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In Praise of Bald Men: A Translation of Hucbald's Ecloga de Calvis

1995; University of California; Volume: 26; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

1557-0290

Thomas Klein,

Linguistics and language evolution

IN PRAISE OF BALD MEN: DE CALVIS A T R A N S L A T I O N O F H U C B A L D ' S ECLOGA Thomas Klein T h e w o r d s o f Professor Raby are perhaps the best i n t r o d u c t i o n t o this translation: Hucbald is best k n o w n f o r h i s a m a z i n g Ecloga de Calvis, a praise a n d j u s t i f i c a t i o n o f baldness d e d i c a t e d t o headed A r c h b i s h o p o f M a i n z . This learned and Hatto, the bald- i m p r e s s i v e d e f e n c e o f b a l d n e s s is t h e only p h i l o s o p h i c t r e a t m e n t o f i t i n verse (Synesius w r o t e o f i t i n prose), and i t has this peculiarity, that every w o r d o f the hundred and f o r t y - s i x verses o f w h i c h i t is c o m p o s e d b e g i n s w i t h t h e l e t t e r c. (A History of Secular Latin Poetry, 2 n d ed., 2 v o l s . [ O x f o r d : C l a r e n d o n , 1 9 5 7 ] , v o l . 1, p . 2 4 9 ) . Seeing the bald head w i t h its r i n g o f hair as a sort o f natural tonsure o r c r o w n , H u c b a l d (ca. 850-930) praises the i n b o r n a b i l i t y o f bald men as clerics and kings, as w e l l as w a r r i o r s and doctors. H e also calls o u r a t t e n t i o n t o t w o p r o m i n e n t biblical bald men: the p r o p h e t Elisha and, perhaps surprisingly, St. Paul. I t should be n o t e d that H u c b a l d was associated w i t h the palace school o f the great C a r o l i n g i a n k i n g , Carolus Calvus, or, as we k n o w h i m , Charles the Bald. Doubtless, the p o e m also f o u n d favor w i t h Hucbald's p a t r o n . T h e p o e m , o f course, poses special problems f o r translators. W h i l e the language itself is generally straightforward, a direct render­ ing i n t o English does l i t t l e justice t o H u c b a l d ' s technical feat. O n the other hand, a translation comprised solely o f w o r d s beginning w i t h c is an i m p o s s i b i l i t y : besides the articles, prepositions, p r o n o u n s , and so o n , w h i c h must be used i n English, there is n o w o r d i n English f o r calvus that begins w i t h c. I have taken a few liberties t o solve this p r o b l e m . I a l l o w e d myself t o alternate W i n e s (b p i c k e d f o r obvious reasons) w i t h c-lines; f u r t h e r m o r e , w h e n faced w i t h the w o r d calvus i n a c-line, I occasionally made a suitable substitute. T h e translation is based o n Paul v o n Winterfeld's e d i t i o n i n Poetae Latim aevi Carolini, M o n u m e n t a Germaniae historiae, v o l . 4 (Berlin: W e i d m a n n o s , 1899), p p . 267-271. C o m i t a t u s 26 (1995)