Whitsun – or the time translators suddenly found themselves unemployed

by Maria Wolf, translated by Colin Rae

They were all together in one place, when the wind started howling and “tongues of fire” came to rest on each of them. Then they began “to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2: 1-4). It seemed the confusion of the profusion of languages that had plagued mankind since the building of the Tower of Babel was finally resolved.

But reading on in the Acts of the Apostles (2: 1-13) we learn that those gathered were less interested in what the others were saying than they were in asserting that their fellows had “had too much wine”. Perhaps they all just had thick accents.

Regrettably, neither alcohol nor cheerful gatherings during Whitsun storms have since resulted in a sudden shared proficiency in foreign languages.

So it still falls to well-trained translators and interpreters to make messages understood around the world.

Praise be!