Un bellissimo uomo
Something fun for a Sunday morning.
“Il maestro di cerimonie la presentò a un giovane molto distinto perché la facesse da cavaliere; si chiamava Tilney.”
. . .
“Ora io devo farvi un sorrisetto compiaciuto, e poi potre mo di nuovo comportarci da persone ragionevoli.”
. . .
“Vi intendete di mussola, signore?”
. . .
“Sí, benissimo; ma sono proprio tutti romanzi dell’orrore, sei sicura che siano tutti romanzi dell’orrore?”
. . .
“Esiste al mondo un solo Enrico che possa essere insensibile a una tale dichiarazione? Enrico Tilney, almeno, non lo era.”
. . .
“La persona, uomo o donna, cui non piaccia un buon romanzo, non può che essere incredibilmente stupida.”
. . .
“–Verissimo — disse Enrico –, e questa è una bellissima giornata, e noi stiamo facendo una bellissima passeggiata e voi siete due bellissime signorine. Oh! È davvero un bellissimo mondo! Va bene per tutto.”
–From L’abbazia di Northanger by Jane Austen, which a friend brought us from Venezia
January 22nd, 2006 at 8:24 am
E una verita riconosciuta universalmente che una signora che ammira l’Uomo si dilettera nel possesso di una copia del Abbazia di Northanger in italiano
January 22nd, 2006 at 10:04 am
Verissimo!
January 22nd, 2006 at 11:02 am
I don’t like when the personal names are translated, is it an old edition?
Nowadays nobody does it anymore.
I remember an awful Lisetta for Lizzie.
Anyway, it’s good to see you enjoy our beautiful idiom :).
January 22nd, 2006 at 12:43 pm
Caro Enrico. Ti amo. Baci! Henry is adorable in every language. I actually am rather fond of translations of the personal names, at least in the case ‘L’abbazia di Northanger’ where we would met the annoying Giovanni Thorpe. Which I happen to find molto divertente.
Viva l’Uomo!
January 22nd, 2006 at 1:26 pm
That translation is fairly good, besides the personal name. I don’t like them translated either. They don’t sound so natural as the original. And this is a comment by an italian, mind!
Mmmm: we could maybe make an exception for Giovanni Thorpe: he would deserve that!
Glad to see someone so very fond of our italian, though.
January 22nd, 2006 at 10:05 pm
Enrico Tilney!! How unromantic that sounds!
I really wish they wouldn’t translate the names too. Think about it, if I visited Italy I’d still be called my my Christian not by the Italian version of it!
January 23rd, 2006 at 12:06 am
Confession time…
When Kathleen was in Venice, she told me of meeting some students in a café who were reading NA and in their edition, Henry was Enrico. I was immediately thrilled and wanted a copy. She did bring me a translation but was unable to find an edition with Enrico Tilney and Giovanni Thorpe; they are Henry and John, which is probably for the best.
I love languages in general, and I did study Italian at university, though that was many years ago and I’ve forgotten most of it. I can read it a little (at least well enough to find those passages, though it helps that I practically have NA memorized) but I no longer can write or speak it. I’d like to learn again someday…once I conquer French, maybe! Like Anne Elliot, I should be sorry to be examined by a real proficient!
January 24th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
What’s the translation of Catherine?
January 24th, 2006 at 7:33 pm
Here’s a case of the translation of personal names which affects both author and title.. the 1822 first German edition of Persuasion, which was given the title Anna. The title page says
Anna.
Ein Familiengemahlde
von
Johanna Austen
Now, Johanna (spelled like that) is a very nice name, but — it just ain’t Jane!!
Turning to Italian translations, the first surprise is that none was published before 1945! The prize for most variations of the title goes to S&S;
Sensibilita e Buon Senso (Roma, 1945)
Ragione e Sentimento (Milano, 1951)
Elinor e Marianne (Torino, 1957)
Sensibile Amore (Bologna, 1961)
Senno e Sensibilita (Milano, 1961)
L’Eterno Contrasto (Milano, 1970)
For NA, we have
L’abbazia di Northanger (Milano, 1959)
Katherine Morland (Bologna, 1961)
Caterina (Firenze, 1978)
L’abbazia di Northanger (Roma, 1982)