Almanach auf das Jahr 1941: eine Auswahl der schönsten und bekanntesten Fabeln und Erzählungen, geistlichen Oden und Lieder von Christian Fürchtegott Gellert

Abstract

"Here is a curious little book. It brings together a mixture of Gellert's fables and narratives and then changes script to Gothic for a selection of his spiritual hymns and songs. Following that there is a life of Gellert. I enjoyed several of the early pieces. "Der Tanzbär" (12) translates a standard fable into a narrative. "Petz" is thrown out of the bear community because of his dancing skills learned from humans. "Be untalented and people will hate you less because then everyone is like you." "Der Greis" (18) lets other poets sing of their usual subjects, like lovers and great achievers. Gellert sings of the old man: "He was born. He lived. He took a wife and died." "Der Sterbende Vater" (26) has a clever and a stupid son. On his deathbed the old man gives his valuable jewels all to the clever son. "But how will my brother get on?" "He will certainly get on through his stupidity"! Illustrations include, in the early calendar section, lovely detailed designs of churches and other venues apparently close to Gellert. Among the fables and narratives are full-page presentations, e.g., of the dancing bear, the old man, and the dying father mentioned above. One of the curious features of this little book is a pair of handwritten inscriptions on 95: "Lt. (?) Pölten, im Januar 1942" and "Schülkaserne." Anybody in a "Kaserne" in January, 1942, needed some poetry!"