While reading from the old text, Christopher Plummer pronounces the word "compare" as "com-pair," following English pronunciation. However, the Latin or Italian word "compare" should be pronounced "com-pa-reh," with each syllable distinctly enunciated and the final "e" softly pronounced. In Italian, "compare" means "godfather" or "companion," and the mispronunciation is particularly noticeable, given the historical and linguistic context of the text.