| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: to produce on his reader an impression similar or nearly similar to that
produced by the original. To him the feeling should be more important than
the exact word. He should remember Dryden's quaint admonition not to
'lacquey by the side of his author, but to mount up behind him.'
(Dedication to the Aeneis.) He must carry in his mind a comprehensive view
of the whole work, of what has preceded and of what is to follow,--as well
as of the meaning of particular passages. His version should be based, in
the first instance, on an intimate knowledge of the text; but the precise
order and arrangement of the words may be left to fade out of sight, when
the translation begins to take shape. He must form a general idea of the
two languages, and reduce the one to the terms of the other. His work
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain: t'other end o' de house to see what's gwine on, en stops by de ole winder
on de side towards Pudd'nhead Wilson's house dat ain't got no sash in it--
but dey ain't none of 'em got any sashes, for as dat's concerned--
en I stood dah in de dark en look out, en dar in the moonlight,
right down under me 'uz one o' de twins a-cussin'--not much,
but jist a-cussin' soft--it 'uz de brown one dat 'uz cussin,'
'ca'se he 'uz hit in de shoulder. En Doctor Claypool he 'uz
a-workin' at him, en Pudd'nhead Wilson he 'uz a-he'pin', en ole
Jedge Driscoll en Pem Howard 'uz a-standin' out yonder a little piece
waitin' for 'em to get ready agin. En treckly dey squared off en give
de word, en _bang-bang_ went de pistols, en de twin he say,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: expired.
Soon after this I returned to Fremona, and had great hopes of
accompanying the patriarch to the court; but, when we were almost
setting out, received the command of the superior of the mission to
stay at Fremona, with a charge of the house there, and of all the
Catholics that were dispersed over the kingdom of Tigre, an
employment very ill-proportioned to my abilities. The house at
Fremona has always been much regarded even by those emperors who
persecuted us; Sultan Segued annexed nine large manors to it for
ever, which did not make us much more wealthy, because of the
expensive hospitality which the great conflux of strangers obliged
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