Some suggestions on this part of the translation project from a native speaker of English (GB!). My new suggestions are not the result of long pondering, but rather seek to eliminate a number of slight mistakes and linguistic unevenness. There is still much to be debated, tho' and Walter has got a lot covered well on the first go. Hoffentlich kann ich mich jetzt ein bissl mehr einklinken hier. Mfg, JK >"Like that you have to be" - to strike this quality of a person, his fate, be >it tragic, heroic, comical or disgusting, is the task of the author; his >material is the world in general. > "That is the way you are to be" - it is the task of the author to catch this quality, a person's fate, be it tragic, heroic, comical or repulsive; his material is the world in itself. >Shakespeare's Falstaff, Dostoyevsky's Raskolnikov, Buechner's Woyzeck are well >composed in this sense, although one was a drunkard, the other a murderer and >the third an idiot - even banality can, as in Oblomov, shine in this spectre. spectrum. >Should we now state, these characters were accomplished through the art, it >would only be one half of the story. Moreover the author has discovered the >genius of the world at a random point, which demands our compassion, our pity, >also fear and horror as in the tragedy. Were we now to maintain that it was through art that these characters are a success, we would leave the other half unsaid. The author, rather, has discovered the genius of the world at a particular point. That demands compassion and pity from us, in tragedy, fear and horror. >The author has a mission, not a profession. Therefore he has a wider view >towards values like guilt and innocence or beauty and ugliness, as one usually >has. This can lead to conflicts, like for a judge, who has to follow the law >even in cases where he feels inner reluctance. The author has a calling, not a career. He thus has a broader view of values like guilt and innocence or beauty and ugliness than one normally meets. This can lead to conflicts as for the judge who is bound by the law despite his inner convictions. >Zeus takes part in the battle of the gods and humans like in a play, he is >exited and he weighs: fate is stronger than even he is. Zeus participates in the battle of gods and men as if it were a play. He is excited by it and he weighs up: fate is stronger even than he. >I already mentioned the minister who steps out of his church after having >preached of God's kindness and is adressed by a hunchback: > I have already [...] >"Look at me, Father." >"I must find, as a hunchback, he turned out well. " "I think you're a fine specimen of a hunchback" (maybe use thou art) > >If I remember right I marked the passage reading Karl Julius Weber, but I also >found it in Diderot's works and in others, it could also be in Montaigne's. >Apparently a wandering anecdote with a solid core. *rightly* >The answer hits the case, but gives little consolation to the person. It >would be more fitting for an anatomist, or for a painter like Breughel, also >for a lama than for a minister of Christian confession. The assessment hits the mark but offers little consolation to the person concerned. It would be more suitable coming from an anatomist, or a painter such as Breughel, even from a Lama, than from a minister of the Christian faith. >> Ein Schnitt kann auch heilen; der Verweis auf die Sache ist bei den >> Zynikern beliebt. Er konfrontiert den Betroffenen ohne Umschweif mit dem >> Schicksal; und irgendeinen Buckel trägt jeder mit sich herum. Es fragt >> sich, wie er sich damit abfindet oder sogar zum Besten wendet, was ihn >> drückt. Weber meint, >)Bucklichte ersetzen meist durch Geist, was dem >> Körper abgeht oder zu viel aufgelegt ist<<, und er zählt eine Reihe von >> Genies auf, die dieses Kreuz trugen, darunter auch Lichtenberg. >> >A cut can also heal. Pointing at the case is favorite among cynics. It >confronts the confounded without roundabouts with his fate, and some kind of >hunch everyone carries along. The question is how he copes with it or even >turns to the best what presses him. Weber says "hunchbacks often replace with >spirit what the body lacks or was put on too much of" and specifies a row of >geniuses who carried this cross, among them Lichtenberg, too. A cut can also heal. Pointing this out is popular among cynics. It confronts the person concerned directly with his fate; and everyone suffers from their own form of deformity. It is question of coming to terms with it or indeed of turning it to the best. Weber thought, "hunchbacks often compensate the defects of the body in the realm of the mind" and listed a host of geniuses who carried this cross, among them Lichtenberg. >Notes concerning the translation: >The quotation in the beginning of 4 is from a poem by Goethe - Urworte, >orphisch. Maybe someone has a proper translation at hand. 'fraid not. >To 6, how is a minister adressed in English ? Hm, depends. Catholic priests are "Father". But with protestant ministers, it can vary considerably. I've left it as "Father", although Pastor, Reverend, Vicar might just as well do. > =================================================================== John King Peterstraße 39b D-20355 Hamburg Tel: +49 (040) 35 11 78 ===================================================================
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