Moby Dick; Or, The Whale — Page 12
"A mariner sat in the shrouds one night, The wind was piping free;
„Ein Seemann saß eines Nachts im Tauwerk, der Wind pfiff frei;
Now bright, now dimmed, was the moonlight pale, And the phospher gleamed in the wake of the whale, As it floundered in the sea."
Bald hell, bald dunkel war das bleiche Mondlicht, und das Meeresleuchten schimmerte im Kielwasser des Wals, als er sich im Meer wälzte."
—_Elizabeth Oakes Smith_.
—_Elizabeth Oakes Smith_.
"The quantity of line withdrawn from the boats engaged in the capture of this one whale, amounted altogether to 10,440 yards or nearly six English miles....
„Die Menge an Leine, die von den Booten, die an dem Fang dieses einen Wals beteiligt waren, abgezogen wurde, belief sich insgesamt auf 10.440 Yards oder fast sechs englische Meilen....
"Sometimes the whale shakes its tremendous tail in the air, which, cracking like a whip, resounds to the distance of three or four miles."
„Manchmal schlägt der Wal seinen gewaltigen Schwanz in der Luft, der, wie eine Peitsche knallend, bis auf eine Entfernung von drei oder vier Meilen widerhallt."
—_Scoresby_.
—_Scoresby_.
"Mad with the agonies he endures from these fresh attacks, the infuriated Sperm Whale rolls over and over; he rears his enormous head, and with wide expanded jaws snaps at everything around him; he rushes at the boats with his head; they are propelled before him with vast swiftness, and sometimes utterly destroyed....
„Wahnsinnig vor Schmerzen durch diese erneuten Angriffe wälzt sich der rasende Pottwal immer wieder; er reckt seinen riesigen Kopf empor und schnappt mit weit aufgerissenem Maul nach allem um ihn herum; er stürmt mit dem Kopf auf die Boote zu; diese werden mit gewaltiger Geschwindigkeit vor ihm hergetrieben und manchmal völlig zerstört....
It is a matter of great astonishment that the consideration of the habits of so interesting, and, in a commercial point of view, so important an animal (as the Sperm Whale) should have been so entirely neglected, or should have excited so little curiosity among the numerous, and many of them competent observers, that of late years, must have possessed the most abundant and the most convenient opportunities of witnessing their habitudes."
Es ist höchst erstaunlich, dass die Betrachtung der Gewohnheiten eines so interessanten und, vom kommerziellen Standpunkt aus, so wichtigen Tieres (wie des Pottwals) so völlig vernachlässigt worden sein sollte oder unter den zahlreichen, und viele von ihnen sachkundigen Beobachtern, die in den letzten Jahren die reichlichsten und günstigsten Gelegenheiten gehabt haben müssen, ihre Verhaltensweisen zu beobachten, so wenig Neugier geweckt haben sollte."
—_Thomas Beale's History of the Sperm Whale_, 1839.
—_Thomas Beale's Geschichte des Pottwals_, 1839.
Vocabulary
- Ein
- Indefinite article meaning 'a' or 'an'.
- Seemann
- A sailor or seaman who works at sea.
- saß
- Past tense of 'sitzen'; sat, was seated.
- eines
- Genitive form of 'ein'; of a, one's.
- Nachts
- At night, during the nighttime hours.
- im
- Contraction of 'in dem'; in the.
- Tauwerk
- Rigging or rope work on a ship.
- der
- Definite article or relative pronoun meaning 'the' or 'who'.
- Wind
- Wind; moving air, natural atmospheric movement.
- pfiff
- Past tense of 'pfeifen'; whistled, made a whistling sound.
- frei
- Free, unrestrained, open, without restriction.
- Bald
- Soon; also used as 'sometimes' in alternating constructions.
- hell
- Bright, light, clear in terms of illumination.
- bald
- Soon; in 'bald…bald' means 'now…now' or 'sometimes…sometimes'.
- dunkel
- Dark, dim, lacking light or brightness.
- war
- Past tense of 'sein'; was, existed.
- das
- Definite article for neuter nouns; the.
- bleiche
- Pale, wan, lacking color or vibrancy.
- Mondlicht
- Moonlight; the light emitted or reflected by the moon.
- und
- Coordinating conjunction meaning 'and'.
- Meeresleuchten
- Bioluminescence of the sea; ocean's glowing light.
- schimmerte
- Past tense of 'schimmern'; shimmered, glimmered faintly.
- Kielwasser
- Wake; the trail of disturbed water behind a vessel.
- des
- Genitive definite article meaning 'of the'.
- Wals
- Genitive of 'Wal'; of the whale.
- als
- Conjunction meaning 'as,' 'when,' or 'than'.
- er
- Third-person singular pronoun meaning 'he' or 'it'.
- sich
- Reflexive pronoun meaning 'himself,' 'herself,' 'itself'.
- Meer
- The sea or ocean; large body of saltwater.
- wälzte
- Past tense of 'wälzen'; rolled, heaved, or wallowed.
- Die
- Definite article for feminine or plural nouns; the.
- Menge
- Amount, quantity, or large number of something.
- an
- Preposition meaning 'at,' 'on,' or 'to'.
- Leine
- Line, rope, or cord used for various purposes.
- die
- Definite article or relative pronoun; the, who, which.
- von
- Preposition meaning 'from,' 'of,' or 'by'.
- den
- Dative or accusative plural definite article; the.
- Booten
- Dative plural of 'Boot'; boats, small watercraft.
- dem
- Dative singular definite article; to the, for the.
- Fang
- Catch; the act or result of catching prey.
- dieses
- Genitive or demonstrative pronoun meaning 'of this,' 'this'.
- einen
- Accusative form of 'ein'; a, one (masculine accusative).
- beteiligt
- Involved, participating, taking part in something.
- waren
- Past tense plural of 'sein'; were.
- abgezogen
- Past participle of 'abziehen'; deducted, withdrawn, subtracted.
- wurde
- Past tense of 'werden'; became, was (passive auxiliary).
- belief
- Past tense of 'belaufen'; amounted to, totaled.
- insgesamt
- In total, altogether, all in all.
- auf
- Preposition meaning 'on,' 'onto,' 'to,' or 'at'.
- oder
- Coordinating conjunction meaning 'or'.
- fast
- Almost, nearly, not quite.
- sechs
- The number six.
- englische
- English (adjective); relating to England or English measure.
- Meilen
- Miles; plural of 'Meile,' unit of distance measurement.
- Manchmal
- Sometimes, occasionally, from time to time.
- schlägt
- Third-person singular of 'schlagen'; strikes, beats, hits.
- Wal
- Whale; large marine mammal of the order Cetacea.
- seinen
- Possessive pronoun accusative masculine; his, its.
- gewaltigen
- Enormous, powerful, mighty (inflected form of 'gewaltig').
- Schwanz
- Tail; the rear appendage of an animal.
- in
- Preposition meaning 'in,' 'into,' or 'within'.
- Luft
- Air; the atmosphere or open space above ground.
- wie
- Conjunction or adverb meaning 'like,' 'as,' or 'how'.
- eine
- Indefinite article feminine nominative/accusative; a, an.
- Peitsche
- A whip; a flexible instrument used for striking.
- knallend
- Cracking, banging; present participle of 'knallen'.
- bis
- Until, up to, as far as.
- Entfernung
- Distance; the space between two points or places.
- drei
- The number three.
- vier
- The number four.
- widerhallt
- Echoes, resounds; third-person singular of 'widerhallen'.
- Wahnsinnig
- Crazy, insane, driven mad with pain or emotion.
- vor
- Preposition meaning 'before,' 'in front of,' or 'from'.
- Schmerzen
- Pain, pains; physical or emotional suffering.
- durch
- Preposition meaning 'through,' 'by means of'.
- diese
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'these' or 'this'.
- erneuten
- Renewed, repeated; inflected form of 'erneut'.
- Angriffe
- Attacks; plural of 'Angriff,' an assault or offensive strike.
- wälzt
- Third-person singular of 'wälzen'; rolls, heaves, writhes.
- rasende
- Raging, frenzied, furious; inflected form of 'rasend'.
- Pottwal
- Sperm whale; the large toothed whale hunted historically.
- immer
- Always, ever, repeatedly.
- wieder
- Again, once more, repeatedly.
- reckt
- Third-person singular of 'recken'; stretches, raises, cranes.
- riesigen
- Enormous, gigantic; inflected form of 'riesig'.
- Kopf
- Head; the uppermost part of the body.
- empor
- Upward, aloft; directional adverb indicating upward movement.
- schnappt
- Third-person singular of 'schnappen'; snaps, snatches, bites.
- mit
- Preposition meaning 'with,' 'along with'.
- weit
- Wide, far, broadly open or extended.
- aufgerissenem
- Torn wide open; dative inflected past participle of 'aufreißen'.
- Maul
- Jaws or mouth of an animal; a beast's gaping maw.
- nach
- Preposition meaning 'after,' 'toward,' or 'for'.
- allem
- Dative of 'alles'; everything, all things around.
- um
- Preposition meaning 'around,' 'about,' or 'at' (time).
- ihn
- Accusative personal pronoun; him, it.
- herum
- Around; used with 'um' to indicate surrounding movement.
- stürmt
- Third-person singular of 'stürmen'; storms, rushes, charges.
- Boote
- Boats; plural of 'Boot,' small watercraft.
- zu
- Preposition or particle meaning 'to,' 'toward,' or 'too'.
- werden
- To become; also auxiliary for future and passive constructions.
- gewaltiger
- Enormous, tremendous; comparative or inflected form of 'gewaltig'.
- Geschwindigkeit
- Speed, velocity; the rate at which something moves.
- ihm
- Dative personal pronoun; him, it, to him.
- hergetrieben
- Driven here, propelled toward; past participle of 'hertreiben'.
- manchmal
- Sometimes, occasionally, now and then.
- völlig
- Completely, entirely, totally.
- zerstört
- Destroyed, wrecked; past participle of 'zerstören'.
- Es
- Neuter pronoun meaning 'it'; also used as impersonal subject.
- ist
- Third-person singular of 'sein'; is.
- höchst
- Most highly, extremely; superlative adverb of 'hoch'.
- erstaunlich
- Astonishing, amazing, surprising.
- dass
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'that'.
- Betrachtung
- Observation, contemplation, examination of something carefully.
- Gewohnheiten
- Habits, customs; plural of 'Gewohnheit'.
- so
- So, such, thus; adverb of degree or manner.
- interessanten
- Interesting; inflected form of 'interessant'.
- vom
- Contraction of 'von dem'; from the, of the.
- kommerziellen
- Commercial; relating to trade or business interests.
- Standpunkt
- Standpoint, viewpoint, perspective on a matter.
- aus
- Preposition meaning 'from,' 'out of,' or 'of'.
- wichtigen
- Important, significant; inflected form of 'wichtig'.
- Tieres
- Genitive of 'Tier'; of the animal.
- Pottwals
- Genitive of 'Pottwal'; of the sperm whale.
- vernachlässigt
- Neglected, overlooked; past participle of 'vernachlässigen'.
- worden
- Past participle of 'werden'; used to form passive perfect.
- sein
- To be; infinitive of the verb 'sein'.
- sollte
- Past subjunctive of 'sollen'; should, was supposed to.
- unter
- Preposition meaning 'under,' 'among,' or 'below'.
- zahlreichen
- Numerous, many; inflected form of 'zahlreich'.
- viele
- Many, a large number of.
- ihnen
- Dative plural pronoun; them, to them.
- sachkundigen
- Knowledgeable, expert; inflected form of 'sachkundig'.
- Beobachtern
- Dative plural of 'Beobachter'; observers, watchers.
- letzten
- Last, most recent; inflected form of 'letzte'.
- Jahren
- Dative plural of 'Jahr'; years.
- reichlichsten
- Most abundant, most plentiful; superlative of 'reichlich'.
- günstigsten
- Most favorable, best; superlative of 'günstig'.
- Gelegenheiten
- Opportunities, occasions; plural of 'Gelegenheit'.
- gehabt
- Past participle of 'haben'; had, possessed.
- haben
- To have; auxiliary verb for perfect tenses.
- müssen
- Must, to have to; modal verb expressing necessity.
- ihre
- Possessive pronoun meaning 'their' or 'her'.
- Verhaltensweisen
- Behaviors, conduct patterns; plural of 'Verhaltensweise'.
- beobachten
- To observe, watch, study carefully.
- wenig
- Little, few, not much.
- Neugier
- Curiosity; desire to know or learn something.
- geweckt
- Awakened, aroused; past participle of 'wecken'.
- Geschichte
- History, story; a narrative or account of events.
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