Sonderling Sunday – Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge – Dinner with Fiona

Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, Sonderling Sunday 2

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.

Tonight we’re back to the most Sonder book of them all, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, which is the translation of The Order of Odd-fish, by James Kennedy.

Last time, I did a short post, beginning Chapter 22 with Jo getting ready for Desolation Day. I do my best not to post any spoilers, but I do hope readers of my blog will be intrigued to ask What sort of book would use these fascinating phrases? Pick up a copy!

But in the meantime, let’s take a look at the first sentence of the next section, to set the stage:

“The night before Desolation Day, Jo, Ian, and Nora huddled from the rain under an awning in East Squeamings, waiting to be picked up by the Wormbeards.
= Am Vorabend des Tages der Verwüstung drängten sich Jo, Ian und Nora unter eine Markise in Ost-Heikel, wo sie darauf warteten, von den Wurmbärten abgeholt zu werden.

“sodden” = überschwemmtes

“put away” = beiseitegeschafft (“aside-made”)

I dare you to find a reason to say this:
“torn apart by lizard-dogs”
= von diesen Echsenhunden zerfetzt zu werden

“a quiet satisfaction” = eine stille Befriedigung

“a calculated insult” = eine wohlüberlegte Beleidigung (“a well-considered insult”)

“glowing fungi” = schimmernden Pilze

“stale, spicy air” = abgestandene, würzige Luft

“covered with minutely detailed carvings”
= mit peinlichst genau gearbeiteten Steinmetzarbeiten verziert

“the tree’s bark” = die Rinde des Baumes

This is fun to say:
“between the branches” = zwischen den Zweigen

“simmering in this cauldron of dishonor”
= siedend in diesem Kessel der Ehrlosigkeit

“trickery” = Hinterlist

“trickled” = tröpfelten

“chunky boulders” = klobigen Felsbrocken

“well-tended little groves” = gut gepflegten kleinen Hainen

“spacious” = geräumig

“slum” = Baracke

“sculptor” = Bildhauerin

“Fiona’s studio was a large concrete bunker smelling of plaster and clay and paint.”
= Fionas Atelier war ein großer Betonbunker, in dem es nach Gips, Lehm und Farbe roch.

“throwing wheels” = Wurfscheiben

“found objects” = offenbar zusammengesammelten Objekten

“furnace” = Hochofen

“goo” = klebriges Zeug

“bubbled” = blubberte

“idol” = Götzenbild

“a lumpy, bulging grotesque tower” = ein plumper, praller, grotesker Turm

“fins and scales” = Flossen und Schuppen

“viciously clashing colors” = beißenden Farben
(“biting colors”)

“shrunken” = geschrumpft

Try to say this!
“grafted on” = aufgepfropft

“tangled hair” = verfilztes Haar

“a shambling, snarling, unclean beast”
= eine watschelnde, zähnefletschende, unreine Bestie

“sketches” = Skizzen

“tempting” = verlockend

“addition” = Ergänzung

Just what you wanted to know how to say in German:
“earlobe” = Ohrläppchen

“scrambling” = taumelte

“stumbling down the hallway” = schwankte durch den Flur

“moan” = Fauchen

That’s all for tonight! I got eine stille Befriedigung from doing Sonderling Sunday again!

Bis Bald!

Sonderling Sunday – Philosophy from Heidi

Sonderling Sunday 0

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at German translations of children’s books.

Heidi

Today, in honor of Easter Sunday, I’m going to choose Chapter 14 of Heidi, by Johanna Spyri, where Heidi’s grandfather goes back to church.

The chapter is called Am Sonntag, wenn’s läutet, which is translated, “On Sunday When the Church Bells Ring.”

I’m going to skip the first bit. Heidi has come back from Frankfurt and is visiting Peter’s grandmother. Oh look! Already I’ve found a big difference. The English translation I found online says, “Turning the pages, Heidi found a song about the sun and decided to read that aloud.” The original German version writes out ten stanzas of this song about the sun! (Hmmm. Maybe I found an abridged version.)

Heidi makes a plan to buy fresh, soft rolls for the grandmother every day.

O juhe! Nun muss die Grossmutter gar nie mehr hartes, schwarzes Brot essen, und, o Grossvater, nun ist doch alles so schön, wie noch gar nie, seit wir leben!
= “O grandfather, now grandmother won’t ever have to eat hard, black bread any more. O everything is so wonderful now!”

und Heidi hüpfte hoch auf an der Hand des Grossvaters und jauchzte in die Luft hinauf wie die fröhlichen Vogel des Himmels.

Okay, this translation only says, “The child gave a bound, shouting:”
Google translate says: “And Heidi hopped up at the hand of the grandfather, and shouted into the air like the cheerful bird of heaven.”

Okay, forgive me but I love this next paragraph. Here it is translated into English.

“If God Our Father had done immediately what I prayed for, I should have come home at once and could not have brought half as many rolls to grandmother. I should not have been able to read either. Grandmama told me that God would make everything much better than I could ever dream. I shall always pray from now on, the way grandmama taught me. When God does not give me something I pray for, I shall always remember how everything has worked out for the best this time.”

Here is the original German:
O wenn nur der liebe Gott gleich auf der Stelle getan hätte, was ich so stark erbetete, dann wäre doch alles nicht so geworden, ich wäre nur gleich wiederheimgekommen und hätte der Grossmutter nur wenige Brötchen gebracht und hätte ihr nicht vorlesen können, was ihr wohl macht; aber der liebe Gott hatte schon alles ausgedacht, so viel schöner, schöner, als ich es wusste; die Grossmama hat es mir gesagt, und nun ist alles so gekommen.

This is going on in much more detail. (Yes, the English is abridged!) Heidi is going on about how hard she prayed. My rough translation of the last bit:
“But the dear God had already thought of it all so much, much more beautiful than I knew. Grandmama had told me, and now it has happened.”

It continues:
O wie bin ich froh, dass der liebe Gott nicht nachgab, als ich bat und jammerte!
= “O how glad I am, that the dear God did not give me what I begged and cried for!”

Aber jetzt will ich immer so beten, wie die Grossmama sagte, und dem lieben Gott immer danken, und wenn er etwas nicht tut, das ich erbete, dann will ich gleich denken: es geht gewiss wieder wie in Frankfurt, der liebe Gott denkt etwas viel Besseres aus.
= “But now I will always pray so, like Grandmama said, and always thank God, and when he doesn’t do something that I’ve asked for, then I will think: It is certainly like in Frankfurt, that God is thinking of something much better.”

You know what? I like that so much, and it so beautifully sums up what I’ve been thinking about my own life as I write Project 52 – I’m just going to stop there.

Sonderling Sunday – Das Buch der Tausend Tage, Day 223

Sonderling Sunday 0

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books!

Tonight it’s already late, but it’s been a long time since I wrote a Sonderling Sunday post, so I’m going to try to do a short one.

I’m going back to one of my favorite books, Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale, Das Buch der Tausend Tage

[Okay, I just spent way too much time talking on Facebook about our upcoming Winter Storm. Now this post needs to be extra short.]

Last time, I covered Day 160 to 180 of Dashti’s days in the Tower.

Day 223 begins like this:
“This past week I was wishing for something new to happen so I could have a reason to write. It’s bad luck to make a vague wish like that, because Under, god of tricks, is bound to grant it with something unpleasant. And so he did.”
= Letzte Woche wünschte ich mir noch, etwas Neues zu erleben, das ich aufschreiben könnte. Solch schwammige Wünsche bringen nur Unglück, weil Unter, der Gott der Streiche, sie gerne mit etwas Unerfreulichem garniert, wenn er sie erfüllt. Und genau so ist es gekommen.

I love Shannon Hale’s turns of phrase:
“as though he called all the world to dinner”
= als würde er alle Welt zum Essen rufen.

“I want to punch him with all my strength”
= möchte ich ihn mit aller Kraft verprügeln

This has a nice sound in German:
“There was a knock on the flap” = Als jemand an die Klappe klopfte

“clanking and scraping” = klirren und kratzen

“burning straw” = brennende Stroh

“fiery chip” = brennender Span

I like this one:
“fizzled” = verpufften

“bright” = loderte

“ran and stomped and slapped” = rannte, trampelte und schlug

“My lady began to scream hysterics” = Meine Herrin fing an hysterisch zu schreien

“washcloth” = Waschlappen

“if the wood caught fire” = Wenn die Scheite erst mal zündelten

“partly charred mattress” = stellenweise verkohlten Matratze

“greasy black” = triefend schwarz

“willow flower” = Weidenblume

“chamber pot” = Nachttopf

“He hollered” = Er brüllte wie ein Stier

That section ends with:
“Then we lay back together and laughed in a tight way, as though we actually cried.”
= Rücken und bekamen einen Lachanfall, als würden wir heulen.

That’s all for tonight! This was a turning point and dramatic section. May you not need to use most of these phrases. And may all your troubles go verpufften.

Sonderling Sunday – Chapter 22 – Desolation Day is Coming

Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, Sonderling Sunday 2

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.

I’m afraid it’s actually been months since the last time I did Sonderling Sunday. When I was reading for the Cybils, it was hard to fit in, and then I got out of the habit… and went to ALA Midwinter Meeting….

So tonight, I’m going to write a short one, even though it’s late — the better to get back in the habit!

I’m going back to my stand-by, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, by James Kennedy, known in the original English as The Order of Odd-fish.

Last time, we finished a chapter! So we are now beginning Chapter 22, which is on page 296 in the English edition, and on Seite 376 in the German edition.

It’s always nice to start a chapter with the first sentence, and this time I’ll go with the first two:

“The rain kept coming. Two months into the rainy season, Jo found it hard to remember life without rain.”
= Es regnete unaufhörlich. Nach zwei Monaten Regenzeit konnte Jo sich kaum noch daran erinnern, wie das Leben ohne Regen gewesen war.

“a dull weariness” = eine dumpfe Trägheit

“colorless, drenched, and dead” = farblos, nass und tot vor

This just doesn’t have the same sound in German:
“when the rain pattered gently on her windowpane”
= wenn der Regen sanft an ihr Fenster klopfte

“bang of thunder” = Donnerschlag

“Jo tried to shove it into the back of her mind”
= Jo wollte den Gedanken eigentlich beiseiteschieben
(“Jo wanted the thoughts actually to aside-push”)

Here’s a nice long word:
“background noise” = Hintergrundgeräusch

“constant worry” = ständiger Furcht

“didn’t dull its edge”
= schmälerte das die Intensität des Gefühls nicht
(“reduced it the intensity of the feeling not”)

“She needed distractions.”
= Sie brauchte dringend eine Ablenkung.
(“She needed urgently a distraction.”)

“specialties” = Fachgebiete

“slept over” = genächtigt hatte

“but no, it was too nerve-wracking to think about”
= Doch nein, schon darüber nachzudenken, war eine zu große Belastung für ihre Nerven.
(“But no, already about that overthinking, was a too big burden for her nerves.”)

“Desolation Day” = der Tag der Verwüstung (“the day of devastation”)

“special festival” = besonderes Fest

“It was bad luck even to mention Desolation Day.”
= Es brachte bereits Unglück, wenn man den Tag der Verwüstung auch nur erwähnte.

And I’m going to stop there, with just the first section of Chapter 22 finished. But I’m going to look for reasons to talk about Hintergrundgeräusch this week.

Bis Bald!

Sonderling Sunday – In the Tapestry Room

Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, Sonderling Sunday 2

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.

sonderlinge-2

Tonight I’m back to my stand-by, with the wonderfully odd things to translate, The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy, otherwise known as Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge. (The existence of this book is what gave me the idea for Sonderling Sunday.)

We left off on page 288 in the original English version, Seite 366 auf Deutsch.

The first sentence of the new section would be a practical thing to be able to say in German.
“Dinner at the lodge was loud and rowdy, as usual.”
= Das Dinner im Logenhaus fiel wie üblich laut und ungebärdig aus.

“Jo stewed impatiently.”
= Jo saß wie auf heißen Kohlen.
(“Jo sat like on hot coals.”)

“cut off the stinger” = Stachel abtrennen

“follow the gold thread” = dem goldenen Faden folgen

This seems like a good way to describe someone who’s wide awake when you wish they weren’t:
“wide awake” = hellwach

“surprisingly polite and sociable” = überraschend höflich und umgänglich

This one’s a tongue twister:
“woven” = geknüpft

“roll by” = vorbeiglitt

“tapestry” = Gobelin

“tapestry” = Wandteppich (“wall-carpet”)

And lest we forget:
“special” = besonders

Here’s a nice long word:
“responsible stewardship” = verantwortungsbewusste Hände

“All-Devouring Mother” = All-Verschlingenden Mutter

“nobody knows which is true” = niemand weiß, welche zutrifft

“cramped and packed” = eng zusammengepfercht

“the Silver Kitten of Deceit” = das Silberne Kätzchen der Arglist

“vomit out” = auswürgt

“vengeful” = rachedurstiges (“revenge-thirsty”)

“terrifying” = einflößender

“crashing into each other” = ineinanderkrachten

“melting into” = zusammenschmolzen

“lest she miss a single word”
= damit sie auch nicht ein Sterbenswörtchen verpasste

“Jo cringed.”
= Jo zuckte zusammen.

“All these secrets and plots and skullduggery!”
= All diese Geheimnisse, Ränke und Gemeinheiten!

“glory of battle” = ruhmreichen Schlacht

“with her arms crossed” = mit verschränkten Armen

“stalked” = schlich sich

“slammed the door” = schlug die Tür hinter sich zu

“ran downstairs in a panic”
= rannte in panischem Schrecken die Treppe hinab

“trapdoor” = Falltür

And that brings me to the end of Chapter 21. It was überraschend höflich und umgänglich.

Bis bald!

Sonderling Sunday – Meeting the Heffalump

Sonderling Sunday 0

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books. Tonight I’m continuing a look at Winnie-the-Pooh, otherwise known as Pu der Bär.

pu_der_bar

Last week, I began Chapter 5, “In Which Piglet Meets a Heffalump,” In welchem Ferkel ein Heffalump trifft. We left off on page 63, Seite 69. Piglet has dug the Very Deep Pit, and Pooh has placed the bait of honey in the Cunning Trap.

We’ll start with the first sentence of the section:

“And off Piglet trotted to his house TRESPASSERS W, while Pooh made his preparations for bed.”
= Und Ferkel trabte zu seiner Wohnung BETRETEN V, während Pu seine Vorbereitungen für das Ins-Bett-Gehen traf.

“the night was beginning to steal away”
= die Nacht gerade anfing sich davonzustehlen

“sinking feeling” = Gefühl des Sinkens

“murmuring a murmur” = murmelte ein Gemurmel

Okay, I have to reproduce the “murmur”:

“It’s very, very funny,
‘Cos I know I had some honey;
‘Cos it had a label on,
Saying HUNNY.

A goloptious full-up pot too,
And I don’t know where it’s got to,
No, I don’t know where it’s gone —
Well, it’s funny.”

= Dies ist ein echtes Rätsel mir;
Ich weiß, ich hatte Honig hier,
Mit einem Zettel, richtig fein,
Und HONICH drafgeschrieben.
Ein Riesentopf, voll bis zum Rand,
Und jetzt ist er mir durchgebrannt.
Wo kann er hingegangen sein?
Wo ist er nur geblieben?

Try to use this in your conversation:
“It all comes of trying to be kind to Heffalumps.”
= Das kommt alles daher, dass man versucht Heffalumps gut zu behandeln.

And here’s a Useful Sentence:
“The more he tried to sleep, the more he couldn’t.”
= Je mehr er zu schlafen versuchte, desto mehr konnte er nicht schlafen.

“making straight for a pot of Pooh’s honey”
= begab sich schnurstracks auf den Weg zu einem Topf mit Honig von Pu

(I love that word schnurstracks! Google says it means “footprints” or “directly.”)

“eating it all” = fraß ihn völlig leer (“devoured it completely empty”)

“licking its jaws” = die Lefzen leckte

“half-light” = Dämmerlicht

“jiggering about” = herumhüpfte

“Was it Fond of Pigs at all?”
= Konnte es Schweine überhaupt ausstehen?

“a Clever Idea” = eine schlaue Idee

“heffalumping” = geheffalumpt wurde

“Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear!” = Owei, owei, owei!

“bumping” = schmettern

“made a loud, roaring noise of Sadness and Despair”
= stieß einen lauten Ton der Trauer und Verzweiflung aus

“a Horrible Heffalump!” = ein unheimliches Heffalump!

“scampered off” = hoppelte davon

“Help, help, a Herrible Hoffalump!”
= Hilfe, Hilfe, ein unheffliches Heimalump!

“Hoff, Hoff, a Hellible Horralump!”
= Heim, heim, ein heffunliches Hilfalump!

“Holl, Holl, a Hoffable Hellerump!”
= Heff, Heff, ein lumphässliches Limpfahump!

“an enormous big nothing”
= ein wahnsinnsriesengroßes Garnichts

“awful” = grässlich

“Smash” = klirr

“Foolish Piglet” = törichtes Ferkel

And we’ll finish with Christopher Robin’s words at the end of the chapter:
“Oh, Bear! How I do love you!”
= Ach Bär! Wie sehr ich dich liebe!

Now you know how it sounds when you meet a Heffalump and you try to report it in German.

Sonderling Sunday – In Which Piglet Meets a Heffalump

Sonderling Sunday 0

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books. Tonight I’m looking at Winnie-the-Pooh, otherwise known as Pu der Bär.

pu_der_bar

Last time I looked at Winnie-the-Pooh, we covered chapter 4, in which Eeyore loses his tail. This week, we’ll look at Chapter 5, “In Which Piglet Meets a Heffalump.” The German chapter title is In welchem Ferkel ein Heffalump trifft.

I like to begin with the first sentence, so here it is:
“One day, when Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet were all talking together, Christopher Robin finished the mouthful he was eating and said carelessly: ‘I saw a Heffalump to-day, Piglet.'”

= Eines Tages, als Christopher Robin und Winnie-der-Pu und Ferkel alle miteinander sprachen, schluckte Christopher Robin bin das, was er gerade im Munde hatte, herunter und sagte beiläufig: »Heute habe ich ein Heffalump gesehen, Ferkel.«

(Translation back to English with the help of Google is: “One day, when Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pu and Piglet all with each other talked, swallowed down Christopher Robin what he just had in his mouth, and said casually: ‘Today have I a Heffalump seen, Piglet.'”)

I like this one:
“Just lumping along”
= Einfach so vor sich hin gelumpt

“You don’t often see them.”
= Man sieht sie nicht oft.

“Not now”
= Im Augenblick nicht.

“Not at this time of year”
= Nicht in dieser Jahreszeit

“as they stumped along the path”
= als sie den Pfad entlangstapften

The number here is 160. It doesn’t seem to have to do with the conversion to square meters.
“Hundred Acre Wood” = Hundertsechzig-Morgen-Wald

“stepping stones” = Trittsteine

“heather” = Heidekraut

“If you see what I mean, Pooh.”
= Falls du verstehst, was ich meine, Pu.

“It’s just what I think myself, Piglet.”
= Genau das finde ich auch, Ferkel.

“But, on the other hand, Pooh, we must remember.”
= Aber andererseits, Pu, müssen wir auch daran denken.

“Quite true, Piglet, although I had forgotten it for the moment.”
= Sehr richtig, Ferkel, es war mir nur kurz entfallen.

“very solemn voice” = sehr feierlicher Stimme.

“I have decided to catch a Heffalump.”
= Ich habe beschlossen ein Heffalump zu fangen.

“Cunning Trap” = listige Falle

“That’s just it. How?”
= Das ist es nämlich. Wie?

“they should dig a Very Deep Pit”
= sie eine sehr tiefe Grube graben sollten

“humming a little song”
= ein kleines lied summen

“looking up at the sky”
= den Himmel betrachten

“He would Suspect.”
= Es würde Verdacht schöpfen.

“It isn’t as easy as I thought.”
= Es ist nicht so leicht, wie ich dachte.

“gorse prickles” = Stechginsterstacheln

“much more trappy” = viel fallenmäßiger

“larder” = Küchenschrank

“top shelf” = obersten Brett

“No doubt about that.”
= Gar kein Zweifel.

“It is honey, right the way down.”
= Es ist Honig, bis ganz unten.

“And have you got any string?”
= Und has du vielleicht Bindfaden?

“Heffalumps come if you whistle.”
= Heffalumps kommen, wenn man pfeift.

“Some do and some don’t. You never can tell with Heffalumps.”
= Manche kommen und manche knommen nicht. Bei Heffalumps kann man nie wissen.

And this chapter is longer than I realized. Translating it ist nicht so leicht, wie ich dachte. I will come back to this chapter the next time I do Sonderling Sunday. I’m leaving off right where the Very Deep Pit has been dug and the Cunning Trap is set. The actual meeting with the Heffalump, I will save for next time.

Meanwhile, this chapter had lots of Handy Phrases to try to work into your conversation. Gar kein Zweifel.

Bis bald!

Sonderling Sunday – Message from Jo’s Father

Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, Sonderling Sunday 2

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.

Today, we’re continuing in the most Sonder Book of them all, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, otherwise known as The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy.

sonderlinge3

Last time, we left off on page 284, Seite 360, in the middle of Chapter Twenty-One. Jo had been exploring in the library and found an interesting manuscript.

“Her heart bolted.” = Ihr Herz hämmerte.

Who knows when you might need to know how to say this sentence?
“It was crazy, impossible.”
= Das war verrückt, schier unmöglich.

“quickly scrawled” = hastig hingeworfen

“burning and blooming like a fiery garden”
= glühten und blühten wie ein wilder Garten.
(“glowed and bloomed like a wild garden”)

“Jo got down to it.”
= Jo stürzte sich in die Arbeit.

“Hours passed.”
= Stunden vergingen

“percolating coffeepot” = brodelnde Kaffeemaschine

“dense” = begriffsstutzig

I like this word:
“jewelry box” = Schmuckkassette

“translation”
= entschlüsselten Text
(“decrypted text”)

“translating rapidly and wildly”
= dekodierte den Text schnell und wie im Fieber
(“decoded the text quickly and like in a fever”)

“dishonor” = Schande

“invincible” = unbesiegbar

“positively angry” = eindeutig wütend

“doorstep” = Türschwelle

“traditional insults” = traditionelle Beleidigungen

I dare you to think of a use for this sentence:
“When I leave, may a thousand wild pigs overrun it and defile it with enthusiastic snorts.”
= Wenn ich es verlasse, warden tausend Wildschweine es überrennen und mit ihrem lauten Schnauben schänden

“defilement” = Schändung

“trampled into gruel” = zu Brei zertrampelt warden

A good phrase to know:
“hearty slurps” = lautem Schmatzen

And the translator missed a line here! In English, Fiona says “So be it,” and Jo answers “So be it.” In German, only Fiona says So sei es and the line with Jo’s response is left out completely.

And here’s a sentence with a Sonderword:
“It was clear she wasn’t impressed.”
= Sie war ganz offensichtlich nicht sonderlich beeindruckt.
(“She was completely obviously not especially impressed.”)

So, I fondly hope I leave your thoughts glühten und blühten wie ein wilder Garten. Please, enjoy some lautem Schmatzen tonight in honor of Sonderling Sunday!

Sonderling Sunday – Momo – Meeting Beppo

Sonderling Sunday 0

Momo1

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books, or, in this case, the English translation of a German children’s book.

Today I’m going back to Momo, by Michael Ende, the first book I purchased in Germany — and the first chance I got, too.

Last time I looked at Momo, I left off at the start of the Viertes Kapitel (Chapter Four). Since German is the original language, I’ll begin with the German version.

Chapter 4 is called Ein schweigsamer Alter und ein zungenfertiger Junger, but only “Two Special Friends” in English. A more direct translation is “A silent old man and a tongue-ready young man.” (Google translates zungenfertiger as “glib.”)

Here’s the first sentence, a good one to know:
Wenn jemand auch sehr viele Freunde hat, so gibt es darunter doch immer einige wenige, die einem ganz besonders nahestehen und die einem die allerliebsten sind.
= “Even when people have a great many friends, there are always one or two whom they love best of all.”

teilten = “shared”

Beppo Straßenkehrer = “Beppo Roadsweeper”

Ziegelsteinen, Wellblechstücken und Dachpappe
= “bricks, corrugated iron, and tar paper”

gebückt = “bent-backed”

ein kurzer weißer Haarschopf = “a single tuft of white hair”

This is funny how much more the translator put in:
eine kleine Brille
= “a diminutive pair of steel-rimmed spectacles”

nicht ganz richtig im Kopf
= “not quite right in the head”

Ungenauigkeit = “carelessness”

alten, quietschenden Fahrrad = “squeaky old bicycle”

stetig = “steadily”

Besenstrich = “stroke of the broom”

Und man strengt sich noch mehr an
= “And you try even harder”

man kriegt es mit der Angst
= “you panic”

außer Puste = “out of breath” (“out-puffed”)

Wisdom from Beppo:
Man muß nur an den nächsten Schritt denken, an den nächsten Atemzug, an den nächsten Besenstrich.
= “You must only concentrate on the next step, the next breath, the next stroke of the broom.”

Schritt für Schritt = “bit by bit”

wiedererkannt = “recognized” (“again-known”)

mit schrägem Kopf = “with his head to one side”

And the last sentence about Beppo:
Aber Momo hatte ihn lieb und bewahrte alle seine Worte in ihrem Herzen.
= “But Momo loved him and treasured every word he uttered.”

And I’ll stop there tonight. I think the most interesting word tonight was zungenfertiger. May your tongue be ready!

Sonderling Sunday – In the Library

Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, Sonderling Sunday 1

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.

Today it’s back to the book that prompted the creation of Sonderling Sunday, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, known in English as The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy.

Sonderlinge 2

Last time, we left off on page 280, Seite 355 auf Deutsch, with Jo working in the library.

I like beginning with the first sentence of a section. Here’s a good one:

“The archives of the Order of Odd-Fish had just recently reopened to the public.”
= Die Archive des Ordens der Seltsamen Sonderlinge waren erst kürzlich der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht worden.

“the Appendix” = den Anhang

“the very reason for the order’s existence”
= die Grundlage für die Existenz des Ordens

Have to list this phrase:
“disorderly library” = ungeordnete Bibliothek

“on the dubious, the improbable, and the bizarre”
= über das Dubiose, das Unwahrscheinliche, und das Bizarre

“blueprints of ludicrous weaponry”
= Blaupausen von lächerlichen Waffen

“sketchbooks of strange plants”
= Skizzenbücher von merkwürdigen Pflanzen

“periodic table of smells”
= Periodentafel der Gerüche

“infamous dissertation on dithering”
= berüchtigte Dissertation über das Tändeln

Such a lovely long phrase:
“accumulated research”
= angesammelten Forschungsergebnisse

Sounds even more complicated in German:
“complicated filing system”
= höchst komplizierte Ablagesystem

“unwieldy collection”
= unhandliche Sammlung

“questions from the public”
= Fragen der Öffentlichkeit

“reading room” = Lesesaal

“portly” = korpulenten

“for some reason” = aus unerfindlichen Gründen

“life’s goal” = Lebenziel

“sharpening his pencils”
= seine Bleistifte spitzte

“File cabinets” = Aktenschränke

“papers, folders, and note cards”
= Papieren, Ordnern und Karteikarten

“teetering stacks” = wacklige Stapel

“composition books” = Aufsatzheften

“crumpled documents” = zerknitterte Dokumente

“climb over” = darüberklettern

“reference works” = Nachschlagewerke

“rough drafts” = erste Entwürfe

“scribbled” = gekritzelt

“browsed” = schmökerte

“tasting patterns” = Geschmacksmuster

Of course:
“hauled” = schleppte

“circular chain” = kreisförmigen Kette

I’m going to stop with the words “FOR MY DAUGHTER” = FÜR MEINE TOCHTER

I think my favorite phrase today was seine Bleistifte spitzte. I’ll remember it when I answer Fragen der Öffentlichkeit.

Bis Bald!