The first translation of one of Marmontel’s stories is traditionally referred to as ‘Den lykkelige Familie’ [The happy family], published in the periodical
Fruentimmer- og Mandfolke-Tidenden [Journal for Women and Men] in 1769.
1 H. Stangerup, Romanen i Danmark, pp. 230–1. The translator for this moral weekly had evidently not read Philibert’s edition of ‘L’heureuse famille’, or he would not have given it the subtitle ‘A story by Mr. Marmontel’.
2 ‘Den lykkelige Familie. (En Fortælling af Hr. Marmontel)’, in Fruentimmer- og Mandfolke-Tidenden, no. 11–12 (1769). It might have been a Leipzig edition reprint (with Bélisaire, 1768), where we find the same error in a footnote as in the Danish (the year 1665 for 1765), which is correct in Philibert’s edition. Apparently, the imitators had overtaken the original in reaching readers in Danish. Either way, this was not the first translation of a Marmontel story into Danish. The first appeared in Norway, in a newspaper, but with no mention of the author.
‘Fortællelse om en sig selv kaldende Philosophus’ is an abridged version of ‘The Pretended Philosopher’, originally from
Mercure de France (1759), published on 12 October 1767 in a recently established newspaper in Bergen, Norway’s largest town at the time. As regular
newspapers were only allowed for publication in Copenhagen, the first Norwegian papers,
Norske Intelligenz-Sedler (Christiania [Oslo] from 1763) and
Efterretninger Fra Addresse-Contoiret i Bergen i Norge (Bergen from 1765), were so-called
adresseaviser (from French
feuilles du bureau d’adresse; German:
Intelligenz-Blätter). These small weeklies peddled local advertisements and official announcements, filling the remaining space of their four pages with fables, stories and poems, letters to the editor or practical advice. The editor in Bergen, Ole Brose, could boast a significant private library of books in several languages, including
Contes moraux in French.
3 Inventory of his estate in 1784 includes Contes moraux in 3 vols (The Regional State Archive in Bergen, ‘Skifteakter for Ole Brose’). He might have produced this translation, which provides no context such as the author’s name or origin, as was often the case in these papers.
This story of the self-declared unworldly philosopher whose hypocrisy is unmasked and ridiculed in the manner of a traditional comedy was originally aimed at Rousseau following Marmontel’s dispute with him over the moral use of theatre (and comedy in particular).
4 K. Astbury, The Moral Tale, p. 29. While this subtext was most probably lost on the readers in Bergen, the tale had acquired new topicality.
5 On fiction published in Norwegian papers in the 1760s, see A. Nøding, ‘Vittige kameleoner: Litterære tekster i norske adresseaviser, 1763–1769’ (PhD thesis Oslo, 2007). In the imported newspapers, readers in Bergen could follow the developments of the censorship case against
Bélisaire in Paris. Particularly the chapter that advocates tolerance and claims the salvation of honourable heathens created heated debate in the twin kingdom as it did on the continent. By printing a story well-read readers would recognise, and others would laugh at for its portrayal of a self-proclaimed expert on good and evil, the text could be read as a subtle contribution to the ongoing debate. It would be very typical of how these pre-censored papers applied literary texts. In addition, good texts sold papers.
This first translation points to three typical features of the following Dano-Norwegian translations of the
Contes: they are printed in a periodical publication, they are addressed to a potentially wide (or widening) readership and they take advantage of Marmontel’s fame following the publication of
Bélisaire and later by its ban in France in early 1768.
6 Bélisaire was published in December 1766 or early 1767 (A. Martin et al., Bibliographie, p. 120). (The Danish translation,
Belisarius, appeared the same year.
7 Marmontel, Belisarius [trans. A. P. Bartholin] (Copenhagen, 1768). ) By the summer of 1768 bookseller Schiønning in Copenhagen invited subscriptions to a translation of ‘Mr. Marmontel’s Moral Tales or Contes moraux in Danish’, but none appeared.
8 ‘Hr. Marmontels Moralske Fortælninger eller Contes moraux i Dansk’, KA 5 July 1768, p. 4. A second attempt at a translation of the entire work points directly to the success of the
Bélisaire translation as an encouragement. The unknown translator (‘F. v. Q.’) announced a monthly publication of the tales (in random order) under the title
Moraliske Fortælninger. In October 1773 the first tale ‘Alcibiade eller mig’ [Alcibiade, or myself] appeared in Copenhagen. The literary critics judged he should not continue until he mastered both French and Danish and, furthermore, choose stories that could be called ‘moral’ in a stricter sense. No new translations followed, and soon a hawker of carded flax sold ‘Alcibiade’ at his stall – 11 copies for the price of 10.
9 Nye kritisk Journal (NKJ), No. 19 (1774), pp. 164–5; KA 2 March 1774. Again, the potential readership for the stories
had widened substantially, if not successfully. There were to be no Danish translations of
Contes moraux in volume form.