On
this a document was handed to him.
I will here explain that I shall translate the names of men and places,
as well as the substance of the document; and I shall translate all names
in future. Indeed I have just done so in the case of Sunch'ston. As an
example, let me explain that the true Erewhonian names for Hanky and
Panky, to whom the reader will be immediately introduced, are Sukoh and
Sukop--names too cacophonous to be read with pleasure by the English
public. I must ask the reader to believe that in all cases I am doing my
best to give the spirit of the original name.
I would also express my regret that my father did not either uniformly
keep to the true Erewhonian names, as in the cases of Senoj Nosnibor,
Ydgrun, Thims, &c.--names which occur constantly in Erewhon--or else
invariably invent a name, as he did whenever he considered the true name
impossible. My poor mother's name, for example, was really Nna Haras,
and Mahaina's Enaj Ysteb, which he dared not face. He, therefore, gave
these characters the first names that euphony suggested, without any
attempt at translation. Rightly or wrongly, I have determined to keep
consistently to translation for all names not used in my father's book;
and throughout, whether as regards names or conversations, I shall
translate with the freedom without which no translation rises above
construe level.
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