Bleak House — Page 3
On such an afternoon, if ever, the Lord High Chancellor ought to be sitting here—as here he is—with a foggy glory round his head, softly fenced in with crimson cloth and curtains, addressed by a large advocate with great whiskers, a little voice, and an interminable brief, and outwardly directing his contemplation to the lantern in the roof, where he can see nothing but fog.
An einem solchen Nachmittag, wenn überhaupt je, sollte der Lordkanzler hier sitzen – wie er hier sitzt – mit einem nebligen Glanz um sein Haupt, sanft eingehegt von Purpurtuch und Vorhängen, angesprochen von einem großen Anwalt mit einem mächtigen Backenbart, einer kleinen Stimme und einem endlosen Schriftsatz, und äußerlich seine Betrachtung auf die Laterne im Dach richtend, wo er nichts als Nebel sehen kann.
On such an afternoon some score of members of the High Court of Chancery bar ought to be—as here they are—mistily engaged in one of the ten thousand stages of an endless cause, tripping one another up on slippery precedents, groping knee-deep in technicalities, running their goat-hair and horsehair warded heads against walls of words and making a pretence of equity with serious faces, as players might.
An einem solchen Nachmittag sollte etwa ein Dutzend Mitglieder der Anwaltschaft des Obersten Kanzleigerichts – wie sie es hier sind – verschwommen in einer der zehntausend Stufen eines endlosen Prozesses beschäftigt sein, einander auf schlüpfrigen Präzedenzfällen zu Fall bringend, knietief in Spitzfindigkeiten tastend, ihre mit Ziegen- und Rosshaarmützen bewehrten Köpfe gegen Wände von Worten rennend und mit ernsten Mienen einen Anschein von Billigkeit erzeugend, wie es Schauspieler tun könnten.
On such an afternoon the various solicitors in the cause, some two or three of whom have inherited it from their fathers, who made a fortune by it, ought to be—as are they not?—ranged in a line, in a long matted well (but you might look in vain for truth at the bottom of it) between the registrar's red table and the silk gowns, with bills, cross-bills, answers, rejoinders, injunctions, affidavits, issues, references to masters, masters' reports, mountains of costly nonsense, piled before them.
An einem solchen Nachmittag sollten die verschiedenen Solicitors in dem Verfahren, von denen zwei oder drei es von ihren Vätern geerbt haben, die damit ein Vermögen gemacht haben, – wie sollten sie es nicht? – in einer Reihe aufgestellt sein, in einem langen, matten Schacht (doch man könnte vergeblich nach Wahrheit auf dessen Grund suchen) zwischen dem roten Tisch des Urkundsbeamten und den Seidenroben, mit Klageschriften, Gegenklageschriften, Antworten, Erwiderungen, Unterlassungsverfügungen, eidesstattlichen Erklärungen, Streitpunkten, Verweisen an Richtermeister, Berichten der Richtermeister, Bergen von kostspieligem Unsinn, vor ihnen aufgehäuft.
Vocabulary
- An
- Preposition meaning 'at' or 'on'
- einem
- Indefinite article, dative masculine/neuter 'a/an'
- solchen
- Such, of that kind, inflected form
- Nachmittag
- Afternoon, the time after midday
- wenn
- If or when, introduces conditional clauses
- überhaupt
- At all, generally, in any way whatsoever
- je
- Ever, at any time, each
- sollte
- Should, past subjunctive of 'sollen'
- der
- Definite article, masculine nominative 'the'
- hier
- Here, in this place
- sitzen
- To sit, to be seated
- wie
- How, as, like, in the manner of
- er
- He, third-person masculine singular pronoun
- sitzt
- Sits, third-person singular present of 'sitzen'
- mit
- With, together with, by means of
- nebligen
- Foggy, misty, adjective inflected form
- Glanz
- Gleam, shine, radiance, brilliance
- um
- Around, about, at (time), in order to
- sein
- His, possessive pronoun, or 'to be'
- Haupt
- Head, chief, principal, literary for head
- sanft
- Gentle, soft, mild, tender
- von
- Of, from, by, preposition indicating origin
- und
- And, coordinating conjunction
- Vorhängen
- Curtains, drapes, hanging window coverings
- angesprochen
- Addressed, spoken to, past participle of 'ansprechen'
- großen
- Great, large, big, inflected adjective form
- Anwalt
- Lawyer, attorney, legal representative
- mächtigen
- Powerful, mighty, strong, inflected adjective form
- einer
- One, a/an, indefinite pronoun or article
- kleinen
- Small, little, inflected adjective form
- Stimme
- Voice, vote, sound produced by speaking
- endlosen
- Endless, infinite, never-ending, inflected form
- äußerlich
- Outwardly, externally, on the surface, superficially
- seine
- His, possessive pronoun feminine/plural form
- Betrachtung
- Contemplation, observation, reflection, consideration
- auf
- On, onto, upon, at, preposition
- die
- The, definite article feminine or plural
- Laterne
- Lantern, lamp, light fixture hung above
- im
- In the, contraction of 'in dem'
- Dach
- Roof, ceiling, top of a building
- richtend
- Directing, aiming, turning toward something
- wo
- Where, at which place
- nichts
- Nothing, not anything, zero things
- als
- Than, as, when, only, but
- Nebel
- Fog, mist, haze, dense water vapor
- sehen
- To see, to look at, perceive visually
- kann
- Can, is able to, third-person singular present
- etwa
- About, approximately, roughly, around a number
- ein
- One, a/an, indefinite article masculine/neuter
- Dutzend
- Dozen, a group of twelve items
- Mitglieder
- Members, participants belonging to a group
- des
- Of the, genitive masculine/neuter definite article
- Obersten
- Supreme, highest, topmost, inflected superlative adjective
- sie
- They, she, third-person pronoun singular/plural
- es
- It, third-person neuter singular pronoun
- sind
- Are, third-person plural present of 'sein'
- verschwommen
- Blurred, hazy, indistinct, out of focus
- in
- In, inside, within, into
- zehntausend
- Ten thousand, the number 10,000
- Stufen
- Steps, stages, levels, gradations
- eines
- Of a/an, indefinite article genitive form
- Prozesses
- Process, lawsuit, trial, legal proceeding
- beschäftigt
- Busy, occupied, employed, engaged in activity
- einander
- Each other, one another, mutually
- schlüpfrigen
- Slippery, slick, tricky, inflected adjective form
- zu
- To, at, too, preposition or infinitive marker
- Fall
- Case, fall, instance, legal matter
- bringend
- Bringing, causing to fall, present participle
- ihre
- Their, her, possessive pronoun inflected form
- Köpfe
- Heads, plural of Kopf, the human head
- gegen
- Against, toward, versus, opposite, preposition
- Wände
- Walls, plural of Wand, interior vertical surfaces
- Worten
- Words, plural of Wort in dative context
- rennend
- Running, charging, rushing, present participle of 'rennen'
- ernsten
- Serious, grave, earnest, inflected adjective form
- einen
- A/an, accusative masculine indefinite article
- Anschein
- Appearance, semblance, impression, outward look
- erzeugend
- Producing, generating, creating, present participle
- Schauspieler
- Actors, performers, those who play roles
- tun
- To do, to act, to perform something
- könnten
- Could, subjunctive of 'können', ability conditional
- sollten
- Should, subjunctive of 'sollen', obligation conditional
- verschiedenen
- Various, different, several, inflected adjective form
- dem
- The, dative masculine/neuter definite article
- Verfahren
- Procedure, process, legal proceedings, method
- denen
- Those, whom, relative/demonstrative dative plural pronoun
- zwei
- Two, the number 2
- oder
- Or, alternative coordinating conjunction
- drei
- Three, the number 3
- ihren
- Their, accusative masculine possessive pronoun form
- Vätern
- Fathers, dative plural of Vater, male parents
- geerbt
- Inherited, received by inheritance, past participle
- haben
- To have, auxiliary verb for perfect tenses
- damit
- With it, thereby, so that, in order to
- Vermögen
- Fortune, wealth, assets, financial means
- gemacht
- Made, done, past participle of 'machen'
- nicht
- Not, negation particle in German sentences
- Reihe
- Row, series, line, sequence of things
- aufgestellt
- Set up, arranged, placed in position
- langen
- Long, tall, extended, inflected adjective form
- matten
- Dull, dim, faint, weak, inflected form
- doch
- Yet, still, however, though, emphatic particle
- man
- One, you, people in general, impersonal pronoun
- könnte
- Could, subjunctive of 'können', conditional ability
- vergeblich
- In vain, fruitlessly, unsuccessfully, to no avail
- nach
- After, to, toward, according to, preposition
- Wahrheit
- Truth, reality, factual accuracy, veracity
- dessen
- Whose, of which, genitive demonstrative/relative pronoun
- Grund
- Reason, ground, bottom, basis, cause
- suchen
- To search, to look for, to seek
- zwischen
- Between, among, in the middle of two
- roten
- Red, inflected adjective form of 'rot'
- Tisch
- Table, desk, flat surface for working
- Antworten
- Answers, replies, responses to questions or filings
- Erklärungen
- Declarations, explanations, statements, official written accounts
- Verweisen
- References, referrals, citations to other documents
- Berichten
- Reports, accounts, written summaries of proceedings
- Bergen
- Mountains or piles, heaps of accumulated material
- kostspieligem
- Costly, expensive, inflected adjective in dative context
- Unsinn
- Nonsense, absurdity, foolishness, meaningless content
- vor
- Before, in front of, ago, preposition
- ihnen
- Them, dative third-person plural personal pronoun
- aufgehäuft
- Piled up, heaped, accumulated, stacked in quantity
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