New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-21
The Pope Mistranslated
His Peace Message Was Reduced ;,
Gibberish in English
To the Editor of The Tribune.

10 the EulIOr OF ne lrlOune.
Sir: Who is responsible for the f,,r
unintelligible and ill-punctusted no,,..
given out as the "official translation. "a :,
Pope's message? Presumably IN. 80,
was written in French, unless III. v.,-
ignored the customary use Of that ,,,.r
in diplomatic intercourse and pref.r,.a =
use Italian, but both here and in 81.
there are thousands of men pros.i.,. =
either or both of these languages; WIN a."
should the task of producing an aos,;.,
translation" be intrusted to som. a,,I.-
head whose ignorance of them 1, -
eQualled by his inability even to us. i,,.p,
gible English?
Take, for example, the opening sn,,,,.
"Since the beginning of our Pontikc.,. a.
horrors of terrible war let loose on Pr.
we had in view above everything three ,L,,,1
to preserve Does this mean that sn.
ginning of our Pontifcate let loose tl.,.'
rors of terrible war? On does il ma.
"Since the beginning of our Pontife,., a.
horrors OF a terrible war have h.~ !,
loose? And consider the mastery Es,s,,
of the expression, Eve had in view ar.
I everything three things TO preserve"l I,a.
next sentence, sour pacific mission r,su,,.,
TO omit nothing as long as it was in an,
power which might contribute to h.,t., a.
end" etc. How delightful the idiOm. ~.
| quires to omit! Or should there b. a, I.,,,
comma after requires. e., should ~,
sentence read, "Finally-as our paeise MI,
sion also requires-to omit nothing.
! A few lines further on we read. On an.
a terrible situation We, who hav, a.
/ particular political aim, who do not listen :,
suggestions but are solely compelled
by sentiment of our supreme duty .t
. and there the sentence ends, with
1--WE" hanging in the air.
I Next we come to this charming pararnrh,
/ Through the voice even OF humanity ,nt
reason we once more emit the cry OF peace
| What is the meaning of even! What is
| the meaning of the phrase, Ito emit cry q
peace through the voice of humanity, On,
/ is inclined to "emit cry Of bewildermni
Again we find, The fundamental psnn
must be that the material force Of arms mus
/ be substituted by the moral force Of right
! What are fundamental points! The I've
words are contradictory: points cannot b
/ fundamental. And what authority is there
/ for substituted by? Supplanted by or 81.
perseded by would be permissible, but 40,
| substituted by.
! The next sentence g. then in n,
substitution for armies the institution Of
arbitration" (by which | conclude is near!
sin the institution of arbitration as a sub
| stitute for armed force"), is also left hins
ing in the air, with no beginning and no end
What could be more asinine balcertu,
/ than the next sentence, "0nce the supremacy
of right has thus been established, all Obsa
/ cles would disappear Hu.
/ surfing the true liberty and eonns.
nifty of the seas, which would contrbgte %
( the numerous causes of conflict and would
| also open to all new sources OF prosperity
! I defy even the most painstsking investigator
| to make head or tail of this sentence. Ar-
parently the community of the seas 10 scns
way or other contributes TO the esas' OF
! conflict and, if so, how does Il open new
sources of prosperity?
Once more. Therefore, in presenting 70
! you, who direct at this hour the testrl.
! the belligerent nations, we are animated
/ see them accepted" In presenting What
/ One concludes, of course, that some yords
such as "these proposals" have been emitted
( but, even so, what English grammsrsn ever
/ permitted such cacophony IS we are AM
( mated to see them accepted?
II the British Foreign Office is resp'n'm
/ for this gibberish would il not be posam
to convey to it some hint that II sasuN
/ reorganize its translating force! II "
member right, the English press eompl,ihe
bitterly about the translation OF som.of !"
notes which passed between the terf
! Office and other nations at the beginning"
( the war took the trouble to compare
good many of them with the Origins.
/ French and found hardly one correctly ush'
| lated. Possibly you could stir up the L''
( lish press to make another protest
J. ACTON LOAAL
Neu York AUG ~ 1917