Grimms' Fairy Tales — Page 15
Hans was delighted as he sat on the horse, drew himself up, squared his elbows, turned out his toes, cracked his whip, and rode merrily off, one minute whistling a merry tune, and another singing,
Hans war hocherfreut, als er auf dem Pferd saß, sich aufrichtete, die Ellbogen ausstellte, die Zehen nach außen drehte, mit der Peitsche knallte und fröhlich davonritt, bald eine lustige Melodie pfeifend, bald singend:
Away went the horse full gallop; and before Hans knew what he was about, he was thrown off, and lay on his back by the road-side.
Das Pferd galoppierte davon, und bevor Hans wusste, wie ihm geschah, wurde er abgeworfen und lag auf dem Rücken am Straßenrand.
His horse would have ran off, if a shepherd who was coming by, driving a cow, had not stopped it.
Sein Pferd wäre davongelaufen, wenn nicht ein Schäfer, der gerade vorbeikam und eine Kuh trieb, es aufgehalten hätte.
Hans soon came to himself, and got upon his legs again, sadly vexed, and said to the shepherd, 'This riding is no joke, when a man has the luck to get upon a beast like this that stumbles and flings him off as if it would break his neck.
Hans kam bald wieder zu sich, stand auf die Beine, war sehr verdrossen und sagte zum Schäfer: „Dieses Reiten ist kein Spaß, wenn man das Pech hat, auf so ein Tier zu geraten, das strauchelt und einen abwirft, als wollte es einem den Hals brechen.
Vocabulary
- war
- Was; past tense singular of sein (to be).
- hocherfreut
- Highly delighted; very pleased and excited.
- als
- When; as; used for temporal or comparative situations.
- er
- He; third person masculine singular pronoun.
- auf
- On; upon; preposition indicating position or direction.
- dem
- The; dative article (to/for the).
- Pferd
- Horse; large domesticated mammal used for riding.
- saß
- Sat; past tense of sitzen (to sit).
- sich
- Himself/herself/itself; reflexive pronoun.
- aufrichtete
- Straightened up; past tense of aufrichteten.
- die
- The; definite article feminine or plural.
- Ellbogen
- Elbows; joints of the arms between shoulder and forearm.
- ausstellte
- Stuck out; extended outward from the body.
- Zehen
- Toes; digits on the feet of animals or humans.
- nach
- After; towards; preposition indicating direction or time.
- außen
- Outward; on the outside; exterior direction or position.
- drehte
- Turned; rotated; past tense of drehen.
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means.
- der
- The; definite article dative or genitive feminine.
- Peitsche
- Whip; implement used for striking or directing animals.
- knallte
- Cracked; made a sharp snapping sound.
- und
- And; conjunction connecting words or clauses.
- fröhlich
- Cheerful; happy; full of joy and merriment.
- davonritt
- Rode away; past tense of davonreiten.
- bald
- Soon; shortly; in the near future.
- eine
- A; an; indefinite article feminine or singular.
- lustige
- Amusing; funny; causing laughter or amusement.
- Melodie
- Melody; sequence of musical notes forming a tune.
- pfeifend
- Whistling; making high sounds through the lips.
- singend
- Singing; producing musical sounds with the voice.
- Das
- That; the neuter definite article or pronoun.
- galoppierte
- Galloped; fast running pace of a horse.
- davon
- Away; off; indicating motion from a place.
- bevor
- Before; prior to; conjunction indicating temporal sequence.
- wusste
- Knew; past tense of wissen (to know).
- wie
- How; in what way; interrogative adverb.
- ihm
- Him; to him; dative pronoun masculine.
- geschah
- Happened; occurred; past tense of geschehen.
- wurde
- Was; past tense of werden (to become).
- abgeworfen
- Thrown off; knocked off from a horse.
- lag
- Lay; was lying; past tense of liegen.
- Rücken
- Back; rear part of the human body.
- am
- At the; contraction of an dem.
- Straßenrand
- Roadside; edge of a road or street.
- Sein
- His; possessive pronoun masculine; or to be.
- wäre
- Would be; conditional past of sein.
- davongelaufen
- Run away; fled; past participle of davonlaufen.
- wenn
- If; when; conditional conjunction.
- nicht
- Not; negation particle; indicates absence or negation.
- ein
- A; an; indefinite article masculine or singular.
- Schäfer
- Shepherd; person who tends and cares for sheep.
- gerade
- Just; exactly; at that very moment.
- vorbeikam
- Came by; passed; arrived in passing.
- Kuh
- Cow; female bovine animal raised for milk.
- trieb
- Drove; urged; past tense of treiben.
- es
- It; neuter pronoun or impersonal subject.
- aufgehalten
- Held up; detained; stopped from moving.
- hätte
- Would have; conditional past of haben.
- kam
- Came; arrived; past tense of kommen.
- wieder
- Again; once more; indicating repetition.
- zu
- To; towards; preposition indicating direction or purpose.
- stand
- Stood; was standing; past tense of stehen.
- Beine
- Legs; limbs extending from hips to feet.
- sehr
- Very; extremely; adverb of intensity.
- verdrossen
- Displeased; annoyed; in a bad mood.
- sagte
- Said; spoke; past tense of sagen.
- zum
- To the; contraction of zu dem.
- Dieses
- This; that; demonstrative pronoun neuter.
- Reiten
- Riding; the act of riding on a horse.
- ist
- Is; third person singular of sein.
- kein
- No; not a; negative indefinite article.
- Spaß
- Fun; amusement; enjoyment or entertainment.
- man
- One; you; indefinite pronoun (general reference).
- das
- That; the; neuter definite article or pronoun.
- Pech
- Bad luck; misfortune; an unlucky situation.
- hat
- Has; third person singular of haben.
- so
- So; in such a manner; thus.
- Tier
- Animal; beast; living creature with four legs.
- geraten
- Got into; ended up in; came into.
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →