Dracula — Page 11
I shall never forget the last glimpse which I had of the inn-yard and its crowd of picturesque figures, all crossing themselves, as they stood round the wide archway, with its background of rich foliage of oleander and orange trees in green tubs clustered in the centre of the yard.
Ich werde den letzten Blick, den ich auf den Gasthofshof und seine Menge malerischer Gestalten hatte, nie vergessen, die sich alle bekreuzigten, während sie um den weiten Torbogen standen, vor dem Hintergrund des reichen Laubwerks von Oleandern und Orangenbäumen in grünen Kübeln, die in der Mitte des Hofes zusammengestellt waren.
Then our driver, whose wide linen drawers covered the whole front of the box-seat--"gotza" they call them--cracked his big whip over his four small horses, which ran abreast, and we set off on our journey.
Dann knallte unser Kutscher, dessen weite Leinenhosen die gesamte Vorderseite des Kutschbocks bedeckten – „Gotza" nennt man sie – mit seiner großen Peitsche über seine vier kleinen Pferde, die nebeneinander liefen, und wir machten uns auf den Weg.
I soon lost sight and recollection of ghostly fears in the beauty of the scene as we drove along, although had I known the language, or rather languages, which my fellow-passengers were speaking, I might not have been able to throw them off so easily.
Ich verlor bald den Blick und die Erinnerung an gespenstische Ängste in der Schönheit der Landschaft, während wir entlangfuhren, obwohl ich, hätte ich die Sprache, oder vielmehr die Sprachen, gekannt, die meine Mitreisenden sprachen, vielleicht nicht in der Lage gewesen wäre, sie so leicht abzuschütteln.
Before us lay a green sloping land full of forests and woods, with here and there steep hills, crowned with clumps of trees or with farmhouses, the blank gable end to the road.
Vor uns lag ein grünes, hügeliges Land voller Wälder und Gehölze, mit hier und dort steilen Hügeln, gekrönt von Baumgruppen oder Bauernhäusern, deren kahle Giebelseiten zur Straße zeigten.
There was everywhere a bewildering mass of fruit blossom--apple, plum, pear, cherry; and as we drove by I could see the green grass under the trees spangled with the fallen petals.
Überall gab es eine verwirrende Fülle von Obstblüten – Apfel, Pflaume, Birne, Kirsche; und während wir vorbeifuhren, konnte ich das grüne Gras unter den Bäumen sehen, das mit den gefallenen Blütenblättern übersät war.
In and out amongst these green hills of what they call here the "Mittel Land" ran the road, losing itself as it swept round the grassy curve, or was shut out by the straggling ends of pine woods, which here and there ran down the hillsides like tongues of flame.
Die Straße schlängelte sich zwischen diesen grünen Hügeln des sogenannten „Mittel Landes" hindurch, verlor sich, wenn sie um die grasige Kurve schwang, oder wurde von den vereinzelten Enden der Kiefernwälder verdeckt, die hier und dort wie Feuerzungen die Hänge hinabliefen.
Vocabulary
- werde
- Future auxiliary verb; 'will' or 'am going to'
- letzten
- Adjective meaning 'last' or 'final'
- Blick
- Noun meaning 'glance,' 'look,' or 'view'
- auf
- Preposition meaning 'on,' 'onto,' or 'upon'
- seine
- Possessive pronoun meaning 'his' or 'its'
- Menge
- Noun meaning 'crowd,' 'multitude,' or 'quantity'
- malerischer
- Adjective meaning 'picturesque' or 'scenic'
- Gestalten
- Noun meaning 'figures,' 'characters,' or 'forms'
- hatte
- Past tense of 'haben'; 'had'
- nie
- Adverb meaning 'never'
- vergessen
- Verb meaning 'to forget'
- sich
- Reflexive pronoun meaning 'themselves' or 'oneself'
- alle
- Pronoun/adjective meaning 'all' or 'everyone'
- während
- Conjunction or preposition meaning 'while' or 'during'
- um
- Preposition meaning 'around,' 'at,' or 'about'
- weiten
- Adjective meaning 'wide,' 'broad,' or 'spacious'
- standen
- Past tense of 'stehen'; 'stood' or 'were standing'
- vor
- Preposition meaning 'before,' 'in front of,' or 'ago'
- Hintergrund
- Noun meaning 'background' or 'backdrop'
- reichen
- Adjective meaning 'rich,' 'abundant,' or 'lush'
- Orangenbäumen
- Noun meaning 'orange trees'
- grünen
- Adjective meaning 'green' in an inflected form
- Mitte
- Noun meaning 'middle,' 'center,' or 'midst'
- Hofes
- Genitive form of 'Hof'; 'of the courtyard'
- zusammengestellt
- Past participle meaning 'assembled,' 'arranged,' or 'grouped together'
- Dann
- Adverb meaning 'then' or 'afterwards'
- unser
- Possessive pronoun meaning 'our'
- dessen
- Relative pronoun meaning 'whose' in genitive masculine/neuter
- weite
- Adjective meaning 'wide,' 'large,' or 'spacious'
- gesamte
- Adjective meaning 'entire,' 'whole,' or 'complete'
- Vorderseite
- Noun meaning 'front side' or 'facade'
- bedeckten
- Verb meaning 'covered' or 'concealed'
- nennt
- Verb meaning 'calls' or 'names' (third person singular)
- man
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'one,' 'you,' or 'people'
- seiner
- Possessive pronoun, dative: 'his' or 'its'
- großen
- Adjective meaning 'large,' 'big,' or 'great'
- über
- Preposition meaning 'over,' 'above,' or 'about'
- kleinen
- Adjective meaning 'small' or 'little' in inflected form
- Pferde
- Noun meaning 'horses'
- nebeneinander
- Adverb meaning 'side by side' or 'next to each other'
- liefen
- Past tense of 'laufen'; 'ran' or 'walked'
- machten
- Past tense of 'machen'; 'made' or 'did'
- uns
- First person plural reflexive/accusative pronoun: 'us' or 'ourselves'
- Weg
- Noun meaning 'way,' 'path,' or 'road'
- verlor
- Past tense of 'verlieren'; 'lost'
- bald
- Adverb meaning 'soon' or 'shortly'
- Erinnerung
- Noun meaning 'memory,' 'remembrance,' or 'recollection'
- gespenstische
- Adjective meaning 'ghostly,' 'eerie,' or 'spectral'
- Ängste
- Noun meaning 'fears,' 'anxieties,' or 'dreads'
- Schönheit
- Noun meaning 'beauty' or 'loveliness'
- Landschaft
- Noun meaning 'landscape,' 'scenery,' or 'countryside'
- entlangfuhren
- Past tense verb meaning 'drove along' a route
- obwohl
- Conjunction meaning 'although' or 'even though'
- hätte
- Subjunctive II of 'haben'; 'would have' or 'had'
- Sprache
- Noun meaning 'language' or 'speech'
- vielmehr
- Adverb meaning 'rather,' 'more precisely,' or 'instead'
- Sprachen
- Noun meaning 'languages'; plural of 'Sprache'
- gekannt
- Past participle of 'kennen'; 'known' or 'been familiar with'
- Mitreisenden
- Noun meaning 'fellow travelers' or 'travel companions'
- sprachen
- Past tense of 'sprechen'; 'spoke' or 'talked'
- vielleicht
- Adverb meaning 'perhaps,' 'maybe,' or 'possibly'
- Lage
- Noun meaning 'situation,' 'position,' or 'ability'
- gewesen
- Past participle of 'sein'; 'been'
- wäre
- Subjunctive II of 'sein'; 'would be' or 'were'
- leicht
- Adjective/adverb meaning 'easy,' 'light,' or 'easily'
- abzuschütteln
- Infinitive verb meaning 'to shake off' or 'to get rid of'
- lag
- Past tense of 'liegen'; 'lay' or 'was situated'
- grünes
- Adjective meaning 'green' in nominative neuter form
- hügeliges
- Adjective meaning 'hilly' or 'undulating'
- Land
- Noun meaning 'land,' 'country,' or 'countryside'
- voller
- Adjective/preposition meaning 'full of'
- Wälder
- Noun meaning 'forests' or 'woods'; plural of 'Wald'
- dort
- Adverb meaning 'there'
- steilen
- Adjective meaning 'steep' in inflected form
- Hügeln
- Noun meaning 'hills'; dative plural of 'Hügel'
- gekrönt
- Past participle meaning 'crowned' or 'topped'
- Baumgruppen
- Noun meaning 'groups of trees' or 'clumps of trees'
- Bauernhäusern
- Noun meaning 'farmhouses'; dative plural of 'Bauernhaus'
- deren
- Relative pronoun meaning 'whose' in genitive plural
- kahle
- Adjective meaning 'bare,' 'bald,' or 'plain'
- Straße
- Noun meaning 'street,' 'road,' or 'highway'
- zeigten
- Past tense of 'zeigen'; 'showed' or 'pointed'
- Überall
- Adverb meaning 'everywhere' or 'all over'
- gab
- Past tense of 'geben'; 'gave' or 'there was/were'
- verwirrende
- Adjective meaning 'confusing,' 'bewildering,' or 'overwhelming'
- Fülle
- Noun meaning 'abundance,' 'wealth,' or 'profusion'
- Obstblüten
- Noun meaning 'fruit blossoms' or 'blossoms of fruit trees'
- Apfel
- Noun meaning 'apple'
- Pflaume
- Noun meaning 'plum'
- Birne
- Noun meaning 'pear'
- Kirsche
- Noun meaning 'cherry'
- vorbeifuhren
- Past tense verb meaning 'drove past' or 'passed by'
- konnte
- Past tense of 'können'; 'could' or 'was able to'
- grüne
- Adjective meaning 'green' in inflected form
- Gras
- Noun meaning 'grass'
- unter
- Preposition meaning 'under,' 'beneath,' or 'among'
- Bäumen
- Noun meaning 'trees'; dative plural of 'Baum'
- sehen
- Verb meaning 'to see' or 'to look'
- gefallenen
- Adjective meaning 'fallen,' past participle of 'fallen'
- Blütenblättern
- Noun meaning 'petals'; dative plural of 'Blütenblatt'
- übersät
- Past participle meaning 'strewn with,' 'covered with,' or 'littered with'
- schlängelte
- Past tense of 'sich schlängeln'; 'wound,' 'snaked,' or 'meandered'
- zwischen
- Preposition meaning 'between' or 'among'
- diesen
- Demonstrative pronoun/adjective meaning 'these' in dative
- sogenannten
- Adjective meaning 'so-called'
- Mittel
- Noun/adjective meaning 'middle,' 'center,' or 'means'
- Landes
- Genitive of 'Land'; 'of the country' or 'of the land'
- hindurch
- Adverb meaning 'through' or 'throughout'
- wenn
- Conjunction meaning 'when' or 'if'
- Kurve
- Noun meaning 'curve,' 'bend,' or 'turn'
- schwang
- Past tense of 'schwingen'; 'swung' or 'swept'
- wurde
- Past tense of 'werden'; 'became' or auxiliary for passive voice
- vereinzelten
- Adjective meaning 'isolated,' 'scattered,' or 'sporadic'
- Enden
- Noun meaning 'ends,' 'edges,' or 'tips'
- Kiefernwälder
- Noun meaning 'pine forests'; plural of 'Kiefernwald'
- verdeckt
- Past participle meaning 'hidden,' 'concealed,' or 'blocked'
- Hänge
- Noun meaning 'slopes,' 'hillsides,' or 'inclines'
- hinabliefen
- Past tense verb meaning 'ran down' or 'descended along'
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