Palavras lidas #225

From Charles Boxer's The Dutch Seaborne Empire, 1965, pp. 89-90:

"Three years after the loss of Pernambuco in 1654, the States-General at last persuaded Holland to agree to the dispatch of a fleet to blockade the Tagus and bring the Portuguese to heel; but English and French diplomatic intervention on behalf of Portugal soon gave Holland a welcome pretext for renewing its opposition to the war and to insist on the resumption of negotiations with the Portuguese envoy at the Hague in 1658. Disregarding the provisions of the Union of Utrecht that all such matters must be agreed unanimously, the deputies of Holland, led by Johan de Witt, pushed the Portuguese peace-treaty through the States-General despite the bitter opposition of Zeeland and the obstruction of Guelderland and Gronigen in 1661-2.

The attitude of Holland, and more especially that of Amsterdam, towards the Luso-Brazilian problem in the years 1641-61, brings out very clearly the accuracy of Sir George Downing's observation to his own government in 1664: 'You have infinite advantages upon the account of the form of the government of this country which is such a shattered and divided thing; and though the rest of the provinces give Holland their votes, yet nothing is more evident and certain than that Holland must expect to bear the burden. Even Zeeland can do very little, for that it is very poor, and for the other provinces they neither can nor will.' Fourteen years earlier the Portuguese envoy at The Hague had expressed the same truth even more pithily, when he informed his government: 'If Holland desires peace, that is more than enough to secure it, and the approval of Amsterdam alone will suffice.'* For as long as the Dutch Republic endured, it was Amsterdam that paid the piper, and so her regent-oligarchs felt entitled to call the tune."

*'... porque como a Hollanda quer paz, sobeja, e só Amsterdam basta', Correspondência Diplomática de Francisco Sousa Coutinho, Vol. III, p. 360.

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Three comments:

1) Perhaps there's a simple historical reason for Netherlands to be translated into Portuguese simply as Holanda, which is merely one of that country's regions. I recall making the honest mistake of direct translation in the company of a Dutch friend who kindly told me that, although she is Dutch she is not from Holland so the correct name of her country is Netherlands (the territory encompassing all regions of the country, including Holland). I thanked her and wished her good luck trying to explain that to Portuguese speakers where the only alternative to Holanda is Países Baixos (Low Countries), which instead overstates the Dutch territory since The Netherlands are originally the Northern Low Countries. She is obviously more comfortable with the second mistake, since it includes her region. Never came across a Belgian person to ask how (s)he feels about the issue...

2) Each country or economic block is composed of rich and poor regions. The former support the latter in exchange for political acquiescence.

3) Sponsors can, always could and always will.
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Três comentários:

1) Talvez exista uma simples razão histórica para que Nederland seja traduzido em português simplesmente por Holanda que é apenas uma das várias regiões daquele país. Recordo-me de ter cometido o inocente erro de tradução directa para inglês na presença de uma amiga que me disse delicadamente que não era holandesa, mas de outra região pelo que o nome correcto do seu país em inglês é Netherlands (o território que engloba todas as regiões do país, incluindo a Holanda). Eu agradeci e desejei-lhe boa sorte ao tentar explicar o problema para os falantes de Português em que a única alternativa a Holanda é Países Baixos, que por sua vez peca por excesso territorial uma vez que o país dela apenas engloba os Países Baixos do Norte. Claro que ela prefere o segundo erro ao primeiro porque a sua região está incluída. Nunca perguntei a um Belga o que pensava sobre o assunto...

2) Cada país ou bloco económico é composto de regiões ricas e pobres. As primeiras sustentam as segundas em troca de consentimento político.

3) Quem pode pode, sempre pôde e sempre poderá.

[O excerto acima descreve o contexto histórico em que a Holanda fez valer a sua vontade no parlamento face às restantes províncias do país, no que refere às tréguas com Portugal depois da restauração de 1640. Claro que seria a Holanda, e não as outras províncias, a financiar o eventual esforço de guerra]