Middlemarch — Page 2
Young women of such birth, living in a quiet country-house, and attending a village church hardly larger than a parlor, naturally regarded frippery as the ambition of a huckster's daughter.
Junge Frauen solcher Herkunft, die in einem stillen Landhaus lebten und eine Dorfkirche besuchten, die kaum größer als ein Wohnzimmer war, betrachteten Tand und Flitterkram naturgemäß als den Ehrgeiz einer Krämerstochter.
Then there was well-bred economy, which in those days made show in dress the first item to be deducted from, when any margin was required for expenses more distinctive of rank.
Dazu kam die vornehme Sparsamkeit, die es in jenen Tagen mit sich brachte, dass Aufwand bei der Kleidung der erste Posten war, von dem abgezogen wurde, wenn für standesgemäßere Ausgaben ein gewisser Spielraum nötig war.
Such reasons would have been enough to account for plain dress, quite apart from religious feeling; but in Miss Brooke's case, religion alone would have determined it; and Celia mildly acquiesced in all her sister's sentiments, only infusing them with that common-sense which is able to accept momentous doctrines without any eccentric agitation.
Solche Gründe wären hinreichend gewesen, um schlichte Kleidung zu erklären, ganz abgesehen von religiösem Empfinden; aber im Fall von Miss Brooke hätte allein die Religion es bestimmt; und Celia stimmte allen Gefühlen ihrer Schwester sanft zu und durchdrang sie lediglich mit jenem gesunden Menschenverstand, der imstande ist, bedeutsame Glaubenssätze ohne jede exzentrische Aufregung anzunehmen.
Dorothea knew many passages of Pascal's Pensees and of Jeremy Taylor by heart; and to her the destinies of mankind, seen by the light of Christianity, made the solicitudes of feminine fashion appear an occupation for Bedlam.
Dorothea kannte viele Stellen aus Pascals Pensées und aus Jeremy Taylor auswendig; und für sie ließen die Geschicke der Menschheit, im Lichte des Christentums betrachtet, die Sorgen um die weibliche Mode wie eine Beschäftigung für das Irrenhaus erscheinen.
Vocabulary
- Junge
- Boy; young male person
- Frauen
- Women; plural of Frau
- solcher
- Such; of this kind or type
- Herkunft
- Origin; background or descent of a person
- die
- The; definite article, feminine or plural
- in
- In; preposition indicating location or time
- einem
- A/an; indefinite article, dative masculine/neuter
- stillen
- Quiet; silent, calm, or peaceful
- Landhaus
- Country house; rural residence or estate
- lebten
- Lived; past tense of leben, to live
- und
- And; coordinating conjunction
- eine
- A/an; indefinite article, feminine nominative
- Dorfkirche
- Village church; small church in a rural community
- besuchten
- Attended; past tense of besuchen, to visit
- kaum
- Hardly; scarcely, barely
- größer
- Larger; comparative form of groß
- als
- Than; used in comparisons or meaning 'as'
- ein
- A/an; indefinite article, neuter or masculine nominative
- Wohnzimmer
- Living room; main sitting room in a house
- war
- Was; past tense singular of sein, to be
- betrachteten
- Regarded; past tense of betrachten, to view
- naturgemäß
- Naturally; as is natural or expected
- den
- The; definite article, accusative masculine or plural dative
- Ehrgeiz
- Ambition; strong desire for success or achievement
- einer
- A/an; indefinite article, feminine genitive/dative
- Dazu
- In addition; furthermore, to that
- kam
- Came; past tense of kommen, to come
- vornehme
- Refined; distinguished, elegant, or upper-class
- Sparsamkeit
- Frugality; habit of being economical with money
- es
- It; third person neuter pronoun
- jenen
- Those; demonstrative pronoun, dative plural
- Tagen
- Days; plural of Tag, in dative case
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- sich
- Itself/themselves; reflexive pronoun
- brachte
- Brought; past tense of bringen, to bring
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause
- Aufwand
- Expenditure; effort or expense put into something
- bei
- At/with; preposition indicating proximity or context
- der
- The; definite article, masculine or genitive feminine
- Kleidung
- Clothing; garments worn on the body
- erste
- First; ordinal number indicating the initial position
- Posten
- Item; entry on a list or budget post
- von
- From/of; preposition indicating origin or belonging
- dem
- The; definite article, dative masculine/neuter
- abgezogen
- Deducted; past participle of abziehen, to subtract
- wurde
- Was/became; past tense auxiliary for passive or werden
- wenn
- When/if; subordinating conjunction for conditions or time
- für
- For; preposition indicating purpose or recipient
- Ausgaben
- Expenses; money spent or expenditures
- gewisser
- Certain; a particular or definite amount
- Spielraum
- Leeway; room to maneuver or financial margin
- nötig
- Necessary; required or needed
- Solche
- Such; demonstrative adjective referring to these kinds
- Gründe
- Reasons; plural of Grund, cause or motive
- wären
- Would be; subjunctive II of sein
- hinreichend
- Sufficient; adequate or enough
- gewesen
- Been; past participle of sein, to be
- um
- In order to; preposition or part of infinitive construction
- schlichte
- Simple; plain, modest, unadorned
- zu
- To; preposition or infinitive particle
- erklären
- To explain; to make something clear or understandable
- ganz
- Completely; entirely, wholly
- abgesehen
- Apart from; aside from, not considering
- religiösem
- Religious; relating to faith, dative adjective form
- Empfinden
- Feeling; sense of perception or sentiment
- aber
- But; coordinating conjunction showing contrast
- im
- In the; contraction of in + dem
- Fall
- Case; instance or situation being discussed
- hätte
- Would have; subjunctive II of haben
- allein
- Alone; solely, by itself, only
- Religion
- Religion; system of faith and worship
- bestimmt
- Determined; decided or certainly influenced something
- stimmte
- Agreed; past tense of zustimmen, to agree
- allen
- All; dative plural of alle, every
- Gefühlen
- Feelings; plural of Gefühl, emotion or sentiment
- ihrer
- Her; possessive pronoun, genitive or dative feminine
- Schwester
- Sister; female sibling
- sanft
- Gently; softly, mildly
- sie
- She/they; third person pronoun, feminine or plural
- lediglich
- Merely; only, simply, no more than
- jenem
- That; demonstrative pronoun, dative masculine/neuter
- gesunden
- Healthy; sound, in good condition, adjective form
- Menschenverstand
- Common sense; ordinary practical human reasoning
- imstande
- Capable; able to do something
- ist
- Is; third person singular present of sein
- bedeutsame
- Significant; important, meaningful, weighty
- ohne
- Without; preposition indicating absence
- jede
- Any/every; indefinite pronoun, feminine accusative
- exzentrische
- Eccentric; unconventional, odd, or peculiar
- Aufregung
- Excitement; agitation or fuss
- anzunehmen
- To accept; to adopt or take on something
- kannte
- Knew; past tense of kennen, to know someone/something
- viele
- Many; a large number of
- Stellen
- Passages; sections of a text or places
- aus
- From/out of; preposition indicating origin or source
- auswendig
- By heart; from memory, without reading
- ließen
- Let/made; past tense of lassen, to allow or cause
- Menschheit
- Humanity; all human beings collectively
- Lichte
- Light; in the light of, dative form of Licht
- des
- Of the; definite article, genitive masculine/neuter
- Christentums
- Christianity; the Christian religion, genitive form
- betrachtet
- Viewed; past participle of betrachten, to regard
- Sorgen
- Worries; concerns or troubles
- weibliche
- Female; feminine, relating to women
- Mode
- Fashion; prevailing style in clothing or trends
- wie
- Like/as; conjunction or adverb of comparison
- Beschäftigung
- Occupation; activity or engagement keeping one busy
- das
- The; definite article, neuter nominative/accusative
- erscheinen
- To appear; to seem or come into view
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