A Tale of Two Cities — Page 1
The Period
Die Epoche
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Es war die beste aller Zeiten, es war die schlimmste aller Zeiten, es war das Zeitalter der Weisheit, es war das Zeitalter der Torheit, es war die Epoche des Glaubens, es war die Epoche des Unglaubens, es war die Jahreszeit des Lichts, es war die Jahreszeit der Dunkelheit, es war der Frühling der Hoffnung, es war der Winter der Verzweiflung, wir hatten alles vor uns, wir hatten nichts vor uns, wir gingen alle geradewegs in den Himmel, wir gingen alle geradewegs in die andere Richtung – kurzum, die Epoche glich der gegenwärtigen Epoche so sehr, dass einige ihrer lautesten Autoritäten darauf bestanden, dass sie, zum Guten oder zum Bösen, ausschließlich im höchsten Grad des Vergleichs aufgenommen werde.
There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France.
Es gab einen König mit einem breiten Kiefer und eine Königin mit einem schlichten Gesicht auf dem Thron Englands; es gab einen König mit einem breiten Kiefer und eine Königin mit einem anmutigen Gesicht auf dem Thron Frankreichs.
In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever.
In beiden Ländern war es den Herren der staatlichen Vorratskammern von Brot und Fischen kristallklarer als Kristall, dass die Dinge im Allgemeinen für immer geregelt waren.
It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.
Es war das Jahr des Herrn eintausendsiebenhundertfünfundsiebzig.
Spiritual revelations were conceded to England at that favoured period, as at this.
Geistliche Offenbarungen wurden England in jener begünstigten Zeit zuteil, wie auch in dieser.
Mrs. Southcott had recently attained her five-and-twentieth blessed birthday, of whom a prophetic private in the Life Guards had heralded the sublime appearance by announcing that arrangements were made for the swallowing up of London and Westminster.
Mrs. Southcott hatte kürzlich ihren fünfundzwanzigsten gesegneten Geburtstag erreicht, deren erhabenes Erscheinen ein prophetischer gemeiner Soldat der Leibgarde angekündigt hatte, indem er verkündete, dass Vorkehrungen getroffen worden seien, um London und Westminster zu verschlingen.
Vocabulary
- Epoche
- A distinct period or era in history
- war
- Past tense of 'sein'; was
- beste
- Superlative adjective meaning best
- aller
- Genitive plural of 'all'; of all
- Zeiten
- Plural of Zeit; times or eras
- schlimmste
- Superlative of schlimm; worst
- Zeitalter
- An age or epoch in historical context
- Weisheit
- The quality of being wise; wisdom
- Torheit
- Foolishness or lack of good judgment
- Glaubens
- Genitive of Glaube; of faith or belief
- Unglaubens
- Genitive of Unglaube; of disbelief or skepticism
- Jahreszeit
- One of the four seasons of the year
- Lichts
- Genitive of Licht; of light
- Dunkelheit
- The state of being dark; darkness
- Frühling
- The season between winter and summer; spring
- Hoffnung
- A feeling of expectation for something good; hope
- Winter
- The coldest season of the year
- Verzweiflung
- A state of hopelessness and despair
- hatten
- Past tense of haben; had
- alles
- Everything; all things combined
- vor
- Preposition meaning before or in front of
- nichts
- Pronoun meaning nothing at all
- gingen
- Past tense of gehen; went
- alle
- Plural indefinite pronoun meaning all or everyone
- geradewegs
- Adverb meaning directly or straight toward
- Himmel
- The sky or heaven above
- andere
- Adjective meaning other or different
- Richtung
- A course or path; direction
- kurzum
- Adverb meaning in short or in brief
- glich
- Past tense of gleichen; resembled or equaled
- gegenwärtigen
- Adjective form of gegenwärtig; present or current
- sehr
- Adverb intensifier meaning very or much
- dass
- Subordinating conjunction meaning that
- einige
- Indefinite pronoun meaning some or a few
- lautesten
- Superlative of laut; loudest or most vocal
- Autoritäten
- Plural of Autorität; authorities or experts
- darauf
- Adverb meaning thereupon or on that
- bestanden
- Past tense of bestehen; insisted or persisted
- Guten
- Dative of gut; for good or the good
- Bösen
- Dative of böse; for evil or the bad
- ausschließlich
- Adverb meaning exclusively or solely
- höchsten
- Superlative of hoch; highest or utmost
- Grad
- A unit of measure or degree of intensity
- Vergleichs
- Genitive of Vergleich; of comparison
- aufgenommen
- Past participle of aufnehmen; received or recorded
- werde
- First/third person subjunctive of werden; will become
- gab
- Past tense of geben; there was or gave
- König
- A male monarch who rules a kingdom
- breiten
- Adjective form of breit; wide or broad
- Kiefer
- The jaw bone of a face
- Königin
- A female monarch or king's wife; queen
- schlichten
- Adjective form meaning plain, simple, or ordinary
- Gesicht
- The front part of the head; face
- Thron
- A ceremonial chair for a monarch; throne
- anmutigen
- Adjective form of anmutig; graceful or elegant
- beiden
- Dative/adjective form of beide; both
- Ländern
- Dative plural of Land; in countries or lands
- Herren
- Plural of Herr; gentlemen or lords
- staatlichen
- Adjective form of staatlich; governmental or state
- Vorratskammern
- Plural of Vorratskammer; storerooms or pantries
- Brot
- A baked staple food; bread
- Fischen
- Dative plural of Fisch; fish or fishes
- kristallklarer
- Comparative adjective meaning clearer than crystal
- Kristall
- A transparent mineral with a regular structure; crystal
- Dinge
- Plural of Ding; things or objects
- Allgemeinen
- Dative of allgemein; in general or overall
- immer
- Adverb meaning always or forever
- geregelt
- Past participle of regeln; settled or regulated
- waren
- Past tense of sein; were
- Jahr
- A period of twelve months; year
- Herrn
- Genitive/dative of Herr; of the Lord or Mr.
- Geistliche
- A member of the clergy; clergyman
- Offenbarungen
- Plural of Offenbarung; divine revelations or disclosures
- wurden
- Past passive auxiliary of werden; were (made/done)
- jener
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning that or those (distant)
- begünstigten
- Past participle/adjective of begünstigen; favored or privileged
- Zeit
- A measurable period or moment; time
- zuteil
- Part of zuteil werden; to be granted or bestowed
- auch
- Adverb meaning also or too
- hatte
- Past tense of haben; had
- kürzlich
- Adverb meaning recently or not long ago
- fünfundzwanzigsten
- Ordinal number for twenty-fifth
- gesegneten
- Past participle adjective of segnen; blessed or sacred
- Geburtstag
- The anniversary of one's birth; birthday
- erreicht
- Past participle of erreichen; reached or attained
- deren
- Relative/possessive pronoun meaning whose or of which
- erhabenes
- Adjective form of erhaben; sublime or exalted
- Erscheinen
- The act of appearing or coming into view
- prophetischer
- Adjective form of prophetisch; prophetic or predictive
- gemeiner
- Adjective form of gemein; common or ordinary
- Soldat
- A person serving in an army; soldier
- Leibgarde
- A personal bodyguard unit protecting a monarch
- angekündigt
- Past participle of ankündigen; announced or proclaimed
- indem
- Subordinating conjunction meaning by doing or while
- verkündete
- Past tense of verkünden; proclaimed or declared
- Vorkehrungen
- Plural of Vorkehrung; precautions or preparations made
- getroffen
- Past participle of treffen; taken or made (measures)
- worden
- Past participle auxiliary of werden; been (passive)
- seien
- Subjunctive form of sein; (that they) be
- verschlingen
- To swallow whole or devour completely
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