Great Expectations — Page 5
My sister had a trenchant way of cutting our bread and butter for us, that never varied.
Meine Schwester hatte eine entschiedene Art, unser Butterbrot für uns zu schneiden, die sich niemals änderte.
First, with her left hand she jammed the loaf hard and fast against her bib,—where it sometimes got a pin into it, and sometimes a needle, which we afterwards got into our mouths.
Zuerst presste sie mit ihrer linken Hand den Laib fest und kräftig gegen ihr Lätzchen,—wobei manchmal eine Stecknadel hineinkam, und manchmal eine Nähnadel, die wir danach in den Mund bekamen.
Then she took some butter (not too much) on a knife and spread it on the loaf, in an apothecary kind of way, as if she were making a plaster,—using both sides of the knife with a slapping dexterity, and trimming and moulding the butter off round the crust.
Dann nahm sie etwas Butter (nicht zu viel) auf ein Messer und strich sie auf den Laib, auf eine apothekerhafte Art, als ob sie ein Pflaster anlegte,—wobei sie beide Seiten des Messers mit klatschender Geschicklichkeit benutzte und die Butter rund um die Kruste glattschnitt und formte.
Then, she gave the knife a final smart wipe on the edge of the plaster, and then sawed a very thick round off the loaf: which she finally, before separating from the loaf, hewed into two halves, of which Joe got one, and I the other.
Dann wischte sie das Messer ein letztes Mal gewandt am Rand des Pflasters ab, und sägte dann eine sehr dicke Scheibe vom Laib ab: welche sie schließlich, bevor sie vom Laib getrennt wurde, in zwei Hälften hackte, von denen Joe eine bekam und ich die andere.
On the present occasion, though I was hungry, I dared not eat my slice.
Bei dieser Gelegenheit wagte ich es nicht, meine Scheibe zu essen, obwohl ich hungrig war.
I felt that I must have something in reserve for my dreadful acquaintance, and his ally the still more dreadful young man.
Ich spürte, dass ich etwas in Reserve haben musste für meinen schrecklichen Bekannten und seinen Verbündeten, den noch schrecklicheren jungen Mann.
I knew Mrs. Joe's housekeeping to be of the strictest kind, and that my larcenous researches might find nothing available in the safe.
Ich wusste, dass Frau Joes Haushaltsführung von der strengsten Art war, und dass meine diebischen Nachforschungen möglicherweise nichts Verfügbares im Speiseschrank finden würden.
Therefore I resolved to put my hunk of bread and butter down the leg of my trousers.
Daher beschloss ich, mein Stück Butterbrot in das Hosenbein zu stecken.
The effort of resolution necessary to the achievement of this purpose I found to be quite awful.
Die Willensanstrengung, die zur Ausführung dieses Vorhabens notwendig war, fand ich ganz und gar furchtbar.
Vocabulary
- Schwester
- Sister; female sibling
- hatte
- Had; past tense of 'haben'
- entschiedene
- Determined, resolute; showing clear decisiveness
- Art
- Way, manner, type, or kind
- Butterbrot
- Slice of bread with butter spread on it
- schneiden
- To cut; to slice with a blade
- niemals
- Never; at no time whatsoever
- änderte
- Changed; past tense of 'ändern'
- Zuerst
- First, at first; indicating the initial step
- presste
- Pressed; past tense of 'pressen'
- linken
- Left; adjective referring to the left side
- Hand
- Hand; the body part at the end of the arm
- Laib
- Loaf; a whole unsliced loaf of bread
- fest
- Firm, tight, firmly; with strength or stability
- kräftig
- Strongly, vigorously; with considerable force
- gegen
- Against; preposition indicating contact or opposition
- Lätzchen
- Bib; small cloth worn to protect clothing
- wobei
- Whereby, in doing so; relative conjunction
- manchmal
- Sometimes; occurring on some occasions
- Stecknadel
- Pin; a sharp pointed fastening needle
- hineinkam
- Got into; past tense of 'hineinkommen'
- Nähnadel
- Sewing needle; needle used for stitching fabric
- danach
- Afterwards, after that; indicating subsequent action
- Mund
- Mouth; the opening in the face for eating
- bekamen
- Received, got; past tense of 'bekommen'
- nahm
- Took; past tense of 'nehmen'
- etwas
- Some, a little, something; indefinite quantity
- Butter
- Butter; dairy fat spread on bread
- viel
- Much, a lot; indicating large quantity
- Messer
- Knife; a bladed cutting utensil
- strich
- Spread, stroked; past tense of 'streichen'
- apothekerhafte
- Apothecary-like; with pharmacist-like precise carefulness
- ob
- Whether, as if; conjunction introducing a condition
- Pflaster
- Plaster, bandage; adhesive wound-covering strip
- anlegte
- Applied, put on; past tense of 'anlegen'
- beide
- Both; referring to two things together
- Seiten
- Sides, pages; plural of 'Seite'
- klatschender
- Slapping; with a loud smacking dexterity
- Geschicklichkeit
- Skill, dexterity; adeptness in performing a task
- benutzte
- Used; past tense of 'benutzen'
- rund
- Around, round; circular or surrounding manner
- Kruste
- Crust; the hard outer layer of bread
- glattschnitt
- Cut smooth; past tense of 'glattschneiden'
- formte
- Shaped, formed; past tense of 'formen'
- wischte
- Wiped; past tense of 'wischen'
- letztes
- Last; final or most recent
- Mal
- Time, occasion; instance of an event
- gewandt
- Deftly, adroitly; in a skillful manner
- Rand
- Edge, rim, border; outer margin of something
- Pflasters
- Of the plaster/bandage; genitive of 'Pflaster'
- sägte
- Sawed; past tense of 'sägen'
- dicke
- Thick; of considerable depth or width
- Scheibe
- Slice; a flat cut portion of bread
- welche
- Which; relative pronoun referring to a noun
- schließlich
- Finally, eventually; after a long process
- bevor
- Before; conjunction indicating prior timing
- getrennt
- Separated; past participle of 'trennen'
- wurde
- Became, was; past tense of 'werden'
- Hälften
- Halves; plural of 'Hälfte', two equal parts
- hackte
- Chopped, hacked; past tense of 'hacken'
- denen
- Of which, from which; relative dative plural pronoun
- bekam
- Received, got; past tense of 'bekommen'
- andere
- Other, the other; referring to the remaining one
- Gelegenheit
- Opportunity, occasion; a favorable moment or chance
- wagte
- Dared; past tense of 'wagen'
- essen
- To eat; to consume food
- obwohl
- Although, even though; concessive conjunction
- hungrig
- Hungry; feeling the need to eat
- spürte
- Sensed, felt; past tense of 'spüren'
- Reserve
- Reserve, supply; something kept back for later
- musste
- Had to, must; past tense of 'müssen'
- schrecklichen
- Terrible, dreadful; causing great fear or horror
- Bekannten
- Acquaintance; a person one knows but not intimately
- Verbündeten
- Ally, confederate; a person allied with another
- noch
- Still, yet, even; particle of continuation or addition
- schrecklicheren
- More terrible; comparative form of 'schrecklich'
- jungen
- Young; adjective referring to low age
- Mann
- Man; an adult male person
- wusste
- Knew; past tense of 'wissen'
- Frau
- Woman, wife, Mrs.; adult female person
- Haushaltsführung
- Housekeeping; the management of a household
- strengsten
- Strictest; superlative of 'streng'
- diebischen
- Thieving, searching like a thief; sly or prying
- Nachforschungen
- Investigations, inquiries; thorough searches for information
- möglicherweise
- Possibly, perhaps; indicating something may occur
- nichts
- Nothing; not anything at all
- Verfügbares
- Anything available; something accessible or obtainable
- Speiseschrank
- Pantry cupboard; a cabinet for storing food
- finden
- To find; to discover or locate something
- würden
- Would; conditional form of 'werden'
- Daher
- Therefore, hence; for that reason
- beschloss
- Decided, resolved; past tense of 'beschließen'
- Stück
- Piece, portion; a part cut or broken off
- Hosenbein
- Trouser leg; one leg section of trousers
- stecken
- To put, to stick; to place something somewhere
- Willensanstrengung
- Act of willpower; exertion of mental determination
- Ausführung
- Execution, carrying out; performing a planned action
- Vorhabens
- Of the plan; genitive of 'Vorhaben' (intention/plan)
- notwendig
- Necessary, required; indispensable or essential
- fand
- Found; past tense of 'finden'
- ganz
- Quite, completely, entirely; total or whole
- gar
- At all, quite; intensifier or negation emphasizer
- furchtbar
- Terrible, awful; causing dread or great difficulty
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →