Liste der Interpretationen von
Michael Gibson (1989)

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Einführende Bemerkungen

Diese Arbeit von Gibson enthält 92 Interpretationen. Die Deutungen sind auf englisch geschrieben und größtenteils mit einer Erläuterung der Bedeutung versehen.

Bei dieser Werk handelt es sich um eine überarbeitete Übersetzung aus dem Französischen. Sowohl die einzelnen Interpretationen als auch deren Erläuterungen weichen zum Teil beträchtlich von anderen Arbeiten ab, was zu Skepsis gegenüber diesen Deutungen raten läßt.

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Literaturnachweis

Michael Gibson (1989): Bruegel. New York, NY: Tabard Press.

Es sind in diesem Buch sowohl zwei numerierte schwarz-weiß-Abbildungshälften (S.44; hier zusammengefaßt), eine ganze schwarz-weiß Abbildung (S.46), eine Ausschnittsvergrößerungen und viele weitere Bilder Bruegels und anderer Künstler abgebildet. Abweichend von den meisten anderen Autoren gibt Gibson eine Größe des Gemäldes von 118 x 163 cm an.

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1. The broom is before the door.

The masters are away.

2. Married under the broom.

An unmarried couple.

3. To look through one's fingers.

To allow people to gossip.

4. To stand there with one's clogs on.

To wait in vain.

5. Griddle cakes grow on the roof.

They have things in abundance.

6. To shoot one arrow after another.

One's efforts are unrewarded.

7. The hogs are in the corn.

Everything is going wrong.

8. His ass is on fire.

He is in a hurry.

9. He plays (music) in the stocks.

He does not realize he is ridiculous.

10. The knife is hanging.

A sign of defiance, a challenge.

11. Fools get the best cards.

12. To hold one another by the nose.

To dislike one another.

13. He shits on the world.

He cares for nothing.

14. The dice have been thrown.

15. There's a hole in the roof.

He has a screw loose.

16. He has thick skin behind the ears.

He is a rogue, a swindler.

17. To piss at the moon.

To strive after something impossible.

18. There are slates on the roof.

Walls have ears.

19. Two fools under the same bonnet.

20. He shaves the fool without soap.

He is making fun of him.

21. Topsy-turvy world.

22. All depends on how the cards fall.

23. To see through the scissors' eyes.

To make a profit.

24. To keep a nest egg.

25. To tie each herring by its own gills.

Each man must pay for himself.

26. To sit down between two chairs with one's bum in the ashes.

27. Let the dog in, he'll go to the cupboard.

Give him an inch, and he'll take a yard.

28. The shears are hanging out front.

The customer is sure to be fleeced.

29. He is always gnawing at the same bone.

30. The pulse taker.

The womanizer.

31. To carry the news of the day in a basket.

To reveal what should be kept secret.

32. To light a candle to the Devil.

33. To tell one's sins to the Devil.

34. He carries fire in one hand and water in the other. [1]

He is not to be trusted.

35. The sow unstops the barrel.

The innkeeper is not minding his business.

36. Armed to the teeth.

37. A man in armor bells the cat.

Weapons make even cowards brave.

38. One loads the distaff, the other spins.

They gossip.

39. She wraps her husband in a blue cloak.

She is unfaithful.

40. She could tie the devil to a cushion.

A woman could outsmart the Devil.

41. To beat one's head against the wall.

42. One man shears the sheep, another the pig.

One is wealthy, the other poor.

43. Meek as a lamb.

44. He turns his coat with the wind.

45. He throws feathers to the wind.

46. Fear makes old people run.

47. When the blind lead the blind, both fall into the ditch.

48. No one weaves a web so fine that the sun does not show it.

49. To sail before the wind.

50. To shit beneath the gallows.

A gesture of defiance.

51. To stand gaping at the stork.

52. To kill two flies at one blow.

Two birds with one stone.

53. If the house burns down, he warms himself by the embers.

He sees the best in all things.

54. To drag a stump behind one.

55. Horse droppings are not figs.

56. Why do geese walk barefoot?

There is a reason for all things.

57. To fall off the ox and onto the donkey.

To change subjects.

58. To kiss the ring.

To submit.

59. To rub ones bum against the door.

One couldn't care less.

60. Two men shit through the same hole.

They make a virtue of necessity.

61. To throw one's money onto water.

Out the window.

62. To hang one's tunic on the gate.

To defrock or to change professions.

63. To watch the bears dancing.

To starve.

64. To swim against the tide.

65. To catch eels by the tail.

66. The jug is brought to the well so often that it finally breaks.

67. You can cut fine straps out of other people's leather.

To be generous with other people's property.

68. To fish behind other people's nets.

To be content with leftovers.

69. Big fish eat the smaller ones.

70. To be furious because the sun shines in the water.

To be envious.

71. Fox and crane make a pair.

72. It is healthy to piss on the fire.

73. To know how to catch fish with one's hands.

To be clever in business.

74. To sit on burning embers.

75. To take the chicken's egg and lose that of the goose.

To lose a big advantage for a small one.

76. To hang between heaven and earth.

77. To fall and break the basket.

To ruin one's chances.

78. You bleed the pig through the belly.

79. Two dogs can't agree on a bone.

80. To give our Lord a beard of tow.

To think one is getting away with something.

81. To sit in the light.

82. He fills the well after the calf has been drowned.

83. To throw roses to the swine.

84. To have the world dancing on one's thumb.

85. To draw the blanket to one.

86. To yawn before the oven.

To be good for nothing.

87. One must know how to stoop if one wishes to get ahead in the world.

88. To poke sticks into other people's wheels.

To hamper their undertakings.

89. When you let the gruel fall, you can't pick it all up.

90. His hands are tied.

91. He can't manage from one bread to the next.

He can't make both ends meet.

92. To chose the small axe.

To be a lazy worker.

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Anmerkungen

[1] Eigentlich "she", denn es trägt eine Frau.

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Copyright © Frank Detje
Copyright © electronic copy DE PROVERBIO