← A Modest Proposal: For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick

A Modest Proposal: For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick — Page 1

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A Modest Proposal

Ein bescheidener Vorschlag

For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick.

Um zu verhindern, dass die Kinder armer Menschen in Irland ihren Eltern oder ihrem Land zur Last fallen, und um sie der Öffentlichkeit nützlich zu machen.

by Dr. Jonathan Swift

von Dr. Jonathan Swift

1729

It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabbin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms.

Es ist ein trauriger Anblick für jene, die durch diese große Stadt gehen oder auf dem Land reisen, wenn sie sehen, wie die Straßen, die Wege und die Hüttentüren mit Bettlerinnen überfüllt sind, denen drei, vier oder sechs Kinder folgen, alle in Lumpen, und die jeden Passanten um ein Almosen anflehen.

These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in stroling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes.

Diese Mütter, anstatt für ihren ehrlichen Lebensunterhalt arbeiten zu können, sind gezwungen, ihre gesamte Zeit damit zu verbringen, umherzustreifen und Nahrung für ihre hilflosen Säuglinge zu erbetteln, die, wenn sie heranwachsen, entweder aus Mangel an Arbeit zu Dieben werden oder ihr geliebtes Heimatland verlassen, um in Spanien für den Prätendenten zu kämpfen oder sich auf Barbados zu verdingen.

I think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently of their fathers, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom, a very great additional grievance; and therefore whoever could find out a fair, cheap and easy method of making these children sound and useful members of the commonwealth, would deserve so well of the publick, as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation.

Ich glaube, es ist allgemein anerkannt, dass diese gewaltige Anzahl von Kindern, die auf den Armen, auf den Rücken oder an den Fersen ihrer Mütter und häufig auch ihrer Väter getragen werden, angesichts des gegenwärtig beklagenswerten Zustands des Königreichs eine sehr große zusätzliche Beschwer darstellt; und daher würde derjenige, der eine gerechte, billige und einfache Methode finden könnte, diese Kinder zu gesunden und nützlichen Mitgliedern des Gemeinwesens zu machen, sich so große Verdienste um die Öffentlichkeit erwerben, dass ihm eine Statue als Retter der Nation errichtet werden sollte.

Vocabulary

Ein: Indefinite article; one
bescheidener: Modest; humble; unassuming
Vorschlag: Proposal; suggestion; recommendation
Um: In order to; around; by
zu: To; infinitive marker; too
verhindern: To prevent; to stop; to hinder
dass: That; conjunction introducing subordinate clause
die: The; feminine or plural article
Kinder: Children; plural of Kind
armer: Poor; impoverished; of little means
Menschen: People; humans; mankind in general
in: In; into; within a place
Irland: Ireland; island nation west of Britain
ihren: Their; possessive pronoun feminine/plural
Eltern: Parents; father and mother
oder: Or; conjunction presenting alternatives
ihrem: Their; possessive pronoun dative singular
Land: Country; land; region; state
zur: To the; contraction of zu der
Last: Burden; load; weight; trouble
fallen: To fall; to drop; to happen
und: And; conjunction joining words or clauses
um: In order to; around; by
sie: They; them; it; feminine pronoun
der: The; masculine or dative article
Öffentlichkeit: Public; the public; general society
nützlich: Useful; practical; serving a purpose
machen: To make; to do; to create
von: From; by; of; about something
Es: It; neuter pronoun; third person singular
ist: Is; third person singular present of sein
ein: A; an; indefinite article masculine
trauriger: Sad; sorrowful; melancholy; mournful
Anblick: Sight; view; spectacle; appearance
für: For; on behalf of; in favor of
jene: Those; that; yonder; those people
durch: Through; by means of; via
große: Great; large; big; of large size
Stadt: City; town; urban settlement
gehen: To go; to walk; to move forward
auf: On; upon; at; in; upward
dem: The; dative masculine or neuter article
reisen: To travel; to journey; to trip
wenn: If; when; whenever; conditional conjunction
sehen: To see; to look; to observe
wie: How; as; what; in what manner
Straßen: Streets; roads; pathways in town
Wege: Paths; ways; routes; roads
mit: With; by means of; together
Bettlerinnen: Female beggars; women who beg for alms
überfüllt: Overcrowded; overflowing; excessively full
sind: Are; third person plural present of sein
denen: Those; whom; to which; relative pronoun
drei: Three; number between two and four
vier: Four; number between three and five
sechs: Six; number between five and seven
folgen: To follow; to go after; to pursue
alle: All; every; everyone; entire; whole
Lumpen: Rags; tattered clothing; scraps of cloth
jeden: Every; each; all; any single one
Passanten: Passersby; pedestrians; people passing through
Almosen: Alms; charity; gifts to the poor
anflehen: To beg; to implore; to plead
Diese: These; those; this; such people
Mütter: Mothers; female parents; plural of Mutter
anstatt: Instead of; in place of; rather than
ehrlichen: Honest; honorable; upright; respectable work
Lebensunterhalt: Livelihood; means of living; subsistence
arbeiten: To work; to labor; to be employed
können: Can; to be able; to be possible
gezwungen: Forced; compelled; obliged; under pressure
gesamte: Entire; whole; complete; all of
Zeit: Time; period; era; duration; hour

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