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'Prisoner, tell me, who was it that bound you?' 'It was my master,' said the prisoner. 'I thought I could outdo everybody in the world in wealth and power, and I amassed in my own treasure-house the money due to my king. When sleep overcame me I lay upon the bad that was for my lord, and on waking up I found I was a prisoner in my own treasure-house.' 'Prisoner, tell me, who was it that wrought this unbreakable chain?' 'It was I,' said the prisoner, 'who forged this chain very carefully. I thought my invincible power would hold the world captive leaving me in a freedom undisturbed. Thus night and day I worked at the chain with huge fires and cruel hard strokes. When at last the work was done and the links were complete and unbreakable, I found that it held me in its grip.'
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 31, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 31 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 13
Word count: 148
„Sag mir, Gefangener, wer legte dich in Ketten?“ Er sprach: „Mein Meister war’s. Ich glaubte, jeden auf der Welt zu übertreffen in Wohlstand und in Macht und hortete in meinem Haus den Schatz, der meinem Herrn gebührt. Als Schlaf mich überkam, ruht’ ich auf jenem Bette, das meinem Herrn bereitet, und beim Erwachen fand ich mich gefangen im eignen Haus, im Hause meiner Schätze.“ „Sag mir, Gefangener, wer schmiedete die Kette, die keiner sprengen kann?“ „Ich selbst war’s“ sagte der Gefangne, „mit großer Sorgfalt hab ich sie geschmiedet. Ich glaubt’, mit meiner Unbezwingbarkeit könnt’ ich in Ketten legen alle Welt, um selbst dann ungestört und frei zu sein. So war ich Tag und Nacht zugange an der Kette, mit lohem Feuer und mit grausam hartem Hieb. Als dann das Werk zuletzt getan, komplett die Glieder und für immer fest, fand ich mich selbst an sie gelegt.“
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2014 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 31, first published 1912
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 31 [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2014-04-30
Line count: 13
Word count: 146