Wednesday, December 19, 2018
A Narrow House
Goethe, Faust, Part II, lines 11,527-11,530 (tr. David Luke):
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A rectangle of earth dug deep,The same, tr. Walter Kaufmann:
A good old-fashioned place to sleep!
From palace to this narrow house descending—
That always was the stupid story's ending.
Wie man's für unsre Väter that,
Vertieft ein längliches Quadrat!
Aus dem Palast in's enge Haus,
So dumm läuft es am Ende doch hinaus.
As it was our fathers' fare,The same, tr. Stuart Atkins:
Dig out a somewhat oblong square!
From palace to a narrow crate,
That is how stupidly things terminate.
Then, as they did for our forefathers,The same, tr. Bayard Taylor:
Dig a long four-sided hole!
From palace into these cramped quarters—
That's the inane conclusion of all this.
As for our fathers made, prepareRelated post: Two Houses.
To excavate a lengthened square!
From palace to the narrow house transferred,
Such is, at last, the issue most absurd.
