{"corpus":"steiner","locus":"GA 140/1912-12-15/p029","lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"text":"One might insert here a beautiful Estonian legend about group egoism that tells of the origin of languages. God wished to bestow the gift of language on humanity by means of fire. A great fire was to be kindled and the different languages were to come about by having men listen to the peculiarities of the sounds of the fire. So the Godhead called all the peoples of the earth to assemble so that each might learn its language. Prior to the gathering, however, God gave preference to the Estonians and taught them the divine-spiritual language, a loftier mode of speech. Then the others drew near and were allowed to listen to how the fire was burning, and as they heard it they learned to understand the various sounds. Certain peoples preferred by the Estonians came first when the fire was still burning quite strongly. When the fire was reaching its end the Germans had their turn, for the Estonians are not particularly fond of the Germans. In the feebly crackling fire one heard, “ *Deitsch, peitsch; deitsch, peitsch*” (German, whip). Then followed the Lapps of whom the Estonians are even less fond. One only heard, “Lappen latchen” (Lapp, lash). By that time the fire was reduced to mere ashes, and the Lapps, brought forth the worst language of all because the Estonians and the Lapps are deadly enemies. Such is the extent of the Estonians' group egoism.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"title":"7. The Working of Karma in Life After Death","site_heading":null,"date":"1912-12-15","location":null,"word_count":238,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/140/1912-12-15/p029","alignment_confidence":"high","alignment_reason":"beads:length","two_voice_volume":false,"translation_credit":{"scope":"unit","status":"established","translator":"René M. Querido","identified_edition":"AP1968","book_title":"Life Between Death and Rebirth","publisher":"Anthroposophic Press","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA140/English/AP1968/19121215p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. The translator IS verified for this lecture: its own source names the translator (evidence: the lecture's page, rsarchive's lecture list, or the cover of the book it was published in), and that page's text was matched against this unit (see match_score and source_url). Cite the translator with confidence; attribute the publisher only as probable."},"edition_coverage":{"de":["original"],"en":["English"]},"available_versions":[{"lang":"de","edition":"original","edition_basis":null,"is_original":true,"is_default_edition":true,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/140/1912-12-15/p029"},{"lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/140/1912-12-15/p029","paragraph_aligned":true}],"record":{"record_type":"unknown","scope":"volume","note":"How this text was taken down (shorthand transcript, listeners' notes or manuscript) is not on record here. Unknown is not an assurance of a stenogram: check the edition's own notes before resting an argument on one word.","evidence":null,"evidence_translation":null,"evidence_source":null},"german_anchor":{"de_prefix":"1912-12-15","de_passages":[{"locus":"GA 140/1912-12-15/p025","url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/140/1912-12-15/p025"}],"bead_confidence":"high","pairing_state":"proposed","verified":false,"length_check":{"de_words":235,"en_words":238,"ratio":1.01,"partial":false},"correspondence":"established","note":"English passage numbering is edition-relative, so the same number need not name the same paragraph in the German. The German original passage(s) above are the edition-invariant anchor — fetch them (lang='de') to verify wording before quoting across editions."},"paired_german":{"status":"paired","german":[{"locus":"GA 140/1912-12-15/p025","passage_number":25,"text":"Die Esten haben eine sehr schöne Legende über die Entstehung der Sprachen: Gott wollte den Menschen die Sprache gewähren durch das Feuer. Da soll ein großes Feuer angemacht worden sein, und durch das eigentümliche Tönen des Feuers, dem die Menschen zuhören sollten, und durch das, was sie da als Laute hören würden, sollte die Sprache werden. So rief die Gottheit die Völker der Erde zusammen, auf daß die Völker ihre Sprachen lernen könnten. Aber bevor die andern hergerufen wurden, nahm Gott die Esten vor, und ihnen lehrte er die göttlich-geistige Sprache, also eine höhere Sprache. Dann kamen erst die andern heran, und die durften dem Feuer zuhören, und da sie hörten, wie das Feuer brannte, da lernten sie die Töne verstehen. Die einzelnen Völker, die die Esten besonders gern hatten, die kamen zuerst, als das Feuer noch ziemlich stark brannte. Als das Feuer schon ziemlich gegen das Ende ging, kamen die Deutschen, denn die Esten lieben die Deutschen nicht besonders. Und da konnte man hören aus dem schon zerprasselnden Feuer: «Deitsch, peitsch, deitsch, peitsch.» Dann kamen die Lappen, die die Esten gar nicht lieben, und da hörte man nur noch: «Lappen latschen.» Und da hier das Feuer nur bloß noch Asche war, brachten die Lappen die allerschlechteste Sprache heraus, weil die Esten mit den Lappen in Todfeindschaft lebten. — So sieht man, wie die Esten alles, was sie an Gruppenegoismus haben, da zum Ausdruck bringen.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":235,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/140/1912-12-15/p025"}],"english":["GA 140/1912-12-15/p029"],"method":"length","confidence":"high","correspondence":"established","length_check":{"de_words":235,"en_words":238,"ratio":1.01,"partial":false},"pairing_state":"proposed","verified":false},"witness_completeness":{"ratio":0.91,"band":"comparable","note":null,"word_count":6616,"original_word_count":7271,"may_be_abridged":false},"witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"René M. Querido","identified_edition":"AP1968","book_title":"Life Between Death and Rebirth","publisher":"Anthroposophic Press","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA140/English/AP1968/19121215p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. The translator IS verified for this lecture: its own source names the translator (evidence: the lecture's page, rsarchive's lecture list, or the cover of the book it was published in), and that page's text was matched against this unit (see match_score and source_url). Cite the translator with confidence; attribute the publisher only as probable."},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 140/1912-12-15/p025"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"high","note":"Every load-bearing name in the German counterpart appears in this English passage. That is a check on NAMES only: a translation can keep every name and still reverse who acts on whom, change a number, or soften a claim. Read the German for anything you intend to rest an argument on."},"note":"quote_safe certifies the bytes of this text. This block is about the translation as a WITNESS: who made it, and whether it carries the same names as the original. See witness_completeness for how much of the original this witness holds."}}