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andocken
Aug 24, 2012 20:34
11 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term

Wenn Hinkende um die Wette laufen...

German to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
Wenn Hinkende um die Wette laufen, so bleibt der, welcher von ihnen zuerst an das Ziel koemmt, doch noch ein Hinkender.

That's a quote from "Hamburg dramaturgy" by G.E. Lessing. I'm trying to find it's translation into English, but still to no avail.

Anyone to help?

Thanks in advance!
Proposed translations (English)
3 +4 "If the lame run a race the winner still remains lame,'
3 +2 "When the lame run a race, the winner still remains a lame"
References
Information
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EvANA...

Discussion

Kirsten Bodart Aug 26, 2012:
The dictionary says to limp: 1 to walk lamely, especially, to walk favoring one leg; 2 to go unsteadily
lame: having a body part and especially a limb so disabled as to impair freedom of movement : physically disabled

So, yes, both the same.My husband says Rooney was lame yesterday after a severe gash in his leg.
Horst Huber (X) Aug 25, 2012:
When a horse "limps" don't they say "came up lame"?
Kirsten Bodart Aug 25, 2012:
You could always opt for 'will always be/remain lame'. But personally, I don't think the wording of this expression is very important (whether lame or limping), as it refers to criticism of a certain piece that won a prize because it was just the least bad in the pack that year. You could move to a more colloquial expression like 'In a room full of blind people, the one-eyed one is king' or something similar. Maybe 'Amongst the bad, the mediocre is/will always be best'?
BrigitteHilgner Aug 25, 2012:
hinken = to limp, walk with a limp I find the use of the word 'lame' distinctly odd in the translation.
Horst Huber (X) Aug 24, 2012:
Just found that in the library here, the copy of the translation is "missing." I am asking our native speakers: My sense is, for this type of hypothetical, "when" (meaning always when) is better, and "is still lame" works only if it is pronounced a certain way, with a pause before "lame". Could one get around this by writing, "the winner, still, is lame"?
Helen Shiner Aug 24, 2012:
Maybe not 'official' but there is often an 'accepted' translation. Usually though, that will have some merit, and there does seem to be room for improvement here....
philgoddard Aug 24, 2012:
There's no such thing as an 'official translation' in literary texts like this. You can translate it however you like, within reason.

Proposed translations

+4
48 mins
Selected

"If the lame run a race the winner still remains lame,'

Cronegk's tragedy had been crowned a few years
previously by Lessing's friends, it was placed in the
same category with his own, Brawe's and Weisse's.
That does not deter him. ' If the lame run a race
the winner still remains lame,' he quietly remarks.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 53 mins (2012-08-24 21:28:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

this doesn't convince me either and going to give you how I think it could read in English: "In a race run by the lame, the winner is lame nonetheless"

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Note added at 54 mins (2012-08-24 21:29:13 GMT)
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open to free interpretation

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Note added at 1 hr (2012-08-24 21:37:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

in other words: in a situation in which the participants are not the best qualified to be there, even the best outcome will be less than adequate

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2012-08-25 00:30:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

when a race is run by the lame, the winner will always fall short

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2012-08-25 00:31:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

that's certainly the meaning ...
Peer comment(s):
agree Helen Shiner : But the bit I don't like is 'still remains'. Why not just 'remains'? I guess a better translation could be made - if anyone wanted one!!
54 mins
well I know "still remains" is tautological but just to add a touch of emphasis
agree Kim Metzger : Perhaps: the winner will still be lame
1 hr
thanks Kim and a lot of ways to do this :) and "still be lame" is the most succinct
agree Sanni Kruger (X)
13 hrs
thanks Sanni :)
agree Rebecca Garber : W/Kim
1 day 22 hrs
thanks Rebecca :)
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you!"
+2
5 mins

"When the lame run a race, the winner still remains a lame"

Not sure whether that's an official translation

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 Min. (2012-08-24 20:44:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Actually, make that:

If the lame run a race, the winner still remains lame
Reference:

http://books.google.com/books?id=_2NcAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA212&lpg=PA212&dq=when+the+lame+have+a+race+Lessing&source=bl&ots=mgFBBBoHyd&sig=Wf3xP6Mz9

Peer comment(s):
neutral Helen Shiner : a lame? Your link does not take us to this translation - should we presume it is yours?/Funny, it does not come up when I search within the book. The only internet reference to it is back to this question and your post.
8 mins
Not mine - but it's in there.
agree Edwin Miles : Page 212 at your link. But there's no comma in it (says the last of the hairsplitters), which may explain why Helen couldn't find it...
50 mins
agree philgoddard : You were first, though obviously 'a lame' is wrong, and 'still remains' is a tautology. 'If the lame run a race, the winner is still lame'.
1 hr
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

14 mins
Reference:

Information

Something went wrong...
12 hrs
Reference:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EvANAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA13&lpg=...

The lame dog and the stile

Likewise: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1t2eo3LMzRQC&pg=PA217&lpg...

Maybe you could use this along the lines of

Even if you help a lame dog over a stile, he remains a lame dog.
Something went wrong...
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