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 16: THE RENAISSANCE (PP157-179) |
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| P157 L1: It was just twelve T: 1.30 L4: You've been gone for five (T: over ten) hours L7: have you been? T: I had a rendezvous with a monk from the Middle Ages. Amusing chap! L10: at the drugstore (T: kiosk. 'What did she say then?') She said would you call her L11: But you should have seen (T: It was worse with) my mom and dad L16: mad T: angry L19: do T: manage L24: basement T: cellar L26: there instead of in bed T: on the edge of the bed L27: gasped T: shook | ||||||||
| P158 L1: more well-to-do T: bourgeois L1: Mr Ingebrigtsen, the financial adviser, and his wife C: Suggested 'bridge': 'Well', said Sophie sweetly, 'see you later, Mr Financial Adviser'. There was another gasp from Joanna. 'That girl badly needs a father's guiding hand', Mr I. mumbled to himself as he retreated into the house. (So that's got rid of him. Now the girls can talk.) L5: Are you going to tell me about it? T: me anything? L8: That's a rotten thing to say! T: You are nasty! L13: she might have second sight T: be clairvoyant L15: not enthusiastic T: not happy L17: cabin T: hut L19: Do you want to tell me T: Aren't you going to L21: She made Joanna swear (T: promise faithfully) to keep everything secret T: just between them L26: philosophy is ... about who we are and where we come from C: And other, more meaningful, questions L35: a sleepover T: an overnight visit/stay L37: white and exhausted face T: pale and tired L41: she studied ... face framed by that impossible (T: by the black) hair which defied any style but nature's own T: 'straight-hair-style' | ||||||||
| P159 L1: the other girl T: the unknown/strange girl L12: crawled into bed T: under the duvet L19: nor hear her T: 'You must be both deaf and blind', said Sophie. And the strange girl was really deaf to Sophie's words (Sentences omitted) L20: jumped up from where she was sitting T: from the edge of the dock L22: striding T: running L29: It was so real T: clear L32: Surely it resembled T: Didn't it resemble L35: a lot like T: a little like L36: As Sophie stood up T: When Sophie got out of bed | ||||||||
| P160 L1: mad T: angry L4: The next morning T: Sunday morning L4: breakfast T: brunch L7: fix (T: make) a solid meal for (T: before waking) Sophie L11: regretted it T: bit her lip L33: She prayed he would not T: As long as / If only he didn't L38: long way T: long walk through the streets | ||||||||
| P161 L2: back to her at once T: to her side L6: streetcars T: trolley-buses L13: Eventually T: Soon L15: whole town T: town itself L15: way back in T: during L18: Her heart began to beat faster T: There were butterflies in her stomach L20: hanging from T: stuck to L22: to the effect that T: saying that L24: not for two weeks T: more than two weeks away L31: is brought forth T: grows up L34: interminable T: long L35: the long schoolday(s) is/are over (T: and the young) Europe comes of age L38: It is wonderful to be alive C: Summary of old Swedish song in original text | ||||||||
| P162 L3: delightedly T: wildly L4: fourth stories T: fourth and fifth floors L4: only an (T: a narrow) attic staircase L12: deck of cards T: pack L14: 'What a (T: You) clown!' Sophie exclaimed, giving him ... go inside (T: pushing him aside as she entered) the apartment L19: Be calm T: Not so irritable L20: mail T: post L24: diversion T: amusement L33: big white rabbit C: ITRA - It's That Rabbit Again! L34: pulled out T: being pulled out. | ||||||||
| P163 L9: found in most bookstores T: one finds in a bookshop L15: and took everything in T: turning around until she had seen the room from every angle L17(cont): What a lot of old junk you've collected, she said C: Dear Sophie - always ready with a kind word L22: washed away by T: carried along with L27: we carry our history within us T: with us too | ||||||||
| P164 L12: pure T: mere L21: Shoot T: Go ahead L22: Not very long T: A few years L23: unifying T: monolithic L24: thus enabling (T: but this helped to give) religious life a freer relationship to reason(ing) C: Meaning? L28: man T: person L28: divine (T: Christian) mystery L32: the basis was created (T: ground was laid) for two powerful (T: important) upheavals L36: rich T: wide-ranging | ||||||||
| P165 L1: Dark Ages T: Middle Ages L2: through (T: in a) divine light L2: revolved around man T: centred on mankind L5: It almost became T: It became almost L6: to learn Greek T: and this opened the way for a new study of Greek culture L11: T: To be human beings, do we have to be educated? L24: An old-fashioned rifle T: old musket L28: absolutely T: more L31: the cradle days (T: infancy) of printing L32: that old T: so old L33: these three discoveries (T: inventions) - the compass, firearms (T: gunpowder) and the printing press (T: the art of printing) - were essential T: important | ||||||||
| P166 L1: printing was, not least, one of the factors ... sole disseminator (T: led to the loss of the Church's monopoly on the dissemination) of knowledge L3: began to follow T: followed L4: the telescope ... resulted in (T: established) a ... new basis for astronomy L6: space probes T: moon landing vehicles L10: changes on (T: in) the cultural and economic front T: fields L10: condition T: factor L12: cities T: towns L13: effective (T: flourishing) trades L13: commerce of new goods T: in the new products L17: people's (T: the individual's) diligence L17: ingenuity T: creativity L21: not altogether untrue T: There's something in what you say L24: break away T: free itself L28: three diverging streams T: three streams L30: That gives you some (T: That will have to suffice as) background on T: for L32: Okay T: Go ahead L32: and eat T: for dinner L36: striking (T: sharp) contrast L36: biased T: one-sided L38: valuable T: worthy L39: lineage T: family/generation C: ? | ||||||||
| P167 L7: characterized T: marked L8: idea could then lead T: led L9: genius T: talent L10: a man of universal genius embracing (T: man participating in) all aspects L13: dissect the dead T: corpses L14: It was imperative T: This was important L15: usual T: normal L16: Man was bold enough T: dared L18: It sounds intoxicating T: sounds like a sort of intoxication L20: outlook T: on life L21(cont): Man did not exist purely for God's sake C: Sentence omitted (T: God had created man also for man's sake) Man could therefore delight in (T: enjoy) life here and now L23: exceed (T: transcend) all boundaries L24: seen from T: in relation to L25: importance of T: need for L30: epoch T: era L32: development T: blossoming L36: hub of the universe T: navel of the world L37: by 1417 T: as late as 1417 L39: where Hilde lives C: Added by PM L40: cultural duty T: aim L42: And (T: for) St. Peter's Church can boast neither (T: there was no question of) moderation nor (T: or) restraint | ||||||||
| P168 L1: Many T: Several L12: approach T: attitude L15: in everything T: everywhere L16: insurmountable barrier T: unbridgeable gulf L18: God's blossoming T: outfolding L19: looked kindly on T: welcomed L20: Giordano Bruno ... believed that the universe was infinite in scope T: was boundless C: Right L33: humanism has always had a shadow side T: a dark background. | ||||||||
| P169 L1: only became apparent later on T: came only gradually L6: be it T: whether L9: valid T: dominant L16: Empirical science was known (T: practised) in antiquity (T: Aristotle, in particular, collected many important observations about nature) but L18: I guess T: suppose L21: it was now above all imperative (T: now emphasised how important it was) to express L33: break away T: break free L38: good T: positive L41: technical revolution T: breakthrough | ||||||||
| P170 L6: perilous maladjustment to T: dangerous departure from L7: something T: a process L8: cradle (T: infancy) of technology L10: teething troubles T: childhood sicknesses L13: Which do you think? T: What ... yourself? L16: succeed T: interfere successfully L23: that's for sure T: that's certain L26: nobody had doubted that the earth was the center of the universe C: The Earth is at the centre of the visible universe. The infinite universe as a whole has no centre L28: travel(l)ed in their orbits T: orbited L30: everything revolves around the earth C: Yes, from one viewpoint. Nothing revolves around anything except in the human mind, and we decide where we fix (temporarily) the 'centre’ L33: that simple T: so simple L34: On the Revolutions (T: movements) of the Celestial Spheres T: bodies L37: Copernicus claimed that it was not the sun that moved round the earth, it was vice versa C: TTR holds that both viewpoints are valid, using inclusive-OR logic L39: observations ... that existed T: available observations L42: observations of heavenly bodies were far easier to understand if one assumed that the earth and the other planets circle (C: revolve - in ellipses) around the sun C: easier for scientists to understand, but not for untutored lay people | ||||||||
| P171 L3: centres T: moves L6: (Copernicus) claimed that the sun was the center of the universe C: We can say, quite properly, that the solar system is at the centre of the visible universe L11: Don't they? T: Isn't that right? L17: Kepler ... showed that the planets move in elliptical ... orbits with the sun at one focus C: i.e. at one of the two foci of the ellipse L23: Kepler ... the same physical laws apply everywhere throughout the universe. 'How could he know that?' T: be so sure about that? C: Kepler did not know that and could not know it. As scientists often do, he extrapolated from limited observations - in this case, of planetary movements in the solar system - to postulate what has become a basic but not necessarily valid scientific assumption about the whole universe L27: ancient superstitions T: theories C: the theories of ancient astronomers like Ptolemy were not based on superstition but on many centuries of recorded observations of planetary movements L28: (T: The celebrated Italian scientist) Galileo L33: of Galileo was that he first formulated the so-called Law of Inertia T: he was the first to formulate a law of inertia L40: But this (law) was a significant observation C: Such a law is not an observation but a deduction based on observations L42: the earth would then (T: perhaps) move so quickly that a stone hurled (T: thrown) straight into the air (T: straight up) would fall yards (T: many metres) away | ||||||||
| P172 L6: because of the law of inertia C: Because of?! 'Natural laws' are, basically, summarised accounts of observed events, not commands to be obeyed by people and things L15: Then (T: But also) the force of gravity will ... bring it to a halt C: No. In such a case, friction is the only retarding force operating L19: a wooden board, a few millimetres (C: centimetres?) thick at one end and (T: very) thin at the other L34: that (T: so) stupid L35: to investigate things with all his senses T: everything with his own senses C: There is no record of Galileo smelling or tasting boards or marbles | ||||||||
| P173 L1: Because of gravity T: the force of gravity C: Illustrating cultural bias in science: a culture based on the use of force thinks of the natural world as also 'governed by forces'. L7: carefully (T: closely) how it moves C: Two sentences then omitted: Alberto tries to roll the marble across the inclined plane L8: Sophie watched as T: saw that L12: brush (T: colour) the marble L14: dug out T: found L16: left (T: drawn) a black line L20: Precisely T: You've got it! L22: quite T: exactly L22: This figure (T: curve) is called a parabola C: A parabola is not a figure L24: why did (T: does) the marble travel T: move L25: deeply T: carefully L31: two forces worked simultaneously on the same object C: In both cases, after Alberto releases the marble, the only force operating on it (apart from friction and air resistance) is gravity L36: corresponding T: similar L42: Does all this really matter? C: Few girls are interested in cannonballs | ||||||||
| P174 L1: You bet T: Of course L5: Newton ... provided the final description of the solar system and the planetary orbits C: Then along came Einstein. In science, there are no 'final' descriptions L10: Galileo's (T: Galilean) dynamics L15: each other T: one another L16: fast (T: firmly) in their orbits L19: Kepler ... the tides ... must be the result of a lunar force C: And, to a lesser degree, a solar force L22: Galileo ... mocked Kepler ... the idea that the moon rules the water C: Blinkered male outlook? Anyway, as every true Briton knows, it's Britannia L28: funny T: rather strange L29: preoccupied with T: interested in L30: (Galileo) had even indicated (T: also shown) how increased force (T: various forces) can control (T: affect) the movement of a body L34: This law states that every object attracts every other object with a force that increases in proportion to the size (T: combined mass) of the objects and decreases in proportion to the (T: square of the) distance between the objects C: The Norwegian text is imprecise but more or less correct; the translated version is more precise but incorrect. Newton's Law of Gravitation states that "every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force which is directly proportional to the product of the masses of the particles and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them" (Dictionary of Science) L38: there is greater attraction between two elephants than there is between two mice C: So size does matter! And there is, apparently, negative attraction between elephants and mice | ||||||||
| P175 L1: central (T: most important) point L2: Newton proved (T: pointed out) that ... gravitation is universal C: He showed that his Law of Gravitation applied to the solar system and postulated that its application was universally valid L3: is operative T: applies L14: In the case of T: As regards L23: Are there two different forces working on the moon? Exactly C: No L24: when the solar system began, the moon was hurled outward from the earth with tremendous force C: Maybe. Perhaps the Moon was captured by the Earth L26(cont): This force will remain in effect (T: The moon will retain this force) forever because it (C: What? The moon? The force?) moves in a vacuum without resistance C: What 'will remain in effect' or what 'the moon will retain' is not (a) force but momentum. Alberto may make a good medieval monk but he is no scientist L30: Both forces are constant C: The reference here is to momentum (not a force) and gravitational force. Both vary (but stay in balance), because the Moon orbits the Earth elliptically and thus the distance between them varies L32: Is it really as simple as that? C: No L34: (Newton) demonstrated that a few natural (T: physical) laws apply to the whole universe C: An immense overstatement L38: until T: unless L39: by a force T: external force L40: When two forces work on a body simultaneously, the body will move on an elliptical path C: No. Check up on the Parallelogram of Forces, Alberto | ||||||||
| P176 L4: two unequal (T: different) movements L5: they had T: were given L8: Newton demonstrated (T: showed) that the same laws of moving bodies (T: laws concerning the movement of bodies) apply everywhere in the entire universe C: No. The solar system is not the universe. L9(cont): He thus did away with (T: swept away) the medieval belief (T: idea) L11: The heliocentric world-view had found its final confirmation and its final explanation C: No - and that's final! L16: slanting T: sloping L18: earth's (T: terrestrial) globe L19: random T: fortuitous L20: burden T: strain L22: proved T: showed L23: in creation C: a controversial concept; 'in the world' is more objective L24: massive T: strong L25: Because where was God in all this new stuff? T: For what became of God in all this? L28: Newton had proved T: indicated/asserted/claimed C: But not 'proved' L30: undermined T: shook L32: proof T: evidence L36: a random (T: fortuitous) planet in the vast galaxy T: universe L36: I am not sure we have wholly accepted it T: we are wholly accustomed to it L38: single one of us T: single person | ||||||||
| P177 L1: it came to be thought that there were just as many centers as there were people. Each person could be the center of a universe C: Preceding sentence added by PM C: A central principle of TTR: everyone is the centre of his/her own (subjectively real) world L4: the Renaissance resulted in a new religiosity T: also led to a new attitude to God L6: new view T: new individualistic view L8: was now T: now became L14: during the Renaissance T: from the R. on L16: central to T: important for L22: Luther broke with the Catholic Church because he wouldn't buy indulgences T: he disapproved of the sale of indulgences L26: Neither T: Much less L33: dogmas that had become rooted in ecclesiastical history during T: that had developed during L34: return to early (T: the original) Christianity L36: wished T: sought L39: every man T: everyone | ||||||||
| P178 L1: preferential (T: special) position L2: employed T: appointed L17: Luther had proclaimed T: L. stressed L18: depraved T: ruined L19: "justified" T: brought to justice C: ? L21: very gloomy T: rather sad L29: serious T: bad L31: You'll notice T: You see L39: to eat T: for dinner | ||||||||
| P179 L2: several T: many L2: garments that could have been T: which looked like L5: Thank you for my lesson T: Thank you for today C: Polite Scandinavian cliché on parting L6(cont): She gave Alberto an impulsive hug T: giving A. a hug L10: (Sophie was left) with those words, T: Sophie was left to herself L11: had a strong desire to turn around and hammer on the door T: felt like beating (on) the door L14: On reaching T: Out on L18: yards T: metres L19: sidewalk T: pavement L25: wonder why she had been lucky enough T: reflect on how lucky she had been L30: slip T: slip of the tongue L31: Sophie shivered. She felt T: Sophie felt. | ||||||||