Posted by Andy Dingley on 06/27/07 13:00

On 26 Jun, 00:53, Neredbojias <neredboj...@gmail.com> wrote:

> > It means, "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Render Here"
>
> Nay, Androcles, it means "Abandon all hope, ye who render here."
>
> (I had a persnickety prof once whom rf reminds me of...)

The original source is of course, "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi
ch'intrate"

How you translate this depends on who's translation you favour. Your
prof appears to have liked the Rev. Cary's, even though this is
generally agreed to have been a bad and Bowdlerised translation in
general (I only read mine for the pictures). It's probably the closest
literal translation though.

Dorothy L. Sayers is a much-loved translation overall, but this is one
of those instances where she went just a bit florid.

The translation I usually read myself is Mark Musa's generally good
one and he's one of the few sources for the version I cited (possibly
a mistake? or why if it's a deliberate change?). It's arguably
inaccurate as a translation and contrary to the author's intention
(Should one lose _all_ hope? Should _all_ lose hope?). However in
fairness to M$oft (I don't say that often), I think it's closer to my
meaning for its adaption. I'm not _that_ mean to them as to suggest
that nothing ever works, but they are ubiquitous.

Obviously who we need here is an Italian web designer...

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