Understanding "aber er soll hier nicht stehen"

I'm translating a chapter of "Nachdenken Ueber Christa T" by Christa Wolf as part of my German degree and there's one bit in particular that I'm having trouble with. Here's the whole thing:

"Sie nannte den Namen des Medikaments, merkwuerdigerweise weiss ich ihn noch, aber er soll hier nicht stehen. Prednison, sagte sie, in grossen Dosen."

I'm confused because it seems to me that the narrator is saying "I still remember the name of the medication but it shouldn't appear here" but then goes on to give the name anyway. The English translation I have avoids the problem by leaving out this part altogether. Not very helpful. And when I got feedback from my superviser after she'd looked at my first draft, she wrote "Check this: it would make more sense if it meant 'so I will not withhold it here'. Is it an old-fashioned idiom?"

So, has anyone come across this sort of phrase before? Is it an idiom?

Any help greatly appreciated!

I don't think that this is some kind of idiom. It's more like the way you think, meaning that actually the name shouldn't appear there, but it does anyway.
Maybe the narrator doesn't want to give the name, but the person he is telling about uses it anyway..

She said the name of the medicine, strangely enough I still remember it, but it shouldn't be there. Prednisone, she said, in large doses.

Not there, here. "[The name] It (=er) should not appear here". The whole sentence doesn't make sense but I never liked Christa Wolf anyway.

I'm with you 90% but you didn't correct for the German grammar. I'd suggest:
She said the name of the medicine; strangely enough I still remember it even though I shouldn't. "Prednisone," she said, "in large doses."

Note punctuation.

woof.

I don't think so, BD. Hmm how about: I don't want to put it down here. (but do anyway)
Again, a stupid phrase by CW.

hmm, quite confusing - maybe "prednison" is just the name of the active substance in the medicine the name of which is not supposed to be mentioned. Like Acetylsalicylsäure/Aspirin or potatoes/crisps?

I'd agree with that depending on context, but it doesn't really make sense to say "I wouldn't name it" and then do so. Without the full context (I haven't read the damned book) I can't be certain.


Muppet. You only have to search for the damned word befofre posting to stop yourself looking like a complete and utter idiot.

woof.

Leah, maybe you could post the full paragraph, or just a couple of more sentences, to make it easier to understand the context.

I did search the word and rie seems to be perfectly right. There are medicines like Prednison Hexal, Prednison ratiopharm, Decortin, ... from different pharma companies and they all contain Prednison.

So the narrator just doesnt to want to name the manufacturer...

Thanks for all the ideas so far - it's reassuring to know I'm not the only one who finds the sentence weird.

For those who are interested, here's a larger extract:

Ihr Gesicht war gedunsen, die Haut war rauh und schuppig geworden, und die Adern an Armen und Beinen traten stark hervor. Ich schob alles auf die Schwangerschaft, aber sie schuettelte den Kopf. Sie nannte den Namen des Medikaments, merkwuerdigerweise weiss ich ihn noch, aber er soll hier nicht stehen. Prednison, sagte sie, in grossen Dosen. Das war das einzige Mittel. Dafuer muss man anderes in Kauf nehmen. Sie meinte, was sie sagte, und wusste, was sie meinte.

Hope that sheds a little more light on the matter...

Is there any chance she's saying that the medicine in the bottle isn't what's on the label? Perhaps there's a character hiding pills?

Sounds like Freising and rie working in cahouts are correct when you read what the pregnant woman looks like. Here are some side-effects of prednisone (a component of cortisone medication) according to Wiki:

Major
weight gain
facial swelling
depression, mania, or other psychiatric symptoms
unusual fatigue or weakness
mental confusion / indecisiveness
blurred vision
abdominal pain
peptic ulcer
infections
painful hips or shoulders
osteoporosis
insomnia
severe joint pain
cataracts
osteonecrosis
anxiety

Minor
stretch marks
nervousness
acne
rash
increased appetite
hyperactivity
frequent urination
diarrhea
removes intestinal flora

Leah, your translation is correct (as some other posters have already pointed out). The fact that she gives the name of the medication away in the next sentence is illogical. But than the text you're supposed to translate is not from a computer manual but from a novel, hence a lack of logic might well be a recurring theme whith the narrator (sorry, it's been ages since I read that book).

What I find weird is your supervisor's reaction. Either you didn't quote the German part correctly (which I doubt), or she wants you to somehow analyse the illogical bit (which seems unlikely since your task it to translate, not interpret), or your supervisor is in some way clueless herself.

I do like Christa Wolf, and she'll have phrased it that way on purpose. She meant what she said and knew what she meant.

Prednisone is the ingredient, but the narrator's choosing not to give the brand name. As this was published in East Germany in 1968, it could just be that the West Germans wouldn't have known the brand name anyhow, but they'd recognize prednisone. Maybe naming the medicine would have exposed who'd given it to the pregnant lady, maybe she's not supposed to have access to prednisone, maybe that's a plot point that'll come up later. Maybe the narrator just doesn't want to get caught up down in the technical details when telling her friend's story. The pregnant lady's the one who dies later of leukemia, right? Lots of technical details of treatment that could be given there but would probably just distract from the plot.

Do bring up in your class discussion that you asked an internet forum for interpretation. See what they think of that.

BTW -- can't translate without interpreting.

Just a thought - Is this a reference to the DDR custom of doping up their athletes?

Or maybe don't
(Seeing as the great uninformed out there still assume that internet forums produce more garbage than trustworthy information)


Very true.
I still think that in this case there are not many ways around this simple and in no way idiomatic expression. She says what she says. When I refered to interpretation, I was more thinking along the lines of fitting the failing logic into the story as a whole. And if that proves impossible: Maybe there is a reason why the translators of Leah's English copy simply skipped the whole bit.

edit: Yep, it could be that we have an ingredient vs. brand thing here. Though Prednison(e) is both. Not sure about whether that was the case in 1968 East Germany, though.

Christa Wolf might be a candidate for Federal President next year.

Maybe I'm interpreting too much into it and it's hard to say without knowing the details of the story (why prednisone? what for?), but it seems like the narrator's saying that she's familiar with the medication but both she and the mother-to-be are well aware that it's not something that a pregnant woman should be taking because of the risk of birth defects - "Dafuer muss man anderes in Kauf nehmen. Sie meinte, was sie sagte, und wusste, was sie meinte."

No idea how you'd translate that, though.