Middlemarch — Page 3
Here and there a cygnet is reared uneasily among the ducklings in the brown pond, and never finds the living stream in fellowship with its own oary-footed kind.
Hier und da wird ein junger Schwan unruhig unter den Entenküken im braunen Teich aufgezogen und findet niemals den lebendigen Strom in Gemeinschaft mit seinesgleichen, den ruderfoßigen Artgenossen.
Here and there is born a Saint Theresa, foundress of nothing, whose loving heart-beats and sobs after an unattained goodness tremble off and are dispersed among hindrances, instead of centring in some long-recognizable deed.
Hier und da wird eine Heilige Theresa geboren, Gründerin von nichts, deren liebende Herzschläge und Schluchzen nach einer unerreichten Güte sich auflösen und unter Hindernissen zerstreuen, anstatt sich in irgendeiner längst erkennbaren Tat zu bündeln.
Vocabulary
- Schwan
- Swan; a large white waterbird with a long neck.
- unruhig
- Restless or uneasy; describing agitation or lack of calm.
- Entenküken
- Ducklings; young ducks newly hatched from eggs.
- Teich
- Pond; a small body of still water.
- aufgezogen
- Raised or reared; past participle of 'aufziehen'.
- niemals
- Never; emphatic adverb of complete negation in time.
- lebendigen
- Living or lively; inflected adjective meaning alive and vibrant.
- Strom
- Current or stream; a strong flow of water or energy.
- Gemeinschaft
- Community; a group sharing common bonds and belonging.
- seinesgleichen
- His kind or peers; those of the same type or sort.
- ruderfoßigen
- Paddle-footed; having webbed feet suited for swimming.
- Artgenossen
- Members of the same species; fellow creatures of one kind.
- Heilige
- Saint or holy one; a person venerated for great virtue.
- Gründerin
- Female founder; a woman who establishes an organization.
- deren
- Whose/their; relative or possessive pronoun (genitive feminine).
- liebende
- Loving; adjective describing someone who shows affection.
- Herzschläge
- Heartbeats; the rhythmic pulsing of the heart.
- Schluchzen
- Sobbing; the act of crying with convulsive gasps.
- unerreichten
- Unattained or unreached; something never achieved or touched.
- Güte
- Goodness or kindness; quality of being benevolent and gentle.
- auflösen
- To dissolve or disperse; to break apart into nothing.
- Hindernissen
- Obstacles; barriers or impediments that block progress.
- zerstreuen
- To scatter or distract; to spread widely in all directions.
- anstatt
- Instead of; conjunction or preposition indicating substitution.
- irgendeiner
- Some kind of/any one; referring vaguely to an unspecified one.
- längst
- Long since or long ago; something that occurred far back.
- erkennbaren
- Recognizable; able to be identified or distinguished clearly.
- Tat
- Deed or act; a concrete action carried out by someone.
- bündeln
- To bundle or concentrate; to gather scattered things together.
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