An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway Part 4

_Jes_: I slig en Nat Medea plukked Galder-Urt for Aeson hans Ungdom at forny.

Det var en saadan Nat, da sankede Medea de Trolddomsurter der foryngede den gamle Aeson.

_Lor_:

I slig en Nat stjal Jessica sig fra den rige Jde, Lb fra Venedig med en lystig Elsker til Belmont uden Stands.

Og en saadan Nat sneg Jessica sig fra den rige Jde og lb med en Landstryger fra Venedig herhid til Belmont.

_Jes_:

I slig en Nat svor ung Lorenzo at han elsked hende, stjal hendes Sjael med mange Troskabslfter og ikke et var sandt.

Og en saadan Nat svor ung Lorenzo hende Kjaerlighed og stjal med Troskabseder hendes Hjerte og aldrig en var sand.

_Lor_:

I slig en Nat skjn Jessica, den lille Klaffertunge, li paa sin Elsker, og han tilgav hende.

I slig en Nat bagtalte just skjn Jessica sin Elsker ret som en lille Trold, og han tilgav det.

_Jes_:

Jeg gad fortalt dig mer om slig en Nat, hvis jeg ei hrte nogen komme--tys!

Jeg skulde sagtens "overnatte" dig hvis ingen kom; men tys, jeg hrer der Trin af en Mand.

Lembcke's version is faithful to the point of slavishness. Compare, for example, "Jeg skulde sagtens overnatte dig" with "I would outnight you." La.s.sen, though never grossly inaccurate, allows himself greater liberties. Compare lines 2-6 with the original and with Lembcke. In every case the Danish version is more faithful than the Norwegian. And more mellifluous. Why La.s.sen should choose such clumsy and ba.n.a.l lines as:

I slig en Nat Trojas Murtinder Troilus besteg

when he could have used Lembcke's, is inexplicable except on the hypothesis that he was eager to prove his own originality. The remainder of Lorenzo's first speech is scarcely better. It is neither good translation nor decent verse.

In 1882 came La.s.sen's _Julius Caesar_,[20] likewise published as a supplement to _Folkevennen_ for use in the schools. A short postscript tells us that the principles which governed in the translation of the earlier play have governed here also. La.s.sen specifically declares that he used Foersom's translation (Copenhagen, 1811) as the basis for the translation of Antony's oration. A comparison shows that in this scene La.s.sen follows Foersom closely--he keeps archaisms which Lembcke amended. One or two instances:

_Foersom_: Seer, her foer Casii Dolk igjennem den; seer, hvilken Rift den nidske Casca gjorde; her rammed' den hitelskte Bruti Dolk, etc.

_Lembcke_: Se, her foer Ca.s.sius' Dolk igjennem den; se hvilken Rift den onde Casca gjorde.

Her stdte Brutus den hitelskede, etc.

_La.s.sen_: Se! her foer Casii Dolk igjennem den; se hvilken Rift den onde Casca gjorde.

Her rammed den hielskte Bruti Dolk, etc.

[20. _Julius Caesar_. Et Skuespil af William Shakespeare. Oversat af Hartvig La.s.sen. Udgivet af Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens Fremme som frste Tillaegshefte til _Folkevennen_ for 1882.

Kristiania, 1882. Grndal og Sn.]

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. La.s.sen 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 La.s.sen himself acknowledges the fact, but elsewhere. Note a few lines from the quarrel between Brutus and Ca.s.sius (Act IV, Sc. 3) beginning with Ca.s.sius' 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_: Hr mig; jeg vil tale.

Skal jeg for Eders vilde Sind mig bie?

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 Haeftighed for Eders Traelle, og faa dem til at skielve. Skal jeg vige, og fie Eder? Skal jeg staae og bie mig under Eders Luners Arrighed?

Ved Guderne, I skal nedsvaelge 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 La.s.sen has:

_Cas_: _Tirr_ mig ei mer; jeg kunde glemme mig.

Taenk paa dit eget Vel, frist mig ei laenger.

_Bru_: _Bort, svage Mand_!

_Cas_: Er dette muligt?

_Bru_: Hr mig, jeg vil tale.

Skal jeg _mig bie_ for din Vredes Nykker?

Og skraemmes, 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 s.m.u.tte?

Jeg gjre Krus for dig? Jeg krumme Ryg naar det behager dig? Ved Guderne!

Du selv skal _svaelge_ 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_ pa.s.sages 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 La.s.sen'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 H. La.s.sen. Udgivet af Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens Fremme som andet Tillaegshefte til _Folkevennen_ for 1883. Kristiania. Grndal og Sn.]

_Macbeth_ is, like all La.s.sen'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 La.s.sen'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 sc.r.a.p 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 ill.u.s.trative material in his school edition (English text) of _The Merchant of Venice_--[22]