An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway by Martin Brown Ruud (best novels of all time .TXT) 📕

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.

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