Notre-Dame de Paris — Page 6
It must be stated, in honor of the good sense of the loungers of Paris, that the greater part of this crowd directed their steps towards the bonfire, which was quite in season, or towards the mystery play, which was to be presented in the grand hall of the Palais de Justice (the courts of law), which was well roofed and walled; and that the curious left the poor, scantily flowered maypole to shiver all alone beneath the sky of January, in the cemetery of the Chapel of Braque.
Es muss, zur Ehre des guten Sinnes der Müßiggänger von Paris, festgestellt werden, dass der größte Teil dieser Menge seine Schritte zum Freudenfeuer lenkte, was durchaus zeitgemäß war, oder zum Mysterienspiel, das im großen Saal des Palais de Justice (dem Gerichtsgebäude) aufgeführt werden sollte, welcher gut überdacht und ummauert war; und dass die Neugierigen den armen, spärlich geblümten Maibaum allein unter dem Januarhimmel im Friedhof der Kapelle von Braque zittern ließen.
The populace thronged the avenues of the law courts in particular, because they knew that the Flemish ambassadors, who had arrived two days previously, intended to be present at the representation of the mystery, and at the election of the Pope of the Fools, which was also to take place in the grand hall.
Das Volk drängte sich besonders in den Zugängen zum Gerichtsgebäude, weil es wusste, dass die flämischen Botschafter, die zwei Tage zuvor angekommen waren, beabsichtigten, der Aufführung des Mysterienspiels und der Wahl des Narrenpapstes beizuwohnen, die ebenfalls im großen Saal stattfinden sollte.
It was no easy matter on that day, to force one's way into that grand hall, although it was then reputed to be the largest covered enclosure in the world (it is true that Sauval had not yet measured the grand hall of the Château of Montargis). The palace place, encumbered with people, offered to the curious gazers at the windows the aspect of a sea; into which five or six streets, like so many mouths of rivers, discharged every moment fresh floods of heads.
Es war an jenem Tag keine leichte Sache, sich einen Weg in diesen großen Saal zu bahnen, obwohl er damals als der größte überdachte Raum der Welt galt (es ist wahr, dass Sauval den großen Saal des Schlosses von Montargis noch nicht vermessen hatte). Der Palastplatz, von Menschen überfüllt, bot den neugierigen Schauenden an den Fenstern den Anblick eines Meeres; in das fünf oder sechs Straßen, gleich ebenso vielen Flussmündungen, in jedem Augenblick neue Fluten von Köpfen entluden.
Vocabulary
- muss
- Must; third-person singular of müssen (to have to)
- zur
- To the; contraction of zu der
- Ehre
- Honor; respect or credit given to someone
- des
- Of the; genitive masculine/neuter definite article
- guten
- Good; inflected adjective in genitive case
- Sinnes
- Sense or mind; genitive form of Sinn
- Müßiggänger
- Idler; person who strolls about doing nothing
- von
- Of or from; common German preposition
- festgestellt
- Established or noted; past participle of feststellen
- werden
- To become or will; auxiliary or full verb
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause
- größte
- Largest or greatest; superlative form of groß
- Teil
- Part or portion; a section of a whole
- dieser
- This; demonstrative pronoun in genitive context
- Menge
- Crowd or quantity; a large group of people
- seine
- His or its; possessive pronoun, third person singular
- Schritte
- Steps; plural of Schritt, footsteps or paces
- zum
- To the; contraction of zu dem
- Freudenfeuer
- Bonfire of joy; celebratory fire lit outdoors
- lenkte
- Directed or steered; past tense of lenken
- was
- Which or what; relative or interrogative pronoun
- durchaus
- Thoroughly or absolutely; used for strong emphasis
- zeitgemäß
- Timely or contemporary; suited to the current time
- war
- Was; past tense of sein (to be)
- oder
- Or; coordinating conjunction connecting alternatives
- Mysterienspiel
- Mystery play; medieval religious dramatic performance
- im
- In the; contraction of in dem
- großen
- Large or great; inflected adjective in dative case
- Saal
- Hall; a large room for gatherings or events
- Palais
- Palace; grand official or aristocratic building
- dem
- The; dative masculine/neuter definite article
- Gerichtsgebäude
- Courthouse; building where legal proceedings are held
- aufgeführt
- Performed or staged; past participle of aufführen
- sollte
- Should or was supposed to; past subjunctive of sollen
- welcher
- Which; relative pronoun referring to a masculine noun
- gut
- Good; adjective describing positive quality
- überdacht
- Roofed over; covered with a roof or canopy
- ummauert
- Walled in; enclosed or surrounded by walls
- Neugierigen
- Curious ones; people driven by curiosity to look
- armen
- Poor; inflected adjective meaning unfortunate or destitute
- spärlich
- Sparse or meager; present in very small amounts
- geblümten
- Flowered; decorated with flowers, inflected adjective
- Maibaum
- Maypole; decorated pole used in May Day celebrations
- allein
- Alone or only; by itself or without others
- unter
- Under or beneath; preposition indicating position below
- Januarhimmel
- January sky; the cold wintry sky of January
- Friedhof
- Cemetery; a place where the dead are buried
- Kapelle
- Chapel; a small church or place of worship
- zittern
- To tremble or shiver; shake from cold or fear
- ließen
- Let or allowed; past tense of lassen
- Volk
- People or folk; a nation or common populace
- drängte
- Pushed or crowded; past tense of drängen
- sich
- Itself or themselves; reflexive pronoun
- besonders
- Especially or particularly; to a notable degree
- Zugängen
- Entrances or access points; plural of Zugang
- weil
- Because; subordinating conjunction of causation
- wusste
- Knew; past tense of wissen (to know)
- flämischen
- Flemish; relating to Flanders, inflected adjective
- Botschafter
- Ambassador; official diplomatic representative of a country
- zwei
- Two; the cardinal number 2
- Tage
- Days; plural of Tag
- zuvor
- Before or previously; earlier in time
- angekommen
- Arrived; past participle of ankommen
- waren
- Were; past tense plural of sein (to be)
- beabsichtigten
- Intended; past tense of beabsichtigen (to intend)
- Aufführung
- Performance; staging of a play or show
- Mysterienspiels
- Mystery play's; genitive of Mysterienspiel
- Wahl
- Election or choice; act of selecting or choosing
- Narrenpapstes
- Fool's Pope; genitive of the Lord of Misrule figure
- beizuwohnen
- To attend; infinitive meaning to be present at something
- ebenfalls
- Also or likewise; occurring in addition to something else
- stattfinden
- To take place; to occur as a scheduled event
- an
- At or on; preposition of location or time
- jenem
- That; dative demonstrative pronoun referring to something
- Tag
- Day; a 24-hour period of time
- keine
- No or none; negative article for zero quantity
- leichte
- Easy or light; inflected adjective meaning effortless
- Sache
- Thing or matter; an object or issue to deal with
- einen
- A or one; accusative masculine indefinite article
- Weg
- Way or path; a route or direction to follow
- diesen
- These or this; accusative demonstrative pronoun
- zu
- To or too; preposition or infinitive particle
- bahnen
- To clear or forge; to make a path through obstacles
- obwohl
- Although or even though; concessive subordinating conjunction
- damals
- At that time or back then; referring to the past
- als
- As or when; conjunction of comparison or time
- überdachte
- Roofed; past tense or inflected form of überdachen
- Raum
- Room or space; an enclosed area or open expanse
- Welt
- World; the earth or a particular sphere of existence
- galt
- Was considered; past tense of gelten (to be valid)
- wahr
- True; conforming to fact or reality
- Schlosses
- Castle's or palace's; genitive form of Schloss
- noch
- Still or yet; indicates continuation or addition
- nicht
- Not; standard negation particle in German
- vermessen
- Measured or surveyed; past participle of vermessen
- hatte
- Had; past tense of haben (to have)
- Palastplatz
- Palace square; open area in front of a palace
- Menschen
- People or humans; plural of Mensch
- überfüllt
- Overcrowded or overfull; packed beyond normal capacity
- bot
- Offered or presented; past tense of bieten
- neugierigen
- Curious; inflected adjective describing inquisitive people
- Schauenden
- Onlookers; those who are watching or gazing
- Fenstern
- Windows; dative plural of Fenster
- Anblick
- Sight or view; the visual impression of something seen
- eines
- Of a; genitive singular indefinite article
- Meeres
- Sea's or of the sea; genitive form of Meer
- fünf
- Five; the cardinal number 5
- sechs
- Six; the cardinal number 6
- Straßen
- Streets; plural of Straße, roads in a city
- gleich
- Like or immediately; same or at once
- ebenso
- Just as or equally; in the same manner or degree
- vielen
- Many; dative inflected form of viel
- Flussmündungen
- River mouths; places where rivers meet larger bodies
- jedem
- Every or each; dative form of jeder
- Augenblick
- Moment or instant; a very brief period of time
- neue
- New; inflected adjective meaning fresh or recent
- Fluten
- Floods or waves; surging masses of water or people
- Köpfen
- Heads; dative plural of Kopf
- entluden
- Discharged or unloaded; past tense of entladen
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →