Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/503

 9"-s.vLNov.24,i90o.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 419 gtisrtllanwni. NOTES ON BOOKS, &c. The Odyseey. Rendered into English Prose by Samuel Butler. (Longmans & Co.) MB. BUTLER'S rendering of the 'Odyssey' is a, companion—we may say a complementary—volume to his ' The Authoress of the Odyssey' (see 8th S. xii. 439) and his ' Iliad of Homer,' rendered into English prose (see 9>h S. ii. 419). Like the later work, it is intended "for the use of those who cannot read the original." Like it, too, it has a motto from a private letter (in this case anony- mous), with which we fully agree, which is more than we can say in the case of the previous words of Baron Merian prefixed to the translation of the ' Iliad.' Mr. Butler's present correspondent, who may well be the same as the earlier, says: " From some points of view it is impossible to take the 'Odyssey seriously enough; from others it is impossible to take it seriously at all; but from whichever point of view it be regarded, its beauty is alike unsurpassable." This is admirably said. Take the ' Odyssey' only as a collection of stories— fairy tales, if you will—and it is better than the ' Arabian Nights,' and more stimulating than a Norse saga. There is material enough in it for one of the best of illustrated Christmas books in which a boy would delight. We are not, of course, endorsing a mode of treatment so irreverent. We have read, however, for our own delectation the translation side by side with the sixth volume of Dr. Mardrus's pleasant French adaptation of the ' Arabian Nights.' and have, as a matter of enjoy- ment, scarcely known to which to award the preference. We had, as Mr. Butler would wish, one special reason for reading his book from cover to cover. That reason was the wish to see how far a render- ing of the entire text bore out the views maintained in ' The Authoress of the Odyssey,' and supported in that work by a translation of portions. Without saying that the result of such perusal is to bring us over to Mr. Butler's opinion, we may affirm that the reputed or ascribed authorship is not only highly ingenious—which, coming from one with critical insight so marvellous, it is bound to be- but plausible. Is it, however, in Mr. Butler's estimate, likely that a feminine author—Nausicaa or another—would put in the mouth of Agamemnon, addressing Ulysses, words such as "Bo sure, there- fore and not be too friendly with your own wife. Do not tell her all that you know perfectly well yourself. Tell her a part only, and keep your own counsel about the rest"? Intolerant of her erring sister we know the authoress to be, though Penelope is not an erring sister, puzzling as is her treatment of the suitors; but no such jealousy ol the honour and dignity of woman as Mr. BuUer ascribes to her is there shown in this advice. Again, concerning Argos, the dog of Ulysses, it is said, " Now he has fallen on evil times, for his master is dead and gone, and the women take no care of him. .Servants never do their work when their master'f hand is no longer over them, for Jove takes hall the goodness out of a man when he makes a slave of him." This scarcely reads like the expression ol an unmarried woman. It may be such, however, and Nausicaa, as a great lady—for as such she is, ol course, to be reckoned—may well regard the girls as sluta or " hussies," to use a term which, in the Iliad.' Venus ventures to apply in the singular f> Helen of Troy. The method employed by Mr. Sutler in the ' Odyssey'—which on his title-page le naturally does not ascribe to Homer—is the same as that he chose for the ' Iliad,' and is very >ee and familiar. It wins our hearty commenda- jion. With this volume, presumably, Mr. Butler's studies in Homer end. Personally, we trust the contrary is the cose, and we shall be glad of more speculations. If, however, as may well be. he has laid his say, he will occupy another field, and we look
 * or some keen pleasure in his recently announced

return to those admirable people the Erewhonians. Guingamor: Sir Launfal: Tyolet: The Were Wolf. Rendered into English by Jessie L. Westou. (Nutt.) THE third volume of the "Arthurian Romances unrepresented in Malory's ' Morte d'Arthur'" differs in important resiiects from its predecessors. It consists of /iii- of Marie dc France and others translated into English prose by Miss Weston. These •'» ••'•-•, founded by Marie upon Breton legends, and written in rimed octosyllabic verse, consist, it may be said, of materials out of which the Arthurian legend developes itself. They are charm- ingly naive and tender, and preserve very much of these qualities even in a translation. Miss Westou shows exactly in her preface what is their value, concerning which different opinions prevail, and she says beautifully concerning them and the Arthurian legends generally, "Children of a land of eternal youth, Arthur and his knights are ever young." Of the four stories, two are known to be by Marie de France, and a third is, with much show of reason, assigned to her. In some of them Arthur is not mentioned ; in others he is. In ' Sir Launfal' Guinevere is presented in a sufficiently odious livlit. Guingamor has an experience far beyond Rip van Winkle, seeing that, beguiled by a fair enchantress, he has a sleep of three hundred years. The lai of 'Tyolet' is almost the same as the story of Percival narrated by Chretien de Troyes. 'The Were Wolf is a curious story of wifely treachery, and is linked to many Celtic or Scandinavian fictions. Illustrations by Caroline Watts preserve admirably the atmosphere of Ar- thurian romance. The design to ' Guingamor' is as full of mystery as of beauty. By-ways among Books. By David J. Mackenzie, F.S.A.Scot. (Wick, Rac.) MR. MACKENZIE, who is a lover of literature and of books, has collected into a volume six lectures delivered principally, if not wholly, "under the auspices of the Shetland Literary and Scientitiu Society." First in interest among these is that on ' Books and Book-Hunting,' which proves the writer to bo an enthusiast. An essay on Keats is good, but we should have cared more for it had it dealt at greater length with the Odes, which constitute Keats's principal claim to rank with the immortals, and with the ' Belle Dame sans Merci,' which is unrivalled in literature. A sort of pendant to this lecture is given at the close in an account of Lyly's ' Endymion.' Mr. Mackenzie displays a familiarity with the Italian poets not common in these days. Other lectures are on that remarkable being Flo- rentius Volusenus, otherwise Florence Wilson, ' Romance,' and ' Trade and Commerce in Ancient Times.' Most of these would have constituted more attractive reading had they been, expanded,