"THAT HE WHO RUNS MAY READ"

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 21024, 28 November 1933, Page 17

"THAT HE WHO RUNS MAY READ"

to thb »»iToa oy th* *mbs. Sir,—l thank you for printing the lines from Habakkuk. You will observe that they are quite the opposite of the above. Not "That he who runs may read," but "He may run that readeth it.' Even our English version does not give the correct rendering. Louis Legoud in his French translation has: "Ecris la prophetie Grave-la sur des tables A'fin qu'on la lise couramment.'* "That it may be read quickly or easily." J This is advice that I imagine is mucn needed to-day, when many writers make such a scrawl of their wnt PSthat it is slowly and with much difficulty that one can read it. fap unless carelessness caused some one to blunder with Habakkuk, he cannot be blamed or praised for this saying. I may remind "Common Sense" that a fes before motor-cars were thought of, this quotation was in use. Does thl .i l ea Y? onl y Cowper as the author?— Yours, etc., *r v. „. IGNORAMUS. November 24, 1933. TO TH.6 EDITOR Or THB HiSSS. Sir—Permit me to call attention to a curious misquotation of Scripture which has the effect of entirely obscuring the subtle beauty of the phrase and substituting something entirely different. The heading above is as commonly ?w °} e ft. an 2- the - meaning conveyed is that the thing referred to is so plain that even a person running may read it as he runs—as, for instance, a plainly displayed roadside advertisement. The poet Cowper is without doubt, 1 should say, quoting from Habakkuk 11. 2, and yet even he uses the popular rendering instead of the correct wording of the prophet. You yourself mention Habakkuk H. 2 in the footnote to "Ignoramus's" letter in your recent issue, but do not apparently notice that the prophet's words are: "He may run that readeth" —quite a different idea. May I suggest that the lesson of the words of Habakkuk is that we first read and then we may safely run, or, in other words, should we not consult the chart and directions first and then set out on our journey. This is a safe plan, for those who "run" without first having "read" are liable to run into any kmd of danger and come to grief. I hope this interests and helps "Ignoramus."—Yours, etc., W.C.C. Novemßer 24, 1933.