MD-224
From Mark Twain in the German Language Press
[MT welcoming the new century] | 28 Jan 1901
Der Deutsche Correspondent. Baltimore [MD], 28 Jan 1901. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Lib. of Congress, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045081/1901-01-28/ed-1/seq-2/.
Mark Twain's "Salutation-Speech from the Nineteenth Century to the Twentieth" was widely reprinted in US newspapers and later translated for the German-language press.
Changes in the translation are indicated as follows:
- Inserts; not present in the English original: {in green}
- Changes in word choice or meaning ⟦in blue⟧
- Omissions; not included in the German translation ⟪in red⟫
| Transcription | English Translation/Original Text |
|---|---|
| Mark Twain verfaßte folgenden Begrüßungsspruch des 19. Jahrhunderts an das 20.: | {Mark Twain penned the following greeting from the 19th century to the 20th:} |
| „Ich bringe Ihnen die stattliche Matrone, genannt Civilisation, auf der Rückreise von Piraten-Ausflügen nach Kiautschou, der Mandschurei, nach Südafrika und den Philippinen, beschmutzt und entehrt, mit einer Seele voll Niedertracht, mit den Taschen voll Beute und mit einem Mund voll Heuchelei. Gebt ihr Seife und ein Handtuch, doch versteckt den Spiegel!“ | “I bring you the stately matron named Christendom ⟦translated as "Civilisation"⟧, returning bedraggled, besmirched, and dishonored, from pirate raids in Kiaochow, Manchuria, South Africa, and the Philippines, {dirtied and dishonored} with her soul full of meanness, her pocket full of boodle, and her mouth full of pious hypocrisies. Give her soap and towel, but hide the looking glass. |