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 6
I have reckoned upon a medium, that a child just born will weigh 12 pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, encreaseth to 28 pounds.
Ich habe einen Mittelwert zugrunde gelegt, dass ein neugeborenes Kind 12 Pfund wiegen wird und in einem Sonnenjahr, wenn es halbwegs gut genährt wird, auf 28 Pfund anwächst.
I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.
Ich räume ein, dass diese Speise etwas kostspielig sein wird und daher sehr geeignet für Grundbesitzer, die, da sie bereits die meisten Eltern verschlungen haben, den besten Anspruch auf die Kinder zu haben scheinen.
Infant's flesh will be in season throughout the year, but more plentiful in March, and a little before and after; for we are told by a grave author, an eminent French physician, that fish being a prolifick dyet, there are more children born in Roman Catholick countries about nine months after Lent, than at any other season; therefore, reckoning a year after Lent, the markets will be more glutted than usual, because the number of Popish infants, is at least three to one in this kingdom, and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of Papists among us.
Säuglingsfleisch wird das ganze Jahr über Saison haben, aber reichlicher im März und kurz davor und danach; denn ein gewichtiger Autor, ein bedeutender französischer Arzt, teilt uns mit, dass da Fisch eine fruchtbarkeitsfördernde Kost ist, in römisch-katholischen Ländern etwa neun Monate nach der Fastenzeit mehr Kinder geboren werden als zu irgendeiner anderen Jahreszeit; rechnet man daher ein Jahr nach der Fastenzeit, werden die Märkte mehr als gewöhnlich übersättigt sein, weil die Zahl der päpstlichen Säuglinge in diesem Königreich mindestens drei zu eins beträgt, und daher wird dies noch einen weiteren mittelbaren Vorteil haben, indem es die Zahl der Papisten unter uns vermindert.
I have already computed the charge of nursing a beggar's child (in which list I reckon all cottagers, labourers, and four-fifths of the farmers) to be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no gentleman would repine to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child, which, as I have said, will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat, when he hath only some particular friend, or his own family to dine with him.
Ich habe bereits die Kosten für die Aufzucht eines Bettelkindes (zu welcher Liste ich alle Kätner, Tagelöhner und vier Fünftel der Bauern zähle) auf etwa zwei Schilling pro Jahr veranschlagt, Lumpen eingeschlossen; und ich glaube, kein Gentleman würde sich beklagen, zehn Schilling für den Kadaver eines guten fetten Kindes zu geben, welches, wie ich bereits sagte, vier Gerichte ausgezeichneten nahrhaften Fleisches ergeben wird, wenn er nur einen besonderen Freund oder seine eigene Familie bei sich zum Essen hat.
Vocabulary
- Mittelwert
- Average or mean value used in calculations
- zugrunde
- Underlying basis; used in 'zugrunde legen' (to base on)
- neugeborenes
- Adjective describing a newly born infant or child
- Pfund
- Unit of weight (pound) or German currency unit
- wiegen
- To weigh; measure the weight of something
- Sonnenjahr
- Solar year; period of one full earth orbit
- halbwegs
- Adverb meaning halfway or reasonably well
- genährt
- Past participle of 'nähren'; nourished or fed adequately
- anwächst
- Third person singular of 'anwachsen'; grows or increases
- räume
- First person singular of 'einräumen'; concede or admit
- Speise
- Food or dish served at a meal
- kostspielig
- Adjective meaning expensive or costly
- daher
- Adverb meaning therefore or consequently
- geeignet
- Adjective meaning suitable or appropriate for something
- Grundbesitzer
- Landowner; person who owns land or property
- bereits
- Adverb meaning already or by now
- verschlungen
- Past participle of 'verschlingen'; devoured or consumed greedily
- Anspruch
- Claim, entitlement, or right to something
- scheinen
- To seem or appear; also to shine (light)
- Säuglingsfleisch
- Flesh of an infant; infant meat (satirical context)
- Saison
- Season; time of year for particular activities or produce
- reichlicher
- Comparative of 'reichlich'; more abundant or plentiful
- davor
- Adverb meaning before that or in front of it
- danach
- Adverb meaning after that or thereafter
- gewichtiger
- Comparative of 'gewichtig'; more weighty or authoritative
- bedeutender
- Comparative of 'bedeutend'; more significant or notable
- Arzt
- Doctor or physician who treats patients
- fruchtbarkeitsfördernde
- Adjective meaning fertility-promoting or reproductive-enhancing
- Kost
- Diet or food; nourishment consumed regularly
- römisch-katholischen
- Adjective meaning Roman Catholic (dative/genitive form)
- etwa
- Adverb meaning approximately, about, or for example
- Fastenzeit
- Lent; period of fasting in Christian tradition
- irgendeiner
- Indefinite pronoun meaning any, some, or whichever one
- Jahreszeit
- Season of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter)
- rechnet
- Third person singular of 'rechnen'; calculates or counts on
- Märkte
- Plural of 'Markt'; markets or marketplaces
- gewöhnlich
- Adverb or adjective meaning usually or ordinary
- übersättigt
- Adjective meaning oversaturated, glutted, or oversupplied
- Zahl
- Number or quantity; numerical count of something
- päpstlichen
- Adjective meaning papal; relating to the Pope
- Säuglinge
- Plural of 'Säugling'; infants or nursing babies
- Königreich
- Kingdom; nation ruled by a king or queen
- mindestens
- Adverb meaning at least or as a minimum
- beträgt
- Third person singular of 'betragen'; amounts to or totals
- mittelbaren
- Adjective meaning indirect (declined form)
- Vorteil
- Advantage or benefit gained from a situation
- indem
- Conjunction meaning by (doing something) or in that
- Papisten
- Plural of 'Papist'; derogatory term for Roman Catholics
- vermindert
- Past participle or adjective meaning reduced or diminished
- Kosten
- Plural noun meaning costs, expenses, or charges
- Aufzucht
- Rearing or raising of young animals or children
- Bettelkindes
- Genitive of 'Bettelkind'; child of a beggar or pauper
- Kätner
- Cottager; small tenant farmer with minimal landholding
- Tagelöhner
- Day laborer; worker paid by the day
- Fünftel
- One fifth; a fraction equal to 1/5
- Bauern
- Plural of 'Bauer'; farmers or peasants
- zähle
- First person singular of 'zählen'; count or include
- Schilling
- Shilling; historical monetary unit used in Britain
- veranschlagt
- Past participle of 'veranschlagen'; estimated or budgeted at
- Lumpen
- Rags or tattered clothing; also plural of 'Lump'
- eingeschlossen
- Past participle of 'einschließen'; included or enclosed within
- Gentleman
- Gentleman; man of high social standing or good manners
- würde
- Subjunctive form of 'werden'; would (conditional mood)
- beklagen
- To complain about or lament something
- Kadaver
- Carcass or cadaver; body of a dead animal
- fetten
- Declined adjective meaning fat or well-fattened
- Gerichte
- Plural of 'Gericht'; dishes, meals, or courts of law
- ausgezeichneten
- Declined adjective meaning excellent or outstanding
- nahrhaften
- Declined adjective meaning nutritious or nourishing
- Fleisches
- Genitive of 'Fleisch'; of meat or flesh
- ergeben
- To yield, produce, or result in something
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