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The translations which we have thus far considered were mere fragments—brief soliloquies or a single sonnet, and they were done into a dialect which was not then and is not now the prevailing literary language of the country. They were earnest and, in the case of Aasen, successful attempts to show that Landsmaal was adequate to the most varied and remote of styles. But many years were to elapse before anyone attempted the far more difficult task of turning any considerable part of Shakespeare into "Modern Norwegian."
Norway still relied, with no apparent sense of humiliation, on the translations of Shakespeare as they came up from Copenhagen. In 1881, however, Hartvig Lassen (1824-1897) translated The Merchant of Venice.[I.19] Lassen matriculated as a student in 1842, and from 1850 supported himself as a literateur, writing reviews of books and plays for Krydseren and Aftenposten. In 1872 he was appointed Artistic Censor at the theater, and in that office translated a multitude of plays from almost every language of Western Europe. His published translations of Shakespeare are, however, quite unrelated to his theatrical work. They were done for school use and published by Selskabet for Folkeoplysningens Fremme (Society for the Promotion of Popular Education).
To Kjøbmanden i Venedig there is no introduction and no notes—merely a postscript in which the translator declares that he has endeavored everywhere faithfully to reproduce the peculiar tone of the play and to preserve the concentration of style which is everywhere characteristic of Shakespeare. He acknowledges his indebtedness to the Swedish translation by Hagberg and the German by Schlegel. Inasmuch as this work was published for wide, general distribution and for reading in the schools, Lassen cut out the passages which he deemed unsuitable for the untutored mind. "But," he adds, "with the exception of the last scene of Act III, which, in its expurgated form, would be too fragmentary (and which, indeed, does not bear any immediate relation to the action), only a few isolated passages have been cut. Shakespeare has lost next to nothing, and a great deal has been gained if I have hereby removed one ground for the hesitation which most teachers would feel in using the book in the public schools." In Act III, Scene 5 is omitted entirely, and obvious passages in other parts of the play.
It has frequently been said that Lassen did little more than "norvagicize" Lembcke's Danish renderings. And certainly even the most cursory reading will show that he had Lembcke at hand. But comparison will also show that variations from Lembcke are numerous and considerable. Lassen was a man of letters, a critic, and a good student of foreign languages, but he was no poet, and his Merchant of Venice is, generally speaking, much inferior to Lembcke's. Compare, for example, the exquisite opening of the fifth act:
| Lassen | Lembcke | |
| Lor: |
Klart skinner Maanen, i en Nat som denne, da Vinden gled med Lys igjennem Løvet, og alt var tyst: i slig en Nat forvist Trojas Murtinder Troilus besteg, til Grækerlejren, til sin Cressida udsukkende sin Sjæl. |
Klart skinner Maanen, i en Nat som denne, mens Luftningen saa sagte kyssed Træet at knapt det sused, i en saadan Nat steg Troilus vist up paa Trojas Mur og sukked ud sin Sjæl mod Grækerlejren der gjemte Cressida. |
| Jes: |
I slig en Nat
sig Thisbe listed ængstelig, over Duggen saa Løvens Skygge før hun saa den selv, og løb forskrækket bort. |
En saadan Nat
gik Thisbe bange trippende paa Duggen og øjned Løvens Skygge før den selv og løb forfærdet bort. |
| Lor: |
I slig en Nat
stod Dido med en Vidjevaand i Haanden paa vilden strand, og vinked til Kartago sin elsker hjem igjen. |
En saadan Nat
stod Dido med en Vidjekvist i Haanden paa vilden Strand og vinkede sin Elsker tilbage til Carthagos Kyst. |
| 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 Jøde, Løb fra Venedig med en lystig Elsker til Belmont uden Stands. |
Og en saadan Nat
sneg Jessica sig fra den rige Jøde og løb med en Landstryger fra Venedig herhid til Belmont. |
| Jes: |
I slig en Nat
svor ung Lorenzo at han elsked hende, stjal hendes Sjæl med mange Troskabsløfter og ikke et var sandt. |
Og en saadan Nat
svor ung Lorenzo hende Kjærlighed og stjal med Troskabseder hendes Hjerte og aldrig en var sand. |
| Lor: |
I slig en Nat
skjøn Jessica, den lille Klaffertunge, løi paa sin Elsker, og han tilgav hende. |
I slig en Nat
bagtalte just skjøn 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 hørte nogen komme—tys! |
Jeg skulde sagtens "overnatte" dig hvis ingen kom; men tys, jeg hører 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." Lassen, 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 Lassen should choose such clumsy and banal 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 Lassen's Julius Caesar,[I.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. Lassen 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 Lassen 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 høitelskte Bruti Dolk, etc. |
| Lembcke: |
Se, her foer Cassius' Dolk igjennem den; se hvilken Rift den onde Casca gjorde. Her stødte Brutus den høitelskede, etc. |
| Lassen: |
Se! her foer Casii Dolk igjennem den; se hvilken Rift den onde Casca gjorde. Her rammed den høielskte Bruti Dolk, etc. |
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[I.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.
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.