Heart of Darkness — Page 11
I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration.
Ich konnte stundenlang auf Südamerika, oder Afrika, oder Australien schauen und mich in all dem Ruhm der Entdeckung verlieren.
At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, 'When I grow up I will go there.'
Zu jener Zeit gab es viele leere Stellen auf der Erde, und wenn ich eine sah, die auf einer Karte besonders einladend aussah (aber sie sehen alle so aus), legte ich meinen Finger darauf und sagte: ‚Wenn ich groß bin, werde ich dorthin gehen.'
The North Pole was one of these places, I remember.
Der Nordpol war einer dieser Orte, ich erinnere mich.
Well, I haven't been there yet, and shall not try now.
Nun, ich bin noch nicht dort gewesen und werde es jetzt auch nicht versuchen.
The glamour's off.
Der Zauber ist verflogen.
Other places were scattered about the hemispheres.
Andere Orte waren über die Hemisphären verstreut.
I have been in some of them, and... well, we won't talk about that.
Ich bin in einigen von ihnen gewesen, und... nun, darüber werden wir nicht reden.
But there was one yet—the biggest, the most blank, so to speak—that I had a hankering after.
Aber es gab noch einen – den größten, den leersten, sozusagen – nach dem ich mich sehnte.
"True, by this time it was not a blank space any more.
„Wahrhaftig, zu diesem Zeitpunkt war es kein leerer Fleck mehr.
It had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names.
Es hatte sich seit meiner Kindheit mit Flüssen und Seen und Namen gefüllt.
It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery—a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over.
Es hatte aufgehört, ein leerer Fleck voller köstlichen Geheimnisses zu sein – ein weißer Fleck, über den ein Junge herrlich träumen konnte.
It had become a place of darkness.
Es war zu einem Ort der Finsternis geworden.
But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land.
Aber es gab darin besonders einen Fluss, einen mächtig großen Fluss, den man auf der Karte sehen konnte, der einer riesigen entrollten Schlange ähnelte, mit dem Kopf im Meer, dem Körper in Ruhe, der sich weit über ein riesiges Land krümmte, und dem Schwanz, der sich in den Tiefen des Landes verlor.
Vocabulary
- konnte
- Past tense of 'können'; was able to, could
- stundenlang
- For hours; lasting several hours
- Südamerika
- The continent of South America
- Afrika
- The continent of Africa
- Australien
- The continent and country of Australia
- schauen
- To look, to gaze, to watch something
- Ruhm
- Glory, fame, renown achieved through great deeds
- Entdeckung
- A discovery; the act of finding something new
- verlieren
- To lose oneself; to become absorbed in something
- jener
- Demonstrative adjective meaning 'that' or 'those'
- gab
- Past tense of 'geben'; there was, gave
- leere
- Empty; adjective form of 'leer', void of content
- Stellen
- Places, spots, or positions on a surface or map
- Erde
- Earth; the ground, soil, or the planet itself
- sah
- Past tense of 'sehen'; saw, did see
- Karte
- A map or card used for navigation or identification
- besonders
- Especially, particularly; to a notable degree
- einladend
- Inviting, enticing, appealing in appearance or manner
- aussah
- Past tense of 'aussehen'; looked, appeared a certain way
- legte
- Past tense of 'legen'; laid, placed something down
- Finger
- A finger; one of the digits of the hand
- darauf
- Adverb meaning 'on it', 'upon it', or 'thereupon'
- sagte
- Past tense of 'sagen'; said, told, expressed verbally
- werde
- Future auxiliary verb form; will, shall become
- dorthin
- To there; indicating movement toward that place
- Nordpol
- The North Pole; northernmost point of the Earth
- Orte
- Places, locations, spots; plural of 'Ort'
- erinnere
- First person of 'erinnern'; I remember, I recall
- gewesen
- Past participle of 'sein'; been, have been somewhere
- versuchen
- To try, to attempt, to endeavor to do something
- Zauber
- Magic, spell, enchantment; a captivating mysterious charm
- verflogen
- Vanished, evaporated; the charm has flown away
- Hemisphären
- Hemispheres; halves of the Earth or a sphere
- verstreut
- Scattered, spread out; dispersed across a wide area
- einigen
- Some, a few; dative plural form of 'einige'
- darüber
- About that; over it; concerning that matter
- werden
- To become; auxiliary forming future or passive tense
- reden
- To talk, to speak, to converse about something
- größten
- Superlative of 'groß'; biggest, largest, greatest
- leersten
- Superlative of 'leer'; most empty, most blank of all
- sozusagen
- So to speak; as it were; in a manner of speaking
- sehnte
- Past tense of 'sich sehnen'; yearned, longed for something
- Wahrhaftig
- Truly, indeed; used to emphasize truth of statement
- Zeitpunkt
- A point in time; a specific moment or juncture
- leerer
- Comparative of 'leer'; emptier, more vacant than before
- Fleck
- A spot, patch, or blank area on a surface
- seit
- Preposition meaning 'since' or 'for' a duration
- Kindheit
- Childhood; the early years of a person's life
- Flüssen
- Rivers; plural of 'Fluss', flowing bodies of water
- Seen
- Lakes; plural of 'See', standing bodies of water
- Namen
- Names; plural of 'Name', words identifying people or places
- gefüllt
- Filled, packed; past participle of 'füllen'
- aufgehört
- Stopped, ceased; past participle of 'aufhören'
- voller
- Full of; genitive form indicating abundance of something
- köstlichen
- Delightful, exquisite; of delicious or precious quality
- Geheimnisses
- Genitive of 'Geheimnis'; of the mystery or secret
- Junge
- A boy; a young male person or child
- herrlich
- Glorious, magnificent, wonderful, splendid in appearance
- träumen
- To dream; to imagine something wonderful or fantastical
- Ort
- A place, location, or specific spot
- Finsternis
- Darkness, gloom; profound absence of light
- geworden
- Become; past participle of 'werden'
- darin
- In it, within it; referring to something previously mentioned
- Fluss
- A river; a large flowing body of water
- mächtig
- Mighty, powerful, immense in size or strength
- riesigen
- Gigantic, enormous; inflected form of 'riesig'
- entrollten
- Unrolled, unfurled; past tense of 'entrollen'
- Schlange
- A snake; a serpent or long winding creature
- ähnelte
- Past tense of 'ähneln'; resembled, looked similar to
- Kopf
- Head; the uppermost part of a body
- Meer
- The sea, ocean; a large body of salt water
- Körper
- Body; the physical form of a person or creature
- Ruhe
- Rest, calm, stillness; tranquility or peace
- weit
- Far, wide; extending over a great distance
- riesiges
- Gigantic, huge; neuter inflected form of 'riesig'
- Land
- Land, country; a territory or expanse of ground
- krümmte
- Past tense of 'krümmen'; curved, bent, wound around
- Schwanz
- A tail; the rear appendage of an animal
- Tiefen
- Depths; plural of 'Tiefe', deep or innermost parts
- Landes
- Genitive of 'Land'; of the land or country
- verlor
- Past tense of 'verlieren'; lost, disappeared into
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