The Adventures of Roderick Random — Page 6
It now remains to give my reasons for making the chief personage of this work a North Briton, which are chiefly these: I could, at a small expense, bestow on him such education as I thought the dignity of his birth and character required, which could not possibly be obtained in England, by such slender means as the nature of my plan would afford.
Es bleibt mir nun noch übrig, meine Gründe dafür anzugeben, warum ich die Hauptperson dieses Werkes zu einem Nordbriten gemacht habe, welche hauptsächlich folgende sind: Ich konnte ihm mit geringen Kosten eine solche Erziehung zuteilwerden lassen, wie ich sie der Würde seiner Geburt und seines Charakters für angemessen hielt, die in England durch so bescheidene Mittel, wie sie die Natur meines Plans gewähren konnte, unmöglich zu erlangen gewesen wäre.
In the next place, I could represent simplicity of manners in a remote part of the kingdom, with more propriety than in any place near the capital; and lastly, the disposition of the Scots, addicted to travelling, justifies my conduct in deriving an adventurer from that country.
Sodann konnte ich die Schlichtheit der Sitten in einem abgelegenen Teil des Königreichs mit größerer Angemessenheit darstellen als an irgendeinem Ort in der Nähe der Hauptstadt; und schließlich rechtfertigt die Neigung der Schotten, die dem Reisen zugetan sind, mein Vorgehen, einen Abenteurer aus jenem Lande herzuleiten.
That the delicate reader may not be offended at the unmeaning oaths which proceed from the mouths of some persons in these memoirs, I beg leave to promise, that I imagined nothing could more effectually expose the absurdity of such miserable expletives, than a natural and verbal representation of the discourse in which they occur.
Damit der feinfühlige Leser nicht durch die nichtssagenden Schwüre, die aus dem Munde einiger Personen in diesen Memoiren kommen, Anstoß nehme, erlaube ich mir zu versichern, dass ich mir nichts Wirksameres vorstellen konnte, um die Absurdität solch elender Füllwörter bloßzustellen, als eine natürliche und wörtliche Wiedergabe der Rede, in der sie vorkommen.
Vocabulary
- bleibt
- Remains; third-person singular of 'bleiben'
- mir
- Me; dative first-person singular pronoun
- nun
- Now; indicating current point in time or argument
- noch
- Still; yet; used to indicate continuation or addition
- übrig
- Remaining; left over after other things are accounted for
- meine
- My; first-person singular possessive adjective
- Gründe
- Reasons; plural of 'Grund', motivations or causes
- dafür
- For it; in favor of something previously mentioned
- anzugeben
- To state; to give or specify information
- warum
- Why; interrogative or subordinating conjunction for reason
- Hauptperson
- Main character; the primary figure in a narrative
- dieses
- This; demonstrative pronoun in genitive or neuter form
- Werkes
- Of the work; genitive of 'Werk', a literary or artistic piece
- Nordbriten
- North Briton; person from northern Britain, i.e., a Scot
- gemacht
- Made; past participle of 'machen', to make or create
- welche
- Which; relative or interrogative pronoun for plural or feminine
- hauptsächlich
- Mainly; chiefly; the most important reasons or factors
- folgende
- Following; the items or reasons listed thereafter
- konnte
- Could; simple past of 'können', to be able to
- geringen
- Low; small; modest in amount or degree
- Kosten
- Costs; expenses required for something
- solche
- Such; of this kind or type
- Erziehung
- Upbringing; education and raising of a child
- zuteilwerden
- To be granted; to receive something as one's share
- lassen
- To let; to allow something to happen or be done
- Würde
- Dignity; worthiness befitting a person's status
- Geburt
- Birth; the event or status of being born
- Charakters
- Of the character; genitive of 'Charakter', personality or nature
- angemessen
- Appropriate; suitable to the situation or circumstances
- hielt
- Considered; simple past of 'halten', to hold or regard
- durch
- Through; by means of; preposition indicating means
- bescheidene
- Modest; humble; limited in scope or resources
- Mittel
- Means; resources available to achieve a goal
- Natur
- Nature; the inherent character of something
- Plans
- Of the plan; genitive of 'Plan', a scheme or design
- gewähren
- To grant; to provide or allow something to someone
- unmöglich
- Impossible; not able to be done or achieved
- erlangen
- To attain; to obtain or achieve something desired
- wäre
- Would be; subjunctive II of 'sein', indicating hypothetical
- Sodann
- Then; furthermore; introducing an additional reason
- Schlichtheit
- Simplicity; plainness of manners or lifestyle
- Sitten
- Customs; manners; social habits and moral practices
- abgelegenen
- Remote; situated far from populated centers
- Teil
- Part; a portion or region of something larger
- Königreichs
- Of the kingdom; genitive of 'Königreich', a monarchical state
- größerer
- Greater; comparative adjective in inflected form
- Angemessenheit
- Appropriateness; quality of being fitting or suitable
- darstellen
- To represent; to portray or depict something vividly
- irgendeinem
- Any; some; indefinite pronoun meaning any single place
- Ort
- Place; a specific location or spot
- Nähe
- Vicinity; nearness or proximity to something
- Hauptstadt
- Capital city; the primary city of a country or region
- schließlich
- Finally; ultimately; used to introduce a last point
- rechtfertigt
- Justifies; third-person singular of 'rechtfertigen'
- Neigung
- Inclination; tendency or disposition toward something
- Schotten
- Scots; people from Scotland
- Reisen
- Traveling; journeying to other places or countries
- zugetan
- Inclined to; fond of; having an affinity for something
- Vorgehen
- Approach; course of action taken in a situation
- Abenteurer
- Adventurer; a person who seeks exciting or risky experiences
- jenem
- That; dative form of 'jener', referring to something distant
- Lande
- Land; country; dative of 'Land', a nation or territory
- herzuleiten
- To derive; to trace the origin of a character or idea
- Damit
- So that; in order that; conjunction indicating purpose
- feinfühlige
- Sensitive; delicate in feeling or perception
- Leser
- Readers; people who read a text or book
- nichtssagenden
- Meaningless; empty; saying nothing of substance
- Schwüre
- Oaths; solemn vows or exclamations
- Munde
- Mouth; dative of 'Mund', used in the phrase 'in the mouth of'
- einiger
- Some; of some; genitive plural indefinite pronoun
- Personen
- Persons; individuals appearing in a story
- Memoiren
- Memoirs; written recollections of personal experiences
- Anstoß
- Offense; annoyance caused by something objectionable
- erlaube
- Allow; first-person singular of 'erlauben', to permit
- versichern
- To assure; to declare something confidently to someone
- nichts
- Nothing; not anything; pronoun of negation
- Wirksameres
- More effective; comparative of 'wirksam', effective or powerful
- vorstellen
- To imagine; to conceive or present something mentally
- Absurdität
- Absurdity; the quality of being ridiculous or illogical
- solch
- Such; of that kind; used before adjectives or nouns
- elender
- Wretched; miserable; used pejoratively for poor quality
- Füllwörter
- Filler words; meaningless words used to pad speech
- bloßzustellen
- To expose; to reveal the foolishness of something
- natürliche
- Natural; occurring in nature; unaffected and genuine
- wörtliche
- Literal; word-for-word; exact reproduction of speech
- Wiedergabe
- Reproduction; rendition of speech or text faithfully
- Rede
- Speech; spoken language or discourse
- vorkommen
- To occur; to appear or be found in a text
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