X
L. announces his intention to study theology—much to the displeasure of Z., who sees in it an expression of sinful pride.
Time of composition: January 16–26, 1944. Time of narration: Summer 1943. Narrated time: 1902–1903.
| | The German term here is Hochmut, an overt reference to the cardinal sin of pride. |
| | The German term Superiorität is rarely used and probably represents another allusion to the cardinal sin of pride (Latin superbia). |
| certain discussions we had | |
| his desire […] had contributed | Another implication of Z.’s realization is that L. is studying theology not out of any inherent piety, but out of the desire to intellectually return to an age in which music had not yet become separated from other spheres of human activity. |
| | From Simplicissimus (1669) by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (1622–1676). |
| | The German term angeborene Verdienste is probably better translated as “innate achievements.” The paradoxical phrase derives from Goethe’s autobiographical work Poetry and Truth (1811–1833); Mann had already commented on it in his essay “Goethe and Tolstoi” (1925). |
| “Only scoundrels are modest” | From Goethe’s poem “Rechenschaft” (“Accountability,” 1810). |