Day 63: Rilke or Kaléko at the Wedding
In a café in Marbach, the town where Schiller was born and where they both grew up, Maja (A), who is getting married soon, and her maid of honour Vanessa (B) choose the poem Vanessa will read at the wedding.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a German word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native German, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Vanessa, bei der Trauung liest du Rilke: „Wie soll ich meine Seele halten, dass sie nicht an deine rührt?“ Da krieg ich Gänsehaut.
Vanessa, at the ceremony you're reading Rilke: 'How shall I hold my soul so that it does not touch yours?' It gives me goosebumps.
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B
Ich auch, nur leider vom Pathos. Am Ende seid ihr zwei Saiten, und irgendein Geiger hat euch in der Hand.
Me too, but sadly from the pathos. By the end you two are strings, and some violinist or other has you in his hands.
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A
Das ist kein Pathos, das ist Poesie! Du willst bloß wieder Kaléko, weil du alles Feierliche sofort kitschig findest.
That's not pathos, it's poetry! You just want Kaléko again, because you find anything solemn cheesy straight away.
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B
Nur das Feierliche mit Geigen. Kaléko bedarf keiner Geigen: Sie ist genauso zärtlich, nur mit Augenzwinkern, und man lacht erst und weint dann.
Only the solemn stuff with violins. Kaléko has no need of violins: she's just as tender, only with a twinkle in her eye, and you laugh first and cry afterwards.
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A
Augenzwinkern bei der Trauung? Tristans Mutter hält schon ein Gedicht ohne Reim für einen Formfehler.
A twinkle in the eye at the ceremony? Tristan's mother thinks even a poem without rhymes is a breach of etiquette.
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B
Apropos Tristan: Bei einem Bräutigam dieses Namens trage ich lieber nichts vor, was nach ewiger Liebe klingt. Du weißt, wie das bei Isolde ausging.
Speaking of Tristan: with a groom by that name, I'd rather not recite anything that sounds like eternal love. You know how it ended for Isolde.
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A
Da war der Liebestrank schuld, kein Gedicht! Aber irgendwas musst du vortragen, du bist meine Trauzeugin.
That was the love potion's fault, not a poem's! But you have to recite something, you're my maid of honour.
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B
Dann nehme ich mich der Sache selbst an und schreibe eins: Kalékos Witz, eine Zeile Rilke und kein einziger Geiger.
Then I'll take the matter into my own hands and write one: Kaléko's wit, one line of Rilke and not a single violinist.
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A
Ausgerechnet du? Du hast in der Neunten nicht mal die „Glocke“ auswendig gelernt, und das in Schillers Geburtsstadt!
You, of all people? In Year 9 you didn't even learn 'The Song of the Bell' by heart, and that in Schiller's home town!
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B
Eben, ich habe was gutzumachen. Kein Pathos, keine Geigen und am Schluss kein „Es lebe die Liebe“, es sei denn, deine Schwiegermutter besteht darauf.
Exactly, I've got something to make up for. No pathos, no violins and no 'Long live love' at the end, unless your mother-in-law insists.
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