The Cares of a Family Man
theDie someeinen saysagen, thedas wordWort OdradekOdradek derivesstamme fromaus thedem SlavicSlawischen andund theysie seeksuchen onauf the basisGrund of thatdessen thedie formationBildung of thedes wordWortes to demonstratenachzuweisen. othersAndere againwieder holdmeinen, ites derivesstamme fromaus thedem GermanDeutschen, by thevom SlavicSlawischen issei ites onlynur influencedbeeinflußt. theDie uncertaintyUnsicherheit of bothbeider interpretationsDeutungen howeveraber letsläßt probablywohl withmit justiceRecht thereupondarauf concludeschließen, thatdaß neitherkeine is correctzutrifft, especially sincezumal oneman alsoauch withmit neitherkeiner ofvon themihnen aeinen meaningSinn of thedes wordWortes findfinden cankann.
Some say the word Odradek comes from the Slavic, and on that basis they try to demonstrate the word’s formation. Others again hold that it comes from the German and is merely influenced by the Slavic. The uncertainty of both interpretations, however, probably justifies the conclusion that neither is correct — especially as neither of them lets one find a meaning for the word.
of courseNatürlich wouldwürde himselfsich nobodyniemand withmit suchsolchen studiesStudien occupybeschäftigen, ifwenn therees notnicht reallywirklich aein creatureWesen existedgäbe, thatdas OdradekOdradek is calledheißt. itEs lookssieht at firstzunächst (looks)aus likewie aeine flatflache star-shapedsternartige thread spoolZwirnspule, andund indeedtatsächlich seemsscheint ites alsoauch withmit threadZwirn coveredbezogen; admittedlyallerdings mightdürften theyes onlynur torn-offabgerissene, oldalte togetheraneinander knottedgeknotete, butaber alsoauch into one anotherineinander tangledverfitzte thread piecesZwirnstücke ofvon the most variedverschiedenster kindArt andund colorFarbe besein. itEs isist howeveraber notnicht merelynur aeine spoolSpule, rathersondern out ofaus theder middleMitte of thedes starSternes comeskommt aein smallkleines crossbarQuerstäbchen forthhervor andund toan thisdieses little rodStäbchen joinsfügt itselfsich thendann at aim rightrechten angleWinkel yetnoch anothereines. withMit the helpHilfe of thisdieses latterletzteren little rodStäbchens onauf theder oneeinen sideSeite, andund oneeiner of theder pointsAusstrahlungen of thedes starSternes onauf theder otheranderen sideSeite, cankann thedas whole thingGanze as ifwie onauf twozwei legsBeinen uprightaufrecht standstehen.
Of course no one would occupy himself with such studies if there were not really a creature called Odradek. At first it looks like a flat, star-shaped spool of thread, and indeed it seems to be covered with thread — though these are probably only torn-off, old pieces of thread of the most varied kinds and colors, knotted together but also tangled into one another. But it is not merely a spool: from the middle of the star a small crossbar sticks out, and to this little rod another joins at a right angle. With the help of this latter rod on one side and one of the star’s points on the other, the whole thing can stand upright as if on two legs.
oneMan would bewäre temptedversucht tozu believeglauben, thisdieses structureGebilde hadhätte formerlyfrüher someirgendeine purposefulzweckmäßige formForm hadgehabt andund nowjetzt issei ites merelynur brokenzerbrochen. thisDies seemsscheint howeveraber notnicht theder caseFall tozu besein; at leastwenigstens is foundfindet itselfsich nokein signAnzeichen of itdafür; nowherenirgends aresind stubsAnsätze oroder broken placesBruchstellen tozu be seensehen, whichdie toauf somethingetwas of that sortderartiges pointhinweisen wouldwürden; thedas wholeGanze appearserscheint admittedlyzwar senselesssinnlos, butaber inin itsseiner wayArt completeabgeschlossen. anything furtherNäheres letsläßt itselfsich incidentallyübrigens notnicht about itdarüber be saidsagen, sinceda OdradekOdradek extraordinarilyaußerordentlich nimblebeweglich andund notnicht tozu catchfangen isist.
One would be tempted to believe that this structure once had some purposeful form and is now merely broken. But this does not seem to be the case; at least there is no sign of it; nowhere are stubs or broken places to be seen that would point to anything of the kind; the whole appears senseless, yet complete in its own way. Nothing further can be said about it, in any case, since Odradek is extraordinarily nimble and cannot be caught.
heEr stayshält himselfsich by turnsabwechselnd inauf thedem atticDachboden, in theim stairwellTreppenhaus, inauf theden corridorsGängen, in theim hallwayFlur (stays)auf. sometimesManchmal isist heer for monthsmonatelang notnicht tozu be seensehen; thenda hasist heer probablywohl intoin otherandere housesHäuser movedübersiedelt; yetdoch returnskehrt heer thendann inevitablyunweigerlich againwieder toin ourunser houseHaus backzurück. sometimesManchmal, whenwenn oneman out ofaus theder doorTür stepstritt andund heer leanslehnt just thengerade belowunten on theam banisterTreppengeländer, hashat oneman the urgeLust, himihn to addressanzusprechen. naturallyNatürlich putsstellt oneman toan himihn nokeine difficultschwierigen questionsFragen, butsondern treatsbehandelt himihn —– alreadyschon hisseine tininessWinzigkeit temptsverführt to itdazu —– likewie aein childKind. what„Wie are calledheißt youdu thendenn?“ asksfragt oneman himihn. Odradek„Odradek“, sayssagt heer. and„Und wherewo livewohnst youdu?“ no fixed„Unbestimmter abodeWohnsitz“, sayssagt heer andund laughslacht; ites isist howeveraber onlynur aein laughLachen, aswie oneman ites withoutohne lungsLungen producehervorbringen cankann. itEs soundsklingt roughlyetwa like thisso, likewie thedas rustlingRascheln inin fallengefallenen leavesBlättern. with thatDamit isist thedie conversationUnterhaltung usuallymeist at anzu endEnde. incidentallyUebrigens aresind evenselbst thesediese answersAntworten notnicht alwaysimmer tozu be haderhalten; oftenoft isist heer longlange silentstumm, likewie thedas woodHolz, whichdas heer tozu besein seemsscheint.
He stays by turns in the attic, the stairwell, the corridors, the hallway. Sometimes he is not to be seen for months; then he has probably moved into other houses; yet he inevitably returns to our house again. Sometimes, when you step out of the door and he happens to be leaning on the banister below, you feel like speaking to him. Naturally you put no difficult questions to him; you treat him — his very tininess tempts you to it — like a child. “What is your name, then?” you ask him. “Odradek,” he says. “And where do you live?” “No fixed abode,” he says and laughs; but it is only the kind of laugh that can be produced without lungs. It sounds roughly like the rustling in fallen leaves. With that the conversation is usually at an end. Even these answers, by the way, are not always to be had; often he is silent for a long time, like the wood he seems to be.
in vainVergeblich askfrage Iich myselfmich, whatwas withmit himihm happengeschehen willwird. canKann heer evendenn diesterben? everythingAlles, thatwas diesstirbt, hashat beforehandvorher aeine kind ofArt goalZiel, aeine kind ofArt activityTätigkeit hadgehabt andund on thatdaran hashat ites itselfsich worn downzerrieben; thatdas appliestrifft withbei OdradekOdradek notnicht (applies)zu. shouldSollte heer thenalso one dayeinstmals perhapsetwa stillnoch beforevor theden feetFüßen of mymeiner childrenKinder andund children’s childrenKindeskinder withmit trailingnachschleifendem threadZwirnsfaden thedie stairsTreppe tumble downhinunterkollern? heEr harmsschadet after allja evidentlyoffenbar no oneniemandem; butaber thedie ideaVorstellung, thatdaß heer memich evenauch yetnoch outliveüberleben shouldsollte, isist to memir aneine almostfast painful oneschmerzliche.
In vain I ask myself what will become of him. Can he even die? Everything that dies has had beforehand some kind of goal, some kind of activity, on which it has worn itself down; that does not apply to Odradek. Is he then one day still to tumble down the stairs before the feet of my children and my children’s children, trailing his thread behind him? He evidently harms no one; but the idea that he should outlive me besides is an almost painful one to me.
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