Friday, July 01, 2016
Topsy-Turvydom
At the Carnival Masque in Part II of Goethe's Faust, Mephistopheles dresses up as Zoilo-Thersites. In a short speech (lines 5457-5470), he says the following (lines 5465-5470; tr. David Luke):
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But where there's honour and success,
They raise my hackles, I confess.
I'd lift what's low, put down what's high,
Make wry things straight and straight things wry:
That's the one thing that comforts me,
That's how I want the world to be!
Doch, wo was Rühmliches gelingt,
Es mich sogleich in Harnisch bringt.
Das Tiefe hoch, das Hohe tief,
Das Schiefe grad, das Grade schief,
Das ganz allein macht mich gesund,
So will ich's auf dem Erdenrund.
