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- Photographed by Pamela L. Caughie
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- Transcription completed by Kristin Jacobsen
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Letter to Maria Garland by Lili Ilse Elvenes
Transcription
Mein Brief -@Translator: KEJ
Tirsdag
Dresden. 16 Juni 1931
(001) Kære Veninde.
(002) Jeg har skrevet til Deres Mand og bedt ham, som vi allerede havde aftalt, at sende de færdige Kapitler til Prof. WarnekrosKurt Warnekros (historical) Linked to: #kreutz – ; men hvis de ikke allerede er afsendt, vilde jeg meget gerne have dem til min Adresse.
(003) Det er saadan et udmærket Anledning til at tale med den strænge Herre.
(004) Jeg er nemlig straks blevet saa lille -@Translator: KEJ som sidste Aar. De aner ikke, hvilken Evne han har til at lokke alt det mest kvindelige frem i mig.
(005) Man mener, jeg bliver opereret i morgen – jeg troede, det allerede var for idag, men jeg tør ikke spørge ham derom. Sligt taler han ikke med Piger om – og nu hengaar min Tid med at vente paa ham og drømme om hans Mandighed og Skønhed. I min Beundring forstaar jeg nu, at Gud skabte Manden i sit Billede.
(006) Jeg ønsker intet mere end blot at have Lov til at være i hans Nærhed, og jeg er slet ikke bange for alle de slemme Smærter, der venter mig; thi saa ser jeg ham mere – og et Smil fra ham er alle de grusomste Smærter værd.
(007) De kan tro, det er en Overraskelse for mig, at jeg nu er her i Stedet for i ParisParis – City in France. Men jeg forstaar Professoren har grebet dette gunstige Øjeblik til den sidste store Operation, uden hvilken jeg aldrig bliver helt rask, hverken fysisk eller moralsk.
(008) Jeg sidder ude i Haven; men af og til kniber det lidt med Modet og saa maa jeg kile rundt -@Translator: KEJ i Gangene mellem de lyse Birke; jeg ved nemlig kun altfor godt, hvad der venter mig – og store underlivsopera tioner er gyselige, men jeg tænker slet ikke paa at dø; det har jeg ikke Lov -@Translator: til. Det vilde være et Forræderi.
(009) Skriv til mig. Det vil trøste mig. Det er mig ogsaa en stor Beroligelse at vide, at deres Mand sidder og arbejder med vort fælles Værk. Bogen eller rettere Romanen begynder maaske allerede at udkomme, medens jeg endnu ligger her.
(010) Jeg sender en Del Fotografier herfra og faar Bekendte til at samle en Del i ParisParis – City in France.
(011) Mine allerhjærtligste Hilsner til Dem
(012) og Deres Mand
(013) Deres
Lili ElvenesLili (fictional and historical) Linked to: #sparreAn #wegenerE – Our project editors have been unable to verify that Lili Elbe used the pseudonym Lili Courtaud outside of its use in the narrative.
P.S. Jeg venter Visit her af JohannesJohannes Poulsen (historical) Linked to: #persenIv – og Ulla PoulsenUlla Britta Poulsen (historical) Linked to: #persenEb –
Translation
Page 1
My Letter -@Editor: KEJ
Tuesday
Dresden. 16 June 1931
(001) Dear Friend.
(002) I have written to your husband and asked him, as we had already agreed, to send the completed chapters to Prof. WarnekrosKurt Warnekros (historical) Linked to: #kreutz – ; but if they have not already been shipped, I would like to have them to my address.
(003) It is such an excellent occasion to talk with the strict gentleman.
(004) I have immediately become just as little -@Translator: as last year. You wouldn’t guess the power he has to entice the utmost feminine side of me.
(005) They think I’ll undergo surgery tomorrow – I thought it was already due today but I don’t dare to ask him about it. He doesn’t discuss such things with girls – and now I spend my time waiting for him and dreaming about his masculinity and beauty. In my admiration I now understand that God created man in his image.
(006) I wish for no more than just to be allowed to be in his proximity, and I am not at all afraid of all the horrible pain that awaits me, for then I will see him more – and a smile from him is worth all the most gruesome pain.
Page 2
(007) You can believe it is a surprise to me, that I am now here instead of in ParisParis – City in France. But I understand the professor has grabbed this favorable moment for the last big operation, without which I will never become fully healthy, neither physically nor morally.
(008) I am sitting out in the garden; but courage is a little scarce and so I must dash around -@Translator: among the bright birch trees; I know only too well what waits for me – and big abdominal operations are horrible, but I really do not think about dying at all; I do not have the permission -@Translator: to do that. It would be a betrayal.
(009) Write to me. It will comfort me. It is also a big reassurance to me to know that your husband works with -@Editor: our common work. The book, or rather the novel, might be released while I am still here.
(010) I am sending a handful of photographs from here and will have friends collect some in ParisParis – City in France.
(011) My heartiest greetings to you
(012) and Your Husband
(013) Your
Lili Elvenes Lili (fictional and historical) Linked to: #sparreAn #wegenerE – Our project editors have been unable to verify that Lili Elbe used the pseudonym Lili Courtaud outside of its use in the narrative.
P.S. I await the visit here of JohannesJohannes Poulsen (historical) Linked to: #persenIv – and Ulla PoulsenUlla Britta Poulsen (historical) Linked to: #persenEb –