Atlantis: The Antedeluvian World — Page 6
On one occasion, when he was drawing them on to speak of antiquity, he began to tell about the most ancient things in our part of the world--about Phoroneus, who is called 'the first,' and about Niobe; and, after the Deluge, to tell of the lives of Deucalion and Pyrrha; and he traced the genealogy of their descendants, and attempted to reckon how many years old were the events of which he was speaking, and to give the dates.
Bei einer Gelegenheit, als er sie dazu brachte, über das Altertum zu sprechen, begann er von den ältesten Dingen in unserem Teil der Welt zu erzählen – von Phoroneus, der 'der Erste' genannt wird, und von Niobe; und nach der Sintflut vom Leben des Deukalion und der Pyrrha zu berichten; er verfolgte die Genealogie ihrer Nachkommen und versuchte zu berechnen, wie viele Jahre die Ereignisse, von denen er sprach, zurücklagen, und die Daten anzugeben.
Thereupon, one of the priests, who was of very great age; said, 'O Solon, Solon, you Hellenes are but children, and there is never an old man who is an Hellene.'
Daraufhin sagte einer der Priester, der sehr betagt war: 'O Solon, Solon, ihr Hellenen seid nichts als Kinder, und es gibt niemals einen alten Mann, der ein Hellene ist.'
Solon, bearing this, said, 'What do you mean?'
Solon, der dies hörte, sagte: 'Was meint Ihr damit?'
'I mean to say,' he replied, 'that in mind you are all young; there is no old opinion handed down among you by ancient tradition, nor any science which is hoary with age.
'Ich meine', erwiderte er, 'dass ihr im Geiste alle jung seid; es gibt keine alte Meinung, die unter euch durch alte Überlieferung weitergegeben wurde, noch irgendeine Wissenschaft, die ehrwürdig vor Alter ist.
And I will tell you the reason of this: there have been, and there will be again, many destructions of mankind arising out of many causes.
Und ich werde euch den Grund dafür nennen: Es hat viele Vernichtungen der Menschheit gegeben, die aus vielen Ursachen entstanden sind, und es wird sie wieder geben.
There is a story which even you have preserved, that once upon a time Phaëthon, the son of Helios, having yoked the steeds in his father's chariot, because he was not able to drive them in the path of his father, burnt up all that was upon the earth, and was himself destroyed by a thunderbolt.
Es gibt eine Geschichte, die sogar ihr bewahrt habt, dass einst Phaëthon, der Sohn des Helios, nachdem er die Rosse in den Wagen seines Vaters eingespannt hatte, weil er sie nicht auf dem Weg seines Vaters lenken konnte, alles auf der Erde verbrannte und selbst durch einen Blitz vernichtet wurde.
Vocabulary
- Bei
- At, by, or during a situation or occasion
- einer
- Article 'a/an' in dative or genitive feminine form
- Gelegenheit
- An opportunity or occasion for something
- als
- When, as, or than in comparative contexts
- er
- Third-person singular masculine pronoun meaning 'he'
- sie
- Pronoun meaning 'she', 'they', or formal 'you'
- dazu
- To that, for that purpose, in addition to it
- brachte
- Past tense of 'bringen', meaning 'brought'
- über
- About, over, or above something
- das
- Definite article 'the' for neuter nouns
- Altertum
- Antiquity or ancient times in history
- zu
- To, too, or infinitive particle in German
- sprechen
- To speak or talk about something
- begann
- Past tense of 'beginnen', meaning 'began'
- von
- Of, from, or about in German preposition usage
- den
- Definite article 'the' in dative or accusative plural
- ältesten
- Superlative form of 'alt', meaning 'oldest'
- Dingen
- Dative plural of 'Ding', meaning 'things'
- in
- Preposition meaning 'in' or 'into'
- unserem
- Dative form of possessive pronoun 'our'
- Teil
- A part or portion of a larger whole
- der
- Definite article 'the' for feminine or genitive forms
- Welt
- The world or the earth as a whole
- erzählen
- To tell or narrate a story or account
- Erste
- The first one, ordinal adjective used as noun
- genannt
- Past participle of 'nennen', meaning 'called' or 'named'
- wird
- Third-person singular present of 'werden', meaning 'becomes'
- und
- Coordinating conjunction meaning 'and'
- nach
- After, to, or according to in German
- Sintflut
- The great flood, as in Noah's or Deucalion's flood
- vom
- Contraction of 'von dem', meaning 'from the'
- Leben
- Life, or the act of living
- des
- Genitive masculine or neuter definite article 'of the'
- berichten
- To report or give an account of events
- verfolgte
- Past tense of 'verfolgen', meaning 'traced' or 'pursued'
- die
- Definite article 'the' for feminine or plural nouns
- Genealogie
- The study or tracing of family lineage and descent
- ihrer
- Genitive or dative form of 'their' or 'her'
- Nachkommen
- Descendants or offspring of a person or lineage
- versuchte
- Past tense of 'versuchen', meaning 'tried' or 'attempted'
- berechnen
- To calculate or compute a numerical value
- wie
- How, as, or like in comparative constructions
- viele
- Many or a large number of something
- Jahre
- Plural of 'Jahr', meaning 'years'
- Ereignisse
- Plural of 'Ereignis', meaning 'events' or 'occurrences'
- denen
- Dative plural relative pronoun meaning 'of which' or 'whom'
- sprach
- Past tense of 'sprechen', meaning 'spoke'
- zurücklagen
- Past tense of 'zurückliegen', meaning 'lay in the past'
- Daten
- Data or dates as factual reference points
- anzugeben
- Infinitive meaning 'to specify' or 'to state'
- Daraufhin
- Thereupon, following that, as a result of that
- sagte
- Past tense of 'sagen', meaning 'said'
- Priester
- A priest or religious officiant
- sehr
- Very, used to intensify adjectives or adverbs
- betagt
- Aged or elderly, used to describe very old people
- war
- Past tense of 'sein', meaning 'was'
- ihr
- You (plural) or possessive pronoun 'her' or 'your'
- seid
- Second-person plural form of 'sein', meaning 'are'
- nichts
- Nothing, not anything at all
- Kinder
- Children; plural of 'Kind'
- es
- Neuter pronoun meaning 'it'
- gibt
- Third-person singular of 'geben', meaning 'gives' or 'there is'
- niemals
- Never, at no time whatsoever
- einen
- Indefinite article 'a' in accusative masculine form
- alten
- Adjective 'old' in inflected form after article
- Mann
- A man or adult male person
- ein
- Indefinite article meaning 'a' or 'an'
- ist
- Third-person singular of 'sein', meaning 'is'
- dies
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'this'
- hörte
- Past tense of 'hören', meaning 'heard'
- Was
- Interrogative pronoun meaning 'what'
- meint
- Third-person singular of 'meinen', meaning 'means' or 'thinks'
- Ihr
- Formal or archaic 'you', used in address
- damit
- With that, by that, or so that
- Ich
- First-person singular pronoun meaning 'I'
- meine
- First-person singular of 'meinen', meaning 'I mean'
- erwiderte
- Past tense of 'erwidern', meaning 'replied' or 'responded'
- dass
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'that'
- im
- Contraction of 'in dem', meaning 'in the'
- Geiste
- Dative of 'Geist', meaning 'spirit' or 'mind'
- alle
- All, every, referring to an entire group
- jung
- Young, not old, in early stage of life
- keine
- No, none, not any, negative article form
- alte
- Inflected form of 'alt', meaning 'old'
- Meinung
- An opinion or point of view on something
- unter
- Under, among, or below in position or group
- euch
- Dative or accusative of 'ihr', meaning 'you' (plural)
- durch
- Through, by means of, across something
- Überlieferung
- Tradition or transmission of knowledge through generations
- weitergegeben
- Past participle of 'weitergeben', meaning 'passed on'
- wurde
- Past tense passive auxiliary 'was' or 'became'
- noch
- Still, yet, or nor in negative constructions
- irgendeine
- Some, any, some kind of (indefinite reference)
- Wissenschaft
- Science or an academic field of knowledge
- ehrwürdig
- Venerable or worthy of great respect and reverence
- vor
- Before, in front of, or ago in time
- Alter
- Age, old age, or a person's age
- Und
- Coordinating conjunction meaning 'and'
- ich
- First-person singular pronoun meaning 'I'
- werde
- First-person singular of 'werden', used for future tense
- Grund
- Reason, cause, or ground for something
- dafür
- For that, for it, in support of that reason
- nennen
- To name, call, or mention something explicitly
- Es
- Neuter pronoun 'it', often used as dummy subject
- hat
- Third-person singular of 'haben', meaning 'has'
- Vernichtungen
- Plural of 'Vernichtung', meaning 'destructions' or 'annihilations'
- Menschheit
- Humanity or mankind as a collective
- gegeben
- Past participle of 'geben', meaning 'given' or 'there have been'
- aus
- From, out of, made of something
- vielen
- Dative plural of 'viele', meaning 'many'
- Ursachen
- Plural of 'Ursache', meaning 'causes' or 'reasons'
- entstanden
- Past participle of 'entstehen', meaning 'arisen' or 'originated'
- sind
- Third-person plural of 'sein', meaning 'are'
- wieder
- Again, once more, returning to a previous state
- geben
- To give, or to exist (in 'es gibt' constructions)
- eine
- Indefinite article 'a' in nominative or accusative feminine
- Geschichte
- A story, history, or narrative account
- sogar
- Even, used to emphasize a surprising fact
- bewahrt
- Past participle of 'bewahren', meaning 'preserved' or 'kept'
- habt
- Second-person plural of 'haben', meaning 'you have'
- einst
- Once, formerly, or at some time in the past
- Sohn
- Son, a male child in relation to a parent
- nachdem
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'after' an event occurred
- Rosse
- Archaic plural of 'Ross', meaning 'steeds' or 'horses'
- Wagen
- A carriage, cart, or chariot for transport
- seines
- Genitive masculine possessive pronoun 'his' or 'its'
- Vaters
- Genitive form of 'Vater', meaning 'father's'
- eingespannt
- Past participle of 'einspannen', meaning 'harnessed'
- hatte
- Past tense of 'haben', meaning 'had'
- weil
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'because'
- nicht
- Not, used to negate verbs or adjectives
- auf
- On, onto, upon a surface or direction
- dem
- Dative singular definite article 'the'
- Weg
- A way, path, or route to a destination
- lenken
- To steer, guide, or direct movement or attention
- konnte
- Past tense of 'können', meaning 'could' or 'was able to'
- alles
- Everything, all things without exception
- Erde
- The earth, ground, or soil
- verbrannte
- Past tense of 'verbrennen', meaning 'burned up'
- selbst
- Himself, itself, or even, used for emphasis
- Blitz
- Lightning bolt or a flash of lightning
- vernichtet
- Past participle of 'vernichten', meaning 'destroyed' or 'annihilated'
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