Читать книгу The Pitaval Casebook - Frederick Schiller - Страница 4

will be enough cultivated to appreciate Truth, Beauty and Good without any foreign addition; an entertaining book will already have enough merit if it reaches its goal of assuring the minimum level of entertainment without causing the damaging consequences which people must experience in most writings of this kind. At least, so long as such literature will be read, a more terrible goal will not intervene and hence, it will still contain, somehow, some reality for the mind; it will still spread the seeds of more useful knowledge; it can be used to direct the reader's reflection towards worthwhile goals: hence one cannot deny its worth in the literary kind to which it belongs.

Of this kind is the current work for which I am giving a public testimony; and I believe not having to justify its publication. People will find in this work a choice of legal cases which level of interest in actions, artificial complication and diversity of subjects, are almost raised into novel-like accounts, and yet, still prepares for the historical truth. People see here the human being in the most complicated situations which unfolds one's whole expectation and which gives a pleasant occupation to the reader's divination abilities. The secret game of passion develops itself here before our eyes, and many rays of truth will be shed over the secret aspects of intrigues, over the machinations unraveled by the spiritual as well as the worldly authorities in their deceit.

Motives which are hidden to the observer's eye in normal life, become more visible in such occasions where life, freedom and possessions are at stake, and hence is the criminal judge in stand to throw deeper looks into the human heart.

In addition, the circumstantial legal procedure is far more capable to bring into light the secret motivation of human actions than it otherwise took place; and when the most complete account of a story about the last scenes of an event, about the true motives of the active players leaves us often unsatisfied; hence, a criminal procedure often unveils to us the most inner thoughts and reveals the most hidden weaving of bad intentions. This important gain for the human knowledge and human behaviour, which is uplifting enough in itself to qualify this work for a good recommendation, will be elevated to greatness through the many legal knowledge which this work spreads and which is made clear and interesting through the individuality of cases in which people used such knowledge.

The level of interest which these legal cases already insure in their content, will be even more enhanced by the way their were written. Their authors have also cared, whenever applicable, to share with the reader the ambiguity which often set the judge into error, in the sense that they showed the same care and artistry in presenting the arguments of the opposed parties, in hiding the intrigues until the last developments and through that, in driving the suspense to the highest level.

A faithful translation of the Pitaval casebook has already been published by this same editor and will be continued until the fourth volume. However, the larger goal of this work makes necessary a change in its literary style. As the greater public was preferably chosen as the readership; hence, it would have been counter-productive to hold onto the same legal details which the original publication has preferably used for legal experts. Through the shortenings which it suffered under the hands of the new translator, the account has already earned a different interest without for that reason suffering in its comprehension.

A selection from the Pitaval casebook might run between three to four volumes: however, people are resolved to also accept important legal cases from other writers and from other nations (particularly wherever possible, from our fatherland) and through that, to progressively raise this collection into a seasoned magazine for this genre. The degree of perfection which they should reach, lies, from now on, upon the public support and on the acceptance which this first attempt will have.