Working on a German lesson I'm going to give tomorrow, I have found a selection of German Sprichwörter, proverbial sayings, that rhyme, thus proving more learnable, I hope. Some are quite amusing:
Vater werden ist nicht schwer, Vater sein dagegen sehr.
Abends vull, morgens null.
Wein auf Bier, das rat' ich dir. Bier auf Wein, das lass' sein.
One or two German proverbs are encouraging:
Gut begonnen ist halb gewonnen.
but more often discouraging:
Träume sind Schäume.
Klug zu reden ist doch schwer, klug zu schweigen noch viel mehr.
Wer die Wahl hat, hat die Qual.
or they have a nagging tone. If you're born German, you ought to be up early and getting on with things, no slacking, or woe betide you!
Was du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf morgen.
Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund. Wer verschläft sich, geht zu Grund'.
In other words ...
Morgen, morgen, nur nicht heute, sagen alle faulen Leute.
Well known sayings in any language are clichés really, too familiar too make much of an impact once they've been around for a hundred years or so. They can just be used as a lazy kind of one-up-manship. I wonder how many neat turns of phrase being thought up in this 21st century will turn into proverbs eventually. There are some worth noting, by Professor A.C. Grayling for instance, whose book of essays or articles Chris gave me on New Year's Eve. Here's a good one, relevant to my subject, too:
Only the wise can learn from precepts, but, being already wise, they do not need them.
By the way, if you need a translation for the German lines above, I've made a stab at it. Click on Comments.
2 comments:
Here are my (very free!) translations:
It's easy enough to become a pa. Being a pa is harder by far.
Had a late night, don't feel too bright.
Wine after beer will keep your head clear. Wine before beer: a bad idea.
Start ANYwhere; you're half way there.
Dream a dream to flee your troubles: the dream's no more than foamy bubbles.
To speak with care you must be smart, but holding your tongue is the trickiest art.
Choosing means losing.
If at this moment you can get it, don't put off buying or you'll regret it.
Get up early, win the Gold. Lie in late, you'll just grow old.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, but not today: that's what the lazy ones always say!
and, of course, the one that we learned from the Schmitz family in Erftstadt:
Jedes bonchen hat sein tonchen.
Please forgive the lack of umlauts!
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