You are here
قراءة كتاب An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway
تنويه: تعرض هنا نبذة من اول ١٠ صفحات فقط من الكتاب الالكتروني، لقراءة الكتاب كاملا اضغط على الزر “اشتر الآن"
An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway
this version of Coriolanus is unknown. Beyond the bare statement on the title page that the translation is made directly from Shakespeare and that it is printed and published in Christiania by Jacob Lehmann, there is no information to be had. Following the title there is a brief quotation from Dr. Johnson and one from the "Zeitung für die elegante Welt." Again Norway anticipates her sister nation; for not till the following year did Denmark get her first translation of the play.I.9
Ewald, Oehlenschlæger, and Foersom had by this time made the blank verse of Shakespeare a commonplace in Dano-Norwegian literature. Even the mediocre could attempt it with reasonable assurance of success. The Coriolanus of 1818 is fairly correct, but its lumbering verse reveals plainly that the translator had trouble with his metre. Two or three examples will illustrate. First, the famous allegory of Menenius:I.10
I enten maae erkjende at I ere
Heel ondskabsfulde, eller taale, man
For Uforstandighed anklager Eder.
Et snurrigt Eventyr jeg vil fortælle;
Maaskee I har det hørt, men da det tjener
Just til min Hensigt, jeg forsøge vil
Nøiagtigen det Eder at forklare.
Slags Smil, der sig fra Lungen ikke skrev;
Omtrent saaledes—thi I vide maae
Naar jeg kan lade Maven tale, jeg
Den og kan lade smile—stikende
Den svarede hvert misfornøiet Lem
Og hver Rebel, som den misundte al
Sin Indtægt; Saa misunde I Senatet
Fordi det ikke er det som I ere.
Og Hovedet, der kongeligt er kronet,
Og Øiet, der er blot Aarvaagenhed;
Og Hjertet, som os giver gode Raad;
Og Tungen, vor Trumpet, vor Stridsmand, Armen,
Og Foden, vores Pragthest, med de flere
Befæstingner, der støtte vor Maskine,
Hvis de nu skulde....
Den Karl mig lader ei til Orde komme,
Hvad vil I sigte med det hvis de skulde?
Ved denne Slughals Maven som blot er
En Afløbs-Rende for vort Legeme?
Hvis hine Handlende med Klage fremstod?
Kun lidet af, Taalmodighed, jeg mener,
Jeg Eder Mavens Svar da skal fortælle.
Agtværdig Mave brugte Overlæg;
Ei ubetænksom den sig overiled
Som dens Modstandere; og saa lød Svaret:
I Venner som fra mig ei skilles kan!
Det Sandhed er, at jeg fra første Haand
Modtager Næringen som Eder føder,
Og dette i sin Orden er, thi jeg
Et Varelager og et Forraads-Kammer
Jo er for Legemet; men ei I glemme:
Jeg Næringen igjennem Blodets Floder
Og sender lige hen til Hoffet-Hjertet—
Til Hjernens Sæde; jeg den flyde lader
Igjennem Menneskets meest fine Dele;
Og de meest fast Nerver, som de mindste
Blandt Aarene fra mig modtager hver
Naturlig Kraft, hvormed de leve, og
Endskjøndt de ikke alle paa eengang—
I gode Venner (det var Mavens Ord)
Og mærker dem heel nøie....
Hvad jeg tilflyde lader hver især,
Saa kan jeg dog med gyldigt Dokument
Bevise at jeg overlader dem
Den rene Kjærne, selv beholder Kliddet.
Hvad siger I dertil?
I undersøge blot de Raad det giver
Og alt dets Omhue. Overveier nøie
Alt hvad til Statens Velferd monne sigte,
Og da I finde vil, at fra Senatet
Hver offentlig Velgjerning som I nyde
Sit Udspring bar, men ei fra Eder selv—
Hvad tænker I, som er den store Taae
Her i Forsamlingen?
Aside from the preponderance of feminine endings, which is inevitable in Scandinavian blank verse, what strikes us most in this translation is its laboriousness. The language is set on end. Inversion and transposition are the devices by which the translator has managed to give Shakespeare in metrically decent lines. The proof of this is so patent that I need scarcely point out instances. But take the first seven lines of the quotation. Neither in form nor content is this bad, yet no one with a feeling for the Danish language can avoid an exclamation, "forskruet Stil" and "poetiske Stylter." And lines 8-9 smack unmistakably of Peder Paars. In the second place, the translator often does not attempt to translate at all. He gives merely a paraphrase. Compare lines 1-3 with the English original; the whole of the speech of the first citizen, 17-24, 25-27, where the whole implied idea is fully expressed; 28-30, etc., etc. We might offer almost every translation of Shakespeare's figures as an example. One more instance. At times even paraphrase breaks down. Compare
The strongest and small inferior veins,
Receive from me that natural competency
Whereby they live.
with our translator's version (lines 50-51)
This is not even good paraphrase; it is simply bald and helpless rendering.
On the other hand, it would be grossly unfair to dismiss it all with a sneer. The translator has succeeded for the most part in giving the sense of Shakespeare in smooth and sounding verse, in itself no small achievement. Rhetoric replaces poetry, it is true, and paraphrase dries up the freshness and the sparkle of the metaphor. But a Norwegian of that day who got his first taste of Shakespeare from the translation before us, would at least feel that here was the power of words, the music and sonorousness of elevated dramatic poetry.
One more extract and I am done. It is Coriolanus' outburst of wrath against the pretensions of the tribunes (III.1). With all its imperfections, the translation is almost adequate.
Patrisier, I ædle, men ei vise!
I høie Senatorer, som mon mangle
Al Overlæg, hvi lod I Hydra vælge
En