Notre-Dame de Paris — Page 1
cover
Umschlag
NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS
NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS
Also known as:
Auch bekannt als:
_THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME_
_DER GLÖCKNER VON NOTRE DAME_
By Victor Hugo
Von Victor Hugo
Translated by Isabel F. Hapgood
Übersetzt von Isabel F. Hapgood
PREFACE.
VORWORT.
A few years ago, while visiting or, rather, rummaging about Notre-Dame, the author of this book found, in an obscure nook of one of the towers, the following word, engraved by hand upon the wall:—
Vor einigen Jahren, als der Verfasser dieses Buches Notre-Dame besuchte oder vielmehr darin herumstöberte, fand er in einem verborgenen Winkel eines der Türme das folgende Wort, von Hand in die Wand eingraviert:—
ἈΝÁΓΚΗ.
ἈΝÁΓΚΗ.
These Greek capitals, black with age, and quite deeply graven in the stone, with I know not what signs peculiar to Gothic caligraphy imprinted upon their forms and upon their attitudes, as though with the purpose of revealing that it had been a hand of the Middle Ages which had inscribed them there, and especially the fatal and melancholy meaning contained in them, struck the author deeply.
Diese griechischen Großbuchstaben, schwarz vor Alter und recht tief in den Stein gemeißelt, mit ich weiß nicht was für der gotischen Kalligraphie eigentümlichen Zeichen, die ihren Formen und ihrer Haltung aufgeprägt waren, gleichsam mit der Absicht zu offenbaren, dass es eine Hand des Mittelalters gewesen war, die sie dort eingeschrieben hatte, und besonders die verhängnisvolle und schwermütige Bedeutung, die in ihnen enthalten war, erschütterten den Verfasser tief.
He questioned himself; he sought to divine who could have been that soul in torment which had not been willing to quit this world without leaving this stigma of crime or unhappiness upon the brow of the ancient church.
Er fragte sich selbst; er versuchte zu ergründen, wer jene gequälte Seele gewesen sein mochte, die diese Welt nicht hatte verlassen wollen, ohne dieses Kainsmal des Verbrechens oder des Unglücks auf der Stirn der alten Kirche zu hinterlassen.
Afterwards, the wall was whitewashed or scraped down, I know not which, and the inscription disappeared.
Danach wurde die Wand getüncht oder abgekratzt, ich weiß nicht was von beidem, und die Inschrift verschwand.
For it is thus that people have been in the habit of proceeding with the marvellous churches of the Middle Ages for the last two hundred years.
Denn so pflegt man seit zweihundert Jahren mit den wunderbaren Kirchen des Mittelalters zu verfahren.
Mutilations come to them from every quarter, from within as well as from without.
Verstümmelungen kommen ihnen von allen Seiten, von innen wie von außen.
The priest whitewashes them, the archdeacon scrapes them down; then the populace arrives and demolishes them.
Der Priester tüncht sie, der Archidiakon kratzt sie ab; dann kommt das Volk und reißt sie nieder.
Vocabulary
- Umschlag
- Cover or envelope; book jacket or wrapper
- Auch
- Also, too, as well
- bekannt
- Known, familiar, well-known to others
- als
- As, than, when; used in comparisons
- GLÖCKNER
- Bell ringer, person who rings church bells
- Von
- Preposition meaning 'from,' 'of,' or 'by'
- Übersetzt
- Translated into another language from original
- von
- Preposition meaning 'by' indicating authorship or origin
- VORWORT
- Foreword or preface at the beginning of a book
- Vor
- Preposition meaning 'before,' 'in front of,' 'ago'
- einigen
- Some, a few, several (indefinite plural)
- Jahren
- Years (plural dative form of Jahr)
- Verfasser
- Author, writer of a book or text
- dieses
- This (genitive demonstrative pronoun/article)
- Buches
- Of the book (genitive form of Buch)
- besuchte
- Visited a place (past tense of besuchen)
- oder
- Or; conjunction connecting alternatives
- vielmehr
- Rather, more precisely, or more accurately stated
- darin
- In it, inside it, therein
- herumstöberte
- Rummaged around, browsed or poked about
- fand
- Found (past tense of finden)
- verborgenen
- Hidden, concealed, secret (adjective, declined form)
- Winkel
- Corner, nook, angle of a space
- Türme
- Towers (plural or genitive of Turm)
- folgende
- Following, subsequent, the next mentioned
- Wort
- Word, a single unit of language
- Hand
- Hand (body part); handwriting, by hand
- Wand
- Wall, interior vertical surface of a room
- eingraviert
- Engraved, carved or etched into a surface
- Diese
- These, this (demonstrative pronoun/article plural)
- griechischen
- Greek (adjective, declined form, relating to Greece)
- Großbuchstaben
- Capital letters, uppercase letters of the alphabet
- schwarz
- Black (color adjective)
- vor
- Before, in front of, ago (preposition)
- Alter
- Age, old age; antiquity of something
- recht
- Quite, rather, fairly; right, correct
- tief
- Deep, deeply, profound in extent
- Stein
- Stone, rock material used in buildings
- gemeißelt
- Chiseled, carved into stone with a chisel
- mit
- With, together with (preposition)
- weiß
- Know (first person singular of wissen)
- nicht
- Not (negation particle)
- was
- What (interrogative/relative pronoun)
- für
- For; used in exclamatory 'what a...' constructions
- gotischen
- Gothic (adjective, relating to Gothic style/script)
- Kalligraphie
- Calligraphy, the art of decorative handwriting
- eigentümlichen
- Peculiar, characteristic, distinctive (declined adjective)
- Zeichen
- Signs, symbols, characters or marks
- ihren
- Their, her (possessive pronoun, dative/accusative)
- Formen
- Forms, shapes, outward appearances of things
- ihrer
- Their, her (possessive genitive pronoun)
- Haltung
- Posture, bearing, attitude or stance
- aufgeprägt
- Impressed upon, stamped into, imprinted clearly
- waren
- Were (past tense plural of sein, to be)
- gleichsam
- As it were, so to speak, seemingly
- Absicht
- Intention, purpose, deliberate aim
- offenbaren
- To reveal, disclose, make something known
- dass
- That (subordinating conjunction introducing clause)
- Mittelalters
- Of the Middle Ages (genitive form)
- gewesen
- Been (past participle of sein, to be)
- war
- Was (past tense singular of sein, to be)
- dort
- There, at that place
- eingeschrieben
- Inscribed, written in, enrolled (past participle)
- hatte
- Had (past tense singular of haben)
- besonders
- Especially, particularly, in a special way
- verhängnisvolle
- Fateful, ominous, disastrous (adjective, declined)
- schwermütige
- Melancholic, gloomy, deeply sad (adjective, declined)
- Bedeutung
- Meaning, significance, importance of something
- ihnen
- Them, to them (dative plural pronoun)
- enthalten
- Contained, included within something
- erschütterten
- Shook, shattered, deeply moved or disturbed
- fragte
- Asked, questioned (past tense of fragen)
- sich
- Himself, herself, itself (reflexive pronoun)
- selbst
- Himself, itself, even (emphatic reflexive pronoun)
- versuchte
- Tried, attempted (past tense of versuchen)
- ergründen
- To fathom, get to the bottom of something
- wer
- Who (interrogative or relative pronoun)
- jene
- Those, that (distant demonstrative pronoun/adjective)
- gequälte
- Tormented, tortured, anguished (adjective, declined)
- Seele
- Soul, spirit, inner being of a person
- sein
- To be (infinitive); his (possessive pronoun)
- mochte
- Might, may have been (past subjunctive of mögen)
- diese
- This, these (demonstrative pronoun/adjective)
- Welt
- World, earth, the universe of human existence
- verlassen
- To leave, abandon, depart from a place
- wollen
- To want, wish, intend (modal verb)
- ohne
- Without, lacking (preposition with accusative)
- Kainsmal
- Mark of Cain; sign of guilt or crime
- Verbrechens
- Of the crime (genitive form of Verbrechen)
- Unglücks
- Of misfortune, bad luck (genitive of Unglück)
- auf
- On, upon, at (preposition of place/direction)
- Stirn
- Forehead, brow of a person's face
- alten
- Old, ancient (adjective, declined weak form)
- Kirche
- Church, Christian place of worship
- hinterlassen
- To leave behind, bequeath, leave a mark
- Danach
- After that, afterwards, subsequently
- wurde
- Was, became (past tense of werden, auxiliary)
- getüncht
- Whitewashed, coated with lime plaster
- abgekratzt
- Scraped off, scratched away from a surface
- beidem
- Both things, by both means (dative of beides)
- Inschrift
- Inscription, text carved or written on surface
- verschwand
- Disappeared, vanished (past tense of verschwinden)
- Denn
- For, because, since (coordinating conjunction)
- so
- So, thus, in this way (adverb)
- pflegt
- Is accustomed to, tends to do habitually
- man
- One, you, people in general (impersonal pronoun)
- seit
- Since, for (preposition indicating duration of time)
- zweihundert
- Two hundred (cardinal number)
- wunderbaren
- Wonderful, marvelous, magnificent (adjective, declined)
- Kirchen
- Churches (plural of Kirche)
- verfahren
- To proceed, deal with, handle something
- Verstümmelungen
- Mutilations, defacements, acts of disfigurement
- kommen
- To come, arrive (infinitive verb)
- allen
- All, every (dative plural of alle)
- Seiten
- Sides, pages; directions from all around
- innen
- Inside, within, on the interior
- wie
- As, like, how (conjunction/adverb of comparison)
- außen
- Outside, on the exterior, outwardly
- Priester
- Priest, ordained minister of a church
- tüncht
- Whitewashes, applies lime plaster to walls
- Archidiakon
- Archdeacon, senior church official below a bishop
- kratzt
- Scratches, scrapes (third person singular of kratzen)
- ab
- Off, away (separable prefix indicating removal)
- dann
- Then, afterwards, at that point in time
- kommt
- Comes (third person singular of kommen)
- Volk
- People, nation, folk, common populace
- reißt
- Tears, rips, pulls apart (third person singular)
- nieder
- Down, low; separable prefix meaning 'down'
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