a way to express in English what somebody else has expressed, skillfully one hopes, in another language. The more he has at his fingertips a wide range of alternatives, a wide range of styles and solutions to problems, the better a translator he can be. As Petrus Danielus Huetius wrote, “A translator must . . . become like Proteus: he must be able to transform himself into all manner of wondrous things, he must be able to absorb and combine all styles within himself and be more changeable than a chameleon.”*
There are young translators who have read voraciously, not only widely but openly, critically, devouring what they read, trying it out in their own writing, trying to figure out how it works. At a young age it is easier, and less painful, to accumulate broad literary experience than broad life experience; the best young translators at least have this literary experience under their belt. But it is few who ever read like this. They make the best literary writers, and the best translators.
Judgment, or instinct, is the crowning achievement of experience, both in the world and in literature. It is the rare young translator who has consistently good judgment, who can fight off his inclinations toward what sounds good to him, who can settle on what is appropriate, who even knows what is appropriate. Judgment requires not only the experience of reading a great deal, but also the experience of writing and, if possible, editing and translating. Nothing trains your judgment—your “ear”—like these last two derivative activities. A young writer might have a good instinct for what he does, but to have good instincts with respect to others’ work, you need to be used to listening carefully. And no one listens as carefully as the capable editor or translator.
It also helps to enjoy writing in a range of styles. Being a mimic or parodist can help a great deal with translation. Arthur Goldhammer, a translator of French prose, told me, “I enjoy writing pastiche. I have a French friend to whom I write pastiche of French styles of different centuries. It’s one way of keeping myself sharp, and it’s also something that amuses me. And I think I have the styles of many times in my ear . . . I live surrounded by books and I read a lot. That’s a necessity for any translator: to be familiar with
a lot of styles and to try to muster many resources, because you
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