Produced by Sue Asscher asschers@bigpond.com
LONDON: HENRY S. KING & CO.,65 CORNHILL, AND 12, PATERNOSTER ROW.1873.
Two of the dramas contained in this volume are the most celebrated ofall Calderon's writings. The first, "La Vida es Sueno", has beentranslated into many languages and performed with success on almostevery stage in Europe but that of England. So late as the winter of1866-7, in a Russian version, it drew crowded houses to the greattheatre of Moscow; while a few years earlier, as if to give a signalproof of the reality of its title, and that Life was indeed a Dream,the Queen of Sweden expired in the theatre of Stockholm during theperformance of "La Vida es Sueno". In England the play has been muchstudied for its literary value and the exceeding beauty and lyricalsweetness of some passages; but with the exception of a version byJohn Oxenford published in "The Monthly Magazine" for 1842, whichbeing in blank verse does not represent the form of the original, nocomplete translation into English has been attempted. Some scenestranslated with considerable elegance in the metre of the originalwere published by Archbishop Trench in 1856; but these comprised onlya portion of the graver division of the drama. The present versionof the entire play has been made with the advantages which theauthor's long experience in the study and interpretation of Calderonhas enabled him to apply to this master-piece of the great Spanishpoet. All the forms of verse have been preserved; while thecloseness of the translation may be inferred from the fact, that notonly the whole play but every speech and fragment of a speech arerepresented in English in the exact number of lines of the original,without the sacrifice, it is to be hoped, of one important idea.
A note by Hartzenbusch in the last edition of the drama published atMadrid (1872), tells that "La Vida es Sueno", is founded on a storywhich turns out to be substantially the same as that with whichEnglish students are familiar as the foundation of the famousInduction to the "Taming of the Shrew". Calderon found it however ina different work from that in which Shakespeare met with it, orrather his predecessor, the anonymous author of "The Taming of aShrew", whose work supplied to Shakespeare the materials of his owncomedy.
On this subject Malone thus writes. "The circumstance on which theInduction to the anonymous play, as well as to the present Comedy[Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew"], is founded, is related (asLangbaine has observed) by Heuterus, "Rerum Burgund." lib. iv. Theearliest English original of this story in prose that I have met withis the following, which is found in Goulart's "Admirable andMemorable Histories", translated by E. Grimstone, quarto, 1607; butthis tale (which Goulart translated from Heuterus) had undoubtedlyappeared in English, in some other shape, before 1594:
"Philip called the good Duke of Burgundy, in the memory of ourancestors, being at Bruxelles with his Court, and walking one nightafter supper through the streets, accompanied by some of hisfavourites, he found lying upon the stones a certaine artisan thatwas very dronke, and that slept soundly. It pleased the prince inthis artisan to make trial of the vanity of our life, whereof he hadbefore discoursed with his familiar friends. He ther