A Tale of Two Cities — Page 1
The Mail
Die Post
It was the Dover road that lay, on a Friday night late in November, before the first of the persons with whom this history has business.
Es war die Straße nach Dover, die an einem Freitagabend spät im November vor der ersten der Personen lag, mit denen diese Geschichte zu tun hat.
The Dover road lay, as to him, beyond the Dover mail, as it lumbered up Shooter's Hill.
Die Straße nach Dover lag, was ihn betraf, jenseits der Doverkutsche, während diese sich schwerfällig den Shooter's Hill hinaufbewegte.
He walked up hill in the mire by the side of the mail, as the rest of the passengers did; not because they had the least relish for walking exercise, under the circumstances, but because the hill, and the harness, and the mud, and the mail, were all so heavy, that the horses had three times already come to a stop, besides once drawing the coach across the road, with the mutinous intent of taking it back to Blackheath.
Er ging den Hügel durch den Schlamm neben der Postkutsche hinauf, wie es auch die übrigen Passagiere taten; nicht weil sie unter diesen Umständen die geringste Freude am Gehen gehabt hätten, sondern weil der Hügel und das Geschirr und der Schlamm und die Kutsche allesamt so schwer waren, dass die Pferde bereits dreimal angehalten hatten und dabei einmal die Kutsche quer über die Straße gezogen hatten, mit der aufrührerischen Absicht, sie nach Blackheath zurückzubringen.
Reins and whip and coachman and guard, however, in combination, had read that article of war which forbade a purpose otherwise strongly in favour of the argument, that some brute animals are endued with Reason; and the team had capitulated and returned to their duty.
Zügel und Peitsche und Kutscher und Wache jedoch hatten gemeinsam jenen Kriegsartikel zur Kenntnis genommen, der einen Vorsatz untersagte, der ansonsten kräftig für das Argument gesprochen hätte, dass manche Tiere mit Vernunft begabt sind; und das Gespann hatte kapituliert und war zu seiner Pflicht zurückgekehrt.
With drooping heads and tremulous tails, they mashed their way through the thick mud, floundering and stumbling between whiles, as if they were falling to pieces at the larger joints.
Mit hängenden Köpfen und zitternden Schweifen kämpften sie sich durch den tiefen Schlamm, taumelnd und stolpernd zwischendurch, als würden sie an den größeren Gelenken auseinanderfallen.
Vocabulary
- Post
- Mail service or postal delivery
- war
- Past tense of 'sein': was, were
- Straße
- A road or street for travel
- nach
- Preposition meaning 'to' or 'after'
- an
- Preposition meaning 'at' or 'on'
- Freitagabend
- Friday evening, end of the workweek
- spät
- Adjective or adverb meaning late
- November
- The eleventh month of the year
- vor
- Preposition meaning 'before' or 'in front of'
- ersten
- Ordinal adjective meaning 'first' (declined)
- Personen
- Plural of Person: people or individuals
- lag
- Past tense of 'liegen': lay, was located
- mit
- Preposition meaning 'with'
- denen
- Dative relative pronoun: with whom, to whom
- diese
- Demonstrative pronoun or adjective: this, these
- Geschichte
- A story, history, or narrative account
- zu
- Preposition or particle meaning 'to' or 'too'
- tun
- Infinitive verb meaning to do or act
- hat
- Third person singular of 'haben': has
- was
- Relative pronoun or past tense: what, was
- ihn
- Accusative masculine pronoun: him
- betraf
- Past tense of 'betreffen': concerned or affected someone
- jenseits
- Preposition meaning beyond or on the other side
- während
- Conjunction or preposition meaning 'while' or 'during'
- sich
- Reflexive pronoun meaning itself, himself, herself
- schwerfällig
- Moving or acting in a slow, heavy manner
- hinaufbewegte
- Past tense of 'sich hinaufbewegen': moved upward slowly
- ging
- Past tense of 'gehen': went, walked
- Hügel
- A hill or elevated mound of land
- durch
- Preposition meaning 'through' or 'across'
- Schlamm
- Mud or wet, thick, dirty earth
- neben
- Preposition meaning next to or beside
- Postkutsche
- Historical horse-drawn mail or passenger coach
- hinauf
- Directional adverb meaning upward or up there
- wie
- Conjunction or adverb meaning 'how' or 'as'
- auch
- Adverb meaning 'also,' 'too,' or 'as well'
- übrigen
- Adjective meaning 'remaining' or 'other' (declined)
- Passagiere
- Passengers traveling on a vehicle or coach
- taten
- Past tense plural of 'tun': did, acted
- nicht
- Negation adverb meaning 'not'
- weil
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'because'
- unter
- Preposition meaning 'under,' 'below,' or 'among'
- diesen
- Dative demonstrative adjective: these, those
- Umständen
- Dative plural of Umstand: circumstances or conditions
- geringste
- Superlative adjective: slightest or least amount
- Freude
- Joy, pleasure, or happiness felt by someone
- Gehen
- Gerund of 'gehen': the act of walking
- gehabt
- Past participle of 'haben': had
- hätten
- Subjunctive II of 'haben': would have
- sondern
- Conjunction meaning 'but rather' after negation
- Geschirr
- Harness equipment used on draft animals
- Kutsche
- A horse-drawn carriage or coach
- allesamt
- Adverb meaning all together or altogether
- so
- Adverb meaning 'so,' 'such,' or 'thus'
- schwer
- Adjective meaning heavy or difficult
- waren
- Past tense plural of 'sein': were
- dass
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'that'
- Pferde
- Plural of Pferd: horses used for pulling
- bereits
- Adverb meaning 'already' or 'by now'
- dreimal
- Adverb meaning three times or thrice
- angehalten
- Past participle of 'anhalten': stopped or halted
- hatten
- Past tense plural of 'haben': had
- dabei
- Adverb meaning 'in doing so' or 'at the same time'
- einmal
- Adverb meaning once or one time
- quer
- Adverb or adjective meaning crosswise or diagonal
- über
- Preposition meaning over, above, or across
- gezogen
- Past participle of 'ziehen': pulled or drawn
- aufrührerischen
- Adjective meaning rebellious or seditious (declined)
- Absicht
- Intention or purpose behind an action
- zurückzubringen
- Infinitive meaning to bring back or return something
- Zügel
- Reins used to guide and control horses
- Peitsche
- A whip used to drive or control animals
- Kutscher
- A coachman who drives a horse-drawn vehicle
- Wache
- A guard or watchman keeping protective watch
- jedoch
- Adverb or conjunction meaning however or yet
- gemeinsam
- Adjective or adverb meaning together or jointly
- jenen
- Accusative demonstrative adjective: those (declined)
- Kriegsartikel
- Articles of war governing military conduct and discipline
- Kenntnis
- Knowledge or awareness of a fact or situation
- genommen
- Past participle of 'nehmen': taken
- Vorsatz
- A deliberate intention or resolution to act
- untersagte
- Past tense of 'untersagen': prohibited or forbade
- ansonsten
- Adverb meaning otherwise or in other respects
- kräftig
- Adjective meaning strong, vigorous, or powerful
- für
- Preposition meaning 'for' or 'in favor of'
- Argument
- A reason or argument given in support
- gesprochen
- Past participle of 'sprechen': spoken or argued
- hätte
- Subjunctive II of 'haben': would have (singular)
- manche
- Indefinite adjective meaning some or many
- Tiere
- Plural of Tier: animals or creatures
- Vernunft
- Reason or rational thinking capacity
- begabt
- Adjective meaning gifted or endowed with a quality
- Gespann
- A team of horses or draft animals harnessed together
- hatte
- Past tense singular of 'haben': had
- kapituliert
- Past participle of 'kapitulieren': surrendered or given in
- seiner
- Genitive/dative possessive pronoun: his or its
- Pflicht
- Duty or obligation one is required to fulfill
- zurückgekehrt
- Past participle of 'zurückkehren': returned or came back
- Mit
- Preposition meaning 'with' (here beginning a phrase)
- hängenden
- Present participle of 'hängen': hanging (declined adjective)
- Köpfen
- Dative plural of Kopf: heads (of animals here)
- zitternden
- Present participle of 'zittern': trembling (declined adjective)
- Schweifen
- Dative plural of Schweif: tails of animals
- kämpften
- Past tense plural of 'kämpfen': struggled or fought
- tiefen
- Adjective meaning deep (declined): through deep mud
- taumelnd
- Present participle of 'taumeln': staggering or reeling
- stolpernd
- Present participle of 'stolpern': stumbling or tripping
- zwischendurch
- Adverb meaning in between or every now and then
- als
- Conjunction meaning 'as,' 'when,' or 'than'
- würden
- Conditional auxiliary: would (subjunctive plural)
- größeren
- Comparative adjective meaning larger or bigger (declined)
- Gelenken
- Dative plural of Gelenk: joints of the body
- auseinanderfallen
- Infinitive meaning to fall apart or disintegrate
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