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über die Zeit retten
Die Zeit im Griff - im Griff der Zeit
Dec 15, 2009 19:04
14 yrs ago
3 viewers *
Deutsch term

Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg unter die Füße

Deutsch > Englisch Kunst/Literatur Personalwesen
This is a quotation from Martin Walser (from an essay entitled "Mut"), used here as a heading in a presentation on time management.

I haven't got any further than "The road advances beneath the traveller's feet" (or possibly "thrusts itself ..."), but I'm not happy with that. Any suggestions?
Proposed translations (Englisch)
3 +5 Take the first step and the pathway will open up before/for you
4 +4 Where there is a will, there is a way!
4 +1 May the road rise up to meet you
3 +1 Move, and you shall advance
4 The world never stands still
3 The road rises up to meet those who dare
3 walk with confidence (and) the road you walk on will carry you forward
3 The first step is always the hardest
3 To walk through a door, you have to open it first.
2 The Lord helps those who help themselves
References
Das komplette Zitat:
Change log

Dec 15, 2009 19:10: Sabine Akabayov, PhD changed "Language pair" from "Englisch" to "Deutsch > Englisch"

Dec 16, 2009 05:00: Holly Hart changed "Term asked" from "Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg under die Füße" to "Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg unter die Füße"

Discussion

British Diana Dec 17, 2009:
a great discussion It was worth anything to be involved in this great discussion. Thanks to everyone !
Annett Kottek (X) Dec 16, 2009:
Found this online: 'Don't fret the step, the road will meet you half way.' Its not elegant but it seems to me that this is what Walser ‘s trying to say. I don’t think that ‘first step’ is appropriate (sorry, Diana) because a ‘Gehender’ is already walking, as Arno points out.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&frie...
Annett Kottek (X) Dec 15, 2009:
@ Arno Yes, I see what you mean. I read the quotation within the context given by Johanna below, where the sentence follows on from two cautionary remarks: 'Es gibt nicht nur die Gefahr, daß du zuviel riskierst, es gibt auch die Gefahr, daß du zu wenig riskierst.' The latter one is especially interesting because that together with 'Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg unter die Füße' to me it suggests that as the road moves anyway, one had better better take it [boldly]. Or, to turn it around, by being too timid (i.e. zu wenig riskieren) one risks being taken away. Like philgoddard's suggestion 'the world does not stand still'. That was my thinking.
Johanna Timm, PhD Dec 15, 2009:
@British Diana that's a step in the right direction :-)) ... I'd steer away from the road metaphor and try to find sth w. feet or step or courage
British Diana Dec 15, 2009:
the first step is always the hardest Perhaps it's just this which is at the bottom of it all? If anyone agrees, please feel free to post it as an answer, I've already had my go.
ArnoTranslat (X) Dec 15, 2009:
@ Annett I think the phrase does say that you have to walk for the road to "take you" (in a positive way). One could apply this thought and say "Dem Stehenden entzieht sich der Teppich unter den Füßen" :)
Annett Kottek (X) Dec 15, 2009:
It sounds a bit like your other heading on time management ('Die Zeit im Griff - im Griff der Zeit'), i.e. I read it along the lines of: 'If you don't take the road, the road will take you'.
Tom Feise Dec 15, 2009:
May the road rise to meet your feet oder so ähnlich, ist das nicht ein altes keltisch-irisches Glückwunschdingsbums? So à la Möge dir der Wind nie ins Gesicht blasen, und so weiter, jedenfalls hat Martin Walser das da her

Proposed translations

+5
3 Stunden
Deutsch term (edited): Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg under die Füße
Selected

Take the first step and the pathway will open up before/for you

I wonder if it means that the pathway cannot be known beforehand, but if you risk the first step it will unfold.

Take the first step and the pathway will unfold before you.

I realise 'before' is slightly archaic here, though perhaps it would fit the tenor of the text. Otherwise 'for' might work instead or more clunkily 'in front of you'.
Or 'take the first step and the pathway will take shape beneath your feet' which is closer to the GER, though this would be my least favourite solution.

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Note added at 1 day14 hrs (2009-12-17 09:45:31 GMT) Post-grading
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Thanks, Armorel
Peer comment(s):
agree Johanna Timm, PhD : nice!
58 Min.
Thanks, Johanna
agree Cilian O'Tuama : everything becomes easier once you've started/taken first step... (though I don't see any "unknown" element). An optimistic version of "aller Anfang ist schwer"
2 Stunden
Thanks, Cilian
agree Paul Cohen : A step in the right direction!
6 Stunden
Thanks, Paul!
agree Rolf Keiser : a good suggestion in adhereing to the source text
10 Stunden
Thanks. Goldcoaster
agree SusanneM : I like it.
1 Tag 48 Min.
Thanks, Susanne
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Very many thanks for a lot of creative answers - it's impossible to know who to award points to. In order to class my version as a translation, I wanted to keep the idea of "gehen" and of "Weg". I was aware from the outset of "May the road rise to meet you" but to me this conveys an image of toiling uphill! "Schiebt sich unter die Füße" was an unusual image and worth not losing sight of - it is like the way the road disappears under the front of your car as you drive. So while I initially tried "Walk, and the way unfolds before you" (a version of Helen's suggestion, hence points to her), I eventually moved to "Walk, and the road comes to meet you". Once again, thanks to all."
13 Min.
Deutsch term (edited): Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg under die Füße

The road rises up to meet those who dare

Adapted from the famous Irish blessing
Peer comment(s):
neutral Lancashireman : I believe the original Irish saying was: "If the road rises up to meet you, you’re fallin’ down drunk."
17 Min.
Something went wrong...
+4
31 Min.
Deutsch term (edited): Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg under die Füße

Where there is a will, there is a way!

Used when supposed to encourage people!
Peer comment(s):
agree BrigitteHilgner : I like this idea.
1 Stunde
Thanks!
neutral ArnoTranslat (X) : where there's a will, I want to be in it! ;)
1 Stunde
If you try hard enough, maybe you'll get into it!:)
agree Audrey Foster (X) : That's how I read it too.
8 Stunden
:)
agree franglish
12 Stunden
Tnx!
agree Julia Lipeles
17 Stunden
Thanks!
Something went wrong...
+1
49 Min.
Deutsch term (edited): Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg under die Füße

Move, and you shall advance

I don't think we must say "walk" to convey the idea.
Peer comment(s):
agree Nicole Schnell : Nice! Especially in this marketing context.
10 Stunden
Thank you, Nicole!
Something went wrong...
37 Min.
Deutsch term (edited): Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg under die Füße

The Lord helps those who help themselves

perhaps a tad too preachy...

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Note added at 45 mins (2009-12-15 19:50:07 GMT)
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only the courageous take the road less travelled

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Note added at 59 mins (2009-12-15 20:03:24 GMT)
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it's not about where you're going, but how you get there
Peer comment(s):
neutral Lancashireman : Very preachy, Jonathan. And wasn’t it you who proposed ‘Happy Holiday’ as a translation for ‘Frohe Weihnachten’ twelve months ago?
1 Stunde
Something went wrong...
1 Stunde
Deutsch term (edited): Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg under die Füße

The world never stands still

It means never give up or stand still, because the road is always rotating beneath your feet. Here is the original quotation:

http://www.stuetzpunkt-psycho.de/PDF_ Downloads/Der_n�chste_Sc...

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-12-15 20:05:48 GMT)
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I meant the world, not the road, is rotating.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Lancashireman : If the world really is rotating beneath my feet, I'd be better off at the North Pole.
13 Min.
I think it's a metaphor!
neutral Edith Kelly : with Andrew
10 Stunden
Something went wrong...
+1
1 Stunde
Deutsch term (edited): Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg under die Füße

May the road rise up to meet you

As Tom so rightly says, we need look no farther than the old Irish blessing - and Andrew, it is not just or even primarily a joke!

So why not just use one of the many translations into English which might even be familiar to the readers. I mean, I don't think the text has really much to do with Martin W., possibly a bit to do with courage and a lot to do with getting on with things (=time management) :

An Old Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Lancashireman : Might work for "Dem Gehenden schiebE (subjunctive) sich der Weg unter die Füße."
17 Min.
Yes I know, but if I remove the subjunctive the quotation is no longer recognisable...
agree Cilian O'Tuama : I thought of "first step is the hardest" too, it is the bottom line, but maybe too negative in this context. (There's nothing preventing you from adding it to this suggestion, BTW. You can have more than one go.)
3 Stunden
Thanks, Cilian, I will !
neutral Edith Kelly : This is a completely different context and understood in a different way by the Irish (you call yourself BRITISH Diana). I hope you do not take offence that I commented in this way, no offence meant.
9 Stunden
Yes, well I'm afraid I'm merely English, so perhaps I understand it differently. None taken!
Something went wrong...
6 Stunden
Deutsch term (edited): Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg under die Füße

walk with confidence (and) the road you walk on will carry you forward

confidence will help take the next step(s)

or:
the confidence to walk your (own) path is met/will be supported by the road that carries you (forward)
Something went wrong...
11 Stunden

The first step is always the hardest

I gather that it is permissable to enter more than one suggestion provided that one does not make a habit of it, and as this is quite different from my "Irish blessing", I think it ought to be judged on its own merits and not entered as an afterthought to my other one.

What speaks for this?

a) It is an expression that already exists in English.
b) It fits in with Walser's idea of courage.
c) It fits in with one of the classsical tenets of time management, avoidance of procrastination etc., viz "get started , however little you achieve initially."
Something went wrong...
13 Stunden

To walk through a door, you have to open it first.

after having read so many (good) answers, this popped up...
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

1 Stunde
Reference:

Das komplette Zitat:

„Eine andere Sache ist, daß er gefährlich werden
kann. Nicht sehr gefährlich. Aber ein bißchen gefährlich
kann auch der fällige nächste Schritt werden. Aber
wenn du ihn tust, wirst du dadurch, daß du erlebst, wie
du ihn dir zugetraut hast, auch Mut gewinnen. Während
du ihn tust, brichst du nicht zusammen, sonder
fühlst dich gestärkt. Gerade das Erlebnis, daß du einen
Schritt tust, den du dir nicht getraut hast, gibt dir ein
Gefühl von Stärke. Es gibt nicht nur die Gefahr, daß
du zuviel riskierst, es gibt auch die Gefahr, daß du zu
wenig riskierst. Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg
unter die Füße.“



http://www.die-beziehungswerkstatt.net/download/files/Die-Be...

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-12-15 20:22:24 GMT)
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Über den Weg und den Mut I
„.... Mut gibt es gar nicht. Sobald man überlegt, wo
man ist, ist man schon an einem bestimmten Punkt.
Man muß nur den nächsten Schritt tun. Mehr als den
nächsten Schritt kann man überhaupt nicht tun. Wer
behauptet, er wisse den übernächsten Schritt, lügt. So
einem ist auf jedem Fall mit Vorsicht zu begegnen. Aber
wer den nächsten Schritt nicht tut, obwohl er sieht, daß
er ihn tun könnte, tun müßte, der ist feig. Der nächste
Schritt ist nämlich immer fällig. Der nächste Schritt ist
nämlich nie ein großes Problem. Man weiß ihn genau."
Something went wrong...
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