The herald., 1893-02-12

lated by Katherine Prescott Wormeley
Lost Illusions is in three parts, of which
the first and third-The Two Poets and
Eve and David-belong consecuhvely
together, while the second part, A Grea
Man of the Provinces in Paris, is com
paratively an independent history. Fol
the convenience and uniformity of the
series OF translations, the first and thirG
parts are placed together in this volume
and the second part will soon follow
under its own title. 1t is late in the
day to speak of the genius OF Balzac, but
it is worth while to commend the reader
to the admirable translation of a num-
ber of his works issued by an American
| firm of publishers. The work of Miss
| Wormeley, who is the translator,
is deserving of the highest praise.
Ralzac's intensely idomatic French, as
well ss his occasional treatment of re-
condite subjects, and his frequent eluci-
dation of complicated business transac-
tjone, render the translation OF his
works difficult; but the present trans
lator has turned the original into clear
and fluent English, reading not at all
like translation, yet preserving Bal
zsc's vigorous and characteristic style.
1t is not only the best translation of
Balsac which we have,-which would
not be high praise, since English ver-
sions of his novels have hitherto been
few aud fragmentary,-but one of the
most excellent translations of any
French author which we have met. The
publishers have laid the American read
ers under obligations both by undertake
ing the enterprise of presenting Bal
zae in an English dress and by their
selection of translator, and it is most
desirable that they should complete the
work 30 we'll begun by putting
within the reach of English
speaking readers the remainder of
these marvellous works of fiction. In
this, as in all his works, the wonderful
writer manifests a familiarity with the
ethics of life which has gained for him
the eternal remembrance and gratitude
of all readers. Balzac does not stay the
natural course of events. He permits
each character to work out its own re-
suits, and then makes the impression
desired by comparative methods. Vice
he paints in its most hideous colors, and
virtue is shown in such effulgent beauty
as to make the moral well nigh awe
inspiring. Those who have formed a
hasty judgment of Bslsac from reading
some OF his other books, should read this
one carefully; it is one of the French
mans most original stories, and in it he
shows that peculiar faculty of describ-
ing beauty as well as ugliness which
has made him famous. The deli
cacy of perception which enables him
to perceive and describe every shade
of feeling, and to appreciate nobility
of character is the chief characteristic of
genius. The reader must read all of the
volume to have any full conception of
Balzsc's greatness, his breadth OF vision,
his dramatic power, his searching anal
ysis of the most transient emotions and
his quick perception of beauty. 1t ia
an interesting, exciting novel, a perfect
piece OF literary execution, neither coarse
nor immoral. He who would know the
art OF novel writing may go to Balzac
and ind an art that is natural, simple
and beautiful in its exercise, and is
directed to both thought and feeling in
behalf OF humanity, and that realizes
something good and enduring. 1t only
remains to say again that Miss Worme-
ley has translated the book excellently,
and has preserved as nearly as possible /
every shade of the authors meaning.
While there are such strong portraitures
AAA AAeokheAiO 10 bhccC uONtlb, IL IL QOt
easy to understand how 80 many weak,
flimsy, pretentious ones find any read.
ers at all. Let us have Balzac in excel-
ts ttfns fsmarEalble ssErss TX 81 That are still
quite as good as new to the great ma
jority of the Euglish-speaking people.
x*x
Houghton, Mifflin & Co. still continue
faa ont oix,sv !,
books. A new romance by Fergus
Hume, entitled Aladdin in London, is a
fantastic story in which it is sometimes
hard to tell what is intended to be pure
romance and what is intended to reflect
more or less faithfully political condi-
tions in far Southeastern Europe. A
young man and q young woman in Lon
don, loving each other, cannot marry
because both are poor and the girls
father insists on q wealthy marriage.
Americans would find another way out,
but the situation no doubt illustrates
European convention. In this condition
accident or fate puts the young man in
possession of ring which controls
vast treasure in India-how, it would
take too long to explain here-and
this gives him his wife and all
his desires; but he does not tell
her the secret, and this leads to
disaster. Wearying of London, he fin
ally becomes involved in conspiracy to
reseat on her throne the queen of lit
tie kingdom, Busk, on the Black Sea,
and the latter half of the story is devoted
to a stirring melodramatic recital of the
fuctuating fortunes of this enterprise, to
the perfidious schemes of pretended
friend who seeks the ring and its en-
tailed fortune for himself, to the shock
ing fate that overtakes him, the loss of
the ring to all the world through drop
ping to the bottom of the Black sea and
the serene happiness to which the hero
finally attains, with the loss of one
hand-a loss which the author ought
to have been ingenious enough to evade.
1t is extravagant, of course, but q clever
story with quite an oldfashioned favor
of romance, yet worked out from liter
ary point of view on the modern style.
1t is story for the story's sake. The
author has no theories to state or de-
fend, no grudge to avenge, simply a
story to tell, and the hundred of thou
sands W ho read Mr.. Fergus Hume's
Mystery of Hanson Cab will eagerly
admit that he knows how to tell story
remarkably well. 1t is story to be
read with the innocent, wide-eyed won
der of youth, and man must be very
stony hardened not to follow the ring
and its fortunes with eager interest.
n,t.o Go..k,.-,x