A Tale of Two Cities — Page 5
In the midst of them, the hangman, ever busy and ever worse than useless, was in constant requisition; now, stringing up long rows of miscellaneous criminals; now, hanging a housebreaker on Saturday who had been taken on Tuesday; now, burning people in the hand at Newgate by the dozen, and now burning pamphlets at the door of Westminster Hall; to-day, taking the life of an atrocious murderer, and to-morrow of a wretched pilferer who had robbed a farmer's boy of sixpence.
Mitten unter ihnen war der Henker, stets beschäftigt und stets schlimmer als nutzlos, in ständiger Nachfrage; bald reihte er lange Reihen verschiedenartiger Verbrecher auf; bald hängte er einen Einbrecher am Samstag, der am Dienstag gefasst worden war; bald brannte er den Menschen zu Dutzenden in Newgate die Hand, und bald verbrannte er Pamphlete vor der Tür der Westminster Hall; heute nahm er einem abscheulichen Mörder das Leben, und morgen einem elenden Dieb, der einem Bauernjungen sechs Pence gestohlen hatte.
All these things, and a thousand like them, came to pass in and close upon the dear old year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.
All diese Dinge und tausend ähnliche ereigneten sich in und um das teure alte Jahr eintausendsiebenhundertfünfundsiebzig.
Environed by them, while the Woodman and the Farmer worked unheeded, those two of the large jaws, and those other two of the plain and the fair faces, trod with stir enough, and carried their divine rights with a high hand.
Von ihnen umgeben, während der Holzfäller und der Bauer unbeachtet arbeiteten, schritten jene zwei mit den großen Kiefern und jene anderen zwei mit den schlichten und schönen Gesichtern mit hinreichend Aufhebens einher und trugen ihre göttlichen Rechte mit starker Hand.
Thus did the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five conduct their Greatnesses, and myriads of small creatures--the creatures of this chronicle among the rest--along the roads that lay before them.
So geleitete das Jahr eintausendsiebenhundertfünfundsiebzig ihre Hoheiten und Myriaden kleiner Geschöpfe – die Geschöpfe dieser Chronik unter den übrigen – auf den Straßen, die vor ihnen lagen.
Vocabulary
- Mitten
- In the middle of something
- unter
- Under, among, or beneath something
- ihnen
- Them; dative plural personal pronoun
- war
- Was; past tense of 'sein' (to be)
- der
- The; definite article, masculine nominative
- Henker
- Executioner; person who carries out death sentences
- stets
- Always, constantly, at all times
- beschäftigt
- Busy, occupied, or employed with a task
- und
- And; coordinating conjunction
- schlimmer
- Worse; comparative form of 'schlimm'
- als
- Than or as; used in comparisons
- nutzlos
- Useless, serving no practical purpose
- in
- In, into; preposition of place or time
- ständiger
- Constant, continuous, perpetual demand or state
- Nachfrage
- Demand; request for goods or services
- bald
- Soon, shortly, before long
- reihte
- Lined up, arranged in a row
- er
- He; third person singular masculine pronoun
- lange
- Long, for a long time
- Reihen
- Rows, lines, series of people or things
- verschiedenartiger
- Of various kinds, diverse types
- Verbrecher
- Criminal; person who commits crimes
- auf
- On, upon, up; versatile preposition
- hängte
- Hanged or hung; past tense of 'hängen'
- einen
- A, an; indefinite article masculine accusative
- Einbrecher
- Burglar; person who breaks into buildings
- am
- On the; contraction of 'an dem'
- Samstag
- Saturday; the sixth day of the week
- Dienstag
- Tuesday; the second day of the week
- gefasst
- Caught, apprehended by authorities
- worden
- Been; past participle used in passive constructions
- brannte
- Burned; past tense of 'brennen'
- den
- The; definite article masculine accusative or dative plural
- Menschen
- People, humans, persons
- zu
- To, too, at; common preposition or particle
- Dutzenden
- Dozens; groups of twelve, many
- die
- The; definite article feminine or plural
- Hand
- Hand; the body part at end of arm
- verbrannte
- Burned, incinerated; past tense of 'verbrennen'
- Pamphlete
- Pamphlets; short printed booklets or leaflets
- vor
- Before, in front of, ago
- Tür
- Door; entrance to a room or building
- heute
- Today; on this present day
- nahm
- Took; past tense of 'nehmen'
- einem
- A, one; indefinite article dative masculine/neuter
- abscheulichen
- Abominable, revolting, deeply offensive
- Mörder
- Murderer; person who kills another unlawfully
- das
- The; definite article neuter nominative or accusative
- Leben
- Life; existence of a living being
- morgen
- Tomorrow; the day after today
- elenden
- Wretched, miserable, pitiful
- Dieb
- Thief; person who steals property
- Bauernjungen
- Farm boy; a young boy from a rural family
- sechs
- Six; the number 6
- gestohlen
- Stolen; past participle of 'stehlen'
- hatte
- Had; past tense of 'haben'
- All
- All, every, entire amount or number
- diese
- These; demonstrative pronoun plural
- Dinge
- Things; objects, matters, affairs
- tausend
- Thousand; the number 1000
- ähnliche
- Similar, alike, comparable
- ereigneten
- Occurred, happened, took place
- sich
- Themselves, itself; reflexive pronoun
- um
- Around, about, at; preposition of time or place
- teure
- Dear, expensive, cherished
- alte
- Old; adjective describing age
- Jahr
- Year; a period of twelve months
- Von
- From, of, by; common German preposition
- umgeben
- Surrounded, enclosed by something or someone
- während
- While, during; temporal conjunction or preposition
- Holzfäller
- Lumberjack; person who cuts down trees
- Bauer
- Farmer, peasant; person who works the land
- unbeachtet
- Unnoticed, disregarded, without attention
- arbeiteten
- Worked; past tense plural of 'arbeiten'
- schritten
- Strode, walked with long steps
- jene
- Those; demonstrative pronoun referring to distant things
- zwei
- Two; the number 2
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment
- großen
- Large, big, great; inflected form of 'groß'
- Kiefern
- Pine trees; evergreen coniferous trees
- anderen
- Other, others; different people or things
- schlichten
- Plain, simple, unadorned
- schönen
- Beautiful, lovely; inflected form of 'schön'
- Gesichtern
- Faces; the fronts of people's heads
- hinreichend
- Sufficient, adequate, enough
- Aufhebens
- Fuss, ado; viel Aufhebens means making a big deal
- einher
- Along, forth; used in compound verbs of movement
- trugen
- Carried, bore; past tense plural of 'tragen'
- ihre
- Their; third person plural possessive pronoun
- göttlichen
- Divine, godly; relating to God or deity
- Rechte
- Rights; entitlements or legal claims
- starker
- Strong, powerful; inflected form of 'stark'
- So
- So, thus, in this way
- geleitete
- Escorted, accompanied, guided
- Hoheiten
- Highnesses; royal titles for princes or princesses
- Myriaden
- Myriads; countless or extremely large numbers
- kleiner
- Smaller, lesser; comparative of 'klein'
- Geschöpfe
- Creatures, beings; living organisms or created things
- dieser
- This; demonstrative pronoun masculine nominative
- Chronik
- Chronicle; historical record of events
- übrigen
- Remaining, other, rest of the
- Straßen
- Streets, roads; public ways in a city
- lagen
- Lay, were located; past tense plural of 'liegen'
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →