It's a quote from Schiller's well-known poem Das Lied von der Glocke (=
Song of the Bell).
(The verse refers to the
Reign of Terror in the French Revolution.)
The
1917 Margarete Münsterberg translation is:
A lion wakened is ferocious,
Destructive is the tiger’s bite;
But of all horrors most atrocious
Is man at his own madness’ height.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexBell
He didn't mean that, I can assure you; he meant to say: 'Das ist ein' circle 'in der Stadt Moskau!'
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The line is also in German in the Russian original:
Quote:
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Das ist ein «кружок»... in der Stadt Moskau!
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I.e., the translator kept the German text and only translated кружок (=circle as in a group of persons sharing a common interest). The translation of the German text is: That's a "circle" in the city of Moscow.