SOPHIE'S WORLD
(Sofies verden), by Jostein Gaarder (JG), translated from Norwegian into American by Paulette Møller (PM)Guestbook | Guestmap | Discussion forum | Inspired by...
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| CH = chapter, P = page, L = line, C = comment, N = Norwegian, T = (alternative) translation, usually closer to the original text, TTR = Two-Tier Reality (metaphysical system bridging East and West) |
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CHAPTER 15: THE MIDDLE AGES (PP138-156) |
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| P138 L5: the immediate terror faded and was submerged T: initial terror had been lost L11: each other T: one another L12: fixing T: making/preparing L13: agreement T: arrangement L15: stirring the casserole T: soup L18: windowpane T: window L19: discovered T: spotted L19: window T: pane L20: It was a postcard T: Sophie went (over) to the window and saw that it was L24: removed the casserole from T: took the saucepan off | ||||||||
| P139 L3: hours T: a long time L8: stem from T: go back to L8: they all pray to the same God C: Pray stop killing L12: put ... down T: laid L13: this thing T: all this L13: But Hilde did presumably T: Perhaps Hilde did L17: fixing T: making L19: You could call that airmail! T: That was literally L22: She wished desperately that T: If only L24: last (T: few) weeks L40: Why? T: How's that? | ||||||||
| P140 L2: On all sides T: From every direction L11: We have to T: We must try to L14: I don't get it at all T: I don't understand a thing L15: Meet me ... at eight o'clock T: four o'clock C: Presumably PM does not like the idea of Sophie meeting a (very) strange man at four in the morning L18: So early in the morning? T: In the middle of the night? L21: (T: The sneak/rascal!) He had hung up! L22: C: Sentence on fish-balls omitted L26: in the middle of the night C: 8 a.m. is not the middle of the night, but 4 a.m. is L27: card from Lebanon T: in the closet L28: went over to Joanna's place T: went to see L34: Spit it out! T: Tell me! L35: I'm going to have to T: I have to L36: Great! T: That's fine! L39: bad T: not so good L39: guy T: boy/fellow L41: severely T: straight L42: at seven o'clock T: three | ||||||||
| P141 L1: You've got to cover T: You must be ready L2: What is it you have to do? T: What are you going L3: My lips are sealed T: I am under strict orders L4: Sleepovers were never a problem T: Staying the night was no L13: sleep at about two o'clock T: one o'clock L13: Sophie set the alarm clock to a quarter to seven T: for 3.15 L15: Five hours later T: Two hours L16: buzzer T: bell L17: Take care T: Be careful L20: slept for a few hours T: a couple of hours L20: wide awake T: Over the hills in the east hung a red band C: sentence omitted L21: It was almost eight o'clock T: four L22: unlocked T: open L27: one of the benches T: a pew L34: fix her eyes on (T: Jesus on) the Cross L42: Spiritui : T: spiriti | ||||||||
| P142 L2: Talk sense, silly! T: Speak Norwegian, you fool/clown! L3: Her voice resounded T: words echoed L9: to be seated C: Then passage (omitted by PM) explaining why Alberto wanted Sophie to be in the church at four o'clock: - What is the time, my child? - Five past four, Sophie answered, no longer nervous. - Then it is time. L10: The Middle Ages began at four T: Now begin the Middle Ages L16: it is still Sunday, (T: you understand), one long endless row of Sundays T: one long (holy) Sunday L21: interminable T: long L22: So the Middle Ages lasted for ten hours C: Bright kid, that Sophie L25: pretend T: imagine L29: by A.D. 313 it was an accepted religion T: in A.D. 313 it became a recognised religion L32: was T: became L34: fall T: disintegrate L37: barbarians T: tribes | ||||||||
| P143 L7: Istanbul is its latest name C: Added by PM C: Why did Constantinople get the works? L15: Sophie saw T: had long understood L19: epochs T: eras L20: The Dark Ages, as they were also called ... Renaissance C: PM confuses the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages T: It was felt that the Middle Ages was one long 'thousand-year-night' which had lain over Europe between Antiquity and the Renaissance. L23: overauthoritative T: authoritarian L26: The school system ... was developed in the Middle Ages C: And school systems remain medieval in concept L39: shining T: fat L41: T: Romeo and Juliet, Benedict and Arolilja, Olav Asteson or the trolls in the Heddal forest | ||||||||
| P144 L1: chivalrous T: brave L7: the Nordic countries T: Norway L8: at one fell swoop T: after the battle of Stiklestad L13: Yuletide cookies, Yuletide piglets, and Yuletide ale begin to resemble the Three Wise Men from the Orient and the manger in Bethlehem C: Resemble?! L17: philosophy T: view L18: a unifying force of Christian culture T: a Christian 'culture of unity' L19: It wasn't all (T: darkness and) gloom L20: the first centuries after the year 400 really were a (T: period of) cultural decline C: The Dark Ages L22: (T: public) libraries L24: (T: money) economy L26: nobles T: feudal lords L27: The population also declined steeply in the (T: those) first centuries C: In Rome, yes, but ... L32: what remained T: the remains/ruins L35: would rather have seen T: would have preferred L37: It's easy to know better after the fact T: to be wise after the event L38: From a political point of view T: In political terms | ||||||||
| P145 L1: Rome was thus the Christian capital throughout most of the medieval period. But as the kings and bishops of the new nation-states became more and more powerful, some of them were bold enough to stand up to the might of the church T: ... throughout almost the entire medieval period. And there were few who dared to 'speak against Rome'. But the kings ... gradually became so powerful that some of them were ... church. Sophie stared up at the learned monk L5: Does that mean that T: Were L8: known T: here and there L9: cultures T: cultural regions L9: Latinized T: Latin-speaking L11: This city began to be called by T: Later the city was given L12: We therefore T: So we L14: the Middle East C: the Near East, historically speaking L18: Shortly thereafter T: Soon L21: interesting to note T: worth noting L22: old T: ancient L23: All through T: Throughout L25: Arabic figures T: numerals L25: In a number of areas T: several fields L27: I wanted to know T: asked L41: antique culture T: ancient L42: survived the Dark Ages T: the long Middle Ages | ||||||||
| P146 L6: she felt as if she were dreaming T: it seemed like a dream L12: a middle-aged man C: a man of the Middle Age? L14: turned my life upside down T: intruded into my life L26: medieval philosophy centered on T: revolved around L28: She had been through this in her religion class T: She had answered all this about belief and knowledge in her religion class test L36: life (T: as bishop) in the town L42: extremely T: highly | ||||||||
| P147 L7: By this we mean T: meaning L10: However, his principal leanings were toward T: Above all, Augustine was influenced by L12: all existence is divine in nature C: If everything is 'divine', then the word 'divine' loses its value and, in effect, nothing is divine L15: largely T: strongly L17: the minute T: as soon as L19: age T: era L23: no real contradiction T: no sharp opposition L25: apparent T: striking L25: He thought Plato must have had (T: wondered whether Plato had not had) knowledge of (T: parts of) the Old Testament L26: highly improbable T: very doubtful L31: how far reason can get you T: can extend L33: perceive T: approach L42: the Greeks preferred the idea (T: were more inclined to believe) that the world had always existed C: Yes! Let's hear it for the Greeks! Did anyone mention 'progress'? | ||||||||
| P148 L6: indicates T: illustrates L7: bent over backward T: exerted themselves to the utmost L8: they were (T: citizens) of two cultures L16: insurmountable barrier T: unbridgeable gulf L18: the doctrine of Plotinus that everything (T: all) is one C: cf. TTR L19: nevertheless T: also L29: As far as that goes T: But on that point. L40: It is preordained (T: So yes - we are clay in God's hand) We are entirely at his mercy L42: Perhaps T: There may be something in that | ||||||||
| P149 L1: live in awareness of being T: in such a way that we can see in the course of our own life that we belong L5: chances T: possibilities L5: common sense T: (faculty of) reason L8: You are right in that St. Augustine's theology is considerably removed T: Yes, with St. A.'s theology we have moved some distance L9: But (he) wasn't dividing humanity into two groups T: it was not St. A. who divided L25: identical T: identified L31: observe T: note L35: He was more influenced by (T: Here he stands fast on) the linear view of history as we meet it (T: which we meet) in the Old Testament | ||||||||
| P150 L1: ten o'clock T: eight L9: The sun ... morning clouds T: Outside, there was still a thin layer of dew on the ground. The sun had risen long ago but had not yet broken through the morning mist. St. Mary's Church lay in the outskirts of the old town L11: what people would think T: would happen L12: ten T: eight L14: It is eight o'clock C: Right - not ten L15: now school starts T: begins the long school day L20: High Gothic period T: High Middle Ages L22: said T: broke in L23: only for T: only to house L24: built T: raised L26: significance T: interest L32: the nobles T: the princes there L37: attend to T: listen to L40: of this period T: of the High Middle Ages | ||||||||
| P151 L3: There was no great difference (T: No real distinction was made) between philosophy and theology L12: to Christian dogma C: Then two sentences omitted on 'taking the bull by the horns' L15: entering (T: going into) the philosophy of Aristotle and taking him at his word (T: Or 'by the horns', said Sophie) I'm sorry, but L21: Christendom T: Christianity L22: reason ourselves to T: attain with the help of reason L24: How come? T: How is that (possible)? L27: believed in the existence of T: that there were L34: surest T: surer L34: it is easy to lose one's way by trusting to reason alone C: Which is why so many philosophers have gone astray. But it is even easier to lose one's way by trusting to faith alone. Philosophical explorers seeking a safe path through the morass of the new millennium would do well to rely on unbiassed reason - plus a good TTR compass L38: So we can take our choice between believing Aristotle and believing the Bible? T: So it's the same if we follow A. or follow the Bible? L40: A. goes only part of the way C: to where? | ||||||||
| P152 L4: the whole truth C: ?! L9: Aquinas wanted to prove (T: show) that there is only one truth C: The truth is a diamond with many facets L12: aspect of the truth T: part L16: significant T: many important L16: There are many questions about which the Bible and reason tell us exactly the same thing C: Which goes to show that 'reason' is not always reliable L20: God - or a formal cause T: first cause L25: human reason is certainly not capable of disproving the existence of God C: True. But reason, unlike faith, can examine the meaning of the word 'God' and show that God exists - as Man's creation L29: everything (T: all) around us must have a formal (T: first) cause C: Every thing but not 'all' L33: of the moral aspect T: in the moral domain L36: a moral life T: the L39: the Bible's commandment T: bidding(s) L40: It's almost like we know there's a thunderstorm, by seeing the lightning and by hearing the thunder C: Proof that Thor exists? | ||||||||
| P153 L8: T: "Victoria", by Knut Hamsun L14: He seems to care about outsiders T: He has a rather romantic view of love L27: We can easily see that He loves flowers and animals (C: and flies and bacteria?), otherwise he would not have made them L31: You're good at finding examples T: That was a clever example L37: We don't know (T: for certain) whether there is a Hilde (at all). | ||||||||
| P154 L3: It's a quarter to eleven T: twelve o'clock L6: collide with T: go against L9: progressive (T: rising) scale L17: and T: with L18: Angels have no such body with sensory organs, which is why they have spontaneous and immediate intelligence C: Of course L23: everlasting T: eternal L26: lovely T: wonderful L28: vision T: view L33: creepy T: uncanny L37: us C: i.e. the major and Hilde L39: frown T: scowl L42: what Alberto meant (T: Perhaps it was just a way of speaking) He went on | ||||||||
| P155 L6: message T: words L9: discovered T: known about L12: force T: factor/element L13: nature-being T: physical being L14: In Heaven ... all physical gender differences cease to exist C: How does a male soul differ (if at all) from a female soul? L27: often more practical T: often the more down-to-earth L29: But what about Hilde? T: I asked if she had anything to do with Hilde L31: mother nature T: maternal nature L39: (T: She announces that) Sophia appeared to her in a vision | ||||||||
| P156 L4: past eleven o'clock T: nearly one L6: Hermes will come get you T: come and fetch L9: Sophie stayed where she was T: remained seated L10: Suddenly she (T: quivered all over) jumped up L16: he bowed his head and disappeared through (T: head under) the door of St. Mary's Church T: and disappeared L18: Sophie was not satisfied with his answer T: did not give up at that L19: Did he go T: Had he gone. | ||||||||