Oral transmission and written translation: a self-study reference

“When I hit on the idea of using Aesop’s fables for translation work I really thought I was on to a good thing. I was in raptures thinking of all the advantages: short, self-contained units, using them as a guide to composition writing, story-telling, paraphrasing and summary-writing. I thought how interesting it would be for students to have this new approach to written translation through the oral tradition, how inspiring to have this contact with Ancient Greek culture and learning, how important it was for them to be able to use what they had learned from the translation retelling the story in their own words. I thought that by comparision they would be able to feel for themselves the difference between story, tale, parable and fable, between fact and fiction, between humour, wit, and satire. I had no intention of moralizing – no more than any other teacher, that is – but I did hope to use the message and the moral emerging from the fables to teach proverbs, or rather to help the students use and acquire proverbs in English, and to have the students reflect on the nature of things, and on human nature, before approaching the masters of English literature.” (dall’Introduzione)