Ον τεκεν Αστυοχεια, βιη Ηρακληειη· _Il._ lib. -2, l. 165. But it is not with regard to such idiomatic constructions, -that a translator will ever find himself under any difficulty. It is in -the translation of those particular idiomatic phrases of which every -language has its own collection; phrases which are generally of a -familiar nature, and which occur most commonly in conversation, or in -that species of writing which approaches to the ease of conversation. - -The translation is perfect, when the translator finds in his own language -an idiomatic phrase corresponding to that of the original. Montaigne -(_Ess._ l. 1, c. 29) says of Gallio, “Lequel ayant été envoyé en exil en -l’isle de Lesbos, on fut averti à Rome, _qu’il s’y donnoit du bon temps_, -et que ce qu’on lui avoit enjoint pour peine, lui tournoit à commodité.” -The difficulty of translating this sentence lies in the idiomatic phrase, -“_qu’il s’y donnoit du bon temps_.” Cotton finding a parallel idiom in -English, has translated the passage with becoming ease and spirit: “As -it happened to one Gallio, who having been sent an exile to the isle of -Lesbos, news was not long after brought to Rome, that _he there lived as -merry as the day was long_; and that what had been enjoined him for a -penance, turned out to his greatest pleasure and satisfaction.” Thus, in -another passage of the same author, (_Essais_, l. 1, c. 29) “_Si j’eusse -été chef de part_, j’eusse prins autre voye plus naturelle.” “_Had I -rul’d the roast_, I should have taken another and more natural course.” -So likewise, (_Ess._ l. 1, c. 25) “Mais d’y enfoncer plus avant, et de -_m’être rongé les ongles à l’étude d’Aristote_, monarche de la doctrine -moderne.” “But, to dive farther than that, and to have _cudgell’d my -brains in the study of Aristotle_, the monarch of all modern learning.” -So, in the following passages from Terence, translated by Echard: “_Credo -manibus pedibusque obnixè omnia facturum_,” Andr. act 1. “I know he’ll be -at it tooth and nail.” “_Herus, quantum audio, uxore excidit_,” Andr. act -2. “For aught I perceive, my poor master may go whistle for a wife.” - -In like manner, the following colloquial phrases are capable of a perfect -translation by corresponding idioms. _Rem acu tetigisti_, “You have hit -the nail upon the head.” _Mihi isthic nec seritur nec repitur_, Plaut. -“That’s no bread and butter of mine.” _Omnem jecit aleam_, “It was neck -or nothing with him.” Τι προς τ’ αλφιτα; Aristoph. _Nub._ “Will that make -the pot boil?” - -It is not perhaps possible to produce a happier instance of translation -by corresponding idioms, than Sterne has given in the translation of -_Slawkenbergius’s Tale_. “_Nihil me pœnitet hujus nasi_, quoth Pamphagus; -that is, My nose has been the making of me.” “_Nec est cur pœniteat_; -that is, How the deuce should such a nose fail?” _Tristram Shandy_, vol. -3, ch. 7. “_Miles peregrini in faciem suspexit. Dî boni, nova forma -nasi!_ The centinel look’d up into the stranger’s face.—Never saw such a -nose in his life!” _Ibid._ - -As there is nothing which so much conduces both to the ease and spirit -of composition, as a happy use of idiomatic phrases, there is nothing -which a translator, who has a moderate command of his own language, is -so apt to carry to a licentious extreme. Echard, whose translations of -_Terence_ and of _Plautus_ have, upon the whole, much merit, is extremely -censurable for his intemperate use of idiomatic phrases. In the first -act of the _Andria_, Davus thus speaks to himself: - - _Enimvero, Dave, nihil loci est segnitiæ neque socordiæ._ - _Quantum intellexi senis sententiam de nuptiis:_ - _Quæ si non astu providentur, me aut herum pessundabunt;_ - _Nec quid agam certum est, Pamphilumne adjutem an auscultem seni._ - - TERENT. _Andr._ act 1, sc. 3. - -The translation of this passage by Echard, exhibits a strain of vulgar -petulance, which is very opposite to the chastened simplicity of the -original. - -“Why, seriously, poor Davy, ’tis high time to bestir thy stumps, and to -leave off dozing; at least, if a body may guess at the old man’s meaning -by his mumping. If these brains do not help me out at a dead lift, to pot -goes Pilgarlick, or his master, for certain: and hang me for a dog, if I -know which side to take; whether to help my young master, or make fair -with his father.” - -In the use of idiomatic phrases, a translator frequently forgets both -the country of his original author, and the age in which he wrote; and -while he makes a Greek or a Roman speak French or English, he unwittingly -puts into his mouth allusions to the manners of modern France or -England.[54] This, to use a phrase borrowed from painting, may be termed -an offence against the _costume_. The proverbial expression, βατραχω -ὑδωρ, in _Theocritus_, is of similar import with the English proverb, -_to carry coals to Newcastle_; but it would be a gross impropriety to -use this expression in the translation of an ancient classic. Cicero, in -his oration for Archias, says, “_Persona quæ propter otium et studium -minime in judiciis periculisque versata est._” M. Patru has translated -this, “Un homme que ses études et ses livres ont éloigné du commerce du -_Palais_.” The _Palais_, or the Old Palace of the kings of France, it is -true, is the place where the parliament of Paris and the chief courts -of justice were assembled for the decision of causes; but it is just -as absurd to make Cicero talk of his haranguing in the _Palais_, as it -would be of his pleading in Westminster Hall. In this respect, Echard is -most notoriously faulty: We find in every page of his translations of -_Terence_ and _Plautus_, the most incongruous jumble of ancient and of -modern manners. He talks of the “Lord Chief Justice of Athens,” _Jam tu -autem nobis Præturam geris?_ Pl. Epid. act 1, sc. 1, and says, “I will -send him to Bridewell with his skin stripped over his ears,” _Hominem -irrigatum plagis pistori dabo_, Ibid. sc. 3. “I must expect to beat -hemp in Bridewell all the days of my life,” _Molendum mihi est usque -in pistrina_, Ter. Phormio, act 2. “He looks as grave as an alderman,” -_Tristis severitas inest in vultû_, Ibid. Andria, act 5.—The same author -makes the ancient heathen Romans and Greeks swear British and Christian -oaths; such as “Fore George, Blood and ounds, Gadzookers, ’Sbuddikins, By -the Lord Harry!” They are likewise well read in the books both of the Old -and New Testament: “Good b’ye, Sir Solomon,” says Gripus to Trachalion, -_Salve, Thales!_ Pl. Rudens, act 4, sc. 3; and Sosia thus vouches his -own identity to Mercury, “By Jove I am he, and ’tis as true as the -gospel,” _Per Jovem juro, med esse, neque me falsum dicere_, Pl. Amphit. -act 1, sc. 1.[55] The same ancients, in Mr. Echard’s translation, are -familiarly acquainted with the modern invention of gunpowder; “Had we -but a mortar now to play upon them under the covert way, one bomb would -make them scamper,” _Fundam tibi nunc nimis vellem dari, ut tu illos -procul hinc ex oculto cæderes, facerent fugam_, Ter. Eun. act 4. And -as their soldiers swear and fight, so they must needs drink like the -moderns: “This god can’t afford one brandy-shop in all his dominions,” -_Ne thermopolium quidem ullum ille instruit_, Pl. Rud. act 2, sc. 9. In -the same comedy, Plautus, who wrote 180 years before Christ, alludes to -the battle of La Hogue, fought A.D. 1692. “I’ll be as great as a king,” -says Gripus, “I’ll have a _Royal Sun_[56] for pleasure, like the king of -France, and sail about from port to port,” _Navibus magnis mercaturam -faciam_, Pl. Rud. act 4, sc. 2. - -In the Latin poems of Pitcairne, we remark an uncommon felicity in -cloathing pictures of modern manners in classical phraseology. In -familiar poetry, and in pieces of a witty or humorous nature, this has -often a very happy effect, and exalts the ridicule of the sentiment, or -humour of the picture. But Pitcairne’s fondness for the language of -Horace, Ovid, and Lucretius, has led him sometimes into a gross violation -of propriety, and the laws of good taste. In the translation of a Psalm, -we are shocked when we find the Almighty addressed by the epithets of -a heathen divinity, and his attributes celebrated in the language and -allusions proper to the Pagan mythology. Thus, in the translation of the -104th Psalm, every one must be sensible of the glaring impropriety of the -following expressions: - - Dexteram invictam canimus, Jovemque - Qui triumphatis, hominum et Deorum - Præsidet regnis. - - Quam tuæ virtus tremefecit orbem - Juppiter dextræ. - - Et manus ventis tua Dædaleas - Assuit alas. - - facilesque leges - Rebus imponis, quibus antra parent - Æoli. - - Proluit siccam pluvialis æther - Barbam, et arentes humeros Atlantis. - - Que fovet tellus, fluviumque regnum - Tethyos. - - Juppiter carmen mihi semper. - - Juppiter solus mihi rex. - -In the entire translation of the Psalms by Johnston, we do not find a -single instance of similar impropriety. And in the admirable version -by Buchanan, there are (to my knowledge) only two passages which are -censurable on that account. The one is the beginning of the 4th Psalm: - - O Pater, O hominum _Divûmque_ æterna potestas! - -which is the first line of the speech of Venus to Jupiter, in the 10th -_Æneid_: and the other is the beginning of Psalm lxxxii. where two entire -lines, with the change of one syllable, are borrowed from Horace: - - Regum timendorum in proprios greges, - Reges in ipsos imperium est _Jovæ_. - -In the latter example, the poet probably judged that the change of -_Jovis_ into _Jovæ_ removed all objection; and Ruddiman has attempted to -vindicate the _Divûm_ of the former passage, by applying it to saints -or angels: but allowing there were sufficient apology for both those -words, the impropriety still remains; for the associated ideas present -themselves immediately to the mind, and we are justly offended with the -literal adoption of an address to Jupiter in a hymn to the Creator. - -If a translator is bound, in general, to adhere with fidelity to the -manners of the age and country to which his original belongs, there -are some instances in which he will find it necessary to make a slight -sacrifice to the manners of his modern readers. The ancients, in the -expression of resentment or contempt, made use of many epithets and -appellations which sound extremely shocking to our more polished ears, -because we never hear them employed but by the meanest and most degraded -of the populace. By similar reasoning we must conclude, that those -expressions conveyed no such mean or shocking ideas to the ancients, -since we find them used by the most dignified and exalted characters. In -the 19th book of the _Odyssey_, Melantho, one of Penelope’s maids, having -vented her spleen against Ulysses, and treated him as a bold beggar who -had intruded himself into the palace as a spy, is thus sharply reproved -by the Queen: - - Παντως θαρσαλεη κυον αδδεες, ουτι με ληθεις - Ερδουσα μεγα εργον, ὁ ση κεφαλη αναμαξεις. - -These opprobrious epithets, in a literal translation, would sound -extremely offensive from the lips of the περιφρων Πηνελοπεια, whom -the poet has painted as a model of female dignity and propriety. Such -translation, therefore, as conveying a picture different from what the -poet intended, would be in reality injurious to his sense. Of this sort -of refinement Mr. Hobbes had no idea; and therefore he gives the epithets -in their genuine purity and simplicity: - - Bold bitch, said she, I know what deeds you’ve done, - Which thou shalt one day pay for with thy head. - -We cannot fail, however, to perceive, that Mr. Pope has in fact been more -faithful to the sense of his original, by accommodating the expressions -of the speaker to that character which a modern reader must conceive to -belong to her: - - Loquacious insolent, she cries, forbear! - Thy head shall pay the forfeit of thy tongue. - -A translator will often meet with idiomatic phrases in the original -author, to which no corresponding idiom can be found in the language -of the translation. As a literal translation of such phrases cannot -be tolerated, the only resource is, to express the sense in plain and -easy language. Cicero, in one of his letters to Papirius Pætus, says, -“_Veni igitur, si vires, et disce jam προλεγομενας quas quæris; etsi -sus Minervam_,” Ep. ad Fam. 9, 18. The idiomatic phrase _si vires_, -is capable of a perfect translation by a corresponding idiom; but that -which occurs in the latter part of the sentence, _etsi sus Minervam_, -can neither be translated by a corresponding idiom, nor yet literally. -Mr. Melmoth has thus happily expressed the sense of the whole passage: -“If you have any spirit then, fly hither, and learn from our elegant -bills of fare how to refine your own; though, to do your talents justice, -this is a sort of knowledge in which you are much superior to your -instructors.”—Pliny, in one of his epistles to Calvisius, thus addresses -him, _Assem para, et accipe auream fabulam: fabulas immo: nam me priorum -nova admonuit_, lib. 2, ep. 20. To this expression, _assem para_, &c. -which is a proverbial mode of speech, we have nothing that corresponds -in English. To translate the phrase literally would have a poor effect: -“Give me a penny, and take a golden story, or a story worth gold.” Mr. -Melmoth has given the sense in easy language: “Are you inclined to hear -a story? or, if you please, two or three? for one brings to my mind -another.” - -But this resource, of translating the idiomatic phrase into easy -language, must fail, where the merit of the passage to be translated -actually lies in that expression which is idiomatical. This will often -occur in epigrams, many of which are therefore incapable of translation: -Thus, in the following epigram, the point of wit lies in an idiomatic -phrase, and is lost in every other language where the same precise idiom -does not occur: - -_On the wretched imitations of the_ Diable Boiteux _of Le Sage_: - - Le Diable Boiteux est aimable; - Le Sage y triomphe aujourdhui; - Tout ce qu’on a fait après lui - N’a pas valu le Diable. - -We say in English, “’Tis not worth a fig,” or, “’tis not worth a -farthing;” but we cannot say, as the French do, “’Tis not worth the -devil;” and therefore the epigram cannot be translated into English. - -Somewhat of the same nature are the following lines of Marot, in his -_Epitre au Roi_, where the merit lies in the ludicrous _naïveté_ of -the last line, which is idiomatical, and has no strictly corresponding -expression in English: - - J’avois un jour un valet de Gascogne, - Gourmand, yvrogne, et assuré menteur, - Pipeur, larron, jureur, blasphémateur, - Sentant la hart de cent pas à la ronde: - Au demeurant le meilleur filz du monde. - -Although we have idioms in English that are nearly similar to this, we -have none which has the same _naïveté_, and therefore no justice can be -done to this passage by any English translation. - -In like manner, it appears to me impossible to convey, in any -translation, the _naïveté_ of the following remark on the fanciful -labours of Etymologists: “Monsieur,—dans l’Etymologie il faut compter les -voyelles pour rien, et les consonnes pour peu de chose.” - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - DIFFICULTY OF TRANSLATING DON QUIXOTE, FROM ITS - IDIOMATIC PHRASEOLOGY.—OF THE BEST TRANSLATIONS OF THAT - ROMANCE.—COMPARISON OF THE TRANSLATION BY MOTTEUX WITH THAT BY - SMOLLET. - - -There is perhaps no book to which it is more difficult to do perfect -justice in a translation than the _Don Quixote_ of Cervantes. This -difficulty arises from the extreme frequency of its idiomatic phrases. As -the Spanish language is in itself highly idiomatical, even the narrative -part of the book is on that account difficult; but the colloquial part -is studiously filled with idioms, as one of the principal characters -continually expresses himself in proverbs. Of this work there have -been many English translations, executed, as may be supposed, with -various degrees of merit. The two best of these, in my opinion, are the -translations of Motteux and Smollet, both of them writers eminently well -qualified for the task they undertook. It will not be foreign to the -purpose of this Essay, if I shall here make a short comparative estimate -of the merit of these translations.[57] - -Smollet inherited from nature a strong sense of ridicule, a great fund -of original humour, and a happy versatility of talent, by which he could -accommodate his style to almost every species of writing. He could adopt -alternately the solemn, the lively, the sarcastic, the burlesque, and -the vulgar. To these qualifications he joined an inventive genius, and a -vigorous imagination. As he possessed talents equal to the composition of -original works of the same species with the romance of Cervantes; so it -is not perhaps possible to conceive a writer more completely qualified to -give a perfect translation of that romance. - -Motteux, with no great abilities as an original writer, appears to me -to have been endowed with a strong perception of the ridiculous in -human character; a just discernment of the weaknesses and follies of -mankind. He seems likewise to have had a great command of the various -styles which are accommodated to the expression both of grave burlesque, -and of low humour. Inferior to Smollet in inventive genius, he seems -to have equalled him in every quality which was essentially requisite -to a translator of _Don Quixote_. It may therefore be supposed, that -the contest between them will be nearly equal, and the question of -preference very difficult to be decided. It would have been so, had -Smollet confided in his own strength, and bestowed on his task that time -and labour which the length and difficulty of the work required: but -Smollet too often wrote in such circumstances, that dispatch was his -primary object. He found various English translations at hand, which he -judged might save him the labour of a new composition. Jarvis could give -him faithfully the sense of his author; and it was necessary, only to -polish his asperities, and lighten his heavy and aukward phraseology. To -contend with Motteux, Smollet found it necessary to assume the armour of -Jarvis. This author had purposely avoided, through the whole of his work, -the smallest coincidence of expression with Motteux, whom, with equal -presumption and injustice, he accuses in his preface of having “taken his -version wholly from the French.”[58] We find, therefore, both in the -translation of Jarvis and in that of Smollet, which is little else than -an improved edition of the former, that there is a studied rejection -of the phraseology of Motteux. Now, Motteux, though he has frequently -assumed too great a licence, both in adding to and retrenching from the -ideas of his original, has upon the whole a very high degree of merit -as a translator. In the adoption of corresponding idioms he has been -eminently fortunate, and, as in these there is no great latitude, he has -in general preoccupied the appropriated phrases; so that a succeeding -translator, who proceeded on the rule of invariably rejecting his -phraseology, must have, in general, altered for the worse. Such, I have -said, was the rule laid down by Jarvis, and by his copyist and improver, -Smollet, who by thus absurdly rejecting what his own judgement and taste -must have approved, has produced a composition decidedly inferior, on the -whole, to that of Motteux. While I justify the opinion I have now given, -by comparing several passages of both translations, I shall readily allow -full credit to the performance of Smollet, wherever I find that there is -a real superiority to the work of his rival translator. - -After Don Quixote’s unfortunate encounter with the Yanguesian carriers, -in which the Knight, Sancho, and Rozinante, were all most grievously -mauled, his faithful squire lays his master across his ass, and conducts -him to the nearest inn, where a miserable bed is made up for him in a -cock-loft. Cervantes then proceeds as follows: - -_En esta maldita cama se accostó Don Quixote: y luego la ventera y su -hija le emplastáron de arriba abaxo, alumbrandoles Maritornes: que -asi se llamaba la Asturiana. Y como al vizmalle, viese la ventera tan -acardenalado á partes á Don Quixote, dixo que aquello mas parecian golpes -que caida. No fuéron golpes, dixo Sancho, sino que la peña tenia muchos -picos y tropezones, y que cada uno habia hecho su cardinal, y tambien le -dixo: haga vuestra merced, señora, de manera que queden algunas estopas, -que no faltará quien las haya menester, que tambien me duelen á mí un -poco los lomos. Desa manera, respondió la ventera, tambien debistes vos -de caer? No caí, dico Sancho Panza, sino que del sobresalto que tome de -ver caer á mí amo, de tal manera me duele á mí el cuerpo, que me parece -que me han dado mil palos._ - -_Translation by Motteux_ - -“In this ungracious bed was the Knight laid to rest his belaboured -carcase; and presently the hostess and her daughter anointed and -plastered him all over, while Maritornes (for that was the name of the -Asturian wench) held the candle. The hostess, while she greased him, -wondering to see him so bruised all over, I fancy, said she, those bumps -look much more like a dry beating than a fall. ’Twas no dry beating, -mistress, I promise you, quoth Sancho; but the rock had I know not how -many cragged ends and knobs, and every one of them gave my master a -token of its kindness. And by the way, forsooth, continued he, I beseech -you save a little of that same tow and ointment for me too, for I don’t -know what’s the matter with my back, but I fancy I stand mainly in -want of a little greasing too. What, I suppose you fell too, quoth the -landlady. Not I, quoth Sancho, but the very fright that I took to see my -master tumble down the rock, has so wrought upon my body, that I am as -sore as if I had been sadly mauled.” - -_Translation by Smollet_ - -“In this wretched bed Don Quixote having laid himself down, was anointed -from head to foot by the good woman and her daughter, while Maritornes -(that was the Asturian’s name) stood hard by, holding a light. The -landlady, in the course of her application, perceiving the Knight’s whole -body black and blue, observed, that those marks seemed rather the effects -of drubbing than of a fall; but Sancho affirmed she was mistaken, and -that the marks in question were occasioned by the knobs and corners of -the rocks among which he fell. And now, I think of it, said he, pray, -Madam, manage matters so as to leave a little of your ointment, for it -will be needed, I’ll assure you: my own loins are none of the soundest at -present. What, did you fall too, said she? I can’t say I did, answered -the squire; but I was so infected by seeing my master tumble, that my -whole body akes, as much as if I had been cudgelled without mercy.” - -Of these two translations, it will hardly be denied that Motteux’s is -both easier in point of style, and conveys more forcibly the humour of -the dialogue in the original. A few contrasted phrases will shew clearly -the superiority of the former. - -_Motteux._ “In this ungracious bed was the Knight laid to rest his -belaboured carcase.” - -_Smollet._ “In this wretched bed Don Quixote having laid himself down.” - -_Motteux._ “While Maritornes (for that was the name of the Asturian -wench) held the candle.” - -_Smollet._ “While Maritornes (that was the Asturian’s name) stood hard -by, holding a light.” - -_Motteux._ “The hostess, while she greased him.” - -_Smollet._ “The landlady, in the course of her application.” - -_Motteux._ “I fancy, said she, those bumps look much more like a dry -beating than a fall.” - -_Smollet._ “Observed, that those marks seemed rather the effect of -drubbing than of a fall.” - -_Motteux._ “’Twas no dry beating, mistress, I promise you, quoth Sancho.” - -_Smollet._ “But Sancho affirmed she was in a mistake.” - -_Motteux._ “And, by the way, forsooth, continued he, I beseech you save -a little of that same tow and ointment for me; for I don’t know what’s -the matter with my back, but I fancy I stand mainly in need of a little -greasing too.” - -_Smollet._ “And now, I think of it, said he, pray, Madam, manage matters -so as to leave a little of your ointment, for it will be needed, I’ll -assure you: my own loins are none of the soundest at present.” - -_Motteux._ “What, I suppose you fell too, quoth the landlady? Not I, -quoth Sancho, but the very fright,” &c. - -_Smollet._ “What, did you fall too, said she? I can’t say I did, answered -the squire; but I was so infected,” &c. - -There is not only more ease of expression and force of humour in -Motteux’s translation of the above passages than in Smollet’s, but -greater fidelity to the original. In one part, _no fueron golpes_, -Smollet has improperly changed the first person for the third, or the -colloquial style for the narrative, which materially weakens the spirit -of the passage. _Cada uno habia hecho su cardenal_ is most happily -translated by Motteux, “every one of them gave him a token of its -kindness;” but in Smollet’s version, this spirited clause of the sentence -evaporates altogether.—_Algunas estopas_ is more faithfully rendered by -Motteux than by Smollet. In the latter part of the passage, when the -hostess jeeringly says to Sancho, _Desa manera tambien debistes vos de -caer?_ the squire, impatient to wipe off that sly insinuation against the -veracity of his story, hastily answers, _No cai_. To this Motteux has -done ample justice, “Not I, quoth Sancho.” But Smollet, instead of the -arch effrontery which the author meant to mark by this answer, gives a -tame apologetic air to the squire’s reply, “I can’t say I did, answered -the squire.” _Don Quix._ par. 1, cap. 16. - -Don Quixote and Sancho, travelling in the night through a desert valley, -have their ears assailed at once by a combination of the most horrible -sounds, the roaring of cataracts, clanking of chains, and loud strokes -repeated at regular intervals; all which persuade the Knight, that his -courage is immediately to be tried in a most perilous adventure. Under -this impression, he felicitates himself on the immortal renown he is -about to acquire, and brandishing his lance, thus addresses Sancho, whose -joints are quaking with affright: - -_Asi que aprieta un poco las cinchas a Rocinante, y quédate a Dios, y -asperame aqui hasta tres dias, no mas, en los quales si no volviere, -puedes tú volverte á nuestra aldea, y desde allí, por hacerme merced -y buena obra, irás al Toboso, donde dirás al incomparable señora mia -Dulcinea, que su cautivo caballero murió por acometer cosas, que le -hiciesen digno de poder llamarse suyo._ Don Quix. par. 1, cap. 20. - -_Translation by Motteux_ - -“Come, girth Rozinante straiter, and then Providence protect thee: Thou -may’st stay for me here; but if I do not return in three days, go back to -our village, and from thence, for my sake, to Toboso, where thou shalt -say to my incomparable lady Dulcinea, that her faithful knight fell a -sacrifice to love and honour, while he attempted things that might have -made him worthy to be called her adorer.” - -_Translation by Smollet_ - -“Therefore straiten Rozinante’s girth, recommend thyself to God, and wait -for me in this place, three days at farthest; within which time if I come -not back, thou mayest return to our village, and, as the last favour and -service done to me, go from thence to Toboso, and inform my incomparable -mistress Dulcinea, that her captive knight died in attempting things that -might render him worthy to be called her lover.” - -On comparing these two translations, that of Smollet appears to me to -have better preserved the ludicrous solemnity of the original. This is -particularly observable in the beginning of the sentence, where there -is a most humorous association of two counsels very opposite in their -nature, the recommending himself to God, and girding Rozinante. In the -request, “and as the last favour and service done to me, go from thence -to Toboso;” the translations of Smollet and Motteux are, perhaps, nearly -equal in point of solemnity, but the simplicity of the original is better -preserved by Smollet.[59] - -Sancho, after endeavouring in vain to dissuade his master from engaging -in this perilous adventure, takes advantage of the darkness to tie -Rozinante’s legs together, and thus to prevent him from stirring from -the spot; which being done, to divert the Knight’s impatience under this -supposed enchantment, he proceeds to tell him, in his usual strain of -rustic buffoonery, a long story of a cock and a bull, which thus begins: -“_Erase que se era, el bien que viniere para todos sea, y el mal para -quien lo fuere á buscar; y advierta vuestra merced, señor mio, que el -principio que los antiguos dieron a sus consejas, no fue así como quiera, -que fue una sentencia de Caton Zonzorino Romano que dice, y el mal para -quien lo fuere á buscar._” Ibid. - -In this passage, the chief difficulties that occur to the translator -are, _first_, the beginning, which seems to be a customary prologue to -a nursery-tale among the Spaniards, which must therefore be translated -by a corresponding phraseology in English; and _secondly_, the blunder -of _Caton Zonzorino_. Both these are, I think, most happily hit off by -Motteux. “In the days of yore, when it was as it was, good betide us all, -and evil to him that evil seeks. And here, Sir, you are to take notice, -that they of old did not begin their tales in an ordinary way; for ’twas -a saying of a wise man, whom they call’d Cato the Roman Tonsor, that -said, Evil to him that evil seeks.” Smollet thus translates the passage: -“There was, so there was; the good that shall fall betide us all; and he -that seeks evil may meet with the devil. Your worship may take notice, -that the beginning of the ancient tales is not just what came into the -head of the teller: no, they always began with some saying of Cato, the -censor of Rome, like this, of “He that seeks evil may meet with the -devil.” - -The beginning of the story, thus translated, has neither any meaning in -itself, nor does it resemble the usual preface of a foolish tale. Instead -of _Caton Zonzorino_, a blunder which apologises for the mention of Cato -by such an ignorant clown as Sancho, we find the blunder rectified by -Smollet, and Cato distinguished by his proper epithet of the Censor. -This is a manifest impropriety in the last translator, for which no -other cause can be assigned, than that his predecessor had preoccupied -the blunder of _Cato the Tonsor_, which, though not a translation of -_Zonzorino_, (the purblind), was yet a very happy parallelism. - -In the course of the same cock-and-bull story, Sancho thus proceeds: -“_Asi que, yendo dias y viniendo dias, el diablo que no duerme y que -todo lo añasca, hizo de manera, que el amor que el pastor tenia á su -pastora se volviese en omecillo y mala voluntad, y la causa fué segun -malas lenguas, una cierta cantidad de zelillos que ella le dió, tales -que pasaban de la raya, y llegaban á lo vedado, y fue tanto lo que el -pastor la aborreció de alli adelante, que por on verla se quiso ausentar -de aquella tierra, é irse donde sus ojos no la viesen jamas: la Toralva, -que se vió desdeñada del Lope, luego le quiso bien mas que nunca le habla -querido._” Ibid. - -_Translation by Motteux_ - -“Well, but, as you know, days come and go, and time and straw makes -medlars ripe; so it happened, that after several days coming and going, -the devil, who seldom lies dead in a ditch, but will have a finger in -every pye, so brought it about, that the shepherd fell out with his -sweetheart, insomuch that the love he bore her turned into dudgeon and -ill-will; and the cause was, by report of some mischievous tale-carriers, -that bore no good-will to either party, for that the shepherd thought -her no better than she should be, a little loose i’ the hilts, &c.[60] -Thereupon being grievous in the dumps about it, and now bitterly hating -her, he e’en resolved to leave that country to get out of her sight: for -now, as every dog has his day, the wench perceiving he came no longer a -suitering to her, but rather toss’d his nose at her and shunn’d her, she -began to love him, and doat upon him like any thing.” - -I believe it will be allowed, that the above translation not only conveys -the complete sense and spirit of the original, but that it greatly -improves upon its humour. When Smollet came to translate this passage, -he must have severely felt the hardship of that law he had imposed on -himself, of invariably rejecting the expressions of Motteux, who had in -this instance been eminently fortunate. It will not therefore surprise -us, if we find the new translator to have here failed as remarkably as -his predecessor has succeeded. - -_Translation by Smollet_ - -“And so, in process of time, the devil, who never sleeps, but _wants to -have a finger in every pye_, managed matters in such a manner, that the -shepherd’s love for the shepherdess was turned into malice and deadly -hate: and the cause, according to evil tongues, was a certain quantity -of small jealousies she gave him, exceeding all bounds of measure. And -such was the abhorrence the shepherd conceived for her, that, in order -to avoid the sight of her, he resolved to absent himself from his own -country, and go where he should never set eyes on her again. Toralvo -finding herself despised by Lope, began to love him more than ever.” - -Smollet, conscious that in the above passage Motteux had given the best -possible _free_ translation, and that he had supplanted him in the -choice of corresponding idioms, seems to have piqued himself on a rigid -adherence to the very _letter_ of his original. The only English idiom, -being a plagiarism from Motteux, “_wants to have a finger in every pye_,” -seems to have been adopted from absolute necessity: the Spanish phrase -would not bear a literal version, and no other idiom was to be found but -that which Motteux had preoccupied. - -From an inflexible adherence to the same law, of invariably rejecting the -phraseology of Motteux, we find in every page of this new translation -numberless changes for the worse: - -_Se que no mira de mal ojo á la mochacha._ - -“I have observed he casts a sheep’s eye at the wench.” _Motteux._ - -“I can perceive he has no dislike to the girl.” _Smollet._ - -_Teresa me pusieron en el bautismo, nombre mondo y escueto, sin -anadiduras, ni cortopizas, ni arrequives de Dones ni Donas._ - -“I was christened plain Teresa, without any fiddle-faddle, or addition of -Madam, or Your Ladyship.” _Motteux._ - -“Teresa was I christened, a bare and simple name, without the addition, -garniture, and embroidery of Don or Donna.” _Smollet._ - -_Sigue tu cuenta, Sancho._ - -“Go on with thy story, Sancho.” _Motteux._ - -“Follow thy story, Sancho.” _Smollet._ - -_Yo confieso que he andado algo risueño en demasía._ - -“I confess I carried the jest too far.” _Motteux._ - -“I see I have exceeded a little in my pleasantry.” _Smollet._ - -_De mis viñas vengo, no se nada, no soy amigo de saber vidas agenas._ - -“I never thrust my nose into other men’s porridge; it’s no bread and -butter of mine: Every man for himself, and God for us all, say I.” -_Motteux._ - -“I prune my own vine, and I know nothing about thine. I never meddle with -other people’s concerns.” _Smollet._ - -_Y advierta que ya tengo edad para dar consejos. Quien bien tiene, y mal -escoge, por bien que se enoja, no se venga._[61] - -“Come, Master, I have hair enough in my beard to make a counsellor: he -that will not when he may, when he will he shall have nay.” _Motteux._ - -“Take notice that I am of an age to give good counsels. He that hath -good in his view, and yet will not evil eschew, his folly deserveth to -rue.” _Smollet._ Rather than adopt a corresponding proverb, as Motteux -has done, Smollet chuses, in this instance, and in many others, to make -a proverb for himself, by giving a literal version of the original in a -sort of doggrel rhime. - -_Vive Roque, que es la señora nuestra amo mas ligera que un alcotan, y -que puede enseñar al mas diestro Cordobes o Mexicano._ - -“By the Lord Harry, quoth Sancho, our Lady Mistress is as nimble as an -eel. Let me be hang’d, if I don’t think she might teach the best Jockey -in Cordova or Mexico to mount a-horseback.” _Motteux._ - -“By St. Roque, cried Sancho, my Lady Mistress is as light as a hawk,[62] -and can teach the most dexterous horseman to ride.” _Smollet._ - -The chapter which treats of the puppet-show, is well translated both by -Motteux and Smollet. But the discourse of the boy who explains the story -of the piece, in Motteux’s translation, appears somewhat more consonant -to the phraseology commonly used on such occasions: “Now, gentlemen, in -the next place, mark that personage that peeps out there with a crown on -his head, and a sceptre in his hand: That’s the Emperor Charlemain.—Mind -how the Emperor turns his back upon him.—Don’t you see that Moor;—hear -what a smack he gives on her sweet lips,—and see how she spits, and wipes -her mouth with her white smock-sleeve. See how she takes on, and tears -her hair for very madness, as if it was to blame for this affront.—Now -mind what a din and hurly-burly there is.” _Motteux._ This jargon appears -to me to be more characteristic of the speaker than the following: “And -that personage who now appears with a crown on his head and a sceptre in -his hand, is the Emperor Charlemagne.—Behold how the Emperor turns about -and walks off.—Don’t you see that Moor;—Now mind how he prints a kiss in -the very middle of her lips, and with what eagerness she spits, and wipes -them with the sleeve of her shift, lamenting aloud, and tearing for anger -her beautiful hair, as if it had been guilty of the transgression.”[63] - -In the same scene of the puppet-show, the scraps of the old Moorish -ballad are translated by Motteux with a corresponding naïveté of -expression, which it seems to me impossible to exceed: - - _Jugando está á las tablas Don Gayféros,_ - _Que y a de Melisendra está olvidado._ - - Now Gayferos the live-long day, - Oh, errant shame! at draughts doth play; - And, as at court most husbands do, - Forgets his lady fair and true. _Motteux._ - - Now Gayferos at tables playing, - Of Melisendra thinks no more. _Smollet._ - - _Caballero, si á Francia ides,_ - _Por Gayféros preguntad._ - - Quoth Melisendra, if perchance, - Sir Traveller, you go for France, - For pity’s sake, ask, when you’re there, - For Gayferos, my husband dear. _Motteux._ - - Sir Knight, if you to France do go, - For Gayferos inquire. _Smollet._ - -How miserably does the new translator sink in the above comparison! Yet -Smollet was a good poet, and most of the verse translations interspersed -through this work are executed with ability. It is on this head that -Motteux has assumed to himself the greatest licence. He has very -presumptuously mutilated the poetry of Cervantes, by leaving out many -entire stanzas from the larger compositions, and suppressing some of -the smaller altogether: Yet the translation of those parts which he has -retained, is possessed of much poetical merit; and in particular, those -verses which are of a graver cast, are, in my opinion, superior to those -of his rival. The song in the first volume, which in the original is -intitled _Cancion de Grisōstomo_, and which Motteux has intitled, _The -Despairing Lover_, is greatly abridged by the suppression of more than -one half of the stanzas in the original; but the translation, so far as -it goes, is highly poetical. The translation of this song by Smollet, -though inferior as a poem, is, perhaps, more valuable on the whole, -because more complete. There is, however, only a single passage in which -he maintains with Motteux a contest which is nearly equal: - - O thou, whose cruelty and hate, - The tortures of my breast proclaim, - Behold, how willingly to fate - I offer this devoted frame. - If thou, when I am past all pain, - Shouldst think my fall deserves a tear, - Let not one single drop distain - Those eyes, so killing and so clear. - No! rather let thy mirth display - The joys that in thy bosom flow: - Ah! need I bid that heart be gay, - Which always triumph’d in my woe. _Smollet._ - -It will be allowed that there is much merit in these lines, and that -the last stanza in particular is eminently beautiful and delicate. Yet -there is in my opinion an equal vein of poetry, and more passion, in the -corresponding verses of Motteux: - - O thou, by whose destructive hate - I’m hurry’d to this doleful fate, - When I’m no more, thy pity spare! - I dread thy tears; oh, spare them then— - But, oh! I rave, I was too vain— - My death can never cost a tear! _Motteux._ - -In the song of Cardenio, there is a happy combination of tenderness of -expression with ingenious thought; the versification is likewise of a -peculiar structure, the second line forming an echo to the first. This -song has been translated in a corresponding measure both by Motteux and -Smollet; but by the latter with far inferior merit. - -CANCION DE CARDENIO - - I - - Quien menoscaba mis bienes? - Desdenes. - Y quien aumenta mis duelos? - Los Zelos. - Y quien prueba mi paciencia? - Ausencia. - De ese modo en mi dolencia, - Ningun remedio se alcanza; - Pues me matan la Esperanza, - Desdenes, Zelos, y Ausencia. - - II - - Quien me causa este dolor? - Amor. - Y quien mi gloria repuna? - Fortuna. - Y quien consiente mi duelo? - El Cielo. - De ese modo yo rezelo, - Morir deste mal extraño, - Pues se aunan en mì daño - Amor, Fortuna, y el Cielo. - - III - - Quien mejorará mi suerte? - La Muerte. - Y el bien de amor, quien le alcanza? - Mudanza. - Y sus malos quien los cura? - Locura. - De ese modo no es cordura - Querer curar la pasion; - Quando los remedios son - Muerte, Mudanza, y Locura. - -CARDENIO’S SONG, by MOTTEUX - - I - - What makes me languish and complain? - O, ’tis _Disdain_! - What yet more fiercely tortures me? - ’Tis _Jealousy_. - How have I my patience lost? - By _Absence_ crost. - Then Hope, farewell, there’s no relief; - I sink beneath oppressing grief; - Nor can a wretch, without despair, - _Scorn_, _Jealousy_, and _Absence_, bear. - - II - - What in my breast this anguish drove? - Intruding _Love_. - Who could such mighty ills create? - Blind _Fortune’s_ hate. - What cruel powers my fate approve? - The _Powers_ above. - Then let me bear, and cease to moan; - ’Tis glorious thus to be undone: - When these invade, who dares oppose? - _Heaven_, _Love_, and _Fortune_ are my foes. - - III - - Where shall I find a speedy cure? - Oh! _Death_ is sure. - No milder means to set me free? - _Inconstancy._ - Can nothing else my pains assuage? - _Distracting Rage._ - What, die or change? Lucinda lose? - O let me rather madness chuse! - But judge, ye gods, what we endure, - When _death_ or _madness_ are a cure! - -In the last four lines, Motteux has used more liberty with the thought -of the original than is allowable for a translator. It must be owned, -however, that he has much improved it. - -CARDENIO’S SONG, by SMOLLET - - I - - Ah! what inspires my woful strain? - Unkind Disdain! - Ah! what augments my misery? - Fell Jealousy! - Or say what hath my patience worn? - An absent lover’s scorn! - The torments then that I endure - No mortal remedy can cure: - For every languid hope is slain - By Absence, Jealousy, Disdain. - - II - - From Love, my unrelenting foe, - These sorrows flow: - My infant glory’s overthrown - By Fortune’s frown. - Confirm’d in this my wretched state - By the decrees of Fate, - In death alone I hope release - From this compounded dire disease, - Whose cruel pangs to aggravate, - Fortune and Love conspire with Fate! - - III - - Ah! what will mitigate my doom? - The silent tomb. - Ah! what retrieve departed joy? - Inconstancy! - Or say, can ought but frenzy bear - This tempest of despair! - All other efforts then are vain - To cure this soul-tormenting pain, - That owns no other remedy - Than madness, death, inconstancy. - -“The torments then that I endure—no _mortal_ remedy can cure.” Who ever -heard of a _mortal_ remedy? or who could expect to be cured by it? In the -next line, the epithet of _languid_ is injudiciously given to Hope in -this place; for a _languid_ or a _languishing_ hope was already dying, -and needed not so powerful a host of murderers to _slay_ it, as Absence, -Jealousy, and Disdain.—In short, the latter translation appears to me to -be on the whole of much inferior merit to the former. I have remarked, -that Motteux excels his rival chiefly in the translation of those poems -that are of a graver cast. But perhaps he is censurable for having thrown -too much gravity into the poems that are interspersed in this work, as -Smollet is blameable on the opposite account, of having given them too -much the air of burlesque. In the song which Don Quixote composed while -he was doing penance in the _Sierra-Morena_, beginning _Arboles, Yerbas -y Plantas_, every stanza of which ends with _Del Toboso_, the author -intended, that the composition should be quite characteristic of its -author, a ludicrous compound of gravity and absurdity. In the translation -of Motteux there is perhaps too much gravity; but Smollet has rendered -the composition altogether burlesque. The same remark is applicable to -the song of Antonio, beginning _Yo sé, Olalla, que me adoras_, and to -many of the other poems. - -On the whole, I am inclined to think, that the version of Motteux is -by far the best we have yet seen of the Romance of Cervantes; and that -if corrected in its licentious abbreviations and enlargements, and -in some other particulars which I have noticed in the course of this -comparison, we should have nothing to desire superior to it in the way of -translation. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - - OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPOSITION, WHICH RENDER - TRANSLATION DIFFICULT.—ANTIQUATED TERMS—NEW TERMS—VERBA - ARDENTIA.—SIMPLICITY OF THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION—IN PROSE—IN - POETRY.—NAÏVETÉ IN THE LATTER.—CHAULIEU—PARNELL—LA - FONTAINE.—SERIES OF MINUTE DISTINCTIONS MARKED BY - CHARACTERISTIC TERMS.—STRADA.—FLORID STYLE AND VAGUE - EXPRESSION.—PLINY’S NATURAL HISTORY. - - -In the two preceding chapters I have treated pretty fully of what I have -considered as a principal difficulty in translation, the permutation of -idioms. I shall in this chapter touch upon several other characteristics -of composition, which, in proportion as they are found in original works, -serve greatly to enhance the difficulty of doing complete justice to them -in a translation. - -1. The poets, in all languages, have a licence peculiar to themselves, -of employing a mode of expression very remote from the diction of prose, -and still more from that of ordinary speech. Under this licence, it is -customary for them to use antiquated terms, to invent new ones, and to -employ a glowing and rapturous phraseology, or what Cicero terms _Verba -ardentia_. To do justice to these peculiarities in a translation, by -adopting similar terms and phrases, will be found extremely difficult; -yet, without such assimilation, the translation presents no just copy -of the original. It would require no ordinary skill to transfuse into -another language the thoughts of the following passages, in a similar -species of phraseology: - -Antiquated Terms: - - For Nature crescent doth not grow alone - In thews and bulk; but as this temple waxes, - The inward service of the mind and soul - Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves thee now, - And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch - The virtue of his will. - - SHAK. _Hamlet_, act 1. - -New Terms: - - So over many a tract - Of heaven they march’d, and many a province wide, - Tenfold the length of this terrene: at last - Far in th’ horizon to the north appear’d - From skirt to skirt a fiery region, stretcht - In battailous aspect, and nearer view - Bristl’d with upright beams innumerable - Of rigid spears, and helmets throng’d, and shields - Various with boastful argument pourtrayed. - - _Paradise Lost_, b. 6. - - All come to this? the hearts - That spaniel’d me at heels, to whom I gave - Their wishes, do discandy. - - SHAK. _Ant. & Cleop._ act 4, sc. 10. - -Glowing Phraseology, or _Verba ardentia_: - - Poor naked wretches, wheresoe’er ye are, - That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, - How shall your houseless heads, and unfed sides, - Your loop’d and window’d raggedness defend you - From seasons such as these? Oh, I have ta’en - Too little care of this: Take physic, pomp! - Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, - That thou may’st shake the superflux to them, - And show the heavens more just. - - SHAK. _K. Lear_. - - Tremble, thou wretch, - That hast within thee undivulged crimes, - Unwhipt of justice! Hide thee, thou bloody hand; - Thou perjure, and thou simular of virtue, - That art incestuous! Caitiff, shake to pieces, - That under covert and convenient seeming - Hast practis’d on man’s life! Close pent up guilts, - Rive your concealing continents, and ask - Those dreadful summoners grace. - - _Ibid._ - - Can any mortal mixture of Earth’s mould, - Breathe such divine, enchanting ravishment? - Sure something holy lodges in that breast, - And with these raptures moves the vocal air - To testify his hidden residence: - How sweetly did they float upon the wings - Of silence, through the empty-vaulted night; - At every fall smoothing the raven down - Of darkness till it smil’d: I have oft heard, - Amidst the flow’ry-kirtled Naiades, - My mother Circe, with the Sirens three, - Culling their potent herbs and baleful drugs, - Who, as they sung, would take the poison’d soul - And lap it in Elysium.—— - But such a sacred, and home-felt delight, - Such sober certainty of waking bliss, - I never heard till now. - - MILTON’S _Comus_. - -2. There is nothing more difficult to imitate successfully in a -translation than that species of composition which conveys just, simple, -and natural thoughts, in plain, unaffected, and perfectly appropriate -terms; and which rejects all those _aucupia sermonis_, those _lenocinia -verborum_, which constitute what is properly termed _florid writing_. -It is much easier to imitate in a translation that kind of composition -(provided it be at all intelligible),[64] which is brilliant and -rhetorical, which employs frequent antitheses, allusions, similes, -metaphors, than it is to give a perfect copy of just, apposite, and -natural sentiments, which are clothed in pure and simple language: For -the former characters are strong and prominent, and therefore easily -caught; whereas the latter have no striking attractions, their merit -eludes altogether the general observation, and is discernible only to the -most correct and chastened taste. - -It would be difficult to approach to the beautiful simplicity of -expression of the following passages, in any translation. - -“In those vernal seasons of the year, when the air is calm and pleasant, -it were an injury and sullenness against Nature, not to go out to see her -riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth.” Milton’s -_Tract of Education_. - -“Can I be made capable of such great expectations, which those animals -know nothing of, (happier by far in this regard than I am, if we must -die alike), only to be disappointed at last? Thus placed, just upon the -confines of another, better world, and fed with hopes of penetrating into -it, and enjoying it, only to make a short appearance here, and then to -be shut out and totally sunk? Must I then, when I bid my last farewell -to these walks, when I close these lids, and yonder blue regions and all -this scene darken upon me and go out; must I then only serve to furnish -dust to be mingled with the ashes of these herds and plants, or with this -dirt under my feet? Have I been set so far above them in life, only to be -levelled with them at death?” Wollaston’s _Rel. of Nature_, sect. ix. - -3. The union of just and delicate sentiments with simplicity of -expression, is more rarely found in poetical composition than in prose; -because the enthusiasm of poetry prompts rather to what is brilliant than -what is just, and is always led to clothe its conceptions in that species -of figurative language which is very opposite to simplicity. It is -natural, therefore, to conclude, that in those few instances which are to -be found of a chastened simplicity of thought and expression in poetry, -the difficulty of transfusing the same character into a translation -will be great, in proportion to the difficulty of attaining it in the -original. Of this character are the following beautiful passages from -Chaulieu: - - Fontenay, lieu délicieux - Où je vis d’abord la lumiere, - Bientot au bout de ma carriere, - Chez toi je joindrai mes ayeux. - Muses, qui dans ce lieu champêtre - Avec soin me fites nourir, - Beaux arbres, qui m’avez vu naitre, - Bientot vous me verrez mourir. - - _Les louanges de la vie champêtre._ - - Je touche aux derniers instans - De mes plus belles années, - Et déja de mon printems - Toutes les fleurs sont fanées. - Je ne vois, et n’envisage - Pour mon arriere saison, - Que le malheur d’etre sage, - Et l’inutile avantage - De connoitre la raison. - - Autrefois mon ignorance - Me fournissoit des plaisirs; - Les erreurs de l’espérance - Faisoient naitre mes désirs. - A present l’experience - M’apprend que la jouissance - De nos biens les plus parfaits - Ne vaut pas l’impatience - Ni l’ardeur de nos souhaits. - La Fortune à ma jeunesse - Offrit l’éclat des grandeurs; - Comme un autre avec souplesse - J’aurois brigué ses faveurs. - Mais sur le peu de mérite - De ceux qu’elle a bien traités, - J’eus honte de la poursuite - De ses aveugles bontés; - Et je passai, quoique donne - D’éclat, et pourpre, et couronne, - Du mépris de la personne, - Au mépris des dignités.[65] - - _Poesies diverses de Chaulieu_, p. 44. - -4. The foregoing examples exhibit a species of composition, which uniting -just and natural sentiments with simplicity of expression, preserves at -the same time a considerable portion of elevation and dignity. But there -is another species of composition, which, possessing the same union -of natural sentiments with simplicity of expression, is essentially -distinguished from the former by its always partaking, in a considerable -degree, of comic humour. This is that kind of writing which the French -characterise by the term _naif_, and for which we have no perfectly -corresponding expression in English. “Le naif,” says Fontenelle, “est une -nuance du bas.” - -In the following fable of Phædrus, there is a _naïveté_, which I think it -is scarcely possible to transfuse into any translation: - -_Inops potentem dum vult imitari, perit._ - - In prato quædam rana conspexit bovem; - Et tacta invidiâ tantæ magnitudinis - Rugosam inflavit pellem: tum natos suos - Interrogavit, _an bove esset latior_. - Illi _negarunt_. Rursus intendit cutem - Majore nisu, et simili quæsivit modo - _Quis major esset?_ Illi dixerunt, _bovem_. - Novissimè indignata, dum vult validius - Inflare sese, rupto jacuit corpore. - -It would be extremely difficult to attain, in any translation, the -laconic brevity with which this story is told. There is not a single word -which can be termed superfluous; yet there is nothing wanting to complete -the effect of the picture. The gravity, likewise, of the narrative when -applied to describe an action of the most consummate absurdity; the -self-important, but anxious questions, and the mortifying dryness of -the answers, furnish an example of a delicate species of humour, which -cannot easily be conveyed by corresponding terms in another language. La -Fontaine was better qualified than any another for this attempt. He saw -the merits of the original, and has endeavoured to rival them; but even -La Fontaine has failed. - - Une Grenouille vit un boeuf - Qui lui sembla de belle taille. - Elle, qui n’etoit pas grosse en tout comme un oeuf, - Envieuse s’étend, et s’enfle, et se travaille - Pour égaler l’animal en grosseur; - Disant, Regardez bien ma soeur, - Est ce assez, dites moi, n’y suis-je pas encore? - Nenni. M’y voila donc? Point du tout. M’y voila - Vous n’en approchez point. La chetive pecore - S’enfla si bien qu’elle creva. - Le monde est plein de gens qui ne sont pas plus sages, - Tout bourgeois veut batir comme les grands seigneurs; - Tout prince a des ambassadeurs, - Tout marquis veut avoir des pages. - -But La Fontaine himself when original, is equally inimitable. The -source of that _naïveté_ which is the characteristic of his fables, has -been ingeniously developed by Marmontel: “Ce n’est pas un poete qui -imagine, ce n’est pas un conteur qui plaisante; c’est un temoin present -à l’action, et qui veut vous rendre present vous-même. Il met tout en -oeuvre de la meilleure foi du monde pour vous persuader; et ce sont -tous ces efforts, c’est le sérieux avec lequel il mêle les plus grandes -choses avec les plus petites; c’est l’importance qu’il attache à des jeux -d’enfans; c’est l’interêt qu’il prend pour un lapin et une belette, qui -font qu’on est tenté de s’écrier a chaque instant, _Le bon homme!_ On le -disoit de lui dans la societé. Son caractere n’a fait que passer dans -ses fables. C’est du fond de ce caractere que sont émanés ces tours si -naturels, ces expressions si naïves, ces images si fideles.” - -It would require most uncommon powers to do justice in a translation -to the natural and easy humour which characterises the dialogue in the -following fable: - -_Les animaux malades de la Peste._ - - Un mal qui répand la terreur, - Mal que le ciel en sa fureur - Inventa pour punir les crimes de la terre, - La peste, (puis qu’il faut l’apeller par son nom), - Capable d’enrichir en un jour L’Acheron, - Faisoit aux animaux la guerre. - Ils ne mouroient pas tous, mais tous etoient frappés. - On n’en voyoit point d’occupés - A chercher le soûtien d’une mourante vie; - Nul mets n’excitoit leur envie. - Ni loups ni renards n’épioient - La douce et l’innocente proye. - Les tourterelles se fuyoient; - Plus d’amour, partant plus de joye. - Le Lion tint conseil, et dit, Mes chers amis, - Je crois que le ciel a permis - Pour nos pechés cette infortune: - Que le plus coupable de nous - Se sacrifie aux traits du céleste courroux; - Peut-être il obtiendra la guérison commune. - L’histoire nous apprend qu’en de tels accidents, - On fait de pareils dévoûements: - Ne nous flattons donc point, voions sans indulgence - L’état de notre conscience. - Pour moi, satisfaisant mes appetits gloutons - J’ai dévoré force moutons; - Que m’avoient-ils fait? Nulle offense: - Même il m’est arrivé quelquefois de manger le Berger. - Je me dévoûrai donc, s’il le faut; mais je pense - Qu’il est bon que chacun s’accuse ainsi que moi; - Car on doit souhaiter, selon toute justice, - Que le plus coupable périsse. - Sire, dit le Renard, vous êtes trop bon roi; - Vos scrupules font voir trop de délicatesse; - Eh bien, manger moutons, canaille, sotte espece, - Est-ce un péchê? Non, non: Vous leur fites, seigneur, - En les croquant beaucoup d’honneur: - Et quant au Berger, l’on peut dire - Qu’il etoit digne de tous maux, - Etant de ces gens-là qui sur les animaux - Se font un chimérique empire. - Ainsi dit le Renard, et flatteurs d’applaudir. - On n’osa trop approfondir - Du Tigre, ni de l’Ours, ni des autres puissances - Les moins pardonnables offenses. - Tous les gens querelleurs, jusqu’aux simples mâtins - Au dire de chacun, etoient de petits saints. - L’âne vint à son tour, et dit, J’ai souvenance - Qu’en un pré de moines passant, - La faim, l’occasion, l’herbe tendre, et je pense - Quelque diable aussi me poussant, - Je tondis de ce pré la largeur de ma langue: - Je n’en avois nul droit, puisqu’il faut parler net. - À ces mots on cria haro sur le baudet: - Un loup quelque peu clerc prouva par sa harangue - Qu’il falloit dévoüer ce maudit animal, - Ce pelé, ce galeux, d’ou venoit tout leur mal. - Sa peccadille fut jugee un cas pendable; - Manger l’herbe d’autrui, quel crime abominable! - Rien que la mort n’etoit capable - D’expier son forfait, on le lui fit bien voir. - Selon que vous serez puissant ou misérable, - Les jugements de cour vous rendront blanc ou noir. - -5. No compositions will be found more difficult to be translated, than -those descriptions, in which a series of minute distinctions are marked -by characteristic terms, each peculiarly appropriated to the thing to -be designed, but many of them so nearly synonymous, or so approaching -to each other, as to be clearly understood only by those who possess -the most critical knowledge of the language of the original, and a -very competent skill in the subject treated of. I have always regarded -Strada’s _Contest of the Musician and Nightingale_, as a composition -which almost bids defiance to the art of a translator. The reader will -easily perceive the extreme difficulty of giving the full, distinct, and -appropriate meaning of those expressions marked in Italics. - - Jam Sol a medio pronus deflexerat orbe, - Mitius e radiis vibrans crinalibus ignem: - Cum fidicen propter Tiberina fluenta, sonanti - Lenibat plectro curas, æstumque levabat, - Ilice defensus nigra, scenaque virenti. - Audiit hunc hospes sylvæ philomela propinquæ, - Musa loci, nemoris Siren, innoxia Siren; - Et prope succedens stetit abdita frondibus, altè - Accipiens sonitum, secumque remurmurat, et quos - Ille modos variat digitis, hæc gutture reddit. - - Sensit se fidicen philomela imitante referri, - Et placuit ludum volucri dare; plenius ergo - Explorat citharam, tentamentumque futuræ - Præbeat ut pugnæ, percurrit protinus omnes - Impulsu pernice fides. Nec segnius illa - Mille per excurrens variæ discrimina vocis, - Venturi specimen præfert argutula cantûs. - - Tunc fidicen per fila movens trepidantia dextram, - Nunc contemnenti similis _diverberat ungue,_ - _Depectitque pari chordas et simplice ductu:_ - _Nunc carptim replicat, digitisque micantibus urget,_ - _Fila minutatim, celerique repercutit ictu._ - Mox silet. Illa modis totidem respondet, et artem - Arte refert. Nunc, ceu rudis aut incerta canendi, - Projicit in longum, _nulloque plicatile flexu,_ - _Carmen init simili serie, jugique tenore_ - Præbet iter liquidum labenti e pectore voci: - Nunc _cæsim variat, modulisque canora minutis_ - _Delibrat vocem_, tremuloque reciprocat ore. - - Miratur fidicen parvis è faucibus ire - Tam varium, tam dulce melos: majoraque tentans, - _Alternat mira arte fides_; dum _torquet acutas_ - _Inciditque, graves operoso verbere pulsat_, - Permiscetque simul _certantia rauca sonoris_; - Ceu resides in bella viros clangore lacessat. - Hoc etiam philomela canit: dumque ore liquenti - _Vibrat acuta sonum, modulisque interplicat æquis_; - Ex inopinato gravis intonat, et _leve murmur_ - _Turbinat introrsus, alternantique sonore,_ - _Clarat et infuscat_, ceu martia classica pulset. - - Scilicet erubuit fidicen, iraque calente, - Aut non hoc, inquit, referes, citharistia sylvæ, - Aut fractâ cedam citharâ. Nec plura locutus, - Non imitabilibus plectrum concentibus urget. - Namque manu per fila volat, simul hos, simul illos - Explorat numeros, chordâque laborat in omni; - Et _strepit et tinnit_, crescitque superbius, et se - _Multiplicat relegens, plenoque choreumate plaudit_. - Tum stetit expectans si quid paret æmula contra. - - Illa autem, quanquam vox dudum exercita fauces - Asperat, impatiens vinci, simul advocat omnes - Necquicquam vires: nam dum discrimina tanta - Reddere tot fidium nativa et simplice tentat - Voce, canaliculisque imitari grandia parvis, - Impar magnanimis ausis, imparque dolori, - Deficit, et vitam summo in certamine linquens, - Victoris cadit in plectrum, par nacta sepulchrum. - -He that should attempt a translation of this most artful composition, -_dum tentat discrimina tanta reddere_, would probably, like the -nightingale, find himself _impar magnanimis ausis_.[66] - -It must be here remarked, that Strada has not the merit of originality -in this characteristic description of the song of the Nightingale. He -found it in Pliny, and with still greater amplitude, and variety of -discrimination. He seems even to have taken from that author the hint of -his fable: “Digna miratu avis. Primum, tanta vox tam parvo in corpusculo, -tam pertinax spiritus. Deinde in una perfecta musicæ scientia modulatus -editur sonus; et nunc continuo spiritu trahitur in longum, nunc variatur -inflexo, nunc distinguitur conciso, copulatur intorto, promittitur -revocato, infuscatur ex inopinato: interdum et secum ipse murmurat, -plenus, gravis, acutus, creber, extentus; ubi visum est vibrans, summus, -medius, imus. Breviterque omnia tam parvulis in faucibus, quæ tot -exquisitis tibiarum tormentis ars hominum excogitavit.—Certant inter se, -palamque animosa contentio est. Victa morte finit sæpe vitam, spiritu -prius deficiente quam cantu.” Plin. _Nat. Hist._ lib. 10, c. 29. - -It would perhaps be still more difficult to give a perfect translation -of this passage from Pliny, than of the fable of Strada. The attempt, -however, has been made by an old English author, Philemon Holland; and -it is curious to remark the extraordinary shifts to which he has been -reduced in the search of corresponding expressions: - - _Explorat numeros, chordaque laborat in omni._ - -“Surely this bird is not to be set in the last place of those that -deserve admiration; for is it not a wonder, that so loud and clear a -voice should come from so little a body? Is it not as strange, that -shee should hold her wind so long, and continue with it as shee doth? -Moreover, shee alone in her song keepeth time and measure truly, she -riseth and falleth in her note just with the rules of music, and perfect -harmony; for one while, in one entire breath she drawes out her tune -at length treatable; another while she quavereth, and goeth away as -fast in her running points: sometimes she maketh stops and short cuts -in her notes; another time she gathereth in her wind, and singeth -descant between the plain song: she fetcheth in her breath again, and -then you shall have her in her catches and divisions: anon, all on a -sudden, before a man would think it, she drowneth her voice that one -can scarce heare her; now and then she seemeth to record to herself, -and then she breaketh out to sing voluntarie. In sum, she varieth and -altereth her voice to all keies: one while full of her largs, longs, -briefs, semibriefs, and minims; another while in her crotchets, quavers, -semiquavers, and double semiquavers: for at one time you shall hear her -voice full of loud, another time as low; and anon shrill and on high; -thick and short when she list; drawn out at leisure again when she is -disposed; and then, (if she be so pleased), shee riseth and mounteth -up aloft, as it were with a wind organ. Thus shee altereth from one to -another, and sings all parts, the treble, the mean, and the base. To -conclude, there is not a pipe or instrument devised with all the art and -cunning of man, that can affoord more musick than this pretty bird doth -out of that little throat of hers.—They strive who can do best, and one -laboreth to excel another in variety of song and long continuance; yea, -and evident it is that they contend in good earnest with all their will -and power: for oftentimes she that hath the worse, and is not able to -hold out with another, dieth for it, and sooner giveth she up her vitall -breath, than giveth over her song.” - -The consideration of the above passage in the original, leads to the -following remark. - -5. There is no species of writing so difficult to be translated, as -that where the character of the style is florid, and the expression -consequently vague, and of indefinite meaning. The natural history of -Pliny furnishes innumerable examples of this fault; and hence it will -ever be found one of the most difficult works to be translated. A short -chapter shall be here analyzed, as an instructive specimen. - -_Lib._ 11, _Cap._ 2. - -In magnis siquidem corporibus, aut certe majoribus, facilis officina -sequaci materia fuit. In his tam parvis atque tam nullis, quæ ratio, -quanta vis, quam inextricabilis perfectio! Ubi tot sensus collocavit in -culice? Et sunt alia dictu minora. Sed ubi visum in eo prætendit? Ubi -gustatum applicavit? Ubi odoratum inseruit? Ubi vero truculentam illam -et portione maximam vocem ingeneravit? Qua subtilitate pennas adnexuit? -Prælongavit pedum crura? disposuit jejunam caveam, uti alvum? Avidam -sanguinis et potissimum humani sitim accendit? Telum vero perfodiendo -tergori, quo spiculavit ingenio? Atque ut in capaci, cum cerni non possit -exilitas, ita reciproca geminavit arte, ut fodiendo acuminatum, pariter -sorbendoque fistulosum esset. Quos teredini ad perforanda robora cum sono -teste dentes affixit? Potissimumque e ligno cibatum fecit? Sed turrigeros -elephantorum miramur humeros, taurorumque colla, et truces in sublime -jactus, tigrium rapinas, leonum jubas; cùm rerum natura nusquam magis -quam in minimis tota sit. Quapropter quæso, ne hæc legentes, quoniam ex -his spernunt multa, etiam relata fastidio damnent, cùm in contemplatione -naturæ, nihil possit videri supervacuum. - -Although, after the perusal of the whole of this chapter, we are at -no loss to understand its general meaning, yet when it is taken -to pieces, we shall find it extremely difficult to give a precise -interpretation, much less an elegant translation of its single sentences. -The latter indeed may be accounted impossible, without the exercise -of such liberties as will render the version rather a paraphrase than -a translation. _In magnis siquidem corporibus, aut certe majoribus, -facilis officina sequaci materiæ fuit._ The sense of the term magnus, -which is in itself indefinite, becomes in this sentence much more so, -from its opposition to _major_; and the reader is quite at a loss to -know, whether in those two classes of animals, the _magni_ and the -_majores_, the largest animals are signified by the former term, or by -the latter. Had the opposition been between _magnus_ and _maximus_, or -_major_ and _maximus_, there could not have been the smallest ambiguity. -_Facilis officina sequaci materiæ fuit._ _Officina_ is the workhouse -where an artist exercises his craft; but no author, except Pliny himself, -ever employed it to signify the labour of the artist. With a similar -incorrectness of expression, which, however, is justified by general use, -the French employ _cuisine_ to signify both the place where victuals are -dressed, and the art of dressing them. _Sequax materia_ signifies pliable -materials, and therefore easily wrought; but the term _sequax_ cannot -be applied with any propriety to such materials as are easily wrought, -on account of their magnitude or abundance. _Tam parvis_ is easily -understood, but _tam nullis_ has either no meaning at all, or a very -obscure one. _Inextricabilis perfectio._ It is no perfection in anything -to be inextricable; for the meaning of inextricable is, embroiled, -perplexed, and confounded. _Ubi tot sensus collocavit in culice?_ What is -the meaning of the question _ubi_? Does it mean, in what part of the body -of the gnat? I conceive it can mean nothing else: And if so, the question -is absurd; for all the senses of a gnat are not placed in any _one_ part -of its body, any more than the senses of a man. _Dictu minora._ By these -words the author intended to convey the meaning of _alia etiam minora -possunt dici_; but the meaning which he has actually conveyed is, _Sunt -alia minora quam quæ dici possunt_, which is false and hyperbolical; -for no insect is so small that words may not be found to convey an idea -of its size. _Portione maximam vocem ingeneravit._ What is _portione -maximam_? It is only from the context that we guess the author’s meaning -to be, _maximam ratione portionis_, i. e. _magnitudinis insecti_; for -neither use, nor the analogy of the language, justify such an expression -as _vocem maximam portione_. If it is alledged, that _portio_ is here -used to signify the power or intensity of the voice, and is synonymous in -this place to _vis_, ενεργεια, we may safely assert, that this use of the -term is licentious, improper, and unwarranted by custom. _Jejunam caveam -uti alvum_; “a hungry cavity for a belly:” but is not the stomach of all -animals a hungry cavity, as well as that of the gnat? _Capaci cum cernere -non potest exilitas._ _Capax_ is improperly contrasted with _exilis_, and -cannot be otherwise translated than in the sense of _magnus_. _Reciproca -geminavit arte_ is incapable of any translation which shall render the -proper sense of the words, “doubled with reciprocal art.” The author’s -meaning is, “fitted for a double function.” _Cum sono teste_ is guessed -from the context to mean, _uti sonus testatur_. _Cum rerum natura nusquam -magis quam in minimis tota sit._ This is a very obscure expression of a -plain sentiment, “The wisdom and power of Providence, or of Nature, is -never more conspicuous than in the smallest bodies.” Ex his _spernunt -multa_. The meaning of _ex his_ is indefinite, and therefore obscure: we -can but conjecture that it means _ex rebus hujusmodi_; and not _ex his -quæ diximus_; for that sense is reserved for _relata_. - -From this specimen, we may judge of the difficulty of giving a _just -translation_ of Pliny’s _Natural History_. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - - OF BURLESQUE TRANSLATION.—TRAVESTY AND PARODY.—SCARRON’S - VIRGILE TRAVESTI.—ANOTHER SPECIES OF LUDICROUS TRANSLATION. - - -In a preceding chapter, while treating of the translation of idiomatic -phrases, we censured the use of such idioms in the translation as do -not correspond with the age or country of the original. There is, -however, one species of translation, in which that violation of the -_costume_ is not only blameless, but seems essential to the nature of -the composition: I mean burlesque translation, or Travesty. This species -of writing partakes, in a great degree, of original composition; and -is therefore not to be measured by the laws of serious translation. -It conveys neither a just picture of the sentiments, nor a faithful -representation of the style and manner of the original; but pleases -itself in exhibiting a ludicrous caricatura of both. It displays an -overcharged and grotesque resemblance, and excites our risible emotions -by the incongruous association of dignity and meanness, wisdom and -absurdity. This association forms equally the basis of Travesty and of -Ludicrous Parody, from which it is no otherwise distinguished than by -its assuming a different language from the original. In order that the -mimickry may be understood, it is necessary that the writer choose, for -the exercise of his talents, a work that is well known, and of great -reputation. Whether that reputation is deserved or unjust, the work may -be equally the subject of burlesque imitation. If it has been the subject -of general, but undeserved praise, a Parody or a Travesty is then a fair -satire on the false taste of the original author, and his admirers, and -we are pleased to see both become the objects of a just castigation. -The _Rehearsal_, _Tom Thumb_, and _Chrononhotonthologos_, which exhibit -ludicrous parodies of passages from the favourite dramatic writers of the -times, convey a great deal of just and useful criticism. If the original -is a work of real excellence, the Travesty or Parody detracts nothing -from its merit, nor robs the author of the smallest portion of his just -praise.[67] We laugh at the association of dignity and meanness; but the -former remains the exclusive property of the original, the latter belongs -solely to the copy. We give due praise to the mimical powers of the -imitator, and are delighted to see how ingeniously he can elicit subject -of mirth and ridicule from what is grave, dignified, pathetic, or sublime. - -In the description of the games in the 5th _Æneid_, Virgil everywhere -supports the dignity of the Epic narration. His persons are heroes, -their actions are suitable to that character, and we feel our passions -seriously interested in the issue of the several contests. The same -scenes travestied by Scarron are ludicrous in the extreme. His heroes -have the same names, they are engaged in the same actions, they have even -a grotesque resemblance in character to their prototypes; but they have -all the meanness, rudeness, and vulgarity of ordinary prize-fighters, -hackney coachmen, horse-jockeys, and water-men. - - _Medio Gyas in gurgite victor_ - _Rectorem navis compellat voce Menœtem;_ - _Quo tantum mihi dexter abis? huc dirige cursum,_ - _Littus ama, et lævas stringat sine palmula cautes;_ - _Altum alii teneant. Dixit: sed cæca Menœtes_ - _Saxa timens, proram pelagi detorquet ad undas._ - _Quo diversus abis? iterum pete saxa, Menœte,_ - _Cum clamore Gyas revocabat._ - - Gyas, qui croit que son pilote, - Comme un vieil fou qu’il est, radote, - De ce qu’en mer il s’elargit, - Aussi fort qu’un lion rugit; - Et s’ecrie, écumant de rage, - Serre, serre donc le rivage, - Fils de putain de Ménétus, - Serre, ou bien nous somme victus: - Serre donc, serre à la pareille: - Ménétus fit la sourde oreille, - Et s’éloigne toujours du bord, - Et si pourtant il n’a pas tort: - Habile qu’il est, il redoute - Certains rocs, ou l’on ne voit goute— - Lors Gyas se met en furie, - Et de rechef crie et recrie, - Vieil coyon, pilote enragé, - Mes ennemis t’ont ils gagé - Pour m’oter l’honneur de la sorte? - Serre, ou que le diable t’emporte, - Serre le bord, ame de chien: - Mais au diable, s’il en fait rien. - -In Virgil, the prizes are suitable to the dignity of the persons who -contend for them: - - Munera principio ante oculos, circoque locantur - In medio: sacri tripodes, viridesque coronæ, - Et palmæ, pretium victoribus; armaque, et ostro - Perfusæ vestes, argenti aurique talenta. - -In Scarron, the prizes are accommodated to the contending parties with -equal propriety: - - Maitre Eneas faisant le sage, &c. - Fit apporter une marmitte, - C’etoit un des prix destinés, - Deux pourpoints fort bien galonnés - Moitié filet et moitié soye, - Un sifflet contrefaisant l’oye, - Un engin pour casser des noix, - Vingt et quatre assiettes de bois, - Qu’Eneas allant au fourrage - Avoit trouvé dans le bagage - Du vénérable Agamemnon: - Certain auteur a dit que non, - Comptant la chose d’autre sorte, - Mais ici fort peu nous importe: - Une toque de velous gras, - Un engin à prendre des rats, - Ouvrage du grand Aristandre, - Qui savoit bien les rats prendre - En plus de cinquante façons, - Et meme en donnoit des leçons: - Deux tasses d’etain émaillées, - Deux pantoufles despareillées, - Dont l’une fut au grand Hector, - Toutes deux de peau de castor— - Et plusieurs autres nippes rares, &c. - -But this species of composition pleases only in a short specimen. We -cannot bear a lengthened work in Travesty. The incongruous association -of dignity and meanness excites risibility chiefly from its being -unexpected. Cotton’s and Scarron’s _Virgil_ entertain but for a few -pages: the composition soon becomes tedious, and at length disgusting. We -laugh at a short exhibition of buffoonery; but we cannot endure a man, -who, with good talents, is constantly playing the fool. - -There is a species of ludicrous verse translation which is not of the -nature of Travesty, and which seems to be regulated by all the laws -of serious translation. It is employed upon a ludicrous original, and -its purpose is not to burlesque, but to represent it with the utmost -fidelity. For that purpose, even the metrical stanza is closely -imitated. The ludicrous effect is heightened, when the stanza is peculiar -in its structure, and is transferred from a modern to an ancient -language; as in Dr. Aldrich’s translation of the well-known song, - - A soldier and a sailor, - A tinker and a tailor, - Once had a doubtful strife, Sir, - To make a maid a wife, Sir, - Whose name was buxom Joan, &c. - - _Miles et navigator,_ - _Sartor et ærator,_ - _Jamdudum litigabant,_ - _De pulchra quam amabant,_ - _Nomen cui est Joanna, &c._ - -Of the same species of translation is the facetious composition intitled -_Ebrii Barnabæ Itinerarium_, or _Drunken Barnaby’s Journal_: - - _O Faustule, dic amico,_ - _Quo in loco, quo in vico,_ - _Sive campo, sive tecto,_ - _Sine linteo, sine lecto;_ - _Propinasti queis tabernis,_ - _An in terris, an Avernis._ - - Little Fausty, tell thy true heart, - In what region, coast, or new part, - Field or fold, thou hast been bousing, - Without linen, bedding, housing; - In what tavern, pray thee, show us, - Here on earth, or else below us: - -And the whimsical, though serious translation of Chevy-chace: - - _Vivat Rex noster nobilis,_ - _Omnis in tuto sit;_ - _Venatus olim flebilis_ - _Chevino luco fit._ - - God prosper long our noble King, - Our lives and safeties all: - A woful hunting once there did - In Chevy-chace befal, &c. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - - THE GENIUS OF THE TRANSLATOR SHOULD BE AKIN TO THAT OF THE - ORIGINAL AUTHOR.—THE BEST TRANSLATORS HAVE SHONE IN ORIGINAL - COMPOSITION OF THE SAME SPECIES WITH THAT WHICH THEY HAVE - TRANSLATED.—OF VOLTAIRE’S TRANSLATIONS FROM SHAKESPEARE.—OF - THE PECULIAR CHARACTER OF THE WIT OF VOLTAIRE.—HIS TRANSLATION - FROM HUDIBRAS.—EXCELLENT ANONYMOUS FRENCH TRANSLATION OF - HUDIBRAS.—TRANSLATION OF RABELAIS BY URQUHART AND MOTTEUX. - - -From the consideration of those general rules of translation which in -the foregoing essay I have endeavoured to illustrate, it will appear no -unnatural conclusion to assert, that he only is perfectly accomplished -for the duty of a translator who possesses a genius akin to that of -the original author. I do not mean to carry this proposition so far as -to affirm, that in order to give a perfect translation of the works -of Cicero, a man must actually be as great an orator, or inherit the -same extent of philosophical genius; but he must have a mind capable of -discerning the full merits of his original, of attending with an acute -perception to the whole of his reasoning, and of entering with warmth -and energy of feeling into all the beauties of his composition. Thus -we shall observe invariably, that the best translators have been those -writers who have composed original works of the same species with those -which they have translated. The mutilated version which yet remains to us -of the _Timæus_ of Plato translated by Cicero, is a masterly composition, -which, in the opinion of the best judges, rivals the merit of the -original. A similar commendation cannot be bestowed on those fragments -of the _Phænomena_ of Aratus translated into verse by the same author; -for Cicero’s poetical talents were not remarkable: but who can entertain -a doubt, that had time spared to us his versions of the orations of -Demosthenes and Æschines, we should have found them possessed of the most -transcendent merit? - -We have observed, in the preceding part of this essay, that poetical -translation is less subjected to restraint than prose translation, and -allows more of the freedom of original composition. It will hence follow, -that to exercise this freedom with propriety, a translator must have the -talent of original composition in poetry; and therefore, that in this -species of translation, the possession of a genius akin to that of his -author, is more essentially necessary than in any other. We know the -remark of Denham, that the subtle spirit of poesy evaporates entirely in -the transfusion from one language into another, and that unless a new, -or an original spirit, is infused by the translator himself, there will -remain nothing but a _caput mortuum_. The best translators of poetry, -therefore, have been those who have approved their talents in original -poetical composition. Dryden, Pope, Addison, Rowe, Tickell, Pitt, Warton, -Mason, and Murphy, rank equally high in the list of original poets, as in -that of the translators of poetry. - -But as poetical composition is various in its kind, and the characters -of the different species of poetry are extremely distinct, and often -opposite in their nature, it is very evident that the possession of -talents adequate to one species of translation, as to one species of -original poetry, will not infer the capacity of excelling in other -species of which the character is different. Still further, it may be -observed, that as there are certain species of poetical composition, as, -for example, the dramatic, which, though of the same general character -in all nations, will take a strong tincture of difference from the -manners of a country, or the peculiar genius of a people; so it will be -found, that a poet, eminent as an original author in his own country, -may fail remarkably in attempting to convey, by a translation, an idea -of the merits of a foreign work which is tinctured by the national -genius of the country which produced it. Of this we have a striking -example in those translations from Shakespeare by Voltaire; in which the -French poet, eminent himself in dramatical composition, intended to -convey to his countrymen a just idea of our most celebrated author in -the same department. But Shakespeare and Voltaire, though perhaps akin -to each other in some of the great features of the mind, were widely -distinguished, even by nature, in the characters of their poetical -genius; and this natural distinction was still more sensibly increased by -the general tone of manners, the _hue and fashion_ of thought of their -respective countries. Voltaire, in his essay _sur la Tragédie Angloise_, -has chosen the famous soliloquy in the tragedy of Hamlet, “_To be, or -not to be_,” as one of those striking passages which best exemplify the -genius of Shakespeare, and which, in the words of the French author, -_demandent grace pour toutes ses fautes_. It may therefore be presumed, -that the translator in this instance endeavoured, as far as lay in his -power, not only to adopt the spirit of his author, but to represent him -as favourably as possible to his countrymen. Yet, how wonderfully has he -metamorphosed, how miserably disfigured him! In the original, we have the -perfect picture of a mind deeply agitated, giving vent to its feelings -in broken starts of utterance, and in language which plainly indicates, -that the speaker is reasoning solely with his own mind, and not with any -auditor. In the translation, we have a formal and connected harangue, in -which it would appear, that the author, offended with the abrupt manner -of the original, and judging those irregular starts of expression to be -unsuitable to that precision which is required in abstract reasoning, has -corrected, as he thought, those defects of the original, and given union, -strength, and precision, to this philosophical argument. - - Demeure, il faut choisir, et passer à l’instant - De la vie à la mort, ou de l’être au néant. - Dieux justes, s’il en est, éclairez mon courage. - Faut-il vieillir courbé sous la main qui m’outrage, - Supporter, ou finir mon malheur et mon sort? - Que suis-je? qui m’arrête? et qu’est ce que la mort? - C’est la fin de nos maux, c’est mon unique azile; - Apres de longs transports, c’est un sommeil tranquile. - On s’endort et tout meurt; mais un affreux reveil, - Doit succéder peut-être aux douceurs du sommeil. - On nous menace; on dit que cette courte vie - De tourmens éternels est aussitôt suivie. - O mort! moment fatale! affreuse éternité! - Tout cœur à ton seul nom se glace épouvanté. - Eh! qui pourrait sans toi supporter cette vie? - De nos prêtres menteurs bénir l’hypocrisie? - D’une indigne maitresse encenser les erreurs? - Ramper sous un ministre, adorer ses hauteurs? - Et montrer les langueurs de son âme abattue, - A des amis ingrats qui detournent la vue? - La mort serait trop douce en ces extrémités. - Mais le scrupule parle, et nous crie, arrêtez. - Il defend à nos mains cet heureux homicide, - Et d’un héros guerrier, fait un Chrétien timide.[68] - -Besides the general fault already noticed, of substituting formal and -connected reasoning, to the desultory range of thought and abrupt -transitions of the original, Voltaire has in this passage, by the -looseness of his paraphrase, allowed some of the most striking beauties, -both of the thought and expression, entirely to escape; while he has -superadded, with unpardonable licence, several ideas of his own, not only -unconnected with the original, but dissonant to the general tenor of the -speaker’s thoughts, and foreign to his character. Adopting Voltaire’s -own style of criticism on the translations of the Abbé des Fontaines, we -may ask him, “Where do we find, in this translation of Hamlet’s soliloquy, - - “The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune—— - To take arms against a sea of troubles—— - The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks - That flesh is heir to—— - Perchance to dream; ay, there’s the rub—— - The whips and scorns of time—— - The law’s delay, the insolence of office—— - The spurns—that patient merit from th’ unworthy takes—— - That undiscover’d country, from whose bourne - No traveller returns——?” - -Can Voltaire, who has omitted in this short passage all the above -striking peculiarities of thought and expression, be said to have given a -translation from Shakespeare? - -But in return for what he has retrenched from his author, he has made a -liberal addition of several new and original ideas of his own. Hamlet, -whose character in Shakespeare exhibits the strongest impressions of -religion, who feels these impressions even to a degree of superstition, -which influences his conduct in the most important exigences, and renders -him weak and irresolute, appears in Mr. Voltaire’s translation a thorough -sceptic and freethinker. In the course of a few lines, he expresses his -doubt of the existence of a God; he treats the priests as liars and -hypocrites, and the Christian religion as a system which debases human -nature, and makes a coward of a hero: - - Dieux justes! S’il en est—— - De nos prêtres menteurs bénir l’hypocrisie—— - Et d’un héros guerrier, fait un Chrêtien timide—— - -Now, who gave Mr. Voltaire a right thus to transmute the pious and -superstitious Hamlet into a modern _philosophe_ and _Esprit fort_? -Whether the French author meant by this transmutation to convey to his -countrymen a favourable idea of our English bard, we cannot pretend to -say; but we may at least affirm, that he has not conveyed a just one.[69] - -But what has prevented the translator, who professes that he wished -to give a just idea of the merits of his original, from accomplishing -what he wished? Not ignorance of the language; for Voltaire, though no -great critic in the English tongue, had yet a competent knowledge of it; -and the change he has put upon the reader was not involuntary, or the -effect of ignorance. Neither was it the want of genius, or of poetical -talents; for Voltaire is certainly one of the best poets, and one of the -greatest ornaments of the drama. But it was the original difference of -his genius and that of Shakespeare, increased by the general opposition -of the national character of the French and English. His mind, accustomed -to connect all ideas of dramatic sublimity or beauty with regular design -and perfect symmetry of composition, could not comprehend this union -of the great and beautiful with irregularity of structure and partial -disproportion. He was capable indeed of discerning some features of -majesty in this colossal statue; but the rudeness of the parts, and the -want of polish in the whole figure, prevailed over the general impression -of its grandeur, and presented it altogether to his eye as a monstrous -production. - -The genius of Voltaire was more akin to that of Dryden, of Waller, of -Addison, and of Pope, than to that of Shakespeare: he has therefore -succeeded much better in the translations he has given of particular -passages from these poets, than in those he has attempted from our great -master of the drama. - -Voltaire possessed a large share of wit; but it is of a species peculiar -to himself, and which I think has never yet been analysed. It appears -to me to be the result of acute philosophical talents, a strong spirit -of satire, and a most brilliant imagination. As all wit consists in -unexpected combinations, the singular union of a philosophic thought with -a lively fancy, which is a very uncommon association, seems in general to -be the basis of the wit of Voltaire. It is of a very different species -from that wit which is associated with humour, which is exercised in -presenting odd, extravagant, but natural views of human character, and -which forms the essence of ludicrous composition. The novels of Voltaire -have no other scope than to illustrate certain philosophical doctrines, -or to expose certain philosophical errors; they are not pictures of life -or of manners; and the persons who figure in them are pure creatures -of the imagination, fictitious beings, who have nothing of nature in -their composition, and who neither act nor reason like the ordinary -race of men. Voltaire, then, with a great deal of wit, seems to have -had no talent for humorous composition. Now if such is the character of -his original genius, we may presume, that he was not capable of justly -estimating in the compositions of others what he did not possess himself. -We may likewise fairly conclude, that he should fail in attempting to -convey by a translation a just idea of the merits of a work, of which -one of the main ingredients is that quality in which he was himself -deficient. Of this I proceed to give a strong example. - -In the poem of _Hudibras_, we have a remarkable combination of Wit -with Humour; nor is it easy to say which of these qualities chiefly -predominates in the composition. A proof that humour forms a most capital -ingredient is, that the inimitable Hogarth has told the whole story of -the poem in a series of characteristic prints: now painting is completely -adequate to the representation of humour, but can convey no idea of wit. -Of this singular poem, Voltaire has attempted to give a specimen to his -countrymen by a translation; but in this experiment he says he has found -it necessary to concentrate the first four hundred lines into little more -than eighty of the translation.[70] The truth is, that, either insensible -of that part of the merit of the original, or conscious of his own -inability to give a just idea of it, he has left out all that constitutes -the humour of the painting, and attached himself solely to the wit of -the composition. In the original, we have a description of the figure, -dress, and accoutrements of Sir Hudibras, which is highly humorous, and -which conveys to the imagination as complete a picture as is given by the -characteristic etchings of Hogarth. In the translation of Voltaire, all -that we learn of those particulars which _paint_ the hero, is, that he -wore mustachios, and rode with a pair of pistols. - -Even the wit of the original, in passing through the alembic of Voltaire, -has changed in a great measure its nature, and assimilated itself to -that which is peculiar to the translator. The wit of Butler is more -concentrated, more pointed, and is announced in fewer words, than the -wit of Voltaire. The translator, therefore, though he pretends to have -abridged four hundred verses into eighty, has in truth effected this by -the retrenchment of the wit of his original, and not by the concentration -of it: for when we compare any particular passage or point, we find there -is more diffusion in the translation than in the original. Thus, Butler -says, - - The difference was so small, his brain - Outweigh’d his rage but half a grain; - Which made some take him for a tool - That knaves do work with, call’d a fool. - -Thus amplified by Voltaire, and at the same time imperfectly translated. - - Mais malgré sa grande eloquence, - Et son mérite, et sa prudence, - Il passa chez quelques savans - Pour être un de ces instrumens - Dont les fripons avec addresse - Savent user sans dire mot, - Et qu’ils tournent avec souplesse; - Cet instrument s’appelle un sot. - -Thus likewise the famous simile of Taliacotius, loses, by the -amplification of the translator, a great portion of its spirit. - - So learned Taliacotius from - The brawny part of porter’s bum - Cut supplemental noses, which - Would last as long as parent breech; - But, when the date of nock was out, - Off dropt the sympathetic snout. - - Ainsi Taliacotius, - Grand Esculape d’Etrurie, - Répara tous les nez perdus - Par une nouvelle industrie: - Il vous prenoit adroitement - Un morceau du cul d’un pauvre homme, - L’appliquoit au nez proprement; - Enfin il arrivait qu’en somme, - Tout juste à la mort du prêteur - Tombait le nez de l’emprunteur, - Et souvent dans la même bière, - Par justice et par bon accord, - On remettait au gré du mort - Le nez auprès de son derriere. - -It will be allowed, that notwithstanding the supplemental witticism of -the translator, contained in the last four lines, the simile loses, upon -the whole, very greatly by its diffusion. The following anonymous Latin -version of this simile is possessed of much higher merit, as, with equal -brevity of expression, it conveys the whole spirit of the original. - - _Sic adscititios nasos de clune torosi_ - _Vectoris doctâ secuit Talicotius arte,_ - _Qui potuere parent durando æquare parentem:_ - _At postquam fato clunis computruit, ipsum_ - _Unâ sympathicum cœpit tabescere rostrum._ - -With these translations may be compared the following, which is taken -from a complete version of the poem of _Hudibras_, a very remarkable -work, with the merits of which (as the book is less known than it -deserves to be) I am glad to have this opportunity of making the English -reader acquainted: - - Ainsi Talicot d’une fesse - Savoit tailler avec addresse - Nez tous neufs, qui ne risquoient rien - Tant que le cul se portoit bien; - Mais si le cul perdoit la vie, - Le nez tomboit par sympathie. - -In one circumstance of this passage no translation can come up to the -original: it is in that additional pleasantry which results from the -structure of the verses, the first line ending most unexpectedly with a -preposition, and the third with a pronoun, both which are the rhyming -syllables in the two couplets: - - So learned Taliacotius _from_, &c. - Cut supplemental noses, _which_, &c. - -It was perhaps impossible to imitate this in a translation; but setting -this circumstance aside, the merit of the latter French version seems to -me to approach very near to that of the original. - -The author of this translation of the poem of _Hudibras_, evidently -a man of superior abilities,[71] appears to have been endowed with an -uncommon share of modesty. He presents his work to the public with the -utmost diffidence; and, in a short preface, humbly deprecates its censure -for the presumption that may be imputed to him in attempting that which -the celebrated Voltaire had declared to be one of the most difficult of -tasks. Yet this task he has executed in a very masterly manner. A few -specimens will shew the high merit of this work, and clearly evince, that -the translator possessed that essential requisite for his undertaking, a -kindred genius with that of his great original. - -The religion of Hudibras is thus described: - - For his religion, it was fit - To match his learning and his wit: - ’Twas Presbyterian true blue; - For he was of that stubborn crew - Of errant saints, whom all men grant - To be the true church-militant: - Such as do build their faith upon - The holy text of pike and gun; - Decide all controversies by - Infallible artillery; - And prove their doctrine orthodox, - By apostolic blows and knocks. - - _Canto_ 1. - - Sa réligion au genie - Et sçavoir étoit assortie; - Il étoit franc Presbyterien, - Et de sa secte le soutien, - Secte, qui justement se vante - D’être l’Eglise militante; - Qui de sa foi vous rend raison - Par la bouche de son canon, - Dont le boulet et feu terrible - Montre bien qu’elle est infallible, - Et sa doctrine prouve à tous - Orthodoxe, à force de coups. - -In the following passage, the arch ratiocination of the original is -happily rivalled in the translation: - - For Hudibras wore but one spur, - As wisely knowing could he stir - To active trot one side of’s horse, - The other would not hang an a—se. - - Car Hudibras avec raison - Ne se chaussoit qu’un éperon, - Ayant preuve démonstrative - Qu’un coté marchant, l’autre arrive. - -The language of Sir Hudibras is described as a strange jargon, compounded -of English, Greek, and Latin, - - Which made some think when he did gabble - They’d heard three labourers of Babel, - Or Cerberus himself pronounce - A leash of languages at once. - -It was difficult to do justice in the translation to the metaphor of -Cerberus, by translating _leash of languages_: This, however, is very -happily effected by a parallel witticism: - - Ce qui pouvoit bien faire accroire - Quand il parloit à l’auditoire, - D’entendre encore le bruit mortel - De trois ouvriers de Babel, - Ou Cerbere aux ames errantes - Japper trois langues différentes. - -The wit of the following passage is completely transfused, perhaps even -heightened in the translation: - - For he by geometric scale - Could take the size of pots of ale; - Resolve by sines and tangents straight - If bread or butter wanted weight; - And wisely tell what hour o’ th’ day - The clock does strike, by algebra. - - En géometre raffiné - Un pot de bierre il eut jaugé; - Par tangente et sinus sur l’heure - Trouvé le poids de pain ou beurre, - Et par algebre eut dit aussi - A quelle heure il sonne midi. - -The last specimen I shall give from this work, is Hudibras’s consultation -with the lawyer, in which the Knight proposes to prosecute Sidrophel in -an action of battery: - - Quoth he, there is one Sidrophel - Whom I have cudgell’d—“Very well.”— - And now he brags t’have beaten me. - “Better and better still, quoth he.”— - And vows to stick me to the wall - Where’er he meets me—“Best of all.”— - ’Tis true, the knave has taken’s oath - That I robb’d him—“Well done, in troth.”— - When h’ has confessed he stole my cloak, - And pick’d my fob, and what he took, - Which was the cause that made me bang him - And take my goods again—“Marry, hang him.” - ——“Sir,” quoth the lawyer, “not to flatter ye, - You have as good and fair a battery - As heart can wish, and need not shame - The proudest man alive to claim: - For if they’ve us’d you as you say; - Marry, quoth I, God give you joy: - I would it were my case, I’d give - More than I’ll say, or you believe.” - - Il est, dit-il, de par le monde - Un Sidrophel, que Dieu confonde, - Que j’ai rossé des mieux. “Fort bien”— - Et maintenant il dit, le chien, - Qu’il m’a battu.—“Bien mieux encore.”— - Et jure, afin qu’on ne l’ignore, - Que s’il me trouve il me tuera— - “Le meilleur de tout le voila”— - Il est vrai que ce misérable - A fait serment au préalable - Que moi je l’ai dévalisé— - “C’est fort bien fait, en vérité”— - Tandis que lui-meme il confesse, - Qu’il m’a volé dans une presse, - Mon manteau, mon gousset vuidé; - Et c’est pourquoi je l’ai rossé; - Puis mes effets j’ai sçu reprendre— - “Oui da,” dit-il, “il faut le pendre.” - ——Dit l’avocat, “sans flatterie, - Vous avez, Monsieur, batterie - Aussi bonne qu’on puisse avoir; - Vous devez vous en prévaloir. - S’ils vous ont traité de la sorte, - Comme votre recit le porte, - Je vous en fais mon compliment; - Je voudrais pour bien de l’argent, - Et plus que vous ne sauriez croire, - Qu’il m’arrivât pareille histoire.” - -These specimens are sufficient to shew how completely this translator -has entered into the spirit of his original, and has thus succeeded in -conveying a very perfect idea to his countrymen of one of those works -which are most strongly tinctured with the peculiarities of national -character, and which therefore required a singular coincidence of the -talents of the translator with those of the original author. - -If the English can boast of any parallel to this, in a version from the -French, where the translator has given equal proof of a kindred genius -to that of his original, and has as successfully accomplished a task of -equal difficulty, it is in the translation of Rabelais, begun by Sir -Thomas Urquhart, and finished by Mr. Motteux, and lastly, revised and -corrected by Mr. Ozell. The difficulty of translating this work, arises -less from its obsolete style, than from a phraseology peculiar to the -author, which he seems to have purposely rendered obscure, in order to -conceal that satire which he levels both against the civil government -and the ecclesiastical policy of his country. Such is the studied -obscurity of this satire, that but a very few of the most learned and -acute among his own countrymen have professed to understand Rabelais in -the original. The history of the English translation of this work, is -in itself a proof of its very high merit. The three first books were -translated by Sir Thomas Urquhart, but only two of them were published in -his lifetime. Mr. Motteux, a Frenchman by birth, but whose long residence -in England had given him an equal command of both languages, republished -the work of Urquhart, and added the remaining three books translated by -himself. In this publication he allows the excellence of the work of -his predecessor, whom he declares to have been a complete master of the -French language, and to have possessed both learning and fancy equal to -the task he undertook. He adds, that he has preserved in his translation -“the very style and air of his original;” and finally, “that the English -readers may now understand that author better in their own tongue, than -many of the French can do in theirs.” The work thus completed in English, -was taken up by Mr. Ozell, a person of considerable literary abilities, -and who possessed an uncommon knowledge both of the ancient and modern -languages. Of the merits of the translation, none could be a better -judge, and to these he has given the strongest testimony, by adopting it -entirely in his new edition, and limiting his own undertaking solely -to the correction of the text of Urquhart and Motteux, to which he has -added a translation of the notes of M. Du Chat, who spent, as Mr. Ozell -informs us, forty years in composing annotations on the original work. -The English version of Rabelais thus improved, may be considered, in -its present form, as one of the most perfect specimens of the art of -translation. The best critics in both languages have borne testimony -to its faithful transfusion of the sense, and happy imitation of the -style of the original; and every English reader will acknowledge, that -it possesses all the ease of original composition. If I have forborne -to illustrate any of the rules or precepts of the preceding Essay from -this work, my reasons were, that obscurity I have already noticed, which -rendered it less fit for the purpose of such illustration, and that -strong tincture of licentiousness which characterises the whole work. - - - - -APPENDIX - - -No. I - -_STANZAS from TICKELL’S Ballad of COLIN AND LUCY_ - -_Translated by LE MIERRE_ - - Cheres compagnes, je vous laisse; - Une voix semble m’apeller, - Une main que je vois sans cesse - Me fait signe de m’en aller. - - L’ingrat que j’avois cru sincere - Me fait mourir, si jeune encor: - Une plus riche a sçu lui plaire: - Moi qui l’aimois, voila mon sort! - - Ah Colin! ah! que vas tu faire? - Rends moi mon bien, rends-moi ta foi; - Et toi que son cœur me préfère - De ses baisers détourne toi. - - Dès le matin en épousée - À l’église il te conduira; - Mais homme faux, fille abusée, - Songez que Lucy sera là. - - Filles, portez-moi vers ma fosse; - Que l’ingrat me rencontre alors, - Lui, dans son bel habit de noce, - Et Lucy sous le drap des morts. - - _I hear a voice you cannot hear,_ - _Which says I must not stay;_ - _I see a hand you cannot see,_ - _Which beckons me away._ - - _By a false heart, and broken vows,_ - _In early youth I die;_ - _Am I to blame, because his bride_ - _Is thrice as rich as I?_ - - _Ah Colin, give not her thy vows,_ - _Vows due to me alone;_ - _Nor thou, fond maid, receive his kiss,_ - _Nor think him all thy own._ - - _To-morrow in the church to wed,_ - _Impatient both prepare,_ - _But know, fond maid, and know, false man,_ - _That Lucy will be there._ - - _There bear my corse, ye comrades, bear,_ - _The bridegroom blithe to meet;_ - _He in his wedding-trim so gay,_ - _I in my winding-sheet._ - - -No. II - -_ODE V. of the First Book of HORACE_ - -_Translated by MILTON_ - -_Quis multa gracilis, &c._ - - What slender youth, bedew’d with liquid odours, - Courts thee on roses in some pleasant cave? - Pyrrha, for whom bind’st thou - In wreaths thy golden hair, - - Plain in thy neatness? O how oft shall he - On faith and changed Gods complain, and seas - Rough with black winds, and storms - Unwonted, shall admire. - - Who now enjoys thee credulous, all gold, - Who always vacant, always amiable, - Hopes thee; of flattering gales - Unmindful? Hapless they - - To whom thou untry’d seem’st fair. Me in my vow’d - Picture the sacred wall declares t’have hung - My dank and dropping weeds - To the stern God of sea. - - -No. III - -_The beginning of the VIIIth Book of the ILIAD_ - -_Translated by T. HOBBES_ - - The morning now was quite display’d, and Jove - Upon Olympus’ highest top was set; - And all the Gods and Goddesses above, - By his command, were there together met. - And Jupiter unto them speaking, said, - You Gods all, and you Goddesses, d’ye hear! - Let none of you the Greeks or Trojans aid: - I cannot do my work for you: forbear! - For whomsoever I assisting see - The Argives or the Trojans, be it known, - He wounded shall return, and laught at be, - Or headlong into Tartarus be thrown; - Into the deepest pit of Tartarus, - Shut in with gates of brass, as much below - The common hell, as ’tis from hell to us. - But if you will my power by trial know, - Put now into my hand a chain of gold, - And let one end thereof lie on the plain, - And all you Gods and Goddesses take hold, - You shall not move me, howsoe’er you strain - At th’ other end, if I my strength put to ’t, - I’ll pull you Gods and Goddesses to me, - Do what you can, and earth and sea to boot, - And let you hang there till my power you see. - The Gods were out of countenance at this, - And to such mighty words durst not reply, &c. - - -No. IV - -A very learned and ingenious friend,[72] to whom I am indebted for some -very just remarks, of which I have availed myself in the preceding Essay, -has furnished me with the following acute, and, as I think, satisfactory -explanation of a passage in Tacitus, extremely obscure in itself, and -concerning the meaning of which the commentators are not agreed. “Tacitus -meaning to say, ‘That Domitian, wishing to be the great, and indeed -the only object in the empire, and that no body should appear with any -sort of lustre in it but himself, was exceedingly jealous of the great -reputation which Agricola had acquired by his skill in war,’ expresses -himself thus: - -In Vit. Agr. cap. 39 - -“_Id sibi maxime formidolosum, privati hominis nomen suprà principis -attolli. Frustra studia fori, et civilium artium decus in silentium -acta, si militarem gloriam alius occuparet: et cætera utcunque facilius -dissimulari, ducis boni imperatoriam virtutem esse._ Which Gordon -translates thus: ‘Terrible above all things it was to him, that the name -of a private man should be exalted above that of the Prince. In vain had -he driven from the public tribunals all pursuits of popular eloquence -and fame, in vain repressed the renown of every civil accomplishment, -if any other than himself possessed the glory of excelling in war: Nay, -however he might dissemble every other distaste, yet to the person of -Emperor properly appertained the virtue and praise of being a great -general.’ - -“This translation is very good, as far as the words ‘civil -accomplishment,’ but what follows is not, in my opinion, the meaning of -Tacitus’s words, which I would translate thus: - -“‘If any other than himself should become a great object in the empire, -as that man must necessarily be who possesses military glory. For however -he might conceal a value for excellence of every other kind, and even -affect a contempt of it, yet he could not but allow, that skill in war, -and the talents of a great General, were an ornament to the Imperial -dignity itself.’ - -“Domitian did not pretend to any skill in war; and therefore the word -‘_alius_’ could never be intended to express a competitor with him in -it.” - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] Vertere Græca in Latinum, veteres nostri oratores optimum judicabant. -Id se Lucius Crassus, in illis Ciceronis de oratore libris, dicit -factitasse. Id Cicero suâ ipse personâ frequentissimè præcipit. Quin -etiam libros Platonis atque Xenophontis edidit, hoc genere translatos. -Id Messalæ placuit, multæque sunt ab eo scriptæ ad hunc modum orationes -(_Quinctil. Inst. Orat._ l. 10, c. 5). - -Utile imprimis, ut multi præcipiunt, vel ex Græco in Latinum, vel -ex Latino vertere in Græcum: quo genere exercitationis, proprietas -splendorque verborum, copia figurarum, vis explicandi, præterea -imitatione optimorum, similia inveniendi facultas paratur: simul quæ -legentem fefellissent, transferentem fugere non possunt (_Plin. Epist._ -l. 7, ep. 7). - -[2] There remain of Cicero’s translations some fragments of the -_Œconomics_ of Xenophon, the _Timæus_ of Plato, and part of a poetical -version of the _Phenomena_ of Aratus. - -[3] When the first edition of this Essay was published, the Author had -not seen Dr. Campbell’s new translation of the Gospels, a most elaborate -and learned work, in one of the preliminary dissertations to which, that -ingenious writer has treated professedly “Of the chief things to be -attended to in translating.” The general laws of the art as briefly laid -down in the first part of that dissertation are individually the same -with those contained in this Essay; a circumstance which, independently -of that satisfaction which always arises from finding our opinions -warranted by the concurring judgement of persons of distinguished -ingenuity and taste, affords a strong presumption that those opinions -are founded in nature and in common sense. Another work on the same -subject had likewise escaped the Author’s observation when he first -published this Essay; an elegant poem on translation, by Mr. Francklin, -the ingenious translator of Sophocles and Lucian. It is, however, rather -an apology of the art, and a vindication of its just rank in the scale -of literature, than a didactic work explanatory of its principles. But -above all, the Author has to regret, that, in spite of his most diligent -research, he has never yet been fortunate enough to meet with the work -of a celebrated writer, professedly on the subject of translation, -the treatise of M. Huet, Bishop of Avranches, _De optimo genere -interpretandi_; of whose doctrines, however, he has some knowledge, from -a pretty full extract of his work in the _Dictionnaire Encyclopédique de -Grammaire et Litterature_, article _Traduction_. - -[4] Founding upon this principle, which he has by no means proved, That -the arrangement of the Greek and Latin languages is the order of nature, -and that the modern tongues ought never to deviate from that order, but -for the sake of sense, perspicuity, or harmony; he proceeds to lay down -such rules as the following: That the periods of the translation should -accord in all their parts with those of the original—that their order, -and even their length, should be the same—that all conjunctions should -be scrupulously preserved, as being the joints or articulations of the -members—that all adverbs should be ranged next to the verb, &c. It may be -confidently asserted, that the Translator who shall endeavour to conform -himself to these rules, even with the licence allowed of sacrificing to -sense, perspicuity, and harmony, will produce, on the whole, a very sorry -composition, which will be far from reflecting a just picture of his -original. - -[5] - - Such is our pride, our folly, or our fate, - That few, but such as cannot write, translate. - - _Denham to Sir R. Fanshaw._ - - hands impure dispense - The sacred streams of ancient eloquence; - Pedants assume the task for scholars fit, - And blockheads rise interpreters of wit. - - _Translation by Francklin._ - -[6] _Batteux de la Construction Oratoire_, par. 2, ch. 4. Such likewise -appears to be the opinion of M. Huet: “_Optimum ergo illum esse dico -interpretandi modum, quum auctoris sententiæ primum, deinde ipsis -etiam, si ita fert utriusque linguæ facultas, verbis arctissimè adhæret -interpres, et nativum postremo auctoris characterem, quoad ejus fieri -potest, adumbrat; idque unum studet, ut nulla cum detractione imminutum, -nullo additamento auctum, sed integrum, suique omni ex parte simillimum, -perquam fideliter exhibeat.—Universè ergo verbum, de verbo exprimendum, -et vocum etiam collocationem retinendam esse pronuncio, id modo per -linguæ qua utitur interpres facultatem liceat_” (Huet de Interpretatione, -lib. 1). - -[7] Dom Vincent Thuillier. - -[8] _Mémoires militaires de M. Guischardt._ - -[9] Dr. George Campbell, _Preliminary Dissertations to a new Translation -of the Gospels_. - -[10] _Cic. de Fin._ l. 2. - -[11] _Cic. Tusc. Quæst._ l. 4. - -[12] _Trans. of Royal Soc. of Edin._ vol. 3. - -[13] The excellent translation of Tacitus by Mr. Murphy had not appeared -when the first edition of this Essay was published. - -[14] Mr. Gordon has translated the words _ad tempus_, “in pressing -emergencies;” and Mr. Murphy, “in sudden emergencies only.” This sense -is, therefore, probably warranted by good authorities. But it is -evidently not the sense of the author in this passage, as the context -sufficiently indicates. - -[15] There is a French translation of this ballad by Le Mierre, which, -though not in all respects equal to that of Bourne, has yet a great -deal of the tender simplicity of the original. See a few stanzas in the -Appendix, No. I. - -[16] From the modern allusion, _barrieres du Louvre_, this passage, -strictly speaking, falls under the description of imitation, rather than -of translation. See _postea_, ch. xi. - -[17] In the poetical works of Milton, we find many noble imitations of -detached passages of the ancient classics; but there is nothing that can -be termed a translation, unless an English version of Horace’s _Ode to -Pyrrha_; which it is probable the author meant as a whimsical experiment -of the effect of a strict conformity in English both to the expression -and measure of the Latin. See this singular composition in the Appendix, -No. 2. - -[18] - - That servile path thou nobly dost decline, - Of tracing word by word, and line by line. - A new and nobler way thou dost pursue, - To make translations and translators too: - They but preserve the ashes, thou the flame; - True to his sense, but truer to his fame. - - DENHAM to Sir R. FANSHAW. - -[19] One of the best passages of Fanshaw’s translation of the _Pastor -Fido_, is the celebrated apostrophe to the spring— - - Spring, the year’s youth, fair mother of new flowers, - New leaves, new loves, _drawn by the winged hours_, - Thou art return’d; but the felicity - Thou brought’st me last is not return’d with thee. - Thou art return’d; but nought returns with thee, - Save my lost joy’s regretful memory. - Thou art the self-same thing thou wert before, - As fair and jocund: but I am no more - The thing I was, so gracious in her sight, - _Who is heaven’s masterpiece and earth’s delight_. - O bitter sweets of love! far worse it is - To lose than never to have tasted bliss. - - O Primavera gioventu del anno, - Bella madre di fiori, - D’herbe novelle, e di novelli amori: - Tu torni ben, ma teco, - Non tornano i sereni, - E fortunati dì de le mie gioie! - Tu torni ben, tu torni, - Ma teco altro non torna - Che del perduto mio caro tesoro - La rimembranza misera e dolente. - Tu quella se’ tu quella, - Ch’eri pur dianzi vezzosa e bella. - Ma non son io già quel ch’un tempo fui, - Sì caro a gli occhi altrui. - O dolcezze amarissime d’amore! - Quanto è più duro perdervi, che mai - Non v’haver ò provate, ò possedute! - - _Pastor Fido_, act 3, sc. 1. - -In those parts of the English version which are marked in Italics, there -is some attempt towards a freedom of translation; but it is a freedom of -which Sandys and May had long before given many happier specimens. - -[20] I am happy to find this opinion, for which I have been blamed -by some critics, supported by so respectable an authority as that of -M. Delille; whose translation of the _Georgics_ of Virgil, though -censurable, (as I shall remark) in a few particulars, is, on the whole, -a very fine performance: “Il faut etre quelquefois superieur à son -original, précisément parce qu’on lui est très-inférieur.” _Delille Disc. -Prelim. à la Trad. des Georgiques._ Of the same opinion is the elegant -author of the poem on Translation. - - Unless an author like a mistress warms, - How shall we _hide his faults_, or taste his charms? - How all his modest, latent beauties find; - How trace each lovelier feature of the mind; - _Soften each blemish_, and _each grace improve_, - And treat him with the dignity of love? - - FRANCKLIN. - -[21] Witness the attempt of a translator of no ordinary ability. - - Pulchra mari, crocea surgens in veste, per omnes - Fundebat sese terras Aurora: deorum - Summo concilium cœlo regnator habebat. - Cuncta silent: Solio ex alto sic Jupiter orsus. - - Huc aures cuncti, mentesque advertite vestras, - Dîque Deæque, loquar dum quæ fert corde voluntas, - Dicta probate omnes; neve hinc præcidere quisquam - Speret posse aliquid, seu mas seu fœmina. Siquis - Auxilio veniens, dura inter prælia, Troas - Juverit, aut Danaos, fœde remeabit Olympum - Saucius: arreptumve obscura in Tartara longè - Demittam ipse manu jaciens; immane barathrum - Altè ubi sub terram vasto descendit hiatu, - Orcum infra, quantum jacet infra sidera tellus: - Ære solum, æterno ferri stant robore portæ. - Quam cunctis melior sim Dîs, tum denique discet. - Quin agite, atque meas jam nunc cognoscite vires, - Ingentem heic auro e solido religate catenam, - Deinde manus cuncti validas adhibete, trahentes - Ad terram: non ulla fuat vis tanta, laborque, - Cœlesti qui sede Jovem deducere possit. - Ast ego vos, terramque et magni cœrula ponti - Stagna traham, dextra attollens, et vertice Olympi - Suspendam: vacuo pendebunt aëre cuncta. - Tantum supra homines mea vis, et numina supra est. - - _Ilias Lat. vers. express. a Raym. Cunighio_, _Rom._ 1776. - -[22] See a translation of this passage by Hobbes, in the true spirit of -the _Bathos_. Appendix, No. III. - -[23] A similar instance of good taste occurs in the following translation -of an epigram of Martial, where the indelicacy of the original is -admirably corrected, and the sense at the same time is perfectly -preserved: - - _Vis fieri liber? mentiris, Maxime, non vis:_ - _Sed fieri si vis, hac ratione potes._ - _Liber eris, cœnare foris, si, Maxime, nolis:_ - _Veientana tuam si domat uva sitim:_ - _Si ridere potes miseri Chrysendeta Cinnæ:_ - _Contentus nostrâ si potes esse togâ._ - _Si plebeia Venus gemino tibi vincitur asse:_ - _Si tua non rectus tecta subire potes:_ - _Hæc tibi si vis est, si mentis tanta potestas,_ - _Liberior Partho vivere rege potes._ - - MART. lib. 2, ep. 53. - - Non, d’etre libre, cher Paulin, - Vous n’avez jamais eu l’envie; - Entre nous, votre train de vie - N’en est point du tout le chemin. - - Il vous faut grand’chere, bon vin, - Grand jeu, nombreuse compagnie, - Maitresse fringante et jolie, - Et robe du drap le plus fin. - - Il faudrait aimer, au contraire, - Vin commun, petit ordinaire, - Habit simple, un ou deux amis; - Jamais de jeu, point d’Amarante: - Voyez si le parti vous tente, - La liberté n’est qu’à ce prix. - -[24] Fitzosborne’s _Letters_, l. 19. - -[25] Thus likewise translated with great beauty of poetry, and sufficient -fidelity to the original: - - Ut lunam circa fulgent cum lucida pulchro - Astra choro, nusquam cœlo dum nubila, nusquam - Aerios turbant ventorum flamina campos; - Apparent speculæ, nemoroso et vertice montes - Frondiferi et saltus; late se fulgidus æther - Pandit in immensum, penitusque abstrusa remoto - Signa polo produnt longe sese omnia; gaudet - Visa tuens, hæretque immoto lumine pastor. - - _Ilias Lat. vers. a Raym. Cunighio_, _Rom._ 1776. - -[26] Dr. Beattie, _Dissertation on Poetry and Music_, p. 357. 4to. ed. - -[27] Fitzosborne’s _Letters_, 43. - -[28] It is amusing to observe the conceit of this author, and the -compliment he imagines he pays to the taste of his patron, in applauding -this miserable composition: “Adeo tibi placuit, ut quædam etiam in -melius mutasse tibi visus fuerim.” With similar arrogance and absurdity, -he gives Milton credit for the materials only of the poem, assuming to -himself the whole merit of its structure: “Miltonus Paradisum Amissum -invenerat; ergo Miltoni hìc lana est, at mea tela tamen.” - -[29] _Third Preliminary Diss. to New Translation of the Four Gospels._ - -[30] “His affectation of the manner of some of the poets and orators -has metamorphosed the authors he interpreted, and stript them of the -venerable signatures of antiquity, which so admirably befit them; and -which, serving as intrinsic evidence of their authenticity, recommend -their writings to the serious and judicious. Whereas, when accoutred in -this new fashion, nobody would imagine them to have been Hebrews; and -yet, (as some critics have justly remarked), it has not been within the -compass of Castalio’s art, to make them look like Romans.” Dr. Campbell’s -10th _Prelim. Diss._ - -[31] Dr. Campbell, 10th _Prel. Diss._ part 2. - -[32] The language of that ludicrous work, _Epistolæ obscurorum virorum_, -is an imitation, and by no means an exaggerated picture, of the style -of _Arias Montanus’s_ version of the Scriptures. _Vos bene audivistis -qualiter Papa habuit unum magnum animal quod vocatum fuit Elephas; et -habuit ipsum in magno honore, et valde amavit illud. Nunc igitur debetis -scire, quod tale animal est mortuum. Et quando fuit infirmum, tunc Papa -fuit in magna tristitia, et vocavit medicos plures, et dixit eis: Si est -possibile, sanate mihi Elephas. Tunc fecerunt magnam diligentiam, et -viderunt ei urinam, et dederunt ei unam purgationem quæ constat quinque -centum aureos, sed tamen non potuerunt Elephas facere merdare, et sic est -mortuum; et Papa dolet multum super Elephas; quia fuit mirabile animal, -habens longum rostrum in magna quantitate.—Ast ego non curabo ista -mundana negotia, quæ afferunt perditionem animæ. Valete._ - -[33] _Lond._ 1691. - -[34] - - _Sectantem levia nervi_ - _Deficiunt animique: professus grandia turget:_ - _Serpit humi tutus nimium timidusque procellæ._ - _In vitium ducit culpæ fuga_, si caret arte. - - HOR. _Ep. ad. Pis._ - -[35] The _Orations of M. T. Cicero_ translated into English, with notes -historical and critical. Dublin, 1766. - -[36] Echard has here mistaken the author’s sense. He ought to have said, -“o’ my conscience, this night is twice as long as that was.” - -[37] - - _Hor._ Donec gratus eram tibi, - Nec quisquam potior brachia candidæ - Cervici juvenis dabat; - Persarum vigui rege beatior. - - _Lyd._ Donec non aliam magis - Arsisti, neque erat Lydia post Chloen; - Multi Lydia nominis - Romanâ vigui clarior Iliâ. - - _Hor._ Me nunc Thressa Chloe regit, - Dulceis docta modos, et citharæ sciens; - Pro qua non metuam mori, - Si parcent animæ fata superstiti. - - _Lyd._ Me torret face mutuâ - Thurini Calaïs filius Ornithi; - Pro quo bis patiar mori, - Si parcent puero fata superstiti. - - _Hor._ Quid, si prisca redit Venus, - Diductosque jugo cogit aheneo? - Si flava excutitur Chloe, - Rejectæque patet janua Lydiæ? - - _Lyd._ Quamquam sidere pulchrior - Ille est, tu levior cortice, et improbo - Iracundior Hadriâ; - Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens. - - HOR. l. 3, Od. 9. - -[38] Dr. Warton. - -[39] _Hujus (viz. Aristidis) pictura est, oppido capto, ad matris -morientis e vulnere mammam adrepens infans; intelligiturque sentire mater -et timere, ne emortuo lacte sanguinem infans lambat._ Plin. Nat. Hist. -l. 35, c. 10.—If the epigram was made on the subject of this picture, -Pliny’s idea of the expression of the painting is somewhat more refined -than that of the epigrammatist, though certainly not so natural. As a -complicated feeling can never be clearly expressed in painting, it is not -improbable that the same picture should have suggested ideas somewhat -different to different observers. - -[40] J. H. Beattie, son of the learned and ingenious Dr. Beattie of -Aberdeen, a young man who disappointed the promise of great talents by -an early death. In him, the author of _The Ministrel_ saw his _Edwin_ -realised. - -[41] _Observer_, vol. 4, p. 115, and vol. 5, p. 145. - -[42] The original of the fragment of Timocles: - - Ω ταν, ἂκουσον ην τι σοι μέλλω λέγειν. - Ανθρωπός ἐστι ζῶον ἐπίπονον φύσει, - Καὶ πολλὰ λυπῆρ’ ὁ βίος ἐν ἑαυτω φέρει. - Παραψυχὰς ουν φροντίδων ανευρατον - Ταυτας· ὁ γὰρ νοῦς των ἰδίων λήθην λαβὼν - Πρὸς ἀλλοτριῳ τε ψυχαγωγηθεὶς πάθει, - Μεθ’ ἡδονῆς ἀπῆλθε παιδευθεὶς ἃμα. - Τοὺς γὰρ τραγῳδοὺς πρῶτον εἰ βούλει σκόπει, - Ὡς ὠφελοῦσί παντας· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ὤν πένης - Πτωχότερον αὑτου καταμαθὼν τὸν Τήλεφον - Γενόμενον, ἤδη την πενίαν ῥᾶον φέρει. - Ο νοσῶν δὲ μανικῶς, Αλκμαίων’ εσκεψατο. - Οφθαλμιᾶ τις; εἰσὶ Φινεῖδαι τυφλοί. - Τέθνηκε τω παῖς; η Νιόβη κεκούφικε. - Χωλός τις ἐστι, τὸν Φιλοκτήτην ὁρᾷ. - Γέρων τὶς ἀτυχεῖ; κατέμαθε τὸν ΟΙνέα. - Απαντα γὰρ τὰ μείζον’ ἤ πέπονθέ τις - Ατυχήματ’ ἄλλοις γεγονότ’ ἐννοούμενος, - Τὰς αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ συμφορὰς ῥᾷον φέρει. - -Thus, in the literal version of Dalechampius: - - _Hem amice, nunc ausculta quod dicturus sum tibi._ - _Animal naturâ laboriosum homo est._ - _Tristia vita secum affert plurima:_ - _Itaque curarum hæc adinvenit solatia:_ - _Mentem enim suorum malorum oblitam,_ - _Alienorum casuum reputatio consolatur,_ - _Indéque fit ea læta, et erudita ad sapientiam._ - _Tragicos enim primùm, si libet, considera,_ - _Quàm prosint omnibus. Qui eget,_ - _Pauperiorem se fuisse Telephum_ - _Cùm intelligit, leniùs fert inopiam._ - _Insaniâ qui ægrotat, de Alcmeone is cogitet._ - _Lippus est aliquis, Phinea cœcum is contempletur._ - _Obiit tibi filius, dolorem levabit exemplum Niobes._ - _Claudicat quispiam, Philocteten is respicito._ - _Miser est senex aliquis, in Oeneum is intuetor._ - _Omnia namque graviora quàm patiatur_ - _Infortunia quivis animadvertens in aliis cùm deprehenderit,_ - _Suas calamitates luget minùs._ - -[43] The original of the fragment of Diphilus: - - Τοιοῦτο νόμιμόν ἐστὶ βέλτιστ’ ενθαδε - Κορίνθίοις, ἵν’ ἐαν τιν’ ὀψωνοῦντ’ ἀεὶ - Λαμπρῶς ὁρωμεν, τοῦτον ἀνακρινείν πόθεν - Ζῇ, καὶ τί ποιῶν. κᾂν μεν οὐσίαν εχῃ - Ης αἱ προσοδοι λυουσι τ’ ἀναλώματὰ, - Εᾶν ἀπολαύειν. ἤδε τοῦτον τὸν βίον. - Εαν δ’ ὑπέρ την οὐσίαν δαπανῶν τύχῃ, - Απεῖπον αὐτῶ τοῦτο μὴ ποιεῖν ἔτι. - Ος ἂν δὲ μή πείθητ’, ἐπέβαλον ζημίαν. - Εάν δὲ μηδε ὁτιοῦν ἔχων ζῇ πολυτελῶς, - Τῷ δημιῳ παρέδωκαν αὐτον. Ηράκλεις. - ΟΥκ ἐνδέχεται γὰρ ζῇν ἂνευ κακοῦ τινὸς - Τοῦτον. συνίης; ἀλλ’ ἀναγκαίως ἔχει - Ηλοποδυτεῖν τὰς νύκτας, ἢ τοιχωρυχεῖν, - Η τῶν ποιουντων ταῦτα κοινωνεῖν τισιν. - Η συκοφαντεῖν κατ’ ἀγορὰν, ἢ μαρτυρεῖν - Ψευδῆ, τοιοῦτων ἐκκαθαίρομεν γενος. - Ορθῶς γε νὴ Δί’, ἀλλὰ δὴ τί τοῦτ’ ἐμοί; - Ορῶμεν ὀψωνοῦνθ’ ἑκάστης ἡμέρας, - ΟΥχι μετριως βέλτιστέ σ’, ἀλλ’ ὑπερηφάνως. - ΟΥκ ἔστιν ἰχθυηρὸν ὑπὸ σοῦ μεταλαβεῖν. - Συνηκας ἡμῶν εἰς τὰ λάχανα την πόλιν, - Περὶ τῶν σελινων μαχόμεθ’ ὥσπερ Ισθμίοις. - Λαγώς τις εἰσελήλυθ’. ευθὺς ἥρπακας. - Πέρδικα δ’ ἢ κιχλην; καὶ νὴ Δί’ οὐκ ἔτι - Εστιν δἰ ὑμᾶς οὐδὲ πετομενην ἰδεῖν, - Τὸν ξενικὸν οἶνον ἐπιτετίμηκας πολύ. - -Thus in the version of Dalechampius: - - A. _Talis istic lex est, ô vir optime,_ - _Corinthiis: si quem obsonantem semper_ - _Splendidiùs aspexerint, illum ut interrogent_ - _Unde vivat, quidnam agat: quòd si facultates illi sunt_ - _Quarum ad eum sumptum reditus sufficiat,_ - _Eo vitæ luxu permittunt frui:_ - _Sin amplius impendat quàm pro re sua,_ - _Ne id porrò faciat interdicitur._ - _Si non pareat, mulctâ quidem plectitur._ - _Si sumptuosè vivit qui nihil prorsus habet,_ - _Traditur puniendus carnifici._ - - B. _Proh Hercules._ - - A. _Quod enim scias, fieri minimè potest_ - _Ut qui eo est ingenio, non vivat improbè: itaque necessum_ - _Vel noctu grassantem obvios spoliare, vel effractarium, parietem - suffodere,_ - _Vel his se furibus adjungere socium,_ - _Aut delatorem et quadruplatorem esse in foro: aut falsum_ - _Testari: à talium hominum genere purgatur civitas._ - - B. _Rectè, per Jovem: sed ad me quid hoc attinet?_ - - A. _Nos te videmus obsonantem quotidie_ - _Haud mediocriter, vir optime, sed fastuosè, et magnificè,_ - _Ne pisciculum quidem habere licet caussâ tuâ:_ - _Cives nostros commisisti, pugnaturos de oleribus:_ - _De apio dimicamus tanquam in Isthmiis._ - _Si lepus accessit, eum extemplo rapis._ - _Perdicem, ac turdum ne volantem quidem_ - _Propter vos, ita me Juppiter amet, nobis jam videre licet,_ - _Peregrini multùm auxistis vini pretium._ - -[44] It is to be regretted that Mr. Cumberland had not either published -the original fragments along with his translations, or given special -references to the authors from whom he took them, and the particular -part of their works where they were to be found. The reader who wishes -to compare the translations with the originals, will have some trouble -in searching for them at random in the works of Athenæus, Clemens -Alexandrinus, Stobæus, and others. - -[45] C’est en quoi consiste le grand art de la Poësie, de dire figurément -presque tout ce qu’elle dit. _Rapin. Reflex. sur la Poëtique en général._ -§ 29. - -[46] “Quand il s’agit de représenter dans une autre langue les choses, -les pensées, les expressions, les tours, les tons d’un ouvrage; les -choses telles qu’elles sont sans rien ajouter, ni retrancher, ni -déplacer; les pensées dans leurs couleurs, leurs degrés, leurs nuances; -les tours, qui donnent le feu, l’esprit, et la vie au discours; les -expressions naturelles, figurées, fortes, riches, gracieuses, délicates, -&c. le tout d’après un modele qui commande durement, et qui veut qu’on -lui obéisse d’un air aisé; il faut, sinon autant de génie, du moins -autant de gout pour bien traduire, que pour composer. Peut-être même -en faut il davantage. L’auteur qui compose, conduit seulement par une -sorte d’instinct toujours libre, et par sa matiere qui lui présente des -idées, qu’il peut accepter ou rejetter à son gré, est maitre absolu -de ses pensées et de ses expressions: si la pensée ne lui convient -pas, ou si l’expression ne convient pas à la pensée, il peut rejetter -l’une et l’autre; _quæ desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit_. -Le traducteur n’est maitre de rien; il est obligé de suivre partout -son auteur, et de se plier à toutes ses variations avec une souplesse -infinie. Qu’on en juge par la variété des tons qui se trouvent -nécessairement dans un même sujet, et à plus forte raison dans un même -genre.——Quelle idée donc ne doit-on pas avoir d’une traduction faite avec -succès?”—_Batteux de la construction Oratoire_, par. 2. - -[47] ΓΝ. Τι τοῦτο; παιεις ω Τιμων; μαρτυρομαι· ω Ηρακλεις· ιου, ιου. -Προκαλοῦμαι σε τραυματος εις Αρειον παγον· Τιμ. Και μεν αν γε μακρον -επιβραδυνης, φονον ταχα προκεκληση με. _Lucian_, _Timon_. - -[48] Και ὅλως πανσοφον τι χρημα, και πανταχοθεν ακριβες, και ποικιλως -εντελες· οιμωξεται τοιγαρουν ουκ εις μακραν χρηστος ων. _Lucian_, _Timon_. - -[49] Αντι του τεως Πυρριου, η Δρομωνος, η Τιβιου, Μεγακλης, Μεγαβυζος, -η Πρωταρχος μετονομασθεις, τους ματην κεχηνοτας εκεινους εις αλληλους -αποβλεποντας καταλιπων, &c. _Lucian_, _Timon_. - -[50] The following apology made by D’Ablancourt of his own version of -Tacitus, contains, however, many just observations; from which, with a -proper abatement of that extreme liberty for which he contends, every -translator may derive much advantage. - -Of Tacitus he thus remarks: “Comme il considere souvent les choses par -quelque biais étranger, il laisse quelquefois ses narrations imparfaites, -ce qui engendre de l’obscurité dans ses ouvrages, outre la multitude des -fautes qui s’y rencontrent, et le peu de lumière qui nous reste de la -plupart des choses qui y sont traitées. Il ne faut donc pas s’étonner -s’il est si difficile à traduire, puisqu’il est même difficile à -entendre. D’ailleurs il a accoutumé de méler dans une même période, et -quelquefois dans une même expression diverses pensées qui ne tiennent -point l’une à l’autre, et dont il faut perdre une partie, comme dans -les ouvrages qu’on polit, pour pouvoir exprimer le reste sans choquer -les délicatesses de notre langue, et la justesse du raisonnement. Car -on n’a pas le même respect pour mon François que pour son Latin; et -l’on ne me pardonneroit pas des choses, qu’on admire souvent chez lui, -et s’il faut ainsi dire, qu’on revere. Par tout ailleurs je l’ai suivi -pas à pas, et plutôt en esclave qu’en compagnon; quoique peut-être je -me pusse donner plus de liberté, puisque je ne traduis pas un passage, -mais un livre, de qui toutes les parties doivent être unies ensemble, -et comme fondues en un même corps. D’ailleurs, la diversité qui se -trouve dans les langues est si grande, tant pour la construction et la -forme des périodes, que pour les figures et les autres ornemens, qu’il -faut à touts coups changer d’air et de visage, si l’on ne veut faire un -corps monstrueux, tel que celui des traductions ordinaires, qui sont ou -mortes et languissantes, ou confuses et embrouillées, sans aucun ordre -ni agrément. Il faut donc prendre garde qu’on ne fasse perdre la grace -à son auteur par trop de scrupule, et que de peur de lui manquer de -foi en quelque chose, on ne lui soit infidèle en tout: principalement, -quand on fait un ouvrage qui doit tenir lieu de l’original, et qu’on ne -travaille pas pour faire entendre aux jeunes gens le Grec ou le Latin. -Car on fait que les expressions hardies ne sont point exactes, parce que -la justesse est ennemie de la grandeur, comme il se voit dans la peinture -et dans l’ecriture; mais la hardiesse du trait en supplée le défaut, -et elles sont trouvées plus belles de la sorte, que si elles étoient -plus régulières. D’ailleurs il est difficile d’etre bien exact dans la -traduction d’un auteur qui ne l’est point. Souvent on est contraint -d’ajouter quelque chose à sa pensée pour l’eclaircir; quelquefois -il faut en retrancher une partie pour donner jour à tout le reste. -Cependant, cela fait que les meilleures traductions paroissent les moins -fideles; et un critique de notre tems a remarqué deux mille fautes dans -le Plutarque d’Amyot, et un autre presqu’autant dans les traductions -d’Erasme; peut-être pour ne pas savoir que la diversité des langues et -des styles oblige à des traits tout differens, _parce que l’Eloquence est -une chose si delicate, qu’il ne faut quelquefois qu’une syllabe pour la -corrompre_. Car du reste, il n’y a point d’apparence que deux si grands -hommes se soient abusés en tant de lieux, quoiqu’il ne soit pas étrange -qu’on se puisse abuser en quelque endroit. Mais tout le monde n’est pas -capable de juger d’une traduction, quoique tout le monde s’en attribuë la -connoissance; et ici comme ailleurs, la maxime d’Aristote devroit servir -de regle, qu’il faut croire chacun en son art.” - -[51] A striking resemblance to this beautiful apostrophe “Ahi padri -irragionevoli,” is found in the beginning of Moncrif’s _Romance d’Alexis -et Alis_, a ballad which the French justly consider as a model of -tenderness and elegant simplicity. - - Pourquoi rompre leur mariage, - Mechans parens? - Ils auroient fait si bon menage - A tous momens! - Que sert d’avoir bagues et dentelle - Pour se parer? - Ah! la richesse la plus belle - Est de s’aimer. - - Quand on a commencé la vie - Disant ainsi: - Oui, vous serez toujours ma mie, - Vous mon ami: - Quand l’age augmente encor l’envie - De s’entreunir, - Qu’avec un autre on nous marie - Vaut mieux mourir. - -[52] - - Otium divos rogat in patenti - Prensus Ægeo, simul atra nubes - Condidit Lunam, neque certa fulgent - Sidera nautis. - - Otium bello furiosa Thrace, - Otium Medi pharetrâ decori, - Grosphe, non gemmis, neque purpurâ ve- - nale, nec auro. - - Non enim gazæ, neque Consularis - Summovet lictor miseros tumultus - Mentis, et curas laqueata circum - Tecta volantes. - - Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum - Splendet in mensâ tenui salinum: - Nec leves somnos Timor aut Cupido - Sordidus aufert. - - Quid brevi fortes jaculamur ævo - Multa? quid terras alio calentes - Sole mutamus? Patriæ quis exul, - Se quoque fugit? - - Scandit æratas vitiosa naves - Cura, nec turmas equitum relinquit, - Ocyor cervis, et agente nimbos - Ocyor Euro. - - Lætus in præsens animus, quod ultra est - Oderit curare; et amara lento - Temperat risu. Nihil est ab omni - Parte beatum. - - Abstulit clarum cita mors Achillem: - Longa Tithonum minuit senectus: - Et mihi forsan, tibi quod negârit, - Porriget hora. - - Te greges centum, Siculæque circum - Mugiunt vaccæ: tibi tollit hinnitum - Apta quadrigis equa: te bis Afro - Murice tinctæ. - - Vestiunt lanæ: mihi parva rura, et - Spiritum Graiæ tenuem Camœnæ - Parca non mendax dedit, et malignum - Spernere vulgus. - - HOR. _Od. 2, 16._ - -[53] There is, however, a very common mistake of translators from the -French into English, proceeding either from ignorance, or inattention -to the general construction of the two languages. In narrative, or the -description of past actions, the French often use the present tense -for the preterite: _Deux jeunes nobles Mexicains jettent leurs armes, -et viennent à lui comme déserteurs. Ils mettent un genouil à terre -dans la posture des supplians; ils le saisissent, et s’élancent de la -platforme.—Cortez s’en débarasse, et se retient à la balustrade. Les deux -jeunes nobles périssent sans avoir exécuté leur généreuse entreprise._ -Let us observe the aukward effect of a similar use of the present tense -in English. “Two young Mexicans of noble birth throw away their arms and -come to him as deserters. They kneel in the posture of suppliants; they -seise him, and throw themselves from the platform.—Cortez disengages -himself from their grasp, and keeps hold of the ballustrade. The noble -Mexicans perish without accomplishing their generous design.” In like -manner, the use of the present for the past tense is very common -in Greek, and we frequently remark the same impropriety in English -translations from that language. “After the death of Darius, and the -accession of Artaxerxes, Tissaphernes accuses Cyrus to his brother of -treason: Artaxerxes gives credit to the accusation, and orders Cyrus -to be apprehended, with a design to put him to death; but his mother -having saved him by her intercession, sends him back to his government.” -Spelman’s _Xenophon_. In the original, these verbs are put in the present -tense, διαβαλλει, πειθεται, συλλαμβανει, αποπεμπει. But this use of the -present tense in narrative is contrary to the genius of the English -language. The poets have assumed it; and in them it is allowable, because -it is their object to paint scenes as present to the eye; _ut pictura -poesis_; but all that a prose narrative can pretend to, is an animated -description of things past: if it goes any farther, it encroaches on the -department of poetry. In one way, however, this use of the present tense -is found in the best English historians, namely, in the summary heads, -or contents of chapters. “Lambert Simnel invades England.—Perkin Warbeck -is avowed by the Duchess of Burgundy—he returns to Scotland—he is taken -prisoner—and executed.” Hume. But it is by an ellipsis that the present -tense comes to be thus used. The sentence at large would stand thus. -“_This chapter relates how_ Lambert Simnel invades England, _how_ Perkin -Warbeck is avowed by the Duchess of Burgundy,” &c. - -[54] It is surprising that this fault should meet even with approbation -from so judicious a critic as Denham. In the preface to his translation -of the second book of the _Æneid_ he says: “As speech is the apparel of -our thoughts, so there are certain garbs and modes of speaking which vary -with the times; the fashion of our clothes being not more subject to -alteration, than that of our speech: and this I think Tacitus means by -that which he calls _Sermonem temporis istius auribus accommodatum_, the -delight of change being as due to the curiosity of the ear as of the eye: -and therefore, if Virgil must needs speak English, it were fit he should -speak, not only _as a man of this nation, but as a man of this age_.” The -translator’s opinion is exemplified in his practice. - - _Infandum, Regina, jubes renovare dolorem._ - - “_Madam_, when you command us to review - Our fate, you make our old wounds bleed anew.” - -Of such translation it may with truth be said, in the words of Francklin, - - Thus Greece and Rome, in modern dress array’d, - Is but antiquity in masquerade. - -[55] The modern air of the following sentence is, however, not -displeasing: Antipho asks Cherea, where he has bespoke supper; he -answers, _Apud libertum Discum_, “At Discus the freedman’s.” Echard, with -a happy familiarity, says, “At old Harry Platter’s.” _Ter. Eun._ act 3, -sc. 5. - -[56] Alluding to the French Admiral’s ship _Le Soleil Royal_, beaten and -disabled by Russell. - -[57] The translation published by Motteux declares in the title-page, -that it is the work of several hands; but as of these Mr. Motteux was -the principal, and revised and corrected the parts that were translated -by others, which indeed we have no means of discriminating from his own, -I shall, in the following comparison, speak of him as the author of the -whole work. - -[58] The only French translation of _Don Quixote_ I have ever seen, is -that to which is subjoined a continuation of the Knight’s adventures, -in two supplemental volumes, by Le Sage. This translation has undergone -numberless editions, and is therefore, I presume, the best; perhaps -indeed the only one, except a very old version, which is mentioned in the -preface, as being quite literal, and very antiquated in its style. It -is therefore to be presumed, that when Jarvis accuses Motteux of having -taken his version entirely from the French, he refers to that translation -above mentioned to which Le Sage has given a supplement. If this be -the case, we may confidently affirm, that Jarvis has done Motteux the -greatest injustice. On comparing his translation with the French, there -is a discrepancy so absolute and universal, that there does not arise the -smallest suspicion that he had ever seen that version. Let any passage be -compared _ad aperturam libri_; as, for example, the following: - -“De simples huttes tenoient lieu de maisons, et de palais aux habitants -de la terre; les arbes se defaisant d’eux-memes de leurs écorces, -leur fournissoient de quoi couvrir leurs cabanes, et se garantir de -l’intempérie des saisons.” - -“The tough and strenuous cork-trees did of themselves, and without other -art than their native liberality, dismiss and impart their broad, light -bark, which served to cover those lowly huts, propped up with rough-hewn -stakes, that were first built as a shelter against the inclemencies of -the air.”—MOTTEUX. - -“La beaute n’étoit point un avantage dangereux aux jeunes filles; elles -alloient librement partout, etalant sans artifice et sans dessein tous -les présents que leur avoit fait la Nature, sans se cacher davantage, -qu’autant que l’honnêteté commune à tous les siecles l’a toujours -demandé.” - -“Then was the time, when innocent beautiful young shepherdesses -went tripping over the hills and vales, their lovely hair sometimes -plaited, sometimes loose and flowing, clad in no other vestment but -what was necessary to cover decently what modesty would always have -concealed.”—MOTTEUX. - -It will not, I believe, be asserted, that this version of Motteux bears -any traces of being copied from the French, which is quite licentious and -paraphrastical. But when we subjoin the original, we shall perceive, that -he has given a very just and easy translation of the Spanish. - -_Los valientes alcornoques despedian de sí sin otro artificio que el de -su cortesia, sus anchas y livianas cortezas, sin que se commençaron á -cubrir las casas, sobre rusticas, estacas sustentadas, no mas que para -defensa de las inclemencias del cielo._ - -_Entonces sí, que andaban las simples y hermosas zagalejas de valle en -valle, y de otero en otero, en trenza y en cabello, sin mas vestidos de -aquellos que eran menester para cubrir honestamente lo que la honestidad -quiere._ - -[59] Perhaps a parody was here intended of the famous epitaph of -Simonides, on the brave Spartans who fell at Thermopylæ: - - Ω ξειν, αγγειλον Λακεδαιμονιοις, οτι τηδε - Κειμεθα, τοις κεινων ρημασι πειθομενοι. - -“O stranger, carry back the news to Lacedemon, that we died here to prove -our obedience to her laws.” This, it will be observed, may be translated, -or at least closely imitated, in the very words of Cervantes; _diras—que -su caballero murio por acometer cosas, que le hiciesen digno de poder -llamarse suyo_. - -[60] One expression is omitted which is a little too gross. - -[61] Thus it stands in all the editions by the Royal Academy of Madrid; -though in Lord Carteret’s edition the latter part of the proverb is given -thus, apparently with more propriety: _del mal que le viene no se enoje_. - -[62] _Mas ligera que un alcotan_ is more literally translated by Smollet -than by Motteux; but if Smollet piqued himself on fidelity, why was -_Cordobes o Mexicano_ omitted? - -[63] Smollet has here mistaken the sense of the original, _como si ellos -tuvieran la culpa del maleficio_: She did not blame the hair for being -guilty of the transgression or offence, but for being the cause of the -Moor’s transgression, or, as Motteux has properly translated it, “this -affront.” In another part of the same chapter, Smollet has likewise -mistaken the sense of the original. When the boy remarks, that the Moors -don’t observe much form or ceremony in their judicial trials, Don Quixote -contradicts him, and tells him there must always be a regular process and -examination of evidence to prove matters of fact, “_para sacar una verdad -en limpio menester son muchas pruebas y repruebas_.” Smollet applies this -observation of the Knight to the boy’s long-winded story, and translates -the passage, “There is not so much proof and counter proof required to -bring truth to light.” In both these passages Smollet has departed from -his prototype, Jarvis. - -[64] I add this qualification not without reason, as I intend afterwards -to give an example of a species of florid writing which is difficult to -be translated, because its meaning cannot be apprehended with precision. - -[65] The following translation of these verses by Parnell, is at once -a proof that this excellent poet felt the characteristic merit of the -original, and that he was unable completely to attain it. - - My change arrives; the change I meet - Before I thought it nigh; - My spring, my years of pleasure fleet, - And all their beauties die. - In age I search, and only find - A poor unfruitful gain, - Grave wisdom stalking slow behind, - Oppress’d with loads of pain. - - My ignorance could once beguile, - And fancied joys inspire; - My errors cherish’d hope to smile - On newly born desire. - But now experience shews the bliss - For which I fondly sought, - Not worth the long impatient wish - And ardour of the thought. - - My youth met fortune fair array’d, - In all her pomp she shone, - And might perhaps have well essay’d - To make her gifts my own. - But when I saw the blessings show’r - On some unworthy mind, - I left the chace, and own’d the power - Was justly painted blind. - - I pass’d the glories which adorn - The splendid courts of kings, - And while the persons mov’d my scorn, - I rose to scorn the things. - -In this translation, which has the merit of faithfully transfusing -the sense of the original, with a great portion of its simplicity of -expression, the following couplet is a very faulty deviation from that -character of the style. - - My errors cherish’d hope to smile - On newly born desire. - -[66] The attempt, however, has been made. In a little volume, intitled -_Prolusiones Poeticæ_, by the Reverend T. Bancroft, printed at Chester -1788, is a version of the _Fidicinis et Philomelæ certamen_, which -will please every reader of taste who forbears to compare it with the -original; and in the Poems of Pattison, the ingenious author of the -_Epistle of Abelard to Eloisa_, is a fable, intitled, the _Nightingale -and Shepherd_, imitated from Strada. But both these performances serve -only to convince us, that a just translation of that composition is a -thing almost impossible. - -[67] The occasional blemishes, however, of a good writer, are a fair -subject of castigation; and a travesty or burlesque parody of them will -please, from the justness of the satire: As the following ludicrous -version of a passage in the 5th _Æneid_, which is among the few examples -of false taste in the chastest of the Latin Poets: - - ——_Oculos telumque tetendit._ - - ——He cock’d his eye and gun. - -[68] - - To be, or not to be, that is the question:— - Whether ’tis better in the mind to suffer - The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune; - Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, - And by opposing end them? To die;—to sleep; - No more?—And by a sleep, to say we end - The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks - That flesh is heir to;—’tis a consummation - Devoutly to be wish’d. To die;—to sleep;— - To sleep! perchance to dream;—ay, there’s the rub; - For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, - When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, - Must give us pause: There’s the respect, - That makes calamity of so long life: - For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, - The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, - The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay, - The insolence of office, and the spurns - That patient merit of the unworthy takes, - When he himself might his quietus make - With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, - To groan and sweat under a weary life; - But that the dread of something after death— - That undiscover’d country, from whose bourne - No traveller returns—puzzles the will; - And makes us rather bear those ills we have, - Than fly to others that we know not of? - Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, &c. - - _Hamlet_, act 3, sc. 1. - -[69] Other ideas superadded by the translator, are, - - Que suis-je——Qui m’arrête?—— - On nous menace, on dit que cette courte vie, &c. - ——Affreuse éternité! - Tout cœur à ton seul nom se glace épouvanté—— - A des amis ingrats qui detournent la vue—— - -In the _Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespeare_, which is one -of the best pieces of criticism in the English language, the reader will -find many examples of similar misrepresentation and wilful debasement of -our great dramatic poet, in the pretended translations of Voltaire. - -[70] Pour faire connoitre l’esprit de ce poëme, unique en son genre, il -faut retrancher les trois quarts de tout passage qu’on veut traduire; car -ce _Butler_ ne finit jamais. J’ai donc réduit à environ quatre-vingt vers -les quatre cent premiers vers d’Hudibras, pour éviter la prolixité. _Mel. -Philos. par Voltaire, Oeuv. tom. 15. Ed. de Genève._ 4to. - -[71] I have lately learnt, that the author of this translation was -Colonel Townley, an English gentleman who had been educated in France, -and long in the French service, and who thus had acquired a most intimate -knowledge of both languages. - -[72] James Edgar, Esq., Commissioner of the Customs, Edinburgh. - - - - -INDEX - - - A - - Ablancourt, his translations excellent, 120 - - ——, his just observations on translation, 120 - - Adrian, his _Address to his Soul_, 126 - - Alembert, D’, quoted, 13 - - ——, his translations from Tacitus, 15 _et seq._ 34 - - _Alis et Alexis_, romance, 129 - - Aldrich, Dr., his translation of a humorous song, 202 - - Ambiguous expressions, how to be translated, 17 - - Ancient translation, few specimens of, existing at present, 4 - - Anguillara, beautiful passage from his translation of Ovid’s - _Metamorphoses_, 128 - - _Anthologia_, translation of an epigram from, by Webb, 88 - - Aratus, _Phenomena_ of, translated by Cicero, 2 - - Arias Montanus, his version of the Scriptures, 67 - - Atterbury, his translation of Horace’s dialogue with Lydia, 85 - - - B - - Barnaby, _Ebrii Barnabæ Itinerarium_, 202 - - Batteux, Abbé, remarks on the art of translation, 3, 4, 112 - - Beattie, Dr., his remark on a passage of Dryden, 58; his remark - on Castalio, 66 - - Beattie, J. H., his translation of Pope’s _Messiah_ quoted, 90 - - Bible, translations of, 64 _et seq._ _See_ Castalio, Arias - Montanus - - Bourne, Vincent, his translation of _Colin and Lucy_, 23; of - _William and Margaret_, 80; of _Chloe hunting_, 82 - - Brown, Thomas, his translations from Lucian, 118 - - Buchanan, his version of the Psalms, 145 - - Burlesque translation, 197 _et seq._ - - Butler. _See_ _Hudibras_ - - - C - - Campbell, Dr., preliminary dissertation to a new translation of - the Gospels, 3, cited 64 _et seq._ - - Casaubon, his translation of Adrian’s _Address to his Soul_, 126 - - Castalio, his version of the Scriptures, 65 - - Cervantes. _See_ _Don Quixote_ - - Chaulieu, his beautiful _Ode on Fontenai_ quoted, 181 - - Chevy-chace, whimsical translation of, 203 - - Cicero had cultivated the art of translation, 1; translated - Plato’s _Timæus_, Xenophon’s _Œconomics_, and the _Phenomena_ - of Aratus, 2 - - ——, epistles of, translated by Melmoth, 17, 28, 32 - - Claudian, translation from, by Hughes, 89 - - _Colin and Lucy_, translated by Bourne, 23; by Le Mierre, _see_ - Appendix, No. 1 - - Colloquial phrases, 135 _et seq._ - - Congreve, translation from Horace cited, 57 - - Cotton, his translation of Montaigne cited, 138; his Virgil - travesty, 201 - - Cowley, translation from Horace cited, 56 - - Cumberland, Mr., his excellent translations of fragments of the - ancient Greek dramatists, 90 _et seq._ - - Cunighius, his translation of the _Iliad_ cited, 49, 55 - - - D - - Definition or description of a good translation, 8 - - Delille, or De Lille, his opinion as to the liberty allowed in - poetical translation, 46; his translation of the _Georgics_ - cited, 61, 73 - - Denham, his opinion of the liberty allowed in translating - poetry, 35; his compliment to Fanshaw, 43 - - Descriptions, containing a series of minute distinctions, - extremely difficult to be translated, 188 - - Diphilus, fragment of, translated by Mr. Cumberland, 91 - - _Don Quixote_, difficulty of translating that romance, 150; - comparison of the translations of, by Motteux and Smollet, 151 - _et seq._ - - Dryden improved poetical translation, 44; his translation of - Lucian’s dialogues, 29, 118; his translation of Virgil cited, - 30, 57, 58, 72; his translation of Du Fresnoy on painting, 59, - 110; his translations from Horace, 59, 125; his translation of - Tacitus, 70; translation from Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_, 76 - - Duclos, a just observation of, 14 - - Du Fresnoy’s _Art of Painting_ admirably translated by Mr. - Mason, 27; translation of, by Dryden, 59, 110 - - - E - - Echard, his translation of Plautus cited, 77, 143 _et seq._ - - ——, his translation of Terence cited, 138, 140, 143 _et seq._ - - Ellipsis more freely admitted in Latin than in English, 105 - - Epigrams sometimes incapable of translation, 147 - - Epigram from Martial well translated, 53 - - _Epistolæ obscurorum virorum_, 68 - - Epithets used by Homer, sometimes mere expletives, 31 - - - F - - Fanshaw praised as a translator by Denham, 43; his translation - of _Pastor Fido_ cited, 44 - - Fenelon’s _Telemachus_, 108 - - Festus _de verborum significatione_, 13 - - Florid writing, 179, 192 - - Folard, his commentary on Polybius erroneous from his ignorance - of the Greek language, 11 - - Fontaine, La, his character as a fabulist drawn by Marmontel, - 185 - - ——, his fables cited, 184, 188 - - Fontaines, Abbé des, his translation of Virgil, 69 - - Fontenelle, his translation of Adrian’s _Address to his Soul_, - 127 - - Fresnoy. _See_ Du Fresnoy. - - - G - - Girard, _Synonymes François_, 14 - - Gordon’s Tacitus cited, 19, 104; his injudicious imitation of - the Latin construction, 19, 104 - - Greek language admits of inversions which are inconsistent with - the genius of the English, 104 - - Guischardt has demonstrated the errors in Folard’s commentary - on Polybius, 11 - - - H - - Hobbes, his translation of Homer cited, 50, 71, 146 - - Hogæus, _Paradisus Amissus Miltoni_ cited, 61 - - Holland’s translation of Pliny cited, 191 - - Homer, his epithets frequently mere expletives, 32 - - Homer, characteristics of his style, 69 - - ——, Pope’s translation of the _Iliad_ cited, 25, 31, 46 _et - seq._, 60, 71, 73 (_see_ Cunighius, Hobbes); Mr. Pope departs - sometimes from the character of Homer’s style, 69; translation - of the _Odyssey_ cited, 146; Macpherson’s Homer cited, 105, 108 - - Horace, translations from, cited. _Vide_ Jonson, Roscommon, - Dryden, Congreve, Nivernois, Hughes - - _Hudibras_, remarkable combination of wit and humour in that - poem, 213; Voltaire has attempted to translate some passages of - that poem, 214 _et seq._; excellent French translation of that - poem cited, 215 - - Hughes’s translation from Claudian cited, 89; ditto from - Horace, 130 - - - I - - Ideas superadded to the original by the translator—examples of, - from Bourne, 23; from Pope’s _Homer_, 25; from his imitations - of Horace, 27; from Johnston’s version of the Psalms, 25; from - Mason’s _Du Fresnoy on Painting_, 27; from Malherbe, 28; from - Melmoth’s _Cicero’s Epistles_, 27; from Dryden’s _Lucian_, 29 - - Ideas retrenched from the original by the translator—examples - of, from Dryden’s _Virgil_, 30; from Pope’s _Iliad_, 31; from - Melmoth’s _Cicero’s Epistles_, 32, 33 - - The liberty of adding to or retrenching from the ideas of - the original, is more allowable in poetical than in prose - translation, 35; and in lyric poetry more than any other, 123 - - Idiomatic phrases, how to be translated, 135; the translation - is perfect, when corresponding idioms are employed, 137; - examples from Cotton’s translation of Montaigne, from Echard, - Sterne, 138 _et seq._; licentiousness in the translation of - idioms, 140; examples, 141; translator’s resource when no - corresponding idioms are to be found, 147 - - _Iliad._ _See_ Homer - - Isidorus Hispalensis, _Origines_, 13 - - - J - - Jonson, Ben, translation from Horace, 36 _et seq._ - - Johnston, Arthur, his translation of the Psalms, 25, 144 - - Jortin, Dr., translation from Simonides, 85 - - Juvenal, translation of, by Holiday cited, 38 - - - L - - Latin language admits of a brevity of expression which - cannot be successfully imitated in English, 96; it admits of - inversions, which are inconsistent with the genius of the - English, 104; admits of ellipsis more freely than the English, - 105 - - L’Estrange, his translations from Seneca cited, 78 - - Lowth, Dr., his imitation of an ode of Horace, 124 - - Lucan. _See_ May, Rowe. - - _Lucian_, Francklin’s translation of, cited, 118 _et seq._; - Dryden’s, Brown’s, &c., 117 _et seq._ - - - M - - Macpherson’s translation of the _Iliad_, 105, 108 - - Malherbe cited, 28 - - Markham, Dr., his imitation of Simonides, 87 - - Mason’s translation of Du Fresnoy’s _Art of Painting_, 27 - - May, his translation of Lucan, 39 _et seq._; compared with - Rowe’s, 41 - - Melmoth, one of the best of the English translators, 32, 114 - _et seq._; his translation of Cicero’s _Epistles_ cited, 17, - 28, 32, 96, 98, 114, 147; his translation of Pliny’s _Epistles_ - cited, 33, 97, 116, 117, 147; his unjust censure of a passage - in Mr. Pope’s version of the _Iliad_, 31 - - Milton, his translation of Horace’s _Ode to Pyrrha_, 43, App. - No. 2 - - ——, a passage from his tractate on education difficult to be - translated with corresponding simplicity, 179; his _Paradise - Lost_ cited, 177 (_see_ Hogæus); his _Comus_ cited, 178 - - Moncrif, his ballad of _Alexis et Alis_, 129 - - Montaigne, Cotton’s translation of, cited, 138 - - Motteux, his translation of _Don Quixote_ compared with that of - Smollet, 151 _et seq._; his translation of Rabelais, 222 - - Murphy, his translation of Tacitus cited, 17, 19, 99 _et seq._ - - - N - - _Naïveté_, in what it consists, 183, 185; the fables of Phædrus - are remarkable for this character, 183; as are those of La - Fontaine, 184, 185; _naïveté_ of particular phrases very - difficult to be imitated in a translation, 149 - - Nivernois, Duc de, his translation of Horace’s dialogue with - Lydia, 83 - - Nonius, _de Proprietate Sermonum_, 13 - - - O - - Ovid. _See_ Sandys, Dryden, Anguillara - - Ozell, his edition of Urquhart and Motteux translation of - Rabelais, 223 - - - P - - Paraphrase, examples of, as distinguished from translation, - 124, 127, 128 _et seq._ - - Parnell, his translation of Chaulieu’s verses on Fontenai, 181 - - Phædrus, his fables cited, 183 - - Pitcairne, Dr., his Latin poetry characterised, 143 - - Pitt, eminent as a translator, 206 - - Plautus. _See_ Echard - - Pliny the Elder, his description of the Nightingale, 190; - analysis of a chapter of his _Natural History_, 190 - - Pliny the Younger, his _Epistles_. _See_ Melmoth - - Poem, whether it can be well translated into prose, ch. 8 - - Poetical translation, liberty allowed to it, 35 _et seq._ - - ——, progress of poetical translation in England, 36 _et seq._ - - Poetry, characteristics essential to it, 108; didactic poetry - is the most capable of a prose translation, 109; lyric poetry - incapable of a prose translation, 111; lyric poetry admits of - the greatest liberty in translation, 123 - - Polybius erroneously understood by Folard, 10 - - Pope. _See_ Homer. His translation of Sappho’s _Epistle to - Phaon_ cited, 61; his _Dying Christian to his Soul_, 127 - - Popma, Ausonius, _de Differentiis Verborum_, 13 - - Prior, his _Chloe Hunting_ translated by Bourne, 82 - - - Q - - Quinctilian recommends the practice of translation, 1 - - _Quixote, Don_, comparison of Motteux’s translation of, with - Smollet’s, 151 _et seq._ - - - R - - Rabelais admirably translated by Urquhart and Motteux, ch. 15 - - Roscommon’s Essay on translated verse, 45; a precept of - his, with regard to poetical translation, controverted, 45; - translation from Horace cited, 55 - - Rousseau, _Devin de Village_ cited, 79; his translations from - Tacitus cited, 103 - - Rowe’s Lucan cited, 41 - - - S - - Sandys, his character as a translator of poetry, 42; his - translation of Ovid cited, 42 - - Scarron’s burlesque translation of Virgil cited, 200 - - Seneca. _See_ L’Estrange - - Shakespeare, translations from, by Voltaire, 209 _et seq._; - his phraseology difficult to be imitated in a translation, 177, - 178 - - Simonides, fragment of, translated by Jortin, 85; imitated by - Dr. Markham, 87 - - Simplicity of thought and expression difficult to be imitated - in a translation, 179 - - Smart’s prose translation of Horace, 111 - - Spelman’s _Xenophon_ cited, 136 - - Sterne’s _Slawkenbergius’s Tale_ cited, 139 - - Strada’s _Contest of the Musician and Nightingale_, extreme - difficulty of translating it, 187 - - Style and manner of the original to be imitated in the - translation, 63 _et seq._; a just taste requisite for the - discernment of those characters, 74; limitations of the rule - regarding the imitation of style, 96 _et seq._ - - - T - - Tacitus. _See_ D’Ablancourt, D’Alembert, Gordon, Murphy, - Dryden, Rousseau. Difficulty of translating that author, 120 - - _Telemachus_, a poem in prose, 108 - - Terence. _See_ Echard - - Tickell’s ballad of _Lucy and Colin_, translated by Bourne, 23; - translated by Le Mierre, Appendix, No. 1 - - Timocles, fragment of, translated by Cumberland, 90 - - Townley, Colonel, his translation of _Hudibras_, 218 - - Translation, art of, very little cultivated, 1; ancient - translations, few specimens of, existing, 2 _et seq._; reasons - why the art is at a low ebb among the moderns, 5; description - or definition of a good translation, 7, 8; laws of translation, - 9; first general law, “That the translation should give a - complete transcript of the ideas of the original work,” 10 _et - seq._; second general law, “The style and manner of writing - in a translation should be of the same character with that - of the original,” 63 _et seq._; specimens of good poetical - translations, 80 _et seq._; third general rule, “A translation - should have all the ease of original composition,” 112 _et - seq._; a translator ought always to figure to himself in what - manner the original author would have expressed himself, if he - had written in the language of the translation, 107; licentious - translation, 117; the best translators have shone in original - composition of the same species, 206 - - Travesty or burlesque translation, 197 _et seq._; Scarron’s and - Cotton’s Virgil Travesty, 200, 202 - - - U - - Urquhart, Sir Thomas, his excellent translation of Rabelais, 222 - - - V - - Varro, _de Lingua Latina_, 13 - - Virgil. _See_ Dryden, Delille, Fontaines. Example of false - taste in a passage of Virgil, 199 - - Voltaire, his remark on the Abbé des Fontaines’s translation of - Virgil, 69; his translations from Shakespeare very faulty, 207; - character of the wit of Voltaire, 212; he had no talent for - humorous composition, 213 _et seq._; character of his novels, - 213 - - - W - - Warton, eminent as a poetical translator, 206 - - Wollaston’s _Religion of Nature_, passage from, difficult to be - translated, 180 - - - X - - Xenophon’s _Œconomics_ translated by Cicero, 1, 2; Spelman’s - Xenophon cited, 136 - - RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, - BREAD STREET HILL, E.C., AND - BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLES OF -TRANSLATION *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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