An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway, Martin Brown Ruud [books suggested by bill gates txt] 📗
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Her rammed den høielskte Bruti Dolk, etc.
[20. _Julius Caesar_. Et Skuespil af William Shakespeare. Oversat
af Hartvig Lassen. Udgivet af Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens
Fremme som første Tillægshefte til _Folkevennen_ for 1882.
Kristiania, 1882. Grøndal og Søn.]
For the rest, a reading of this translation leaves the same impression
as a reading of _The Merchant of Venice_--it is a reasonably good
piece of work but distinctly inferior to Foersom and to Lembcke's
modernization of Foersom. Lassen clearly had Lembcke at hand; he seldom,
however, followed him for more than a line or two. What is more
important is that there are reminiscences of Foersom not only in
the funeral scene, where Lassen himself acknowledges the fact, but
elsewhere. Note a few lines from the quarrel between Brutus and Cassius
(Act IV, Sc. 3) beginning with Cassius' speech:
Urge me no more, I shall forget myself.
Foersom (Ed. 1811) has:
_Cas_:
Tir mig ei mer at jeg ei glemmer mig;
husk Eders Vel--og frist mig ikke mere.
_Bru_:
Bort, svage Mand!
_Cas_:
Er dette muligt?
_Bru_:
Hør mig; jeg vil tale.
Skal jeg for Eders vilde Sind mig bøie?
Troer I jeg kyses af en gal Mands Blik?
_Cas_:
O Guder, Guder! skal jeg taale dette?
_Bru_:
Ja, meer. Brum saa dette stolte Hierte brister;
Gak, viis den Hæftighed for Eders Trælle,
og faa dem til at skielve. Skal jeg vige,
og føie Eder? Skal jeg staae og bøie
mig under Eders Luners Arrighed?
Ved Guderne, I skal nedsvælge selv
al Eders Galdes Gift, om end I brast;
thi fra i dag af bruger jeg Jer kun
til Moerskab, ja til latter naar I vredes.
And Lassen has:
_Cas_:
_Tirr_ mig ei mer; jeg kunde glemme mig.
Tænk paa dit eget Vel, frist mig ei længer.
_Bru_:
_Bort, svage Mand_!
_Cas_:
Er dette muligt?
_Bru_:
Hør mig, jeg vil tale.
Skal jeg _mig bøie_ for din Vredes Nykker?
Og skræmmes, naar en gal Mand glor paa mig?
_Cas_:
O Guder, Guder! maa jeg taale dette?
_Bru_:
Dette, ja mer end det. Stamp kun mod Brodden,
ras kun, indtil dit stolte Hjerte brister;
lad dine Slaver se hvor arg du er
og _skjelve_. Jeg--skal jeg tilside smutte?
Jeg gjøre Krus for dig? Jeg krumme Ryg
naar det behager dig? Ved Guderne!
Du selv skal _svælge_ al din _Galdes Gift_,
om saa du brister; thi fra denne Dag
jeg bruger dig til Moro, ja til Latter,
naar du er ilsk.
The _italicized_ passages show that the influence of Foersom was felt
in more than one scene. It would be easy to give other instances.
After all this, we need scarcely more than mention Lassen's
_Macbeth_[21] published in 1883. The usual brief note at the end of the
play gives the usual information that, out of regard for the purpose for
which the translation has been made, certain parts of the porter scene
and certain speeches by Malcolm in Act IV, Sc. 3 have been cut. Readers
will have no difficulty in picking them out.
[21. _Macbeth_. Tragedie af William Shakespeare. Oversat af
Lassen. Udgivet af Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens Fremme somandet Tillægshefte til _Folkevennen_ for 1883. Kristiania. Grøndal
og Søn.]
_Macbeth_ is, like all Lassen's work, dull and prosaic. Like his other
translations from Shakespeare, it has never become popular. The standard
translation in Norway is still the Foersom-Lembcke, a trifle
nationalized with Norwegian words and phrases whenever a new acting
version is to be prepared. And while it is not true that Lassen's
translations are merely norvagicized editions of the Danish, it is true
that they are often so little independent of them that they do not
deserve to supersede the work of Foersom and Lembcke.
G
Norwegian translations of Shakespeare cannot, thus far, be called
distinguished. There is no complete edition either in Riksmaal or
Landsmaal. A few sonnets, a play or two, a scrap of dialogue--Norway
has little Shakespeare translation of her own. Qualitatively, the case
is somewhat better. Several of the renderings we have considered are
extremely creditable, though none of them can be compared with the
best in Danish or Swedish. It is a grateful task, therefore, to call
attention to the translations by Christen Collin. They are not
numerous--only eleven short fragments published as illustrative material
in his school edition (English text) of _The Merchant of Venice_--[22]
but they are of notable quality, and they save the Riksmaal literature
from the reproach of surrendering completely to the Landsmaal the task
of turning Shakespeare into Norwegian. With the exception of a few lines
from _Macbeth_ and _Othello_, the selections are all from _The Merchant
of Venice_.
[22. _The Merchant of Venice_. Med Indledning og Anmærkninger ved
Christen Collin. Kristiania. 1902. (This, of course, does not
include the translations of the sonnets referred to below.)]
A good part of Collin's success must be attributed to his intimate
familiarity with English. The fine nuances of the language do not escape
him, and he can use it not with precision merely but with audacity and
power. Long years of close and sympathetic association with the
literature of England has made English well-nigh a second mother tongue
to this fine and appreciative critic. But he is more than a critic. He
has more than a little of the true poet's insight and the true poet's
gift of song. All this has combined to give us a body of translations
which, for fine felicity, stand unrivalled in Dano-Norwegian. Many of
these have been prepared for lecture purposes and have never been
printed.[23] Only a few have been perpetuated in this text edition of
_The Merchant of Venice_. We shall discuss the edition itself below.
Our concern here is with the translations. We remember Lassen's and
Lembcke's opening of the fifth act. Collin is more successful than his
countryman.
_Lor_:
Hvor Maanen straaler! I en nat som denne,
da milde vindpust kyssed skovens trær
og alting var saa tyst, i slig en nat
Troilus kanske steg op paa Trojas mure
og stønned ud sin sjæl mod Grækerteltene
hvor Cressida laa den nat.
_Jes_:
I slig en nat
kom Thisbe angstfuldt trippende over duggen,--
saa løvens skygge, før hun saa den selv,
og løb forskrækket bort.
_Lor_:
I slig en nat
stod Dido med en vidjekvist i haand
paa havets strand og vinkede Æneas
tilbage til Karthago.
_Jes_:
I slig en nat
Medea sanked urter som foryngede
den gamle Æsons liv.
_Lor_:
I slig en nat
stjal Jessica sig fra den rige Jøde
med en forfløien elsker fra Venedig
og fandt i Belmont ly.
_Jes_:
I en saadan nat
svor ung Lorenzo at hun var ham kjær
og stjal med mange eder hendes hjerte,
men ikke en var sand.
_Lor_:
I slig en nat
skjøn Jessica, den lille heks, bagtalte
sin elsker og han--tilgav hende alt.
[23. I have seen these translations in the typewritten copies
which Professor Collin distributed among his students.]
"A translation of this passage," says Collin,[24] "can hardly be more
than an approximation, but its inadequacy will only emphasize the
beauty of the original." Nevertheless we have here more than a feeble
approximation. It is not equal to Shakespeare, but it is good Norwegian
poetry and as faithful as translation can or need be. It is difficult to
refrain from giving Portia's plea for mercy, but I shall give instead
Collin's striking rendering of Shylock's arraignment of Antonio:[25]
Signor Antonio, mangen en gang og tit
har paa Rialto torv I skjældt mig ud
for mine pengelaan og mine renter....
Jeg bar det med taalmodigt skuldertræk,
for taalmod er jo blit vor stammes merke.
I kalder mig en vantro, blodgrisk _hund_
og spytter paa min jødiske gaberdin--
hvorfor? for brug af hvad der er mit eget!
Nu synes det, I trænger til min hjælp.
Nei virkelig? I kommer nu til mig
og siger: Shylock, laan os penge,--I,
som slængte eders slim hen paa mit skjæg
og satte foden paa mig, som I spændte,
en kjøter fra Jer dør, I be'r om penge!
Hvad skal jeg svare vel? Skal jeg 'ke svare:
Har en hund penge? Er det muligt, at
en kjøter har tre tusinde dukater?
Eller skal jeg bukke dybt og i trælletone
med sænket røst og underdanig hvisken
formæle:
"Min herre, I spytted paa mig sidste onsdag,
en anden dag I spændte mig, en tredje
I kaldte mig en hund; for al den artighed
jeg laaner Jer saa og saa mange penge?"
[24. Collin, _op. cit._, _Indledning_, XII.]
[25. Collin, _op. cit._, _Indledning_, XXVI. (_M. of V._, 1-3)]
It is to be regretted that Collin did not give us Shylock's still more
impassioned outburst to Salarino in Act III. He would have done it well.
It would be a gracious task to give more of this translator's work. It
is, slight though its quantity, a genuine contribution to the body of
excellent translation literature of the world. I shall quote but one
more passage, a few lines from _Macbeth_.[26]
"Det tyktes mig som hørte jeg en røst;
Sov aldrig mer! Macbeth har myrdet søvnen,
den skyldfri søvn, som løser sorgens floke,
hvert daglivs død, et bad for mødig møie,
balsam for sjælesaar og alnaturens
den søde efterret,--dog hovednæringen
ved livets gjæstebud....
_Lady Macbeth_:
Hvad er det, du mener?
_Macbeth_:
"Sov aldrig mer," det skreg til hele huset.
Glarais har myrdet søvnen, derfor Cawdor
skal aldrig mer faa søvn,--Macbeth,
Macbeth skal aldrig mer faa søvn!"
[26. Collin, _op. cit._, _Indledning_, XXV. _Macbeth_ II, 1.]
H
We have hitherto discussed the Norwegian translations of Shakespeare in
almost exact chronological order. It has been possible to do this
because the plays have either been translated by a single man and issued
close together, as in the case of Hartvig Lassen, or they have appeared
separately from the hands of different translators and at widely
different periods. We come now, however, to a group of translations
which, although the work of different men and published independently
from 1901 to 1912, nevertheless belong together. They are all in
Landsmaal and they represent quite clearly an effort to enrich the
literature of the new dialect with translations from Shakespeare. To do
this successfully would, obviously, be a great gain. The Maalstrævere
would thereby prove the capacity of their tongue for the highest, most
exotic forms of literature. They would give to it, moreover, the
discipline which the translation of foreign classics could not fail to
afford. It was thus a renewal of the missionary spirit of Ivar Aasen.
And behind it all was the defiant feeling that Norwegians should have
Shakespeare in Norwegian, not in Danish or bastard Danish.
The spirit of these translations is obvious enough from the opening
sentence of Madhus' preface to his translation of _Macbeth_:[27]
"I should hardly have ventured to publish this first attempt at a
Norwegian translation of Shakespeare if competent men had not urged me
to do so." It is frankly declared to be the first Norwegian translation
of Shakespeare. Hauge and Lassen, to say nothing of the translator of
1818, are curtly dismissed from Norwegian literature. They belong to
Denmark. This might be true if it were
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