Piya Tan wrote:

> Norman cites Neumann's German translation of "assaddha" as "Wer keinem
> H"orensagen traut".
> Can I translate this as "Who trusts not H"orensagen".
> What is H"orensagen: "hearsay"?

Yes. "One who does not trust any hearsay".

> Neumann's translation is found in "Der Wahrheitpfad" Leipzig, 1893:27.
> I think this journal is "The Path of Truth": am I right?

The translation of the title is correct, but it is not a journal. It is K.E.
Neumann's translation of the Dhammapada into German.

Be aware that Neumann's translation is a translation into verses, and so he
often deviates from a totally literal translation.

> On page 328 (discussing the "bad meanings" of the key words of Dh 97),
> Norman quotes Hans-Werbin K"ohler's "'Srad-dhaa- in der vedischen und
> altbuddhistischen Literatur" 1973:60. There K"ohler translates "assadha" as
> "ohne Spendefreudigheit" in the context of "maccharii" (selfish,
> avaricious). I hope I am right translating this German phrase as
> "without joy in giving"
> or is it "without giving joyfully"?

"Spendefreude" or "Spendefreudigkeit" is normally used to denote the personal
attitude of giving freely, not the emotion associated with it, though this
would be the literal meaning of the term. "Freude" is 'joy' and "Freudigkeit"
is 'joyfulness', but there is little difference between the two in these
expressions; both are normally used as something a person has as an attitude,
in the sense of "he is glad to give". I think, to make a difference, I would
translate "ohne Spendefreude" as 'without gladness in giving' and "ohne
Spendefreudigkeit" as 'without readyness in giving', but I'd lean to the
latter for both terms.

> Perhaps, in "good" English, K"ohler means "without faith in the joy of
> giving" but I don't think this is what he has in his article (which I do
> not have and would fully comprehend anyway since my German is not as good
> as my Thai).

No, no faith involved in the German expression.

Lothar