Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave — Page 13
In the course of his Narrative, he relates two instances of murderous cruelty,—in one of which a planter deliberately shot a slave belonging to a neighboring plantation, who had unintentionally gotten within his lordly domain in quest of fish; and in the other, an overseer blew out the brains of a slave who had fled to a stream of water to escape a bloody scourging.
Im Verlauf seiner Erzählung berichtet er von zwei Fällen mörderischer Grausamkeit,—in einem davon erschoss ein Pflanzer absichtlich einen Sklaven, der zu einer benachbarten Plantage gehörte und unbeabsichtigt in seinen herrschaftlichen Bereich geraten war, um Fische zu suchen; und im anderen schoss ein Aufseher einem Sklaven den Schädel ein, der zu einem Wasserlauf geflohen war, um einer blutigen Auspeitschung zu entkommen.
_Mr. Douglass_ states that in neither of these instances was any thing done by way of legal arrest or judicial investigation.
_Herr Douglass_ gibt an, dass in keinem dieser Fälle irgendetwas in Form einer rechtlichen Verhaftung oder gerichtlichen Untersuchung unternommen wurde.
The Baltimore American, of March 17, 1845, relates a similar case of atrocity, perpetrated with similar impunity—as follows:—
Der Baltimore American vom 17. März 1845 berichtet von einem ähnlichen Fall von Grausamkeit, der mit ähnlicher Straflosigkeit begangen wurde—wie folgt:—
"_Shooting a slave._—We learn, upon the authority of a letter from Charles county, Maryland, received by a gentleman of this city, that a young man, named Matthews, a nephew of General Matthews, and whose father, it is believed, holds an office at Washington, killed one of the slaves upon his father's farm by shooting him.
„_Erschießung eines Sklaven._—Wir erfahren, auf der Grundlage eines Briefes aus Charles County, Maryland, der von einem Herrn dieser Stadt empfangen wurde, dass ein junger Mann namens Matthews, ein Neffe von General Matthews, dessen Vater, wie man glaubt, ein Amt in Washington bekleidet, einen der Sklaven auf der Farm seines Vaters durch Erschießen getötet hat.
The letter states that young Matthews had been left in charge of the farm; that he gave an order to the servant, which was disobeyed, when he proceeded to the house, _obtained a gun, and, returning, shot the servant._
Der Brief besagt, dass der junge Matthews mit der Aufsicht über die Farm betraut worden war; dass er dem Diener einen Befehl gab, dem nicht Folge geleistet wurde, woraufhin er zum Haus ging, _eine Waffe holte und, zurückkehrend, den Diener erschoss._
He immediately, the letter continues, fled to his father's residence, where he still remains unmolested.
Er floh unverzüglich, so der Brief weiter, zur Wohnung seines Vaters, wo er noch immer unbehelligt bleibt.
Vocabulary
- Verlauf
- Course or progression of events over time
- Erzählung
- A narrative or story told by someone
- berichtet
- Reports or recounts information to an audience
- Fällen
- Plural dative form of 'Fall' meaning cases or instances
- mörderischer
- Of a murderous or deadly cruel nature
- Grausamkeit
- Cruelty or brutality inflicted upon others
- davon
- Pronoun adverb meaning 'of them' or 'thereof'
- erschoss
- Past tense of 'erschießen,' meaning shot and killed
- Pflanzer
- A planter or plantation owner farming land
- absichtlich
- Done deliberately or intentionally with purpose
- Sklaven
- An enslaved person held in bondage
- benachbarten
- Neighboring or adjacent to something nearby
- Plantage
- A large agricultural estate using forced labor
- gehörte
- Past tense of 'gehören,' meaning belonged to someone
- unbeabsichtigt
- Done without intention; accidentally or inadvertently
- herrschaftlichen
- Relating to a lord's or master's domain or estate
- Bereich
- An area, zone, or domain belonging to someone
- geraten
- To have come into or ended up in a place
- suchen
- To search for or look for something
- schoss
- Past tense of 'schießen,' meaning shot at someone
- Aufseher
- An overseer or supervisor who watches over workers
- Schädel
- The skull or cranium of a human or animal
- Wasserlauf
- A watercourse, stream, or channel of flowing water
- geflohen
- Past participle of 'fliehen,' meaning fled or escaped
- blutigen
- Adjective meaning bloody or involving bloodshed
- Auspeitschung
- The act of whipping or flogging as punishment
- entkommen
- To escape or get away from danger or captivity
- Herr
- Mister or a title of respect for a man
- keinem
- Negative pronoun in dative meaning 'none' or 'neither'
- Fälle
- Plural nominative of 'Fall,' meaning cases or instances
- irgendetwas
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'anything' or 'something'
- Form
- A form, type, or manner of something
- rechtlichen
- Relating to legal matters or the justice system
- Verhaftung
- An arrest or detention by law enforcement authorities
- gerichtlichen
- Relating to judicial or court proceedings
- Untersuchung
- An investigation, inquiry, or examination of something
- unternommen
- Past participle of 'unternehmen,' meaning undertaken or done
- wurde
- Past tense auxiliary 'wurde,' meaning 'was' (passive)
- März
- The month of March in the calendar year
- ähnlichen
- Similar or comparable to something previously mentioned
- Fall
- A case, instance, or situation under consideration
- ähnlicher
- Of similar or comparable kind or degree
- Straflosigkeit
- The state of going unpunished for a committed wrong
- begangen
- Past participle of 'begehen,' meaning committed an act
- folgt
- Third-person singular of 'folgen,' meaning follows
- Erschießung
- The act of killing someone by shooting them
- erfahren
- To learn or find out about something; to experience
- Grundlage
- A basis or foundation upon which something is built
- Briefes
- Genitive of 'Brief,' meaning of a letter or correspondence
- Herrn
- Dative or accusative form of 'Herr,' meaning Mr. or gentleman
- Stadt
- A city or town as a place of settlement
- empfangen
- To receive or welcome something or someone
- junger
- Adjective meaning young, describing a young person
- namens
- By the name of; named something specific
- Neffe
- A nephew, the son of one's sibling
- General
- A high-ranking military officer of senior command
- dessen
- Relative pronoun in genitive meaning 'whose' or 'of which'
- man
- Impersonal pronoun meaning 'one' or 'people' generally
- glaubt
- Third-person singular of 'glauben,' meaning believes
- Amt
- An official office or governmental position or post
- bekleidet
- Holds or occupies an official position or office
- Farm
- A farm or agricultural property for growing crops
- durch
- Preposition meaning 'through' or 'by means of'
- Erschießen
- The act of killing someone by shooting them
- getötet
- Past participle of 'töten,' meaning killed or slain
- Brief
- A written letter sent to communicate with someone
- besagt
- States or says; conveys a particular piece of information
- Aufsicht
- Supervision or oversight of a person or task
- betraut
- Entrusted with a task or responsibility by someone
- worden
- Auxiliary past participle used in passive constructions
- Diener
- A servant or domestic attendant in a household
- Befehl
- A command or order given to someone by authority
- gab
- Past tense of 'geben,' meaning gave an order or gift
- Folge
- Compliance, consequence, or a following sequence
- geleistet
- Past participle of 'leisten,' meaning performed or complied
- woraufhin
- Connective meaning 'whereupon' or 'following which'
- ging
- Past tense of 'gehen,' meaning went somewhere
- Waffe
- A weapon such as a gun or other armament
- holte
- Past tense of 'holen,' meaning fetched or retrieved something
- zurückkehrend
- Returning back to a previous place or situation
- floh
- Past tense of 'fliehen,' meaning fled or ran away
- unverzüglich
- Without delay; immediately or promptly after an event
- weiter
- Further or onward in direction, continuing movement
- Wohnung
- An apartment or dwelling place where someone lives
- noch
- Adverb meaning 'still' or 'yet' in ongoing situations
- immer
- Adverb meaning 'always' or 'still' in ongoing context
- unbehelligt
- Undisturbed or unhindered; left alone without interference
- bleibt
- Third-person singular of 'bleiben,' meaning remains or stays
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