The sun., 1916-12-10

great French novelist's Temptation
OF st. Anthony has been given a fit-
ting English garb. This translation
Is made from the 1S49 and 1856 manu-
scripts. edited by Louis Bertrand, and
IL by Rene Francis. The preface is by
Sir CASTOR Maspcro. the distinguished
ote by Louis Bertrand. This version
must not be COMPOUNDED with the de-
fnitive one of 1874. Englished In
s%uperlativc fashion by Lafcadio Hearn
and published here in 1910. The
new and bulky volume. admirably
printed and %copiously illustrated, is a
literary curiosity without which no
F1aubert collection will be complete.
To he sure Flaubert translated Is
F1aubcrt traduccd, for, rs Arthur Sy-
mons has said, F1aubcrt is 81 difficult
to translate because he has no fixed
rhythm. His prose keeps step with
no regular march music. lie invcnts
the rhythm Of every sentence, he
changes his cadence with every mood
or for the convenience Of every fact.
lie has no theory of beauty In form
apart from what II expresses. For
him form Is "a living thing. tho physi-
cal body OF thought. which it clothes
and interprets. Compare the style
of Flaubert in each of his own books
and YOU will find thai each book has
Its " rhythm. perfectly appropriate
TO It's subject matter. In other writ
crs. Chateaubriand, Gautier, even
.Baudela!re, the cadence IL always
the same The most exquisite word
painting Of Gautier can be translated
rhythm for rhythm into English,
without difficulty. once You have mas
tered the tune you have merely to go
on; every verse will be the same. Not
So with f1aubert.
In 1916. on n visit To Italy. IIaulcrt
stopped nj Genoa. There. in the Palace
Ralbi-Scnarega-not at the Doria, as
Du Camp wrote with his accustomed
rnrelessncss- thc young frenchman
saw AN old picture by I,reughel
,probahly Peter the sur
named Hell-BreughelJ that represents
n temptation Of -. Anthony. 1t is
hardy a masterpiece and * dingy in
culcr. But t%laubcrt. who loved the
g~rotespur. procured an engraving Of
this picture. and IL hung in his study
at CrOisset on the Seine. uear I,oueu,
till the day of his death. lit stiii hangs
in the Flaubert museum at Cruiesct.
where the present w,'iter has seen it
several tines. This picture was the
spring board Of the Temptation. The
germ may he found in his mystery
entitled Smarh. with it's demon and
its metaphysical coloring. ~Iireughcl
surely set into motion the mental ma
chinery Of the Temptation hat never
stopped whi"ring ill 1874. The first
brouillon Of the Temptation was be-
u May -. lS4S. and finished Scptcm-
her II. lsI3. The manuscript numbered
$40 pages. Set aside for Madame Boz
vary. the draft was again taken up
and the second version made in 1856,
When finished Tia" manuscript was re-
duc"d to 1913 pages Not satisfied. Flau-
bert returned to the work in 1872. and
when ready for publication In 1874 the
number OF pages was hut 1856; even then
he cut from ten chapters three. When
the second version. of 1856. was given
to the world "A few years ago the French
critics We're astnnishcd t. find II so diff
fer"nt from the detinit!vc version Of
1874. liut the critical sobricty of Eau
bert was indicated. His was true
technical heruiSm. Heading in 1919 the
earliest version To- his friends I.ouilict
and bu Camp. he had been advised IL
burn the sun; instead. hc boiled II
down tor the 1896 version To- Tur-
genov he had submitted the 1872 draft.
and thus IL came hat this wonder
fully coiored psychic ana phiiusophic
panorama. this GuliiNcrlikc excursion
about the master Ideas and religions
NJ the antique and the early Christian
worlds, Vas ~ last published.
Al the Youthful rpmautic flaubert
the "Spuutcr" - blazing phrases, the
lover Of jewrilcd words. Of picturesque
ana mulstruu~ ideas and situations
= In the first turbulent version uf the
Temptation. In the d~ciinitive version
he Is more critical and historical. With
the years ilLuhelt had. rs his emo
tions cooled. grown intellectually. The
first Temptation il romantic, reiig-
iuus; III" 1874 version ~ more sccptical
and letter composed. Arranged more
dramatically than the first, the authors
'''s'it - N"A Nt'tft
and the dominating ideas ~ the classic
word are better revealed In the last
version. the psychological eradatiuns
Of character and event are more clear
~ indicated IN this version. i,ut wc
cannot ACRE" with Louis Bertrand. the
cdito" Of the 1856 version, that II Is
Superior To- the version Of 1874. II !s \
novelty, FlauNert was never 80 much
the surgeon as when he operated upon
his own manuscript, lie often llesi-
lated. he always suffered, and he never
finched when h'S mind was fully made
mp. And then 4 * of cnthralling in
tcrest IL study the growth OF the vari-
uus versions,
Emile Faguct IN MS unsynpnthetic
aud pedaut.c study II Flaubert calls
tho Temptation AN abstract pcssimistic
novel. lie also complains that the
p~hiiu>uphic ideas are not novel. l.ut :.
new philosophy would he Il Ncritablc
phWniN. why should there be n new
philosophy NOW when there never was
n before" There are only variations
Perhaps IN the latter part of the So
called tertiary geological epoch "a more
or less novel notion of his environment
may have dawned upon the rudimentary
brain o. our human ancestor. Tho idea.
OF Time and Spa e must have been in
vented much later, There is nothing
new under the sun. said the sage in re-
peatiug what his forcfathers-with OF
without n caudal appendage ana prob
ably of arhorcal habits-had remarked
Ancient ~mythologies modulate into