My Life and My Efforts | Page 9

worse. From May to July, he spends time in several health resorts in Austria and Italy. On December the 18th, Karl May wins his lawsuit against Rudolf Lebius. In the end of the year, May suffers from a severe case of pneumonia.
1912: Against doctor's orders, Karl May accepts an invitation to speak before the academy for literature and music in Vienna. On March the 20th, he arrives in Vienna, and in an interview with a newspaper reporter, he says: "What I have created up to now, I regard as preliminary studies, as etudes. I have, in a manner of speaking, tested my audience. Only now, I want to approach the actual work of my life." On March the 22th, he speaks before an enthusiastic audience of about 2000 people. On March the 30th, back at home in Radebeul, he dies.

About my translation:
This translation is based on the first edition of 1910.
That one footnote from the original text is marked with a [1].
Here and there, I have added some footnotes, to explain things which do not translate so well into English or some readers might not be familiar with. These additional footnotes are marked with [a], [b] etc. I admit that there are still a few more expressions which might require an explanation, but I could not fully resolve myself.
Names of places and titles of books are often left untranslated, but when they carry a translatable meaning I have added this in angle brackets.
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My Life and My Efforts
Autobiography by Karl May
Volume I

Original title: Mein Leben und Streben, Selbstbiographie von Karl May, Band I

[Translated by Gunther Olesch in 2000]

The day this world will cast you from its sight, Go calmly forth from here and don't lament. By means like this, it freed you from your plight, And as it did you wrong, it will repent.
(Karl May "Im Reiche des silbernen Loewen" [a])
[a] A slightly different version of this poem can be found in "Im Reiche des silbernen Loewen IV" a.k.a. "Das versteinerte Gebet" . There, the last line would translate literally as "and therefore it has to bear all of your guilt", whereas here a more literal translation would be "and it now has to bear its guilt (from its offence) against you by itself".

Contents
I. The Fable of Sitara II. My Childhood III. No Boyhood IV. My Time at the Seminary and as a Teacher V. In the Abyss VI. Working for the Colportage VII. My Literary Work VIII. My Lawsuits IX. Conclusion

I. The Fable of Sitara
If someone should go in a straight line from the earth to the sun within three months and proceed beyond the sun for another three months into the same direction, he would reach a star named Sitara. Sitara is a Persarabian word, meaning nothing more than "star".
This star has much, very much, in common with our earth. Its diameter is 1700 miles [a] and its equator 5400 miles long. It revolves around itself and simultaneously also around the sun. One movement around itself takes precisely one day, the movement around the sun takes just as precisely one year, not a second more or less. Its surface consists of one part land and two parts water. But, while there are five continents to be found on earth, the land of Sitara is arranged in a different, much simpler manner. It is all connected. It does not form several continents, but just a single one, which consists of the lowland, full of morasses, and the highland, boldly towering up towards the sun. Both are connected by a rather small, steeply ascending strip of jungle. The lowland is a plain. It is unhealthy, rich in poisonous plants and savage beasts, and at the mercy of all the tempests, raging from sea to sea. It is called Ardistan. Ard means earth, soil, a base substance, and figuratively it means the pleasure of mindless existence in filth and dust, the inconsiderate amassing of material possessions, the cruel, destructive fight against everything that does not belong to one's own self, or is not willing to serve it. Thus, Ardistan is the home of the low, selfish ways of life, and in respect to its more evolved inhabitants, the land where _persons_of_violenceand egotism live. The highland, on the other hand, is lofty, healthy, eternally young and beautiful, kissed by sunbeams, rich in natural gifts as well as the products of human efforts, a garden of Eden, a paradise. It is called Jinnistan. Jinni means spirit, beneficent ghost, bliss-bringing, unearthly creature, and figuratively it means the inborn yearning for higher goals, the pleasure in mental and spiritual progress, the busy striving for everything which is good and noble, and most of all the joy in promoting one's neighbours' happiness, the well-being of all