The sun and the wind
Sun and wind is a fable attributed to Aesop .
It was first translated from Greek into German in the 16th century by Joachim Camerarius the Elder ; the best-known German adaptation is probably that of August Gottlieb Meißner (1753-1807). As early as 1688, Jean de La Fontaine had published a French version of the Aesopian fable entitled Phöbus and Boreas . Johann Gottfried Herder also dealt with this topic and provided one of his poems with the title Wind and Sun (see below). The best known in the English language translation, entitled The North Wind and the Sun (dt. The north wind and the sun ) comes from George Fyler Townsend from 1887.
content
In all versions of the fable, the wind and the sun argue over which of the two is the stronger. They agree that he should be seen as the stronger who can first get a hiker who comes along the way to take off his coat. The stronger the wind blows, the tighter the hiker wraps himself in his coat, while the sun quickly manages to use the warmth of its rays to get the hiker to take off his clothes. The wind must recognize the sun as the winner of the competition.
The French version ends with the moral “Plus fait douceur que violence. »(Eng." Gentleness causes more than violence. "), Which in the English version as" Persuasion is better than force. " (Eng. "Conviction is better than strength.") is reproduced. Meißner's fable ends with morality: “ Mildness and friendliness are ten times more certain than impetuosity and severity. “The following morality can be read in Herder:“ Superior power, power of reason / power and leaves us cold; / Warm love of Christ - / Who would you stay cold? "
Meißner's rework "Sun and Wind"
“Once the sun and the wind argued: which of the two was stronger? and it was agreed that the one who would first compel a wanderer whom they just saw ahead of them should take off his coat should apply.
Immediately the wind began to storm; Rain and hail showers supported him. The poor wanderer wailed and hesitated; but also tighter and tighter he wrapped himself in his cloak, and continued on his way as best he could.
Now it was the turn of the sun. She let her rays fall vertically and powerfully. Heaven and earth became serene; the air warmed. The wanderer could no longer bear the cloak on his shoulders. He threw it off, and refreshed himself in the shade of a tree, while the sun enjoyed its victory.
Mildness and friendliness seem ten times safer than impetuosity and severity. "
Herder's poem "Wind and Sun"
Meißner's prose fable is often erroneously attributed to Johann Gottfried Herder , who also borrowed from the same Aesopian fable and titled one of his poems Wind and Sun (and not (the) Sun and (the) Wind ):
“Wind and sun made a bet,
who had the most strength to rob
a poor wanderer of
his clothes.
Wind started;
But his snorting
did nothing to him; the wanderer
drew his coat tighter.
Wind now despairs and rests;
And a lovely sunshine
fills
Wanderer's bones with gentle, gentle glow.
Does he now wrap himself deeper?
No!
Now he throws off his robe,
And overcame the sun.
Superior power,
power of reason power and leaves us cold;
Warm love of Christ -
who would you stay cold? "
Linguistic usage
For linguists, the text gained notoriety as phonetic pattern text that has been translated into numerous languages and dialects: The reading aloud of the text, usually by a native speaker of the language, resulting transcription serves as an illustration of a possible phonetic realization that language. The fable was used, among other things, in the official reference for the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet , the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association . In the past, for example, the Lord's Prayer was transcribed in its place , but as a prayer formula it could hardly meet the requirement of even approximating natural language usage. The German, English and French versions cited in the Handbook of the IPA are not identical to the texts by Meißner, Townsend and La Fontaine; Instead, the translations are specially made and designed primarily with the aim of achieving, as far as possible, a similar plot structure and number of sentences in all languages.
The German text in the handbook is:
- “Once upon a time, the north wind and the sun fought over which of the two would be the stronger than a hiker wrapped in a warm coat who came along the way. They agreed that whoever would force the wanderer to take off his coat should apply to the stronger. The north wind blew with all its might, but the more it blew, the tighter the wanderer wrapped himself in his cloak. At last the north wind gave up the fight. Now the sun warmed the air with its friendly rays, and after a few moments the wanderer took off his coat. Then the north wind had to admit that the sun was the stronger of the two. "
A phonemic transcription of this text looks like this:
- / aɪnst ˈʃtrɪtɛn zɪç ˈnɔrtvɪnt ʊnt ˈzɔnɛ | veːr fɔn ˈiːnɛn ˈbaɪdɛn voːl deːr ˈʃtɛrkɛrɛ ˈvɛːrɛ | as aɪn ˈvandɛrɛr | deːr ɪn ˈaɪnɛn ˈvarmɛn ˈmantɛl gɛˈhʏlt vaːr | dɛs ˈveːgɛs daˈheːrˌkaːm ‖ ziː ˈvʊrdɛn ˈaɪnɪç | the ˈdeːrjeːnɪgɛ fyːr deːn ˈʃtɛrkɛrɛn ˈgɛltɛn ˈzɔltɛ | deːr deːn ˈvandɛrɛr ˈtsvɪŋɛn ˈvʏrdɛ | ˈZaɪnɛn ˈmantɛl ˈaptsuːˌneːmɛn ‖ deːr ˈnɔrtvɪnt bliːs mɪt ˈalɛr maxt | ˈAːbɛr jeː ˈmeːr eːr bliːs | ˈDɛstoː ˈfɛstɛr ˈhʏltɛ zɪç deːr ˈvandɛrɛr ɪn ˈzaɪnɛn ˈmantɛl aɪn ‖ ˈɛntlɪç gaːp deːr ˈnɔrtvɪnt deːn fight aʊf ‖ nuːn ˈɛːnɪrɛrnt | ʊnt ʃoːn naːx ˈveːnɪgɛn aʊgɛnˈblɪkɛn tsoːk deːr ˈvandɛrɛr ˈzaɪnɛn ˈmantɛl aʊs ‖ daː ˈmʊstɛ deːr ˈnɔrtvɪnt ˈtsuːgeːbɛn | the diː ˈzɔnɛ fɔn ˈiːnɛn ˈbaɪdɛn deːr ˈʃtɛrkɛrɛ vaːr /
- (If you, as opposed to this view, the existence of a phoneme / ə / ausginge, you would have all / ɛ / replace in unstressed positions by this.)
A possible phonetic transcription of this text looks like this:
- [ aɪns ˈʃtʁɪtn̩ zɪç ˈnɔɐ̯tvɪnt ʊntˈz̥ɔnə | veːɐ̯ fɔn ˈiːnː ˈbaɪdn̩ voːl deːɐ̯ ˈʃtɛɐ̯kəʁə ˈvɛːʁə | as aɪn ˈvandəʁɐ | deːɐ̯ ɪn ˈaɪnː ˈvaːɐ̯mn̩ ˈmantl̩ gəˈhʏlt vaːɐ̯ | dəs ˈveːgəs daˈheːɐ̯kaːm ‖ ziː ˈvʊɐ̯dn̩ ˈaɪnɪç | the ˈdeːɐ̯jeːnɪgə fʏɐ̯ deːn ˈʃtɛɐ̯kəʁən ˈgɛltn̩ ˈzɔltə | deːɐ̯ deːn ˈvandəʁɐ ˈtsvɪŋ̍ ˈvʏɐ̯də | ˈZaɪnː ˈmantl̩ ˈaptsʊˌneːmː ‖ deːɐ̯ ˈnɔɐ̯tvɪnt bliːs mɪt ˈalɐ maxt | ˈAːbɐ jeˈmeːɐ̯ eːɐ̯ bliːs | ˈDɛsto ˈfɛstɐ ˈhʏltə zɪç deːɐ̯ ˈvandəʁɐ ɪn ˈzaɪnː ˈmantl̩ aɪn ‖ ˈɛntlɪç gaːp deːɐ̯ ˈnɔɐ̯tvɪnt deːn kampf aʊf ‖ nuːn ɛɐ̯ˈvɛɐ̯mtə diː ˈ̩ɪftlˈʃ di̩ː t. Lt ʊnt ʃoːnaːx ˈveːnɪgŋ̍ aʊgŋ̍ˈblɪkŋ̍ tsoːk deːɐ̯ ˈvandəʁɐ ˈzaɪnː ˈmantl̩ aʊs ‖ daː ˈmʊstə deːɐ̯ ˈnɔɐ̯tvɪnt ˈtsuːgeːbm̩ | the diː ˈzɔnə fɔn ˈiːnː ˈbaɪdn̩ deːɐ̯ ˈʃtɛɐ̯kəʁə vaːɐ̯ ]
- (The pronunciation reproduced here does not claim to be generally valid or standard language, but only to be understood in the entire German-speaking area.)
Web links
- La Fontaine version at lafontaine.net (French / Italian / English)
- Herder version in the Gutenberg project
- Townsend version at literature.org (Eng.)
- North wind and sun in Swiss dialects (German, Italian, Romansh)
- North wind and sun in the regional languages and dialects of France
- North wind and sun in the regional languages and dialects of Italy