LL-L: "Levity" LOWLANDS-L, 14.APR.2000 (02) [E/German]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 14.APR.2000 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Jasmin Harvey [jharvey at ucla.edu]
Subject: LL-L: "Levity" LOWLANDS-L, 14.APR.2000 (01) [E]

At 07:42 AM 4/14/00 -0700, you wrote:
>
>From: gdeutsch at estec.esa.nl
>
>For those few whose capability of understanding Scottish is too limited -
>could Jasmin Harvey's Groaner  be explained, please?

I'm afraid I don't understand all the Scots myself (though the word
"sonsie" has a peculiar resonance for me, whatever it means).  The joke is
that instead of answering Her Majesty, the Scottish people responding to
her questions do so by quoting random lines of Burns' poetry -- hence, the
Burns Unit. Ordinarily, the Burns Unit in a hospital is the ward devoted to
burn victims, of course, as the health care industry generally is apathetic
about their patients' poetic preferences.  In the US, anyhow.

Jasmin Harvey
GTC, Rolfe/Campbell Administrative Group
jharvey at ucla.edu

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From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Levity

Hallo, Georg!

Jasmin schrieb:

> Ordinarily, the Burns Unit in a hospital is the ward devoted to
> burn victims, of course, as the health care industry generally is
> apathetic
> about their patients' poetic preferences.  In the US, anyhow.

Um es noch eindeutiger und heimatlicher zu erklären, "burns unit" bedeutet
"Verbrennungsstation" (d.h. "Krankenhausstation für die Behandlung von
Verbrennungenskrankheiten"), "burns" = "Verbrennungen", "Burns" = Robert
Burns, der schottische Dichter.

Aus der Burns'schen Dichtung in schottischer Sprache (mit meinen
Übersetzungen):

(1)
"Fair fa' your honest sonsie face, great chieftain o' the puddin' race"
["Welcome your honest, chubby/comely face, great chieftain of the pudding
race"]
("Willkommen Euer ehrliches, rundliches/reizendes Antlitz, großer Häuptling
des Puddingstamms")
(aus dem Gedicht (1786) "Address To A Haggis" [ein Loblied auf den "haggis",
den schottischen National-"Pudding", einen mit Hafer und Innereien gefüllten
Schafsmagen, der zeremoniell mit Dudelsackbegleitung zur Tafel gebracht wird])

(2)
"Wee sleekit, cowerin', timorous beastie, o' what a panic's in thy breastie."
["Sleek, cowering, timorous little beast; oh, what a panic is in thy little
breast."]
("Kleines ängstliches, kauerndes, befangenes Tierchen; oh, welche Panik ist in
deinem Brüstchen.")
{aus dem Gedicht (1785) "To a Mouse"}

Aber bekanntlich verlieren Witze durch das Erklären und Übersetzen etwa 93%
ihrer Witzigkeit ...

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Reinhard/Ron

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