Original title:
Mein Leben und Streben, Selbstbiographie von Karl May, Band I
[Translated by Gunther Olesch in 2000]
The day this world will cast you from its sight,
Go calmly forth from here and don't lament.
By means like this, it freed you from your plight,
And as it did you wrong, it will repent.
(Karl May "Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen" [a])
[a] A slightly different version of this poem can be found in
"Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen IV" <In the Empire of the
Silver Lion, Volume 4> a.k.a. "Das versteinerte Gebet" <The
Petrified Prayer>. There, the last line would translate
literally as "and therefore it has to bear all of your
guilt", whereas here a more literal translation would be "and
it now has to bear its guilt (from its offence) against you
by itself".