Crime and Punishment — Page 2
After eight months' imprisonment he was with twenty-one others taken out to the Semyonovsky Square to be shot.
Nach acht Monaten Gefangenschaft wurde er zusammen mit einundzwanzig anderen auf den Semjonowski-Platz geführt, um erschossen zu werden.
Writing to his brother Mihail, Dostoevsky says: "They snapped words over our heads, and they made us put on the white shirts worn by persons condemned to death.
In einem Brief an seinen Bruder Michail schreibt Dostojewski: „Sie sprachen Worte über unsere Köpfe, und sie ließen uns die weißen Hemden anziehen, die von zum Tode Verurteilten getragen werden.
Thereupon we were bound in threes to stakes, to suffer execution.
Daraufhin wurden wir zu dritt an Pfähle gebunden, um die Hinrichtung zu erleiden.
Being the third in the row, I concluded I had only a few minutes of life before me.
Da ich der Dritte in der Reihe war, schloss ich daraus, dass mir nur noch wenige Minuten des Lebens blieben.
I thought of you and your dear ones and I contrived to kiss Plestcheiev and Dourov, who were next to me, and to bid them farewell.
Ich dachte an Sie und Ihre Lieben, und es gelang mir, Pleschtschejew und Durow, die neben mir standen, zu küssen und ihnen Lebewohl zu sagen.
Suddenly the troops beat a tattoo, we were unbound, brought back upon the scaffold, and informed that his Majesty had spared us our lives."
Plötzlich schlugen die Truppen einen Trommelwirbel, wir wurden losgebunden, auf das Schafott zurückgebracht und erfuhren, dass Seine Majestät uns das Leben geschenkt hatte."
The sentence was commuted to hard labour.
Das Urteil wurde in Zwangsarbeit umgewandelt.
One of the prisoners, Grigoryev, went mad as soon as he was untied, and never regained his sanity.
Einer der Gefangenen, Grigorjew, wurde wahnsinnig, sobald er losgebunden wurde, und erlangte seinen Verstand nie wieder.
The intense suffering of this experience left a lasting stamp on Dostoevsky's mind.
Das intensive Leiden dieser Erfahrung hinterließ einen dauerhaften Stempel auf Dostojewskis Geist.
Though his religious temper led him in the end to accept every suffering with resignation and to regard it as a blessing in his own case, he constantly recurs to the subject in his writings.
Obwohl ihn sein religiöses Wesen am Ende dazu brachte, jedes Leiden mit Resignation anzunehmen und es in seinem eigenen Fall als Segen zu betrachten, kommt er in seinen Schriften ständig auf dieses Thema zurück.
He describes the awful agony of the condemned man and insists on the cruelty of inflicting such torture.
Er beschreibt die furchtbare Qual des Verurteilten und besteht auf der Grausamkeit, eine solche Folter zuzufügen.
Then followed four years of penal servitude, spent in the company of common criminals in Siberia, where he began the "Dead House," and some years of service in a disciplinary battalion.
Dann folgten vier Jahre Zwangsarbeit, verbracht in der Gesellschaft gewöhnlicher Verbrecher in Sibirien, wo er das „Tote Haus" begann, sowie einige Jahre Dienst in einem Disziplinarbataillon.
Vocabulary
- Nach
- After; preposition indicating time or sequence
- acht
- The number eight
- Monaten
- Months; plural dative form of Monat
- Gefangenschaft
- Captivity; state of being held prisoner
- wurde
- Was; past tense auxiliary of werden
- zusammen
- Together; in company with others
- einundzwanzig
- Twenty-one; the number 21
- anderen
- Others; referring to additional people or things
- geführt
- Led; past participle of führen, to lead
- um
- In order to; preposition or conjunction of purpose
- erschossen
- Shot dead; past participle of erschießen
- werden
- To become; auxiliary verb for future or passive
- Brief
- Letter; written message sent to someone
- Bruder
- Brother; male sibling
- schreibt
- Writes; third-person singular present of schreiben
- sprachen
- Spoke; past tense plural of sprechen
- Worte
- Words; spoken or written expressions
- über
- Over, above, about; preposition of position or topic
- Köpfe
- Heads; plural of Kopf
- ließen
- Let, allowed; past tense plural of lassen
- weißen
- White; adjective inflected form of weiß
- Hemden
- Shirts; plural of Hemd
- anziehen
- To put on clothing; to dress oneself
- Tode
- Death; dative singular form of Tod
- Verurteilten
- Condemned; those sentenced to death
- getragen
- Worn, carried; past participle of tragen
- Daraufhin
- Thereupon, following that; then as a result
- wurden
- Were; past tense plural auxiliary of werden
- dritt
- Third; ordinal number used in groupings
- Pfähle
- Stakes, posts; plural of Pfahl
- gebunden
- Bound, tied; past participle of binden
- Hinrichtung
- Execution; act of carrying out a death sentence
- erleiden
- To suffer, endure; to undergo something painful
- Da
- Since, because, there; conjunction or adverb
- Dritte
- Third; ordinal number masculine nominative
- Reihe
- Row, line, series; ordered sequence of things
- schloss
- Concluded, closed; past tense of schließen
- daraus
- From that, out of that; adverb of reference
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing clauses
- nur
- Only, just; limiting adverb
- noch
- Still, yet; adverb indicating continuation
- wenige
- Few, a few; small number of something
- Minuten
- Minutes; plural of Minute, unit of time
- Lebens
- Life; genitive singular of Leben
- blieben
- Remained; past tense plural of bleiben
- dachte
- Thought; past tense singular of denken
- Lieben
- Loved ones; dear people one is fond of
- gelang
- Succeeded; past tense of gelingen, to succeed
- neben
- Next to, beside; preposition of location
- standen
- Stood; past tense plural of stehen
- küssen
- To kiss; to press lips against someone affectionately
- Lebewohl
- Farewell; goodbye said when parting permanently
- sagen
- To say, to tell; basic verb of speech
- Plötzlich
- Suddenly; happening without warning or expectation
- schlugen
- Beat, struck; past tense plural of schlagen
- Truppen
- Troops; soldiers or military units
- Trommelwirbel
- Drumroll; rapid sustained beating of a drum
- losgebunden
- Untied, unbound; past participle of losbinden
- Schafott
- Scaffold; platform used for public executions
- zurückgebracht
- Brought back; past participle of zurückbringen
- erfuhren
- Learned, found out; past tense plural of erfahren
- Majestät
- Majesty; royal title used for monarchs
- Leben
- Life; existence or period of being alive
- geschenkt
- Gifted, spared; past participle of schenken
- Urteil
- Verdict, sentence; official legal judgment or ruling
- Zwangsarbeit
- Forced labor; compulsory work imposed as punishment
- umgewandelt
- Converted, commuted; past participle of umwandeln
- Gefangenen
- Prisoners; genitive plural of Gefangener
- wahnsinnig
- Insane, mad; having lost one's mental faculties
- sobald
- As soon as; conjunction of immediate time
- erlangte
- Attained, regained; past tense of erlangen
- Verstand
- Mind, reason; mental faculty of understanding
- nie
- Never; at no time, not ever
- wieder
- Again; returning to a previous state or action
- intensive
- Intense; very strong or extreme in degree
- Leiden
- Suffering; pain or distress endured by someone
- Erfahrung
- Experience; knowledge gained through personal events
- hinterließ
- Left behind; past tense of hinterlassen
- dauerhaften
- Lasting, permanent; adjective inflected form of dauerhaft
- Stempel
- Stamp, mark; lasting impression left on something
- Geist
- Mind, spirit; intellect or spiritual essence
- Obwohl
- Although, even though; concessive conjunction
- religiöses
- Religious; relating to faith or spiritual belief
- Wesen
- Nature, being; essential character of a person
- Ende
- End; final point in time or space
- dazu
- To that, for that; adverb of purpose or addition
- brachte
- Brought; past tense singular of bringen
- jedes
- Every, each; indefinite pronoun neuter nominative
- Resignation
- Resignation; acceptance of something unwanted or unavoidable
- anzunehmen
- To accept, to assume; infinitive of annehmen
- eigenen
- Own; adjective emphasizing personal possession or identity
- Fall
- Case, fall; situation or instance being discussed
- als
- As, than, when; conjunction of comparison or time
- Segen
- Blessing; something bringing benefit or divine favor
- betrachten
- To regard, consider; to view something in a certain way
- kommt
- Comes; third-person singular present of kommen
- Schriften
- Writings; plural of Schrift, written works or texts
- ständig
- Constantly, continually; happening all the time
- Thema
- Theme, topic; subject of discussion or work
- zurück
- Back; adverb indicating return to a previous place
- beschreibt
- Describes; third-person singular present of beschreiben
- furchtbare
- Terrible, dreadful; causing fear or horror
- Qual
- Agony, torment; intense physical or mental suffering
- besteht
- Consists, exists; third-person singular of bestehen
- Grausamkeit
- Cruelty; willingness to cause pain or suffering
- solche
- Such; demonstrative adjective indicating a type
- Folter
- Torture; infliction of severe pain as punishment
- zuzufügen
- To inflict, to cause; infinitive of zufügen
- Dann
- Then; adverb indicating what happens next
- folgten
- Followed; past tense plural of folgen
- vier
- Four; the number 4
- Jahre
- Years; plural of Jahr, unit of time
- verbracht
- Spent; past participle of verbringen, to spend time
- Gesellschaft
- Society, company; a group of people together
- gewöhnlicher
- Ordinary, common; adjective genitive of gewöhnlich
- Verbrecher
- Criminals; people who have committed crimes
- Sibirien
- Siberia; vast region of Russia used for exile
- wo
- Where; relative or interrogative adverb of place
- Tote
- Dead ones; plural of Toter, deceased person
- Haus
- House; a building used as a dwelling
- begann
- Began; past tense singular of beginnen
- sowie
- As well as, and also; conjunction adding information
- einige
- Some, a few; indefinite pronoun or adjective
- Dienst
- Service, duty; work performed for an organization
- Disziplinarbataillon
- Disciplinary battalion; military unit for punished soldiers
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