The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1928-01-13

Gnu spe@h ~ oadly. l read French.
Spanish and Italian badly and sneal'
them abominably. / read Polish ann AMI
esperanto abominably and cneaL
them not at all. l have NOT ot+el,a 10 -
ed any others, tho they all attract p r.
My aequaintance-partial at hest
with these tongues cannot nase;bl,,
make me poorer or less usef,,l eit;
zen of the United States. Ratber +ho
contrary. And l do not apprebend
that it will be any privation to me
when go to Europe.
We may say, then, that while if Is
not an absolute necessity in This
country, a knowledge of German he
comes an accomplishment and an as
set, rather than a fault, the moment
we set foot in Germany. The obvione
retort is that we do not expect to set
1901 IN Germany. But let US not be
obvious. Let us be sensible, instead
Let US consider briefly the case for
the languages I have just mentioned
There is French-universallv recoo-
nlzed as the polite language and spoR-
en- turnout the world. 1t is beautiful
and 1t is precise. Some of the most
beautiful passages in all Literature
nave been written in French. For
exact expression of varying shades o4
meaning it is unegualed. It's Iitere.
lure boasts such names as Hugo, Vol
talre, Dumas pere at Dumas fills. An
atole France, MaupaSsant, and MANY
many others-a whole skyful of liter.
airy stars of the first magnitude. So
1t must be good.
Spanish and Italian are also beauti-
fulfill of striking sonorities. Tn
TACT, OF all living languages, Spanish
is perhaps the most majestic in sound
and movement: Moreover, it is used
almost exclusively thruout a good hall
OF our western hemisphere. say
with authority, having been there
that there are places in these United
states In which knowledge of al
least mongrel Spanish is an abso.
lutte necessity. To clinch any arg11.
ment in defense of Spanish and Itali.
an | need only mention two names.
Cervantes and Dante. Obvious1I
there is nothing wrong with either OF
these tongues.
German is important culturallv anC
commercially, and has a power anC
quality all its own. It is the lano,,a ', or
IN WINCH some of the worlds greatest
SCIENTISTS and thinkers have recorded
thelf discoveries and PHILOSOPHERS
from Its literature | choose lust two
magical names: Goethe and Heine
competent critics have conceded Goe.
the a place second only to Shake.
sspeare So don't you go acting super.
Tor toward the German language. my
dears! To do so is to advertise :
most regrettable ignorance of certain
elementary facts.
believe | mentioned Polish and
Esperanto back there. Nm! I dom
know much about Polish-it is one Of
those tongues which has had no in.
tluence on English-except that there
IS a Polish literature and that one
Ladlslas ReymOnt recently wrote :
book IN that language which was SC
good that 1t won the Nobel prize
surely that means a great deal. Els.
perantO, OF course, is still a mere in.
liant. but a lusty one that will bear
watching
l come to the Scandinavian Ian
guages last, because l am myself o.
scandinavian origin, and it is in keep
ing with Nordlc standards of courtesy
to give the other fellow precedence
NOW we consider the Norwegian.
IL is charged against me that | ono
stated that Norwegians keep me han
py, since whenever | look at one q
them | must laugh. 1t is possibI,
chat IN sinful moment l may hav,
INDUCED In some such absurdity. s.
De IL. Let me add, however, that thev
have contributed to my happiness ii
other ways, as we'll Nothing make.
me so supremely happy as a goot
book, and Heaven knows that Nor
weglan literature is rich in goot
books. L have not read all of them
but L have read a few unforgettabl,
ones, and certain of their authors will
always mean endless fascination Il
me. There is, for instance, o. E. Rol
vaag, who in addition to being ;
Norwegian is also an American. TheI
there is Knut Hamsun, who in add
ton to being something of an Amer
lean is also eminently Norwegian
Then there is Ibsen. Then there ar,
dozen others. And, in passing,
may state that the Norwegian girl.
DO not always produce such disagree
able literature, either.
In dealing with Swedish, it behoove.
me to be particularly modest. Indeed
l need not say much. Who is there
who has not heard of Selma Lager
lof, the only woman who ever wor
the Nobel prize for literature An,
of August Strindberg? Likewise
Tegner? These and many other.
have glorified Tie Swedish language
"far beyond my poor power to add OF
detract."
All in all, l am not sorry that
know occasional words of several lar
guages. admit that l intend tt
learn additional words frou' time tx
time. My one regret is that there are