FRANZ KAFKA THE SILENCE OF THE SIRENS short story TEXT ENG

 

 

 

Franz Kafka

The silence of the Sirens

(De: Das Schweigen der Sirenen, 1917)

 

Short story by Kafka

 

 

Franz Kafka All the stories > here

 

 

Full text translated into English

A short story by Franz Kafka

 

 

“The Silence of the Sirens” (German: “Das Schweigen der Sirenen”) is a short story by Franz Kafka that transforms Ulysses‘ encounter with the sirens of Homer’s Odyssey.

The short story “The Silence of the Sirens” was written by Franz Kafka in 1917 but was published only in 1931, seven years after Kafka‘s death, when Max Brod selected some of Franz Kafka’s stories by publishing them in the collection “Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer” .

The short story “The Silence of the Sirens” by Franz Kafka rewrites in its own way the famous meeting of Ulysses with the deadly Sirens, in the odyssey by Homer.

Below is the translated version in English of Franz Kafka’s short story “The Silence of the Sirens” (De: “Das Schweigen der Sirenen”).

The original German version of Franz Kafka’s story “The Silence of the Sirens” can be found on “yeye book” by clicking here.

Enjoy the reading.

 

 

 

Franz Kafka

The silence of the Sirens

 

Full text translated into English

A short story by Franz Kafka

 

 

Proof that inadequate, even childish measures may serve to rescue one from peril. 

To protect himself from the Sirens Ulysses stopped his ears with wax and had himself bound to the mast of his ship. 

 

Naturally any and every traveler before him could have done the same, except those whom the Sirens allured even from a great distance; but it was known to all the world that such things were of no help whatever.

The song of the Sirens could pierce through everything, and the longing of those they seduced would have broken far stronger bonds than chains and masts. But Ulysses did not think of that,although he had probably heard of it. He trusted absolutely to his handful of wax and his fathom of chain, and in innocent elation over his little stratagem sailed out to meet the Sirens.

 

Now the Sirens have a still more fatal weapon than their song, namely their silence.And though admittedly such a thing has never happened, still it is conceivable that someone might possibly have escaped from their singing; but from their silence certainlynever. Against the feeling of having triumphed over them by one’s own strength, and theconsequent exaltation that bears down everything before it, no earthly powers can resist.

 

And when Ulysses approached them the potent songstresses actually did not sing,whether because they thought that this enemy could be vanquished only by their silence,or because the look of bliss on the face of Ulysses, who was thinking of nothing but his wax and his chains, made them forget their singing.

 

But Ulysses, if one may so express it, did not hear their silence; he thought they were singing and that he alone did not hear them. For a fleeting moment he saw their throats rising and falling, their breasts lifting, their eyes filled with tears, their lips half-parted, but believed that these were accompaniments to the airs which died unheard around him. Soon, however, all this faded from his sight as he fixed his gaze on the distance, the Sirens literally vanished before his resolution, and at the very moment when they were nearest to him he knew of them no longer.

 

But they — lovelier than ever — stretched their necks and turned, let their awesome hair flutter free in the wind, and freely stretched their claws on the rocks. They no longer had any desire to allure; all that they wanted was to hold as long as they could the radiance that fell from Ulysses’ great eyes.

If the Sirens had possessed consciousness they would have been annihilated at that moment. But they remained as they had been; all that had happened was that Ulysses had escaped them.

 

A codicil to the foregoing has also been handed down.

 

Ulysses, it is said, was so full of guile, was such a fox, that not even the goddess of fate could pierce his armor.

Perhaps he had really noticed, although here the human understanding is beyond its depths, that the Sirens were silent, and held up to them and to the gods the aforementioned pretense merely as a sort of shield. 

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Franz Kafka – The silence of the Sirens

De: Das Schweigen der Sirenen (1917)

Short story Full text translated into English

 

 

Franz Kafka The silence of the Sirens Original text in German > here

 

 

 

Franz Kafka All the stories > here

 

 

Franz Kafka Biography > here

 

 

 

www.yeyebook.com

 

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