70 The The second Boke of the communication all the good lawes and orders of the same Ilande. 'he Ilande of Vtopia conteyneth in breadthe in the myddell part of it (for there it is brodest) CC. miles. Whiche bredthe continueth through the moste parte of the lande, sauyng that by lytle and lytle it commeth in and a politike. SERMONIS QVEM RAPHAEL HYTHLODAEVS DE OPTI MO REIP. STATV HABVIt, li BER SECVNDVS, PER THO MAM MORVM CIVEM ET VICECOMITEM LONDINENSEM1. * TOPIENSIVM INSVLA in media sui parte (nam hac latissima est) millia passuum ducenta porrigitur, magnumque per insulae spatium non multo angustior, fines uersus paulatim utrinque 1 A. and B. have the shorter title: Raphaelis Hythlodei sermo de optimo Reip. statu, per Thomam Morum. waxeth narrower towardes both the endes. Whiche fetchynge about a circuite or compasse of .v c.1 myles, do fassion the hole Ilande lyke to the newe mone". Betwene thys two corners the sea runneth in, diuydyng them a sonder by the distaunce of .xi. miles or there aboutes, and there surmounteth into a large and wyde sea3, which, by reason that the lande of euery syde compasseth it about, and shiltreth it from the windes, is not rough nor mountith not with great waues, but almost floweth quietlye, not muche vnlike a great standing powle; and maketh almoste al the space within the bellye of the lande in maner of a hauen; and to the great commoditie of the Inhabitauntes receaueth in shyppes towardes euery parte of the lande. The forefrontes or frontiers of the .ii. corners, what wythe fordys and shelues, and what with rockes, be very ieoperdous and daungerous. In the middel distaunce betwene a welnieghe. Situs et forma Vtopiae nouae insulae. tenuatur. hi uelut circunducti circino quingentorum ambitu millium, insulam totam in lunae speciem renascentis effigiant *. Cuius cornua fretum interfluens millibus passuum plus minus undecim dirimit, ac per ingens inane diffusum, circumiectu undique terrae prohibitis uentis, uasti in morem lacus, stagnans magis quam saeuiens, omnem prope eius terrae aluum pro portu facit, magnoque hominum usu naues quaqua uersus transmittit. fauces | hinc uadis inde saxis formidolosae. 71 1 That is, five hundred. 2 The editions of 1516 and 1518 illustrate this description by a woodcut, giving a bird's-eye view of the island, which was reproduced, in smaller size, in the Lucubrationes of 1563. See the Introduction, § 5. The island is conceived of as something in the shape of a horseshoe, the two ends of it only eleven miles apart. Between these extremities, as between two projecting moles of a harbour, the sea flows in, expanding on the concave side of the crescent into a vast, sheltered bay. The verb effigiare is found in Prudentius See also the Cornucopiae (ed. 1513), col. 754. 5 As a fair specimen of the dif ference in style between the older translation and Burnet's, and also as helping to make the description clearer, the opening section in Burnet's rendering may be given here :— 'The Island of Utopia is in the Middle two hundred Miles broad, and holds almost at the same Breadth over a great Part of it; but it grows narrower towards both Ends. Its Figure is not unlike a Crescent: Between its Horns them both standeth vp aboue the water a great rocke, which therfore is nothing perillous bicause it is in sight. Vpon the top of this rocke is a faire and a strong towre builded, which thei holde with a garison of men. Other rockes ther be, that lye hidde vnder the water, and therefore be daungerous. The channelles be knowen onely to themselfes. An' therfore it seldome chaunceth that any straunger, oneles he be guided by a Vtopian, can come in to this hauen. In so muche that they themselfes could skaselie entre without ieoperdie, but that their way is directed and ruled by certaine lande markes standing on the shore. By turning, translatynge 2, and remouinge this markes into other places, they maye destroye their enemies nauies, be thei neuer so many 3. The out side of the lande is also full of hauens; but the landing is so surely a lyinge. b which. cor vtter circuite of. Locus natura tutus unico praesidio defenditur. In medio ferme interstitio una rupes eminet, eoque innoxia, cui inaedificatam turrim praesidio tenent: caeterae latentes et insidiosae. Canales solis ipsis noti; atque ideo non temere accidit ut exterus quisquam hunc in sinum, nisi Vtopiano duce, penetret; ut in quem uix ipsis tutus ingressus est, nisi signis quibusdam e litore uiam regentibus. His in diuersa translatis loca, hostium quamlibet numerosam classem facile in perniciem traherent. Stratagema ex mutatis signis. Ab altera parte non infrequentes portus. At ubique a the Sea comes in eleven Miles broad, and spreads itself into a great Bay, which is environed with Land to the Compass of about five Hundred Miles, and is well secured from Winds: In this Bay there is no great Current; the whole Coast is, as it were, one continued Harbour, which gives all that live in the Island great Conve nience for mutual Commerce: But the Entry into the Bay, occasioned by Rocks on the one hand, and Shallows on the other, is very dangerous.' 1 Still used provincially for 'and.' ? That is, transferring, or changing. The word is still used in its literal sense of changes in episcopal sees. The reader will be inclined to apostrophize the one poor Latin term, translatis, in the words of Quince to Bottom, as he marks how Robynson struggles with it. 3 On this and other repellent features of the Utopian character, as drawn by More, see the Introduction, § 4, P. xlvii. |