Piccolissima — Page 13
The look, gloomy, and a little sullen, of the fly, recalled somewhat the funny mask of a harlequin, and Piccolissima was on the point of showing how one laughs with the lips, by laughing in the fly's face, when the latter forced air slightly through the breathing holes which open under the wings;
Der düstere und etwas verdrießliche Blick der Fliege erinnerte ein wenig an die lustige Maske eines Harlekins, und Piccolissima war im Begriff zu zeigen, wie man mit den Lippen lacht, indem sie der Fliege ins Gesicht lachte, als diese leicht Luft durch die Atemlöcher presste, die sich unter den Flügeln öffnen;
the two little double scales, the winglets, which unfold at birth, began to vibrate;
die zwei kleinen doppelten Schuppen, die Flügelchen, die sich bei der Geburt entfalten, begannen zu zittern;
and Piccolissima, who just now remarked that this was the method that her new acquaintance took to emit sounds, was eager to listen to what he might say;
und Piccolissima, die soeben bemerkt hatte, dass dies die Methode war, die ihr neuer Bekannter anwandte, um Laute von sich zu geben, war begierig darauf zu hören, was er sagen würde;
so she made an effort to command herself, and became serious.
also bemühte sie sich, sich zu beherrschen, und wurde ernst.
"Do you not see, with your dull human intelligence, that my trunk is a pump, a hollow tube, an instrument for sucking which I stretch out and draw in at my pleasure?"
„Sehen Sie nicht, mit Ihrem stumpfen menschlichen Verstand, dass mein Rüssel eine Pumpe ist, ein hohles Rohr, ein Sauginstrument, das ich nach Belieben ausstrecke und einziehe?"
While speaking thus, the fly thrust half way out from the cavity in the middle of his head, just under his eyes, a trunk with two or three joints in it;
Während die Fliege so sprach, schob sie halb aus der Höhlung in der Mitte ihres Kopfes, direkt unter ihren Augen, einen Rüssel mit zwei oder drei Gliedern heraus;
at the end was an opening like two black lips, folded over, with grooves or little hollows.
an seinem Ende befand sich eine Öffnung wie zwei schwarze Lippen, umgefaltet, mit Rillen oder kleinen Vertiefungen.
The fly, thus urged to show the use of his trunk, or, more probably, forgetting the sequel of a discourse upon which he had entered in such a pompous style, flew upon the sugar, and set himself again to sucking it.
Die Fliege, so aufgefordert, den Gebrauch ihres Rüssels zu demonstrieren, oder, wahrscheinlicher, den weiteren Verlauf einer Rede vergessend, die sie in so pomphaftem Stil begonnen hatte, flog auf den Zucker und machte sich erneut daran, ihn zu saugen.
Piccolissima again observed the little drops fall which she had noticed before.
Piccolissima beobachtete erneut, wie die kleinen Tropfen fielen, die sie zuvor bemerkt hatte.
Vocabulary
- Der
- The (definite article, masculine singular nominative)
- düstere
- Dark, gloomy, or somber in appearance or mood
- und
- And (conjunction used to connect words or clauses)
- etwas
- Something or somewhat; a little bit of something
- verdrießliche
- Annoyed, vexed, or displeased in manner or expression
- Blick
- A look, glance, or gaze; the expression in one's eyes
- Fliege
- A fly; the common insect with wings
- erinnerte
- Reminded or recalled something to memory
- ein
- A or an (indefinite article, masculine singular nominative)
- wenig
- Little or a small amount; not much
- an
- At, on, or to; preposition indicating position or direction
- die
- The (definite article, feminine singular or plural nominative)
- lustige
- Merry, funny, or cheerful; amusing or entertaining
- Maske
- A mask worn on the face for disguise or protection
- eines
- Of a or one; genitive form of indefinite article
- war
- Was; past tense of sein (to be)
- im
- In the; contraction of in and dem
- Begriff
- Concept, idea, or term; about to do something
- zu
- To, toward, or at; preposition or infinitive marker
- zeigen
- To show, display, or point out to someone
- wie
- How or in what way; also means as or like
- man
- One, you; impersonal pronoun for generalizations
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- den
- The (definite article, masculine plural accusative/dative)
- Lippen
- Lips; plural of Lippe, the mouth parts
- lacht
- Laughs; third person singular present of lachen
- indem
- While, by; conjunction indicating simultaneity or manner
- sie
- She or they; feminine singular or plural pronoun
- ins
- Into the; contraction of in and das
- Gesicht
- Face; the front part of the head
- lachte
- Laughed; past tense of lachen (to laugh)
- als
- As, when, or than; conjunction or comparative particle
- diese
- This, that, or these; demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- leicht
- Light or easy; not heavy or difficult
- Luft
- Air; the invisible substance we breathe
- durch
- Through; preposition indicating passage or movement
- presste
- Pressed or squeezed; past tense of pressen
- sich
- Oneself; reflexive pronoun for all persons
- unter
- Under or beneath; preposition indicating position below
- Flügeln
- Wings; plural of Flügel, appendages for flight
- öffnen
- To open; to unfold or make accessible
- zwei
- Two; the number 2
- kleinen
- Small or little; diminutive in size or scale
- doppelten
- Double or twofold; consisting of two parts
- bei
- At, near, or by; preposition indicating proximity
- Geburt
- Birth; the act of being born into existence
- entfalten
- To unfold, develop, or spread out gradually
- begannen
- Began or started; past tense of beginnen
- zittern
- To tremble or shake; to vibrate or quiver
- soeben
- Just now or a moment ago; very recently
- bemerkt
- Noticed or observed; past participle of bemerken
- hatte
- Had; past tense of haben (to have)
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing dependent clause
- dies
- This or that; demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- Methode
- Method or way; a systematic procedure or approach
- ihr
- Her or their; feminine singular or plural possessive
- neuer
- New; recently made or discovered; not old
- Bekannter
- Acquaintance or known person; someone one knows
- anwandte
- Applied or used; past tense of anwenden
- um
- Around, about, or in order to; preposition
- Laute
- Sounds or tones; plural of Laut, audible noise
- von
- From or of; preposition indicating origin or possession
- geben
- To give; to provide or hand over something
- begierig
- Eager or keen; having strong desire for something
- darauf
- On it, then, or afterwards; adverb of place
- hören
- To hear or listen; to perceive sound with ears
- was
- What; interrogative or relative pronoun
- er
- He; masculine singular personal pronoun
- sagen
- To say or tell; to speak words aloud
- würde
- Would; conditional form of werden (to become)
- also
- So or therefore; conjunctive adverb connecting ideas
- bemühte
- Tried or endeavored; past tense of bemühen
- beherrschen
- To master, control, or dominate something
- wurde
- Was; past tense of werden (to become)
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