Bleak House — Page 8
Articled clerks have been in the habit of fleshing their legal wit upon it.
Referendare haben es sich zur Gewohnheit gemacht, ihren juristischen Witz daran zu schärfen.
The last Lord Chancellor handled it neatly, when, correcting Mr. Blowers, the eminent silk gown who said that such a thing might happen when the sky rained potatoes, he observed, "or when we get through Jarndyce and Jarndyce, Mr. Blowers"—a pleasantry that particularly tickled the maces, bags, and purses.
Der letzte Lordkanzler handhabte es geschickt, als er Herrn Blowers, dem bedeutenden Seidengewand, der sagte, so etwas könne geschehen, wenn der Himmel Kartoffeln regne, korrigierend bemerkte: „oder wenn wir mit Jarndyce gegen Jarndyce fertig werden, Herr Blowers" – eine Scherzhaftigkeit, die die Amtsstäbe, Taschen und Geldbeutel besonders kitzelte.
How many people out of the suit Jarndyce and Jarndyce has stretched forth its unwholesome hand to spoil and corrupt would be a very wide question.
Wie viele Menschen außerhalb des Prozesses Jarndyce gegen Jarndyce seine unheilvollen Hände ausgestreckt hat, um sie zu verderben und zu korrumpieren, wäre eine sehr weitreichende Frage.
From the master upon whose impaling files reams of dusty warrants in Jarndyce and Jarndyce have grimly writhed into many shapes, down to the copying-clerk in the Six Clerks' Office who has copied his tens of thousands of Chancery folio-pages under that eternal heading, no man's nature has been made better by it.
Vom Gerichtsschreiber, auf dessen aufspießenden Akten Unmengen verstaubter Urkunden in Jarndyce gegen Jarndyce sich grimmig in viele Formen gewunden haben, bis hin zum Kopierschreiber im Büro der Sechs Schreiber, der seine Zehntausende von Kanzleifolioseiten unter jener ewigen Überschrift abgeschrieben hat, ist die Natur keines Mannes dadurch besser geworden.
In trickery, evasion, procrastination, spoliation, botheration, under false pretences of all sorts, there are influences that can never come to good.
In Hinterhältigkeit, Ausflüchten, Aufschieberitis, Plünderung, Belästigung, unter falschen Vorwänden aller Art, gibt es Einflüsse, die niemals zu etwas Gutem führen können.
The very solicitors' boys who have kept the wretched suitors at bay, by protesting time out of mind that Mr. Chizzle, Mizzle, or otherwise was particularly engaged and had appointments until dinner, may have got an extra moral twist and shuffle into themselves out of Jarndyce and Jarndyce.
Selbst die Anwaltsgehilfen, die die unglückseligen Kläger dadurch auf Abstand gehalten haben, dass sie seit Menschengedenken beteuerten, Herr Chizzle, Mizzle oder sonst jemand sei besonders beschäftigt und habe Termine bis zum Abendessen, mögen durch Jarndyce gegen Jarndyce eine zusätzliche moralische Verdrehung und Verschleierung in sich aufgenommen haben.
The receiver in the cause has acquired a goodly sum of money by it but has acquired too a distrust of his own mother and a contempt for his own kind.
Der Sequester in diesem Fall hat dadurch eine beträchtliche Geldsumme erworben, aber auch ein Misstrauen gegenüber seiner eigenen Mutter und eine Verachtung für seinesgleichen gewonnen.
Vocabulary
- Referendare
- Law clerks or trainee lawyers undergoing practical legal training
- haben
- To have; auxiliary verb for perfect tenses
- es
- It; neuter third-person singular pronoun
- sich
- Reflexive pronoun meaning oneself or themselves
- zur
- Contraction of zu der, meaning to the
- Gewohnheit
- Habit or custom; a regularly practiced behavior
- gemacht
- Made or done; past participle of machen
- ihren
- Their; accusative or dative form of ihr
- juristischen
- Legal or juridical; relating to law or jurisprudence
- Witz
- Wit or joke; cleverness or a humorous remark
- daran
- On it or at it; prepositional adverb
- zu
- To or too; preposition or infinitive marker
- schärfen
- To sharpen; to hone a skill or blade
- Der
- The; definite article for masculine nouns
- letzte
- Last or final; most recent in a sequence
- Lordkanzler
- Lord Chancellor; highest judicial officer in England
- handhabte
- Handled or managed; past tense of handhaben
- geschickt
- Skillfully or cleverly; done with dexterity
- als
- When or as; conjunction introducing a past event
- er
- He; masculine third-person singular pronoun
- Herrn
- Mr. or gentleman; accusative or dative of Herr
- dem
- The; dative masculine or neuter definite article
- bedeutenden
- Prominent or significant; of great importance or status
- Seidengewand
- Silk gown; formal robe worn by senior barristers
- der
- The; definite article or relative pronoun
- sagte
- Said; past tense of sagen
- so
- So or such; adverb expressing manner or degree
- etwas
- Something or somewhat; indefinite pronoun or adverb
- könne
- Could; subjunctive form of können expressing possibility
- geschehen
- To happen or occur; infinitive of an event taking place
- wenn
- When or if; conditional or temporal conjunction
- Himmel
- Sky or heaven; the celestial expanse above earth
- Kartoffeln
- Potatoes; common edible tuber vegetable
- regne
- Rained; subjunctive form of regnen, to rain
- korrigierend
- Correcting; present participle meaning making a correction
- bemerkte
- Remarked or noted; past tense of bemerken
- oder
- Or; conjunction presenting an alternative option
- wir
- We; first-person plural pronoun
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- gegen
- Against or versus; preposition indicating opposition
- fertig
- Finished or ready; done with a task or process
- werden
- To become; auxiliary for future or passive constructions
- Herr
- Mr. or gentleman; polite title for a man
- eine
- A or an; indefinite article for feminine nouns
- Scherzhaftigkeit
- Jokiness or facetiousness; quality of being humorous
- die
- The; definite article for feminine or plural nouns
- Amtsstäbe
- Official staffs or court officers; those holding office
- Taschen
- Pockets or bags; receptacles for carrying items
- und
- And; basic coordinating conjunction linking elements
- Geldbeutel
- Wallet or purse; small bag for carrying money
- besonders
- Especially or particularly; to a notable degree
- kitzelte
- Tickled; past tense of kitzeln, to amuse or tickle
- Wie
- How or like; interrogative or comparative word
- viele
- Many; indicating a large number of people or things
- Menschen
- People or humans; plural of Mensch
- außerhalb
- Outside of; preposition indicating exterior position
- des
- Of the; genitive definite article for masculine or neuter
- Prozesses
- Of the lawsuit or process; legal proceedings genitive
- seine
- His; possessive pronoun for masculine subject
- unheilvollen
- Ominous or disastrous; bringing harm or misfortune
- Hände
- Hands; plural of Hand, the body part
- ausgestreckt
- Stretched out or extended; past participle of ausstrecken
- hat
- Has; third-person singular present of haben
- um
- Around or in order to; preposition or infinitive marker
- sie
- Them or she; third-person pronoun singular or plural
- verderben
- To corrupt or ruin; to spoil morally or physically
- korrumpieren
- To corrupt; to bribe or morally deprave someone
- wäre
- Would be; subjunctive form of sein
- sehr
- Very; intensifying adverb modifying adjectives or adverbs
- weitreichende
- Far-reaching; having extensive consequences or implications
- Frage
- Question; an inquiry or matter to be examined
- Vom
- Contraction of von dem, meaning from the
- Gerichtsschreiber
- Court clerk; official who records legal proceedings
- auf
- On or onto; preposition of position or direction
- dessen
- Whose; genitive relative pronoun for masculine or neuter
- Akten
- Files or case documents; official records in an office
- Unmengen
- Huge quantities or masses; an enormous number of things
- verstaubter
- Dusty; covered in dust, suggesting neglect over time
- Urkunden
- Documents or deeds; official written legal records
- in
- In or into; basic preposition of location or direction
- grimmig
- Grim or fierce; expressing severity or threatening forms
- Formen
- Forms or shapes; plural of Form
- gewunden
- Wound or twisted; coiled into contorted shapes
- bis
- Until or up to; preposition indicating a limit
- hin
- There or toward; directional adverb used in compounds
- zum
- Contraction of zu dem, meaning to the
- Kopierschreiber
- Copyist or copying clerk; one who transcribes documents
- im
- Contraction of in dem, meaning in the
- Büro
- Office; a room or place for administrative work
- Sechs
- Six; the cardinal number between five and seven
- Schreiber
- Scribe or clerk; one who writes or copies documents
- Zehntausende
- Tens of thousands; a very large number of items
- von
- Of or from; preposition indicating origin or possession
- unter
- Under or among; preposition of position or inclusion
- jener
- That; demonstrative pronoun or article referring to something
- ewigen
- Eternal or everlasting; perpetual, never-ending
- Überschrift
- Heading or title; text placed above a document section
- abgeschrieben
- Copied or written off; past participle of abschreiben
- ist
- Is; third-person singular present of sein
- Natur
- Nature; the innate character or the natural world
- keines
- No one's or none's; genitive of kein
- Mannes
- Of a man; genitive singular of Mann
- dadurch
- Thereby or through it; adverb indicating cause or means
- besser
- Better; comparative form of gut
- geworden
- Become; past participle of werden
- In
- In; preposition indicating location or state
- Hinterhältigkeit
- Deceitfulness or treachery; sneaky underhanded behavior
- Ausflüchten
- Excuses or evasions; pretexts used to avoid responsibility
- Aufschieberitis
- Chronic procrastination; habitual tendency to delay tasks
- Plünderung
- Plundering or pillaging; the act of looting resources
- Belästigung
- Harassment or nuisance; the act of troubling others
- falschen
- False or wrong; incorrect, deceptive, or untrue
- Vorwänden
- Pretexts or pretenses; dative plural of Vorwand
- aller
- Of all; genitive plural of alle
- Art
- Kind or type; a sort or variety of something
- gibt
- Gives or there is; third-person singular of geben
- Einflüsse
- Influences; plural of Einfluss, effects on someone
- niemals
- Never; at no time, under no circumstances
- Gutem
- To good; dative of Gut, positive or beneficial outcome
- führen
- To lead; to guide or bring someone somewhere
- können
- Can or to be able to; modal verb of ability
- Selbst
- Even or self; used for emphasis or reflexive reference
- Anwaltsgehilfen
- Lawyer's assistants; subordinate helpers in a law firm
- unglückseligen
- Wretched or unfortunate; deeply unhappy or ill-fated
- Kläger
- Plaintiff or claimant; person bringing a legal lawsuit
- Abstand
- Distance or interval; space kept from someone or something
- gehalten
- Held or kept; past participle of halten
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause
- seit
- Since or for; preposition indicating duration of time
- Menschengedenken
- Living memory; as long as people can remember
- beteuerten
- Asserted or insisted; past tense of beteuern
- sonst
- Otherwise or else; indicating another possibility
- jemand
- Someone or somebody; an indefinite person
- sei
- Be; subjunctive form of sein indicating indirect speech
- beschäftigt
- Busy or occupied; engaged in work or activity
- habe
- Have; subjunctive form of haben in indirect speech
- Termine
- Appointments or deadlines; scheduled meetings or dates
- Abendessen
- Dinner or supper; the evening meal
- mögen
- May or to like; modal verb expressing possibility or liking
- durch
- Through or by; preposition indicating means or passage
- zusätzliche
- Additional or extra; beyond what is normally required
- moralische
- Moral; relating to ethics or standards of right conduct
- Verdrehung
- Distortion or twisting; misrepresentation of facts
- Verschleierung
- Concealment or obscuring; hiding the truth deliberately
- aufgenommen
- Absorbed or taken up; past participle of aufnehmen
- Sequester
- Sequestrator; legal officer managing disputed property
- diesem
- This; dative singular masculine or neuter demonstrative
- Fall
- Case or fall; a legal matter or instance
- beträchtliche
- Considerable or substantial; a notably large amount
- Geldsumme
- Sum of money; a specific amount of currency
- erworben
- Acquired or earned; past participle of erwerben
- aber
- But or however; coordinating conjunction showing contrast
- auch
- Also or too; additive adverb
- ein
- A or an; indefinite article for masculine or neuter nouns
- Misstrauen
- Distrust or suspicion; lack of trust in someone
- gegenüber
- Toward or opposite; preposition indicating relation to someone
- seiner
- His; genitive masculine possessive pronoun
- eigenen
- Own; belonging to oneself, not another person
- Mutter
- Mother; a female parent
- Verachtung
- Contempt or scorn; deep disrespect for someone
- für
- For; preposition indicating purpose or beneficiary
- seinesgleichen
- His kind or peers; people of the same sort
- gewonnen
- Won or gained; past participle of gewinnen
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