An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway, Martin Brown Ruud [books suggested by bill gates txt] 📗
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who let nothing referring to Shakespeare escape him, speaks (in the
notes to Part I of his translation) of a part of Act III of _Julius
Caesar_ in _Trondhjems Allehaande_. That is all. It it not too much to
emphasize, therefore, that we have here the first Danish version of any
part of _Julius Caesar_ as well as the first Norwegian translation of
any part of Shakespeare into what was then the common literary language
of Denmark and Norway.[7]
[6. _William Shakespeares Tragiske Værker--Første Deel._ Khbn.
Notes at the back of the volume.]
[7. By way of background, a bare enumeration of the early Danish
translations of Shakespeare is here given.
_Hamlet_. Translated by Johannes Boye.
_Macbeth_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt.
_Othello_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt.
_All's Well that Ends Well_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt.
_King Lear_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt.
_Cymbeline_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt.
_The Merchant of Venice_. Translated by Nils Rosenfeldt.
_King Lear_. Nahum Tate's stage version. Translated by Hans
Wilhelm Riber.
_Two Speeches._--To be or not to be--_(Hamlet.)_
Is this a dagger--_(Macbeth.)_
Translated by Malthe Conrad Brun in _Svada_.
Act III, Sc. 2 of _Julius Caesar_. Translated by Knut Lyhne
Rahbek in _Minerva_.
_Macbeth_. Translated by Levin Sander and K.L. Rahbek. Not
published till 1804.
Act V of _Julius Caesar_. Translated by P.F. Foersom in
_Minerva_.
Act IV Sc. 3 of _Love's Labour Lost_. Translated by P.F.
Foersom in _Nytaarsgave for Skuespilyndere._
Hamlet's speech to the players. Translated by P.F. Foersom
in _Nytaarsgave for Skuespilyndere_.
It may be added that in 1807 appeared the first volume of
Foersom's translation of Shakespeare's tragedies, and after 1807
the history of Shakespeare in Denmark is more complicated. With
these matters I shall deal at length in another study.]
B
It was many years before the anonymous contributor to _Trondhjems
Allehaande_ was to have a follower. From 1782 to 1807 Norwegians were
engaged in accumulating wealth, an occupation, indeed, in which they
were remarkably successful. There was no time to meddle with Shakespeare
in a day when Norwegian shipping and Norwegian products were profitable
as never before. After 1807, when the blundering panic of the British
plunged Denmark and Norway into war on the side of Napoleon, there were
sterner things to think of. It was a sufficiently difficult matter to
get daily bread. But in 1818, when the country had, as yet, scarcely
begun to recover from the agony of the Napoleonic wars, the second
Norwegian translation from Shakespeare appeared.[8]
[8. _Coriolanus, efter Shakespeare_. Christiania. 1818.]
The translator of 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.[9]
[9. The first Danish translation of Coriolanus by P.F. Wulff
appeared in 1819.]
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:[10]
_Menenius:_
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.
. . . . .
Jeg Eder det fortælle skal; med et
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.
_Første Borger_:
Hvorledes. Det var Mavens Svar! Hvorledes?
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....
_Menenius_:
Nu hvad skulde de?...
Den Karl mig lader ei til Orde komme,
Hvad vil I sigte med det _hvis de skulde?_
_Første Borger_:
Hvis de nu skulde sig betvinge lade
Ved denne Slughals Maven som blot er
En Afløbs-Rende for vort Legeme?
_Menenius_:
Nu videre!
_Første Borger_:
Hvad vilde Maven svare?
Hvis hine Handlende med Klage fremstod?
_Menenius_:
Hvis I mig skjænke vil det som I have
Kun lidet af, Taalmodighed, jeg mener,
Jeg Eder Mavens Svar da skal fortælle.
_Første Borger_:
I! Den Fortælling ret i Langdrag trækker!
_Menenius_:
Min gode Ven, nu allerførst bemærke.
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....
_Første Borger_:
Det vil vi gjøre.
_Menenius_:
Endskjøndt de ikke alle kunde see,
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?
_Første Borger_:
Et svar det var--
Men nu Andvendelsen!
_Menenius_:
Senatet er
Den gode Mave: I Rebellerne.
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?
[10. _Coriolanus_--Malone's ed. London. 1790. Vol. 7, pp. 148 ff.]
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
And through the cranks and offices of man
The strongest and small inferior veins,
Receive from me that natural competency
Whereby they live.
with our translator's version (lines 50-51)
jeg den flyde lader
Igjennem Menneskets meest fine Dele.
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.
_Coriolanus_:
Skal!
Patrisier, I ædle, men ei vise!
I høie Senatorer, som mon mangle
Al Overlæg, hvi lod I Hydra vælge
En Tjener som med sit bestemte Skal
--Skjøndt blot Uhyrets Talerør og Lyd--
Ei mangler Mod, at sige at han vil
Forvandle Eders Havstrøm til en Sump,
Og som vil gjøre Jer Kanal til sin.
Hvis han har Magten, lad Enfoldighed
Da for ham bukke; har han ingen Magt,
Da vækker Eders Mildhed af sin Dvale,
Den farlig er; hvis I ei mangle Klogskab,
Da handler ei som Daaren; mangler den,
Lad denne ved Jer Side faae en Pude.
Plebeier ere I, hvis Senatorer
De ere, og de ere mindre ei
Naar begge Eders Stemmer sammenblandes
Og naar de kildres meest ved Fornemhed.
De vælge deres egen Øvrighed,
Og saadan Een, der sætte tør sit Skal,
Ja sit gemene Skal mod en Forsamling,
Der mer agtværdig er end nogensinde
Man fandt i Grækenland. Ved Jupiter!
Sligt Consulen fornedrer! Og det smerter
Min Sjæl at vide, hvor der findes tvende
Autoriteter, ingen af dem størst,
Der kan Forvirring lettelig faae Indpas
I Gabet, som er mellem dem, og hæve
Den ene ved den anden.
C
In 1865, Paul Botten Hansen, best known to the English-speaking world
for his relations with Bjørnson and Ibsen, reviewed[11] the eleventh
installment of Lembcke's translation of Shakespeare. The article
does not venture into criticism, but is almost entirely a resumé of
Shakespeare translation in Norway and Denmark. It is less well informed
than we should expect, and contains, among several other slips, the
following "...in 1855, Niels Hauge, deceased the following year as
teacher in Kragerø, translated _Macbeth_, the first faithful version of
this masterpiece which Dano-Norwegian literature could boast of." Botten
Hansen mentions only one previous Danish or Norwegian version of
Shakespeare--Foersom's adaptation of Schiller's stage version (1816).
He is quite obviously ignorant of Rosenfeldt's translation of 1790; and
the Rahbek-Sanders translation of 1801 seems also to have escaped him,
although Hauge expressly refers to this work in his introduction. Both
of these early attempts are in prose; Foersom's, to be sure, is in blank
verse, but Foersom's _Macbeth_ is not Shakespeare's. Accordingly, it is,
in a sense, true that Hauge in 1855 did give the Dano-Norwegian public
their first taste of an unspoiled _Macbeth_ in the vernacular.[12]
[11. _Illustreret Nyhedsblad_--1865, p. 96.]
[12. _Macbeth--Tragedie i fem Akter af William Shakespeare_.
Oversat og fortolket af N. Hauge. Christiania. 1855. Johan Dahl.]
Hauge tells us that he had interested himself in English literature
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