On the Method of Zadig: Essay #1 from "Science and Hebrew Tradition" — Page 4
I have not seen anything of the horse, and I never heard of him before,' replied Zadig.
Ich habe nichts von dem Pferd gesehen, und ich habe vorher nie von ihm gehört,' erwiderte Zadig.
"The grand huntsman and the chief eunuch made sure that Zadig had stolen both the King's horse and the Queen's spaniel, so they haled him before the High Court of Desterham, which at once condemned him to the knout, and transportation for life to Siberia.
„Der Oberjägermeister und der Chefkämmerer waren überzeugt, dass Zadig sowohl das Pferd des Königs als auch den Spaniel der Königin gestohlen hatte, und so schleppten sie ihn vor den Hohen Gerichtshof von Desterham, der ihn sogleich zur Knute und zur Deportation auf Lebenszeit nach Sibirien verurteilte.
But the sentence was hardly pronounced when the lost horse and spaniel were found.
Doch kaum war das Urteil gesprochen, als das vermisste Pferd und der Spaniel gefunden wurden.
So the judges were under the painful necessity of reconsidering their decision: but they fined Zadig four hundred ounces of gold for saying he had seen that which he had not seen.
So sahen sich die Richter in der schmerzhaften Notwendigkeit, ihr Urteil zu überdenken: aber sie belegten Zadig mit einer Geldstrafe von vierhundert Unzen Gold dafür, dass er gesagt hatte, er habe gesehen, was er nicht gesehen hatte.
"The first thing was to pay the fine; afterwards Zadig was permitted to open his defence to the court, which he did in the following terms:
„Das Erste war, die Geldstrafe zu bezahlen; danach wurde Zadig gestattet, seine Verteidigung vor dem Gericht vorzutragen, was er in folgenden Worten tat:
"'Stars of justice, abysses of knowledge, mirrors of truth, whose gravity is as that of lead, whose inflexibility is as that of iron, who rival the diamond in clearness, and possess no little affinity with gold; since I am permitted to address your august assembly, I swear by Ormuzd that I have never seen the respectable lady dog of the Queen, nor beheld the sacrosanct horse of the King of Kings.
„'Sterne der Gerechtigkeit, Abgründe des Wissens, Spiegel der Wahrheit, deren Schwere die des Bleis ist, deren Unnachgiebigkeit die des Eisens ist, die dem Diamanten an Klarheit rivalisieren und keine geringe Verwandtschaft mit Gold besitzen; da es mir gestattet ist, Ihre erhabene Versammlung anzusprechen, schwöre ich bei Ormuzd, dass ich niemals die ehrwürdige Hündin der Königin gesehen noch das hochheilige Pferd des Königs der Könige erblickt habe.
"'This is what happened. I was taking a walk towards the little wood near which I subsequently had the honour to meet the venerable chief eunuch and the most illustrious grand huntsman.
„'Dies ist, was geschah. Ich machte einen Spaziergang in Richtung des kleinen Waldes, in dessen Nähe ich anschließend die Ehre hatte, den ehrwürdigen Chefkämmerer und den hochberühmten Oberjägermeister zu treffen.
Vocabulary
- Ich
- First person singular pronoun; I.
- habe
- Have; present tense first/third person singular.
- nichts
- Nothing; not anything at all.
- von
- From; of; preposition indicating origin or possession.
- dem
- The; dative or locative article for masculine/neuter nouns.
- Pferd
- Horse; domesticated equine animal used for riding.
- gesehen
- Seen; past participle of sehen (to see).
- und
- And; conjunction joining words or clauses.
- vorher
- Previously; before; earlier in time.
- nie
- Never; not ever; at no time.
- ihm
- Him; dative pronoun for third person masculine singular.
- gehört
- Heard; past tense of hören (to hear).
- erwiderte
- Replied; past tense of erwidern (to respond).
- Der
- The; nominative article for masculine nouns.
- waren
- Were; past tense of sein (to be).
- überzeugt
- Convinced; persuaded of something's truth or validity.
- dass
- That; conjunction introducing subordinate clauses.
- sowohl
- Both; as well as; used in correlative constructions.
- das
- The; nominative/accusative article for neuter nouns.
- des
- The; genitive article for masculine/neuter nouns.
- Königs
- King's; genitive form of König (king).
- als
- As; than; conjunction for comparisons or time.
- auch
- Also; too; as well; inclusive conjunction.
- den
- The; accusative article for masculine nouns.
- Königin
- Queen; female sovereign or wife of monarch.
- gestohlen
- Stolen; past participle of stehlen (to steal).
- hatte
- Had; past tense of haben (to have).
- so
- So; thus; therefore; in that manner.
- schleppten
- Dragged; past tense of schleppen (to drag).
- sie
- They; she; third person plural or formal singular.
- ihn
- Him; accusative pronoun for third person masculine.
- vor
- Before; in front of; preposition of position/time.
- Hohen
- High; exalted; adjective form for elevated position.
- Gerichtshof
- Court; judicial tribunal where legal cases are heard.
- sogleich
- Immediately; at once; without delay or hesitation.
- zur
- To the; contraction of zu der (to the).
- Deportation
- Deportation; forced removal from country or region.
- auf
- On; upon; preposition indicating position or direction.
- Lebenszeit
- Lifetime; duration of one person's life; life sentence.
- nach
- After; to; towards; preposition of time/direction.
- verurteilte
- Condemned; past tense of verurteilen (to sentence).
- Doch
- But; yet; however; adversative conjunction.
- kaum
- Hardly; scarcely; barely; with great difficulty.
- war
- Was; past tense singular of sein (to be).
- Urteil
- Judgment; verdict; decision made by court.
- gesprochen
- Spoken; past participle of sprechen (to speak).
- vermisste
- Missed; past tense of vermissen (to miss).
- gefunden
- Found; past participle of finden (to find).
- wurden
- Were; past tense plural of werden (to become).
- So
- So; thus; in this manner or way.
- sahen
- Saw; past tense of sehen (to see).
- sich
- Themselves; themselves; reflexive pronoun third person.
- die
- The; nominative/accusative article for feminine/plural nouns.
- Richter
- Judges; plural of Richter (judge); legal officials.
- in
- In; inside; preposition indicating position or state.
- schmerzhaften
- Painful; causing pain; sorrowful or distressing.
- Notwendigkeit
- Necessity; urgency; state of being necessary or required.
- ihr
- Her; their; dative/accusative pronoun third person.
- zu
- To; too; preposition indicating direction or purpose.
- überdenken
- Reconsider; think over; ponder again carefully.
- aber
- But; however; yet; adversative conjunction.
- belegten
- Imposed; fined; past tense of belegen (to impose).
- mit
- With; by means of; preposition indicating association.
- einer
- A; one; feminine singular article or numeral.
- Geldstrafe
- Fine; monetary penalty imposed as punishment.
- vierhundert
- Four hundred; number 400 in words.
- Unzen
- Ounces; plural of Unze (unit of weight).
- Gold
- Gold; precious yellow metal; wealth or value.
- dafür
- For that; in return; as compensation.
- er
- He; third person singular masculine pronoun.
- gesagt
- Said; past participle of sagen (to say).
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