Anna Karenina — Page 4
Most unpleasant of all was the first minute when, on coming, happy and good-humored, from the theater, with a huge pear in his hand for his wife, he had not found his wife in the drawing-room, to his surprise had not found her in the study either, and saw her at last in her bedroom with the unlucky letter that revealed everything in her hand.
Am unangenehmsten war der erste Augenblick, als er, glücklich und gut gelaunt, aus dem Theater kommend, mit einer großen Birne in der Hand für seine Frau, seine Frau nicht im Salon vorgefunden hatte, zu seiner Überraschung sie auch nicht im Arbeitszimmer gefunden hatte und sie schließlich in ihrem Schlafzimmer erblickte, mit dem unglückseligen Brief in der Hand, der alles enthüllte.
She, his Dolly, forever fussing and worrying over household details, and limited in her ideas, as he considered, was sitting perfectly still with the letter in her hand, looking at him with an expression of horror, despair, and indignation.
Sie, seine Dolly, die sich ewig um Haushaltsangelegenheiten abmühte und sorgte und in ihren Ansichten beschränkt war, wie er meinte, saß vollkommen reglos mit dem Brief in der Hand da und sah ihn mit einem Ausdruck von Entsetzen, Verzweiflung und Empörung an.
"What's this? this?" she asked, pointing to the letter.
„Was ist das? das?" fragte sie und zeigte auf den Brief.
And at this recollection, Stepan Arkadyevitch, as is so often the case, was not so much annoyed at the fact itself as at the way in which he had met his wife's words.
Und bei dieser Erinnerung ärgerte sich Stepan Arkadjewitsch, wie es so oft der Fall ist, weniger über die Tatsache selbst als über die Art und Weise, wie er auf die Worte seiner Frau reagiert hatte.
There happened to him at that instant what does happen to people when they are unexpectedly caught in something very disgraceful.
In jenem Augenblick geschah ihm das, was Menschen zu geschehen pflegt, wenn sie unerwartet bei etwas sehr Beschämendem ertappt werden.
He did not succeed in adapting his face to the position in which he was placed towards his wife by the discovery of his fault.
Es gelang ihm nicht, seinen Gesichtsausdruck der Lage anzupassen, in die ihn die Entdeckung seines Fehltritts gegenüber seiner Frau gebracht hatte.
Instead of being hurt, denying, defending himself, begging forgiveness, instead of remaining indifferent even—anything would have been better than what he did do—his face utterly involuntarily (reflex spinal action, reflected Stepan Arkadyevitch, who was fond of physiology)—utterly involuntarily assumed its habitual, good-humored, and therefore idiotic smile.
Anstatt verletzt zu sein, zu leugnen, sich zu verteidigen, um Verzeihung zu bitten, anstatt sogar gleichgültig zu bleiben — irgendetwas wäre besser gewesen als das, was er tat — nahm sein Gesicht ganz unwillkürlich (Reflex der Wirbelsäule, überlegte Stepan Arkadjewitsch, der ein Freund der Physiologie war) — ganz unwillkürlich seinen gewohnten, gutgelaunten und daher idiotischen Ausdruck an.
This idiotic smile he could not forgive himself.
Dieses idiotische Lächeln konnte er sich nicht verzeihen.
Vocabulary
- unangenehmsten
- Most unpleasant or disagreeable (superlative form)
- war
- Was; past tense of 'sein' (to be)
- erste
- First; ordinal number indicating the initial one
- Augenblick
- Moment; a brief instant or point in time
- als
- When; conjunction used for past single events
- glücklich
- Happy; feeling or expressing joy and contentment
- gut
- Good; of high quality or positive character
- gelaunt
- Mooded; in a particular mood (used with 'gut')
- aus
- Out of, from; preposition indicating origin or exit
- Theater
- Theater; a building for dramatic performances
- kommend
- Coming; present participle of 'kommen' (to come)
- großen
- Large, big; adjective in inflected form
- Birne
- Pear; a sweet fruit, also means light bulb
- Hand
- Hand; the body part at the end of the arm
- Frau
- Woman, wife; adult female or married partner
- Salon
- Salon, drawing room; a formal living room
- vorgefunden
- Found, encountered; past participle of 'vorfinden'
- hatte
- Had; past tense of 'haben' (to have)
- Überraschung
- Surprise; an unexpected event or feeling of astonishment
- auch
- Also, too; adverb indicating addition or agreement
- Arbeitszimmer
- Study, office; a room used for work at home
- gefunden
- Found; past participle of 'finden' (to find)
- schließlich
- Finally, eventually; adverb indicating a conclusion
- Schlafzimmer
- Bedroom; a room primarily used for sleeping
- erblickte
- Caught sight of; past tense of 'erblicken' (to spot)
- unglückseligen
- Wretched, ill-fated; adjective describing a miserable letter
- Brief
- Letter; a written message sent to someone
- alles
- Everything, all; indefinite pronoun referring to totality
- enthüllte
- Revealed, unveiled; past tense of 'enthüllen'
- ewig
- Eternally, always; adverb meaning constantly or forever
- Haushaltsangelegenheiten
- Household matters; affairs related to managing a home
- abmühte
- Toiled, struggled; past tense of 'sich abmühen'
- sorgte
- Cared, worried; past tense of 'sorgen' (to care)
- Ansichten
- Views, opinions; plural of 'Ansicht' (opinion, view)
- beschränkt
- Limited, narrow-minded; adjective indicating restricted capacity
- meinte
- Thought, said; past tense of 'meinen' (to think/mean)
- saß
- Sat; past tense of 'sitzen' (to sit)
- vollkommen
- Completely, perfectly; adverb meaning absolutely or entirely
- reglos
- Motionless, still; adjective meaning without any movement
- sah
- Saw; past tense of 'sehen' (to see)
- Ausdruck
- Expression; a look or gesture conveying emotion
- Entsetzen
- Horror, terror; a strong feeling of shock and fear
- Verzweiflung
- Despair; a hopeless state of extreme distress
- Empörung
- Indignation, outrage; strong anger at something unjust
- fragte
- Asked; past tense of 'fragen' (to ask)
- zeigte
- Showed, pointed; past tense of 'zeigen' (to show)
- Erinnerung
- Memory, recollection; the act of remembering something past
- ärgerte
- Annoyed, irritated; past tense of 'ärgern' (to annoy)
- oft
- Often; adverb indicating frequent occurrence
- Fall
- Case, fall; a situation or instance of something
- weniger
- Less, fewer; comparative form of 'wenig' (little)
- Tatsache
- Fact; something that is known to be true
- selbst
- Itself, oneself; emphatic pronoun meaning personally or even
- Art
- Manner, kind, type; a way of doing or being
- Weise
- Way, manner; approach or method of doing something
- Worte
- Words; plural of 'Wort' in context of utterances
- reagiert
- Reacted; past participle of 'reagieren' (to react)
- jenem
- That; demonstrative pronoun in dative masculine or neuter
- geschah
- Happened; past tense of 'geschehen' (to happen)
- Menschen
- People, humans; plural of 'Mensch' (human being)
- geschehen
- To happen, occur; infinitive of the verb 'geschehen'
- pflegt
- Is accustomed to; present tense of 'pflegen' (to tend)
- wenn
- When, if; conjunction for conditions or recurring events
- unerwartet
- Unexpectedly; adverb meaning in an unforeseen manner
- etwas
- Something, somewhat; indefinite pronoun or adverb
- Beschämendem
- Something shameful; dative form of 'beschämend' (shameful)
- ertappt
- Caught in the act; past participle of 'ertappen'
- werden
- To become, to be; auxiliary or main verb
- gelang
- Succeeded; past tense of 'gelingen' (to succeed)
- Gesichtsausdruck
- Facial expression; the look conveyed by one's face
- Lage
- Situation, position; the circumstances one finds oneself in
- anzupassen
- To adapt, adjust; infinitive of 'anpassen' with 'zu'
- Entdeckung
- Discovery; the act of finding or uncovering something
- Fehltritts
- Misstep, transgression; an error in judgment or behavior
- gegenüber
- Opposite, toward, face to face; preposition of position
- gebracht
- Brought; past participle of 'bringen' (to bring)
- Anstatt
- Instead of; conjunction or preposition indicating replacement
- verletzt
- Hurt, injured; past participle of 'verletzen' (to hurt)
- leugnen
- To deny; to refuse to admit or acknowledge something
- verteidigen
- To defend; to protect or justify oneself or another
- Verzeihung
- Forgiveness, pardon; the act of excusing an offense
- bitten
- To ask, request; to plead or beg for something
- anstatt
- Instead of; alternative form of 'anstatt' preposition
- sogar
- Even; adverb emphasizing something surprising or extreme
- gleichgültig
- Indifferent; showing no interest or concern about something
- bleiben
- To stay, remain; to continue in a place or state
- irgendetwas
- Anything, something; indefinite pronoun for any unspecified thing
- wäre
- Would be; subjunctive form of 'sein' (to be)
- besser
- Better; comparative form of 'gut' (good)
- gewesen
- Been; past participle of 'sein' (to be)
- tat
- Did; past tense of 'tun' (to do)
- nahm
- Took; past tense of 'nehmen' (to take)
- Gesicht
- Face; the front part of a person's head
- ganz
- Completely, quite, whole; adverb or adjective of totality
- unwillkürlich
- Involuntarily; without conscious intention or control
- Reflex
- Reflex; an automatic involuntary physical response
- Wirbelsäule
- Spine, vertebral column; the backbone of the human body
- überlegte
- Reflected, considered; past tense of 'überlegen' (to reflect)
- Freund
- Friend; a person one knows well and likes
- Physiologie
- Physiology; the science of how living organisms function
- gewohnten
- Habitual, accustomed; adjective from 'gewohnt' (used to)
- gutgelaunten
- Good-humored; adjective describing a cheerful disposition
- daher
- Therefore, hence; adverb indicating cause or origin
- idiotischen
- Idiotic; adjective meaning extremely foolish or stupid
- idiotische
- Idiotic; foolish or senseless (adjective, neuter nominative)
- Lächeln
- Smile; a pleasant facial expression of happiness
- konnte
- Could; past tense of 'können' (to be able to)
- verzeihen
- To forgive, pardon; to excuse someone's wrongdoing
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