Two Tales

Unfortunately, without an abundance of footnotes explaining choices in the translation, S.Y. Agnon's fiction comes out a bit flat in any English rendering. This version of Two Tales: Betrothed & Edo and Edam, two novellas, translated by Walter Lever, has little of the feel of the original. Agnon wrote in a peculiar kind of Hebrew, which was not native or idiomatic during his lifetime. He adopted and adapted the Hebrew of the Mishna, adding new words, borrowing from contemporary Hebrew, but keeping that substrate of Rabbinical Hebrew. The effect in the original is a startling disjunction between the quaint, antiquated language of the narrative and the modern predicaments of the characters. This effect, of course, is entirely lost in translation. That said, this translation is still worth reading; however, it would have been beneficial to give the reader, in the back of the book, a taste for the peculiarities and layered richness of the original. Otherwise, too much is lost.

In 'The Betrothed" Agnon gives us a picture of the city of Jaffa in the turn of the century, and of the nascent Zionist enterprise. He tells a somewhat strange kind of love- story while giving us a sharp sense of a richly colored and slower world. His tale of the schoolteacher, plant biologist Rechnitz who is pursued by seven women , each of whom has a beauty of her own- while he remains faithful to his love,Susan Ehrlich, from his old world-is written with tremendous intelligence and subtletly. Agnon is a writer whose grasp of Jewish religious literature is great, and who contains within his language Biblical, Mishnaic, Midrashic, hints and signs. While all of this does not translate to English Walter Lever does succeed in his translation in capturing the fundamental atmosphere and tone of Agnon's work. There are so many beautiful and wise passages in this work that it is difficult to choose one to give as sample of the work's feeling. But I choose one in which Rechnitz is described concentrating on his scientific work as a way of dealing with the debilitating illness which has cut off his fiancee from him, and taken from him the reward of his faithfulness. " Meanwhile, Rechnitz turned back to his work. He was busy at his microscope, and happy, for sometimes small things give us great happiness, especially when they link together into something large. The humble sea plants with their tints of green, red, brown, and blue, which have neither taste nor scent, and are without any counterpart on land, were dearer to Rechnitz than all the trees, bushes and shrubs of the earth. Out of the strength of his love, and his capacity to take unqualified delight in the smallest of things, his own soul grew and perfected itself ever more. And with this wholeness of spirit came tranquility. Once again he surveyed , examined and tested , with an undistracted love, objects which he had set aside for many days, perhaps since the day when Susan Ehrlich came to Jaffa. How many days and weeks had these sea plants lain, floating in salt water within their olbong trays of clear glass,exuding their salt water like tears! But now that Rechnitz had returned and wiped their tears away, they looked up at him so lovingly that in their presence h forgot any other concern." A truly beautiful work.