Dec 31, 2018 08:38
5 yrs ago
3 viewers *
German term
Gägchen-Spiel
German to English
Art/Literary
Tourism & Travel
Historical name for a game
"...erholen sich die beiden
Knaben vom anstrengenden »Gägchen-Spiel«.
From a brochure of a city tour of the city Rotenburg an der Fulda. I am proofreading this text, and the translator could not find a reference (and neither could I!) Any ideas appreciated.
Knaben vom anstrengenden »Gägchen-Spiel«.
From a brochure of a city tour of the city Rotenburg an der Fulda. I am proofreading this text, and the translator could not find a reference (and neither could I!) Any ideas appreciated.
Proposed translations
(English)
4 +4 | kicking a ball about | Lancashireman |
4 | alley games | Michael Martin, MA |
Proposed translations
+4
6 hrs
German term (edited):
Gässchen-Spiel
Selected
kicking a ball about
... erholen sich die beiden Knaben vom anstrengenden »Gägchen-Spiel«.
... the two boys take a break from kicking a ball about [in the street]
... the two boys catch their breath after kicking a ball about [in the street]
https://www.google.com/search?q="kicking a ball about"&oq="k...
As the other contributors have already surmised, this is about the narrow streets on either side of the Fulda. I used to take school exchange parties to ROF. It cannot by any stretch of the imagination be described as a 'city', unless the website is aimed at readers in the USA.
I think it sounds more natural in EN to stress the activity (Spiel) rather than the location (Gässchen). The ball is certainly big enough to kick about, though I am mystified by the makeshift hockey stick (?) seen here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/123406046@N03/16974819303/in/p...
... the two boys take a break from kicking a ball about [in the street]
... the two boys catch their breath after kicking a ball about [in the street]
https://www.google.com/search?q="kicking a ball about"&oq="k...
As the other contributors have already surmised, this is about the narrow streets on either side of the Fulda. I used to take school exchange parties to ROF. It cannot by any stretch of the imagination be described as a 'city', unless the website is aimed at readers in the USA.
I think it sounds more natural in EN to stress the activity (Spiel) rather than the location (Gässchen). The ball is certainly big enough to kick about, though I am mystified by the makeshift hockey stick (?) seen here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/123406046@N03/16974819303/in/p...
Peer comment(s):
agree |
British Diana
: This must be it! "Gäggchen" doesn't sound like Franconian dialect
57 mins
|
agree |
Wendy Streitparth
: Seems more than likely.
2 hrs
|
agree |
Thomas Pfann
: Very likely. And very embarrassing for whoever didn't recognize this OCR error and just put the unknown word in quotation marks.
3 hrs
|
Thanks. German copywriters really go to town (city?) on »quotation marks«.
|
|
agree |
Chase Faucheux
: Just wondering, why would "city" be correct for a text aimed at Americans? I'd never describe a place with a population of less than 15K as anything other than a "town".
108 days
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks very much for the interesting input"
7 days
alley games
I overlooked this query.. Two boys taking a break from their alley games
I disagree with Lancashireman's suggestion that the 'location' is unimportant. Gässchen often conjures up some kind of homely, intimate atmosphere. Without interest in creating a similar effect, the author would've had no incentive for this choice of wording.
Compare with this:
"On a recent trip to Morocco I noted that the children had nothing to play with and used pebbles in their alley games." https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/16/travel/l-morocco-470689.h...
I disagree with Lancashireman's suggestion that the 'location' is unimportant. Gässchen often conjures up some kind of homely, intimate atmosphere. Without interest in creating a similar effect, the author would've had no incentive for this choice of wording.
Compare with this:
"On a recent trip to Morocco I noted that the children had nothing to play with and used pebbles in their alley games." https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/16/travel/l-morocco-470689.h...
Discussion
https://www.hna.de/lokales/rotenburg-bebra/neues-leben-alten...
And here is a nearly identical description of the statues but with the word 'Gägchen-Spiel' replaced by 'Fußballspiel' ("An der Alten Fuldabrücke sitzen "Die zwei Knaben". Nur mit Leder- oder Leinenhose bekleidet und der alten Mütze des Vaters auf dem Kopf, der "guten Schuhe" entledigt, erholen sich die beiden Knaben vom anstrengenden Fußballspiel und dem Bad in der Fulda.") http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMPH8H_Die_zwei_Knaben_Ro...
'116 Viertes Kapitel.
Erker und Fenster gehabt, so ist das doch mehr als bloge
Andeutung. Ferner ersehen wir aus Plautus, da§ die dar-
gestellten Häuser entweder unmittelbar aneinander stiegen
oder durch Gägchen (angiportus, oievconös) getrennt waren,
welche genügende Breite hatten, um Schauspielern zum Ab-
gehen oder zeitweiligem Beiseitetreten Raum zu gewähren.
Hätte es kein Dekorationsgerüst gegeben, so müßten in
der festen Hinterwand auger den drei üblichen Türen noch
Öffnungen vorhanden gewesen sein, die jene Gägchen zu
repräsentieren imstande waren. Von solchen ist aber nichts
bekannt. Wir dürfen daher annehmen, dag auf der hohen
Bühne ein Dekorationsgerüst ebenso aufgestellt wurde wie
auf der niedrigen, und dag erforderlichenfalls zwischen den
dargestellten Häusern für die engen Gägchen Lücken ge-
lassen wurden.'
https://archive.org/stream/dasattischebhn00ml/dasattischebhn...
'angiportum Gässchen'
https://de.pons.com/übersetzung/latein-deutsch/angiportus
The only online references to the word 'Gägchen' lead to your exact source text. It might be a local name for a game (football? jumping into the river?). Or 'gägchen' might even an adjective in local dialect so I would research into whether there is a word gägsch/gäggsch or similar (ein gäggsches Spiel).
If none of this leads anywhere I would just leave it out. There is an English translation of this very text online where the translator decided to keep the word and call it 'a traditional Gägchen game' but this adds nothing and only confuses the reader.
Nur mit Lederoder Leinenhose bekleidet
und der alten Mütze des
Vaters auf dem Kopf, der
»guten Schuhe« entledigt,
erholen sich die beiden
Knaben vom anstrengenden »Gägchen-Spiel«.