| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Open Letter on Translating by Dr. Martin Luther: talents. But a German would say "Ut quid, etc.." as "Why this
waste?" or "Why this extravagance?" Even "it is a shame about the
ointment" - these are good German, in which one can understand
that Magdalene had wasted the salve she poured out and had done
wrong. That was what Judas meant as he thought he could have used
it better.
Now when the angel greets Mary, he says: "Greetings to you, Mary,
full of grace, the Lord is with you." well up to this point, this
has simply been translated from the simple Latin, but tell me is
that good German? Since when does a German speak like that - being
"full of grace"? One would have to think about a keg "full of"
|
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: fed with morsels of the Plesiosaurus steak, at the risk of
forever contaminating his manners. He looked at me sheepishly
all the time, for he knew that no well-bred dog should eat at
table; but the poor fellow was so wasted from improper food that
I couldn't enjoy my own meal had he been denied an immediate share
in it; and anyway Lys wanted to feed him. So there you are.
Lys was coldly polite to me and sweetly gracious to Bradley
and Olson. She wasn't of the gushing type, I knew; so I didn't
expect much from her and was duly grateful for the few morsels of
attention she threw upon the floor to me. We had a pleasant
meal, with only one unfortunate occurrence--when Olson suggested
 The Land that Time Forgot |