The Inimitable Tiff

The conquered reshape their languages by translation from their conquerors; but conquerors also reshape their languages by translation from the conquered. Greek came to Rome in the mouths of slaves. One generation of Mongols heard Arabic and Chinese only in cries for mercy; the next whispered them in their bedrooms and gardens. Translation is indeed a convenience, is indeed a political act, but it also a transmission, an inheritance, a maturation. The old language passes on to the young language something that it must strive and work to contain—simply put, power: power to know, power to understand, power to think.