It is always interesting to find the original text of a translated
song, because then I can compare them. Of course I have respect to the
translator, who has tried diligently to get the best result of the translation.
I don’t want to criticize or judge the translation. Especially this is a song.
It is really not easy to translate a song. By doing translation you are
responsible to convey the message from the author to the readers, whose
language is different from the author’s language. Translation is the bridge
which connects an author to those readers. However, in translating a song you
have additional works like you should think of the melody and the rhyme.
Not only grammatical problems which need language skills to solve them
in translating there will be some other problems, because there are some
factors which influence. For example a translator needs to know things related
to the author in regard to understand her / him such as her or his background, the
political situation of the country where the author lives or has lived, the culture
, the social life, etc.. Therefore it is not correct if you translate a text
from a translation. In this case this song is in German, maybe the English
translation is available, and you want to translate the song into Indonesian
language, so you should translate it from German, not from the English
translation.
Here I want to expose the German Church song “Ich Habe nun den Grund
Gefunden”. This song is currently ringing in my ears. :-) I just want to find
the difference between the original text and the translation.
der meinen Anker ewig hält;
wo anders als in Jesu Wunden?
Da lag er vor der Zeit der Welt,
Da lag er vor der Zeit der Welt,
der Grund, der unbeweglich steht,
wenn Erd und Himmel untergeht.
I got the text from the ecclesiastical hymnbook
of state church of Württemberg “Evangelisches
Kirchengesangbuch” (Stuttgart: Verlag des Evangelischen Gesangbuchs, 1986). This
song is on number 269.
Behind the hymnbook of state church of Württemberg there was a very nice story. Hopefully I can make it to write about it. I said it again. :-)
Now, the translation, which is published in an ecclesiastical hymnbook
Kidung Jemaat (Jakarta: Yayasan Musik Gereja, 2002) is as follows:
tempat berpaut jangkarku.
Kekal, ya Bapa, Kau membuat
PutraMu Dasar yang teguh:
Kekal, ya Bapa, Kau membuat
PutraMu Dasar yang teguh:
biarpun dunia lenyap,
pegangan hidupku tetap!
It is important to realize that I don’t know which text the
translators have used as the source text. However the information in Kidung
Jemaat is same as the information in Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch: the
author is Johann Andreas Rothe and the composer is Johann Balthasar König.
There is short information about the author and the composer in
Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch. I quote it shorter here.
Johann Andreas Rothe: born 1688 in Lissa near Görlitz, passed away 1758 as
reverend* in Thommendorf near Bunzlau.
Johann Balthasar König: born 1691 in Waltershausen near
Gotha. Passed away 1758.
*Note: there is different usage of terms Pfarrer and Pastor in
Protestant and Catholic Churches in Germany. In South Germany the Protestant
Churches say Pfarrer and the Catholic Churches say Pastor for their reverends /
priests. In Nord Germany is inverse. The Protestant Churches say Pastor and the
Catholic Churches say Pfarrer.
As I lived with Family Diedrich 1996 in Herzberg, Mr Peter Diedrich
was surprised because I always said Pfarrer. The veterinary surgeon knew that I
am Protestant, but why I always said “Pfarrer”. Therefore he asked me again,
whether I were Catholic. :-)
I only knew one term “Pfarrer” since I met Pfarrer Dr. Martin
Schulz-Rauch who has helped me in finding the material for my final exam prior
my visit to Germany. He was the reverend in the Evangelische Gemeinde Deutscher
Sprache (Protestant
Parish of German Language) in Jakarta.
I didn’t expect that there is a different usage of both terms and
that the term “pastor” is also used in the Protestant Church, since in
Indonesian language, the term “pastor” is used by the Catholic Church. I
thought my friend Pastor Heiner Frank has informed me about this different term
usage. He was the reverend in St. Johannes Church in Salzhausen in
Niedersachsen (Nord Deutschland), where I also have lived. In my last visit 2006
in Germany Heiner was Pfarrer in Craheim Palace. :-) Not Pastor anymore. ;-)
Therefore I can assume, maybe Pfarrer Schulz-Rauch comes from South Germany.
:-)
You see, I got the lesson not from the campus, but from my experience in Germany.
You see, I got the lesson not from the campus, but from my experience in Germany.
Therefore I have translated the word “Pfarrer” into reverend instead
of priest for the
word Pfarrer from the information about Johann Andreas Rothe. Because this
hymnbook comes from Stuttgart (South Germany), I can assume that Mr Rothe
supposed to come from the Protestant Church.
Hm, I cannot imagine, how the meeting situation of the Protestant and
Catholic Churches due to this different usage is, if the meeting participants are
all Pfarrers and Pastors from the entire Germany. “Hello, Pastor Frank.”, “No,
I am Pfarrer Frank.” :-)
Exposition:
About The Text
Ich habe nun den Grund gefunden means “I have now found the ground”. Wow,
I am translating again. :-)
der meinen Anker ewig hält means “which keeps my anchor eternally”.
wo anders als in Jesu Wunden? means “elsewhere than in Jesus’ wounds?”.
Da lag er vor der Zeit der Welt, means “which was there before the
time of the world”.
der Grund, der unbeweglich steht, means “the ground, which stands motionless”.
wenn Erd und Himmel untergeht. means “if earth and heaven come to the end.”.
Now we check the translation. Will we get the same meaning like the “source
text” if the translation is translated back to German? Let us check:
T’lah kutemukan dasar kuat, means “I have found a strong ground”.
tempat berpaut jangkarku. means “for holding my anchor”.
Kekal, ya Bapa, Kau membuat means “Eternally, oh Father, you make”.
PutraMu Dasar yang teguh: means “your Son as the strong ground” .
biarpun dunia lenyap, means “although the world disappears”
pegangan hidupku tetap! means “the handle of my life
stays!”
The second sentence “der meinen Anker ewig hält” cannot be accommodated in
the translation. The translation takes the word “strong” as a description for
“der meinen Anker ewig hält". Only a strong ground can keep my anchor
eternally. Therefore: “I have found a strong ground” for the translation of the
first sentence “Ich
habe nun den Grund gefunden”.
The word “nun” in the first sentence “Ich habe nun den Grund gefunden”
also cannot be accommodated in the translation. I think the word “nun” is used because the author
want to express that he just realised that he just has found the ground.
The sentence “wo anders als in Jesu Wunden?” and the sentence “Da lag
er vor der Zeit der Welt” cannot be accommodated in the translation. The translation directly
mentioned Father, who is not mentioned in the source text. Since the ground is
in Jesus’ wounds, the translation only mentioned “your Son”. Jesus is the Son
of God (Father). The word “eternally” in the translation wants to describe “Da
lag er vor der Zeit der Welt”. Therefore the translation reads “Eternally, oh
Father, you make your Son as the strong ground”.
The sentence “der Grund, der unbeweglich steht” cannot be
accommodated in the translation. The word “Himmel” in the sentence “wenn Erd und Himmel untergeht”,
also cannot be accommodated in the translation. The translation can only mention World (dunia), which substitutes for Erde (earth). But this
is interesting, because this sentence is grammatically wrong. The subject is
"Erd und Himmel", also it is a plural form, therefore the conjugation of the verb
should be “untergehen”, not “untergeht”. But due to the rhyme “steht”, then the
conjugation for "Erd und Himmel" should be “untergeht”.
I assume that the translation “the handle of my life
stays!” is as the
interpretation for the strong ground which is in Jesus’ wounds, which stands
motionless if earth and heaven come to the end. This last sentence is not found in the source text, as well as the
words eternally, Father and your Son in the third and fourth sentences.
It is understood now, why it is not really correct if somebody will
translate a text using a translation as the source text, not using the text in
the original language.
About The Melody and Rhyme
This song consists of 9 verses, but the translation takes only 5
verses.
The melody of both original song and its translation is same.
The translation can have the same rhyme like the “source text”: a-b ,
a-b , a-a
“Source text”: gefunden – hält , Wunden – Welt , steht – untergeht.
Translation: kuat – ku , buat – guh , nyap – tap.
I find it great.
That’s all, what I have found in the “source text” and the Indonesian
translation. Interesting. However, if you want to translate this song into
Bahasa Batak or any other language, please use the German text as the source
text, not the Indonesian translation. :-)
Now, let me sing the song for you. :-) Please join me. :-) Please click the following links:
Back to text 52: Hi, I am Here
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