ich danke Ihnen herzlich, obwohl Sie mich dagegen gewarnt haben (und warum doch eigentlich?), dass Sie mir jenen lieblichen Gegenstand gesandt haben; und ausserdem, bin ich Ihnen besonders dankbar, dass Sie mein Buch immer weiter verbreiten.
Es ist leider sehr traurig dass, während heute (wie Sie es sagen) alles zu kaufen ist, die Wunderkleider, die vor allen Uebeln und Gefahren der Welt schützen, nicht im Handel zu finden sind;[2] solche Kleider existieren doch ja, sie soll aber jeder einer eigenhändig weben und nähen.[3]
Ich wünsche Ihnen alles Gute für dieses neue Jahr, welches eine nicht mehr so trübe und unsichere Zukunft an der Welt zu[4] versprechen scheint.
Ihr ergebener
(…und verzeihen Sie, bitte, die unvermeidliche Fehler!)
La ringrazio di cuore, benché Lei mi avesse messo in guardia dal farlo (e perché mai, poi?), per avermi inviato quel grazioso oggetto; e in particolar modo La ringrazio anche perché continua a diffondere il mio libro.
Purtroppo è molto triste che, sebbene oggi (come Lei osserva) tutto si possa acquistare, non si trovino in commercio gli abiti magici che proteggono da tutti i mali e i pericoli del mondo;[2] eppure simili abiti esistono, solo che ognuno deve tesserli e cucirli da sé.[3]
Le auguro ogni bene per questo nuovo anno che sembra promettere al mondo[4] un avvenire non più tanto scuro e incerto.
Suo devoto
(…e mi scusi, La prego, per gli inevitabili errori!)
Thank you very much, even though you warned me against saying as much (and why would you, really?), for sending me that lovely object. I am also particularly grateful to you for continuing to share my book.
It is unfortunately quite sad that, although nowadays (as you say) everything can be bought, magical clothes that protect against all the evils and dangers of the world cannot be found in stores;[2]such clothes do exist, but everyone must weave and sew them by hand.[3]
I wish you all the best for this new year, which seems to promise the world[4] a less gloomy and uncertain future.
ich danke Ihnen herzlich, obwohl Sie mich dagegen gewarnt haben (und warum doch eigentlich?), dass Sie mir jenen lieblichen Gegenstand gesandt haben; und ausserdem, bin ich Ihnen besonders dankbar, dass Sie mein Buch immer weiter verbreiten.
Es ist leider sehr traurig dass, während heute (wie Sie es sagen) alles zu kaufen ist, die Wunderkleider, die vor allen Uebeln und Gefahren der Welt schützen, nicht im Handel zu finden sind;[2] solche Kleider existieren doch ja, sie soll aber jeder einer eigenhändig weben und nähen.[3]
Ich wünsche Ihnen alles Gute für dieses neue Jahr, welches eine nicht mehr so trübe und unsichere Zukunft an der Welt zu[4] versprechen scheint.
Ihr ergebener
(…und verzeihen Sie, bitte, die unvermeidliche Fehler!)
La ringrazio di cuore, benché Lei mi avesse messo in guardia dal farlo (e perché mai, poi?), per avermi inviato quel grazioso oggetto; e in particolar modo La ringrazio anche perché continua a diffondere il mio libro.
Purtroppo è molto triste che, sebbene oggi (come Lei osserva) tutto si possa acquistare, non si trovino in commercio gli abiti magici che proteggono da tutti i mali e i pericoli del mondo;[2] eppure simili abiti esistono, solo che ognuno deve tesserli e cucirli da sé.[3]
Le auguro ogni bene per questo nuovo anno che sembra promettere al mondo[4] un avvenire non più tanto scuro e incerto.
Suo devoto
(…e mi scusi, La prego, per gli inevitabili errori!)
Thank you very much, even though you warned me against saying as much (and why would you, really?), for sending me that lovely object. I am also particularly grateful to you for continuing to share my book.
It is unfortunately quite sad that, although nowadays (as you say) everything can be bought, magical clothes that protect against all the evils and dangers of the world cannot be found in stores;[2]such clothes do exist, but everyone must weave and sew them by hand.[3]
I wish you all the best for this new year, which seems to promise the world[4] a less gloomy and uncertain future.
Yours sincerely,
(…and please forgive the inevitable mistakes!)
Info
Notes
Tag
Sender: Primo Levi
Addressee: Brigitte Distler
Date of Drafting: 1963-01-13
Place of Writing: Turin
Description:copy of a typewritten letter on lined paper with handwritten insertions in blue ballpoint pen.
Archive: Archivio privato di Primo Levi, Turin
Series: Complesso di Fondi primo Levi, Fondo Primo Levi, Corrispondenza, Corrispondenti particolari, fasc. 20, sottofasc. 001, doc. 022, f. 70.
Folio: 1, front only
DOI:
1An exclamation point follows, crossed out with a pen stroke.
2
A science fiction short story, “Protection,” appears in the collection Flaw of Form, published in Italy in 1971; it might have been inspired by the image of the magical clothes Distler mentions. Levi imagines a society in which people are forced to wear protective armor to defend themselves from a potential micro-meteorite shower, even though the protagonists suspect it might actually be a maneuver dictated by market demands. Elena, one the characters in the short story, describes the effect this external covering has on those who wear it: “I feel protected […]. From everything. From men, the wind, the sun, and the rain. From smog and contaminated air and nuclear waste. From fate and from all things that are unseen and unpredictable. From evil thoughts and from disease and from the future and from myself” (CW I, pp. 581-85).
3
It is significant that Levi also quotes this reply in the chapter “Letters from Germans” in The Drowned and the Saved: “I answered that such garments cannot be given to others: each person has to weave them and sew them for him- or herself” (CW III, p. 2555).
