Mark Twain und die sechszehn Schreiber | 02 Feb. 1907
Indiana tribüne. (Indianapolis, Ind.), 02 Feb. 1907. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045241/1907-02-02/ed-1/seq-6/>
This article features translated passages from Mark Twain's Chapters from my Autobiography which was first published in the North American Review. The English translation below is partly based on the original text. On February 16, 1907, an almost identical version of this item appeared in a newspaper published in the small town of Eibenstock in the western Ore Mountains, located approximately 80 miles southwest of Dresden.
Key to annotations on German translations of Mark Twain's original texts
| Transcription | English Translation / Original Text |
|---|---|
| Mark Twain und die sechszehn Schreiber | Mark Twain and the sixteen clerks |
| Der bekannte Humorist erzählt in der „North American Review“ folgende hübsche Geschichte: Ich wollte den Gouverneur von Buffalo besuchen, der grade unterwegs zum Amt war. In dem großen Raum, wo ich ihn erwartete, waren etwa sechzehn Thüren. Aus jeder trat plötzlich ein junger Mann heraus, alle sechzehn bewegten sich vorwärts und pflanzten sich in stummer Erwartung vor dem eben eintretenden Gouverneur auf. Niemand sprach ein Wort. Dann sagte der Gouverneur: „Sie können gehen, meine Herren, ich habe Sie nicht nöthig. Herr Clemens (dies ist bekanntlich der bürgerliche Name Mark Twains) sitzt auf den Klingeln.“ Da war nämlich an der Tischdecke ein Kreis von sechzehn Knöpfen eines elektrischen Läutewerks, und der Umfang des in Betracht kommenden Körpertheils war mir grade hinreichend, daß er mir ermöglichte, den ganzen Kreis zu bedecken. So war es mir gelungen, sechzehn Schreiber auf einmal - auszubrüten. | {In the “North American Review”, the noted humorist tells the following pretty story: I was going to see the governor of Buffalo, who was just on his way to the office. In the large room where I expected him,} there appeared to be about sixteen doors to that spacious room. From each door a young man now emerged, and the sixteen lined up and moved forward and stood in front of the Governor with an aspect of respectful expectancy in their attitude. No one spoke for a moment. Then the Governor said: “You are dismissed, gentlemen. Your services are not required. Mr. Clemens {(this is known to be Mark Twain's real name)} is sitting on the bells.” There was a cluster of sixteen bell buttons on the corner of the table; my proportions at that end of me were just right to enable me to cover the whole of that nest [translated as “circle”], and that is how I came to hatch out those sixteen clerks. |