Cranford — Page 7
It was a word not to be mentioned to ears polite.
Es war ein Wort, das vor feinen Ohren nicht erwähnt werden durfte.
We had tacitly agreed to ignore that any with whom we associated on terms of visiting equality could ever be prevented by poverty from doing anything that they wished.
Wir hatten stillschweigend vereinbart, zu ignorieren, dass irgendjemand, mit dem wir auf der Grundlage gesellschaftlicher Gleichheit verkehrten, jemals durch Armut daran gehindert werden könnte, etwas zu tun, was er sich wünschte.
If we walked to or from a party, it was because the night was _so_ fine, or the air _so_ refreshing, not because sedan-chairs were expensive.
Wenn wir zu einer Gesellschaft oder von ihr nach Hause liefen, dann weil die Nacht so schön war oder die Luft so erfrischend, nicht weil Sänften teuer waren.
If we wore prints, instead of summer silks, it was because we preferred a washing material; and so on, till we blinded ourselves to the vulgar fact that we were, all of us, people of very moderate means.
Wenn wir Kattun trugen statt Sommerseide, dann weil wir ein waschbares Material vorzogen; und so weiter, bis wir uns selbst gegenüber der ordinären Tatsache blind machten, dass wir alle miteinander Menschen von sehr bescheidenen Verhältnissen waren.
Of course, then, we did not know what to make of a man who could speak of poverty as if it was not a disgrace.
Natürlich wussten wir daher nichts mit einem Mann anzufangen, der von Armut sprechen konnte, als wäre sie keine Schande.
Yet, somehow, Captain Brown made himself respected in Cranford, and was called upon, in spite of all resolutions to the contrary.
Dennoch verschaffte sich Hauptmann Brown auf irgendeine Weise Respekt in Cranford und wurde besucht, trotz aller gegenteiligen Vorsätze.
I was surprised to hear his opinions quoted as authority at a visit which I paid to Cranford about a year after he had settled in the town.
Ich war überrascht, bei einem Besuch in Cranford, den ich etwa ein Jahr nach seiner Niederlassung in der Stadt abstattete, zu hören, wie seine Meinungen als maßgebend zitiert wurden.
My own friends had been among the bitterest opponents of any proposal to visit the Captain and his daughters, only twelve months before; and now he was even admitted in the tabooed hours before twelve.
Meine eigenen Freunde waren noch vor zwölf Monaten unter den erbittertsten Gegnern jedes Vorschlags gewesen, den Hauptmann und seine Töchter zu besuchen; und nun wurde er sogar in den verpönten Stunden vor zwölf Uhr empfangen.
Vocabulary
- war
- Was; past tense of 'sein' (to be)
- Wort
- Word; a single unit of language
- vor
- Before, in front of; preposition of position or time
- feinen
- Fine, refined, delicate; adjective in dative plural
- Ohren
- Ears; plural of Ohr, hearing organs
- erwähnt
- Mentioned; past participle of erwähnen
- werden
- To become; auxiliary verb for passive or future
- durfte
- Was allowed; past tense of dürfen (may/be allowed)
- hatten
- Had; simple past of haben (to have)
- stillschweigend
- Tacitly, silently; without explicit statement or discussion
- vereinbart
- Agreed upon; past participle of vereinbaren
- ignorieren
- To ignore; to deliberately disregard something
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause
- irgendjemand
- Someone, anybody; an unspecified person
- Grundlage
- Basis, foundation; underlying principle or condition
- gesellschaftlicher
- Social; adjective relating to society, genitive form
- Gleichheit
- Equality; state of being equal in status
- verkehrten
- Associated with, interacted; past tense of verkehren
- jemals
- Ever; at any point in time
- durch
- Through, by means of; preposition indicating cause
- Armut
- Poverty; state of having very little money
- daran
- Thereat, from it; contraction of da and an
- gehindert
- Hindered, prevented; past participle of hindern
- könnte
- Could; subjunctive of können (to be able)
- etwas
- Something, a little; indefinite pronoun or adverb
- tun
- To do; to perform an action
- sich
- Himself/herself/itself; reflexive pronoun
- wünschte
- Wished, desired; simple past of wünschen
- Wenn
- If, when; subordinating conjunction for condition
- Gesellschaft
- Society, company, party; social gathering or group
- nach
- To, after, according to; preposition of direction
- Hause
- Home; dative form of Haus, one's dwelling
- liefen
- Ran, walked; simple past plural of laufen
- dann
- Then; adverb indicating sequence or consequence
- weil
- Because; subordinating conjunction of reason
- Nacht
- Night; the dark period between sunset and sunrise
- schön
- Beautiful, nice; pleasing to the senses
- Luft
- Air; the gaseous mixture we breathe
- erfrischend
- Refreshing; invigorating and revitalizing to the senses
- Sänften
- Sedan chairs; enclosed chairs carried by bearers
- teuer
- Expensive, dear; costing a lot of money
- Kattun
- Calico, cotton fabric; plain woven cotton textile
- trugen
- Wore, carried; simple past plural of tragen
- statt
- Instead of; preposition indicating substitution
- Sommerseide
- Summer silk; lightweight silk fabric for warm weather
- waschbares
- Washable; that can be washed without damage
- Material
- Material, fabric; substance used for making things
- vorzogen
- Preferred; simple past of vorziehen (to prefer)
- weiter
- Further, continued; adverb indicating continuation
- bis
- Until, up to; preposition or conjunction of limit
- selbst
- Ourselves, even; reflexive intensifier pronoun
- gegenüber
- Opposite, toward; preposition indicating facing position
- ordinären
- Ordinary, vulgar; plain or common, adjective declined
- Tatsache
- Fact; a thing that is known to be true
- blind
- Blind; unable or unwilling to see something
- machten
- Made; simple past plural of machen (to make)
- alle
- All, everyone; totality of persons or things
- miteinander
- With one another; together, in mutual company
- Menschen
- People, human beings; plural of Mensch
- sehr
- Very, much; adverb intensifying adjectives or adverbs
- bescheidenen
- Modest, humble; adjective in dative plural form
- Verhältnissen
- Circumstances, conditions; plural of Verhältnis
- Natürlich
- Naturally, of course; adverb expressing obvious truth
- wussten
- Knew; simple past plural of wissen (to know)
- daher
- Therefore, hence; adverb of logical consequence
- nichts
- Nothing; negative indefinite pronoun
- Mann
- Man; an adult male person
- anzufangen
- To begin, to deal with; infinitive of anfangen
- sprechen
- To speak; to communicate verbally
- konnte
- Could; simple past of können (to be able)
- als
- As, than, when; conjunction of comparison or time
- wäre
- Would be; subjunctive II of sein (to be)
- keine
- No, not a; negative indefinite article
- Schande
- Shame, disgrace; dishonor or embarrassing situation
- Dennoch
- Nevertheless, yet; adverb indicating contrast
- verschaffte
- Procured, secured; past tense of verschaffen
- Hauptmann
- Captain; military rank equivalent to captain
- irgendeine
- Some, any; indefinite article for unspecified thing
- Weise
- Way, manner; a means or method of doing something
- Respekt
- Respect; esteem and regard for someone
- wurde
- Was, became; simple past of werden
- besucht
- Visited; past participle of besuchen (to visit)
- trotz
- Despite, in spite of; preposition of concession
- aller
- All, every; genitive plural of all
- gegenteiligen
- Contrary, opposing; adjective meaning of opposite effect
- Vorsätze
- Resolutions, intentions; deliberate plans or decisions
- überrascht
- Surprised; past participle of überraschen
- bei
- At, by, near; preposition of proximity or occasion
- Besuch
- Visit; an act of going to see someone
- etwa
- About, approximately; adverb of approximation
- Jahr
- Year; a period of twelve months
- Niederlassung
- Settlement, establishment; act of settling in a place
- Stadt
- City, town; an urban settlement
- abstattete
- Paid (a visit); simple past of abstatten
- hören
- To hear, to listen; to perceive sounds
- wie
- How, as, like; conjunction or interrogative adverb
- Meinungen
- Opinions; plural of Meinung, personal views
- maßgebend
- Authoritative, definitive; serving as a standard or reference
- zitiert
- Quoted, cited; past participle of zitieren
- wurden
- Were (passive); past plural of werden
- eigenen
- Own; adjective emphasizing personal possession
- Freunde
- Friends; plural of Freund, people one likes
- noch
- Still, yet, even; adverb of continuation or addition
- zwölf
- Twelve; the cardinal number 12
- Monaten
- Months; plural of Monat in dative case
- unter
- Under, among; preposition of position or group
- erbittertsten
- Most bitter, fiercest; superlative of erbittert
- Gegnern
- Opponents; plural of Gegner in dative case
- jedes
- Every, each; indefinite determiner in genitive
- Vorschlags
- Proposal's; genitive of Vorschlag (suggestion)
- gewesen
- Been; past participle of sein (to be)
- Töchter
- Daughters; plural of Tochter, female children
- besuchen
- To visit; to go to see someone or somewhere
- nun
- Now; adverb indicating the current moment
- sogar
- Even; adverb emphasizing an unexpected addition
- verpönten
- Frowned-upon, disapproved; adjective from verpönen
- Stunden
- Hours; plural of Stunde, units of time
- Uhr
- O'clock, clock; used to express time of day
- empfangen
- To receive, welcome; to accept guests or signals
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