The Spectator’sAccount Of Himself
BY ADDISON AND STEEELE main text : part-01 I HAVE observed, that a reader seldom peruses a book with pleasure, till he knows whether the writer of it be a black [dark] or a fair man, of a mild or choleric disposition, married or a bachelor, with other particulars of the like nature, that conduce very much to the right understanding of an author. To gratify this curiosity, which is so natural to a reader, I design this paper and my next as prefatory discourses to my following writings, and shall give some account in them of the several persons that are engaged in this work. As the chief trouble of compiling, digesting, and correcting will fall to my share, I must do myself the justice to open the work with my own history.I was born to a small hereditary estate, which, according to the tradition of the village where it lies, was bounded by the same hedges and ditches in William the Conqueror’s time that it is at present, and has been delivered down from father to son whole and entire, without the loss or acquisition of a single field or meadow, during the space of six hundred years. There runs a story in the family, that when my mother was gone with child of me about. three months she dreamt that she was brought to bed of a judge whether this might proceed from a law-suit which was then depending in the family, or my father’s being a justice of the peace, I cannot determine; for I am not so vain as to think it presaged any dignity that I should arrive at in my future life, though that was the interpretation which the neighbourhood put upon it. traslation in bangla :The Spectator’sAccount Of Himself I HAVE observed, আমি লক্ষ্য করেছি, that a reader seldom peruses a book with pleasure, যে একজন পাঠক খুব কমই আনন্দ নিয়ে একটি বই পড়ে, till he knows whether the writer of it be a black (dark) or a fair man, যতক্ষণ না সে জানে লেখকটি কালো (গায়ের রং শ্যামলা) না ফর্সা মানুষ, of a mild or choleric disposition, স্বভাবের দিক থেকে শান্ত না রাগী, married or a bachelor, বিবাহিত না অবিবাহিত, with other particulars of the like nature, এবং এ ধরনের আরও নানা ব্যক্তিগত বিষয়, that conduce very much to the right understanding of an author, যেগুলো লেখককে সঠিকভাবে বুঝতে অনেক সাহায্য করে। To gratify this curiosity, which is so natural to a reader, এই স্বাভাবিক কৌতূহল মেটানোর জন্য, I design this paper and my next as prefatory discourses to my following writings, আমি এই লেখা এবং পরবর্তী লেখাটিকে আমার পরবর্তী রচনার ভূমিকা হিসেবে তৈরি করেছি, and shall give some account in them of the several persons that are engaged in this work, এবং এতে আমি এই কাজে যুক্ত বিভিন্ন ব্যক্তির সম্পর্কে কিছু বিবরণ দেব। As the chief trouble of compiling, digesting, and correcting will fall to my share, যেহেতু সংকলন, বিন্যাস এবং সংশোধনের প্রধান দায়িত্ব আমার ওপরই পড়বে, I must do myself the justice to open the work with my own history, তাই ন্যায্যতার খাতিরে আমাকে নিজের জীবনের গল্প দিয়েই এই কাজ শুরু করতে হবে। I was born to a small hereditary estate, আমি একটি ছোট পৈতৃক সম্পত্তিতে জন্মেছি, which, according to the tradition of the village where it lies, যেটি, যে গ্রামে এটি অবস্থিত সেই গ্রামের প্রচলিত মতে, was bounded by the same hedges and ditches in William the Conqueror’s time that it is at present, উইলিয়াম দ্য কনকারারের সময়েও একই বেড়া ও খাল দ্বারা সীমাবদ্ধ ছিল, যেমন এখন আছে, and has been delivered down from father to son whole and entire, এবং এটি সম্পূর্ণ অক্ষত অবস্থায় পিতা থেকে পুত্রের কাছে হস্তান্তরিত হয়ে এসেছে, without the loss or acquisition of a single field or meadow, একটি জমি বা ঘাসের মাঠও না কমে বা না বেড়ে, during the space of six hundred years, প্রায় ছয়শো বছর ধরে। There runs a story in the family, আমাদের পরিবারে একটি গল্প প্রচলিত আছে, that when my mother was gone with child of me about three months, যে, আমার মা যখন আমাকে গর্ভে ধারণ করেছিলেন প্রায় তিন মাস, she dreamt that she was brought to bed of a judge, তিনি স্বপ্ন দেখেছিলেন যে তিনি একজন বিচারকের জন্ম দিয়েছেন, whether this might proceed from a law-suit which was then depending in the family, এটা কি সেই সময় পরিবারের চলমান মামলার কারণে হয়েছিল, or my father’s being a justice of the peace, I cannot determine; নাকি আমার বাবা বিচারক (জাস্টিস অফ দ্য পিস) ছিলেন—আমি তা নির্দিষ্ট করে বলতে পারি না; for I am not so vain as to think it presaged any dignity that I should arrive at in my future life, কারণ আমি এতটা অহংকারী নই যে ভাবি এটি আমার ভবিষ্যতের কোনো সম্মানের পূর্বাভাস ছিল, though that was the interpretation which the neighbourhood put upon it, যদিও আশেপাশের লোকেরা এটাকেই সেইভাবে ব্যাখ্যা করেছিল। Summary The narrator believes that readers enjoy a book more when they know something about its author. Therefore, he writes this paper as an introduction to himself and the people involved in his work. Since he is mainly responsible for preparing and editing the publication, he begins with his own background. He was born into a modest family with a small hereditary estate that had remained unchanged for about six hundred years. He also mentions a family story that his mother dreamed, during her pregnancy, of giving birth to a judge. Although the neighbors considered it a sign of his future greatness, the narrator modestly refuses to believe that the dream foretold any special honor or distinction in his life. main text : part-02 The gravity of my behaviour at my very first appearance in the world, and all the time that I sucked, seemed to favour my mother’s dream: for, as she has often told me, I threw away my rattle before I was two months old, and would not make use of my coral till they had taken away the bells from it.As for the rest of my infancy, there