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| Sunday, 6 January 2002 |
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Books reviews "Antigone" in Sinhala by Premil Ratnayake To translate into Sinhala, Sophocles Greek classic "Antigone" must require not only a sound proficiency in the Hellenic language but an equal facility in Sinhala. The work, undoubtedly, is a formidable literary task and to indulge in it an author will also have to be armed with a tremendous writing will. Octogenarian classicist and retired Civil Servant, Victor Lloyd Wirasinha, in our view, has an outstanding capacity to undertake the challenge job of a Sophocles translator. Mr. Wirasinha is translating into Sinhala the original Greek Play "Antigone". He has an English version of it translated by him lying at his side but rarely refers to it for the work he is doing now in his quiet writing room at his daughter's house in Cotta Road. There may be eyebrows raised among the Sinhala literati that an old Civil Servant who worked under the British administration during the colonial era where English was necessarily the prime language in which public affairs were conducted, has undertaken to produce in Sinhala a serious and classical work of Greek literature. But Sinhala pundits may rest assured that Wirasinha who completes 88 in April this year, will do a fine job. He may not be a Sinhala scholar in the classical mould but he has a fine literary perception and an easy writing style and a language - his mother tongue, isn't it? Would be no bar though his Sinhala education at Galle's Richmond College was restricted to the fourth standard. Those were the days of the reigning British Raj! He is self-taught in Sinhala and he is a clever and hard learner. When he had just begun translating "Antigone" he was desperately looking for a copy of Henry Jayasena's play "Kuveni". I found him one and he was delighted. Perhaps he wanted to read how Jayasena brought out the choral refrains lyrically in the drama. Mr. Wirasinha was working very leisurely on "Antigone." He worked, I think, not to a schedule but as his mood and inspiration dictated him. He is not physically infirm despite his age; he may "hobble along" as he says with a slight speech and hearing impediment but he is all the time alert, mentally. His choice of words even in ordinary conversation is meticulous. He wouldn't spurt it out unless he has found the appropriate word. There is no "x"-ing or deletions in his speech. They are ready to go into print right-away! Mr. W. has finished about two-thirds of "Antigone" and hopefully the full Sinhala version of Sophocles' great Greek Tragedy will be out in book form by June this year. VL types his own script in Sinhala. It may be a little slow, but he is accurate, and methodical. He has an unerring eye for the literary "gem" and the puckish, almost childish, sense of humour to discern the absurd. He laughs easily and soundly and makes you laugh. He is a storehouse of jokes, especially of the old Public Service vintage, which, I think, will be a bestseller if he decides to write and have them published! Some of these he incorporated in his memoir, with the Shakespearian title, "No, cousin, I'll to Fife," a slim catalogue of his living experience in public life and briefly in later years. The title of the book he borrowed from Macbeth, which he read with relish when he was only twelve years old. Perhaps VL was a misfit in the treacherous jungle called the public service where honesty and integrity were never "good qualifications." He was and is an intellectual, an academic, a man of letters and an aesthete who loves art. He also did not mince his words and at his first interview with the
White Bosses for selection to the Civil Service - the Viva Voce - VL
stunned the British interview board with his choicy phrase of retort. Supplementary reader recaptures Lanka's ancient glory Long Ago Lanka By Padma Edirisinghe Reviewed by Carol Aloysius The present paucity of good Supplementary Readers for Children written in the English language, has prompted the National Book Council to assist a number of talented writers in the English language to bring out originals or translations of books in English to fill this void. Padma Edirisinghe's 'Long ago Lanka' is the most recent contribution to this effort. A book that is targeted to children between 13 and 14 years of age, it deals mainly with the shift of Lanka's capitals in a 2500 year history during which some 295 powerful human beings ruled this island from the capitals and other cities, while the main line of the royal dynasty of some 190 or more rulers held their seats of power only in the capitals. Since the book is directed to children, Padma has chosen to tell her story in the form of a narration recounted by her to her two grandchildren( of the targeted age group). The constant interchange of opinions and comments from the two young listeners during the course of the narrative by their grandmother as well as the fact that the writer often puts the three of them in the identical location in which the action of most of her stories took place many years ago, gives an immediacy and authenticity to the narrative. Take for example the opening story based on the Gampola period in Lanka's history. The grandmother recaptures this period for her two young charges while the three of them are seated in the garden of her house resting on the slopes of Ambalawa mountain at the base of which there once stood the royal palace of the Gampola kings. As she points to the hill, informing them of this fact, it naturally follows that the story she is about to tell them concerns this period of history when Gampola kings ruled Lanka between 1300 and 1400 A.D. As she proceeds to tell them about this period, the children also learn other pertinent and important facts; such as; What a Millennium means; When Buddhism was brought to Lanka and by whom, and what the longest and greatest period of Lanka's history was, in terms of achievement. Although the entire narrative begins and ends on the slopes of the Ambalawa mountains, the writer takes both her listeners and readers through several routes across the length and breadth of the entire island, wherever the kings and queens of yester-year had ruled; through Anuradhapura (which served as the capital city for over 1300 years), Polonnaruwa which was the capital city for 181 years and where 19 kings held sway, Dambadeniya which was Lanka's capital city for just 40 years, Yapahuwa which has six kings, to Kurunegala where only two kings had reigned in its short period as a capital, to Gampola, Kotte and finally to Kandy where the last king ruled. In the short space of 20 pages, the writer has also packed in a number of interesting facts on the development of Buddhism, culture and learning in the country, and contributions of significance by monarchs of each of the capitals; e.g. the arrival of the Sacred Tooth Relic brought to the country in the reign of king Kitsirimevan, the writing of the great Sandesha kavyas during the Kotte period, the building of the Dalada Maligawa in the Kandyan period and the start of the Mahanuwara Esela Perahera. Starting with the first king of Lanka Prince Vijaya who started the royal line about 2300 years ago, she briefly records the complete line of royal monarchs including a king who ruled for one day as well as the Nayakkar dynasty which finally replaced the Sinhala dynasty of kings in 1739. In addition to giving this concise but very interesting history of Lanka's monarchs and capital cities, the author manages to squeeze in some little known anecdotes as well as her own comments on decorum and attitudes including gender attitudes which could give her young readers some useful food for thought. For example when Narmada, her 13 year old granddaughter informs her brother Shaveen that she was going mountain climbing, his first reaction was a negative one. "Girls cant climb mountains", he told her. "they are timid and scared". To which their grandmother replied" that is a wrong thing to say. There are timid and scared persons in both sexes. And there are brave persons too in both sexes. What matters is the person and not the gender". She further provokes her young readers into testing their mathematical abilities and memory skills." What is a 1000 years?" she asks referring to the new Millennium that has just dawned, and proceeds to sharpen their mathematical skills by working out various problems using this figure. The book ends with a comment on the value of Education and the writer's comment on the significance of the word "Ayubowan" (May you live long"). One in a series of "Magic carpet books for children", Padma Edirisinghe has put her writing skills to a useful purpose to produce this very readable and informative book. Written in simple direct style with a number of attractive colour
illustrations both inside the book and on the cover, this reasonably
priced book is a good buy both for young students of English as well as
their teachers. In Black and White -now in print Peravadanak by Milinda Moragoda Reviewed by Rohan H. Wickramasinghe This slim book titled Peravadanak by Milinda Moragoda of around 144 pages is a collection writings in the popular press, speeches made in Parliament and transcripts culled from his television programme "In Black and White". The first section of the book contains contributions to Sinhala and Tamil language newspapers. In these, the author includes discussions of problems of local and global interest and views and proposals of his own on certain topics. In the matter of the election process, law-abiding citizens do not support those who violate laws or engage in election violence. Civil society should not tolerate the breaking laws or election violence. The next section of the book features speeches made in Parliament commencing with his maiden speech on the 8, December 2000. Attention may be drawn to the observation in his maiden speech that time and again in this country's politics promises and pledges have been made that in no way could have been fulfilled. One outcome of these unrealised expectations is youth unrest at regular intervals. He observes that in any country the problems surrounding equal recognition for women are not solved by the Ministries in charge of Women's Affairs but need the active involvement of all parliamentarians and other elected representatives. The final section of the book consists of transcripts of two interviews presented earlier in the television series "In Black and White". This weekly programme is not only shown locally but is also the first Sri Lankan weekly programme to be screened regularly in several other countries. It has to date featured several internationally know celebrities and prominent Sri Lankans. The two interviews selected for this book were those with the Mahathir Mohammed, Prime Minister of Malaysia, and the Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of India's state of Andhara Pradesh. Mr. Mahathir Mohammed notes that, as far as possible, they avoid asking for loans or "Aid". This habit of financial discipline helped them to withstand and recover from the shocks of the East Asian Economic Crisis few years ago. It is recommended that all thoughtful voters in Sri Lanka read and/or discuss the material of this book. It is pity that it has so far been published only in Sinhala. |
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