/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.10429195]

>I am going to translate a passage of good English into modern English of the worst sort. Here is a well-known verse from Ecclesiastes:

> I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

>Here it is in modern English:

>Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.

Um...what does it say about me, if I find the second passage far more clearer and better writter than the first?

[Anonymous No.10429211]

that you only need one thing, my child

[Anonymous No.10429213]

>>10429195
it says, suicide yourself

[Anonymous No.10429215]

>>10429195
>saw under the sun
>race is not to the swift,
>but time and chance happeneth to them all.

These phrases are all pretty vague and flowerly and yet Orwell's essay was about being as clear as possible

[Anonymous No.10429219]

>>10429195
Here it is in AAE:
>Don't matter if you fast and strong, you still might gon die on dese streets nigga

[Anonymous No.10429234]

>>10429219
God, I love language

[Anonymous No.10429240]

>>10429215
>saw under the sun
means that his observations are only about what is under the sun, i.e. the world we live in rather than the afterlife or some other realm.

>race is not to the swift,
The swiftest person doesn't necessarily win the race

>but time and chance happeneth to them all.
"time happeneth to them all" is the only one I find kind of vague, obviously "chance happeneth to them all" means all those things are affected by chance.

[Anonymous No.10429243]

>>10429195
That you are a pedantic pseud more infatuated with jargon than substance.