Sense and Sensibility — Page 2
And what possible claim could the Miss Dashwoods, who were related to him only by half blood, which she considered as no relationship at all, have on his generosity to so large an amount.
Und welchen möglichen Anspruch könnten die Miss Dashwoods, die mit ihm nur durch Halbblut verwandt waren, was sie als überhaupt keine Verwandtschaft betrachtete, auf seine Großzügigkeit in so großem Ausmaß haben.
It was very well known that no affection was ever supposed to exist between the children of any man by different marriages; and why was he to ruin himself, and their poor little Harry, by giving away all his money to his half sisters?
Es war allgemein bekannt, dass zwischen den Kindern eines Mannes aus verschiedenen Ehen keine Zuneigung bestehen sollte; und warum sollte er sich selbst und ihren armen kleinen Harry ruinieren, indem er sein ganzes Geld an seine Halbschwestern verschenkte?
"He did not know what he was talking of, I dare say; ten to one but he was light-headed at the time.
„Er wusste nicht, wovon er sprach, wage ich zu behaupten; es ist zehn zu eins, dass er damals verwirrt war.
"He did not stipulate for any particular sum, my dear Fanny; he only requested me, in general terms, to assist them, and make their situation more comfortable than it was in his power to do.
„Er hat keine bestimmte Summe festgelegt, meine liebe Fanny; er bat mich nur in allgemeinen Worten, ihnen zu helfen und ihre Lage angenehmer zu gestalten, als es in seiner Macht stand zu tun.
Perhaps it would have been as well if he had left it wholly to myself.
Vielleicht wäre es genauso gut gewesen, wenn er es ganz mir überlassen hätte.
He could hardly suppose I should neglect them.
Er konnte kaum annehmen, dass ich sie vernachlässigen würde.
But as he required the promise, I could not do less than give it; at least I thought so at the time.
Aber da er das Versprechen verlangte, konnte ich nicht weniger tun, als es zu geben; zumindest dachte ich das damals so.
The promise, therefore, was given, and must be performed.
Das Versprechen wurde daher gegeben und muss erfüllt werden.
Vocabulary
- welchen
- Which (accusative/dative form of 'welcher').
- möglichen
- Possible, potential (inflected form of 'möglich').
- Anspruch
- Claim, entitlement, or right to something.
- könnten
- Could, might (subjunctive form of 'können').
- Halbblut
- Half-blood; sharing only one parent with another person.
- verwandt
- Related, connected by family or blood ties.
- überhaupt
- At all, in general; used for emphasis or negation.
- Verwandtschaft
- Kinship, family relationship, or group of relatives.
- betrachtete
- Regarded, considered, viewed (past tense of 'betrachten').
- Großzügigkeit
- Generosity, liberality, willingness to give freely.
- Ausmaß
- Extent, scale, magnitude of something.
- allgemein
- General, common, widely known or accepted.
- bekannt
- Known, familiar, well-known to people.
- zwischen
- Between, among; preposition indicating position or relationship.
- verschiedenen
- Various, different, several (inflected form of 'verschieden').
- Ehen
- Marriages (plural form of 'Ehe').
- Zuneigung
- Affection, fondness, warm feeling toward someone.
- bestehen
- To exist, to pass (an exam), to consist of.
- sollte
- Should, was supposed to (past subjunctive of 'sollen').
- armen
- Poor, unfortunate (inflected form of 'arm').
- ruinieren
- To ruin, to destroy financially or otherwise.
- indem
- By doing, while; subordinating conjunction of manner.
- Halbschwestern
- Half-sisters; sisters sharing only one biological parent.
- verschenkte
- Gave away as a gift (past tense of 'verschenken').
- wusste
- Knew (past tense of 'wissen', to know facts).
- wovon
- Of what, about what; interrogative or relative pronoun.
- sprach
- Spoke (past tense of 'sprechen', to speak).
- wage
- Dare (first-person singular of 'wagen', to dare).
- behaupten
- To claim, assert, maintain something as true.
- damals
- At that time, back then, in those days.
- verwirrt
- Confused, puzzled, bewildered (past participle of 'verwirren').
- bestimmte
- Certain, specific (adjective); or determined (past tense verb).
- Summe
- Sum, amount of money, total quantity.
- festgelegt
- Fixed, determined, established (past participle of 'festlegen').
- bat
- Asked, requested (past tense of 'bitten', to ask).
- allgemeinen
- General, vague (inflected form of 'allgemein').
- Lage
- Situation, position, circumstances someone finds themselves in.
- angenehmer
- More pleasant, more comfortable (comparative of 'angenehm').
- gestalten
- To shape, to design, to make or organize something.
- Macht
- Power, authority, ability to do something.
- stand
- Stood, was (past tense of 'stehen', to stand/be).
- Vielleicht
- Perhaps, maybe, possibly; expresses uncertainty or suggestion.
- wäre
- Would be (subjunctive II form of 'sein', to be).
- genauso
- Just as, equally so; used for exact comparisons.
- ganz
- Entirely, whole, completely; used for totality or emphasis.
- überlassen
- Left to, entrusted to, handed over (past participle of 'überlassen').
- hätte
- Would have, had (subjunctive II form of 'haben').
- konnte
- Could, was able to (past tense of 'können').
- kaum
- Hardly, barely, scarcely; indicates something almost did not happen.
- annehmen
- To assume, to accept, to take something in.
- vernachlässigen
- To neglect, to disregard, to fail to care for.
- würde
- Would (subjunctive II auxiliary used for hypothetical statements).
- Versprechen
- Promise, commitment made to do something.
- verlangte
- Demanded, required, requested (past tense of 'verlangen').
- weniger
- Less, fewer; comparative form of 'wenig'.
- zumindest
- At least, at the very minimum.
- dachte
- Thought (past tense of 'denken', to think).
- daher
- Therefore, hence, for that reason; causal adverb.
- erfüllt
- Fulfilled, kept, carried out (past participle of 'erfüllen').
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