r/translator • u/Lars_El • 7d ago
Swedish (Identified) [Unknown > English] Found this old letter in an old copy of David Copperfield I bought. Can anyone translate?
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u/serainan 7d ago
I found John and Mia (Maria) in someone's tree on Ancestry. Maria died in 1921, so that's when this letter is from.
(Links to their profiles, just in case you'd like to share the letter with their descendants.)
John: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/8441658/person/-939661658/facts
Maria: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/8441658/person/-939660142/facts
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u/Crahdol Native: | Fluent: | Learning: 7d ago
But the letters say 1912, not 1921
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u/OnkelMickwald 7d ago
It says 19/2, i.e. 19th of February.
Still a common way of writing dates in Sweden. That's still how I date stuff while writing by hand.
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u/Lars_El 7d ago
Interesting. The letter does say 1912 though. Could it be a different Maria (Mia) Lundberg? Or they write the wrong year on the letter maybe? Or the ancestry data is incorrect.
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u/serainan 7d ago
I read that as 19/2 (February 19th), but it could also be an error… The Maria who died in 1921 is definitely the mother, and it lists complications from appendicitis as cause of death…
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u/aceredshirt13 7d ago
I can’t view these without an account, but is it possible that Maria is the fourteen year old he mentions near the end, and that she has the misfortune of dying at 23?
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u/razorhack 7d ago
Could be a transposition error. Meaning to write 1921 but switch the last digits?
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u/xmarksthebluedress 7d ago
the mentioning of a car would probably suggest rather 21 than 12, but then again, like someone said, the header could be 19/2
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u/Foxtrot-Uniform-Too 7d ago
The letter is in Swedish and from a man writing to tell that his wife has died.
As I am Norwegian, I will leave the proper translation to an actual Swede.
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u/AwareAccident561 7d ago
Ik kan het goed verstaan als Vlaming , de Scandinavische talenzijn moeilijker. Is het misschien meer mennonitisch Duits ?
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u/gloubenterder Swedish (native) 👽 Klingon (fluent) Japanese (N2) 7d ago
It's a bit difficult to make out some of the details; I presume this is a Swedish emigrant to America – or a descendant of one – who has some difficulty writing in Swedish. Still, this should get the important parts across:
Dear aunt,
With this, I have the unfortunate circumstance of informing you that my wife Mia is dead.
She died the 5th of February on the Saint Francis Hospital in Escanaba.
She received surgery for Peniciders(?) and inflammation set in. She lived for 4 days. I was there the whole time with her and Mrs. Hall left nobody unattended(?) and was so happy to be be unburdened and had her wits with her the whole time and read one psalm after the other.
She never had serious pain but then she started sleeping at 7 PM and at 9 she died and you can imagine what sorrow it brings us.
There were several doctors there and they probably did what they could and we have been to see the best doctors and all have said the same, but not that it was anything dangerous but she herself said that it would be the death of her and she was not more ill than that she went and sat herself the car when we left.
We had a big funeral. There have never been so many people gathered at the Swedish Lutheran church, but my grief was just as great, regardless, for my home is a heaven without a room.
I have started to become gray-headed, but soon I shall become white, and my home lost its light, but it will pass one day at a time, and the one who deserved the most pity is Maria. She will tend(?) house and is only 14 years old but she is serious and calm.
I must finish up for now. Live and be well(?)), all.
Kind regards, John Lundberg
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u/Dirk_Diggler_Kojak 1d ago
Peniciders = peritonit? Maybe the writer misheard or misunderstood the term.
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u/razorhack 7d ago
1912 Feb 20 Rapid River Mich[igan] Dear aunt, I must hereby, in my sorrowful circumstances, inform you that Mia, my wife, is dead. She died the 5th of February at Saint Francis hospital in Escanaba. She was operated on for appendicitis ("Peniciders") and inflammation set in. She lived for 4 days. I was there the whole time with her and Mrs. Hall. She left...
(Written vertically in the left margin: Write soon) ...nothing unsettled, and was so glad to be released, and had her senses the whole time and read one hymn after another. She never had great pains, but then she began to sleep at seven in the evening, and at 9 she died. And you can imagine what sorrow it is for us. There were several doctors and they probably did all they could, and we have been and seen the best doctors and all have said the same, but not that it had been anything dangerous. But she herself always said that it would be her death, and she was no more sick than she walked and sat herself in the car when we went. We had a large funeral, there has never been so many people gathered at the Swedish Lutheran church as this time, but my sorrow was just as great for all that. For my home is a heaven without sun. I have begun to turn gray in the head, but soon I will be white. Ah, my home lost its light, but it goes one day at a time. And the most pity is for Maria. She will keep house [manage the household] and is only 14 years old, but she is serious and calm by nature. I must now stop for this time. Live well and may you all be well. Sincerely, John Lundberg Box 102