Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 13:48:42 -0700
From: callihan-AT-callihan.seanet.com (Steven E. Callihan)
Subject: Translation/Interpretation II


I think that because German really is much more a "pure" language,
while English is decidedly a mongrel tongue (not a weakness, rather
its strength, I believe), that the tendency in German is to have one
word cover a multitude of senses, with the context governing the
sense, while English may provide several words covering a range of
closely related senses, with often more than one word for the very
same sense, but with different colorings, backgrounds, histories, etc.
So, I would be in favor of new translations of all of Nietzsche's
poetry, and fully annotated.  Kaufman's translations of N.'s poetry at
best serve as rough guides for diving into the German originals.  On
their own, they give entirely the wrong impression--at least that is
the way it seems to me, just with the aid of a couple dictionaries,
and no German to speak of.

I tried my hand at "interpreting" another of N.'s poems from _The Gay
Science_, with what I feel are, at least for me, very interesting
results:

The German:

          Mein Gluck

     Seit ich des Suchens mude ward,
     Erlernte ich das Finden.
     Seit mir ein Wind hielt Widerpart,
     Segl' ich mit allen Winden.


Kaufman's version:

          My Happiness

     Since I grew tired of the chase
     And search, I learned to find;
     And since the wind blows in my face,
     I sail with every wind.


My "interpretation":

          My Fortune

     Since of the hunt I grew weary,
     I learned to find.
     Catching wind of my game,
     I sail upon every breeze.

Notes:

_Mein Gluck_:  Can mean "happiness," "fortune," "luck," or "success."
 "Happiness" has a certain ironic twist to it, considering N.'
enveighing against "happiness" as an end or goal, and has, thus a good=7F
deal to recommend it.  "My Cheerfulness" is both too flat and too
wrong.  "Fortune," however, stresses that the real fortune was not in
the end, the goal, but in the going (the trip rather than the
destination), taking my further treatment of the poem.  All in all, a
toss-up between "happiness" and "fortune," with the decision being
simply to try something different.

_Seit ich des Suchens mude ward_:  _Suchen_ means "search for,"
"seek," "desire," "want," etc.  Because "Wind" in the third line also
means "scent," and of how I "interpreted" that particular line, I
substituted "the hunt" here.  Instead of "grew tired," I substituted
"grew weary," considering N.'s emphasis on "weariness" vs. "vitality,"
shall we say.

_Seit mir ein Wind hielt Widerpart_:  I had to go through several
dictionaries to find _Widerpart_, which means "adversary,"
"antagonist," "counterpart," even "enemy."  It does _not_ mean "face."
_Wind_ can mean simply "wind," or it can mean "scent."  In English we
retain this second meaning in the form of "catch wind of."  _hielt_
means "holds" or "detains."  I suppose a straight translation would be=7F
something along the lines of "The wind holds my adversary," which in
English is exceedingly awkward, not to mention unpoetic.  In line,
however, with the "scent" meaning for wind, I decided to use "the
hunt" in the first line and translate this line as "catching wind of
my game."

_allen Winden_:  Since I'm not bothering with rhyme, and have no need
to rhyme with _Finden_, I decided on "breeze" here rather than "wind,"
for the sake of variety, and just because I like it.

==============================================================================

            Steven E. Callihan -- callihan-AT-callihan.seanet.com

     "And just as a tyranny of truth and science could increase esteem
     for the lie, a tyranny of prudence could spur the growth of a new
     kind of nobility.  To be noble might then come to mean: to
     entertain follies." 

            --Friedrich Nietzsche, _The Gay Science_, Section 20.

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