Grimms' Fairy Tales — Page 3
As the clock struck twelve he heard a rustling noise in the air, and a bird came flying that was of pure gold; and as it was snapping at one of the apples with its beak, the gardener's son jumped up and shot an arrow at it.
Als die Uhr zwölf schlug, hörte er ein Rauschen in der Luft, und ein Vogel kam geflogen, der aus purem Gold war; und als er mit seinem Schnabel nach einem der Äpfel schnappte, sprang der Sohn des Gärtners auf und schoss einen Pfeil auf ihn.
But the arrow did the bird no harm; only it dropped a golden feather from its tail, and then flew away.
Aber der Pfeil tat dem Vogel keinen Schaden; er ließ nur eine goldene Feder aus seinem Schwanz fallen und flog dann davon.
The golden feather was brought to the king in the morning, and all the council was called together.
Die goldene Feder wurde am Morgen zum König gebracht, und der gesamte Rat wurde zusammengerufen.
Everyone agreed that it was worth more than all the wealth of the kingdom: but the king said, 'One feather is of no use to me, I must have the whole bird.'
Alle stimmten darin überein, dass sie mehr wert sei als der gesamte Reichtum des Königreichs: aber der König sagte: „Eine Feder nützt mir nichts, ich muss den ganzen Vogel haben."
Then the gardener's eldest son set out and thought to find the golden bird very easily; and when he had gone but a little way, he came to a wood, and by the side of the wood he saw a fox sitting; so he took his bow and made ready to shoot at it.
Da machte sich der älteste Sohn des Gärtners auf den Weg und dachte, den Goldvogel ganz leicht zu finden; und als er nur ein kleines Stück gegangen war, kam er an einen Wald, und am Rande des Waldes sah er einen Fuchs sitzen; da nahm er seinen Bogen und machte sich bereit, auf ihn zu schießen.
Then the fox said, 'Do not shoot me, for I will give you good counsel; I know what your business is, and that you want to find the golden bird.
Da sprach der Fuchs: „Schieß mich nicht, denn ich will dir guten Rat geben; ich weiß, was dein Anliegen ist, und dass du den Goldvogel finden willst.
Vocabulary
- Als
- When; used to introduce a past time clause
- die
- The; definite article for feminine or plural nouns
- Uhr
- Clock; o'clock; instrument for telling time
- zwölf
- Twelve; the number 12
- schlug
- Struck; past tense of schlagen, to hit or strike
- hörte
- Heard; past tense of hören, to hear
- er
- He; third-person singular masculine pronoun
- ein
- A; indefinite article for masculine or neuter nouns
- Rauschen
- Rustling or rushing sound; soft continuous noise
- in
- In; preposition indicating location or inclusion
- der
- The; definite article for masculine nouns or genitive feminine
- Luft
- Air; the invisible gaseous substance surrounding the earth
- und
- And; coordinating conjunction linking words or clauses
- Vogel
- Bird; a feathered winged animal
- kam
- Came; past tense of kommen, to come
- geflogen
- Flown; past participle of fliegen, to fly
- aus
- From; out of; preposition indicating origin or material
- purem
- Pure; dative form of pur, meaning unmixed or solid
- Gold
- Gold; precious yellow metal of high value
- war
- Was; past tense of sein, to be
- als
- When; as; used in subordinate clauses for past events
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- seinem
- His; dative masculine possessive pronoun
- Schnabel
- Beak; the hard pointed mouthpart of a bird
- nach
- After; toward; preposition of direction or time
- einem
- A; dative form of the indefinite article ein
- Äpfel
- Apples; plural of Apfel, the common fruit
- schnappte
- Snapped at; past tense of schnappen, to grab or snap
- sprang
- Jumped; past tense of springen, to leap
- Sohn
- Son; a male child in relation to his parents
- des
- Of the; genitive definite article for masculine or neuter
- Gärtners
- Gardener's; genitive of Gärtner, a person who tends gardens
- auf
- Up; on; preposition or prefix indicating upward movement
- schoss
- Shot; past tense of schießen, to shoot
- einen
- A; accusative masculine form of the indefinite article
- Pfeil
- Arrow; a pointed projectile shot from a bow
- ihn
- Him; accusative third-person singular masculine pronoun
- Aber
- But; however; coordinating conjunction showing contrast
- tat
- Did; past tense of tun, to do or cause
- dem
- The; dative definite article for masculine or neuter nouns
- keinen
- No; not any; accusative masculine form of kein
- Schaden
- Harm; damage; injury caused to someone or something
- ließ
- Let; left; past tense of lassen, to let or leave
- nur
- Only; just; adverb limiting or restricting a statement
- eine
- A; one; nominative or accusative feminine indefinite article
- goldene
- Golden; adjective describing something made of or like gold
- Feder
- Feather; a light flat structure from a bird's plumage
- Schwanz
- Tail; the rear appendage of an animal
- fallen
- Fall; to drop down due to gravity
- flog
- Flew; past tense of fliegen, to fly
- dann
- Then; afterward; adverb indicating what comes next
- davon
- Away; off; adverb indicating movement away from a place
- Die
- The; definite article referring to a previously mentioned noun
- wurde
- Was; became; past tense of werden, used in passive constructions
- am
- At the; on the; contraction of an dem
- Morgen
- Morning; the early part of the day
- zum
- To the; contraction of zu dem
- König
- King; a male monarch ruling over a kingdom
- gebracht
- Brought; past participle of bringen, to bring
- gesamte
- Entire; whole; adjective meaning all of something collectively
- Rat
- Council; advisory body; also means advice
- zusammengerufen
- Called together; past participle of zusammenrufen, to summon a group
- Alle
- All; everyone; pronoun referring to every person present
- stimmten
- Agreed; past tense of zustimmen when used with darin überein
- darin
- Therein; in that; adverb referring to something just mentioned
- überein
- Together; part of übereinstimmen, to agree or concur
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a dependent clause
- sie
- She; it; they; third-person pronoun depending on context
- mehr
- More; comparative adverb indicating greater quantity or degree
- wert
- Worth; having a certain value or merit
- sei
- Be; subjunctive form of sein, used in reported speech
- Reichtum
- Wealth; riches; the state of having great material assets
- Königreichs
- Kingdom's; genitive of Königreich, a realm ruled by a king
- aber
- But; however; conjunction expressing contrast or exception
- sagte
- Said; past tense of sagen, to say or speak
- Eine
- One; a; nominative feminine indefinite article or numeral
- nützt
- Is of use; third-person singular of nützen, to be useful
- mir
- Me; dative first-person singular pronoun
- nichts
- Nothing; not anything; indefinite pronoun of negation
- ich
- I; first-person singular nominative pronoun
- muss
- Must; have to; first-person singular of müssen, obligation
- den
- The; accusative masculine or dative plural definite article
- ganzen
- Whole; entire; accusative or dative inflected form of ganz
- haben
- Have; to possess; infinitive of the verb haben
- Da
- Then; there; adverb indicating time or place in narrative
- machte
- Made; did; past tense of machen, to make or do
- sich
- Himself; herself; reflexive pronoun for third person
- älteste
- Oldest; superlative adjective referring to the eldest child
- Weg
- Way; path; a route or road to travel along
- dachte
- Thought; past tense of denken, to think
- Goldvogel
- Golden bird; a legendary bird made entirely of gold
- ganz
- Quite; completely; entirely; adverb of degree
- leicht
- Easy; light; adjective meaning not difficult or not heavy
- zu
- To; too; preposition or infinitive particle
- finden
- Find; to locate or discover something or someone
- kleines
- Little; small; neuter nominative inflected form of klein
- Stück
- Piece; a portion or segment of something larger
- gegangen
- Gone; walked; past participle of gehen, to go
- an
- At; to; on; preposition indicating proximity or contact
- Wald
- Forest; a large area densely covered with trees
- Rande
- Edge; border; dative of Rand, the margin of something
- Waldes
- Forest's; genitive of Wald, referring to the forest's edge
- sah
- Saw; past tense of sehen, to see
- Fuchs
- Fox; a wild canine animal known for cunning
- sitzen
- Sit; to be in a seated position
- da
- There; then; adverb indicating place or time
- nahm
- Took; past tense of nehmen, to take
- seinen
- His; accusative masculine possessive pronoun
- Bogen
- Bow; an arched weapon used to shoot arrows
- bereit
- Ready; prepared; adjective meaning set to act
- schießen
- Shoot; to discharge a projectile from a weapon
- sprach
- Spoke; said; past tense of sprechen, to speak
- Schieß
- Shoot; imperative singular form of schießen
- mich
- Me; accusative first-person singular pronoun
- nicht
- Not; the standard German adverb of negation
- denn
- Because; for; conjunction giving a reason or explanation
- will
- Want; intend; first-person singular of wollen
- dir
- You; dative second-person singular pronoun
- guten
- Good; accusative or dative masculine inflected form of gut
- geben
- Give; to hand something over to someone
- weiß
- Know; first-person singular of wissen, to know a fact
- was
- What; interrogative or relative pronoun
- dein
- Your; possessive pronoun for second-person singular
- Anliegen
- Concern; request; something one wishes to bring forward
- ist
- Is; third-person singular present tense of sein
- du
- You; second-person singular nominative pronoun
- willst
- Want; second-person singular of wollen, to want
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