ATLAS.ti (4.1; 1998)

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Einführende Bemerkungen

Die Software ATLAS.ti von Thomas Muhr (Scientific Software Development) ist ein Computerprogramm, das zur Aufbereitung und Auswertung qualitativer Daten dient ("ATLAS.ti is a powerful workbench for the qualitative analysis of large bodies of textual, graphical and audio data").

Insgesamt enthält diese Liste 78 Nummern, doch werden noch 12 weitere genannt, also insgesamt 90. Es ist nicht ersichtlich, auf welche Vorarbeiten sich der Autor dieser Software bezieht. Er schreibt ausschließlich auf englisch und fügt den meisten Sprichwörtern erklärende Erläuterungen hinzu. Die Numerierung entspricht weitestgehend den Nummern bei Rainald Grosshans (1979), und die Inhalte weitgehend einer (nicht immer gelungenen) wörtlichen Übersetzung der Interpretationen von Grosshans.

Die Nummern, die mit einem "a" oder "b" versehen sind, wurden von den Autoren so bezeichnet. Sie verweisen meist auf die mehrfache Interpretation einer Szene, d.h. es wird angenommen, Bruegel habe hier mehrere Sprichwörter oder sprichwörtliche Redensarten in einer Darstellung ausgedrückt. Die in Klammern hinzugefügten "(a)" oder "(b)" stammen von mir. In den Fällen, daß unter einer Nummer mehrere Deutungen zu finden sind, dienen sie der eindeutigen Kennzeichnung. Sie verweisen meist auf verschiedene Interpretationen derselben Szene, d.h. es ist unsicher, welchen Ausdruck Bruegel darstellte.

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Literaturnachweis

ATLAS.ti (4.1, 1998): URL: http://www.atlasti.de.

Dem Programm (zumindest in der Version 4.1) ist u.a. eine Beispieldatei beigefügt, die das Bild Bruegels enthält und, an Ort und Stelle anklickbar, die zu den entsprechenden Bildausschnitten gehörigen Sprichwörter (Imagemap).

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1. (58:78) There the roof is tiled with tarts.

A land of plenty; a fool's paradise; "Land of Cockaigne".

2. (64:83) To marry over the broomstick.

To go through a quasi-marriage ceremony; to live in sin under one roof is convenient but shameful.

3. (34:53) To stick out the broom.

The masters are not at home; "When the cat's away, the mice will play".

4. (120:136) He looks through his fingers.

He can afford to be indulgent because he is sure of his profit.

5. (142:156) There hangs the knife.

A challenge.

6. (100:121) There stand the wooden shoes.

To wait in vain.

7. (157:179) They lead each other by the nose.

They are tricking each other.

8. (183:213) The die is cast.

It is decided.

9. (157:191) Fools get the best cards.

10. (229:262) It depends on the fall of the cards.

11. (188:217) He shits on the world.

He despises the world.

12. (216:269) The world upside down.

The opposite of the way things should be; "It's a topsy-turvy world".

13. (196:235) To pull something through the eye.

The hole in the handle of a pair of scissors (to make a dishonest profit); or: an eye for an eye. (Scisssors are very hard to see in this picture).

14. (247:271) Leave at least one egg in the nest.

To keep a "nest egg", "Save something for a rainy day".

15. (173:210) He has toothache behind his ears.

Possibly to fool others by malingering.

16a. (223:239) He is pissing against the moon.

To try to do the impossible; "To bark against the moon" or "To piss against the wind".

16b. He has pissed against the moon.

His enterprise has failed.

17. (143:175) There is a hole in his roof.

18. (137:168) An old roof needs a lot of patching up.

19. (181:228) The roof has laths.

There are eavesdroppers.

20. (237:263) There hangs the pot.

In the topsy-turvy world the chamber pot instead of the jug serves as an inn sign.

21. (193:231) To shave the fool without lather.

To make a fool of someone; "To take someone for a ride".

22. (184:217) It is growing out of the window.

It cannot be kept secret; "Truth will out".

23. (170:191) Two fools under one hood.

"Folly loves company".

24a. (94:136) To shoot a second bolt to find the first.

Foolish, misdirected perseverance.

24b. To shoot all one's bolts.

To use all one's ammunition at once is unwise because there is none left when really needed.

25. (469:551) She can even tie the Devil to a pillow.

Spiteful obstinacy overpowers even the Devil himself.

26. (402:465) He is a pillar-biter.

A religious hypocrite.

27. (388:461) She carries fire in one hand and water in the other.

She is two-faced and deceitful.

28a. (321:388) To fry the whole herring for the sake of the roe.

"To throw a sprat to catch a herring", that is, to sacrifice a trifle to gain something substantial.

28b. His herring does not fry here.

Things are not going according to plan.

28c. To get the lid on the head.

To have to make pay tot the damages; "To be left holding the bag".

29a. (265:311) He has more in him than an empty herring.

Many things often have a deeper significance than superficial observation would suggest; "There is more to it than meets the eye".

29b. The herring hangs by its own gills.

Everyone must bear the consequences of his own mistakes.

30. (323:370) To sit between two stools in the ashes.

To miss an opportunity; to fail due to indecisiveness; "To fall between two stools".

31. (275:323) What can smoke do to iron?

It is useless to try to change the existing order.

32. (300:347) The spindle falls into the ashes.

The business at hand has failed.

33(a). (286:325) To find the dog in the pot.

33(b). When one lets in the dog, it will get into the larder (pot).

To have one's trouble tot nothing; to come too late to prevent loss or damage.

34. (388:439) Here the sow pulls out the bung.

Poor management; negligence will be punished.

35. (417:443) He runs his head against a stone wall.

To pursue the impossible recklessly and impetuously.

36. (441:479) To be driven into armour.

To be enraged, angered; "To be up in arms over something".

37. (379:404) To hell the cat. [1]

When one plans something which everyone finds out about, one's undertaking will turn out badly.

38. (369:396) Armed to the teeth.

39. (356:379) An iron-biter.

A big mouth.

40. (318:350) The hen-feeler.

"To count one's chickens before they are hatched".

41. (292:325) He always gnaws on one bone.

Endless, futile chore; or, to continually repeat everything; "To be always harping on the same string".

42. (308:358) There the scissors hang out.

Symbol of pickpocketing; a place of cheating and fleecing: "a clip joint".

43. (288:320) He speaks with two mouths.

Two-faced, deceitful, "To speak out of both sides of one's mouth".

44. (458:481) One shears sheep, the other pigs.

One has the advantage, the other the disadvantage; or, one lives in luxury, the other in need; "rich man, poor man".

45. (458:485) Great cry and little wool.

"Much ado about nothing".

46. (482:514) Shear them but do not skin them.

Do not pursue your advantage at any price.

47. (513:551) Patient as a lamb.

48a. (352:394) One winds on the distaff what the other spins.

To spread malicious gossip.

48b. Watch out that a black dog does not come in between.

Things could go wrong; or, where two women are together, a barking dog is not needed.

49. (333:376) He carries the day out in baskets.

He wastes his time; "To set forth the sun with a candle".

50. (284:327) To hold a candle to the Devil.

To make friends in all quarters and to flatter everyone; to ingratiate oneself indiscriminately.

51. (290:327) He confesses to the Devil.

To give away secrets to one's enemy.

52. (266:300) A near-blower. [2]

A tattle-tale or gossip; "To fan rumours".

53. (270:299) The fox and the crane entertain each other.

Bruegel uses a motif familiar from Aesop's Fables: two deceivers always keep their own advantage in mind; the deceiver deceived).

54. (299:322) What is the good of a beautiful plate when there is nothing on it?

"Gold plate does not fill your belly".

55. (318:342) He is a skimming ladle or an egg-beater.

A sponger, a parasite.

56. (268:294) To chalk it up.

It will not be forgotten; the debt must be repaid; "To be in a person's book".

57. (438:493) He falls the well after the calf has drowned. [3]

Measure taken only when an accident has occurred.

58. (406:490) He has the world spinning on his thumb.

Everyone dances to his tune; "He has got the world on a string".

59. (476:510) To put a spoke in someone's wheel.

To put an obstacle in the way.

60. (496:550) He has to stoop if he wants to get on in the world.

Whoever is ambitious must be devious and unscrupulous.

61. (331:382) He ties a flaxen beard to the face of Christ.

Deceit often masquerades under the guise of piety.

62. (369:436) To cast roses (pearls) before swine.

Matthew 7:6; effort wasted on the unworthy.

63. (361:426) She puts the blue mantle on her husband.

She deceives him; "To place horns on his head".

64. (335:384) The pig is stabbed through the belly.

A foregone conclusion; it is irrevocable; "Things done cannot be undone".

65. (340:374) Two dogs over one bone seldom agree.

To quarrel bitterly over one and the same thing; "a bone of contention"; image of cupidity and jealousy; envy.

66. (293:329) To sit on hot coals.

To be anxious and impatient; "To be on needles and pins".

67a. (288:308) The meat on the spit must be basted.

67b. lt is healthy to piss on the fire.

67c. His fire is pissed out.

His fire has been extinguished; he is completely discouraged.

68. (304:327) There is no turning a spit with him.

He is uncooperative.

69a. (248:277) He catches fish with his bare hands.

This shrewd fellow profits from the work of others by taking fish out of the nets which they have cast.

69b. To throw a smelt to catch a cod.

Same meaning as 28a.

70. (271:338) He falls through the basket.

Rejected suitor; to be turned down flat; to fail.

71. (257:308) He is suspended between heaven and earth.

He has got himself into an awkward situation and does not know what he should do.

72. (307:359) She takes the hen's egg and lets the goose egg go.

To make a bad choice as a result of one's greediness.

73(a). (367:404) He yawns against the oven.

73(b). He who is determined to out-yawn the oven will have to yawn for a long time.

He tries to open his mouth wider than an oven door, that is, he overestimates his ability; "He bites off more than he can chew"; or, it is futile to set oneself up against those who are stronger.

74. (439:473) He can barely reach from one loaf to the other.

He cannot live within his budget.

75a. (487:521) He is looking for the hatchet.

He is trying to find an excuse.

75b. Here he is with his lantern.

Finally he has an opportunity to let his light shine - to show how smart he his.

76. (503:535) A hatchet with a handle.

The whole thing? the meaning is unclear.

77. (470:498) A hoe without a handle.

Something useless? of unclear meaning; the object is a dough-scraper.

78. (475:535) He who has spilt his porridge cannot scrape it all up again.

Once damage is done, it cannot be completely undone; "It is no use crying over spilt milk".

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Anmerkungen

[1] Wohl: "bell".

[2] Wohl: "An ear-blower".

[3] Wohl: "He fills...".

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Copyright © Frank Detje
Copyright © electronic copy DE PROVERBIO