GR translation: You would oblige me

[Robert Mahnke]

Not sure I agree with Dave.  "You would oblige me" is a grammatically
oblique way of starting to insist that Slothrop answer his question,
sounding formal and stilted in a way that Americans are used to hearing
German officers in World War II movies and TV shows when they (the Germans)
speak in English.


On Fri, Jun 28, 2013 at 8:22 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> Yes. Responding to Slothrup's "needling," Enzian "snaps to" into his
> military discipline.  His "you would oblige me" almost means "please don't
> oblige me." Meaning, "this I might refuse to answer."  But instead of
> obliging or refusing, he deflects the conversation elsewhere.
>
>
> On Friday, June 28, 2013, alice wellintown wrote:
>
>> If you do as I ask, I will be obliged.
>>
>>
>> But in the dialogue, while he uses the phrase, "I will be obliged" ,  he
>> decides not to make a request, other than the questions, requests for
>> information.
>>
>> I think that works.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Friday, June 28, 2013, Mike Jing wrote:
>>
>>> P369.15-28  The marshes streak away, patched with light under the milk
>>> overcast. Negative shadows flicker white behind the edges of everything.
>>> “Well, this is all creepy enough here, Oberst,” sez Slothrop. “You’re not
>>> helping.”
>>>
>>> Enzian is staring into Slothrop’s face, with something like a smile
>>> under his beard.
>>>
>>> “O.K. Who is after it, then?” Being enigmatic, won’t answer—is this bird
>>> looking to be needled? “That Major Marvy,” opines Slothrop, “a-and that
>>> Tchitcherine, too!”
>>>
>>> Ha! That did it. Like a salute, a boot-click, Enzian’s face snaps into
>>> perfect neutrality. “You would oblige me,” he begins, then settles for
>>> changing the subject. “You were down in the Mittelwerke. How did Marvy’s
>>> people seem to be getting along with the Russians?”
>>>
>>> “Ace buddies, seemed like.”
>>>
>>>
>>> Was Enzian going to leave when he said "You would oblige me," or was he
>>> going to say something else before he decided to change the subject?
>>>
>>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20130629/d36eba51/attachment.html>