firemaiden said:
I'm sorry, kwaw... but I find the concept of using babel to translate anything a very bad idea. One needs to understand the sense of what one is translating. A language is not just words that can be plugged into a computer, there is also sense involved.
I agree, and am very thankful of the efforts of our translators here, it was made before the efforts of our translators however, and though not a good or best idea, was better in the circumstances than nothing [though perhaps not, if one doesn't know enough of the language to detect errors, errors that may even alter the sense of the meaning]. As I said, having done it, offered if of any use, no matter if not. Keen as anyone to see a proper translation.
As its done, may as well have the rest of de Mellet on the trumps, if only for the interest of comparing a proper translation with a computor generated one, and for those of us trying to learn a little french:
As Hieroglyphs are read right to left, the twenty-first Card, which was numbered only with modern figures, is the first, & must be read in the same way for the sense of the sequence to be understood; as it is the first with the Set of Tarots, & in the species of Divination that one operates with these Images. Lastly, there is a twenty-second Card without number as without power, but which increases the value of that which precedes it; it is the zero of magic calculations: it is called Madness.
First Series. Century of Gold.
Twenty-first, or first Card, represents the Universe with the Goddess Isis in an oval, or an egg, with the four Seasons at the four corners, the Man or the Angel, the Eagle, Ox & the Lion. Twentieth , this one is entitled the Judgement: indeed, an Angel sounding the the trumpet & the men leaving the ground, had to induce a Painter, not very versed in Mythology, to see in this tableau only the image of Resurrection; but the Old ones looked upon the men like children of the Earth [teeth sown by Cadmus, &c.]; Thoth wanted to express the Creation of Man by the painting of Osiris, God of Generation, blowing the trumpet, & by Tongues of fire which escape from the cloud, the Spirit of God animating matter; finally, by men leaving the ground to adore & admire the Absolute power: the attitude of these men does not announce culprits who go before their Judge.
Nineteen, the Creation of the Sun which clarifies the union of the man & the woman, expressed by a man & a woman which give themselves the hand: this sign became that of Gemini, the Androgyne: two in one. Eighteen, the Creation of the Moon & the Terrestrial animals, expressed by a Wolf & a Dog, to mean the Domestic animals & wild: this emblem is much better selected, the Dog & the Wolf are the only ones which howl with the aspect of this star, as if regretting the loss of the day. This character leads me to believe that this Tableau announced very-large misfortunes in those which went to consult the Fates, two Fortresses defend a path of blood, & a marsh which finishes the Tableau, portend difficulties and sinister predictions. Seventeen, the Creation of Stars & Fish , represented by Stars & Aquarius. Sixteen, the House of God fallen, or the terrestrial Paradise out of which the man & woman are thrown out by the tail of Comet or Flaming Sword, accompanied by a hailstorm.
Fifteen, the Devil or Typhon, last Card of the first Series, come to disturb the innocence of the man & to finish the golden age. Its tail, its horns & its long ears announce it as a degraded being: its raised left arm, the folded 'noude', forming the shape of the letter N, symbol of created beings; but the torch of Prometheus which it holds in the right hand, completes the form of the letter M, which expresses generation: indeed, the History of Typhon naturally induces us with this explanation; because, by depriving Osiris of its virility, it demonstrates that Typhon wishes to encroach on the rights of the producing Power; also he was the father of the evils which were spread on the ground.
The two Beings chained at its feet signify Human nature degraded & subjected, a new & perverse generation, whose talons express cruelty; they miss only the wings signifying Genius or an angelic nature to differentiate them from the devil: one of them touches with its claw the thigh of Typhon, emblematic of carnal generation: that it touches it with its left claw further dignifies the illegitimacy of it.
Typhon finally is often taken for the Winter, & this Tableau finishing the golden age announces the bad weather of the Seasons, by which man driven out of Paradise will henceforth be tested.
Second Series. Century of Silver.
Fourteenth, the Angel of Temperance comes to inform man, to make him avoid the death to which it is lately condemned: it is pouring water in wine, to show him the need to temper this liquor, or for moderating its affections.
Thirteenth; this number, always unhappy, is devoted to the Death, which is represented mowing the heads of both the vulgar and the crowned.
Twelfth, the accidents which tackle the human life, represented by a man hung by the foot; which is to say, to avoid such, it is necessary in this world to go with prudence: Suspenso Pede. Eleventh, Prudence comes to the aid of fortitude, & tames the Lion, which was always the symbol of the waste land & wild. Tenth, the Wheel of Fortune, at the top of which is a crowned Monkey, teaches us that after the fall of man, dignity no longer rises from virtue: the Rabbit which goes up & the man who is thrown down, express the injustices of fickle fortune: this wheel is the emblem wheel of Pythagorus, drawing the fates by numbers: this Divination is called Arithomancy. Ninth, the Hermit or the Wise one, the lantern with the hand, seeking Justice on the Earth. Eigth, Justice.
Third Series. Century of Iron.
Seventh, the Carriage of War in which is an armoured king, armed with a javelin, expresses the dissensions, the murders, the combat of the century of bronze, & announces the crimes of the century of iron. Sixth, the Man hesitates between vice & virtue, but is not led any more by reason: Love, or desire [ concupiscence ], with bandaged eyes, ready to release its arrow, will lean on the right or on the left, according to chance. Fifth, Jupiter or the Eternal, assembled with his Eagle, the lightning of his hand threatens the Earth, & will take Kings in his anger.
Fourth, the King armed with a bludgeon [Osiris is often represented with a whip in his hand, with a sphere & T: joined together, these emblems formed in the mind of our German Card maker an Imperial Ball]: its helmet is furnished by saw like teeth, and nothing can appease its insatiability [Or its revenge, if it is irritated Osiris]. Third, the Queen, the bludgeon in her hand; its crown has the same ornaments as the helmet of the King. Second, the Pride of the powerful, represented by the Peacocks, Junon points to the Sky with her right hand, & the Earth with her left, proclaiming an earthly religion of idolatry.
First, the Juggler holds the rod of the Magi, with which to affect miracles & deceive credulous people. It is followed of a single Card representing the Madness which carries its bag or its defects behind it, while a tiger or the remorses, devouring his 'bulges', delays its walk towards crime [This Card does not have a row: it completes the crowned Alphabet, & answers the Tau which wants to say completion or perfection: perhaps one wanted to represent in his direction the most natural result of the actions of men]. These twenty-two original Cards are not merely hieroglypics, which, placed in their natural order, retrace the History of the earliest times, they are also letters [ the Hebrew alphabet is composed of 22 Letters] which variously combined, can form many sentences; even their name (A-tout) is just a literal translation of their employment and general character.
Kwaw
Edited to add: at least this makes some kind of sense, when I tried it with the Gebelin text it was much more non-sensical, perhaps Gebelin is more archaic, or too idiomatic in his phraseology for a computor translation to cope with.
Notes:
Reference to Jupiter and Junon indicates de Mellets reference deck is of the Besancon pattern, unlike that de Gebelin references and that illustrated in Monde Primitif. Though de Mellet agrees with de Gebelin that the hanged man represents prudence he seems to accept that he hangs by the foot upside down. In the Moon card de Mellet also makes mention of the moon card referencing the Tropics [Gebelin says the dogs symbolise the two tropics], however the computer generated translation does not make sense, and rather that try and make sense of it and possibly misinterpret it in doing so have simply left the line out in above text.