Mike,
Have my messages been coming through? I'm wondering if that is a
blessing in disguise....if they aren't..... I had written several things...all
stupid of course but I had written.... have they come through? They
have not come to my computer?
Anon Sweet Saint.... (I've got something for the anointing)
J
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 1:39
PM
Subject: [Weeklong-l] Everything and
Nothing translations
Just in case anyone was wondering why I prefer one translation
of the Borges story over another, even though Borges is commonly thought to be
so clear in his prose as to be "transparent" in
translation:
Here's some text for comparison. To get a feel for
the differences,
it helps to read these two translations out
loud.
Everything and Nothing
By Jorge Luis
Borges
James E. Irby (in
LABYRINTHS):
There was no one in him; behind his face
(which even through the bad
paintings of those times resembles no
other) and his words, which were
copious, fantastic and stormy, there
was only a bit of coldness, a dream
dreamt by no one. At first
he thought that all people were like him, but
the astonishment of a
friend to whom he had begun to speak of this
emptiness showed him his
error and made him feel always that an
individual should not differ
in outward appearance. Once he thought that
in books he would
find a cure for his ill and thus he learned the small
Latin and less
Greek a contemporary would speak of; later he considered
that what he
sought might well be found in an elemental rite of humanity,
and let
himself be initiated by Anne Hathaway one long June
afternoon....
Anthony Kerrigan (in A PERSONAL
ANTHOLOGY):
There was no one in him; behind his face (even
the poor paintings of the
epoch show it to be unlike any other) and
his words (which were
copious, fantastic and agitated) there was only
a bit of cold, a dream
not dreamed by anyone. At first he
thought that everyone was like him. But
the dismay shown by a comrade
to whom he mentioned this vacuity revealed
his error to him and made
him realize forever that an individual should not
differ from the
species. At one time it occurred to him that he might find
a remedy
for his difficulty in books, and so he learned the "small
Latin and
less Greek" of which a contemporary spoke. Later, he considered
he
might find what he sought in carrying out one of the elemental
rites
of humanity, and so he let himself be initiated by Anne
Hathaway one long
afternoon in
June....
--m
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