Autobiography

XIII

As difficult as the style of Andreas—which is indeed sometimes convoluted—his antitheses, his peculiar train of thought, and so forth, made the translation, it was at times a task like that of the literary reformers A reference to Renaissance humanists who worked to recover and edit classical Greek and Latin texts. who translated an as-yet-unprinted Greek author from manuscripts that were not entirely correct; yet I nevertheless undertook it with love. I did so because the gradually developing image of the man pleased me, and I learned to increasingly value the integrity of his intentions, his unshakable courage in the most oppressive situations, and his perseverance through often failed efforts. How many others would have lost heart literally: "let their hands sink" if, instead of the reward—which every true patriot In the 18th-century sense: one who is devoted to the welfare of their community or people. seeks only within themselves, not in external things—they saw themselves further persecuted and slandered! Indeed, nowhere is Andreä greater than under the most adverse circumstances. In a city entirely burned to the ground, surrounded by public and secret enviers and enemies, hindered at every step, without his own shelter, and almost without pay, he feeds, clothes,

original German vocabulary: Andreas, translation, literary reformers, patriot, courage, developed