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the origins of contemporary france-1-第80章

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hawthorns。  … In paintings of landscapes of this era we have the same

thing; the trees being generalized;  … of no known species。



'18' This evolution is seen today as well; television having the same

effect upon its actors as the 18th century drawing…room。  (SR。)



'19' See in the 〃Lycée;〃 by la Harpe; after the analysis of each

piece; his remarks on detail in style。





'20' The omission of the pronouns; I; he; we; you; they; the article

the; and of the verb; especially the verb to be。 Any page of

Rabelais; Amyot or Montaigne; suffices to show how numerous and

various were the transpositions。



'21' Vaugelas; ibid 。  〃No language is more inimical to ambiguities

and every species of obscurity。〃



'22' See the principal romances of the seventeenth century; the

〃Roman Bourgeois;〃 by Furetière; the 〃Princess de Clèves;〃 by Madame

de Lafayette; the 〃Clélie;〃 by Mme。  de Scudéry; and even Scarron's

〃Roman Comique。〃  … See Balzac's letters ; and those of Voiture and

their correspondents; the 〃Récit des grands jours d'Auvergne;〃 by

Fléchier; etc。  On the oratorical peculiarities of this style cf。

Sainte…Beuve; 〃Port…Royal;〃 2nd ed。  I。  515。



'23' Voltaire; 'Esay sur le poème épique'; 〃Our nation; regarded by

strangers as superficial is; with the pen in its hand; the wisest of

all。  Method is the dominant quality of all our writers。〃



'24' Milton's works are built up with 8;000。  〃Shakespeare; who

displayed a greater variety of expression than probably any writer in

any language; produced all his plays with about 15;000 words and the

Old Testament says all it has to say with 5;642 words。〃 (Max Müller;

〃Lectures on the Science of language;〃 I。  309。) … It would be

interesting to place alongside of this Racine's restricted vocabulary。


That of Mme。  de Scudery is extremely limited。  In the best romance of

the XVIIth century; the 〃Princesse de Clèves;〃 the number of words is

reduced to the minimum。  The Dictionary of the old French Academy

contains 29;712 words; the Greek Thesaurus; by H。  Estienne; contains

about 150;000。



'25' Compare together the translations of the Bible made by de Sacy

and Luther; those of Homer by Dacier; Bitaubé and Lecomte de Lisle;

those of Herodotus; by Larcher and Courrier; the popular tales of

Perrault and those by Grimm; etc。





'26' See the 〃Discours académique;〃 by Racine; on the reception of

Thomas Corneille: 〃In this chaos of dramatic poetry your illustrious

brother brought Reason on the stage; but Reason associated with all

the pomp and the ornamentation our language is capable of。〃





'27' Voltaire; 〃Essay sur le poème épique;〃 290。  〃It must be admitted

that a Frenchman has more difficulty in writing an epic poem than

anybody else。  。  。  。  Dare I confess it? Our own is the least poetic of

all polished nations。  The works in verse the most highly esteemed in

France are those of the drama; which must be written in a familiar

style approaching conversation。〃



'28' Except in 〃Pensées;〃 by Pascal; a few notes dotted down by a

morbidly exalted Christian; and which certainly; in the perfect work;

would not have been allowed to remain as they are。





'29' See in the Cabinet of Engravings the theatrical costumes of the

middle of the XVIIIth century。  … Nothing could be more opposed to the

spirit of the classic drama than the parts of Esther and Brittannicus;

as they are played nowadays; in the accurate costumes and with scenery

derived from late discoveries at Pompeii or Nineveh。



'30'  The formality which this indicates will be understood by those

familiar with the use of the pronoun thou in France; denoting intimacy

and freedom from restraint in contrast with ceremonious and formal

intercourse。  … Tr。



'31' See the parts of the moralizers and reasoners like Cléante in

〃Tartuffe;〃 Ariste in 〃Les Femmes Savantes;〃 Chrysale in 〃L'Ecole des

Femmes;〃 etc。  See the discussion between the two brothers in 〃Le

Festin de Pierre;〃 III。  5; the discourse of Ergaste in 〃L'Ecole des

Maris〃; that of Eliante; imitated from Lucretius in the 〃Misanthrope;〃

II。  5; the portraiture; by Dorine in 〃Tartuffe;〃 I。  1。  … The portrait

of the hypocrite; by Don Juan in 〃Le Festin de Pierre;〃 V。  2。



'32' For instance the parts of Harpagon and Arnolphe。



'33' We see this in Tartuffe; but only through an expression of

Dorine; and not directly。  Cf。  in Shakespeare; the parts of Coriolanus;

Hotspur; Falstaff; Othello; Cleopatra; etc。



'34' Balzac passed entire days in reading the 〃Almanach des cent

mille adresses;〃 also in a cab in the streets during the afternoons;

examining signs for the purpose of finding suitable names for his

characters。  This little circumstance shows the difference between two

diverse conceptions of mankind。



'35' 〃At the present day; whatever may be said; there is no such

thing as Frenchmen; Germans; Spaniards; and Englishmen; for all are

Europeans。  All have the same tastes; the same passions; the same

habits; none having obtained a national form through any specific

institution。〃 Rousseau; 〃Sur le gouvernement de Pologne;〃 170。



'36' Previous to 1750 we find something about these in 〃Gil…Blas;〃

and in 〃Marianne;〃 (Mme。  Dufour the sempstress and her shop)。  …

Unfortunately the Spanish travesty prevents the novels of Lesage from

being as instructive as they might be。



'37' Interesting details are found in the little stories by Diderot

as; for instance; 〃Les deux amis de Bourbonne。〃 But elsewhere he is a

partisan; especially in the 〃Religieuse;〃 and conveys a false

impression of things。



'38' 〃To attain to the truth we have only to fix our attention on the

ideas which each one finds within his own mind。〃 (Malebranche;

〃Recherche de la Vérité;〃 book I。  ch。  1。) … 〃Those long chains of

reasoning; all simple and easy; which geometers use to arrive at their

most difficult demonstrations; suggested to me that all things which

come within human knowledge must follow each other in a similar

chain。〃 (Descartes; 〃Discours de la Methode;〃 I。  142)。  … In the

seventeenth century In the 17th century constructions a priori were

based on ideas; in the 18th century on sensations; but always

following the same mathematical method fully displayed in the 〃Ethics〃

of Spinoza。



'39' See especially his memoir: 〃De l'influence du climat sur les

habitudes morales;〃 vague; and wholly barren of illustrations

excepting one citation from Hippocrates。



'40' These are Sieyès own words。  … He adds elsewhere; 〃There is no

more reality in assumed historical truths than in assumed religious

truths。〃 (〃Papiers de Sieyès;〃 the year 1772; according to Sainte…

Beuve; 〃Causeries du lundi;〃 V。  194)。  … Descartes and Malebranche

already expressed this contempt for history。



'41' Today; in 1998; we know that Taine was right。  The research on

animal and human behavior; on animal and human brain circuitry; and

the behavior of the crue
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