My rocket out of here is almost ready (i.e. a new forum), but I can't go without a final attempt to address Jim's behaviour as exhibited in this topic.
jim_mich wrote:Can the "degreed professionals" translate these lines into anything different than I’ve done?
Yes, they can translate it correctly.
jim_mich wrote:Translating is much more than just converting a sentence word for word.
And yet that's all Jim is doing, as he demonstrates repeatedly that he does not understand English grammar, let alone German grammar. If he understood how English grammar works and why it's important then you'd see him attempting to apply grammar rules to the German text, which he doesn't.
jim mich wrote:I don’t just do a 10 second Google translate, as I’ve been accused of doing.
He shouldn't be using Google translate at all for this task.
jim_mich wrote:One must get inside the head of the writer, and understand his subject matter and where the writer is coming from and where his thoughts are heading to.
Rubbish. Understanding the subject matter clearly helps, but pretending you understand the author and know what was going on in his head has no bearing on translating what is actually written on the page. This is just a pathetic excuse for someone who can't be bothered to learn the language, but wants to be able to get the translations to say what they want them to.
Let's look at the text currently being discussed:
Matth.XV. ℣. 16.
SeyD Ihr Dañ aVCh noCh VnVerstänDIg
Wenn ich die Kunst entdeck' inwendig/
So mach' der - - euch gebändig.
There is no evidence to suggest that the word "Dañ" has any connection to a character in the Bible. The only reason the 'D' is capitalised is because it is part of the chronogram (all capitalised roman numerals add up to the year 1717). The line above the 'n' is there as an abbreviation of 'nn', so the word is actually 'dann' and means 'then'.
jim_mich wrote:Bessler was comparing Wagner to Dan from the Bible.
Jim just can't bring himself to use those all important words "I think" or "In my opinion". There is no evidence at all for Jim's statement of fact here, therefore it is only his own speculation. This type of misrepresentation of the truth falls well below that expected of a highly regarded forum member, in my opinion.
The line actually says, as we're all familiar with by now:
"Are you then also still without-understanding/ignorant"
Also, you can look up Matthew 15 in any Bible and you'll find no reference to a "Dan" anywhere there.
With the next two lines, although he struggled, Jim correctly identified most of the words in the end, but without a knowledge of grammar, he has no idea how to put them together.
The apostrophes are used to replace vowels so that they aren't sounded, and this is done for poetic metering purposes. So the text actually reads as follows:
Matth.XV. ℣. 16.
Seyd ihr dann auch noch unverständig
Wenn ich die Kunst entdecke inwendig/
So mache der - - euch gebändig.
'mache' is third person subjunctive 1 of the verb 'machen' meaning to 'make' or 'do'.
You should be looking up the verb infinitives in dictionaries, i.e. 'machen'. So 'mache' translates as "he/she/it makes" or more accurately conveying the subjunctive mood "he/she/it may make". The subjunctive 1 could also be translated as "let him/her/it make".
With 'gebändig' Jim was hovering around the right area with adding a 't'. 'gebändigt' is the past-participle of the verb 'bändigen'.
'bändigen' = to tame, to break (in); to restrain, to check, to manage, to repress; to subdue; to master.
I think 'gebändig' without the 't' is an adjective form similar to the word 'bändig' which is an adjective meaning 'manageable; obedient; obsequious; tame(able)', so 'gebändig' would be 'tamed, broken in; mastered'.
jim_mich wrote:Then I spotted the word teach.
You can see how Jim is looking for ways to get the translation to fit what he wants it to say. 'Teach' is the weakest sense of the word and is not a good translation.
jim_mich wrote:It seems Bessler may have been telling Wagner to make/manufacture the [expletive] that you (Wagner) teach. This makes the most sense relative to the rest of AP.
Bessler tells Wagner to get on and build the spring-powered wheel he talks about in his publication, but that is elsewhere and is not what this piece of text says. Again Jim is trying to force things to say what he thinks they should say instead of just reading what's actually there. Also Jim's use of swear words in his translations is beyond any rational understanding and destroys any shred of credibility they might have had!
jim_mich wrote:Bessler needed a word to rhyme with inwendig, which he found by using gebändig. This causes a problem with understanding his meaning,
No it doesn't, it makes sense as written.
jim_mich wrote:So assembling these meanings into English, we could say:
If I the invention invented within,
Wrong again. Here 'entdecke' is 1st person present indicative (or subjunctive 1) of the verb 'entdecken' which means:
to discover, to uncover; to detect, to find (out), to descry, to espy; to invent, to start;
to disclose, to divulge, to reveal, to open, to import, to rip open or up;
The items I've bolded are the correct sense of the word. So in a basic form the two lines translate as:
when/if I reveal inside the art,
so [may/let] the "- -" make you tamed/mastered.
or
if I reveal inside the art,
then the "- -" may tame/master you.
Mike (John's translator) has used the word 'enslave' and we can see how that's a good fit.
Another thing to point out is that in the line "Are you then also still ignorant", the word 'you' (ihr) is plural, and in the line "then the - - may tame/master you", the word 'you' (euch) is also plural. This means that Bessler is not directly addressing anyone (i.e. Wagner) although in the context of what's being said and what's gone before, Wagner falls into the group of those being addressed by the plural 'you'.
jim_mich wrote:If I invented the invention within (my wheel),
This can be proved wrong grammatically as 'entdecke' is present and not past tense and so can't be translated as 'invented', it would have to be 'invent' and that would make a complete nonsense of the sentence. See how important grammar is and how easy it makes the understanding of a sentence? There's very little guesswork if you understand all the rules.
That brings us to the missing word. We've guessed it to be 'Teufel' (devil). 'Devil' makes sense in the context of the sentence and also from the paragraph above and from things Bessler has said earlier in the book, and I'll talk about them later. 'Teufel' fits the gap poetically, since having two syllables it has the right metering. Below I've split the lines into syllables:
Code: Select all
1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |7 |8 |9
Wenn|ich |die|Kunst|ent|deck'|in|wend|ig/
So |mach'|der|Teu |fel|euch |ge|bänd|ig.
When considering the text we've been discussing, we shouldn't forget that there is another paragraph on this page above it, and the "wheel" image below it. Here's the text above, which consists of three verses from Jacob 3 of the German Luther Bible:
Jacobi III. ℣. 14. 15. 16.
HAbt ihr aber bittern Neyd und Zanck
in euern Hertzen/ so rühmet euch nicht/
und lüget nicht wider die Wahrheit.
  Denn das ist nicht die Weißheit/ die von
Oben herab kommt/ sondern irrdisch/ mensch-
lich und teuflisch.
  Denn wo Neyd und Zanck ist/ da ist Un-
ordnung und eitel böse Ding.
and the English translation:
Jacob 3 ℣. 14, 15, 16.
Have you however bitter envy and quarrel
in your hearts, then boast not,
and lie not against the truth.
Because that is not wisdom, that comes
from on high, but earthly, human
and devilish.
Because where envy and quarrel is, there is
confusion and nothing but evil business.
So we have that followed by this:
Matthew 15 ℣. 16.
Are you then also still without understanding
It's worth reading the whole of Matthew 15 to get the complete context of the verse 16, but here are a few of the verses that follow it:
16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
And he follows that with:
if I reveal inside the art,
then the devil may tame/master you.
Having quoted various passages from the Bible about the evils of envy, lies and blasphemy, which is aimed at his enemies (and particularly Wagner of course), it appears that Bessler concludes by saying that those that have behaved that way towards him will become enslaved by the devil when he reveals his wheel to be genuine.
This is backed up by other things Bessler says to Wagner throughout AP. In part 2, chapter VIII(8) of AP Bessler makes a curse wager with Wagner:
Bessler wrote:I wish to call together here all the curses, all the fires of hell, all the damnation, torment, woe, and pain which one could ever conceive of. Let them all assemble here and stand between me and Wagner. Now, if Wagner is not a liar, and my device really is as he says ( with clockwork, weights, springs, etc.) then all the curses shall descend on me. But should Wagner be a liar. then they will all descend on him. Just note, Wagner, it is not I who lay this curse upon you.
Will you not do penance, and be fearful for your soul? If not, the curse will surely overtake you. So let this arrangement stand between us, in the name of God. Let God Himself, the Holiest, be the judge between the two of
us. Farewell then, Wagner, wretched slave - I know that I am free, consoled, and vindicated.
- Translation from John Collins' AP book
I've bolded areas that tie in with the idea of becoming enslaved by the devil if Bessler reveals his work.
At the end of that chapter there is an extra paragraph that is untranslated in my copy of John's book. In it Bessler tells Wagner to read the following Bible references:
Römer 2
Sirach 28
Matthew 5
They all relate to how one should behave towards others, and Bessler ends by saying that Wagner should make room for repentance or he'll remain a rotten tree.
It's possible that the "wheel" image might also tie into this theme. See the following topic of mine about Brother Klaus' and his "wheel" image:
http://www.besslerwheel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4326
Brother Klaus' "wheel" image is part of a larger artwork depicting various acts of Christian kindness. It's a possibility that Bessler includes his wheel image on the page as a reference to his Christian faith and as a reminder how Christians should behave towards their fellow man.
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Well, I've spent a long time on this post, so I hope it was worth it. I hope I've shown once again that Jim does not know what he's doing when it comes to translating the words of Bessler. I don't hold it against him that he lacks the knowledge for this task, no one expects him to be able to do it. Where I do hold him at fault is in keeping up a pretence that he knows what he's doing, and also that he is deliberately trying to fit translations to his own ideas and passing them off as the truth. He has shown no sign of attempting to learn the language and grammar, unless he does so his translations will never be accurate, although I fear even if he did he would still try to make them biased towards his own ideas.
This is the final time I'll be addressing Jim's translation attempts on this forum as I'll be moving to the new forum soon, so I hope everyone has got the message about Jim now. Jim's distortion of the facts and underhanded behaviour are in my opinion not fitting of a highly regarded member of this forum and I would urge everyone to remove any green dot they have awarded him and let him try and earn them back, but that's up to all of you as I'm out of here.
Stewart