A Tale of Two Cities — Page 3
It is likely enough that in the rough outhouses of some tillers of the heavy lands adjacent to Paris, there were sheltered from the weather that very day, rude carts, bespattered with rustic mire, snuffed about by pigs, and roosted in by poultry, which the Farmer, Death, had already set apart to be his tumbrils of the Revolution.
Es ist durchaus wahrscheinlich, dass in den rohen Scheunen einiger Bebauer der schweren Ländereien in der Nähe von Paris an eben jenem Tag grobe Karren vor dem Wetter geschützt standen, mit bäuerlichem Schlamm bespritzt, von Schweinen beschnüffelt und von Geflügel als Schlafplatz genutzt, welche der Bauer Tod bereits ausersehen hatte, seine Sturmkarren der Revolution zu sein.
But that Woodman and that Farmer, though they work unceasingly, work silently, and no one heard them as they went about with muffled tread: the rather, forasmuch as to entertain any suspicion that they were awake, was to be atheistical and traitorous.
Aber jener Holzfäller und jener Bauer, obwohl sie unablässig arbeiten, arbeiten schweigend, und niemand hörte sie, als sie mit gedämpftem Schritt umhergingen: umso mehr, als es als gotteslästerlich und verräterisch galt, auch nur den leisesten Verdacht zu hegen, dass sie wach waren.
In England, there was scarcely an amount of order and protection to justify much national boasting.
In England gab es kaum ein Maß an Ordnung und Schutz, das viel nationalen Ruhm gerechtfertigt hätte.
Vocabulary
- Es
- Neuter pronoun meaning 'it' in German
- ist
- Third-person singular present tense of 'sein' (to be)
- durchaus
- Absolutely, thoroughly, or quite certainly
- wahrscheinlich
- Probably, likely; expressing reasonable probability
- dass
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'that' introducing clauses
- in
- Preposition meaning 'in' or 'into'
- den
- Definite article, dative plural or accusative masculine 'the'
- rohen
- Rough, crude, or raw; adjective in inflected form
- Scheunen
- Barns; plural of Scheune, a farm storage building
- einiger
- Of some; genitive plural of einige meaning 'some'
- der
- Definite article 'the'; masculine nominative or genitive form
- schweren
- Heavy, difficult; inflected form of schwer
- Ländereien
- Estates or lands; plural referring to extensive rural properties
- Nähe
- Proximity, nearness, vicinity of a place
- von
- Preposition meaning 'of,' 'from,' or 'by'
- Paris
- Capital city of France
- an
- Preposition meaning 'at,' 'on,' or 'to'
- eben
- Just, exactly, or precisely; emphasizing a specific point
- jenem
- That; dative form of jener, a demonstrative pronoun
- Tag
- Day; a 24-hour period of time
- grobe
- Coarse, rough, or crude; inflected form of grob
- Karren
- Carts or wagons; simple wheeled vehicles for hauling
- vor
- Preposition meaning 'before,' 'in front of,' or 'from'
- dem
- Definite article 'the'; dative masculine or neuter form
- Wetter
- Weather; atmospheric conditions at a given time
- geschützt
- Protected, sheltered; past participle of schützen
- standen
- Stood; simple past plural of stehen (to stand)
- mit
- Preposition meaning 'with' indicating accompaniment or means
- bäuerlichem
- Rustic, peasant-like; dative inflection of bäuerlich
- Schlamm
- Mud or slime found on the ground
- bespritzt
- Splattered or sprayed; past participle of bespritzen
- Schweinen
- Pigs; dative plural of Schwein, a farm animal
- und
- Coordinating conjunction meaning 'and'
- Geflügel
- Poultry; domesticated birds such as chickens or geese
- als
- As, than, or when; conjunction with multiple grammatical uses
- Schlafplatz
- Sleeping place or resting spot for animals or people
- genutzt
- Used, utilized; past participle of nutzen
- welche
- Which; relative or interrogative pronoun in German
- Bauer
- Farmer or peasant; person working agricultural land
- Tod
- Death; the end of life
- bereits
- Already; indicating something has happened beforehand
- hatte
- Had; simple past of haben (to have)
- seine
- His; possessive pronoun referring to masculine possessor
- Revolution
- Revolution; fundamental political or social transformation
- zu
- To; preposition or infinitive marker with multiple uses
- sein
- To be; infinitive of the main auxiliary verb
- Aber
- But; coordinating conjunction indicating contrast
- jener
- That; demonstrative pronoun referring to something distant
- Holzfäller
- Woodcutters or lumberjacks who chop down trees
- obwohl
- Although, even though; subordinating concessive conjunction
- sie
- They or she; personal pronoun in German
- unablässig
- Incessantly, unceasingly, without stopping
- arbeiten
- To work; infinitive of the verb arbeiten
- schweigend
- Silently, in silence; present participle of schweigen
- niemand
- Nobody, no one; indefinite pronoun indicating absence of persons
- hörte
- Heard; simple past tense of hören (to hear)
- gedämpftem
- Muffled, hushed, subdued; dative inflection of gedämpft
- Schritt
- Step or stride; a single movement of the foot
- umso
- All the more; used to intensify a comparative statement
- mehr
- More; comparative adverb indicating greater quantity
- es
- It; neuter personal pronoun in German
- verräterisch
- Treacherous, traitorous; betraying trust or loyalty
- galt
- Was considered; simple past of gelten (to be valid)
- auch
- Also, too, even; additive adverb in German
- nur
- Only, just; restrictive adverb limiting scope
- leisesten
- Slightest, faintest; superlative inflection of leise
- Verdacht
- Suspicion; a feeling that something is wrong
- hegen
- To harbor or nurture a feeling or thought
- wach
- Awake, alert, watchful; opposite of asleep
- waren
- Were; simple past plural of sein (to be)
- In
- Preposition meaning 'in' or 'inside'
- England
- England; country forming part of the United Kingdom
- gab
- Gave or there was; simple past of geben
- kaum
- Hardly, barely, scarcely; indicating very small degree
- ein
- A, an; indefinite article in German
- Maß
- Measure or degree; an amount or standard of something
- Ordnung
- Order, organization; a state of proper arrangement
- Schutz
- Protection, shelter; defense against harm or danger
- das
- The; neuter definite article or relative pronoun
- viel
- Much, many, a lot; indicating large quantity
- nationalen
- National; relating to a nation, in inflected form
- Ruhm
- Glory, fame, or renown earned by great achievements
- gerechtfertigt
- Justified, warranted; past participle of rechtfertigen
- hätte
- Would have; subjunctive II form of haben
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