The divine comedy — Page 2
"
"
He thus to me: "This miserable fate
Er sprach also zu mir: „Dies elende Schicksal
Suffer the wretched souls of those, who liv'd
Erleiden die armseligen Seelen jener, die lebten
Without or praise or blame, with that ill band
Ohne Lob und ohne Tadel, mit jener üblen Schar
Of angels mix'd, who nor rebellious prov'd
Von Engeln vermischt, die sich weder als aufrührerisch erwiesen
Nor yet were true to God, but for themselves
Noch Gott treu waren, sondern nur für sich selbst
Were only. From his bounds Heaven drove them forth,
Da waren. Aus seinen Grenzen trieb der Himmel sie hinaus,
Not to impair his lustre, nor the depth
Um seinen Glanz nicht zu mindern, noch die Tiefe
Of Hell receives them, lest th' accursed tribe
Der Hölle sie aufnimmt, damit das verfluchte Geschlecht
Should glory thence with exultation vain."
Sich nicht daraus mit eitlem Frohlocken rühme."
I then: "Master! what doth aggrieve them thus,
Ich darauf: „Meister! was bekümmert sie so sehr,
That they lament so loud?" He straight replied:
Dass sie so laut klagen?" Er antwortete sogleich:
"That will I tell thee briefly. These of death
„Das will ich dir kurz sagen. Diese hegen vom Tod
No hope may entertain: and their blind life
Keine Hoffnung: und ihr blindes Leben
So meanly passes, that all other lots
Vergeht so kläglich, dass sie alle anderen Lose
They envy. Fame of them the world hath none,
Beneiden. Ruhm von ihnen hat die Welt keinen,
Nor suffers; mercy and justice scorn them both.
Noch lässt sie ihn zu; Barmherzigkeit und Gerechtigkeit verachten sie beide.
Speak not of them, but look, and pass them by."
Sprich nicht von ihnen, sondern schau und geh vorbei."
And I, who straightway look'd, beheld a flag,
Und ich, der ich sogleich schaute, erblickte ein Banner,
Which whirling ran around so rapidly,
Das wirbelnd so schnell umherlief,
That it no pause obtain'd: and following came
Dass es keine Pause fand: und folgend kam
Such a long train of spirits, I should ne'er
Ein so langer Zug von Geistern, dass ich niemals
Have thought, that death so many had despoil'd.
Gedacht hätte, dass der Tod so viele beraubt hätte.
When some of these I recogniz'd, I saw
Als ich einige von diesen erkannte, sah ich
And knew the shade of him, who to base fear
Und kannte den Schatten jenes, der aus niedriger Furcht
Yielding, abjur'd his high estate. Forthwith
Nachgebend, seinem hohen Stand abschwor. Sogleich
I understood for certain this the tribe
Verstand ich mit Gewissheit, dies sei das Geschlecht
Of those ill spirits both to God displeasing
Jener bösen Geister, die sowohl Gott missfallen
And to his foes.
Als auch seinen Feinden.
Vocabulary
- Er
- He; third person singular masculine pronoun
- sprach
- Spoke; past tense of sprechen
- also
- So, thus, therefore; logical connector
- zu
- To, at, too; versatile preposition or particle
- mir
- Me, to me; first person dative pronoun
- Dies
- This; demonstrative pronoun referring nearby thing
- elende
- Wretched, miserable; adjective describing poor condition
- Schicksal
- Fate, destiny; the course of one's life
- Erleiden
- Suffering, enduring; to undergo something painful
- die
- The; definite article or relative pronoun
- armseligen
- Pitiful, wretched; describing poor or pathetic souls
- Seelen
- Souls; plural of Seele, spiritual essence of beings
- jener
- Those, that; demonstrative pronoun referring to distant things
- lebten
- Lived; past tense plural of leben
- Ohne
- Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- Lob
- Praise, commendation; positive verbal recognition
- und
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- ohne
- Without; preposition indicating lack or absence
- Tadel
- Blame, reproach, criticism; negative verbal judgment
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or inclusion
- üblen
- Evil, wicked; adjective describing morally bad nature
- Schar
- Crowd, host, group; a multitude of beings
- Von
- From, of, by; common German preposition
- Engeln
- Angels; plural dative of Engel, heavenly beings
- vermischt
- Mixed, blended; past participle of vermischen
- sich
- Themselves, oneself; reflexive pronoun
- weder
- Neither; used in neither...nor construction
- als
- As, than, when; conjunction or comparative particle
- erwiesen
- Proven, shown; past participle of erweisen
- Noch
- Nor, still, yet; used in negations or additions
- Gott
- God; the supreme divine being
- treu
- Faithful, loyal, true; steadfastly devoted
- waren
- Were; past tense plural of sein
- sondern
- But rather; conjunction contrasting a negation
- nur
- Only, just; limiting or restrictive adverb
- für
- For; preposition indicating purpose or benefit
- selbst
- Oneself, itself; reflexive or emphatic particle
- Da
- There, then, since; adverb of place or time
- Aus
- Out of, from; preposition indicating origin or exit
- seinen
- His, its; possessive pronoun in accusative or dative
- Grenzen
- Borders, limits; plural of Grenze
- trieb
- Drove, pushed; past tense of treiben
- der
- The; definite article or relative pronoun
- Himmel
- Heaven, sky; the celestial realm or sky above
- sie
- She, they, them; third person pronoun
- hinaus
- Out, outward; directional adverb away from inside
- Um
- Around, in order to; preposition or conjunction
- Glanz
- Splendor, brilliance, luster; radiant brightness
- nicht
- Not; basic negation particle
- mindern
- To diminish, reduce, lessen; decrease in quality
- noch
- Still, yet, nor; adds continuation or negation
- Tiefe
- Depth, deep place; profound or physical lowness
- Der
- The; definite article masculine nominative
- Hölle
- Hell; the underworld or place of damnation
- aufnimmt
- Takes in, accepts, admits; third person of aufnehmen
- damit
- So that, with it; conjunction or pronoun
- das
- The, that; definite article or demonstrative pronoun
- verfluchte
- Cursed, damned; adjective from verfluchen
- Geschlecht
- Race, gender, generation; category of beings or sex
- Sich
- Oneself; reflexive pronoun used with verbs
- daraus
- From it, out of it; pronominal adverb
- eitlem
- Vain, conceited; from eitel, prideful and hollow
- rühme
- Boast, praise; subjunctive of rühmen
- Ich
- I; first person singular nominative pronoun
- darauf
- Thereupon, on it; pronominal adverb of response
- Meister
- Master, teacher; skilled or authoritative person
- was
- What; interrogative or relative pronoun
- bekümmert
- Troubles, distresses; to worry or sadden someone
- so
- So, such, thus; adverb of manner or degree
- sehr
- Very, much; intensifying adverb
- Dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing clauses
- laut
- Loud, loudly; adjective or adverb of sound volume
- klagen
- To lament, complain; express grief or distress
- antwortete
- Answered, replied; past tense of antworten
- sogleich
- Immediately, at once; without delay
- Das
- The, that; neuter definite article or demonstrative
- will
- Want, will; first or third person of wollen
- ich
- I; first person singular nominative pronoun
- dir
- You, to you; second person dative pronoun
- kurz
- Short, brief; concise in length or time
- sagen
- To say, tell; basic verb of verbal communication
- Diese
- These, this; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- hegen
- To harbor, cherish, nurture; hold a feeling within
- vom
- From the; contraction of von dem
- Tod
- Death; the end of life
- Keine
- No, none; negative determiner or pronoun
- Hoffnung
- Hope; expectation of something desired
- ihr
- Her, their, you all; pronoun with multiple uses
- blindes
- Blind; adjective describing lack of sight or insight
- Leben
- Life; the state of being alive
- Vergeht
- Passes away, perishes; third person of vergehen
- kläglich
- Pitifully, miserably; in a wretched or pathetic manner
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing clauses
- alle
- All, everyone; indefinite pronoun or adjective
- anderen
- Other, others; adjective or pronoun of difference
- Lose
- Lots, fates; plural of Los, one's allotted destiny
- Beneiden
- To envy; to feel jealous of another's fortune
- Ruhm
- Fame, glory, renown; celebrated reputation
- von
- From, of, by; common preposition of origin
- ihnen
- Them, to them; third person plural dative pronoun
- hat
- Has; third person singular of haben
- Welt
- World; the earth or human civilization
- keinen
- No, none; accusative masculine of kein
- lässt
- Lets, allows, leaves; third person of lassen
- ihn
- Him, it; accusative masculine third person pronoun
- Barmherzigkeit
- Mercy, compassion; showing kindness to the suffering
- Gerechtigkeit
- Justice, fairness; moral rightness and equitable treatment
- verachten
- To despise, scorn; to regard with contempt
- beide
- Both; referring to two things together
- Sprich
- Speak; imperative singular form of sprechen
- schau
- Look, see; imperative form of schauen
- geh
- Go; imperative form of gehen
- vorbei
- Past, by, over; directional adverb of passing
- Und
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- schaute
- Looked, gazed; past tense of schauen
- erblickte
- Caught sight of, spotted; past tense of erblicken
- ein
- A, an, one; indefinite article or numeral
- Banner
- Banner, flag; a cloth sign or standard
- wirbelnd
- Whirling, spinning; present participle of wirbeln
- schnell
- Fast, quickly; adverb or adjective of speed
- es
- It; neuter third person singular pronoun
- keine
- No, none; negative determiner
- Pause
- Pause, break; temporary halt in movement or action
- fand
- Found; past tense of finden
- folgend
- Following, ensuing; present participle of folgen
- kam
- Came; past tense of kommen
- Ein
- A, one; indefinite article or numeral
- langer
- Long; adjective describing great length or duration
- Zug
- Train, procession, draft; movement or line of things
- Geistern
- Spirits, ghosts; dative plural of Geist
- niemals
- Never; emphatic negation of time
- Gedacht
- Thought, imagined; past participle of denken
- hätte
- Would have; past subjunctive of haben
- viele
- Many; indefinite adjective or pronoun of quantity
- beraubt
- Robbed, deprived; past participle of berauben
- Als
- When, as, than; temporal or comparative conjunction
- einige
- Some, a few; indefinite pronoun of small quantity
- diesen
- These, this; accusative masculine demonstrative pronoun
- erkannte
- Recognized, identified; past tense of erkennen
- sah
- Saw; past tense of sehen
- kannte
- Knew, was acquainted with; past tense of kennen
- den
- The; accusative masculine definite article
- Schatten
- Shadow, shade, ghost; darkness cast by an object
- jenes
- That, of that; genitive of jener demonstrative pronoun
- aus
- Out of, from; preposition of origin or exit
- niedriger
- Lower, base; adjective describing lowness or cowardice
- Furcht
- Fear, dread; strong emotional response to danger
- Nachgebend
- Yielding, giving in; present participle of nachgeben
- seinem
- His, its; dative masculine possessive pronoun
- hohen
- High, elevated; adjective describing great height or rank
- Stand
- Status, position, stand; one's rank or social standing
- Sogleich
- Immediately, at once; without any delay
- Verstand
- Understanding, intellect, mind; cognitive faculty
- Gewissheit
- Certainty, sureness; state of being certain
- dies
- This; demonstrative pronoun in neuter form
- sei
- Be; subjunctive form of sein
- Jener
- That one; demonstrative pronoun referring to distance
- bösen
- Evil, wicked; adjective describing moral badness
- Geister
- Spirits, ghosts; plural of Geist
- sowohl
- Both, as well as; correlative conjunction of inclusion
- missfallen
- To displease; to cause dissatisfaction or disapproval
- auch
- Also, too, even; additive or emphatic particle
- Feinden
- Enemies, foes; dative plural of Feind
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