Chapter 1 of 10
Autobiography by Karl May
Autobiography by Karl May
Volume I
Original title: Mein Leben und Streben, Selbstbiographie von Karl May, Band I
[Translated by Gunther Olesch in 2000]
The day this world will cast you from its sight,
Go calmly forth from here and don't lament.
By means like this, it freed you from your plight,
And as it did you wrong, it will repent. (Karl May "Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen" [a])
[a] A slightly different version of
this poem can be found in "Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen IV"
<In the Empire of the Silver Lion, Volume 4> a.k.a. "Das
versteinerte Gebet" <The Petrified Prayer>. There, the last
line would translate literally as "and therefore it has to bear
all of your guilt", whereas here a more literal translation would
be "and it now has to bear its guilt (from its offence) against
you by itself".