Question about Jewish legends and folklore
I´m translating into Spanish, for a Czech publisher, some of Franz Kafka´s short tales (which first appeared under the title "The Rural Physician"), which are full of surreal elements, dreamlike situations which don´t make sense, and symbols which I´m guessing have a deeper meaning very probably based on Kafka´s own, rich Jewish-German heritage.
In the tale "Of Jackals and Arabs" ("Schakale und Araber", in the German original), following elements appear:
-an old jackal (who tries to seduce an European traveller into murdering the Arabs for his pack of jackals)
-rusty sewing scissors (the murdering weapon)
-a whip (mentioned several times, in different contexts)
-the death-cry of a slaughtered lamb.
-a dead camel.
-the colour gold.
-blood, lots and lots of it.
-an unknown, anonymous savior (who the jackals have been waiting for all their lives to commit this sacred murder)
Do these elements have a particular symbolic value in Jewish popular lore, and what exactly do they mean? (are they positive or negative, do they stand for something or somebody else?, and so on). I mean, Kafka was a really neurotic guy, weird with a beard, and his tales are totally weird too - but he´s tremendously cultivated and fond of wordplays and double meanings, and there seems to be a method to his madness ;) SoI´d like to reflect in the Spanish version as much of the hidden meaning as possible.
Thank you in advance!
In the tale "Of Jackals and Arabs" ("Schakale und Araber", in the German original), following elements appear:
-an old jackal (who tries to seduce an European traveller into murdering the Arabs for his pack of jackals)
-rusty sewing scissors (the murdering weapon)
-a whip (mentioned several times, in different contexts)
-the death-cry of a slaughtered lamb.
-a dead camel.
-the colour gold.
-blood, lots and lots of it.
-an unknown, anonymous savior (who the jackals have been waiting for all their lives to commit this sacred murder)
Do these elements have a particular symbolic value in Jewish popular lore, and what exactly do they mean? (are they positive or negative, do they stand for something or somebody else?, and so on). I mean, Kafka was a really neurotic guy, weird with a beard, and his tales are totally weird too - but he´s tremendously cultivated and fond of wordplays and double meanings, and there seems to be a method to his madness ;) SoI´d like to reflect in the Spanish version as much of the hidden meaning as possible.
Thank you in advance!