Coniston — Volume 01 — Page 1

English → De CHAPTER I Level 6/10

First I am to write a love-story of long ago, of a time some little while after General Jackson had got into the White House and had shown the world what a real democracy was.

Zunächst soll ich eine Liebesgeschichte aus längst vergangener Zeit erzählen, aus einer Zeit, kurz nachdem General Jackson ins Weiße Haus eingezogen war und der Welt gezeigt hatte, was eine echte Demokratie ist.

The Era of the first six Presidents had closed, and a new Era had begun.

Die Ära der ersten sechs Präsidenten hatte sich geschlossen, und eine neue Ära hatte begonnen.

I am speaking of political Eras.

Ich spreche von politischen Ären.

Certain gentlemen, with a pious belief in democracy, but with a firmer determination to get on top, arose,--and got in top.

Gewisse Herren, mit einem frommen Glauben an die Demokratie, aber mit einem noch festeren Entschluss, an die Spitze zu gelangen, erhoben sich – und gelangten an die Spitze.

So many of these gentlemen arose in the different states, and they were so clever, and they found so many chinks in the Constitution to crawl through and steal the people's chestnuts, that the Era may be called the Boss-Era.

So viele dieser Herren erhoben sich in den verschiedenen Staaten, und sie waren so klug, und sie fanden so viele Lücken in der Verfassung, durch die sie kriechen und dem Volk die Kastanien stehlen konnten, dass man diese Ära die Boss-Ära nennen könnte.

After the Boss came along certain Things without souls, but of many minds, and found more chinks in the Constitution: bigger chinks, for the Things were bigger, and they stole more chestnuts.

Nach dem Boss kamen gewisse Dinge ohne Seelen, aber mit vielen Köpfen, und fanden weitere Lücken in der Verfassung: größere Lücken, denn die Dinge waren größer, und sie stahlen mehr Kastanien.

But I am getting far ahead of my love-story--and of my book.

Aber ich greife meiner Liebesgeschichte – und meinem Buch – weit voraus.

The reader is warned that this first love-story will, in a few chapters, come to an end: and not to a happy end--otherwise there would be no book.

Der Leser sei gewarnt, dass diese erste Liebesgeschichte in einigen Kapiteln zu einem Ende kommen wird: und nicht zu einem glücklichen Ende – sonst würde es kein Buch geben.

Lest he should throw the book away when he arrives at this page, it is only fair to tell him that there is another and a much longer love story later on, if he will only continue to read, in which, it is hoped, he may not be disappointed.

Damit er das Buch nicht wegwirft, wenn er an diese Stelle gelangt, ist es nur fair, ihm zu sagen, dass es später noch eine weitere und viel längere Liebesgeschichte gibt, wenn er nur weiterliest, bei der er, so ist zu hoffen, nicht enttäuscht sein wird.

Vocabulary

Zunächst: First of all; to begin with
soll: Should; is supposed to (modal verb)
Liebesgeschichte: A love story; romantic narrative
längst: Long since; long ago already
vergangener: Past; of a time gone by
Zeit: Time; period or era
erzählen: To tell; to narrate a story
kurz: Shortly; brief or soon after
nachdem: After; following the time that (conjunction)
General: General; high-ranking military officer
Weiße: White; adjective describing color white
Haus: House; building used as residence
eingezogen: Moved in; taken up residence somewhere
Welt: World; the entire earth or society
gezeigt: Shown; past participle of zeigen (show)
echte: Real; genuine or authentic
Demokratie: Democracy; system of popular self-government
Ära: Era; a distinct period of history
ersten: First; ordinal adjective, genitive/dative form
sechs: Six; the number 6
Präsidenten: Presidents; plural of Präsident
geschlossen: Closed; ended or concluded (past participle)
neue: New; adjective describing something recent
begonnen: Begun; past participle of beginnen (begin)
politischen: Political; relating to politics or government
Ären: Eras; plural of Ära, historical periods
Gewisse: Certain; particular or specific (adjective)
Herren: Gentlemen; plural of Herr, men of status
frommen: Pious; devoutly religious (adjective, inflected)
Glauben: Belief; faith or conviction in something
aber: But; however (coordinating conjunction)
noch: Still; yet; even (adverb)
festeren: Firmer; more resolute (comparative adjective inflected)
Entschluss: Decision; firm resolution or determination
Spitze: Top; peak or pinnacle of something
gelangen: To reach; to arrive at a destination
erhoben: Raised; rose up (past participle of erheben)
gelangten: Reached; past tense plural of gelangen
viele: Many; a large number of
verschiedenen: Various; different, diverse (adjective inflected)
Staaten: States; plural of Staat, political entities
klug: Clever; intelligent or shrewd
fanden: Found; past tense plural of finden (find)
Lücken: Gaps; loopholes or missing spaces
Verfassung: Constitution; foundational legal document of a state
durch: Through; by means of (preposition)
kriechen: To crawl; to creep through something
Volk: People; nation or common populace
Kastanien: Chestnuts; nuts; metaphor for stolen gains
stehlen: To steal; to take without permission
konnten: Could; past tense plural of können (can)
dass: That; subordinating conjunction introducing clause
man: One; impersonal pronoun meaning people in general
Boss-Ära: Boss era; period dominated by political bosses
nennen: To call; to name or designate something
könnte: Could; subjunctive of können, expresses possibility
Nach: After; following (preposition)
Boss: Boss; political or organizational leader
kamen: Came; past tense plural of kommen (come)
gewisse: Certain; particular or unspecified (adjective)
Dinge: Things; plural of Ding, objects or matters
ohne: Without; lacking (preposition)
Seelen: Souls; plural of Seele, spiritual inner selves
vielen: Many; dative inflected form of viele
Köpfen: Heads; plural of Kopf, leaders or minds
weitere: Further; additional or more beyond current
größere: Larger; comparative of groß (big, great)
denn: Because; for (coordinating conjunction/particle)
größer: Bigger; comparative adjective of groß
stahlen: Stole; past tense plural of stehlen (steal)
mehr: More; greater quantity or degree
Aber: But; however (coordinating conjunction)
greife: Reach; first-person singular of greifen (grasp)
Buch: Book; written or printed publication
weit: Far; wide; greatly ahead in distance
voraus: Ahead; in advance; anticipating future events
Leser: Reader; person who reads a text
sei: Be; subjunctive of sein, expresses wish or warning
gewarnt: Warned; past participle of warnen (to warn)
erste: First; ordinal number adjective
einigen: Some; a few (adjective, dative plural)
Kapiteln: Chapters; plural of Kapitel, book sections
Ende: End; conclusion or final point
kommen: Come; to arrive or reach a point
glücklichen: Happy; fortunate (adjective, inflected form)
sonst: Otherwise; or else; in other cases
würde: Would; subjunctive of werden (conditional auxiliary)
kein: No; not a; negating article
geben: Give; to exist (es gibt = there is)
Damit: So that; in order that (conjunction)
wegwirft: Throws away; discards (third-person singular present)
wenn: When; if (subordinating conjunction)
Stelle: Place; passage; point in a text
gelangt: Reaches; arrives at (third-person singular present)
nur: Only; just (adverb of restriction)
fair: Fair; just or equitable treatment
sagen: To say; to tell someone something
später: Later; at a subsequent time
viel: Much; a lot of something
längere: Longer; comparative adjective of lang (long)
gibt: Gives; there is (es gibt, third-person singular)
weiterliest: Continues reading; reads on further
bei: At; by; near (preposition)
hoffen: To hope; to wish for something optimistically
enttäuscht: Disappointed; let down or disillusioned
sein: To be; infinitive of the verb sein

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