Pride and Prejudice — Page 10

English → De Preface Level 7/10

Miss Austen, too, drew back when the white frost touched her shoes; but I think she would have made a pretty good journey even in a black one.

Auch Miss Austen zog sich zurück, als der weiße Frost ihre Schuhe berührte; aber ich glaube, sie hätte auch bei einem schwarzen Frost eine recht gute Reise gemacht.

For if her knowledge was not very extended, she knew two things which only genius knows.

Denn wenn auch ihr Wissen nicht sehr umfangreich war, so kannte sie doch zwei Dinge, die nur das Genie kennt.

The one was humanity, and the other was art.

Das eine war die Menschlichkeit, und das andere war die Kunst.

As to art, if she has never tried idealism, her realism is real to a degree which makes the false realism of our own day look merely dead-alive.

Was die Kunst betrifft, so ist ihr Realismus, auch wenn sie sich nie am Idealismus versucht hat, in einem Maße wirklichkeitsnah, das den falschen Realismus unserer eigenen Zeit bloß halbtot erscheinen lässt.

Take almost any Frenchman, except the late M. de Maupassant, and watch him laboriously piling up strokes in the hope of giving a complete impression.

Nehmen Sie fast jeden Franzosen, den verstorbenen Herrn de Maupassant ausgenommen, und beobachten Sie, wie er mühsam Strich für Strich häuft in der Hoffnung, einen vollständigen Eindruck zu vermitteln.

You get none; you are lucky if, discarding two-thirds of what he gives, you can shape a real impression out of the rest.

Sie erhalten keinen; Sie können sich glücklich schätzen, wenn Sie, nachdem Sie zwei Drittel von dem, was er bietet, verworfen haben, aus dem Rest einen echten Eindruck formen können.

But with Miss Austen the myriad, trivial, unforced strokes build up the picture like magic.

Aber bei Miss Austen fügen sich die unzähligen, beiläufigen, ungezwungenen Striche wie von Zauberhand zu einem Bild zusammen.

Nothing is false; nothing is superfluous.

Nichts ist falsch; nichts ist überflüssig.

Vocabulary

Auch: Also; as well; even; too.
Miss: Miss; title for unmarried woman.
zog: Pulled; drew; moved; past tense of ziehen.
sich: Oneself; herself; himself; reflexive pronoun.
zurück: Back; backwards; return direction.
als: As; when; than; comparative/temporal conjunction.
der: The; definite article masculine singular.
weiße: White; pale; adjective form of weiß.
Frost: Frost; frozen dew; cold temperature.
ihre: Her; their; possessive pronoun feminine/plural.
Schuhe: Shoes; footwear; plural of Schuh.
berührte: Touched; contacted; past tense of berühren.
aber: But; however; yet; adversative conjunction.
ich: I; first person singular pronoun.
glaube: Believe; think; first person present of glauben.
sie: She; they; third person pronoun.
hätte: Would have; conditional past of haben.
bei: At; near; by; with; preposition.
einem: A; an; indefinite article dative masculine.
schwarzen: Black; dark; adjective form of schwarz.
eine: A; an; indefinite article feminine singular.
recht: Quite; rather; fairly; right; adjective.
gute: Good; fine; well; adjective form of gut.
Reise: Journey; trip; travel; voyage.
gemacht: Made; done; created; past participle of machen.
Denn: For; because; since; causal conjunction.
wenn: If; when; conditional or temporal conjunction.
ihr: Her; her; their; possessive pronoun.
Wissen: Knowledge; knowing; information; wisdom.
nicht: Not; no; negation particle.
sehr: Very; much; greatly; adverb of degree.
umfangreich: Extensive; comprehensive; broad; wide-ranging.
war: Was; past tense of sein.
so: So; such; this way; thus.
kannte: Knew; was acquainted; past of kennen.
doch: But; yet; still; however; however.
zwei: Two; the number two.
Dinge: Things; items; objects; plural of Ding.
die: The; which; who; definite article.
nur: Only; just; merely; sole.
das: The; which; that; definite article neuter.
Genie: Genius; brilliant person; exceptional talent.
kennt: Knows; is acquainted; third person of kennen.
Das: The; which; that; definite article.
Menschlichkeit: Humanity; compassion; kindness; human nature.
und: And; plus; conjunction.
andere: Other; different; another; adjective.
Kunst: Art; artistic work; skill; craft.
Was: What; which; interrogative pronoun.
betrifft: Concerns; affects; regards; third person verb.
ist: Is; third person present of sein.
Realismus: Realism; realistic philosophy; artistic realism.
nie: Never; not ever; at no time.
am: At the; on the; contraction of an dem.
Idealismus: Idealism; pursuit of ideals; idealistic philosophy.
versucht: Tried; attempted; past participle of versuchen.
hat: Has; have; third person auxiliary verb.
in: In; into; within; preposition.
Maße: Measure; degree; extent; proportion.
den: The; which; accusative masculine singular.
falschen: False; wrong; incorrect; adjective form of falsch.
unserer: Our; ours; possessive pronoun genitive feminine.
eigenen: Own; own; proper; adjective of possession.
Zeit: Time; age; period; era; epoch.
bloß: Merely; only; just; bare; naked.
erscheinen: Appear; seem; emerge; come into view.
lässt: Lets; allows; allows; third person of lassen.
Nehmen: Take; to take; seize; grab.
Sie: You; formal second person pronoun.
fast: Almost; nearly; nearly; approximately.
jeden: Every; each; any; all; each one.
Franzosen: Frenchman; Frenchmen; person from France.
verstorbenen: Deceased; dead; late; departed person.
Herrn: Mr.; Lord; gentleman; dative of Herr.

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