| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Iliad by Homer: from which they showered their missiles to break the ranks of the
Trojans. The others, therefore, with their heavy armour bore the
brunt of the fight with the Trojans and with Hector, while the
Locrians shot from behind, under their cover; and thus the
Trojans began to lose heart, for the arrows threw them into
confusion.
The Trojans would now have been driven in sorry plight from the
ships and tents back to windy Ilius, had not Polydamas presently
said to Hector, "Hector, there is no persuading you to take
advice. Because heaven has so richly endowed you with the arts of
war, you think that you must therefore excel others in counsel;
The Iliad |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: soul and its qualities, of virtue, power, wisdom, and the like, as feminine
or neuter? The usage of the English language does not admit of the former,
and yet the life and beauty of the style are impaired by the latter. Often
the translator will have recourse to the repetition of the word, or to the
ambiguous 'they,' 'their,' etc.; for fear of spoiling the effect of the
sentence by introducing 'it.' Collective nouns in Greek and English create
a similar but lesser awkwardness.
(4) To use of relation is far more extended in Greek than in English.
Partly the greater variety of genders and cases makes the connexion of
relative and antecedent less ambiguous: partly also the greater number of
demonstrative and relative pronouns, and the use of the article, make the
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Rescue by Joseph Conrad: within two paces of him he noticed the group of Belarab and his
three swarthy attendants in their white robes, preserving an air
of serene detachment. For the first time since the stranding on
the coast d'Alcacer's heart sank within him. "But perhaps," he
went on, "this Moor may not in the end insist on giving us up to
a cruel death, Captain Lingard."
"He wanted to give you up in the middle of the night, a few hours
ago," said Lingard, without even looking at d'Alcacer who raised
his hands a little and let them fall. Lingard sat down on the
breech of a heavy piece mounted on a naval carriage so as to
command the lagoon. He folded his arms on his breast. D'Alcacer
The Rescue |
