In Transit
Im Transit
von Matthias Kneip
Als mich ein Fremder
nach dem Weg fragte
und Antwort bekam
hielt er mich
für einen Einheimischen
Als ich einen Einheimischen
nach dem Weg fragte
(ich hatte mich verlaufen)
hielt er mich
für einen Fremden
So wandele ich
zwischen den Fragen
die mir gestellt werden
und die ich stelle
bin fremd und zu Hause
zugleich.
In Transit
by Matthew Kneip
When a foreigner
approached me for directions
and I gave them
he took me
for a native here.
When I asked a native
for directions
(I had taken a wrong turn)
he took me
for a foreigner.
That’s how it is—
I wander between
the questions that are asked me
and the ones I ask—
I’m foreign and I’m home
at the same time.
-Translated by Lane Jennings
中转
作者：马悌亚斯 克奈普
一个外乡人
向我问路
我回答
他当我是
本地人
我向一个本地人
问路
（我迷路了）
他当我是
外乡人
我就这样游走在
他人和自己的
提问之间
即是外乡人
也是本地人
皆有两种身份
-Translated by Karl K. Zhang, George Mason University
About the Poet: Matthias Kneip (b. 1969)
Born in Regensburg, Germany, this poet holds advanced degrees in both German literature and the political history of Eastern Europe. A member of the Verband Deutscher Schriftsteller and P.E.N., he has published widely, and has worked since 2000 at the German/Polish Institute in Darmstadt.
About the Poem: In Transit
Question: When is a native not a native? Answer: Any time they lose their way. The mixed feelings expressed in this poem are probably familiar to anyone who has ever lived in a large city long enough to know their way around well, but not gained the detailed knowledge of geography a cab driver or a traffic cop might have. For the rest of us, it is entirely possible to be a native one moment and a stranger the next, forever shifting our point of view as circumstances change, placing us in a comfortably familiar situation one moment and an awkwardly unfamiliar one the next.
