Evening star., 1937-04-17

and Latin, medieval Latin and Italian
medieval and modern French, early
and modern English, some German
some Russian and some Spanish. Be-
ing taken from so wide a range, and
being also the choices of a cultivated
taste, it has naturally a special kind
OF interest. 1t is doubtful, however
that any mans collection is intrinsic
ally more interesting than any other
mans. Such declarations must reveal
in cunning fashion, much more about
the declarer-and vastly more relevant
Stuf1-than the most heavily scientific
QUESTIONABLE prepared by a psycholo-
gist.
Mr.. Baring's selections are chiefly
poetry, and they show, on superficial
examination, taste for the more fate
full lines of epic verse and the more
passionate stanzas of lyric. Yet, of
all the several hundred quotations, the
reviewers own favorites were four
taken from proSe-one from Tacitus,
one from Boswell, one from Flaubert
and one, Of course, from Cervantes.
She gives them here, for the sheer lux
ury.
The first is from the Histories" j."
Book l. Chapter 6. Speaking Of JUS
tlce, the Roman remarked:
"Tardum Galbae tier ct cruentum.
interfectis Cingonio Varrone consule
designate, ct Petronio Turpihano con-
sulari: lille ut Nymphidii socius, hic ut
duX Neronis, inauditi atque indefensi,
tamquam innocentes perierant."
And this Mr.. Barring renders as fol-
lows: "Varro and Turpilianus were
condemned unheard and undefended,
so that they might just as well have
been innocent"
Again much the same theme occurs
in the Boswell quotation ("The Life
OF Johnson'D, which Mr.. Barring saws
he wrote down in 1899. when the Drey-
fus case was a matter Of Importance
to many people. 1t is:
Talking of court-martial that
was sitting upon very momentous
public occasion, he expressed much
doubt of an enlightened decision. and
said that perhaps there was not a
member Of it who in the whole course
of his life had ever spent an hour by
himself in balancing probabilities.
All of which is summed up by F1au-
bert in the shortest quotation of the
three, "Notre ignorance de rhistoire
nous fait calomnier notre temps. On
toujours etc CONNIE ca"
AS for the Cervantes lines. there is
no point at all in giving them save the
one which doubtless made Mr.. Barring
include them-that they are supremely
good, in that special manner of good
ness which defies analysis. They have
to do with Don Quixote's opinion of
poets.
There does not exist a poet he
said, who is not arrogant and does not
think that he Is the greatest poet in
the world
There is no rule without excep-
tion,' answered Don Lorenzo, and
there is such thing as poet who is
great, but who does not think So
Few, answered Don Quixote."
'(Pocos, respondio Don Quiiote.)"
How excellent was the converse tion
which produced that "Pocos!'
This book Is great fun and must
surely result in a great dusting off of
scrapbooks and notebooks in manv
studies. One need not commend II
particularly. Those who will want to
Will come by it. A good book is like a
good dog; it will find an owner.
BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. BY Johan
Bojer. Translated from the Nor
Wegian by Solvi and Richard Bate
son. New York: D. Appleton
Century Co.
IT SHOULD never be forgotten, Of
course, that Johan Bojer wrote
THE Last of the Vikings" That great
story entities him to sincere reverence,
and 1t should not be withheld. But
how grievously evangelical are some
OF his other books, to be sure! The
present, one is in that tradition. It
belongs with The Great Hunger"
rather than with the magnificent pa
gan story of the passing of the Viking
life. AS such, it is a disappointment
to the reviewer. But the large public.
which applauded The Great Hunger" !"
will doubtless receive it with pleasure.
1t is very much the same sort Of
thing
1t carries on Mr.. Bojer's theme,
expressed in the earlier book, that
the practice Of Christianity on earth
involves a degree Of love and hu-
mility OF which even the most sincere
Christians have never conceived. The
story is one which demonstrates this
conviction with ruthless complete
ness the story OF rich man who
gave all his goods to the poor to follow
Christ, only to find that the road
leads to Calvary for the follower.
even as for the leader. This is the
essential theme of the novel, but 1t
is expressed in the specific modern
terms OF pacif1cism, the hero being
an inventor OF machine gun for
which all the governments of the
earth are feverishly bidding. But he
tears up his patents, throws his model
into the river and begins life as a
simple carpenter when he realizes the
evil for his fellows that is latent in
his invention. His fellows then, hay
ing hoped to get rich on shares in a
new armament factory, prosecute him
until he kills himself.
The symbolism is ponderously
heavy, but then one knows, Of course,
that when a Norwegian turns SYM
bolist 1t is wise to stand rapidly from
under. What is more trying in this
book is the equal heaviness of the
detail, the obvious regimenting of
the plot to prove the theme, the
weightily overacted simplicity. The
first chapter, the first page even, is
bristling with signposts stating
clearly to what point the story is
going, and the road Is marked out
before one from the beginning, clear
and efficiently freed Of ohstructtons