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Review: The Fables of Avianus
Mar. 18th, 2008 10:41 pmI remember being excited several years ago when a new translation of Aesop's Fables was released, as they were translated by ignoring the "corruptions" caused by Victorian sensibilities. (Yes, I am that geeky.) However, at that time, I was unaware that the fable form had also been taken up and adapted by the Romans. I had thought that the Victorians (and slightly earlier) had simply worked from the Greek. Not so.
The Fables of Avianus are collected from the known fables written about 150 years after Aesop (fuzzy numbers abound in History ;) and recently re-translated by David Slavitt who, according to his introduction, was looking for a light diversion. (If you think I'm geeky, this guy translates Latin for fun!) I picked it up for a similar reason.
I did not find anything particularly dark as I occasionally did in Aesop, but I did find some that were surprisingly touching. They do have a "teaching lessons" component, which I would hope all fables do. However, there is a certain playfulness with the language that is noticeable in the translation. I suspect that it's there in the Latin too, but I'm not nearly good enough to track it down and verify this. After all, that's what translators are for, right?
The topics are various, ranging from social commentary (surprisingly sexist at times) to lessons on self improvement. However, what I found most surprising were the number of fables with which I was already familiar, though I had attributed them to other sources (Fontaine, the Bible, general folklore). It's strange to have a name associated with them.
I have four in particular that I wish to share with you all, however I don't think that that would be quite fair to the translator (I suspect that Avianus is somewhat beyond the need to make a buck). Instead, I shall share two, one touching and one haunting. I'll try to have this copy with me for a while (it'll be a good car book) in case anyone wants to read more.
( Fables here )
The Fables of Avianus are collected from the known fables written about 150 years after Aesop (fuzzy numbers abound in History ;) and recently re-translated by David Slavitt who, according to his introduction, was looking for a light diversion. (If you think I'm geeky, this guy translates Latin for fun!) I picked it up for a similar reason.
I did not find anything particularly dark as I occasionally did in Aesop, but I did find some that were surprisingly touching. They do have a "teaching lessons" component, which I would hope all fables do. However, there is a certain playfulness with the language that is noticeable in the translation. I suspect that it's there in the Latin too, but I'm not nearly good enough to track it down and verify this. After all, that's what translators are for, right?
The topics are various, ranging from social commentary (surprisingly sexist at times) to lessons on self improvement. However, what I found most surprising were the number of fables with which I was already familiar, though I had attributed them to other sources (Fontaine, the Bible, general folklore). It's strange to have a name associated with them.
I have four in particular that I wish to share with you all, however I don't think that that would be quite fair to the translator (I suspect that Avianus is somewhat beyond the need to make a buck). Instead, I shall share two, one touching and one haunting. I'll try to have this copy with me for a while (it'll be a good car book) in case anyone wants to read more.
( Fables here )
