The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete — Page 3
I'm a laying up sin and suffering for us both, I know.
Ich häufe Sünde und Leid auf uns beide, das weiß ich.
He's full of the Old Scratch, but laws-a-me! he's my own dead sister's boy, poor thing, and I ain't got the heart to lash him, somehow.
Er steckt voller Teufelei, aber du meine Güte! er ist der Junge meiner armen verstorbenen Schwester, und ich bringe es einfach nicht übers Herz, ihn zu verprügeln.
Every time I let him off, my conscience does hurt me so, and every time I hit him my old heart most breaks.
Jedes Mal, wenn ich ihn laufen lasse, plagt mich mein Gewissen so sehr, und jedes Mal, wenn ich ihn schlage, bricht mir fast das Herz.
Well-a-well, man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble, as the Scripture says, and I reckon it's so.
Nun ja, der Mensch, vom Weibe geboren, lebt kurze Zeit und ist voll Unruhe, wie die Schrift sagt, und ich glaube, das stimmt.
He'll play hookey this evening,[*] and I'll just be obleeged to make him work, tomorrow, to punish him.
Er wird heute Nachmittag die Schule schwänzen, und ich werde ihn morgen zur Strafe arbeiten lassen müssen.
[*] Southwestern for "afternoon"
[*] Im Südwesten der USA für „Nachmittag"
It's mighty hard to make him work Saturdays, when all the boys is having holiday, but he hates work more than he hates anything else, and I've got to do some of my duty by him, or I'll be the ruination of the child."
Es ist wirklich schwer, ihn samstags arbeiten zu lassen, wenn alle anderen Jungen frei haben, aber er hasst die Arbeit mehr als alles andere, und ich muss meine Pflicht ihm gegenüber erfüllen, sonst richte ich das Kind zugrunde."
Tom did play hookey, and he had a very good time.
Tom schwänzte tatsächlich die Schule und hatte dabei eine wunderbare Zeit.
He got back home barely in season to help Jim, the small colored boy, saw next-day's wood and split the kindlings before supper—at least he was there in time to tell his adventures to Jim while Jim did three-fourths of the work.
Er kam gerade noch rechtzeitig nach Hause, um Jim, dem kleinen farbigen Jungen, beim Sägen des Holzes für den nächsten Tag und beim Spalten des Anzündholzes vor dem Abendessen zu helfen – zumindest war er rechtzeitig dort, um Jim von seinen Abenteuern zu erzählen, während Jim drei Viertel der Arbeit erledigte.
Tom's younger brother (or rather half-brother) Sid was already through with his part of the work (picking up chips), for he was a quiet boy, and had no adventurous, trouble-some ways.
Toms jüngerer Bruder (oder vielmehr Halbbruder) Sid war mit seinem Teil der Arbeit (das Aufsammeln von Holzspänen) bereits fertig, denn er war ein ruhiger Junge ohne abenteuerliche oder unruhige Art.
Vocabulary
- häufe
- To pile up or accumulate something
- Sünde
- Sin; a moral wrongdoing or transgression
- Leid
- Suffering, sorrow, or grief
- beide
- Both; referring to two people or things
- weiß
- To know a fact; first person singular of 'wissen'
- steckt
- To be full of or stuck in something
- voller
- Full of; filled with a certain quality
- Teufelei
- Devilry; mischievous or wicked behavior
- Güte
- Goodness; also used in exclamation 'meine Güte'
- Junge
- Boy; a young male child
- armen
- Poor or wretched; adjective in inflected form
- verstorbenen
- Deceased; referring to someone who has passed away
- Schwester
- Sister; a female sibling
- bringe
- To bring; first person singular of 'bringen'
- einfach
- Simply; easy or just, used as adverb
- übers
- Contraction of 'über das', meaning 'over the'
- Herz
- Heart; the organ or seat of emotions
- verprügeln
- To beat up or thrash someone physically
- Jedes
- Every; each one without exception
- Mal
- Time; an instance or occurrence of something
- wenn
- Conjunction meaning 'when' or 'whenever'
- laufen
- To run or walk; to let someone go
- lasse
- To let or allow; first person of 'lassen'
- plagt
- To plague or torment; to trouble persistently
- Gewissen
- Conscience; one's inner sense of right and wrong
- jedes
- Every; each instance without exception
- schlage
- To hit or strike; first person of 'schlagen'
- bricht
- Breaks; third person singular of 'brechen'
- fast
- Almost; nearly but not quite completely
- Nun
- Now; well; used to introduce a statement
- Mensch
- Human being; a person or humankind in general
- Weibe
- Archaic genitive of 'Weib', meaning 'woman'
- geboren
- Born; past participle of 'gebären'
- kurze
- Short; brief in duration or length
- Zeit
- Time; a period or duration
- voll
- Full; filled with or complete
- Unruhe
- Restlessness; unrest or agitation
- Schrift
- Scripture or writing; the written word
- glaube
- To believe; first person singular of 'glauben'
- stimmt
- That's right; to be correct or accurate
- heute
- Today; the current day
- Nachmittag
- Afternoon; the period after midday
- Schule
- School; an educational institution
- schwänzen
- To skip or play truant from school
- morgen
- Tomorrow; the day after today
- Strafe
- Punishment or penalty for wrongdoing
- arbeiten
- To work; to perform labor or tasks
- lassen
- To let or allow; to have something done
- müssen
- Must; modal verb expressing necessity or obligation
- Südwesten
- Southwest; the southwestern direction or region
- wirklich
- Really; truly or genuinely
- schwer
- Hard or difficult; also heavy
- samstags
- On Saturdays; every Saturday
- alle
- All; every one of a group
- anderen
- Other; the remaining ones in a group
- Jungen
- Boys; plural of Junge, young males
- frei
- Free; unoccupied or at liberty
- hasst
- Hates; third person singular of 'hassen'
- Arbeit
- Work; labor or a job
- mehr
- More; a greater amount or degree
- alles
- Everything; all things without exception
- andere
- Other; different or additional
- muss
- Must; first/third person of modal verb 'müssen'
- Pflicht
- Duty; an obligation or responsibility
- gegenüber
- Toward; opposite or with regard to someone
- erfüllen
- To fulfill or carry out a duty or task
- sonst
- Otherwise; or else; in other circumstances
- richte
- To ruin or destroy; direct form of 'richten'
- Kind
- Child; a young person or offspring
- zugrunde
- To the ground; used in 'zugrunde richten' meaning ruin
- schwänzte
- Played truant; past tense of 'schwänzen'
- tatsächlich
- Actually; indeed or in fact
- dabei
- In the process; at the same time doing it
- wunderbare
- Wonderful; marvelous or splendid time
- kam
- Came; simple past tense of 'kommen'
- gerade
- Just; barely or at this very moment
- noch
- Still; yet or even
- rechtzeitig
- In time; punctually or just before a deadline
- Hause
- Home; dative form used in 'nach Hause'
- kleinen
- Little; small, inflected adjective form
- farbigen
- Colored; historically used term for a person of color
- Sägen
- Sawing; cutting with a saw
- Holzes
- Of wood; genitive form of 'Holz'
- nächsten
- Next; the one following in sequence
- Tag
- Day; a period of twenty-four hours
- Spalten
- Splitting; cleaving wood into pieces
- Anzündholzes
- Kindling wood; small wood used to start fire
- vor
- Before; in front of
- Abendessen
- Dinner; the evening meal
- helfen
- To help; to assist someone with something
- zumindest
- At least; at a minimum
- dort
- There; at that place
- Abenteuern
- Adventures; exciting or daring experiences
- erzählen
- To tell or narrate a story or account
- während
- While; during a period of time
- Viertel
- Quarter; one fourth of a whole
- erledigte
- Completed; past tense of 'erledigen'
- jüngerer
- Younger; comparative adjective for age
- Bruder
- Brother; a male sibling
- vielmehr
- Rather; more precisely or more accurately
- Halbbruder
- Half-brother; a sibling sharing one parent
- Teil
- Part; a portion or share of something
- Aufsammeln
- Collecting; picking up scattered items
- Holzspänen
- Wood chips; shavings from cutting wood
- bereits
- Already; by this time or beforehand
- fertig
- Done; finished or ready
- denn
- Because or for; causal conjunction
- ruhiger
- Calmer; more quiet or peaceful
- ohne
- Without; lacking something
- abenteuerliche
- Adventurous; full of adventure or excitement
- unruhige
- Restless; unsettled or agitated nature
- Art
- Nature; type, manner, or way of being
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