Coniston — Volume 01 — Page 14
As far as rum was concerned, he was a creature after Aunt Lucy's own heart, for he never touched it: true, gaunt Deacon Ira Perkins, tithing-man, had once chided him for breaking the Sabbath--shooting at a fox.
Was den Rum betraf, war er ganz nach Tante Lucys Herzen, denn er rührte ihn niemals an: zwar hatte der hagere Diakon Ira Perkins, der Zehnteneintreiber, ihn einmal getadelt, weil er den Sabbat gebrochen hatte – er hatte auf einen Fuchs geschossen.
To return to the book.
Doch zurück zum Buch.
As long as he lived, Jethro looked back to the joy of the monumental task of mastering its contents.
Solange er lebte, dachte Jethro mit Freude an die gewaltige Aufgabe zurück, seinen Inhalt zu bewältigen.
In his mind, Napoleon became a rough Yankee general; of the cities, villages, and fortress he formed as accurate a picture as a resident of Venice from Marco Polo's account of Tartary.
In seiner Vorstellung wurde Napoleon zu einem derben Yankee-General; von den Städten, Dörfern und Festungen machte er sich ein ebenso genaues Bild wie ein Venezianer aus Marco Polos Bericht über die Tartarei.
Jethro had learned to read, after a fashion, to write, add, multiply, and divide.
Jethro hatte gelernt, auf seine Art zu lesen, zu schreiben, zu addieren, zu multiplizieren und zu dividieren.
He knew that George Washington and certain barefooted companions had forced a proud Britain to her knees, and much of the warring in the book took color from Captain Timothy Prescott's stories of General Stark and his campaigns, heard at Jonah Winch's store.
Er wusste, dass George Washington und einige barfüßige Gefährten ein stolzes Britannien in die Knie gezwungen hatten, und vieles von den Kriegsschilderungen im Buch erhielt seine Färbung durch Kapitän Timothy Prescotts Geschichten über General Stark und seine Feldzüge, die er in Jonah Winchs Laden gehört hatte.
What Paris looked like, or Berlin, or the Hospice of St. Bernard--though imaged by a winter Coniston--troubled Jethro not at all; the thing that stuck in his mind was that Napoleon--for a considerable time, at least--compelled men to do his bidding.
Wie Paris aussah, oder Berlin, oder das Hospiz des Heiligen Bernhard – obwohl er es sich anhand eines winterlichen Coniston vorstellte – kümmerte Jethro überhaupt nicht; was ihm im Gedächtnis blieb, war, dass Napoleon – zumindest für eine beträchtliche Zeit – die Menschen zwang, nach seinem Willen zu handeln.
Constitutions crumble before the Strong.
Verfassungen zerbröckeln vor den Starken.
Not that Jethro philosophized about constitutions.
Nicht dass Jethro über Verfassungen philosophiert hätte.
Existing conditions presented themselves, and it occurred to him that there were crevices in the town system, and ways into power through the crevices for men clever enough to find them.
Die bestehenden Verhältnisse stellten sich ihm dar, und es kam ihm in den Sinn, dass es Risse im Gemeindesystem gab und Wege zur Macht durch diese Risse für Männer, die klug genug waren, sie zu finden.
Vocabulary
- Was
- What; used as interrogative or relative pronoun
- den
- The; accusative masculine definite article
- betraf
- Concerned, affected; past tense of betreffen
- war
- Was; past tense of sein (to be)
- er
- He; third-person singular masculine pronoun
- ganz
- Completely, entirely, whole; adverb or adjective
- nach
- After, according to, toward; common preposition
- Tante
- Aunt; female relative, parent's sister
- Herzen
- Hearts; plural or dative of Herz (heart)
- denn
- Because, for; conjunction giving reason or cause
- rührte
- Moved, stirred; past tense of rühren
- ihn
- Him; accusative singular masculine personal pronoun
- niemals
- Never; emphatic adverb of negation in time
- an
- On, at, to; common preposition indicating proximity
- zwar
- Indeed, admittedly; concessive adverb in contrast
- hatte
- Had; past tense of haben (to have)
- der
- The; definite article, nominative masculine singular
- hagere
- Gaunt, lean, thin; adjective describing slim build
- einmal
- Once, one time; adverb of frequency or emphasis
- getadelt
- Reprimanded, criticized; past participle of tadeln
- weil
- Because; subordinating conjunction introducing reason
- gebrochen
- Broken; past participle of brechen (to break)
- auf
- On, onto, upon; common two-way preposition
- einen
- A, an; accusative masculine indefinite article
- Fuchs
- Fox; wild canine animal known for cunning
- geschossen
- Shot; past participle of schießen (to shoot)
- Doch
- But, yet, however; contrastive conjunction or particle
- zurück
- Back, return; adverb indicating return to place
- zum
- To the; contraction of zu and dem
- Buch
- Book; written or printed literary work
- Solange
- As long as; conjunction indicating duration condition
- lebte
- Lived; past tense of leben (to live)
- dachte
- Thought; past tense of denken (to think)
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- Freude
- Joy, happiness, delight; positive emotional state
- die
- The; definite article, feminine or plural nominative
- gewaltige
- Enormous, mighty, powerful; adjective of great size
- Aufgabe
- Task, assignment, challenge; something to be accomplished
- seinen
- His; accusative masculine possessive pronoun adjective
- Inhalt
- Content, contents; what is inside or contained
- zu
- To, at, too; preposition or infinitive particle
- bewältigen
- To master, cope with, manage; overcome a challenge
- In
- In, inside; preposition indicating location within something
- seiner
- His; genitive or dative masculine possessive pronoun
- Vorstellung
- Imagination, idea, conception; mental image or notion
- wurde
- Became, was; past tense of werden (to become)
- einem
- A, an; dative masculine or neuter indefinite article
- derben
- Coarse, rough, crude; adjective in inflected form
- von
- Of, from, by; common preposition of origin
- Städten
- Cities, towns; dative plural of Stadt
- Dörfern
- Villages; dative plural of Dorf (village)
- und
- And; basic coordinating conjunction joining elements
- Festungen
- Fortresses, fortifications; plural of Festung
- machte
- Made, did; past tense of machen (to make)
- sich
- Himself, herself, itself; reflexive pronoun third person
- ein
- A, an; indefinite article, nominative neuter or masculine
- ebenso
- Just as, equally, likewise; comparative adverb of manner
- genaues
- Exact, precise; inflected neuter form of genau
- Bild
- Picture, image; visual representation or mental conception
- wie
- How, as, like; conjunction or adverb of comparison
- aus
- From, out of; preposition of origin or departure
- Bericht
- Report, account; written or spoken description of events
- über
- About, over, above; preposition of topic or position
- gelernt
- Learned; past participle of lernen (to learn)
- seine
- His; nominative feminine or plural possessive pronoun
- Art
- Way, manner, type, kind; style of doing something
- lesen
- To read; basic verb for reading written text
- schreiben
- To write; basic verb for producing written text
- addieren
- To add; mathematical operation combining numbers together
- multiplizieren
- To multiply; mathematical operation of multiplication
- dividieren
- To divide; mathematical operation of division
- Er
- He; nominative third-person singular masculine pronoun
- wusste
- Knew; past tense of wissen (to know facts)
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause
- einige
- Some, a few, several; indefinite pronoun or adjective
- Gefährten
- Companions, comrades; plural of Gefährte (companion)
- stolzes
- Proud; inflected neuter form of stolz
- in
- In, into; preposition indicating location or direction
- Knie
- Knee; joint in the middle of the leg
- gezwungen
- Forced, compelled; past participle of zwingen
- vieles
- Much, many things; indefinite pronoun indicating quantity
- im
- In the; contraction of in and dem
- erhielt
- Received, got; past tense of erhalten
- Färbung
- Coloring, tinge, shade; a quality giving particular character
- durch
- Through, by means of; preposition of passage or agency
- Kapitän
- Captain; military or naval officer of high rank
- Geschichten
- Stories, tales; plural of Geschichte (story/history)
- General
- General; high-ranking military officer
- Feldzüge
- Campaigns; military expeditions or series of operations
- Laden
- Shop, store; place where goods are sold
- gehört
- Heard or belonged; past participle of hören/gehören
- Wie
- How, what like; interrogative adverb asking manner
- aussah
- Looked, appeared; past tense of aussehen
- oder
- Or; coordinating conjunction presenting alternatives
- das
- The; neuter nominative/accusative definite article
- des
- Of the; genitive masculine or neuter definite article
- Heiligen
- Saint, holy; genitive inflected form of heilig
- obwohl
- Although, even though; concessive subordinating conjunction
- es
- It; neuter third-person singular personal pronoun
- anhand
- By means of, based on; preposition using something as guide
- eines
- Of a; genitive masculine or neuter indefinite article
- winterlichen
- Wintry, winter; inflected adjective relating to winter
- vorstellte
- Imagined, introduced; past tense of vorstellen
- kümmerte
- Cared, bothered; past tense of kümmern (to care)
- überhaupt
- At all, in general; adverb of emphasis or negation
- nicht
- Not; basic particle of negation in German
- was
- What; interrogative pronoun or relative conjunction
- ihm
- Him, it; dative singular masculine personal pronoun
- Gedächtnis
- Memory; the capacity to recall past information
- blieb
- Remained, stayed; past tense of bleiben
- zumindest
- At least; adverb setting a minimum condition
- für
- For; preposition indicating purpose or duration
- eine
- A, an; feminine nominative indefinite article
- beträchtliche
- Considerable, substantial; inflected adjective of quantity
- Zeit
- Time; the measured progression of events
- Menschen
- People, humans; plural of Mensch (person)
- zwang
- Forced, compelled; past tense of zwingen
- seinem
- His; dative masculine or neuter possessive pronoun
- Willen
- Will; determination or desire to act
- handeln
- To act, to trade; verb meaning to take action
- Verfassungen
- Constitutions; plural of Verfassung (constitution)
- zerbröckeln
- To crumble, fall apart; disintegrate into small pieces
- vor
- Before, in front of; preposition of position or time
- Starken
- The strong; inflected plural of stark (strong)
- Nicht
- Not; negation particle, capitalized for emphasis
- hätte
- Would have; subjunctive II form of haben
- Die
- The; definite article, feminine or plural nominative
- bestehenden
- Existing, prevailing; inflected present participle of bestehen
- Verhältnisse
- Conditions, circumstances; plural of Verhältnis
- stellten
- Placed, represented; past plural of stellen
- dar
- There, forth; separable prefix in darstellen (to represent)
- kam
- Came; past tense of kommen (to come)
- Sinn
- Sense, meaning, mind; faculty of perception or meaning
- Risse
- Cracks, tears; plural of Riss (crack, tear)
- gab
- Gave, there was; past tense of geben
- Wege
- Ways, paths; plural of Weg (way, path)
- zur
- To the; contraction of zu and der (dative feminine)
- Macht
- Power, might; political or physical authority
- diese
- These, this; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- Männer
- Men; plural of Mann (man)
- klug
- Clever, smart, intelligent; adjective of mental acuity
- genug
- Enough, sufficient; adverb or adjective of adequacy
- waren
- Were; past tense plural of sein (to be)
- sie
- They, she, them; personal pronoun third person
- finden
- To find; to locate or discover something
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