Theseus
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Apologies for this longish extract but it is a piece of English prose, what, following Horace, we call a 'purple passage', defined as 'writing so extravagant or ornate that it breaks the flow of the narrative and draws attention to itself'. It is a common feature of Dickens' writing, which many critics find fault with, except that somehow, at least so I find, you get inured to it & become drunk with it so that you are sometimes carried away by it & sometimes become hung over with it.
This is an abridged example but with very few abridgments. How would such a passage go into Greek?
This is the original:-
"It was, by this time, within an hour of noon, and although a dense vapour still enveloped the city they had left, as if the very breath of its busy people hung over their schemes of gain and profit, and found greater attraction there than in the quiet region above, in the open country it was clear and fair. Occasionally, in some low spots they came upon patches of mist which the sun had not yet driven from their strongholds; but these were soon passed, and as they laboured up the hills beyond, it was pleasant to look down, and see how the sluggish mass rolled heavily off, before the cheering influence of day. A broad, fine, honest sun lighted up the green pastures and dimpled water with the semblance of summer, while it left the travellers all the invigorating freshness of that early time of year. The ground seemed elastic under their feet; the sheep-bells were music to their ears; and exhilarated by exercise, and stimulated by hope, they pushed onward with the strength of lions.
The day wore on, and all these bright colours subsided, and assumed a quieter tint, like young hopes softened down by time, or youthful features by degrees resolving into the calm and serenity of age. But they were scarcely less beautiful in their slow decline, than they had been in their prime; for nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy, that we can scarcely mark their progress."
And this the abridgment--for rendering into Greek:-
"It was, by this time, almost noon, and although a dense mist still enveloped the city which they had left, as if the very breath of its busy people hung over it, above, in the open country it was clear and fair. Occasionally, in some low spots they came upon patches of mist which the sun had not yet driven from their strongholds; but these were soon passed, and as they laboured up the hills beyond, it was pleasant to look down, and see how the sluggish mass rolled heavily away, before the cheering influence of day. A broad, fine, honest sun lighted up the green pastures and rippling water, which left the travellers all the invigorating freshness of that early time of year. The ground seemed elastic under their feet; the sheep-bells were music to their ears; and exhilarated by exercise, and stimulated by hope, they pushed onward with the strength of lions.
The day wore on, and all the bright colours faded, and assumed a quieter tint. like young hopes softened down by time, or youthful features by degrees resolving into the calm and serenity of age. But they were scarcely less beautiful in their slow decline, than they had been in their prime; for nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy, that we can scarcely mark their progress.
I realise that this will take a great deal of time for already busy colleagues but I, somewhat selfishly perhaps, as a result of my enforced convalescence am learning so much literary, poetical, journalistic & spoken Greek that at last I can make some sense of most of what I read. Thanks in advance.
:blush:
This is an abridged example but with very few abridgments. How would such a passage go into Greek?
This is the original:-
"It was, by this time, within an hour of noon, and although a dense vapour still enveloped the city they had left, as if the very breath of its busy people hung over their schemes of gain and profit, and found greater attraction there than in the quiet region above, in the open country it was clear and fair. Occasionally, in some low spots they came upon patches of mist which the sun had not yet driven from their strongholds; but these were soon passed, and as they laboured up the hills beyond, it was pleasant to look down, and see how the sluggish mass rolled heavily off, before the cheering influence of day. A broad, fine, honest sun lighted up the green pastures and dimpled water with the semblance of summer, while it left the travellers all the invigorating freshness of that early time of year. The ground seemed elastic under their feet; the sheep-bells were music to their ears; and exhilarated by exercise, and stimulated by hope, they pushed onward with the strength of lions.
The day wore on, and all these bright colours subsided, and assumed a quieter tint, like young hopes softened down by time, or youthful features by degrees resolving into the calm and serenity of age. But they were scarcely less beautiful in their slow decline, than they had been in their prime; for nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy, that we can scarcely mark their progress."
And this the abridgment--for rendering into Greek:-
"It was, by this time, almost noon, and although a dense mist still enveloped the city which they had left, as if the very breath of its busy people hung over it, above, in the open country it was clear and fair. Occasionally, in some low spots they came upon patches of mist which the sun had not yet driven from their strongholds; but these were soon passed, and as they laboured up the hills beyond, it was pleasant to look down, and see how the sluggish mass rolled heavily away, before the cheering influence of day. A broad, fine, honest sun lighted up the green pastures and rippling water, which left the travellers all the invigorating freshness of that early time of year. The ground seemed elastic under their feet; the sheep-bells were music to their ears; and exhilarated by exercise, and stimulated by hope, they pushed onward with the strength of lions.
The day wore on, and all the bright colours faded, and assumed a quieter tint. like young hopes softened down by time, or youthful features by degrees resolving into the calm and serenity of age. But they were scarcely less beautiful in their slow decline, than they had been in their prime; for nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy, that we can scarcely mark their progress.
I realise that this will take a great deal of time for already busy colleagues but I, somewhat selfishly perhaps, as a result of my enforced convalescence am learning so much literary, poetical, journalistic & spoken Greek that at last I can make some sense of most of what I read. Thanks in advance.
:blush:
