Great Expectations — Page 7
"I wish I was a frog. Or a eel!"
„Ich wollte, ich wäre ein Frosch. Oder ein Aal!"
At the same time, he hugged his shuddering body in both his arms,—clasping himself, as if to hold himself together,—and limped towards the low church wall.
Gleichzeitig umarmte er seinen zitternden Körper mit beiden Armen, – sich selbst umklammernd, als wolle er sich zusammenhalten, – und humpelte auf die niedrige Kirchhofsmauer zu.
As I saw him go, picking his way among the nettles, and among the brambles that bound the green mounds, he looked in my young eyes as if he were eluding the hands of the dead people, stretching up cautiously out of their graves, to get a twist upon his ankle and pull him in.
Als ich ihn weggehen sah, wie er sich seinen Weg durch die Brennnesseln und durch das Gestrüpp bahnte, das die grünen Grabhügel umschlang, schien er mir in meinen jungen Augen den Händen der Toten zu entkommen, die vorsichtig aus ihren Gräbern heraufstreckten, um sich um seinen Knöchel zu schlingen und ihn hineinzuziehen.
When he came to the low church wall, he got over it, like a man whose legs were numbed and stiff, and then turned round to look for me.
Als er zur niedrigen Kirchhofsmauer gelangte, stieg er darüber, wie ein Mann, dessen Beine taub und steif waren, und drehte sich dann um, um nach mir Ausschau zu halten.
When I saw him turning, I set my face towards home, and made the best use of my legs.
Als ich sah, dass er sich umdrehte, wandte ich mein Gesicht nach Hause und machte von meinen Beinen den bestmöglichen Gebrauch.
But presently I looked over my shoulder, and saw him going on again towards the river, still hugging himself in both arms, and picking his way with his sore feet among the great stones dropped into the marshes here and there, for stepping-places when the rains were heavy or the tide was in.
Doch kurz darauf blickte ich über meine Schulter und sah ihn wieder in Richtung des Flusses gehen, sich noch immer mit beiden Armen umklammernd und sich mit seinen wunden Füßen einen Weg zwischen den großen Steinen bahnend, die hier und dort in die Sümpfe geworfen worden waren, als Trittsteinen bei starkem Regen oder bei Flut.
The marshes were just a long black horizontal line then, as I stopped to look after him; and the river was just another horizontal line, not nearly so broad nor yet so black; and the sky was just a row of long angry red lines and dense black lines intermixed.
Die Sümpfe waren damals nur eine lange schwarze horizontale Linie, als ich anhielt, um ihm nachzublicken; und der Fluss war nur eine weitere horizontale Linie, bei weitem nicht so breit und auch nicht so schwarz; und der Himmel war nur eine Reihe von langen, zornigen roten Linien und dichten schwarzen Linien, die sich vermischten.
Vocabulary
- Ich
- First person singular pronoun meaning I
- wollte
- Past tense of wollen; wanted or wished to
- ich
- First person singular pronoun meaning I
- wäre
- Subjunctive form of sein; would be or were
- ein
- Indefinite article meaning a or an
- Frosch
- A small amphibian that lives near water
- Oder
- Conjunction meaning or indicating an alternative choice
- Aal
- A long snake-like fish found in rivers
- Gleichzeitig
- Adverb meaning at the same time simultaneously
- umarmte
- Past tense of umarmen; embraced or hugged someone
- er
- Third person singular masculine pronoun meaning he
- seinen
- Possessive pronoun his in accusative masculine form
- zitternden
- Adjective form of zittern; shaking or trembling body
- Körper
- The physical body of a person or animal
- mit
- Preposition meaning with indicating accompaniment or means
- beiden
- Determiner meaning both referring to two things
- Armen
- Dative plural of Arm; arms as body parts
- sich
- Reflexive pronoun used with reflexive verbs himself
- selbst
- Intensifying pronoun meaning himself herself or itself
- umklammernd
- Present participle of umklammern; gripping or clutching tightly
- als
- Conjunction meaning as or when introducing a clause
- wolle
- Subjunctive of wollen; as if wanting or intending
- zusammenhalten
- To hold together keep from falling apart
- und
- Conjunction meaning and connecting words or clauses
- humpelte
- Past tense of humpeln; limped or hobbled awkwardly
- auf
- Preposition meaning on or onto indicating direction
- die
- Definite article the in feminine or plural form
- niedrige
- Adjective meaning low small in height
- Kirchhofsmauer
- The wall surrounding a churchyard or cemetery
- zu
- Preposition meaning to toward or too
- Als
- Conjunction meaning when introducing a past event
- ihn
- Accusative masculine pronoun meaning him
- weggehen
- To go away leave or walk away from somewhere
- sah
- Past tense of sehen; saw or observed something
- wie
- Conjunction or adverb meaning how or as
- Weg
- A path road or way through an area
- durch
- Preposition meaning through indicating passage across something
- Brennnesseln
- Stinging nettles plants with irritating tiny hairs
- das
- Definite article the in neuter nominative form
- Gestrüpp
- Dense undergrowth of bushes thorns and tangled branches
- bahnte
- Past tense of bahnen; cleared or made a path
- grünen
- Adjective green in inflected dative or genitive form
- Grabhügel
- A grave mound or burial mound in a cemetery
- umschlang
- Past tense of umschlingen; wrapped or coiled around something
- schien
- Past tense of scheinen; seemed appeared or shone
- mir
- Dative form of ich; to me or for me
- in
- Preposition meaning in or inside indicating location
- meinen
- Possessive adjective my in accusative masculine form
- jungen
- Adjective young in inflected attributive form
- Augen
- Plural of Auge; eyes as organs of sight
- den
- Definite article the in dative plural or accusative masculine
- Händen
- Dative plural of Hand; hands as body parts
- der
- Definite article the in genitive or dative feminine form
- Toten
- Genitive plural of Tote; the dead deceased persons
- entkommen
- To escape get away from danger or captivity
- vorsichtig
- Adverb or adjective meaning carefully cautiously watchfully
- aus
- Preposition meaning out of from indicating origin
- ihren
- Possessive pronoun their in dative or accusative form
- Gräbern
- Dative plural of Grab; graves burial sites in cemetery
- heraufstreckten
- Past tense of heraufstrecken; stretched up toward someone
- um
- Preposition meaning around or in order to
- Knöchel
- Ankle or knuckle joint of the human body
- schlingen
- To wind coil or wrap around something tightly
- hineinzuziehen
- To pull drag something inward or downward into
- zur
- Contraction of zu der; to the feminine noun
- niedrigen
- Adjective low in inflected dative or accusative form
- gelangte
- Past tense of gelangen; reached or arrived at somewhere
- stieg
- Past tense of steigen; climbed or stepped over
- darüber
- Adverb meaning over it above or across something
- Mann
- An adult male person or husband
- dessen
- Relative pronoun whose indicating possession genitive masculine
- Beine
- Plural of Bein; legs as body parts for walking
- taub
- Adjective meaning numb deaf or without sensation
- steif
- Adjective meaning stiff rigid inflexible as a limb
- waren
- Past tense plural of sein; were as a state
- drehte
- Past tense of drehen; turned or rotated in direction
- dann
- Adverb meaning then afterward indicating sequence of events
- nach
- Preposition meaning after toward or for direction
- Ausschau
- Used in Ausschau halten; to look out watch for
- halten
- To hold keep stop or maintain something
- dass
- Conjunction meaning that introducing a subordinate clause
- umdrehte
- Past tense of umdrehen; turned around reversed direction
- wandte
- Past tense of wenden; turned directed attention or face
- mein
- Possessive adjective meaning my belonging to me
- Gesicht
- The face as a part of the human head
- Hause
- Dative of Haus; home used in nach Hause homeward
- machte
- Past tense of machen; made did or performed something
- von
- Preposition meaning from of or by indicating origin
- Beinen
- Dative plural of Bein; legs used with a preposition
- bestmöglichen
- Adjective best possible in inflected form maximally good
- Gebrauch
- Use or usage of something making use of
- Doch
- Conjunction or adverb meaning but however or yet
- kurz
- Adjective or adverb meaning short brief or shortly
- darauf
- Adverb meaning after that thereupon or shortly afterward
- blickte
- Past tense of blicken; glanced looked in a direction
- über
- Preposition meaning over above or across something
- meine
- Possessive adjective my in feminine or plural form
- Schulter
- The shoulder joint connecting arm to the torso
- wieder
- Adverb meaning again or once more repeated action
- Richtung
- Direction orientation toward a particular place or goal
- des
- Definite article the in genitive masculine or neuter
- Flusses
- Genitive of Fluss; of the river watercourse
- gehen
- To go walk move from one place to another
- noch
- Adverb meaning still yet or even additionally
- immer
- Adverb meaning always or still indicating continuity
- wunden
- Adjective sore wounded in inflected attributive form
- Füßen
- Dative plural of Fuß; feet as body parts
- einen
- Indefinite article a in accusative masculine singular form
- zwischen
- Preposition meaning between among two or more things
- großen
- Adjective large big in inflected attributive form
- Steinen
- Dative plural of Stein; stones rocks as objects
- bahnend
- Present participle of bahnen; clearing making a path
- hier
- Adverb meaning here in this place location
- dort
- Adverb meaning there in that place over there
- Sümpfe
- Plural of Sumpf; swamps marshy wetland areas
- geworfen
- Past participle of werfen; thrown cast hurled somewhere
- worden
- Auxiliary past participle of werden used in passive
- Trittsteinen
- Dative plural of Trittsteine; stepping stones across water
- bei
- Preposition meaning at near by during an event
- starkem
- Adjective strong in dative masculine or neuter form
- Regen
- Rain precipitation falling from clouds in the sky
- oder
- Conjunction meaning or indicating an alternative option
- Flut
- Flood or high tide surge of water
- Die
- Definite article the in feminine nominative or plural
- damals
- Adverb meaning at that time back then formerly
- nur
- Adverb meaning only just merely limiting an extent
- eine
- Indefinite article a in feminine nominative singular form
- lange
- Adjective long extended in length or duration
- schwarze
- Adjective black dark in color inflected attributive form
- horizontale
- Adjective horizontal level parallel to the ground
- Linie
- A line mark or stripe drawn or visible
- anhielt
- Past tense of anhalten; stopped paused or held on
- ihm
- Dative masculine pronoun meaning to him or for him
- nachzublicken
- To look after someone watch as they go away
- Fluss
- A river natural flowing watercourse through landscape
- war
- Past tense singular of sein; was indicating past state
- weitere
- Adjective further additional more in inflected form
- weitem
- Dative of weit used in bei weitem by far
- nicht
- Negation adverb meaning not indicating negation denial
- so
- Adverb meaning so thus or in such a way
- breit
- Adjective meaning wide broad having great width
- auch
- Adverb meaning also too or as well additionally
- schwarz
- Adjective meaning black dark without light or color
- Himmel
- The sky or heaven above the earth
- Reihe
- A row line or series of things arranged together
- langen
- Adjective long in inflected genitive or dative form
- zornigen
- Adjective angry furious in inflected attributive form
- roten
- Adjective red in inflected genitive or dative form
- Linien
- Plural of Linie; lines marks or stripes visible
- dichten
- Adjective dense thick in inflected attributive form
- schwarzen
- Adjective black in inflected genitive or dative form
- vermischten
- Past tense plural of vermischen; mixed or blended together
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