Crime and Punishment — Page 7
The bell gave a faint tinkle as though it were made of tin and not of copper.
Die Klingel gab einen schwachen Klang von sich, als ob sie aus Zinn und nicht aus Kupfer gemacht wäre.
The little flats in such houses always have bells that ring like that.
Die kleinen Wohnungen in solchen Häusern haben immer Klingeln, die so läuten.
He had forgotten the note of that bell, and now its peculiar tinkle seemed to remind him of something and to bring it clearly before him....
Er hatte den Klang dieser Klingel vergessen, und nun schien ihr eigentümliches Läuten ihn an etwas zu erinnern und es ihm deutlich vor Augen zu führen....
He started, his nerves were terribly overstrained by now.
Er zuckte zusammen, seine Nerven waren inzwischen furchtbar überanstrengt.
In a little while, the door was opened a tiny crack: the old woman eyed her visitor with evident distrust through the crack, and nothing could be seen but her little eyes, glittering in the darkness.
Nach einer kleinen Weile wurde die Tür einen winzigen Spalt geöffnet: die alte Frau beäugte ihren Besucher mit offensichtlichem Misstrauen durch den Spalt, und man konnte nichts sehen außer ihren kleinen Augen, die in der Dunkelheit glitzerten.
But, seeing a number of people on the landing, she grew bolder, and opened the door wide.
Aber als sie eine Anzahl von Leuten auf dem Treppenabsatz sah, wurde sie mutiger und öffnete die Tür weit.
The young man stepped into the dark entry, which was partitioned off from the tiny kitchen.
Der junge Mann trat in den dunklen Eingang, der von der winzigen Küche abgetrennt war.
The old woman stood facing him in silence and looking inquiringly at him.
Die alte Frau stand ihm schweigend gegenüber und blickte ihn fragend an.
She was a diminutive, withered up old woman of sixty, with sharp malignant eyes and a sharp little nose.
Sie war eine winzige, verhutzelte alte Frau von sechzig Jahren, mit scharfen boshaften Augen und einer spitzen kleinen Nase.
Her colourless, somewhat grizzled hair was thickly smeared with oil, and she wore no kerchief over it.
Ihr farbloses, etwas ergrautes Haar war dick mit Öl eingeschmiert, und sie trug kein Kopftuch darüber.
Round her thin long neck, which looked like a hen's leg, was knotted some sort of flannel rag, and, in spite of the heat, there hung flapping on her shoulders, a mangy fur cape, yellow with age.
Um ihren dünnen langen Hals, der wie ein Hühnerbein aussah, war eine Art Flannnlappen geknotet, und trotz der Hitze hing ihr ein schäbiger Pelzumhang, gelb vor Alter, flatternd von den Schultern.
The old woman coughed and groaned at every instant.
Die alte Frau hustete und stöhnte in einem fort.
Vocabulary
- Klingel
- A small bell or doorbell
- gab
- Past tense of geben: gave
- schwachen
- Weak, faint (inflected adjective form)
- Klang
- A sound, tone, or ring
- ob
- Conjunction meaning whether, as if
- Zinn
- Tin, a soft metallic element
- Kupfer
- Copper, a reddish-brown metal
- wäre
- Subjunctive II of sein: would be
- Wohnungen
- Apartments or flats (plural of Wohnung)
- solchen
- Such, of that kind (inflected form)
- Klingeln
- Doorbells or small bells (plural form)
- läuten
- To ring, to toll (bells or doorbells)
- vergessen
- To forget; past participle: forgotten
- schien
- Past tense of scheinen: seemed, appeared
- eigentümliches
- Peculiar, characteristic, distinctive (inflected adjective)
- Läuten
- The ringing or tolling of bells
- erinnern
- To remind or to remember something
- deutlich
- Clear, distinct, plainly visible or audible
- führen
- To lead, guide, or bring to attention
- zuckte
- Flinched, twitched (past tense of zucken)
- Nerven
- Nerves (plural of Nerv); nerves or composure
- inzwischen
- Meanwhile, in the meantime, by now
- furchtbar
- Terrible, dreadful, extremely (intensifier)
- überanstrengt
- Overstrained, overtaxed, excessively stressed
- Weile
- A while, a short period of time
- winzigen
- Tiny, minuscule (inflected adjective form)
- Spalt
- A crack, gap, or narrow opening
- beäugte
- Scrutinized, eyed carefully (past tense of beäugen)
- Besucher
- Visitor, guest, caller
- offensichtlichem
- Obvious, evident, apparent (inflected adjective)
- Misstrauen
- Distrust, suspicion, mistrust
- außer
- Except, besides, apart from
- Dunkelheit
- Darkness, the absence of light
- glitzerten
- Glittered, sparkled (past tense of glitzern)
- Anzahl
- A number of, a quantity of something
- Treppenabsatz
- Landing of a staircase, stair landing
- mutiger
- Braver, more courageous (comparative of mutig)
- trat
- Past tense of treten: stepped, entered
- Eingang
- Entrance, entry, doorway
- abgetrennt
- Separated, partitioned off (past participle)
- schweigend
- Silently, without speaking (present participle)
- gegenüber
- Opposite, across from, facing someone
- blickte
- Looked, glanced (past tense of blicken)
- fragend
- Questioningly, with an inquiring look
- winzige
- Tiny, very small (inflected adjective)
- verhutzelte
- Wizened, shriveled (inflected adjective)
- scharfen
- Sharp, pointed, keen (inflected adjective)
- boshaften
- Malicious, spiteful, wicked (inflected adjective)
- spitzen
- Pointed, sharp-tipped (inflected adjective)
- farbloses
- Colorless, pale, lacking color (inflected adjective)
- ergrautes
- Grayed, turned gray (inflected adjective)
- Öl
- Oil, a greasy liquid substance
- eingeschmiert
- Smeared, greased (past participle of einschmieren)
- trug
- Past tense of tragen: wore, carried
- Kopftuch
- Headscarf, cloth worn over the head
- darüber
- Over it, above it, about that
- dünnen
- Thin, slender (inflected adjective form)
- Hals
- Neck or throat of a person
- Hühnerbein
- Chicken leg; used metaphorically for thin legs
- aussah
- Past tense of aussehen: looked like, appeared
- Art
- Kind, type, sort, manner
- Flannnlappen
- Flannel rag or cloth (possibly flannel wrap)
- geknotet
- Knotted, tied in a knot (past participle)
- trotz
- Preposition: despite, in spite of
- Hitze
- Heat, intense warmth or high temperature
- hing
- Past tense of hängen: hung, was hanging
- schäbiger
- Shabby, worn-out (inflected comparative adjective)
- Pelzumhang
- Fur cape or fur wrap worn over shoulders
- Alter
- Age; also old age (noun)
- flatternd
- Fluttering, flapping loosely in motion
- Schultern
- Shoulders (plural of Schulter)
- hustete
- Coughed (past tense of husten)
- stöhnte
- Groaned, moaned (past tense of stöhnen)
- fort
- Away, gone; continuously (in einem fort: incessantly)
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