Great Expectations — Page 6
It was as if I had to make up my mind to leap from the top of a high house, or plunge into a great depth of water.
Es war, als müsste ich mich entschließen, vom Dach eines hohen Hauses zu springen oder in eine große Wassertiefe zu tauchen.
And it was made the more difficult by the unconscious Joe.
Und es wurde durch den ahnungslosen Joe noch schwieriger gemacht.
In our already-mentioned freemasonry as fellow-sufferers, and in his good-natured companionship with me, it was our evening habit to compare the way we bit through our slices, by silently holding them up to each other's admiration now and then,—which stimulated us to new exertions.
In unserer bereits erwähnten Freimaurerei als Leidensgenossen und in seiner gutmütigen Kameradschaft mit mir war es unsere abendliche Gewohnheit, die Art und Weise zu vergleichen, wie wir durch unsere Scheiben bissen, indem wir sie hin und wieder schweigend zur gegenseitigen Bewunderung hochhielten, — was uns zu neuen Anstrengungen anspornte.
To-night, Joe several times invited me, by the display of his fast diminishing slice, to enter upon our usual friendly competition; but he found me, each time, with my yellow mug of tea on one knee, and my untouched bread and butter on the other.
Heute Abend forderte mich Joe mehrmals auf, indem er seine rasch kleiner werdende Scheibe zeigte, in unseren üblichen freundschaftlichen Wettbewerb einzutreten; aber er fand mich jedes Mal mit meinem gelben Becher Tee auf einem Knie und meinem unberührten Brot und Butter auf dem anderen.
At last, I desperately considered that the thing I contemplated must be done, and that it had best be done in the least improbable manner consistent with the circumstances.
Schließlich überlegte ich verzweifelt, dass das, was ich vorhatte, getan werden musste, und dass es am besten auf die am wenigsten unwahrscheinliche Weise getan werden sollte, die mit den Umständen vereinbar war.
I took advantage of a moment when Joe had just looked at me, and got my bread and butter down my leg.
Ich nutzte einen Moment, in dem Joe gerade zu mir hingeschaut hatte, und schob mein Brot und Butter an meinem Bein hinunter.
Joe was evidently made uncomfortable by what he supposed to be my loss of appetite, and took a thoughtful bite out of his slice, which he didn't seem to enjoy.
Joe war offensichtlich unbehaglich durch das, was er für meinen Appetitmangel hielt, und nahm einen nachdenklichen Bissen aus seiner Scheibe, der ihm nicht zu schmecken schien.
He turned it about in his mouth much longer than usual, pondering over it a good deal, and after all gulped it down like a pill.
Er drehte es viel länger als gewöhnlich in seinem Mund herum, grübelte eine ganze Weile darüber nach, und schluckte es schließlich wie eine Pille hinunter.
Vocabulary
- war
- Was; past tense of 'sein' (to be)
- als
- As, when; conjunction used in comparisons or past narrative
- müsste
- Would have to; subjunctive II of 'müssen'
- mich
- Me; accusative form of 'ich'
- entschließen
- To decide, resolve to do something
- vom
- From the; contraction of 'von dem'
- Dach
- Roof; the top covering of a building
- eines
- Of a; genitive indefinite article (neuter/masculine)
- hohen
- High, tall; inflected adjective form of 'hoch'
- Hauses
- House; genitive singular form of 'Haus'
- springen
- To jump, leap from a height
- große
- Great, large; inflected adjective form of 'groß'
- Wassertiefe
- Water depth; the depth or deep body of water
- tauchen
- To dive, plunge into water
- wurde
- Was, became; past tense of 'werden'
- durch
- Through, by; preposition indicating means or passage
- ahnungslosen
- Unsuspecting, clueless; inflected form of 'ahnungslos'
- noch
- Still, even; adverb intensifying or continuing
- schwieriger
- More difficult; comparative form of 'schwierig'
- gemacht
- Made, done; past participle of 'machen'
- unserer
- Our; genitive/dative feminine form of 'unser'
- bereits
- Already; adverb indicating something has occurred
- erwähnten
- Mentioned; inflected past participle of 'erwähnen'
- Freimaurerei
- Freemasonry; brotherhood or secret fraternal society
- Leidensgenossen
- Fellow sufferers; companions sharing hardship or pain
- seiner
- His; genitive/dative masculine possessive pronoun
- gutmütigen
- Good-natured, kindhearted; inflected form of 'gutmütig'
- Kameradschaft
- Comradeship, camaraderie; spirit of mutual fellowship
- abendliche
- Evening; adjective describing something occurring at evening
- Gewohnheit
- Habit, custom; regular practice or routine
- Art
- Kind, manner, type; way of doing something
- Weise
- Way, manner; method or fashion of doing something
- vergleichen
- To compare; to examine similarities between things
- wie
- How, as, like; conjunction or interrogative adverb
- Scheiben
- Slices; plural of 'Scheibe', cut portions of food
- bissen
- Bit; past tense plural of 'beißen' (to bite)
- indem
- By, while; conjunction expressing means or simultaneity
- hin
- There, toward; directional adverb indicating movement away
- wieder
- Again; adverb indicating repetition
- schweigend
- Silently; present participle of 'schweigen' (to be silent)
- zur
- To the; contraction of 'zu der'
- gegenseitigen
- Mutual, reciprocal; inflected form of 'gegenseitig'
- Bewunderung
- Admiration; feeling of wonder and approval for something
- hochhielten
- Held up; past tense of 'hochhalten' (to hold aloft)
- neuen
- New; inflected dative/accusative plural of 'neu'
- Anstrengungen
- Efforts, exertions; plural of 'Anstrengung'
- anspornte
- Spurred on; past tense of 'anspornen' (to urge forward)
- Heute
- Today; adverb referring to the current day
- Abend
- Evening; time of day after afternoon
- forderte
- Demanded, requested; past tense of 'fordern'
- mehrmals
- Several times, repeatedly; adverb of frequency
- rasch
- Quickly, swiftly; adverb describing rapid movement
- kleiner
- Smaller; comparative form of 'klein'
- werdende
- Becoming; present participle of 'werden' as adjective
- Scheibe
- Slice, disc; a flat cut portion of food
- zeigte
- Showed; past tense of 'zeigen' (to show)
- üblichen
- Usual, customary; inflected form of 'üblich'
- freundschaftlichen
- Friendly, amicable; inflected form of 'freundschaftlich'
- Wettbewerb
- Competition, contest; rivalry between participants
- einzutreten
- To enter, join; infinitive of 'eintreten' with 'zu'
- fand
- Found; past tense of 'finden' (to find)
- jedes
- Every, each; indefinite pronoun or determiner
- Mal
- Time, instance; referring to a single occurrence
- gelben
- Yellow; inflected adjective form of 'gelb'
- Becher
- Cup, mug; a drinking vessel without a handle
- Tee
- Tea; a common hot beverage
- Knie
- Knee; joint in the middle of the leg
- unberührten
- Untouched; inflected form of 'unberührt'
- Brot
- Bread; basic baked food staple
- Butter
- Butter; dairy spread made from cream
- anderen
- Other; inflected form of 'ander'
- Schließlich
- Finally, eventually; adverb marking a conclusion
- überlegte
- Considered, reflected; past tense of 'überlegen'
- verzweifelt
- Desperately, in despair; adjective or adverb from 'verzweifeln'
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause
- vorhatte
- Intended, planned; past tense of 'vorhaben'
- getan
- Done; past participle of 'tun' (to do)
- werden
- To become, will; auxiliary or full verb
- musste
- Had to; past tense of 'müssen' (must)
- am
- At the, on the; contraction of 'an dem'
- besten
- Best; superlative of 'gut' used adverbially
- wenigsten
- Least; superlative of 'wenig' (little/few)
- unwahrscheinliche
- Unlikely, improbable; inflected form of 'unwahrscheinlich'
- sollte
- Should, was supposed to; past subjunctive of 'sollen'
- Umständen
- Circumstances; dative plural of 'Umstand'
- vereinbar
- Compatible, reconcilable; adjective meaning able to coexist
- nutzte
- Used, made use of; past tense of 'nutzen'
- Moment
- Moment; a brief period of time
- gerade
- Just, straight; adverb indicating something just occurred
- hingeschaut
- Looked over there; past participle of 'hinschauen'
- hatte
- Had; past tense of 'haben' (to have)
- schob
- Pushed, slid; past tense of 'schieben'
- Bein
- Leg; lower limb of the human body
- hinunter
- Down; directional adverb indicating downward movement
- offensichtlich
- Obviously, evidently; adverb meaning clearly apparent
- unbehaglich
- Uncomfortable, uneasy; adjective expressing discomfort
- Appetitmangel
- Lack of appetite; absence of desire to eat
- hielt
- Held, considered; past tense of 'halten'
- nahm
- Took; past tense of 'nehmen' (to take)
- nachdenklichen
- Thoughtful, pensive; inflected form of 'nachdenklich'
- Bissen
- Bite, morsel; small portion of food in mouth
- aus
- From, out of; preposition indicating origin or exit
- schmecken
- To taste, to taste good; referring to flavor
- schien
- Seemed, appeared; past tense of 'scheinen'
- drehte
- Turned, rotated; past tense of 'drehen'
- viel
- Much, a lot; adverb or adjective of quantity
- länger
- Longer; comparative form of 'lang'
- gewöhnlich
- Usually, normally; adverb meaning as is customary
- Mund
- Mouth; the opening in the face used for eating
- herum
- Around; adverb indicating circular or surrounding motion
- grübelte
- Brooded, pondered; past tense of 'grübeln'
- ganze
- Whole, entire; inflected form of 'ganz'
- Weile
- While, moment; a period of time spent on something
- darüber
- About it, over it; adverb referring to something mentioned
- nach
- After, according to; preposition with multiple uses
- schluckte
- Swallowed; past tense of 'schlucken'
- schließlich
- Finally, in the end; adverb concluding a sequence
- Pille
- Pill; a small tablet of medicine to be swallowed
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →