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 13
Supposing that one thousand families in this city, would be constant customers for infants flesh, besides others who might have it at merry meetings, particularly at weddings and christenings, I compute that Dublin would take off annually about twenty thousand carcasses; and the rest of the kingdom (where probably they will be sold somewhat cheaper) the remaining eighty thousand.
Angenommen, dass tausend Familien in dieser Stadt ständige Abnehmer von Säuglingsfleisch wären, abgesehen von anderen, die es bei fröhlichen Zusammenkünften haben könnten, besonders bei Hochzeiten und Taufen, so berechne ich, dass Dublin jährlich etwa zwanzigtausend Kadaver abnehmen würde; und der Rest des Königreichs (wo sie wahrscheinlich etwas billiger verkauft werden) die verbleibenden achtzigtausend.
I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged, that the number of people will be thereby much lessened in the kingdom.
Ich kann mir keinen einzigen Einwand vorstellen, der gegen diesen Vorschlag erhoben werden könnte, es sei denn, man würde geltend machen, dass die Zahl der Menschen im Königreich dadurch erheblich verringert würde.
This I freely own, and was indeed one principal design in offering it to the world.
Das gebe ich offen zu, und es war tatsächlich einer der Hauptgründe, es der Welt vorzustellen.
I desire the reader will observe, that I calculate my remedy for this one individual Kingdom of Ireland, and for no other that ever was, is, or, I think, ever can be upon Earth.
Ich bitte den Leser zu beachten, dass ich mein Heilmittel für dieses eine einzige Königreich Irland berechne, und für kein anderes, das jemals war, ist, oder, wie ich glaube, jemals auf Erden sein kann.
Vocabulary
- Angenommen
- Assuming; used to introduce a hypothetical condition
- dass
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'that'
- tausend
- The number one thousand
- Familien
- Plural of Familie; families or households
- in
- Preposition meaning 'in' or 'within'
- dieser
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'this' (dative/genitive)
- Stadt
- A city or town
- ständige
- Adjective meaning permanent, constant, or regular
- Abnehmer
- A buyer, customer, or regular consumer of goods
- von
- Preposition meaning 'of' or 'from'
- wären
- Subjunctive II of 'sein'; would be
- abgesehen
- Apart from; setting aside a particular consideration
- anderen
- Others; referring to other people or things
- die
- Definite article or relative pronoun 'the/who/which'
- es
- Neuter pronoun meaning 'it'
- bei
- Preposition meaning 'at,' 'during,' or 'on the occasion of'
- fröhlichen
- Adjective meaning joyful, cheerful, or merry
- Zusammenkünften
- Plural of Zusammenkunft; gatherings or meetings
- haben
- To have; auxiliary verb in German
- könnten
- Subjunctive II of 'können'; could or might
- besonders
- Especially or particularly; emphasizing something
- Hochzeiten
- Plural of Hochzeit; weddings or marriage ceremonies
- und
- Coordinating conjunction meaning 'and'
- Taufen
- Plural of Taufe; baptisms or christening ceremonies
- so
- Adverb or conjunction meaning 'so' or 'thus'
- berechne
- First-person singular of berechnen; I calculate or estimate
- ich
- First-person singular pronoun meaning 'I'
- jährlich
- Adjective or adverb meaning annually or yearly
- etwa
- Adverb meaning approximately or about
- zwanzigtausend
- The number twenty thousand
- Kadaver
- Carcass or corpse of an animal
- abnehmen
- To take away, accept, or purchase goods
- würde
- Subjunctive II of 'werden'; would
- der
- Definite article or relative pronoun 'the/who'
- Rest
- The remainder or rest of something
- des
- Genitive definite article meaning 'of the'
- Königreichs
- Genitive of Königreich; of the kingdom
- wo
- Relative adverb meaning 'where'
- sie
- Third-person pronoun meaning 'she,' 'they,' or 'you (formal)'
- wahrscheinlich
- Adverb meaning probably or likely
- etwas
- Pronoun or adverb meaning 'something' or 'somewhat'
- billiger
- Comparative of billig; cheaper or less expensive
- verkauft
- Past participle of verkaufen; sold
- werden
- Auxiliary verb meaning 'to become' or forming passive/future
- verbleibenden
- Adjective meaning remaining or leftover
- achtzigtausend
- The number eighty thousand
- Ich
- First-person singular pronoun meaning 'I'
- kann
- First-person singular of können; can or am able to
- mir
- Dative first-person pronoun meaning 'me' or 'myself'
- keinen
- Negative article meaning 'not a' or 'no' (accusative)
- einzigen
- Adjective meaning single, sole, or only one
- Einwand
- An objection or protest raised against something
- vorstellen
- To imagine, introduce, or present something
- gegen
- Preposition meaning 'against' or 'toward'
- diesen
- Accusative demonstrative pronoun meaning 'this'
- Vorschlag
- A proposal, suggestion, or recommendation
- erhoben
- Past participle of erheben; raised or put forward
- könnte
- Subjunctive II of können; could or might
- sei
- Subjunctive I of sein; be; used in reported speech
- denn
- Conjunction meaning 'for,' 'because,' or 'than'
- man
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'one,' 'people,' or 'you'
- geltend
- Present participle of gelten; asserting or making valid
- machen
- To make or do; common German verb
- Zahl
- A number, figure, or count
- Menschen
- Plural of Mensch; people or human beings
- im
- Contraction of in dem; in the
- Königreich
- A kingdom or realm
- dadurch
- Adverb meaning thereby, through this, or as a result
- erheblich
- Adjective meaning considerable, significant, or substantial
- verringert
- Past participle of verringern; reduced or decreased
- Das
- Neuter definite article or demonstrative pronoun 'that/this'
- gebe
- Subjunctive I of geben; give; used in concessive clauses
- offen
- Adjective or adverb meaning open or openly
- zu
- Preposition or particle meaning 'to,' 'too,' or 'at'
- war
- Simple past of sein; was
- tatsächlich
- Adverb meaning actually, indeed, or in fact
- einer
- Indefinite article meaning 'one' or 'a' (genitive/dative)
- Hauptgründe
- Plural of Hauptgrund; main reasons or primary causes
- Welt
- The world or earth
- vorzustellen
- Infinitive of vorstellen; to imagine or present
- bitte
- Please; polite request word
- den
- Accusative definite article meaning 'the'
- Leser
- A reader of text or written material
- beachten
- To note, observe, or pay attention to something
- mein
- Possessive pronoun meaning 'my'
- Heilmittel
- A remedy, cure, or medicinal treatment
- für
- Preposition meaning 'for'
- dieses
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'this' (neuter)
- eine
- Indefinite article meaning 'a' or 'one' (feminine)
- einzige
- Adjective meaning sole, only, or single
- kein
- Negative article meaning 'no' or 'not any'
- anderes
- Neuter form of andere; another or different thing
- das
- Neuter definite article or relative pronoun 'that/which'
- jemals
- Adverb meaning ever or at any time
- ist
- Third-person singular of sein; is
- oder
- Coordinating conjunction meaning 'or'
- wie
- Conjunction or adverb meaning 'how,' 'as,' or 'like'
- glaube
- First-person singular of glauben; I believe or think
- auf
- Preposition meaning 'on,' 'onto,' or 'upon'
- Erden
- Dative of Erde; on earth or in the world
- sein
- To be; fundamental German auxiliary and lexical verb
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →