Heart of Darkness — Page 9
It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind—as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness.
Es war nichts als Raub mit Gewalt, erschwerter Mord in großem Maßstab, und Männer, die blind dabei vorgingen – wie es sich gehört für jene, die sich einer Finsternis annehmen.
The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.
Die Eroberung der Erde, was meist bedeutet, sie denen wegzunehmen, die einen anderen Teint oder etwas flachere Nasen haben als wir selbst, ist keine schöne Sache, wenn man sie sich zu genau ansieht.
What redeems it is the idea only.
Was sie erlöst, ist allein die Idee.
An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea—something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to...."
Eine Idee dahinter; keine sentimentale Verstellung, sondern eine Idee; und ein selbstloser Glaube an die Idee – etwas, das man aufrichten, vor dem man sich verneigen und dem man ein Opfer darbringen kann..."
He broke off.
Er brach ab.
Flames glided in the river, small green flames, red flames, white flames, pursuing, overtaking, joining, crossing each other—then separating slowly or hastily.
Flammen glitten auf dem Fluss dahin, kleine grüne Flammen, rote Flammen, weiße Flammen, die einander verfolgten, überholten, sich vereinten, kreuzten – und sich dann langsam oder hastig wieder trennten.
The traffic of the great city went on in the deepening night upon the sleepless river.
Der Verkehr der großen Stadt setzte sich in der tiefer werdenden Nacht auf dem schlaflosen Fluss fort.
Vocabulary
- war
- Was; past tense of 'sein' (to be)
- nichts
- Nothing; not anything at all
- als
- Than; as; when; used in comparisons or time
- Raub
- Robbery; theft involving force or violence
- mit
- With; together with something or someone
- Gewalt
- Force; violence; power used aggressively
- erschwerter
- Aggravated; made more serious or severe
- Mord
- Murder; intentional unlawful killing of someone
- großem
- Large; great; on a significant scale (dative)
- Maßstab
- Scale; standard; measure used for comparison
- Männer
- Men; plural of Mann (adult male person)
- blind
- Blind; unable to see; acting without awareness
- dabei
- In the process; while doing it; involved
- vorgingen
- Proceeded; acted; past tense of 'vorgehen'
- sich gehört
- Is fitting; is proper; is expected behavior
- jene
- Those; that; referring to distant persons or things
- Finsternis
- Darkness; gloom; absence of light or goodness
- annehmen
- To accept; to take on; to assume something
- Eroberung
- Conquest; seizure of territory by force
- Erde
- Earth; ground; the planet we live on
- meist
- Mostly; for the most part; usually
- bedeutet
- Means; signifies; indicates a particular meaning
- denen
- Those; to whom; dative plural relative pronoun
- wegzunehmen
- To take away; to remove something from someone
- anderen
- Other; different; another person or thing
- Teint
- Complexion; skin tone; color of one's skin
- etwas
- Something; somewhat; a little bit
- flachere
- Flatter; more flat; comparative form of flach
- Nasen
- Noses; plural of Nase; part of the face
- haben
- To have; to possess something; auxiliary verb
- selbst
- Itself; oneself; even; emphasizing identity
- keine
- No; not a; none; negating a noun
- schöne
- Beautiful; pretty; nice; pleasant to perceive
- Sache
- Thing; matter; affair; a particular concern
- wenn
- When; if; introducing conditional or temporal clauses
- man
- One; you; people in general; impersonal pronoun
- genau
- Exactly; precisely; carefully; with accuracy
- ansieht
- Looks at; examines; considers closely (present tense)
- erlöst
- Redeems; saves; delivers from suffering or guilt
- allein
- Alone; only; solely; without others
- Idee
- Idea; concept; a thought or mental image
- dahinter
- Behind it; beyond it; underlying something
- sentimentale
- Sentimental; overly emotional; appealing to feelings
- Verstellung
- Pretense; disguise; deliberate concealment of truth
- sondern
- But rather; on the contrary; correcting a statement
- selbstloser
- More selfless; unselfish; placing others above oneself
- Glaube
- Belief; faith; conviction in something or someone
- aufrichten
- To erect; to set upright; to encourage someone
- vor
- Before; in front of; ago; preposition of position
- verneigen
- To bow; to bend forward showing respect
- Opfer
- Victim; sacrifice; offering made to a higher power
- darbringen
- To offer; to present; to make a sacrifice
- kann
- Can; is able to; modal verb of ability
- brach ab
- Broke off; stopped suddenly; interrupted speech
- Flammen
- Flames; burning tongues of fire; plural of Flamme
- glitten
- Glided; slid smoothly; past tense of gleiten
- Fluss
- River; a large flowing body of water
- dahin
- Along; away; in that direction; onward
- kleine
- Small; little; of minor size or importance
- grüne
- Green; the color of grass and leaves
- rote
- Red; the color of blood or fire
- weiße
- White; the color of snow or light
- einander
- Each other; one another; reciprocal pronoun
- verfolgten
- Chased; pursued; followed closely behind something
- überholten
- Overtook; passed; moved ahead of another
- vereinten
- United; merged; joined together into one
- kreuzten
- Crossed; intersected; passed over each other's path
- dann
- Then; afterward; at that point in time
- langsam
- Slowly; at a low speed; not quickly
- hastig
- Hastily; hurriedly; done with excessive speed
- wieder
- Again; once more; returning to a previous state
- trennten
- Separated; parted; moved away from each other
- Verkehr
- Traffic; transport; movement of vehicles or people
- großen
- Great; large; big; genitive or dative adjective form
- Stadt
- City; town; a large urban settlement
- setzte fort
- Continued; carried on; kept going without stopping
- tiefer werdenden
- Deepening; growing deeper; becoming more profound
- Nacht
- Night; the dark period between sunset and sunrise
- schlaflosen
- Sleepless; without sleep; unable to rest at night
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