Zwischen Bayern und Neu Bremen

[muckefuck]

I don't know how many years I've owned an English translation of Börnstein's Die Geheimnisse von St. Louis, but I'm finally giving it another go. It owes a lot to Sue's model--and not in a good way. The translation, by contemporary Friedrich Münch, also leaves a lot to be desired. I've been thinking that I'd make better progress if I could find a copy of the German original.

The good news is, I have. The bad news is, it's online. I love having online texts to scan and peruse, but I hate reading them start to finish. At least it has cleared up some, ahem, mysteries while creating one or two more.

In Chapter 2, a deck hand oddly and awkwardly says "Calculate in this world he does not want any more rope." My first guess was that Börnstein was using the German cognate rechnen to render the folksy American English reckon; sure enough, the original text has "Rechne, dass er kein Seil auf dieser Welt mehr brauchen wird." Since rechnen has the primary meaning of "calculate", Münch chose the wrong equivalent for his English version.

A much odder alteration to explain is this one:

"Es ist der Gottlieb, der bairische Tölpel."
"It is Hans, the Bavarian blockhead."

Poor Gottlieb! Reckon he got so tired of hearing his Christian name massacred by English-speaking Americans that he finally ended up saying, "I begk, call me Hans."?

Anglicisms in Die Geheimnisse von St. Louis

das Framehaus
die Avenue
die Trappers und Hunters
der Watchmann
die Cathedrale
die Jail
Island
die Levee
der Cent
die Buffalohaut
der Hickory
das Flat-Boot
rechne
State-Room
das Beafsteak [sic]
das Kornbrod [sic]
Steamer
die Notion
die Insurance-Compagnien
das Sturmdach ("hurricane deck")
Blanket
der Mate
der Theerjacke ("Jack Tar")
der Gentleman
die Bar
das Plateau
das Courthaus
das Loafer-Corps
der Grüne ("greenhorn")
der Cabin-Passagier
das Cap [sic] ("cab")
das Boardinghaus
der Clerk
die Feuer-Compagnie
das Spritzen-Departement
die Yard
die Babies