Kafka on the GateKeepers
Before the law sits a gatekeeper. To this gatekeeper comes a man from the country who asks to gain entry into the law. But the gatekeeper says that he cannot grant him entry at the moment. The man thinks about it and then asks if he will be allowed to come in sometime later on. “It is possible,” says the gatekeeper, “but not now.” The gate to the law stands open, as always, and the gatekeeper walks to the side, so the man bends over in order to see through the gate into the inside. When the gatekeeper notices that, he laughs and says: “If it tempts you so much, try going inside in spite of my prohibition. But take note. I am powerful. And I am only the lowliest gatekeeper. But from room to room stand gatekeepers, each more powerful than the last. I cannot endure even one glimpse of the third.” The man from the country has not expected such difficulties: the law should always be accessible for everyone, he thinks, but as he now looks more closely at the gatekeeper in his fur coat, at his large pointed nose and his long, thin, black Tartar’s beard, he decides that it would be better to wait until he gets permission to go inside. The gatekeeper gives him a stool and allows him to sit down at the side in front of the gate. There he sits for days and years. He makes many attempts to be let in, and he wears the gatekeeper out with his requests. The gatekeeper often interrogates him briefly, questioning him about his homeland and many other things, but they are indifferent questions, the kind great men put, and at the end he always tells him once more that he cannot let him inside yet. The man, who has equipped himself with many things for his journey, spends everything, no matter how valuable, to win over the gatekeeper. The latter takes it all but, as he does so, says, “I am taking this only so that you do not think you have failed to do anything.” During the many years the man observes the gatekeeper almost continuously. He forgets the other gatekeepers, and this first one seems to him the only obstacle for entry into the law. He curses the unlucky circumstance, in the first years thoughtlessly and out loud; later, as he grows old, he only mumbles to himself. He becomes childish and, since in the long years studying the gatekeeper he has also come to know the fleas in his fur collar, he even asks the fleas to help him persuade the gatekeeper. Finally his eyesight grows weak, and he does not know whether things are really darker around him or whether his eyes are merely deceiving him. But he recognizes now in the darkness an illumination which breaks inextinguishably out of the gateway to the law. Now he no longer has much time to live. Before his death he gathers up in his head all his experiences of the entire time into one question which he has not yet put to the gatekeeper. He waves to him, since he can no longer lift up his stiffening body. The gatekeeper has to bend way down to him, for the difference between them has changed considerably to the disadvantage of the man. “What do you want to know now?” asks the gatekeeper. “You are insatiable.” “Everyone strives after the law,” says the man, “so how is it that in these many years no one except me has requested entry?” The gatekeeper sees that the man is already dying and, in order to reach his diminishing sense of hearing, he shouts at him, “Here no one else can gain entry, since this entrance was assigned only to you. I’m going now to close it.” -- Kafka
On 03/30/2017 10:24 PM, grarpamp wrote:
Before the law sits a gatekeeper. To this gatekeeper comes a man from
<SNIP>
diminishing sense of hearing, he shouts at him, “Here no one else can gain entry, since this entrance was assigned only to you. I’m going now to close it.” -- Kafka
One of my favorites :) This too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d4AojZ4KeY
On Fri, 31 Mar 2017 00:24:50 -0400 grarpamp <grarpamp@gmail.com> wrote:
Before the law sits a gatekeeper.
I wonder what he meant by "law" - actually what's the original word in german?
To this gatekeeper comes a man from the country who asks to gain entry into the law. But the gatekeeper says that he cannot grant him entry at the moment. The man thinks about it and then asks if he will be allowed to come in sometime later on. “It is possible,” says the gatekeeper, “but not now.” The gate to the law stands open, as always, and the gatekeeper walks to the side, so the man bends over in order to see through the gate into the inside. When the gatekeeper notices that, he laughs and says: “If it tempts you so much, try going inside in spite of my prohibition. But take note. I am powerful. And I am only the lowliest gatekeeper. But from room to room stand gatekeepers, each more powerful than the last. I cannot endure even one glimpse of the third.” The man from the country has not expected such difficulties: the law should always be accessible for everyone, he thinks, but as he now looks more closely at the gatekeeper in his fur coat, at his large pointed nose and his long, thin, black Tartar’s beard, he decides that it would be better to wait until he gets permission to go inside. The gatekeeper gives him a stool and allows him to sit down at the side in front of the gate. There he sits for days and years. He makes many attempts to be let in, and he wears the gatekeeper out with his requests. The gatekeeper often interrogates him briefly, questioning him about his homeland and many other things, but they are indifferent questions, the kind great men put, and at the end he always tells him once more that he cannot let him inside yet. The man, who has equipped himself with many things for his journey, spends everything, no matter how valuable, to win over the gatekeeper. The latter takes it all but, as he does so, says, “I am taking this only so that you do not think you have failed to do anything.” During the many years the man observes the gatekeeper almost continuously. He forgets the other gatekeepers, and this first one seems to him the only obstacle for entry into the law. He curses the unlucky circumstance, in the first years thoughtlessly and out loud; later, as he grows old, he only mumbles to himself. He becomes childish and, since in the long years studying the gatekeeper he has also come to know the fleas in his fur collar, he even asks the fleas to help him persuade the gatekeeper. Finally his eyesight grows weak, and he does not know whether things are really darker around him or whether his eyes are merely deceiving him. But he recognizes now in the darkness an illumination which breaks inextinguishably out of the gateway to the law. Now he no longer has much time to live. Before his death he gathers up in his head all his experiences of the entire time into one question which he has not yet put to the gatekeeper. He waves to him, since he can no longer lift up his stiffening body. The gatekeeper has to bend way down to him, for the difference between them has changed considerably to the disadvantage of the man. “What do you want to know now?” asks the gatekeeper. “You are insatiable.” “Everyone strives after the law,” says the man, “so how is it that in these many years no one except me has requested entry?” The gatekeeper sees that the man is already dying and, in order to reach his diminishing sense of hearing, he shouts at him, “Here no one else can gain entry, since this entrance was assigned only to you. I’m going now to close it.” -- Kafka
On Fri, Mar 31, 2017 at 10:36 PM, juan <juan.g71@gmail.com> wrote:
On Fri, 31 Mar 2017 00:24:50 -0400 grarpamp <grarpamp@gmail.com> wrote:
Before the law sits a gatekeeper.
I wonder what he meant by "law" - actually what's the original word in german?
# http://www.cordula.ws/stories/kafkalawen.html This site has the versions of the same text in English, Deutsch, Français and Arabic. This is the German one, my dear. "Gesetz" means 'law' in Deutsch. :) # http://www.cordula.ws/stories/kafkalawde.html
On 03/31/2017 06:36 PM, juan wrote:
On Fri, 31 Mar 2017 00:24:50 -0400 grarpamp <grarpamp@gmail.com> wrote:
Before the law sits a gatekeeper.
I wonder what he meant by "law" - actually what's the original word in german?
Google translate shows multiple definitions all having legal implications: law Recht, Gesetz, Jura, Rechtsordnung, Rechtswissenschaft, Regel act Akt, Gesetz, Handlung, Tat, Urkunde, Aufzug bill Rechnung, Gesetz, Gesetzentwurf, Schein, Entwurf statute Satzung, Statut, Gesetz
To this gatekeeper comes a man from the country who asks to gain entry into the law. But the gatekeeper says that he cannot grant him entry at the moment. The man thinks about it and then asks if he will be allowed to come in sometime later on. “It is possible,” says the gatekeeper, “but not now.” The gate to the law stands open, as always, and the gatekeeper walks to the side, so the man bends over in order to see through the gate into the inside. When the gatekeeper notices that, he laughs and says: “If it tempts you so much, try going inside in spite of my prohibition. But take note. I am powerful. And I am only the lowliest gatekeeper. But from room to room stand gatekeepers, each more powerful than the last. I cannot endure even one glimpse of the third.” The man from the country has not expected such difficulties: the law should always be accessible for everyone, he thinks, but as he now looks more closely at the gatekeeper in his fur coat, at his large pointed nose and his long, thin, black Tartar’s beard, he decides that it would be better to wait until he gets permission to go inside. The gatekeeper gives him a stool and allows him to sit down at the side in front of the gate. There he sits for days and years. He makes many attempts to be let in, and he wears the gatekeeper out with his requests. The gatekeeper often interrogates him briefly, questioning him about his homeland and many other things, but they are indifferent questions, the kind great men put, and at the end he always tells him once more that he cannot let him inside yet. The man, who has equipped himself with many things for his journey, spends everything, no matter how valuable, to win over the gatekeeper. The latter takes it all but, as he does so, says, “I am taking this only so that you do not think you have failed to do anything.” During the many years the man observes the gatekeeper almost continuously. He forgets the other gatekeepers, and this first one seems to him the only obstacle for entry into the law. He curses the unlucky circumstance, in the first years thoughtlessly and out loud; later, as he grows old, he only mumbles to himself. He becomes childish and, since in the long years studying the gatekeeper he has also come to know the fleas in his fur collar, he even asks the fleas to help him persuade the gatekeeper. Finally his eyesight grows weak, and he does not know whether things are really darker around him or whether his eyes are merely deceiving him. But he recognizes now in the darkness an illumination which breaks inextinguishably out of the gateway to the law. Now he no longer has much time to live. Before his death he gathers up in his head all his experiences of the entire time into one question which he has not yet put to the gatekeeper. He waves to him, since he can no longer lift up his stiffening body. The gatekeeper has to bend way down to him, for the difference between them has changed considerably to the disadvantage of the man. “What do you want to know now?” asks the gatekeeper. “You are insatiable.” “Everyone strives after the law,” says the man, “so how is it that in these many years no one except me has requested entry?” The gatekeeper sees that the man is already dying and, in order to reach his diminishing sense of hearing, he shouts at him, “Here no one else can gain entry, since this entrance was assigned only to you. I’m going now to close it.” -- Kafka
On Fri, Mar 31, 2017 at 09:26:41PM -0700, Razer wrote:
On 03/31/2017 06:36 PM, juan wrote:
On Fri, 31 Mar 2017 00:24:50 -0400 grarpamp <grarpamp@gmail.com> wrote:
Before the law sits a gatekeeper.
I wonder what he meant by "law" - actually what's the original word in german?
Google translate shows multiple definitions all having legal implications:
Of which word? The question is - what's the original Kafka word, before it was translated into English - probably need a German speaker/ reader, to find Kafka's original word.
law Recht, Gesetz, Jura, Rechtsordnung, Rechtswissenschaft, Regel
act Akt, Gesetz, Handlung, Tat, Urkunde, Aufzug
bill Rechnung, Gesetz, Gesetzentwurf, Schein, Entwurf
statute Satzung, Statut, Gesetz
On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 15:54:04 +1100 Zenaan Harkness <zen@freedbms.net> wrote:
On Fri, Mar 31, 2017 at 09:26:41PM -0700, Razer wrote:
On 03/31/2017 06:36 PM, juan wrote:
On Fri, 31 Mar 2017 00:24:50 -0400 grarpamp <grarpamp@gmail.com> wrote:
Before the law sits a gatekeeper.
I wonder what he meant by "law" - actually what's the original word in german?
Google translate shows multiple definitions all having legal implications:
Of which word?
gesetz Cecilia kindly provided the original text here http://www.cordula.ws/stories/kafkalawde.html looks like one common meaning/translation as rayzer said would be act/bill, but I don't think that's the one Kafka intended. The text made me think of somebody wanting to enter "law school" or wanting to become a lawyer but I doubt that's what he meant either. I suppose the meaning could be cryptic, surreal or...kafkaesque after all.
The question is - what's the original Kafka word, before it was translated into English - probably need a German speaker/ reader, to find Kafka's original word.
law Recht, Gesetz, Jura, Rechtsordnung, Rechtswissenschaft, Regel
act Akt, Gesetz, Handlung, Tat, Urkunde, Aufzug
bill Rechnung, Gesetz, Gesetzentwurf, Schein, Entwurf
statute Satzung, Statut, Gesetz
On Sat, Apr 1, 2017, at 2:22 AM, ju@n wrote:
The text made me think of somebody wanting to enter "law school" or wanting to become a lawyer but I doubt that's what he meant either.
I suppose the meaning could be cryptic, surreal or...kafkaesque after all.
Hi, my dear. I think you will appreciate this reading and analysis of the Kafka's text in Spanish. It's interesting! :) http://www.academia.edu/3878533/Ante_La_Ley_On_Kafkas_Before_the_Law_in_the_... Even in Spanish, the translation kept the original sense of "Before The Law", adopting the delicate title "Ante La Ley."
On Sat, Apr 01, 2017 at 02:22:07AM -0300, Juan wrote:
On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 15:54:04 +1100 Zenaan Harkness <zen@freedbms.net> wrote:
On Fri, Mar 31, 2017 at 09:26:41PM -0700, Razer wrote:
On 03/31/2017 06:36 PM, juan wrote:
On Fri, 31 Mar 2017 00:24:50 -0400 grarpamp <grarpamp@gmail.com> wrote:
Before the law sits a gatekeeper.
I wonder what he meant by "law" - actually what's the original word in german?
Google translate shows multiple definitions all having legal implications:
Of which word?
gesetz
Cecilia kindly provided the original text here
http://www.cordula.ws/stories/kafkalawde.html
looks like one common meaning/translation as rayzer said would be act/bill, but I don't think that's the one Kafka intended.
The text made me think of somebody wanting to enter "law school" or wanting to become a lawyer but I doubt that's what he meant either.
I suppose the meaning could be cryptic, surreal or...kafkaesque after all.
I hear a prescient observation of externalisation of authority, so severely prevalent today. The Tim May interview you posted is right on topic in this regard - something like "plant your flag way out there, do NOT go and ask your local politician for lawfulness/ permission etc, plant your flag" - with Uber being an example cited. (Aka better to ask forgiveness than permission.) I hold that externalisation of authority by the majority of humans today, is the root cause of most of the ills the world faces. The internalisation of authority has been hijacked by the eternal carrot, the competition for "the most golden cage" ("gotta keep up with the Jones's"), where those who find a space of creativity and insight in spite of our schooling system, are materially rewarded beyond reason and elevated by the media, politicians etc, thereby perpetuating the cycle. To internalise ones authority, without falling on that ever present sword of ego, is the true challenge for individual humans it seems ... sad state of affairs seems to universally result, despite the ultimate higher purpose of these ever present tests for "man". Aiming for something higher than self might be a razor's edge pathway for some. Whether one beholds this as "pursuit of universalism", "God", "The Creator" or some other thought 'of realities beyond self, beyond present limited perceptions, beyond present reality' I don't think matters so much, mainly the forgoing of ego.
The question is - what's the original Kafka word, before it was translated into English - probably need a German speaker/ reader, to find Kafka's original word.
law Recht, Gesetz, Jura, Rechtsordnung, Rechtswissenschaft, Regel
act Akt, Gesetz, Handlung, Tat, Urkunde, Aufzug
bill Rechnung, Gesetz, Gesetzentwurf, Schein, Entwurf
statute Satzung, Statut, Gesetz
participants (6)
-
Cecilia Tanaka -
grarpamp -
juan -
Mirimir -
Razer -
Zenaan Harkness