An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway, Martin Brown Ruud [books suggested by bill gates txt] 📗
- Author: Martin Brown Ruud
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modern, essentially German _De_ in a Norwegian translation of
Shakespeare. If a formal form must be used it should, as a matter
of course, be _I_.
Nor is the translation itself so accurate as it should be. For example,
what does it mean when Marcellus tells Bernardo that he had implored
Horatio "at vogte paa minutterne inat" (to watch over the minutes this
night)? Again, in the King's speech to Hamlet (Act I, Sc. 2) the phrase
"bend you to remain" is rendered by the categorical "se til at bli
herhjemme," which is at least misleading. Little inaccuracies of this
sort are not infrequent.
But, after all, a translator with a new variorum and a wealth of
critical material at hand cannot go far wrong in point of mere
translation. The chief indictment to be made against Blom's translation
is its prosiness, its prosy, involved sentences, its banality. What in
Shakespeare is easy and mellifluous often becomes in Blom so vague that
its meaning has to be discovered by a reference to the original.
We gave, some pages back, Ivar Aasen's translation of Hamlet's
soliloquy. The interesting thing about that translation is not only that
it is the first one in Norwegian but that it was made into a new dialect
by the creator of that dialect himself. When we look back and consider
what Aasen had to do--first, make a literary medium, and then pour into
the still rigid and inelastic forms of that language the subtlest
thinking of a great world literature--we gain a new respect for his
genius. Fifty years later Blom tried his hand at the same soliloquy. He
was working in an old and tried literary medium--Dano-Norwegian. But he
was unequal to the task:
At være eller ikke være, det
problemet er: Om det er større av
en sjæl at taale skjæbnens pil og slynge
end ta til vaaben mot et hav av plager
og ende dem i kamp? At dø,--at sove,
ei mer; og tro, at ved en søvn vi ender
vor hjerteve og livets tusen støt,
som kjød er arving til--det maal for livet
maa ønskes inderlig. At dø,--at sove--
at sove!--Kanske drømme! Der er knuten;
for hvad i dødsens søvn vi monne drømme,
naar livets lænke vi har viklet av,
det holder os igjen; det er det hensyn,
som gir vor jammer her saa langt et liv' etc.
K
Much more interesting than Blom's attempt, and much more significant,
is a translation and working over of _As You Like It_ which appeared
in November of the same year. The circumstances under which this
translation were made are interesting. Fru Johanne Dybwad, one of the
"stars" at the National Theater was completing her twenty-fifth year
of service on the stage, and the theater wished to commemorate the event
in a manner worthy of the actress. For the gala performance, Herman
Wildenvey, a poet of the young Norway, made a new translation and
adaptation of _As You Like It_.[38] And no choice could have been more
felicitous. Fru Dybwad had scored her greatest success as Puck; the life
and sparkle and jollity of that mischievous wight seemed like a poetic
glorification of her own character. It might be expected, then, that she
would triumph in the rôle of Rosalind.
[38: _As You Like It_, eller _Livet i Skogen_. Dramatisk Skuespil
av William Shakespeare. Oversat og bearbeidet for Nationaltheatret
av Herman Wildenvey. Kristiania og København. 1912.]
Then came the problem of a stage version. A simple cutting of Lembcke
seemed inappropriate to this intensely modern woman. There was danger,
too, that Lembcke's faithful Danish would hang heavy on the light and
sparkling Norwegian. Herman Wildenvey undertook to prepare an acting
version that should fit the actress and the occasion. The result is the
text before us. For the songs and intermissions, Johan Halvorsen,
Kapelmester of the theater, composed new music and the theater provided
a magnificent staging. The tremendous stage-success of Wildenvey's _As
You Like It_ belongs rather to stage history, and for the present we
shall confine ourselves to the translation itself.
First, what of the cutting? In a short introduction the translator has
given an apologia for his procedure. It is worth quoting at some length.
"To adapt a piece of literature is, as a rule, not especially
commendable. And now, I who should be the last to do it, have become the
first in this country to attempt anything of the sort with Shakespeare.
"I will not defend myself by saying that most of Shakespeare's plays
require some sort of adaptation to the modern stage if they are to be
played at all. But, as a matter of fact, I have done little adapting. I
have dusted some of the speeches, maltreated others, and finally cut out
a few which would have sputtered out of the mouths of the actors like
fringes of an old tapestry. But, above all, I have tried to reproduce
the imperishable woodland spirit, the fresh breath of out-of-doors which
permeates this play."
Wildenvey then states that in his cuttings he has followed the edition
of the British Empire Shakespeare Society. But the performance in
Kristiania has demanded more, "and my adaptation could not be so
wonderfully ideal. _As You Like It_ is, probably more than any other of
Shakespeare's plays, a jest and only in part a play. Through the title
he has given his work, he has given me the right to make my own
arrangement which is accordingly, yours truly _As You Like It_."
But the most cursory examination will show that this is more than a mere
"cutting." In the first place, the five acts have been cut to four and
scenes widely separated, have often been brought together. In this way
unnecessary scene-shifts have been avoided. But the action has been kept
intact and only two characters have been eliminated: Jacques de Bois,
whose speeches have been given to Le Beau, and Hymen, whose rôle has
been given to Celia. Two or three speeches have been shifted. But to a
reader unacquainted with Shakespeare all this would pass unnoticed, as
would also, doubtless, the serious cutting and the free translation.
A brief sketch of Wildenvey's arrangement will be of service.
[Transcriber's Note:
The summary is given here exactly as it appears in Ruud's text. Note
in particular Wildenvey's I, 2, and Shakespeare's II, 1.]
Act I, Sc. 1.
An open place on the road to Sir Oliver's house.
The scene opens with a short, exceedingly free rendering of
Orlando's speech and runs on to the end of Scene 1 in Shakespeare.
Act I, Sc. 2.
Outside of Duke Frederik's Palace.
Begins with I, 2 and goes to I, 3. Then follows without change of
scene, I, 3. and, following that, 1, 3.
Act II.
In Wildenvey this is all one scene.
Opens with a rhapsodical conversation between the banished duke and
Amiens on the glories of nature and the joys of out-door life. It is
fully in Shakespeare's tone, but Wildenvey's own invention. After
this the scene continues with II, 1. The first lord's speech in
Wildenvey, however, is merely a free adaptation of the original, and
the later speech of the first lord, describing Jacques' reveries on
the hunt, is put into the mouth of Jacques himself. A few entirely
new speeches follow and the company goes out upon the hunt.
There is then a slight pause, but no scene division, and Shakespeare's
II, 4 follows. This is succeeded again without a break, by II, 5, II,
6, and II, 7 (the opening of II, 7 to the entrance of Jacques, is
omitted altogether) to the end of the act.
Act III.
This act has two scenes.
Sc. 1. In Duke Frederik's palace. It opens with II, I and then
follows III, 1.
Sc. 2. In the Forest of Arden. Evening.
Begins with III, 2. Then follows III, 4, III, 5, IV, 1.
Act IV.
Wildenvey's last act (IV) opens with Shakespeare's IV, 2 and
continues: IV, 3, V, 1, V, 2, V, 3, V, 4.
A study of this scheme shows that Wildenvey has done no great violence
to the fable nor to the characters. His shifts and changes are sensible
enough. In the treatment of the text, however, he has had no scruples.
Shakespeare is mercilessly cut and mangled.
The ways in which this is done are many. A favorite device is to break
up long speeches into dialogue. To make this possible he has to put
speeches of his own invention into the mouths of other characters. The
opening of the play gives an excellent illustration. In Wildenvey we
read:
_Orlando_: (kommer ind med tjeneren Adam)
Nu kan du likesaa godt faa vite hvordan alle mine bedrøveligheter
begynder, Adam! Min salig far testamenterte mig nogen fattige tusen
kroner og paala uttrykkelig min bror at gi mig en standsmæssig
opdragelse. Men se hvordan han opfylder sin broderpligt mot mig!
Han lar min bror Jacques studere, og rygtet melder om hans store
fremgang. Men mig underholder han hjemme, det vil si, han holder mig
hjemme uten at underholde mig. For man kan da vel ikke kalde det at
underholde en adelsmand som ellers regnes for at staldfore en okse!
_Adam_:
Det er synd om Eder, herre, I som er min gamle herres bedste søn!
Men jeg tjener Eders bror, og er alene tjener...
_Orl_:
Her hos ham har jeg ikke kunnet lægge mig til noget andet end vækst,
og det kan jeg være ham likesaa forbunden for som hans husdyr hist
og her. Formodentlig er det det jeg har arvet av min fars aand som
gjør oprør mot denne behandling. Jeg har ingen utsigt til nogen
forandring til det bedre, men hvad der end hænder, vil jeg ikke
taale det længer.
Orlando's speech, we see, has been broken up into two, and between the
two new speeches has been interpolated a speech by Adam which does not
occur in the original. The same trick is resorted to repeatedly. Note,
for instance, Jacques first speech on the deer (Act II, 7) and Oliver's
long speech in IV, 3. The purpose of this is plain enough--to enliven
the dialogue and speed up the action. Whether or not it is a legitimate
way of handling Shakespeare is another matter.
More serious than this is Wildenvey's trick of adding whole series of
speeches. We have noted in our survey of the "bearbeidelse" that the
second act opens with a dialogue between the Duke and Amiens which is a
gratuitous addition of Wildenvey's. It is suggested by the original,
but departs from it radically both in form and content.
Den Landflygtige Hertug (kommer ut fra en grotte i skogen)
Vær hilset, dag, som lægges til de andre
av mine mange motgangs dage.
Vær hilset nu, naar solen atter stempler
sit gyldne segl paa jordens stolte pande.
Vær hilset, morgen, med din nye rigdom,
med dug og duft fra alle trær og blomster.
Glade, blanke fugleøines perler
blinker alt av sol som duggens draaper,
hilser mig som herre og som ven. (En fugl flyver op over hans hode.)
Ei, lille sangerskjelm, godt ord igjen?
_Amiens_:
(hertugens ven, kommer likeledes ut av hulen).
Godmorgen, ven og broder i eksilet.
_Hertugen_:
Godmorgen, Amiens, du glade sanger!
Du er vel enig i at slik en morgen
i skogen her med al dens liv og lek
er fuld erstatning for den pragt vi tapte,
ja mer end hoffets smigergyldne falskhet?
_Amiens_:
Det ligner litt paa selve Edens have,
og trær og dyr og andre forekomster
betragter os som Adamer, kanhænde.
_Hertugen_:
Din spøg er vel en saadan sanger værd.
Du mener med at her er alting herlig,
sommer, vinter, vaar og høsttid veksler.
Solen skinner, vind og veiret driver.
Vinterblaasten blaaser op og biter
og fortæller uden
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