Bleak House — Page 2
The Close of Esther's Narrative
Der Abschluss von Esthers Erzählung
PREFACE
VORWORT
A Chancery judge once had the kindness to inform me, as one of a company of some hundred and fifty men and women not labouring under any suspicions of lunacy, that the Court of Chancery, though the shining subject of much popular prejudice (at which point I thought the judge's eye had a cast in my direction), was almost immaculate.
Ein Richter am Kanzleigericht hatte einst die Freundlichkeit, mich, als eines von etwa hundertfünfzig Männern und Frauen, die nicht unter dem Verdacht des Wahnsinns standen, darüber zu unterrichten, dass das Kanzleigericht, obwohl es der glänzende Gegenstand vieler volkstümlicher Vorurteile war (an welchem Punkt ich glaubte, dass der Blick des Richters in meine Richtung ging), nahezu makellos sei.
There had been, he admitted, a trivial blemish or so in its rate of progress, but this was exaggerated and had been entirely owing to the "parsimony of the public," which guilty public, it appeared, had been until lately bent in the most determined manner on by no means enlarging the number of Chancery judges appointed—I believe by Richard the Second, but any other king will do as well.
Es habe, räumte er ein, einen geringfügigen Makel oder so in seiner Fortschrittsrate gegeben, aber dies sei übertrieben gewesen und sei gänzlich auf den „Geiz der Öffentlichkeit" zurückzuführen gewesen, welche schuldige Öffentlichkeit, so schien es, bis vor kurzem auf das entschlossenste darauf beharrt hatte, die Zahl der ernannten Kanzleirichter keineswegs zu vergrößern – ich glaube, von Richard dem Zweiten, aber jeder andere König tut es genauso gut.
This seemed to me too profound a joke to be inserted in the body of this book or I should have restored it to Conversation Kenge or to Mr. Vholes, with one or other of whom I think it must have originated.
Dies schien mir ein zu tiefsinniger Witz zu sein, um ihn in den Hauptteil dieses Buches einzufügen, oder ich hätte ihn dem Gesprächs-Kenge oder Herrn Vholes zurückgegeben, bei dem einen oder anderen von ihnen muss er meiner Meinung nach seinen Ursprung gehabt haben.
In such mouths I might have coupled it with an apt quotation from one of Shakespeare's sonnets:
In solchen Mündern hätte ich es mit einem passenden Zitat aus einem von Shakespeares Sonetten verbinden können:
"My nature is subdued To what it works in, like the dyer's hand: Pity me, then, and wish I were renewed!
„Meine Natur ist unterworfen Dem, worin sie wirkt, wie die Hand des Färbers: Beklagt mich dann und wünscht, ich wäre erneuert!
Vocabulary
- Abschluss
- Conclusion, end, or completion of something
- Erzählung
- A narrative or story told by someone
- VORWORT
- Preface or foreword of a book
- Richter
- A judge presiding in a court of law
- Kanzleigericht
- Chancery court, a historical English equity court
- einst
- Once, at some time in the past
- Freundlichkeit
- Kindness or friendliness shown toward others
- etwa
- Approximately, roughly, or about a number
- Verdacht
- Suspicion held against a person
- Wahnsinns
- Genitive of 'Wahnsinn'; madness or insanity
- darüber
- About it, over it; referring to a topic
- unterrichten
- To inform or instruct someone about something
- obwohl
- Conjunction meaning 'although' or 'even though'
- glänzende
- Shining, brilliant, or glittering; used as adjective
- Gegenstand
- Object, subject matter, or topic of discussion
- volkstümlicher
- Popular, folk-like; relating to common people's beliefs
- Vorurteile
- Plural of 'Vorurteil'; prejudices or biases
- Punkt
- Point, dot, or moment in time or argument
- Blick
- A glance, look, or gaze toward something
- Richtung
- Direction or orientation toward a place or goal
- nahezu
- Nearly, almost, or virtually complete
- makellos
- Flawless, spotless, without any defect
- räumte
- Past tense of 'einräumen', meaning 'admitted'
- geringfügigen
- Insignificant, minor, or trivial in degree
- Makel
- A flaw, blemish, or slight imperfection
- Fortschrittsrate
- Rate of progress or advancement in a process
- übertrieben
- Exaggerated, overstated beyond what is accurate
- gänzlich
- Entirely, completely, or wholly without exception
- Geiz
- Greed, stinginess, or miserliness with resources
- Öffentlichkeit
- The public, or public sphere of society
- zurückzuführen
- To attribute or trace something back to a cause
- schuldige
- Guilty party; adjective meaning 'guilty'
- schien
- Past tense of 'scheinen', meaning 'seemed'
- kurzem
- Recently; dative form used in 'vor kurzem'
- entschlossenste
- Most determined or resolute; superlative adjective
- darauf
- On it, upon it; referring to something previously mentioned
- beharrt
- Present tense of 'beharren', meaning 'insisted'
- Zahl
- Number or quantity of things counted
- ernannten
- Appointed; past participle of 'ernennen'
- Kanzleirichter
- Chancery judge; judge of an equity court
- keineswegs
- By no means, not at all, absolutely not
- vergrößern
- To enlarge, increase, or expand in size
- jeder
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'every' or 'each'
- König
- King; male monarch of a country
- genauso
- Just as, equally, in the same way
- tiefsinniger
- Profound, deep, or thoughtful in meaning
- Witz
- A joke or witty remark; cleverness in speech
- Hauptteil
- Main part or principal section of a work
- einzufügen
- To insert or include something into a text
- hätte
- Subjunctive past of 'haben', meaning 'would have'
- Herrn
- Accusative/dative of 'Herr', meaning 'Mr.' or 'gentleman'
- zurückgegeben
- Past participle of 'zurückgeben', meaning 'returned'
- muss
- Modal verb meaning 'must' or 'has to'
- Meinung
- Opinion, view, or belief held by someone
- Ursprung
- Origin, source, or beginning of something
- solchen
- Dative plural of 'solch', meaning 'such' or 'such like'
- Mündern
- Dative plural of 'Mund', meaning 'mouths'
- passenden
- Fitting, appropriate, or suitable for a context
- Zitat
- A quotation or cited passage from a text
- Sonetten
- Dative plural of 'Sonett', meaning 'sonnets'
- verbinden
- To connect, combine, or link things together
- Natur
- Nature; one's innate character or the natural world
- unterworfen
- Subjected to or dominated by something
- worin
- Relative adverb meaning 'in which' or 'wherein'
- wirkt
- Present tense of 'wirken', meaning 'works' or 'acts'
- Färbers
- Genitive of 'Färber', meaning 'of the dyer'
- Beklagt
- Lamented; bemoaned; past participle of 'beklagen'
- wünscht
- Present tense of 'wünschen', meaning 'wishes'
- wäre
- Subjunctive form of 'sein', meaning 'were' or 'would be'
- erneuert
- Renewed or restored to a fresh state
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