Month 74: Pages 113-115

This Month's Installment

The italicized parts are what I'm unsure about.

     "You hear how the women chatter!  You will better understand, won't you, that a Prussian officer who has faithfully served his fatherland for so long that it made him a major, will not now sit around at home when his entire people are pulled into the war."

     "Certainly, I understand that well.  But Major, you are already sixty years old."

     "Sixty-three," Edith threw in again.

     "Yes, sixty-three.  Is that an old man?  Kluck and the other generals who will lead our army to victory are much older than I.  I can ride my five hours on horseback.  To parade in uniform in peacetime and to chicken out when it becomes serious, the cowards want to do that, but not the Reckensteiner."

     "But you are not healthy, dear father."

     "What?  Not healthy!  Don't I have my arms for beating, so that no pepper grows where they hit?  Have I no eyes to see and no ears to hear?"

     "But you were undergoing treatment in Rodenburg all last winter."

     "Certainly, in order to be healthy, if it works!  Otherwise, I really wouldn't have suffered the vertigo.  There is not being ill at all.  That is a concern for peace time.  No German man becomes ill when the enemy stands at the gate.  Why do we have our fatherland?  Why has our East Prussia done so much good for us, nurtured and cared for us, if we are not also able to defend it as soon as it is in danger?  Old or young, we must all get to it!  And now something

---113---

else tells me.  I am going with, that is clear as day.  And if they can no longer use me as a major at the front, they will still have a post for me, you can be sure of that!"

     The situation had come to a head, the kaiser explained the state of the war.

     Mayor Stoltzmann, who was about to go on a long vacation trip with his wife, had immediately cancelled this and had already been in Rodenburg for a few days, where he had his hands full and his circumspection and energy showed themselves in the best light.

     Only Hans did not come.  Else, who had long since left Bärwalde in order to arrange everything at home for the brother's homecoming, waited for him with an uneasiness that grew to fear when still no news of him arrived.

     Edith von Barrnhoff, who had come to Rodenburg in order to call the doctor for help against the stubbornness of her father, had truly consoled her:  in these days, wires for private individuals would not be carried at all, and if it were to happen, then one must reckon with very slow conveyance, now the war would be everything.  And in these days where everyone wanted to go home he would certainly not get anywhere quickly with the railway.

     It was become afternoon.  The evening drew closer.  No trace of Hans.  His vacation ended to-day, he had to preach the sermon to-morrow.  His name was in the church bulletin.  Mr. Brettschneider had already sent, if one still knew nothing of the brother and if, in any case, he shouldn't prepare himself for the sermon?

---114---

     Then - the church tower clock across the way had just struck the sixth hour - a quick stride up the steps of the [Beischlag] in front of the old parsonage.  Else hurried down the stairs, opened the door - in his loden coat, the small, sturdy suitcase in his right hand, blanket, cane, and umbrella in his left, stood Hans before her.

     "Finally," she cried from out of a relieved heart, "we see each other again!"

     "Yes," he answered, "neither of us had thought when we parted then, now difficult times are come."

     "We must accept them - but how did you simply arrive?  Carrying everything with you?  Did you go like this through the whole city?"

Interesting Phrases I Happened Upon

I haven't done this segment in quite a while, simply because I hadn't run across any interesting phrases.  I found a couple this month, though:

• Pferdeäpfel - horse droppings, but literally "horse apples"
• Er hört das Gras wachsen - "he reads too much into things," "he overinterprets," but literally "he hears the grass grow"

Grammatical Minutiae/Commentary

Obviously, the phrase "so that no pepper grows where they hit" ("daß kein Pfeffer wächst, wo sie hintreffen") sounds odd in English.  According to my dictionary, this is an idiom, but the example that my dictionary provides doesn't apply to this context:  "geh hin, wo der Pfeffer wächst get lost, jump in the lake."

The Major's protests of "Have I no eyes to see and no ears to hear?" ("Habe ich keine Augen, zu sehen, und keine Ohren, zu hören?") may be a reference to Shylock's "Hath not a Jew eyes?  Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?" in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice (III.i.51-53).  It's a similar construction, at least.

The phrase "Alt oder jung" ("old or young") is a merism.

I changed "morgen hatte er die Hauptpredigt" a bit.  Literally, this is "to-morrow he had the main sermon."  I'm not sure that "main" is really an adjective that's applicable to sermons, however, so I translated it merely as "sermon."  I also added a verb to clarify:  "he had to preach the sermon to-morrow."  I think this sense of have would be müssen in German though.  Er muß die Predigt predigen.

I tried to follow the original word order in the sentence "Else hurried down the stairs, opened the door - in his loden coat, the small, sturdy suitcase in his right hand, blanket, cane, and umbrella in his left, stood Hans before her." but it turned out to be something of a mess with the commas.

This is the end of chapter twenty-one and the beginning of chapter twenty-two.

Month 73: Pages 111-113

This Month's Installment

As always, what's italicized is what I'm unsure about.

He doesn't preach a word that he doesn't believe and, what is probably the main thing, on which he doesn't act.  Your brother Hans knows, which is why he admires him so much.  And I know too.  But the grandmother had to go away.  So much misery and bloodshed in close vicinity would be unbearable for her, not to mention any danger... but we are talking about the war, even if it had broken out around us already, and so it has, to God be praise and thanks, here in the midst of the most beautiful peace.  You really set one alight every time.  I didn't know at all that you are such a pessimist."

     On the next evening, Fritz rode over to Reckenstein, he wanted to say goodbye to Edith and to the old man.  He met them both still at dinner and sat down with them.

     "Well, what do you say, captain?" the old man askt.

     "It will start, Major!"  He never called him by anything other than his military rank, he knew that the old man liked it.

     "Thank God that once once again hears a masculine word!  With the woman it is

---111---

not tolerable now, they are still scared of going."

     "Hey, Father, I have never had fear," Edith objected, laughing.

     "No, no, not fear, that's not quite it.  But even you always act as if it were a disaster when we [draufschlügen] now, while I hope, confidently hope.  It is the highest time."

     "I just spoke with my uncle.  But he wants to know nothing of my suggestion to go to Berlin with his brother in case the war breaks out."

     "To Berlin?  Why?  What should he do there?"

     "Only on account of the uneasiness that such a close war would bring with it.  And after all, it would not be impossible that we would receive a little Russian visit."

     "Is it impossible, captain, are you joking?  Should the Sulphur Band come this far?  Well, we will really tell it what's what!  Our East Prussians - nothing of it!  That would suit them so well!"

     "We are not too far from the border."

     "If this far, why not also to Berlin?  Your uncle is right:  he is as safe here as in Abraham's bosom."

     "Major, you are, of course, also staying here peacefully?"

     Then the old man jumpt up from his chair.  His bushy eyebrows contracted, his eyes shot lightning:  "Stay here... I?  What do you mean by that, captain?"

     "Do you want to return to Rodenburg?"

     "I?  In that crazy dump?  I'm going along, that goes without saying, captain."

---112---

     "He says that every day now," Edith threw in and directed a glance to Fritz, looking for help, "it's not for him to drive out."

Grammatical Minutiae/Commentary

I translated "Losgehen" in the clause "die haben immer noch Angst vor dem Losgehen" as "going" ("they are still scared of going").  According to my dictionary, however, it can also have the sense of a gun firing:  "die Pistole ist nicht losgegangen the gun didn't fire."  In the context here (talking about war), this could also be a suitable translation, but because this sense wasn't listed under "losgehen" in the German-to-English section of my dictionary, I went with the more general "going."

The expression "as safe here as in Abraham's bosom" ("sicher wie in Abrahams Schoß") refers to Luke 16:22:  "The poor man [Lazarus] died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side" ("Es begab sich aber, daß der Arme starb, und er wurde von den Engeln getragen in Abrahams Schoß").

I'm not sure if "contracted" is the best translation for "zogen sich zusammen" in this context (the Major's eyebrows), but it's the best I could come up with.

This is the end of chapter twenty and the beginning of chapter twenty-one.

Month 72: Pages 109-111

This Month's Installment

The italicized parts are what I'm unsure about.

To her, however, it was as if through the dark night, she saw the warm shining of his eyes, which she liked so much.  "I knew it," she replied, and nothing more.

     "Admittedly, I would have rather my uncle left Bärwalde.  It suits him well now because Uncle Hugo has just arrived here and could take him with to his apartment in Berlin.  But he clings to his home tightly and is fearless.  It will not be easily kept."

     "I believe that too, as far as I know the old man.

---109---

And especially now, when the war isn't even here yet and is conducted only in the thoughts of a young, merry cavalry captain."

     "It is already here," he replied, without responding to her joke, "we just don't know it yet.  What is coming now is formality - nothing more.  We are lying here not too far from the border, that is no place for old and frail people."

     "And Bärwalde?"

     "That is taken care of.  The Hutemach and Borowski, the Lithuanian and the East Prussian-born, those are a good watch.  I know them both, they have nerves like steel and real East Prussian blood.  They do not yield, not one step, even if the Cossacks take the two poplars in front of the door!"

     She laughed.  "Those would certainly be beautiful sights, for us here too!"

     He was concerned for a moment.  Actually, he hadn't thought of her at all!  But she knew him, such was his way.

     "Of course, we won't let them come that far, that is surely clear.  And then - Pronitten is a city, even if only a small one, that provides some security, and the youth know nothing of danger; that is its beautiful privilege."

     "I honestly have no fear.  Exactly as little as your Hutemach, who embodies the feminine ideal for you.  If she has the house full, then she can confidently send some of the Cossacks over to me.  I would politely ask them into our pipe leaf house over there and pour them coffee so calmly, like I did for the cavalry captain in Bärwalde, yes, perhaps even a little more calmly."

     And as she was afraid that her blushing, which this last remark had involuntarily brought to her face, could not escape from him in this

---110---

darkness:  "It was curiosity, I didn't know him at all yet, but I had heard so much about him, especially about his wicked mind."

     "And then found him as gentle as a child."

     "Of course!"  But she wanted to break off from this subject, or turn to what he had said earlier, which was still in her head:  "Grandfather will also not go, of course, come what may, and I will gladly stay with him.  There is a lot in him:  great and faithful.

Commentary

I don't have much to say this month.

I must admit that I don't understand the turn that this conversation takes after Hanna's blushing.

Also:  to-day marks six years since I started this project.

Month 71: Pages 107-109

This Month's Installment

What's italicized is what I'm unsure about.

Then in the evening, the two old men sat together in the cozy living room, drank a bottle of old red wine, and discussed questions of politics and public life.

     The privy councillor loved to explain his opinion a little long-windedly and in a refined manner of speech; the Bärwalder mostly just listened, his head propt up in his left hand, with his right stroking his small, not-very-well-kept beard; only now and then he threw in a remark.

     It also happened that the two bitterly argued.  Then the Bärwalder did not give up easily because he had a hard head.  But the conciliatory and more worldly-wise privy councillor soon relented again, and when the friendly terms were quickly restored, then it was his gain.

     So everything went peacefully and smoothly in Bärwalde, and everyone felt well in the calm of the quiet property, whether he stayed there for work or for relaxation.

---107---

Until one day the first alarming news interrupted the calm of the idyllic life.

     But still, no one really believed in the war.  "It is only a reminder," said Pastor Teichgräber in his Sunday sermon, "God knocks at the door, but His goodness and mercy let the specter once again pass over our people."

     A July evening.  Fritz had, as he now tended to do more often, ridden to Pronitten for a short rest after the difficult harvest.  At the family table of the quiet parsonage, he didn't say a word.  When, however, old Mrs. Teichgräber, on whose weakened condition this day had a disastrous effect, drew back to rest and the pastor had set to work dealing with a few items of official business in his study, he lookt at Hanna with the expressive glance of his clever, serious eyes and said, "Now the beautiful, peaceful agricultural activity has quickly reached its end."

     "There's a war, even for us; isn't there?"

     "Without any doubt.  While we speak here, there is among us feverish activity everywhere.  But we are prepared, thanks be to God!"

     They had left the dark parlor and stept into the garden.  Fog fell softly over the grass.  Dark, not moved by any wind, the trees stood, like a mysterious language it went from one to the other.  But also they were soundless like the entire night.  The thin crescent moon that now and then came out from the slowly moving clouds only let the darkness appear so much deeper.  From the flowerbeds pungent smells wandered out and lay over the slumbering earth like oppressive dreams.

---108---

A solemn, almost anxious tension was in this night.

     "It was here on the same spot," said Fritz, after he had stood by Hanna's side for a while, "on an autumn evening - it wasn't quite a year ago - I spoke of war, and they were all shocked at my thoughts.  Now they are become reality."

     Now there was silence between them, even Hanna's nature and disposition were quiet and withdrawn.  They were both the same in this:  they could be happy and cheerful, but the matter was serious.

     "And you?" she askt finally.

     "I am going along, of course.  As soon as I come home to-day, I will write and volunteer."

     "You told me once that you received your discharge so easily only because the doctor had certified a heart defect for you."

     "That was then, but now that all of my comrades are campaigning, it would be unthinkable to stay at home!  To take the plow in peace and the sword in war, that was always what I like."

     He said it in his simple, masculine way, without the slightest vainglory.

Grammatical Minutiae/Commentary

The language in Pastor Teichgräber's sermon recalls a few Biblical passages.  "Der liebe Gott klopft an die Tür" resembles Revelation 3:20:  "Siehe, ich stehe vor der Tür und klopfe an" ("Behold, I stand at the door and knock"), "seine Güte und Gnade" has some similarity to a phrase from Psalm 23:6:  "Gutes und Barmherzigkeit" ("goodness and mercy"), and even just the verb "vorübergehen" in this context brings to mind the Passover in Exodus 12.

I changed the sentence with "feverish activity" a bit.  In the original text, there's an indefinite singular subject:  "Während wir hier sprechen, ist man bei uns überall in fiebernder Tätigkeit."  Literally, this is:  "While we speak here, one is in feverish activity everywhere among us," but I thought this sounded a bit odd, so instead, I translated it as:  "While we speak here, there is among us feverish activity everywhere."

Fritz remark "To take the plow in peace and the sword in war" brings to mind Isaiah 2:4 and Joel 3:10, both of which also mention plows and swords.

This is the end of chapter nineteen (which was very short, barely over a page) and the beginning of chapter twenty.

Month 70: Pages 105-107

This Month's Installment

As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about.

     In the same moment, the door was pushed open.  Two men stept into the compartment, one in the uniform of the police officers, the other in civilian clothing.  This one held in his hand a number of papers and a sheet that appeared to contain a photograph.  Quickly, his sharp gaze passed over the travellers.  At once it stopt at the window in front of the seat in which Nuscha sat.

     "Found," he said coldly and signalled to the uniformed officer.

     Full of horror, Hans had jumpt up.  He wanted to shout something to her, wanted to encourage her, to defend her - every word died on his tongue.

     Meanwhile the police officer had stept in and quick as lightning placed two handcuffs around her delicate elbows.  She let everything happen to herself, meekly almost, around her mouth a defiant feature was cut, and in her eyes, which turned to Hans with a half embarrassed, half derisive expression, lay something shifty.

     "Who is the man across from you?" askt the officer curtly and gruffly.

     "I don't know."

     "You got on the train in his company in Königsberg, already you've travelled together with him from Danzig on."

     She didn't answer.  The officer leafed through

---105---

his papers and took out a second photograph of a man.

     "The picture is certainly not right," he said to the man in uniform, "but the man must likewise follow us."

     Hans tried to account for himself.  He gave his name, his position, he emphasized that it was a question of a casual travelling acquaintance who requested his protection on the journey, that he would be indispensable to his congregation, especially in this time, and that one mustn't delay him; he showed his pocket book in which were his tickets and several letters addressed to him, even an official one - it was all useless.

     "I cannot help you," the officer replied firmly and decidedly.  "If you are innocent, it will soon be proven.  We have no time for an investigation here, the train must go on."

     He gave a sign to the other one, who led the handcuffed Nuscha, who lookt forwards with an imperturbable eye and a cool smile, out of the compartment, he himself followed with Hans.

     "A Russian spy!"

     "The worst one!"

     "They've lookt for her a long time!"

     "They did their work in Zoppot, a whole nest that held its daily meetings in the casino.  I just came from Zoppot."

     "Only to-day has it come to light."

     "But they don't have the others yet."

     "They'll find them!"

     "Cursed lot!"

     So Hans heard whizzing around and whispered as slowly and half deafened by the disbelief that he witnessed, he walkt through the corridor by the side of his companion.

---106---

     Bärwalde was preparing for the harvest, which, as a result of the burning heat of the last week, had started much earlier this time than in previous years.  Everything was diligent activity.  Now in the evening Borowski and Fritz always came to the table only when the others had long since eaten.  But the Hutemach had cared for them well, and Fritz consumed his big green glassful of thick milk and his sauce, which he had honestly earned for himself, with true voracity.

     The Hutemach stayed with him at the table.  She could do it with a clear conscience because he had cared for her old man.  In addition to Else Warsow, his brother, the privy councillor from Berlin, stayed in Bärwalde.  He always spent the summer months on his home property.

Commentary/Grammatical Minutiae

I think there's a typo in the sentence "Voller Ensetzen war Hans in die Höhe gesprungen."  I couldn't find "Ensetzen" in my dictionary, but "Entsetzen" makes sense here - "Full of horror, Hans had jumpt up."

"Her old man" probably isn't the best translation for "ihren alten Herrn," but I couldn't think of an alternative.  I haven't gotten very far into this chapter yet, so there's not much context, and I'm not sure I have a very good translation anyway.

This is the end of chapter eighteen and the beginning of chapter nineteen.

Month 69: Pages 102-105

This Month's Installment

The italicized bit is what I'm unsure about.

     "People won't rack their brains about it.  They have other things to think about now."

     She had not heard him.  "But no, you are much too serious and holy for that.  I told you already on the Adlershorst cliff:  you cannot be nice and affectionate at all, even if you wanted.  The poor woman whom you will later marry!"

     An impish feature flashed from her eyes and slipt from there down to her red lips that now possessed something seductive.

     The train was really late.  The rush to the single stop always became bigger, often it received a concentration that was barely manageable.  Everyone was on the way home.  The beautiful summer freshness  on the sea, in the country, in the woods had been abruptly terminated, most of the faces showed uneasiness and agitation.

---102---

     Finally, they arrived in Königsberg.  Here it was disclosed to them that as a result of events that had not been intended, the train would be left there temporarily and that they, not being let off before the evening, could use another for the continuation of the journey.

     Nuscha was beside herself, complained about the railroad management that could not meet greater demands, and behaved like an unruly child.  But it didn't help her, she eventually realized it herself, laughed about her irritation, and soon recovered her cheerful mood with a good snack that she had in a Königsberg wine tavern.

     Although they arrived at the train station very early, the evening train was already crowded.  They walkt through the aisles, even here the people were crowded, it was barely possible to get through.  But Nuscha gave the conductor a tip, and he opened a compartment in first class for them.

     At first they were alone, then even this filled, eventually every seat was occupied, they even had to sit still closer together in order to give a sickly woman and her attendant the opportunity to sit down.

     The train started to move.  They had both of the corner seats at the window.  With the faint light that filled the compartment, he could not exactly make out the features of her face, but he noticed that every anxiety had left her.  In a feeling of cozy security, she leaned her head close to the upholster, now and then, her eye winkt to him between the thick silky eyelashes, then the lids sank deeper, she seemed to sleep.

     Around them was calm, the people sat

---103---

sunk in their seats; now and then maybe one spoke with his neighbor, but usually in a subdued tone.  The sickly lady struggled with a coughing fit that she overcame with the help of her attendant.  Now one heard nothing but the regular, soporific rhythm of the pounding wheels.

     Outside was dark night up to the black windows.  Now and then flashed the lights of a station through which the train travelled.  Now a decrease in the breakneck hurry, the first stop.  Nuscha rubbed her eyes, she appeared really to have slept.

     "Still a short hour, and you will be in Rodenburg, then it won't be much longer and I too will be at home."

     Again the usual swarming and surging on the platform, the pushing and shoving on the walkways, then the train, which had already emptied a little, travelled farther into the night.

     Now Hans too wanted to try to rest for a little while.  The day and its uninterrupted travelling had been exhausting enough, he felt a leaden fatigue in his whole body.  But he had hardly stretcht out his feet and leaned back his head when - a strong jolt through the whole train, which suddenly stopt.

     A visible agitation spread through the travellers.  Some stood up, some walkt up to the door, the window, some called for the conductor.  What was the meaning of this?

     "They're looking for someone," Hans heard said in the next compartment, then it was quiet again.

     "Everyone stays in place!  No one leaves his compartment!  The corridors are to be kept free!"

---104---

now sounded a piercing voice.  At the same time, one heard loud steps on the walkways and in fact from several sides.

     "Police officers!  They are going into every carriage," it sounded again from next door.

     "What could it be?" Hans askt Nuscha.

     She didn't answer, just shrugged her shoulders.

 

Grammatical Minutiae/Commentary

Zug is used in two different senses in sequential sentences (although divided by a paragraph break):  "Ein schelmischer Zug blitzte aus ihren Augen und glitt von da zu den roten Lippen herab, die jetzt etwas Verführerisches hatten. / Der Zug verspätete wirklich."  I couldn't find a translation that I was really happy with for the first instance, but eventually I went with feature - "An impish feature flashed from her eyes and slipt from there down to her red lips that now possessed something seductive."  In the following sentence, Zug means train, but this becomes clear only with the context of the following sentences, which describe a rush of travellers.  At first glance, the Zug in "Der Zug verspätete wirklich" could be understood in the same sense as the Zug from the previous sentence and paragraph.  Instead of "the train was really late," then, this first sentence could be translated as "the feature was really late."  I think this ambiguity is intentional and something of a comment on Nuscha's almost flirtatious behavior.

I'm not sure if there's any rhetorical intent behind it, but there's rhyming in the phrase "das Schieben und Drängen auf den Gängen."  I couldn't find a way to include this in my translation, however:  "the pushing and shoving on the walkways."

Month 68: Pages 100-102

This Month's Installment

As always, the italicized bits are what I'm unsure about.

     In front of them and behind them, people rushed and pressed; in endless flight, carriages and cars loaded high with luggage rattled and snarled along the street.  Finally, they had reached the train station.  But it was not possible to approach the ticket office, and the barriers were closed because the platform was already over crowded.  To go with one of the next trains was not a thought.

     He wanted to wait.

     "Definitely not," she said, "we will take a car to Danzig, whatever it costs.  I have enough money.  He has many bad qualities, but he is not stingy."

     It was impossible to get a car, they were glad when they, after long searching and asking, finally got hold of a one-horse carriage.  She promised the coachman a good tip if he would go as far as his horse could run.

     "We must try to get the D train to Königsberg, then we can both still be home this evening, you at 8 o'clock and I at 10 o'clock."

     She had the whole trip ready and knew every train, its departure and its arrival, everything down to the minute.  Only seldom did she check in the small timetable that she still constantly held in her hand.  "Still a little faster, coachman!

---100---

Whatever happens, you must get the fast train, you should not regret it."

     A growing anxiety that could increase to feverishness was in her.  Then her cheeks glowed, and shining fires lit up in her eyes.  She was beautiful in such moments.

     "It has surprised us all. He knew that it would come, for a long time already.  He never spoke about it, but I markt it well.  But that it would burst out now, he has not thought of that.  He has made a mistake, the clever man, thoroughly mistaken!"

     "Mistaken?"

     She lookt at him, a brief fright ran over her face.  But only for a second, then she smiled, bright and maliciously.

     "Yes, mistaken!  In his speculation that he pursued more craftily than the slyest Jew.  But this time they have passed him by.  And it serves him right!"

     Now they were in Danzig, and there were only a few minutes left until the departure of the train.  With a feline speed, she had left the carriage, paid the coachman, and bought the tickets.  Immediately after they sat in an overcrowded compartment in second class, the train slowly left the train station.

     Hans stood at the window and lookt at the wall of people who waited on the different platforms for their trains.  At every stop that they passed through, the same image.

     She saw nothing of all of that.  Her head propped against the upholstery, she fixed her big eyes always on the same point, something dead was then in her gaze.  But even here on the railway,

---101---

where she could change nothing, she had the same restlessness.

     "We are late," she said when the train stopt in Dirschau long after the prescribed time; "for you it doesn't matter so much, but I will no longer make the connection in Insterburg."

     "You are unrecognizable to-day," he said; "on our hikes in Zoppot you were a completely different person."

     "You are right," she replied, forcing herself into a smile, "I always suffer from railway fever.  It is a sickness from my childhood."

     Now she turned to brighter and better things.  "What could people possibly take us for?  Perhaps a young couple on honeymoon."

Grammatical Minutiae/Commentary

There are three instances of asyndeton in the sentence "Vor ihnen, hinter ihnen eilten, drängten die Menschen, in unabsehbarer Flucht ratterten, fauchten Wagen und Autos, hochbeladen mit Gepäck, die Straße entlang."  Asyndeton is a rhetorical device in which conjunctions are omitted.  Normally, this sentence would be something like "Vor ihnen und hinter ihnen eilten und drängten die Menschen, in unabsehbarer Flucht ratterten und fauchten Wagen und Autos, hochbeladen mit Gepäck, die Straße entlang."  In its use here, the asyndeton gives a sense of the congestion and busyness of the travellers.  I couldn't find a good way to include this in my translation though, and/so I went with the more straight-forward "In front of them and behind them, people rushed and pressed; in endless flight, carriages and cars loaded high with luggage rattled and snarled along the street."  I'm not sure "snarled" is a verb that really applies to carriages and cars, but "snarl" and "hiss" were the only translations my dictionary provided for fauchen.

In the clause "als sie nach langem Suchen und Bitten endlich einen Einspänner auftrieben," the subject ("sie") and verb ("auftrieben") are about as far apart as they can be.  This is just the way German word-order is for this particular construction (the verb goes at the end), but this distance also gives a sense of the long waiting period.  I tried to retain this in my translation:  "when they, after long searching and asking, finally got hold of a one-horse carriage."

In the sentence "Hans stand am Fenster und blickte auf die Mauer von Menschen, die auf den verschiedensten Bahnsteigen ihrer Züge harrten," "verschiedensten" is a superlative adjective, but I don't understand why.  I translated "den verschiedensten Bahnsteigen" simply as "the different platforms" rather than "the most different platforms," which - while more accurate - doesn't seem to make much sense.

Month 67: Pages 97-100

This Month's Installment

The italicized bit is what I'm unsure about.

     Finally a moment of calm set in.  Now Hans too could get his breakfast.  It was the last meal that he would have at his preferred window seat, across from the sea.  It was completely empty around him, even the large table in the middle of the dining room was vacant.

     Only one sat at it:  the black Russian.  He tapped his soft-boiled egg with such ease, as if the whole matter didn't concern him at all, he cut the juicy ham and carried it in large quantities into his obtuse mouth over his thick Van Dyke beard.

     Nuscha's chair was empty.  "She will come with the children," he said to himself.  The door opened, the two children appeared, greeted their father respectfully,

---97---

and took seats across from him.  Nuscha's chair remained empty.

     Where could she be?  Had the general confusion swept her away too?  Had she already gone with the others?  Maybe to have escaped secretly from her government?  That he still had to occupy himself with thoughts of her!

     He had given out his tips and said goodbye to the head waiter.  He had always been pleasant to him, he had a quiet, refined way, always showed a friendly expression, even if his heart was sometimes probably rightly outraged, and knew to deal with the most difficult guests sensibly.  To-day, however, he saw him grieved for the first time.

     "Summer after summer have I been here in the 'Seastar,'" he said, "it is now the tenth year.  And it has always gone well for me, just now in the busiest time, where our profit begins, this unfortunate war!"

     "You are married?"

     "I have a wife and four children in Danzig."

     "And don't you yourself have to go?"

     "I am considered permanently unfit, a bad heart-"

     "Think of the many who have to leave wife and child now and sacrifice their lives!"

     "You are right, Pastor.  It will be a difficult time, and it's a sin to think of one's self now!"

     Rucksack and coat were strapped on his back, a last greeting look once more over the cherished place, then it was off into the bright, sunny morning towards the home that now called urgently and in which he was more necessary than ever.

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     "Pastor!" it sounded behind him.  And when he turned around:  Nuscha in the fur-garnished jacket, which despite the heat that, burning and oppressive, had already set in, she had not taken off, the bold, greenish-gray felt hat on her head, the deep black hair protruding over her pale brownish forehead and both temples - exactly as he had seen her the first time.

     "You are also on the journey home," she said in that familiar amusing way, with which she had met him earlier, "and because we probably have the same route, you'll take me with you, right?  Yes, I want to be frank, I have already waited for you for quite a while on the bench there, I knew that you would come."

     "But your government?" he askt, a little uncertain.

     A sneering laugh.  "My government...!?"  She pressed her red lips firmly together, as he had quite often observed in her when she wanted to restrain a word.  "Last night he askt me to his room.  'A war with Germany is in the air,' he said.  'They will realize that as a higher Russian official I may not keep a German governess in my house.  So I release you from my service.  Because I want to meet my wife in Danzig, I have nothing against it if you want to leave immediately.  By tomorrow I will be ready to go alone with the children.'  He gave me the travel money and the rest of my salary, and I was dismissed."

     "And now - where do you want to go now?"

     "To Marlitten, high up in East Prussia, close to the Russian border.  My mother lives there, I told you about her, that after the

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death of my father she had stayed behind there alone.  So we'll travel quite a stretch up to Königsberg together.  And that's nice, it's not good to travel alone in this bad time."

     The sun burned hotter; Nuscha opened her jacket and took the felt hat off her forehead.  Her desire to talk appeared to have slackened, he didn't feel like having a conversation either.

Grammatical Minutiae/Commentary

I had been translating "Knebelbart" as "handlebar moustache" because that's the only translation my German dictionary has.  This didn't seem to make any sense in the phrase "in den stumpfen Mund über dem dichten Knebelbart."  Translating "Knebelbart" as "handlebar moustache" here results in:  "into the obtuse mouth above the handlebar moustache."  That's not how anatomy works.  I did some internet research and discovered that "Knebelbart" (in this context, at least) is actually a Van Dyke beard.

I've been translating "Herrschaft" as "government," but because Nuscha goes right from talking about "Herrschaft" to talking about the Russian statesman, I'm wondering if it may mean something more like "employer" in this context.  For now, at least, I kept "government."

Recently, my rate of "sentence (or so) a day" has sped up a bit.  If I know all or most of the words in the next sentence, I go ahead and translate that too.  A few days this month, I've done two or three sentences.  I made it to page 100 (!), but at this rate, it'll still take me about fifteen years to finish the translation (there are 417 pages total).  And after that, I should probably go back to smooth out and adjust some of the rougher sections....

Month 66: Pages 95-97

This Month's Installment

As always, what's italicized is what I'm unsure about.

     "Refused!" it sounded through the hall of the "Sea Star" at the same hour two days later, "refused, as was foreseen!  The courier has just brought the news."
     "Then we'll have the war!"
     Finally, one decided to go into the dining room.  The maids served the plates, the head waiter went in inaudible, gliding step from table to table to present the wine list and to ask about wishes; now everything was in the old way.  Even conversation, conducted so lively earlier, had reduced to that subdued degree that was in the habit of prevailing at the common meals, indeed, one spoke even less than usual, everyone appeared occupied with his thoughts and plans.  The mood was visibly depressed, in some faces a distinct expression of worry and fear appeared.
     Involuntarily, Hans' eye scanned the Russian councillor.  No muscle moved in his yellowish face, he sat there with the same fixed expression, kept a tight rein on every movement of his children with the same stern look, and now and then exchanged the usual words and looks with Nuscha.  She, however, appeared to him to-day different than usual; a soft flush lay in her sharply-cut 

---95---

profile, a certain unease was in her bearing.  Only when the examining gaze from the other side also passed over them did she become calm.  But one noticed that she did violence to herself.

     Days full of hot excitement followed.  The Kurkappelle played only patriotic tunes, a thick cluster of people stood around it, clapt enthusiastic applause, and sang the "Lieb Vaterland, kannst ruhig sein!" until late at night.  Out of the coffee houses and restaurants rang by turns the German and Austrian national anthems.  A stream of the enthusiasm and of the cheerful confidence pervaded the same people who usually had an eye and heart only for idle prattle, games, and sport.
     The excitement rose and surged and boiled like the sea on her worst days.  The office of the "Seastar," which lay under the hall, was now besieged by the guests at all times of the day, and the master of the house had nothing to do but write bills, answer a thousand questions, and give all sorts of explanations about railway connections and steamship trips.  Everyone prepared for the withdrawal and rushed home as fast as possible.
     Even Hans had packt his things and handed them over to the porter for forwarding to the train station.  When he came down from the great hall in the early morning of the last July dawn, which was hot from the beginning and shining in the pure golden sun that had risen over the sea, there was hardly anything to see.  Mountains of suitcases piled up, only with trouble was the way between them kept free.
     Although the seventh hour had only just struck,

---96---

in which everyone here usually lay in the deepest sleep, most had already breakfasted.  He had to wait, there was no one there for service, everyone was busy with the departure.  A surging and running, a calling and asking, a searching for all sorts of forgotten or hidden items filled the hall and the side rooms, so that one could believe that a fire had suddenly broken out and everyone saved and gathered together what was still possible to save.  The whole thing seemed like an escape; the promenade, usually completely empty at this time, was swarming with people as far as one could see.  Because yester-day in the late evening the news had come that the political situation had come to a head, the peace negotiations of the German Kaiser had failed, and a European war would be certain.  Now there was no more stopping.  Homeward!  That was the only thought, the burning wish, that fulfilled everything.

Grammatical Minutiae/Commentary

I think that "haben" in the sentence "Dann haben wir den Krieg!" is meant to be understood as something of a future tense even though it's actually in the present.  In any case, I translated it as if it were a future:  "Then we'll have the war!"

I didn't translate "Lieb Vaterland, kannst ruhig sein" because I think this is the actual title of a song.  I did a bit of research and found this postcard from 1914:

It translates to something like:

Dear Fatherland, you can be calm
You need never lose heart
You have the right helmsman
In these difficult days

This is the end of chapter seventeen and the beginning of chapter eighteen.

Month 65: Pages 93-95

This Month's Installment

     When he set out on the way back, the moon had disappeared from the sky, a faint, pale streak announced already the incipient daybreak.  Without stopping, he proceeded homewards.  The "Sea Star" lay before him, shrouded in dark gray.  But out of the room on the first floor, light still shone through the closed shutters.  What could the two up there still have?  More and more the mysteries that surrounded them grew.
     But he didn't think about them for long, he had become dead tired, quickly got undressed in his room, and slept until the next morning, a bright Sunday.

     For a few more days he enjoyed his stay with unspoilt pleasure.  Until suddenly and quite abruptly the hour came when he became weary of this life of lavish

---93---

idleness, of these incessantly streaming torrents of polished people, when because of the high-strung culture, he longed to be back in the quietly modest nature, and even the wonderful sea no longer gave him the reviving and refreshment it had so far given.  On a beach hike, the yearning for the East Prussian fields and woods overcame him with such irresistible force, that he would have liked to leave on the very same day in order to spend the short remainder of his vacation in Bärwalde.
     It had become lunchtime, and he returned to the "Seastar."
     But even at the entrance he hesitated.
     The people weren't resting as usual, waiting for the bell call for dinner in their deckchairs in the hall or walking in carpet-covered corridors, festively dressed for the great meal.  Everywhere a noticeable restlessness:  in the expressions, in the movements, in all the air around him.  Here one hurried past an-other carelessly, there stood one, speaking lively, shaking his head, and guiding the most intense movements with his arms and hands.  Even the English siblings, who had up till now kept their calm and dignity impertubably in every situation, today appeared to be overcome with the general fever.  He saw them standing in the middle of a group of a few Poles, outlining the whole circle in the air with gestures, taking part in the loud, almost passionately led conversation.
     Now the young Frenchman also joined with his wife.  They had exchanged a few polite words quite often.  Today they greeted coolly and solemnly.  And she didn't even have a silk dress on, and he appeared without a dinner jacket.  That

---94---

had not yet occurred up till now.  What had happened?
     There came the German guests, they too in excited conversation.  Immediately, one word from it rang out to him.  And it was "war."
     "Austria had placed an ultimatum against Serbia," a Danzig business explained to him.
     The day passed in feverish tension.  One thought of nothing, spoke of nothing but the war.

Grammatical Minutiae/Commentary

Instead of translating "das englische Geschwisterpaar, das seine Ruhe und Gemessenheit... bewahrt hatte" as "the English sibling pair, who had kept its calm and dignity," which - while accurate and literal - is a bit awkward because it describes a pair of people with "its," I translated it as "the English siblings, who had kept their calm and dignity."  I want especially to point out that I avoided the pernicious use of the singular "their."  The pronoun and antecedent in the German are both singular ("das Geschwisterpaar" "seine"); I simply made them both plural while retaining the same sense ("the siblings" "their").

This is the end of chapter sixteen and the beginning of chapter seventeen.

Since Austria's ultimatum to Serbia is a historical fact, I can now determine the book's chronological setting more precisely.  The day described here is 23 July 1914.