Kaspar and Other Plays

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In translating the invective at the end of Offending the Audience, I translated the principle according to which they are arranged — that is, I sought to create new acoustic patterns in English — rather than translate each epithet literally, which would only have resulted in completely discordant patterns.

To the assortment of moral truisms of which the prompters have a choice when they address Kaspar, I have added a number of American platitudes; the imaginative reader will have no difficulty in supplying even more. Certain liberties have also been taken to make Kaspar’s rhymes sort of rhyme. In nearly every other respect, these are translations and not adaptations. Peter Handke himself has cut the last sentence in Self-Accusation and also Kaspar’s final sentence which appeared in the original version.

M.R.