remarked to me that, of all continental peoples, the French
were most alien to the spirit of his humour. In 'Le Figaro', at the
time of Mark Twain's death, this fundamental difference in taste once
more comes to light: "It is as difficult for a Frenchman to understand
Mark Twain as for a North American to admire La Fontaine. At first
sight, there is nothing in common between that highly specialized
faculty which the Anglo-Saxons of the old and the new world designate
under the name of humour, and that quality with us which we call wit
(esprit). And yet, at bottom, these two manifestations of the human
genius, so different in appearance, have a common origin and reach the
same result: they are, both of them, the glorification of good sense
presented in pleasing and unexpected form. Only, this form must
necessarily vary with peoples who do not speak the same language and
whose skulls are not fashioned in the same way."

In Italy, as in France, the peculiar _timbre_ of Mark Twain's humour
found an audience not wholly sympathetic, not thoroughly _au courant_
with his spirit. "Translation, however accurate and conscientious," as
the Italian critic, Raffaele Simboli, has pointed out, "fails to render
the special flavour of his work. And then in Italy, where humorous
writing generally either rests on a political basis or depends on risky
phrases, Mark Twain's sketches are not appreciated because the spirit
which breathes in them is not always understood. The story of 'The
Jumping Frog', for instance, famous as it is in America and England, has
made little impression in France or Italy."

It was rather among the Germanic peoples and those most closely allied
to them, the Scandinavians, that Mark Twain found most complete and
ready response. At first blush, it seems almost incredible that the
writings of Mark Twain, with their occasional slang, their
colloquialisms and their local peculiarities of dialect, should have
borne translation so well into other languages, especially into German.
It must, however, be borne in mind that, despite these peculiar features
of his writings, they are couched in a style of most marked directness,
simplicity and native English purity. The ease with which his works
were translated into foreign, especially the Germanic and allied
tongues, and the eager delight with which they were read and
comprehended by all classes, high and low, constitute perhaps the most
signal conceivable tribute,