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Q&A Should this introductory quotation be translated, untranslated, or dropped?

In general, for a popular work it is bad style to include quotes in a foreign language. Most of your readers will not understand them. An old enough flavor of English is a "foreign language" for al...

posted 11y ago by Jay‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T03:03:58Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/8843
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Jay‭ · 2019-12-08T03:03:58Z (almost 5 years ago)
In general, for a popular work it is bad style to include quotes in a foreign language. Most of your readers will not understand them. An old enough flavor of English is a "foreign language" for all practical purposes. Modern readers can struggle through Shakespeare, but much before that and I'd translate.

If you were writing a scholarly work, or a work intended for people familiar with both languages, I'd give a completely different answer.

If you are trying to make some point that is obscured by a translation, you might give the original along with a translation. For example, if you have some point that hinges on the precise meaning of a word in this other language, or if you have a comment about rhyme or meter in the original, etc.

As to the details of the translation: All I can there is to use the best translation you can make or find. What else could one say?

From your post I take it this is not a scholarly work and you are not analyzing the original text, just using it as background for your own writing. So I'd just go with a decent translation and leave it at that. If a reader cares enough to want to see the original, they can look it up.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2013-09-09T17:36:58Z (about 11 years ago)
Original score: 2