第33章

TheDivineComedyofDanteAlighieri。TranslatedbyHenryWadsworthLongfellow。3vols。Boston:Ticknor&Fields，1867。 THEtaskofatranslatorisathanklessoneatbest。Beheneversoskilfulandaccurate，beheneversoamplyendowedwiththedivinequalificationsofthepoet，itisstillquestionableifhecaneversucceedinsayingsatisfactorilywithnewwordsthatwhichhasoncebeeninimitablysaid——saidforalltime——withtheoldwords。Psychologically，thereisperhapsnothingmorecomplexthananelaboratepoem。Thesourcesofitseffectuponourmindsmaybelikenedtoasystemofforceswhichisinthehighestdegreeunstable；andtheslightestdisplacementofphrases，bydisturbingthedelicaterhythmicalequilibriumofthewhole，mustinevitablyawakenajarringsensation。“MatthewArnoldhasgivenusanexcellentseriesoflecturesupontranslatingHomer，inwhichhedoubtlesssucceedsinshowingthatsomemethodsoftranslationarepreferabletoothers，butinwhichheprovesnothingsoforciblyasthatthesimplicityandgrace，therapidity，dignity，andfire，ofHomerarequiteincommunicable，savebytheverywordsinwhichtheyfirstfoundexpression。AndwhatisthussaidofHomerwillapplytoDantewithperhapsevengreaterforce。WithnearlyallofHomer’sgrandeurandrapidity，thoughnotwithnearlyallhissimplicity，thepoemofDantemanifestsapeculiarintensityofsubjectivefeelingwhichwasforeigntotheageofHomer，asindeedtoallpre-Christianantiquity。Butconcerningthisweneednotdilate，asithasoftenbeendulyremarkedupon，andnotablybyCarlyle，inhis“LecturesonHero-Worship。“Whothathasonceheardthewailofunutterabledespairsoundingintheline“Ahi，duraterra，perchenont’apristi？“ canrestsatisfiedwiththeinterpretation“Ah，obdurateearth，whereforedidstthounotopen？“ yetthisrenderingisliterallyexact。 AsDantehimselfobserves，“Eperosappiaciascuno，chenullacosaperlegamemusaicoarmonizzatasipuodellasueloquelainaltratrasmutaresanzaromperetuttasuedolcezzaearmonia。EquestaelaragionepercheOmerononsimutodigrecoinlatino，comel’altrescritturecheavemodaloro:equestaelaragionepercheiversidelPsalterosonosanzadolcezzadimusicaed’armonia；cheessifuronotrasmutatid’ebreoingreco，edigrecoinlatino，enellaprimatrasmutazionetuttaquelladolcezzavennemeno。“Convito，I。7，OpereMinori，Tom。 p。80。ThenobleEnglishversionofthePsalmspossessesabeautywhichisallitsown。 Asecondobstacle，hardlylessformidable，hardlylessfataltoasatisfactorytranslation，ispresentedbythehighlycomplicatedsystemoftriplerhymeuponwhichDante’spoemisconstructed。 This，whichmusteverbeastumbling-blocktothetranslator，seemsrarelytointerferewiththefreeandgracefulmovementoftheoriginalwork。Themightythoughtofthemasterfeltnoimpedimentfromtheelaborateartisticpanoplywhichmustneedsobstructandharasstheinterpretationofthedisciple。Dante’sterzarimaisabowofOdysseuswhichweakermortalscannotbendwithanyamountoftugging，andwhichMr。Longfellowhasjudiciouslyrefrainedfromtryingtobend。Yetnoonecanfailtoremarktheprodigiouslossentailedbythisnecessarysacrificeofoneofthemoststrikingcharacteristicsoftheoriginalpoem。 LetanyonewhohasdulyreflecteduponthestrangeandsubtleeffectproducedonhimbythepeculiarrhymeofTennyson’s“InMemoriam，“endeavourtorealizetheverydifferenteffectwhichwouldbeproducediftheversesweretobealternatedorcoupledinsuccessivepairs，orifrhymeweretobeabandonedforblankverse。Theexquisitemelodyofthepoemwouldbesilenced。Therhyme-systemofthe“DivineComedy“refusesequallytobetamperedwithorignored。Itseffectupontheearandthemindisquiteasremarkableasthatoftherhyme-systemof“InMemoriam“； andtheimpossibilityofreproducingitisonegoodreasonwhyDantemustalwayssufferevenmorefromtranslationthanmostpoets。 Something，too，mustbesaidofthedifficultiesinevitablyarisingfromthediversestructureandgeniusoftheItalianandEnglishlanguages。Nonewilldenythatmanyofthemareinsurmountable。Takethethirdlineofthefirstcanto，—— “Cheladirittaviaerasmarrita，“ whichMr。Longfellowtranslates“Forthestraightforwardpathwayhadbeenlost。“ Perhapsthereisnobetterwordthan“lost“bywhichtotranslatesmarritainthisplace；yetthetwowordsarefarfromequivalentinforce。Aboutthewordsmarritathereisthrownawidepenumbraofmeaningwhichdoesnotbelongtothewordlost。[35]Byitsdiffuseconnotationsthewordsmarritacallsupinourmindsanadequatepictureofthebewildermentandperplexityofonewhoislostinatracklessforest。Thehigh-roadwithout，beatenhardbyincessantoverpassingofmenandbeastsandwheeledvehicles，graduallybecomesmetamorphosedintotheshadylane，wheregrasssproutsupranklybetweentheruts，wherebushesencroachupontheroadside，wherefallentrunksnowandtheninterceptthetraveller；andthisinturnislostincrookedby-ways，amidbramblesandunderbrushandtangledvines，growingfantasticallyathwartthepath，shootinguponallsidesoftilebewilderedwanderer，andrenderingadvanceandretreatalikehopeless。Noonewhoinchildhoodhaswanderedaloneinthewoodscanhelpfeelingallthissuggestedbythewordsmarritainthispassage。 Howbaldincomparisonisthewordlost，whichmightequallybeappliedtoapathway，areputation，andapocket-book！[36]TheEnglishisnodoubtthemostcopiousandvariouslyexpressiveofalllivinglanguages，yetIdoubtifitcanfurnishanywordcapablebyitselfofcallingupthecompleximagesheresuggestedbysmarrita。[37]Andthisisbutoneexample，outofmanythatmightbecited，inwhichthelackofexactparallelismbetweenthetwolanguagesemployedcauseseverytranslationtosuffer。 SeeDiez，RomanceDictionary，s。v。“Marrir。“ OnliterallyretranslatinglostintoItalian，weshouldgetthequitedifferentwordperduta。 ThemoreflexiblemethodofDr。Parsonsleadstoamoresatisfactorybutstillinadequateresult:—— “Half-wayonourlife’sJourney，inawood，FromtherightpathIfoundmyselfastray。“ Allthese，however，aredifficultieswhichlieinthenatureofthings，——difficultiesforwhichthetranslatorisnotresponsible；ofwhichhemusttrytomakethebestthatcanbemade，butwhichhecanneverexpectwhollytosurmount。Wehavenowtoinquirewhethertherearenototherdifficulties，avoidablebyonemethodoftranslation，thoughnotbyanother； andincriticizingMr。Longfellow，wehavechieflytoaskwhetherhehaschosenthebestmethodoftranslation，——thatwhichmostsurelyandreadilyawakensinthereader’smindtheideasandfeelingsawakenedbytheoriginal。 Thetranslatorofapoemmayproceeduponeitheroftwodistinctprinciples。Inthefirstcase，hemayrenderthetextofhisoriginalintoEnglish，lineforlineandwordforword，preservingasfaraspossibleitsexactverbalsequences，andtranslatingeachindividualwordintoanEnglishwordasnearlyaspossibleequivalentinitsetymologicalforce。Inthesecondcase，disregardingmeresyntacticandetymologicequivalence，hisaimwillbetoreproducetheinnermeaningandpoweroftheoriginal，sofarastheconstitutionaldifferenceofthetwolanguageswillpermithim。 ItisthefirstofthesemethodsthatMr。LongfellowhasfollowedinhistranslationofDante。Fidelitytothetextoftheoriginalhasbeenhisguidingprinciple；andeveryonemustadmitthat，incarryingoutthatprinciple，hehasachievedadegreeofsuccessalikedelightfulandsurprising。Themethodofliteraltranslationisnotlikelytoreceiveanymoresplendidillustration。ItisindeedputtothetestinsuchawaythattheshortcomingsnowtobenoticedbearnotuponMr。Longfellow’sownstyleofworksomuchasuponthemethoditselfwithwhichtheyarenecessarilyimplicated。Thesedefectsare，first，thetoofrequentuseofsyntacticinversion，andsecondly，thetoomanifestpreferenceextendedtowordsofRomanicoverwordsofSaxonorigin。 Toillustratethefirstpoint，letmegiveafewexamples。InCantoI。wehave:—— “Sobitterisit，deathislittlemore； ButofthegoodtotreatwhichthereIfound，SpeakwillIoftheotherthingsIsawthere“； whichisthusrenderedbyMr。Cary，—— “Whichtorememberonly，mydismayRenews，inbitternessnotfarfromdeath。 Yettodiscourseofwhattheregoodbefell，AllelsewillIrelatediscoveredthere“； andbyDr。Parsons，—— “Itsverythoughtisalmostdeathtome； Yet，havingfoundsomegoodthere，IwilltellOfotherthingswhichthereIchancedtosee。“[38] “Tantoeamara，chepocoepiumorte: Mapertrattardelteench’i’vitrovai，Dirodell’altreBose，ch’iov’hoscorte。“ Inferno，I。7-10。 AgaininCantoX。wefind:—— “TheircemeteryhaveuponthissideWithEpicurusallhisfollowers，Whowiththebodymortalmakethesoul“；—— aninversionwhichisperhapsnotmoreunidiomaticthanMr。 Cary’s，—— “ThecemeteryonthispartobtainWithEpicurusallhisfollowers，Whowiththebodymakethespiritdie“； butwhichisadvantageouslyavoidedbyMr。Wright，—— “HereEpicurushathhisfierytomb，Andwithhimallhisfollowers，whomaintainThatsoulandbodyshareonecommondoom“； andisstillbetterrenderedbyDr。Parsons，—— “Hereintheircemeteryonthisside，Withhiswholesect，isEpicuruspent，Whothoughtthespiritwithitsbodydied。“[39]