I’ve finished the translation into Portuguese, but some doubts remain.
I’d be much obliged if anyone could help me.
The first doubt:
Ideo horum vota ad id suspirant quod venustissime atque lepidissime apud Graecos dicitur et nescio an apud nos aeque suaviter resonare potest: malo fortunae guttam quam dolia sapientiarum plena.
For this reason, their yearnings sigh for what is said gracefully and lightly in Greek, but which, in Latin, I doubt can sound equally pleasant: I prefer a drop of Fortune to casks full of wisdom.
I don’t think it is especially difficult, because, in the context, it makes sense. It’s a reference to Anaxagoras, but what he wrote was this: I prefer a drop of wisdom to tons of wealth.
Is there any problem with my translation?
Thanks a lot.
Or is it rather “… and perhaps (et nescio an) can sound equally suave in Latin”? And then the Latin quote would be meant to prove the point.
But what’s the source of the alleged “drop of fortune” quote, in either language?
It really fits better if I translate et nescio an by pehaps; even more because Diogenes wrote the sentence, I’ve just discovered it. Then it’s not a misquote by Quirini. Unfortunately, I haven’t found de source yet.
Thanks a lot.
I’m not altogether sure what you’re saying here. And you shouldn’t ignore the “et” in “et nescio an,” which you mistranslated.
The reference is presumably to θέλω τύχης σταλαγμὸν ἢ φρενῶν πίθον, an iambic trimeter. You might check to see if it’s included in Siegfried Jäkel’s gnomological collection, Menandri Sententiae. Do you assume the Latin version of it is Quirini’s own?
I didn’t ignore et in the Portuguese translation. As to the quote, I’ve found the source in TrGF, fr. 2.1. To answer your question about the translation of the quote into latin, yes, I do. I think that he not only translates everything he quotes, but also adapts even quotes originally in latin to his purposes in his text.
And again, thanks a lot for your help.