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| Dancing Teacher, Elephant, Crocodile… |
Simplicissimus-Bilderbogen, single-sheet comic strips, were regularly published by Albert Langen in his Simplicissimus before World War I. Most of these comic pages were drawn by Thomas Theodor Heine and Olaf Gulbransson. Heinrich Kley (1863-1945), pen-and-ink master, was a frequent contributor to the weekly papers Jugend (1897-1938, 231 times) and Simplicissimus (1908-44, 141 times.) Kley also drew at least one of the Simplicissimus-Bilderbogen. This two-page example was Number 5 and inserted in Volume 16, Number 51, May 18, 1912. Its title ‘Die Tanzschule,’ translates to The Dancing School. The text in rhyme was written by Karl Borromäus Heinrich (b.1884).
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| [2] back |
Ein Krokodilweib kokettierte
Mit einem Elefantentier,
Teilweise wohl aus Lust am Flirte —
Doch grösernteils aus Bildungsgier.
Mit einem Elefantentier,
Teilweise wohl aus Lust am Flirte —
Doch grösernteils aus Bildungsgier.
Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteHere's a poem by Else Lasker-Schüler with my translation - it has a Krokodilweib...
Komm mit mir in das Cinema
Komm mit mir in das Cinema
Dort findet man, was einmal war:
Die Liebe!
Liegt meine Hand in deiner Hand
Ganz übermannt im Dunkel,
Trompetet wo ein Elefant
Urplötzlich aus dem Dschungel –
Und schnappt nach uns aus heißem Sand
Auf seiner Filmenseide
Ein Krokodilweib, hirnverbrannt,
Dann – küssen wir uns beide.
Come with me to the picture-house
Come with me to the picture-house,
Where we can find what once was ours –
Yes: Love!
Your hand shall nestle in my hand,
By darkness overcome, when
Quite suddenly, an elephant
Trots out its jungle trombone,
Or when onscreen we apprehend
A croc’s brain-roasted Mrs
Snapping at us from burning sand –
Then we shall have our kisses!
please send any comments to: timothyades@aol.com
ReplyDeleteA crocodile, a female, went
ReplyDeletecoquetting with an elephant.
She liked the flirty element,
but mainly craved self-betterment.