Originally Posted by desertblues

This is the original:
'Man wird getragen, siehst du ... Wenn ich am Leben bin, werde ich das Geschäft übernehmen, werde eine Partie machen ... ja, ich bin offen gegen dich, beim Abschied ... Und auch du ... das wird so gehen ... Ich wünsche dir alles Glück, meine liebe, gute, kleine Anna! Aber wirf dich nicht weg, hörst du?... Denn bis jetzt hast du dich =nicht= weggeworfen, das sage ich dir ...!«'

Thomas tells Anna that it should be over; both will go their own way, and that she shouldn't do anything that would bring her down to a lower level. She hasn't been that kind of girl (I guess he meant a kind of prostitute) to him till now and she shouldn't become one after he leaves her. (BTW: For him that means that he isn't a man that visits prostitutes himself, but only nice honest girls.)


That is in the 5th chapter of the first part.

Originally Posted by issybird

I read Watts, but Lowe-Porter renders it as "don't throw yourself away," which I think flows more naturally as a conversation.

My take on it was different, that Thomas was trying simultaneously to reassure her while acting a dog in the manger. Assuring her she wasn't "ruined," but at the same time trying to keep her from pursuing a similar affair. It involved both sexual jealousy but also a dose of reality. She could move on, since no one knew, but affairs of their sort were hugely risky for a shopgirl and should be eschewed. Now that he was done with her!

Originally Posted by desertblues

I am but halfway in the book, but there's bound to be no great surprises I think. It gently flows in that constricted society where I couldn't have lived for the love of money. Well...

I think Thomas did take advantage of the girl and being the hypocrite he is, he assured her it wasn't a sordid affair, but something 'higher', a somewhat higher love, above level of the ordinary. He said it as much to reassure the girl as himself, being a God-and law abiding gentleman.

edit: I think the translation 'don't throw yourself away" is more apt than 'demean'.