Atlantis: The Antedeluvian World — Page 4
I will tell an old-world story which I heard from an aged man;
Ich will eine Geschichte aus alter Zeit erzählen, die ich von einem betagten Mann gehört habe;
for Critias was, as he said, at that time nearly ninety years of age, and I was about ten years of age.
denn Kritias war, wie er sagte, zu jener Zeit nahezu neunzig Jahre alt, und ich war etwa zehn Jahre alt.
Now the day was that day of the Apaturia which is called the registration of youth;
Nun war der Tag jener Tag der Apaturia, der die Einschreibung der Jugend genannt wird;
at which, according to custom, our parents gave prizes for recitations, and the poems of several poets were recited by us boys, and many of us sung the poems of Solon, which were new at the time.
an dem es nach alter Sitte unsere Eltern Preise für Rezitationen vergaben, und die Gedichte mehrerer Dichter wurden von uns Knaben vorgetragen, und viele von uns sangen die Gedichte Solons, die damals neu waren.
One of our tribe, either because this was his real opinion, or because he thought that he would please Critias, said that, in his judgment, Solon was not only the wisest of men but the noblest of poets.
Einer aus unserem Kreis, entweder weil dies seine wirkliche Meinung war oder weil er dachte, dass er Kritias damit gefallen würde, sagte, dass nach seinem Urteil Solon nicht nur der weiseste der Menschen, sondern auch der edelste der Dichter sei.
Vocabulary
- will
- Want or intend to do something
- Geschichte
- Story or history; narrative account of events
- aus
- From or out of; preposition indicating origin
- alter
- Old; of advanced age or ancient times
- Zeit
- Time; a period or era
- erzählen
- To tell or narrate a story
- von
- From or of; preposition indicating source or possession
- betagten
- Elderly; of very advanced age
- Mann
- Man; an adult male person
- gehört
- Heard; past participle of 'hören', to hear
- denn
- Because or for; coordinating conjunction giving reason
- war
- Was; past tense of 'sein', to be
- wie
- As or how; conjunction or adverb of manner
- sagte
- Said; past tense of 'sagen', to say
- zu
- To or at; preposition indicating direction or purpose
- jener
- That; demonstrative pronoun referring to something distant
- nahezu
- Nearly or almost; close to a given amount
- neunzig
- Ninety; the cardinal number 90
- Jahre
- Years; plural of Jahr, a unit of time
- alt
- Old; having lived or existed for many years
- etwa
- About or approximately; indicating an estimate
- zehn
- Ten; the cardinal number 10
- Nun
- Now or well; discourse marker introducing a new point
- Tag
- Day; a 24-hour period of time
- Einschreibung
- Registration or enrollment; formal recording of membership
- Jugend
- Youth; young people or the period of being young
- genannt
- Called or named; past participle of 'nennen'
- wird
- Is or becomes; third person singular of 'werden'
- an
- At or on; preposition indicating location or time
- nach
- After or according to; preposition of direction or manner
- Sitte
- Custom or tradition; established social practice
- unsere
- Our; first person plural possessive adjective
- Eltern
- Parents; mother and father together
- Preise
- Prizes or prices; rewards given for achievement
- für
- For; preposition indicating purpose or benefit
- Rezitationen
- Recitations; oral performances of memorized texts
- vergaben
- Awarded or gave out; past tense of 'vergeben'
- Gedichte
- Poems; literary works written in verse form
- mehrerer
- Of several; genitive form indicating more than two
- Dichter
- Poets; people who compose literary verse
- wurden
- Were; past tense passive auxiliary of 'werden'
- Knaben
- Boys; young male children or youths
- vorgetragen
- Performed or presented; past participle of 'vortragen'
- viele
- Many; a large number of people or things
- sangen
- Sang; past tense of 'singen', to sing
- damals
- At that time or back then; referring to the past
- neu
- New; recently made, introduced, or discovered
- waren
- Were; past tense plural of 'sein', to be
- Einer
- One; an indefinite pronoun referring to a single person
- Kreis
- Circle or group; a community of people sharing interests
- entweder
- Either; used in 'either…or' constructions
- weil
- Because; subordinating conjunction giving a reason
- dies
- This; demonstrative pronoun referring to something nearby
- seine
- His; third person singular masculine possessive adjective
- wirkliche
- Real or actual; genuine rather than apparent
- Meinung
- Opinion; a personal view or judgment on something
- oder
- Or; coordinating conjunction presenting an alternative
- dachte
- Thought; past tense of 'denken', to think
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause
- damit
- With it or so that; indicating means or purpose
- gefallen
- To please or appeal to someone
- würde
- Would; conditional form of 'werden'
- Urteil
- Judgment or verdict; an assessment or decision made
- nicht
- Not; negation particle used to negate verbs or adjectives
- nur
- Only or just; limiting something to one thing
- weiseste
- Wisest; superlative form of 'weise', meaning wise
- Menschen
- People or humans; plural of Mensch
- sondern
- But rather; used to correct a negative statement
- auch
- Also or too; indicating addition or agreement
- edelste
- Noblest; superlative of 'edel', meaning noble or refined
- sei
- Be; subjunctive form of 'sein', expressing reported speech
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