Cranford — Page 5
When Mrs Forrester, for instance, gave a party in her baby-house of a dwelling, and the little maiden disturbed the ladies on the sofa by a request that she might get the tea-tray out from underneath, everyone took this novel proceeding as the most natural thing in the world, and talked on about household forms and ceremonies as if we all believed that our hostess had a regular servants' hall, second table, with housekeeper and steward, instead of the one little charity-school maiden, whose short ruddy arms could never have been strong enough to carry the tray upstairs, if she had not been assisted in private by her mistress, who now sat in state, pretending not to know what cakes were sent up, though she knew, and we knew, and she knew that we knew, and we knew that she knew that we knew, she had been busy all the morning making tea-bread and sponge-cakes.
Als zum Beispiel Frau Forrester in ihrem puppenstubenartigen Häuschen eine Gesellschaft gab und das kleine Dienstmädchen die Damen auf dem Sofa damit störte, dass es bat, das Teetablett darunter hervorzuholen, nahm jedermann dieses ungewöhnliche Vorgehen als die selbstverständlichste Sache der Welt hin und sprach weiter über häusliche Formen und Gepflogenheiten, als ob wir alle glaubten, unsere Gastgeberin verfüge über eine ordentliche Gesindestube, eine zweite Tafel mit Haushälterin und Hausverwalter, anstatt über das eine kleine Armenschulmädchen, dessen kurze, rote Arme niemals stark genug gewesen wären, das Tablett die Treppe hinaufzutragen, wenn es nicht heimlich von seiner Herrin unterstützt worden wäre, die nun würdevoll dasaß und so tat, als wüsste sie nicht, welche Kuchen heraufgeschickt worden waren, obwohl sie es wusste, und wir es wussten, und sie wusste, dass wir es wussten, und wir wussten, dass sie wusste, dass wir es wussten, dass sie den ganzen Morgen damit beschäftigt gewesen war, Teebrot und Biskuitkuchen zu backen.
There were one or two consequences arising from this general but unacknowledged poverty, and this very much acknowledged gentility, which were not amiss, and which might be introduced into many circles of society to their great improvement.
Es gab ein oder zwei Folgen, die sich aus dieser allgemeinen, aber nicht eingestandenen Armut und dieser sehr wohl eingestandenen Vornehmheit ergaben, die nicht unangemessen waren und die in vielen gesellschaftlichen Kreisen zu deren großer Verbesserung hätten eingeführt werden können.
For instance, the inhabitants of Cranford kept early hours, and clattered home in their pattens, under the guidance of a lantern-bearer, about nine o'clock at night; and the whole town was abed and asleep by half-past ten.
So hielten zum Beispiel die Bewohner von Cranford frühe Stunden ein und klapperten gegen neun Uhr abends in ihren Holzschuhen, unter der Führung eines Laternenträgers, nach Hause; und die ganze Stadt lag um halb elf im Bett und schlief.
Vocabulary
- Als
- When; used to introduce a past time clause
- zum
- Contraction of 'zu dem', meaning 'to the'
- Beispiel
- Example; instance used for illustration
- Frau
- Woman; Mrs.; title for adult female
- in
- In; within; inside a space or time
- ihrem
- Her (dative); belonging to her
- Häuschen
- Little house; small cozy cottage
- eine
- A; an; indefinite article, feminine nominative
- Gesellschaft
- Society; social gathering; company of people
- gab
- Gave; past tense of 'geben'
- und
- And; conjunction linking words or clauses
- das
- The; definite article for neuter nouns
- kleine
- Small; little; of minimal size
- Dienstmädchen
- Maidservant; young female domestic servant
- die
- The; definite article for feminine or plural nouns
- Damen
- Ladies; polite term for adult women
- auf
- On; upon; on top of a surface
- dem
- The; dative definite article for masculine or neuter
- Sofa
- Sofa; upholstered seat for multiple people
- damit
- With that; so that; thereby
- störte
- Disturbed; interrupted; past tense of 'stören'
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause
- es
- It; third-person singular neuter pronoun
- bat
- Asked; requested; past tense of 'bitten'
- Teetablett
- Tea tray; tray used for serving tea
- darunter
- Underneath; beneath it; below that
- hervorzuholen
- To fetch out; to retrieve from underneath something
- nahm
- Took; accepted; past tense of 'nehmen'
- jedermann
- Everyone; everybody; each and every person
- dieses
- This; demonstrative pronoun, genitive or neuter nominative
- ungewöhnliche
- Unusual; uncommon; out of the ordinary
- Vorgehen
- Procedure; course of action; way of proceeding
- als
- As; than; used in comparisons or time clauses
- selbstverständlichste
- Most self-evident; most obvious; most taken-for-granted
- Sache
- Thing; matter; affair; object
- der
- The; definite article, genitive or masculine nominative
- Welt
- World; earth; universe of existence
- hin
- Away; in that direction; toward a place
- sprach
- Spoke; talked; past tense of 'sprechen'
- weiter
- Further; continued; on and on
- über
- About; over; above; concerning something
- häusliche
- Domestic; relating to home and household life
- Formen
- Forms; manners; customs; established social conventions
- Gepflogenheiten
- Customs; habits; established social practices and conventions
- ob
- Whether; if; used in indirect questions
- wir
- We; first-person plural pronoun
- alle
- All; every; all of a group
- glaubten
- Believed; thought; past tense of 'glauben'
- unsere
- Our; first-person plural possessive adjective
- Gastgeberin
- Hostess; female host of a social gathering
- verfüge
- Has at disposal; commands; subjunctive of 'verfügen'
- ordentliche
- Proper; decent; tidy; well-organized
- zweite
- Second; ordinal number following the first
- Tafel
- Table; formal dining table; board
- mit
- With; together with; accompanied by
- Haushälterin
- Housekeeper; woman managing a household professionally
- Hausverwalter
- House steward; male manager of a household
- anstatt
- Instead of; in place of something else
- dessen
- Whose; of which; genitive relative pronoun
- kurze
- Short; brief; of little length
- rote
- Red; of the color red
- Arme
- Arms; upper limbs of the human body
- niemals
- Never; at no time whatsoever
- stark
- Strong; powerful; having great strength
- genug
- Enough; sufficient in amount or degree
- gewesen
- Been; past participle of 'sein'
- wären
- Would have been; subjunctive of 'sein'
- Tablett
- Tray; flat surface for carrying items
- Treppe
- Staircase; stairs; flight of steps
- hinaufzutragen
- To carry up; to transport upstairs
- wenn
- If; when; conditional or temporal conjunction
- nicht
- Not; negation word in German sentences
- heimlich
- Secretly; covertly; done in a hidden manner
- von
- From; of; by; preposition indicating origin or agent
- seiner
- Her; his (dative); genitive possessive pronoun
- Herrin
- Mistress; female employer; lady of the house
- unterstützt
- Supported; assisted; helped; aided
- worden
- Been; past participle used in passive constructions
- wäre
- Would be; subjunctive form of 'sein'
- nun
- Now; at this point in time
- würdevoll
- Dignified; with dignity; bearing great composure
- dasaß
- Sat there; past tense of 'dasitzen'
- so
- So; thus; in this way
- tat
- Did; acted; past tense of 'tun'
- wüsste
- Would know; subjunctive of 'wissen'
- sie
- She; they; third-person pronoun
- welche
- Which; what kind of; relative or interrogative pronoun
- Kuchen
- Cake; baked sweet pastry or dessert
- waren
- Were; past tense plural of 'sein'
- obwohl
- Although; even though; despite the fact that
- wusste
- Knew; past tense singular of 'wissen'
- wussten
- Knew; past tense plural of 'wissen'
- den
- The; accusative definite article, masculine
- ganzen
- Entire; whole; all of something
- Morgen
- Morning; the early part of the day
- beschäftigt
- Busy; occupied; engaged in an activity
- war
- Was; past tense singular of 'sein'
- zu
- To; too; toward; infinitive particle
- backen
- To bake; to cook in an oven
- Es
- It; there; neuter pronoun or expletive subject
- ein
- One; a; indefinite article or numeral
- oder
- Or; conjunction presenting an alternative option
- zwei
- Two; the number 2
- Folgen
- Consequences; results; outcomes of an action
- sich
- Oneself; reflexive pronoun for third person
- aus
- From; out of; originating from a place
- dieser
- This; demonstrative adjective, feminine or genitive
- allgemeinen
- General; widespread; applying to all cases
- aber
- But; however; yet; coordinating conjunction
- Armut
- Poverty; state of being poor; lack of wealth
- sehr
- Very; extremely; to a great degree
- wohl
- Well; indeed; probably; expressing likelihood
- Vornehmheit
- Refinement; elegance; distinguished social quality
- ergaben
- Resulted in; yielded; past tense of 'ergeben'
- unangemessen
- Inappropriate; unsuitable; not fitting the situation
- vielen
- Many; numerous; a large number of
- gesellschaftlichen
- Social; relating to society or social circles
- Kreisen
- Circles; social groups; spheres of society
- deren
- Whose; of which; genitive relative pronoun plural
- großer
- Great; large; significant in size or importance
- Verbesserung
- Improvement; betterment; making something better
- hätten
- Would have; subjunctive of 'haben'
- eingeführt
- Introduced; implemented; brought into use
- werden
- To become; auxiliary for future or passive
- können
- Can; to be able to; modal verb
- So
- So; thus; therefore; in this manner
- hielten
- Kept; held; observed; past tense of 'halten'
- Bewohner
- Residents; inhabitants; people living in a place
- frühe
- Early; at an early time of day or night
- Stunden
- Hours; units of time, sixty minutes each
- gegen
- Around; against; toward; approximately a time
- neun
- Nine; the number 9
- Uhr
- O'clock; clock; unit indicating time of day
- abends
- In the evening; during evening hours
- ihren
- Their; her (accusative); possessive pronoun
- unter
- Under; below; among; beneath something
- Führung
- Leadership; guidance; being led by someone
- eines
- A; one; indefinite article genitive masculine
- nach
- To; after; toward; in the direction of
- Hause
- Home; dative form of 'Haus'
- ganze
- Entire; whole; all of something
- Stadt
- City; town; urban settlement
- lag
- Lay; was situated; past tense of 'liegen'
- um
- Around; at (time); approximately
- halb
- Half; halfway; used in telling time
- elf
- Eleven; the number 11
- im
- In the; contraction of 'in dem'
- Bett
- Bed; furniture used for sleeping
- schlief
- Slept; was asleep; past tense of 'schlafen'
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →