Comments on: Wie, bitte?

Question: Wie, bitte?

nax — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:58:56 -0800

Help me with a German sentence (quote?). German speakers: is the following sentence a quote from German literature? It's in reference to a picture of a Jewish headstone with pebbles on it. "Wieviel Wissen wird unter diesen Steinen liegen" Just wondering if this is a literary quote, or merely the musings of the commentor.

By: Pogo_Fuzzybutt

Pogo_Fuzzybutt — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:14:43 -0800

It says literally " how much knowledge will under these stones lie". More properly, it means "how much knowledge is buried under these stones?".

I don't know if it's a phrase from literature, and I've never encountered it myself. I would vote for it being an epitaph of some sort by the commentator. But I could be wrong.

By: atomly

atomly — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:18:59 -0800

Yeah, I'd basically translate that as "How much knowledge will lie beneath these stones?"

I can't find anything with that quote, so I'm going to have to agree that it's a unique epitaph.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:23:10 -0800

Doesn't sound familiar.

By: nilihm

nilihm — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:51:05 -0800

I'm not familiar with the quotation, but I do know that, according to Jewish tradition, mourners are to place a pebble on the grave each time they pay respect.