Saturday, September 09, 2006

A small price to pay for beauty

As befits an old scrote, I much prefer the language of the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Read the Twenty-third Psalm aloud and you can feel the resonance of the words.
The argument for rewriting everything in modern English, just like the decision to abandon the Tridentine Mass in favour of vernaculars, is that people today don't understand 17th Century English (or Classical Latin).
In the opening sequence of the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", Butch visits the El Paso bank and is horrifed at all the"improvements": new bars and shutters and so on, which have ruined its appearance
"What happened to the old bank?" he asked, outraged.
"People kept robbing it," replied the security guard.
Butch looked around again. "A small price to pay for beauty,." he said.
The fact that people may not understand the old versions of the Bible or the Mass seems to me to be a very small price to pay for beauty.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Another thing: I bet the Twenty-third Psalm sounds even better in Hebrew! Anyone want to give it a go?
א מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד: יְהוָה רֹעִי, לֹא אֶחְסָר.
ב בִּנְאוֹת דֶּשֶׁא, יַרְבִּיצֵנִי; עַל-מֵי מְנֻחוֹת יְנַהֲלֵנִי.
ג נַפְשִׁי יְשׁוֹבֵב; יַנְחֵנִי בְמַעְגְּלֵי-צֶדֶק, לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ
ד גַּם כִּי-אֵלֵךְ בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת, לֹא-אִירָא רָע-- כִּי-אַתָּה עִמָּדִי;
שִׁבְטְךָ וּמִשְׁעַנְתֶּךָ, הֵמָּה יְנַחֲמֻנִי.
ה תַּעֲרֹךְ לְפָנַי, שֻׁלְחָן-- נֶגֶד צֹרְרָי;
דִּשַּׁנְתָּ בַשֶּׁמֶן רֹאשִׁי, כּוֹסִי רְוָיָה.
ו אַךְ, טוֹב וָחֶסֶד יִרְדְּפוּנִי-- כָּל-יְמֵי חַיָּי;
וְשַׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית-יְהוָה, לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים.

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