[ilds] Fox Macabre Totentanz

[Truebner, Christine]

Herre is my translation, not much better, but the false understood 4th line 

may sound a little like Durell had it - with my means:

 

 

Berlin, Dein Tänzer ist der Tod                                                     Berlin, your dancer is the death

Berlin, Du wühlst mit Lust im Kot!                                                Berlin, you're digging with desire in excrements!

Halt ein! Lass sein! Und denk ein bisschen nach:                          Hold on! Leave it! Think a bit:                     

Du tanzt Dir doch vom Leibe nicht die Schmach.                          You're not dancing disgrace nevertheless off your body.

Denn Du boxt, und Du jazzt, und Du foxt auf dem                         As you're boxing, and you're jazzing, and you're foxtrotting on a gunpowderbarrel.

Pulverfass                                                                                           

                                                                                                      

with delight

Christine Trübner 



	
	
	 
	Mountolive in Alexandria Quartet (Faber, 1968), p. 454.  The lyrics are apparently from the cabaret scene in Berlin during the 1920s.  Think of Marlene Dietrich singing this. 

	Berlin, dein Tanzer is der Tod!
	Berlin, du wuhlst mit Lust im Kot!
	Halt ein! lass sein! und denk ein bischen nach:
	Du tanzt dir doch vom Leibe nicht die Schmach.
	denn du boxt, und du jazzt, und du foxt auf dem Pulverfass!

	No response from our German friends, so I'll give it a go.  My German is very poor, so here's a very free translation.

	Berlin, your partner in dance is death!
	Berlin, you dig eagerly in dirt/shit!
	Stop!  Lay off!  Reflect a little!
	You're still dancing sensuously, not shamefully.
	For you're boxing, you're jazzing around, you're fox-trotting on a powder-keg.

	Misspellings in the German:  Tanzer should be Tänzer; wuhlst, wühlst?


	BR





	On Jan 18, 2010, at 3:15 PM, William Apt wrote:


		
		Page 82, Penguin ed.:  Montolive:  Can anyone tell me what the lines in German say?  Online translation sites are inconsistent in their results.
		
		Thanks!
		
		
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