Pride and Prejudice — Page 7
A man in the early eighteenth century, of course, could push this taste further than a lady in the early nineteenth; and no doubt Miss Austen's principles, as well as her heart, would have shrunk from such things as the letter from the unfortunate husband in the_ Spectator, _who describes, with all the gusto and all the innocence in the world, how his wife and his friend induce him to play at blind-man's-buff.
Ein Mann im frühen achtzehnten Jahrhundert konnte diesen Geschmack natürlich weiter treiben als eine Dame im frühen neunzehnten; und zweifellos hätten Miss Austens Grundsätze ebenso wie ihr Herz vor solchen Dingen zurückgeschreckt wie dem Brief des unglücklichen Ehemanns im Spectator, der mit allem Genuss und aller Unschuld der Welt beschreibt, wie seine Frau und sein Freund ihn dazu verleiten, Blindekuh zu spielen.
But another_ Spectator _letter--that of the damsel of fourteen who wishes to marry Mr. Shapely, and assures her selected Mentor that "he admires your_ Spectators _mightily"--might have been written by a rather more ladylike and intelligent Lydia Bennet in the days of Lydia's great-grandmother;
Aber ein anderer Spectator-Brief – der des vierzehnjährigen Mädchens, das Mr. Shapely heiraten möchte und ihrem auserwählten Mentor versichert, dass „er Eure Spectators sehr bewundert" – hätte von einer etwas damenhafteren und intelligenteren Lydia Bennet zu Zeiten von Lydias Urgroßmutter geschrieben worden sein können;
while, on the other hand, some (I think unreasonably) have found "cynicism" in touches of Miss Austen's own, such as her satire of Mrs. Musgrove's self-deceiving regrets over her son.
während andererseits manche (meiner Meinung nach zu Unrecht) in Zügen von Miss Austen selbst „Zynismus" gefunden haben, wie etwa in ihrer Satire über Mrs. Musgroves selbstbetrügerische Trauer um ihren Sohn.
But this word "cynical" is one of the most misused in the English language, especially when, by a glaring and gratuitous falsification of its original sense, it is applied, not to rough and snarling invective, but to gentle and oblique satire.
Aber dieses Wort „zynisch" gehört zu den am meisten missbrauchten in der englischen Sprache, besonders wenn es durch eine eklatante und grundlose Verfälschung seines ursprünglichen Sinnes nicht auf grobe und knurrende Schmähung, sondern auf sanfte und indirekte Satire angewendet wird.
Vocabulary
- Mann
- An adult male person; man
- im
- Contraction of 'in dem'; in the
- frühen
- Early; referring to an early period or time
- achtzehnten
- Ordinal form of eighteen; eighteenth
- Jahrhundert
- A period of one hundred years; century
- konnte
- Past tense of 'können'; was able to
- Geschmack
- Aesthetic or sensory preference; taste
- natürlich
- Of course; in a natural or obvious manner
- weiter
- Further; to a greater extent or degree
- treiben
- To drive, push, or carry something further
- als
- Conjunction used in comparisons; than
- Dame
- A refined or polite woman; lady
- neunzehnten
- Ordinal form of nineteen; nineteenth
- zweifellos
- Without any doubt; undoubtedly, certainly
- hätten
- Subjunctive II of 'haben'; would have
- Grundsätze
- Fundamental rules or moral convictions; principles
- ebenso
- In the same way or degree; likewise, just as
- ihr
- Possessive pronoun referring to her; her
- Herz
- The organ that pumps blood; heart
- vor
- Preposition indicating position in front or before
- solchen
- Dative/genitive form of 'solch'; such (things)
- Dingen
- Plural dative of 'Ding'; things, matters
- zurückgeschreckt
- Past participle of zurückschrecken; recoiled from, shrank back
- Brief
- A written message sent to someone; letter
- unglücklichen
- Adjective describing misfortune; unhappy, unfortunate
- Ehemanns
- Genitive of 'Ehemann'; of the husband
- mit
- Preposition indicating accompaniment; with
- allem
- Dative of 'alles'; with everything, all
- Genuss
- Pleasurable enjoyment or relish of something
- aller
- Genitive plural of 'alle'; of all
- Unschuld
- State of being innocent; innocence, purity
- Welt
- The earth and everything on it; world
- beschreibt
- Third-person singular of beschreiben; describes
- Frau
- An adult female; woman or wife
- Freund
- A person one knows well and likes; friend
- dazu
- To do something in addition; to that end
- verleiten
- To entice or lead someone into something; tempt
- Blindekuh
- A children's game; blind man's bluff
- spielen
- To engage in a game or activity; to play
- Aber
- Coordinating conjunction indicating contrast; but
- anderer
- Adjective meaning different or another; another
- vierzehnjährigen
- Adjective for age fourteen; fourteen-year-old
- Mädchens
- Genitive of 'Mädchen'; of a girl
- heiraten
- To enter into marriage; to marry
- möchte
- Subjunctive of mögen; would like to
- auserwählten
- Adjective meaning specially chosen; chosen, selected
- Mentor
- An experienced adviser or trusted guide
- versichert
- Third-person form of versichern; assures, confirms
- dass
- Subordinating conjunction introducing a clause; that
- Eure
- Plural possessive pronoun; your (plural/formal archaic)
- sehr
- Adverb intensifying adjectives or verbs; very
- bewundert
- Third-person form of bewundern; admires
- hätte
- Subjunctive II singular of haben; would have
- von
- Preposition indicating origin or relation; from, by
- etwas
- An indefinite pronoun or adverb; something, somewhat
- damenhafteren
- Comparative adjective from damenhaft; more ladylike
- intelligenteren
- Comparative adjective; more intelligent
- Zeiten
- Plural of 'Zeit'; times, periods, eras
- Urgroßmutter
- The mother of one's grandparent; great-grandmother
- geschrieben
- Past participle of schreiben; written
- worden
- Auxiliary past participle used in passive voice; been
- können
- Modal verb expressing ability or possibility; can
- während
- Conjunction or preposition; while, during
- andererseits
- Adverb indicating a contrasting viewpoint; on the other hand
- manche
- Indefinite pronoun or determiner; some, many a
- Meinung
- A personal view or belief; opinion
- nach
- Preposition indicating direction or accordance; after, according to
- Unrecht
- Something morally or legally wrong; wrong, injustice
- Zügen
- Dative plural of 'Zug'; traits, features, strokes
- selbst
- Reflexive or emphatic pronoun; herself, itself, even
- Zynismus
- A distrustful or sneering worldview; cynicism
- gefunden
- Past participle of finden; found, discovered
- haben
- Auxiliary or main verb; to have
- etwa
- Approximately or for example; about, for instance
- Satire
- Use of wit to criticize or mock; satire
- über
- Preposition indicating position or topic; over, about
- selbstbetrügerische
- Adjective describing self-deception; self-deceptive
- Trauer
- Deep sadness felt after loss; grief, mourning
- um
- Preposition expressing around, about, or for
- Sohn
- A male child of a parent; son
- Wort
- A unit of language with meaning; word
- zynisch
- Adjective describing a cynical attitude; cynical
- gehört
- Third-person of gehören; belongs to
- meisten
- Superlative of 'viel'; most (superlative)
- missbrauchten
- Past participle adjective of missbrauchen; most abused
- englischen
- Adjective for England or English language; English
- Sprache
- A system of communication; language
- besonders
- To a special or unusual degree; especially, particularly
- wenn
- Subordinating conjunction; when, if
- durch
- Preposition indicating means or passage; through, by
- eklatante
- Adjective meaning blatant or flagrant; glaring, obvious
- grundlose
- Adjective meaning without justification; groundless, baseless
- Verfälschung
- The act of distorting or corrupting meaning; falsification
- ursprünglichen
- Adjective meaning of original or initial nature; original
- Sinnes
- Genitive of 'Sinn'; of the meaning or sense
- auf
- Preposition indicating surface or direction; on, onto
- grobe
- Adjective meaning coarse or rough; crude, coarse
- knurrende
- Present participle of knurren; growling, snarling
- Schmähung
- An act of verbal abuse or vilification; defamation
- sondern
- Conjunction correcting a negative statement; but rather
- sanfte
- Adjective meaning gentle or soft; gentle, mild
- indirekte
- Adjective meaning not straightforward; indirect
- angewendet
- Past participle of anwenden; applied, used
- wird
- Third-person singular of werden; becomes, is (passive)
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