TonyTK Jan 31, 2022:

JWG: "Gegenüber der Fähigkeit, die Arbeit eines einzigen Tages sinnvoll zu ordnen, ist alles andere im Leben ein Kinderspiel."

Kim Metzger Jan 31, 2022:

Mephistopheles: Now, without complaint or jesting, what
I’m telling you is, with this lovely child
Once and for all, you mustn’t be wild.
She won’t be taken by storm, I said:
We’ll need to use cunning instead.

philgoddard Jan 30, 2022:

It wouldn't be "thee" - that's the object. If it is the second person, as you imply, it's "thou" - but it's probably better to say "you".

Kim Metzger Jan 30, 2022:

Thank you, Tony Never heard of that.
erzen
[1] transitiv, historisch: jemanden mit „Er“ anreden
Beispiele:
[1] In früheren Zeiten wurden Vorgesetzte vielfach geerzt.
[1] Der Knecht erzte den Bauern, als er ihn fragte: „Bauer, ist Er heute guter Dinge für die Ernte?“
https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/erzen#:~:text=IPA: [ˈeːɐ̯t͡sn...

TonyTK Jan 30, 2022:

Pronominale Anredeform ("erzen"). For example, addressing someone as "er" or "sie" (as opposed to "du" or "Sie"). Not uncommon in classic German literature, and you hear it a lot in plays.

Jennifer Caisley Jan 30, 2022:

Kim, you beat me to it - I realised I didn't answer your actual question, Karin, but as "thee" is essentially "you", I can't figure out how it would work for "er" here. Of course, it's impossible to say how to translate "er" without knowing what comes before this sentence, and, by extension, what "er" is referring back to!

Kim Metzger Jan 30, 2022:

Puzzled Why would "thee" be appropriate for "er"?

Jennifer Caisley Jan 30, 2022:

Hi Karin! I actually have a PhD in Goethe studies, so this kind of thing is right up my street - can you tell us what the specific text is that you're looking at here? You say it's to do with the "Goethezeit" - is it an 18th-century text, or written later (and merely about that period)? In terms of your intended audience for the translation, you say "film/theater", so I'm presuming it's going to be performed?