
Excerpt from Herodotus: Translated From the Greek Nor is it only to unleamed persons that translations may be of service to those also who are employed in the study of the ancient languages, they are often highly useful. In obscure and perplexed passages, they who publish notes, not unfrequently consult their ease, by passing over in silence what they are not able to explain; and even they by whom the Latin versions annexed to Greek authors were formed, will be found on many occasions, by rendering word for word, to have left the sense as dark as they found it in the original; but a translator into vernacular language, is a commentator, who is bound, if possible, to explain every thing: his version, in order to be approved, must have the air and manner of an original, and he has no more license to be obscure than if it really were so. Being confined to this attention throughout, he usually examines and compares with greater diligence than any other commentator: he is compelled at least to under. Stand himself, which is one good step towards being intelligible to others, and, where he finds this wholly impracticable, _is driven ingenuously to confess it. If this reasoning be not fallacious, it must happen, that, in good versions, illustrations will often be found, which could not be obtained from any'editions of the original: this at least I have found by experience, in rendering Herodotus, that, after consulting all the commentators, l have frequently been obliged to have recourse to new considerations, before-i could make my translation entirely clear and satisfactory to myself. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an
Page Count:
506
Publication Date:
2018-02-12
Publisher:
FB&C Limited
ISBN-10:
0656381027
ISBN-13:
9780656381029
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