Our philosopher, p.14
Our Philosopher, page 14
Come, Gretel, I say, but she doesn’t want to come. Come, I say and pull her.
Hand in hand, in step, without overtaking the coffin, out of the rear courtyard, my sister rigid with terror, Frau Ab-falter is taking off the rubber gloves, the hearse drivers are closing the courtyard gate, the neighbours are pointing out the coffin, which under a fast moving sky is in the hearse that is spacious above but also comfortable on all other sides, and like our shops in Helenenstrasse has glass showcase windows, so that you can see the flowers and the wreaths as well as the coffin, but there are no flowers and wreaths, so that the windows are covered with curtains and we can no longer see the now dead Herr Veilchenfeld. When, pulled by the little black horse, he rolls away from us, out of the town.
*Veilchenfeld: field of violets
A NOTE ON THE TEXT
Many of the person and place names in Our Philosopher consist of German nouns and adjectives, and thus have an additional meaning for anyone reading the novel in German.
—E. M.-T.
Abfalter: Abfall = rubbish. Also ab + Falter: ex-butterfly
Berger: salvager
Birken: birch
Blei: lead
Deutscher Peter: German Peter
Eisen-Lotse: iron pilot
Geier: vulture
Gipser: plasterer
Grimmschen: adjective form of Grimm, name of the German collectors of fairy tales
Hafermeier: oats steward
Heiden: heaths, but also heathens, Gentiles
Hellmann: bright or light man
Heuer: this year; pay
Hirsch: deer. Frequently, although not always, a Jewish family name.
Höhle: cave, cavity
Keller: cellar (or a proper name)
Klemm: Klemme = a fix, a difficult situation
Krappes: Krapp = madder plant (used for making red dye)
Lach: laughter
Lampenputzer: lamp cleaner
Laube: arbour or arcade
Lauge: lye
Lilienthal: valley of lilies. Often a Jewish family name.
Linde: linden tree
Lohen: to blaze
Magirius: Magirus is Latinised from Ancient Greek μάγειρος (mágeiros), cook
Malz: malt
Maurer: mason, bricklayer
Mausifalli: Mausefalle = mousetrap
Neumann: new man
Obermüller: head miller
Raabe: raven
Reichmann: rich man
Rösch: crisp, crust
Rüdesheim: male dog + home (also a place name)
Russdorf: soot village
Sachs: Sache = item, matter, cause
Schellenbaum: bell tree (a musical instrument); also Schellen + Baum: clamps + tree
Schindler: roofer (obsolete)
Sonnenblick: sun view
Sperber: sparrow hawk
Stöcke: sticks
Turnvater Jahn (Friedrich Ludwig Jahn): founder of the Turnsport (gymnastics) movement in the early nineteenth century, considered the father of gymnastics in Germany.
Übeleis: evil or severe + ice
Veilchenfeld: field of violets
Verhören: to interrogate, question
Weiss: white
Wikinger: Viking
Gert Hofmann, Our Philosopher
