There’s a confusing passage halfway through “The Ferry”, where the operator, Josip, is thinking of Maria, a young girl who crosses the river, always late in the day, with parcels for the Lord (though on this occasion Maria “brings only herself”).

Here is the passage:

“The late afternoons bring confusion. His misgivings vanish with weariness. His thoughts are traveling secret paths. The Lord is no longer young. He’ll never harbor any desire as painful as young Josip Poje’s. Why does Maria have to think about him when he doesn’t even look at her, but is thinking instead of great things that are incomprehensible and obscure to her! She can go to him time and again, he won’t so much as see her if she doesn’t say anything. He won’t be able to read her eyes and will send the girl without words away. He’ll know nothing of her sadness and love. And the summer will pass and in winter, Maria will have to go dancing with him.”

For me, the confusion lies in the ambiguous use of the male pronoun.

“The late afternoons bring confusion. His misgivings vanish with weariness. His thoughts are traveling secret paths. The Lord is no longer young. He’ll never harbor any desire as painful as young Josip Poje’s. Why does Maria have to think about him [who?] when he [who?] doesn’t even look at her, but is thinking instead of great things that are incomprehensible and obscure to her! She can go to him [who?] time and again, he won’t so much as see her if she doesn’t say anything. He [who?] won’t be able to read her eyes and will send the girl without words away. He’ll [who?] know nothing of her sadness and love. And the summer will pass and in winter, Maria will have to go dancing with him [who?].”

If I had to guess, I would say that the hes and hims refer to the Lord. But as the story proceeds, Josip, who seems oblivious to Maria’s affair with him (the Lord), “doesn’t look her way, doesn’t want to look at all.” Later, after denying her passage (because he felt like it), Josip says, “I’m thinking of wintertime. Would you go dancing with me?” though he knows she’ll be obliged to dance with the Lord.

There’s more, of course -- more beautiful confusion. Yes, I will look at Bachmann’s German text, to see if the ambiguity originated there. But if it didn’t, if it was a “translation problem", then I will savour that problem with each rereading.