Rosenberger to Peano

Idiom Neutral

12/25 yanuar 1908

A s. prof. G. Peano in Turin

Sinior multe estimed!

Mi avav honor mitar a vo postkart datu 28 novembr/11 desembr 1907 ko tekst sekuant:

„Mi mersi multe pro kart afabl datu 5 desembr. Mi es multe kontent, ke vo no refus akseptar selektasion eventual kuale direktor de Akademi Int. de. L.U., ma ke vo dik sole, ke kualiteti de direktor mank e ke vo no av temp fasiar labor de kompletar diksionar eks sirkulari. — Relativu argument prim, mi truv, ke it es sole fras monstrant votr modestitet, — et mi no pensav, ke mi potes esar direktor, kuande on selektav mi, ma mi av efektued mie problem;[1] e relativu argument sekund vo es in eror: labor leplu grand de kompletifikasion de diksionar esav fasied ya, kekos vo potes visar in suplement a diksionar, kel mi avav honor mitar a vo ante du diurni. Rest minim de paroli potes esar fasied et no per direktor aut: vo avero un visedirektor e du sekretari. — Talmaniere mi esper, ke vo akseptero, kekos mi preg afirmar mediu letr u kart pobreve. — P.S. Mi skrib a vo e no a s. prof. M. kause mi persone prefer vo.”

Usk sitempe mi no av resived respond. It es posibl e ipse probabl, ke vo no av resived mie kart postal mensioned. Sikause mi av skribed superiore kopi de it e mi preg denove vo, avar komplesans[2] honorar pobreve mi mediu respond — mi esper mediu respond afirmativ. Mi adyunkt kart postal respondativ adresed ko preg usar ist kart, if it val.

Ko salut respektos mi rest votr serv leplu devot,

V. Rosenberger

P.S. Responda nemediate, if it plis! R.

Lingu anglik

12/25 January 1908

To Prof. G. Peano in Turin

Much esteemed sir!

I had the honour to send you a postcard dated 28 November/11 December 1907 with the following text:

“I thank you greatly for your kind postcard dated 5 December. I am very happy that you are not refusing to accept a possible selection as director of the International Academy of the Universal Language, but that you say only that the qualities of a director are lacking and that you don't have time to do the work of completing the dictionary from the circulars. — Regarding the first argument, I find that it is only a sentence showing your modesty, — I also did not think that I could be director when they selected me, but I performed my duties; and regarding the second argument, you are in error: the biggest work of completing the dictionary was done already, which you can see in the supplement to the dictionary, which I had the honour of sending you two days ago. The small remainder of words can also be done not by the director himself: you will have one vicedirector and two secretaries. — In this way I hope that you will accept, which I request confirmation of by letter or a postcart shortly. — P.S. I am writing to you and not to Prof. M. because I personally prefer you.”

So far I have not received a response. It's possible and even probable that you haven't received my aforementioned postcard. Therefore, I have written above a copy of it and I ask you again to be kind enough to honour me shortly with a response — I hope with an affirmative one. I am attaching an addressed postcard you can use to respond, if it is worth it.

With a respectful salutation I remain you most devoted servant,

V. Rosenberger

P.S. Please respond immediately! R.  

NOTES:

[1] The phrase efektuar problem seems to derive from the German Aufgabe erfüllen (to complete a task, do one's duty). Here “problem” is understood in the sense of “task, assignment”.
 [2] Komplesans (complaisance) does not appear in the 1902 dictionary, but it is cleary a more international variant of what would be the regularly derived komplesantitet.