The complex meditation of simple truths: Ulrich von Pottenstein's ›Buch der natürlichen Weisheit‹ and the differentiation of the fable

Abstract

Ulrich von Pottenstein's collection of fables ›Buch von der natürlichen Weis­heit‹ is a congenial translation of the Latin ›Speculum Sapientiae‹: In crossing the linguistic boundary from Latin to German, Ulrich adds deliberate irritations to his Latin original, which are intended to lead the German-speaking readership, untrained in reading Latin, to a differentiated, dialectical and intertextually enriched reading. This differentiated lectio difficilior becomes particularly clear – and historically verifiable – in the example of the fable ›Affe und Waldesel‹ and its staging of bad weather.