Notre-Dame de Paris — Page 7
The waves of this crowd, augmented incessantly, dashed against the angles of the houses which projected here and there, like so many promontories, into the irregular basin of the place.
Die Wellen dieser Menge, unaufhörlich anwachsend, stießen gegen die Winkel der Häuser, die hier und dort wie so viele Vorgebirge in das unregelmäßige Becken des Platzes hineinragten.
In the centre of the lofty Gothic[1] façade of the palace, the grand staircase, incessantly ascended and descended by a double current, which, after parting on the intermediate landing-place, flowed in broad waves along its lateral slopes,—the grand staircase, I say, trickled incessantly into the place, like a cascade into a lake.
In der Mitte der hohen gotischen Fassade des Palastes rieselte die große Treppe, die von einem doppelten Strom unaufhörlich hinauf- und hinuntergegangen wurde und der, nachdem er sich auf dem mittleren Treppenabsatz geteilt hatte, in breiten Wellen an den seitlichen Abhängen entlangfloss – die große Treppe, sage ich, rieselte unaufhörlich auf den Platz hinab, wie ein Wasserfall in einen See.
The cries, the laughter, the trampling of those thousands of feet, produced a great noise and a great clamor.
Das Schreien, das Lachen, das Getrampel der Tausenden von Füßen erzeugten einen gewaltigen Lärm und ein gewaltiges Getöse.
From time to time, this noise and clamor redoubled; the current which drove the crowd towards the grand staircase flowed backwards, became troubled, formed whirlpools.
Von Zeit zu Zeit verdoppelten sich dieser Lärm und dieses Getöse; der Strom, der die Menge zur großen Treppe drängte, floss rückwärts, wurde unruhig und bildete Strudel.
This was produced by the buffet of an archer, or the horse of one of the provost's sergeants, which kicked to restore order; an admirable tradition which the provostship has bequeathed to the constablery, the constablery to the _maréchaussée_, the _maréchaussée_ to our _gendarmeri_ of Paris.
Dies wurde verursacht durch den Faustschlag eines Bogenschützen oder durch das Pferd eines der Sergeanten des Vogts, das ausschlug, um die Ordnung wiederherzustellen; eine bewundernswerte Überlieferung, die das Vogtamt der Konstabelei, die Konstabelei der Maréchaussée, die Maréchaussée unserer Gendarmerie von Paris vermacht hat.
Thousands of good, calm, _bourgeois_ faces thronged the windows, the doors, the dormer windows, the roofs, gazing at the palace, gazing at the populace, and asking nothing more; for many Parisians content themselves with the spectacle of the spectators, and a wall behind which something is going on becomes at once, for us, a very curious thing indeed.
Tausende von guten, ruhigen bürgerlichen Gesichtern drängten sich an den Fenstern, den Türen, den Dachfenstern und auf den Dächern, blickten auf den Palast, blickten auf das Volk und verlangten nichts weiter; denn viele Pariser begnügen sich mit dem Schauspiel der Zuschauer, und eine Mauer, hinter der etwas vorgeht, wird für uns sogleich eine höchst merkwürdige Sache.
Vocabulary
- Wellen
- Waves, undulating movements of a crowd or water
- dieser
- This, demonstrative pronoun indicating a specific thing
- Menge
- Crowd, large group of people gathered together
- unaufhörlich
- Incessantly, without stopping or pause
- anwachsend
- Growing, continuously increasing in size or intensity
- stießen
- Pushed, knocked, or collided against something forcefully
- gegen
- Against, indicating opposition or physical contact
- Winkel
- Corner or angle of a building or space
- Häuser
- Houses, residential or commercial buildings
- hier
- Here, indicating a nearby location
- dort
- There, indicating a location farther away
- wie
- Like, as, or how; used for comparisons
- viele
- Many, a large number of things or people
- Vorgebirge
- Promontories, landmasses jutting into water or space
- unregelmäßige
- Irregular, lacking a regular or uniform shape
- Becken
- Basin, bowl-shaped depression or enclosed area
- Platzes
- Square, open public space in a city (genitive)
- hineinragten
- Protruded into, extended inward into a space
- Mitte
- Middle, center point of a space or object
- hohen
- High, tall, elevated in stature or position
- gotischen
- Gothic, relating to medieval pointed-arch architectural style
- Fassade
- Facade, front exterior face of a building
- Palastes
- Palace, grand official building (genitive form)
- rieselte
- Trickled, flowed gently in a stream downward
- große
- Large, great, considerable in size or scale
- Treppe
- Staircase, set of steps connecting different floors
- doppelten
- Double, twofold, consisting of two parallel parts
- Strom
- Stream or current, flow of people or water
- hinauf-
- Upward, directional prefix indicating movement going up
- hinuntergegangen
- Gone down, having moved downward along a path
- wurde
- Was, became; auxiliary for passive or simple past
- sich
- Himself, itself; reflexive pronoun for third person
- mittleren
- Middle, central, positioned between two outer points
- Treppenabsatz
- Landing, flat platform between two flights of stairs
- geteilt
- Divided, split into separate parts or directions
- breiten
- Broad, wide, spread out across a large area
- seitlichen
- Lateral, side, positioned along the flanks or sides
- Abhängen
- Slopes, inclined sides descending from a higher point
- entlangfloss
- Flowed along, streamed alongside a surface or edge
- sage
- Say, I say; first-person present of sagen
- Platz
- Square, open public space in a town or city
- hinab
- Down, downward; directional adverb moving to lower level
- Wasserfall
- Waterfall, cascade of water falling from a height
- See
- Lake, large body of standing inland water
- Schreien
- Screaming, shouting, loud vocalizations from a crowd
- Lachen
- Laughter, the act of laughing aloud together
- Getrampel
- Trampling, noise of many feet stamping heavily
- Tausenden
- Thousands, dative plural of Tausend, many thousands
- Füßen
- Feet, dative plural of Fuß, body extremities
- erzeugten
- Produced, generated, created a sound or effect
- gewaltigen
- Enormous, tremendous, of great force or magnitude
- Lärm
- Noise, loud disruptive sound from a crowd
- gewaltiges
- Enormous, tremendous (neuter adjective form)
- Getöse
- Roar, din, overwhelming loud rumbling noise
- Zeit
- Time, a point or period in temporal sequence
- verdoppelten
- Doubled, increased twofold in volume or intensity
- dieses
- This, genitive or neuter demonstrative pronoun form
- drängte
- Pushed, surged, pressed forward through a crowd
- floss
- Flowed, moved as a liquid or streaming crowd
- rückwärts
- Backward, in the reverse direction of movement
- unruhig
- Restless, uneasy, agitated without calm or order
- bildete
- Formed, shaped, created a particular configuration
- Strudel
- Whirlpool, swirling eddy of water or crowd
- Dies
- This, neuter demonstrative pronoun referring to something
- verursacht
- Caused, brought about by a particular action
- durch
- Through, by means of; preposition indicating passage
- Faustschlag
- Punch, a blow delivered with a closed fist
- Bogenschützen
- Archer, soldier who shoots with a bow
- Pferd
- Horse, large domesticated animal used for riding
- Sergeanten
- Sergeant, low-ranking military or police officer
- Vogts
- Warden's, of the bailiff or local administrator
- ausschlug
- Kicked out, struck with a hoof or limb
- Ordnung
- Order, structured arrangement or maintenance of discipline
- wiederherzustellen
- To restore, to reestablish a previous state of order
- bewundernswerte
- Admirable, worthy of admiration or high regard
- Überlieferung
- Tradition, something handed down through generations
- Vogtamt
- Warden's office, historical administrative enforcement authority
- Konstabelei
- Constabulary, historical police or enforcement organization
- Maréchaussée
- Mounted police force, historical French gendarmerie predecessor
- unserer
- Our, genitive or dative form of unser
- Gendarmerie
- Gendarmerie, military police force maintaining public order
- vermacht
- Bequeathed, left as a legacy to successors
- Tausende
- Thousands, a very large number of people
- ruhigen
- Calm, peaceful, quiet (inflected adjective form)
- bürgerlichen
- Bourgeois, relating to the middle-class citizenry
- Gesichtern
- Faces, dative plural of Gesicht, facial features
- drängten
- Crowded, pressed together at windows or openings
- Fenstern
- Windows, dative plural of Fenster, openings in walls
- Türen
- Doors, openings allowing entry into buildings
- Dachfenstern
- Dormer windows, roof windows set into sloped roofing
- Dächern
- Rooftops, dative plural of Dach, tops of buildings
- blickten
- Gazed, looked, directed eyes toward a scene
- Palast
- Palace, grand official or royal building
- Volk
- People, nation, folk; a collective body of citizens
- verlangten
- Demanded, desired, required something with urgency
- nichts
- Nothing, not anything at all
- weiter
- Further, more, additional beyond what exists now
- denn
- Than, because, for; conjunction or comparative particle
- Pariser
- Parisian, a person from or related to Paris
- begnügen
- To content oneself, be satisfied with something modest
- Schauspiel
- Spectacle, theatrical show or impressive visual display
- Zuschauer
- Spectator, onlooker watching an event or scene
- Mauer
- Wall, solid barrier of stone or brick
- hinter
- Behind, at the back of something or someone
- etwas
- Something, somewhat; indefinite pronoun or adverb
- vorgeht
- Goes on, happens, takes place at this moment
- sogleich
- Immediately, right away, without any delay
- höchst
- Most highly, extremely; superlative adverbial intensifier
- merkwürdige
- Remarkable, curious, strange, worthy of attention
- Sache
- Thing, matter, affair, subject of discussion
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