The Great Gatsby — Page 14
She was a slender, small-breasted girl, with an erect carriage, which she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet.
Sie war ein schlankes Mädchen mit kleiner Brust und aufrechter Haltung, die sie dadurch betonte, dass sie ihren Körper an den Schultern wie ein junger Kadett nach hinten warf.
Her grey sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite reciprocal curiosity out of a wan, charming, discontented face.
Ihre grauen, von der Sonne strapazieren Augen sahen mich mit höflicher gegenseitiger Neugier aus einem blassen, charmanten, unzufriedenen Gesicht an.
It occurred to me now that I had seen her, or a picture of her, somewhere before.
Mir fiel nun ein, dass ich sie oder ein Bild von ihr schon irgendwo gesehen hatte.
Before I could reply that he was my neighbour dinner was announced; wedging his tense arm imperatively under mine, Tom Buchanan compelled me from the room as though he were moving a checker to another square.
Bevor ich antworten konnte, dass er mein Nachbar sei, wurde das Abendessen angekündigt; Tom Buchanan schob seinen angespannten Arm bestimmt unter meinen und drängte mich aus dem Zimmer, als würde er einen Spielstein auf ein anderes Feld setzen.
Slenderly, languidly, their hands set lightly on their hips, the two young women preceded us out on to a rosy-coloured porch, open toward the sunset, where four candles flickered on the table in the diminished wind.
Schlank und lässig, die Hände leicht auf die Hüften gestützt, gingen die beiden jungen Frauen uns voran auf eine rosafarbene Veranda, die zum Sonnenuntergang hin offen war, wo vier Kerzen auf dem Tisch im nachlassenden Wind flackerten.
She snapped them out with her fingers.
Sie löschte sie mit den Fingern aus.
She looked at us all radiantly.
Sie strahlte uns alle an.
Vocabulary
- Sie
- She; third person singular or formal 'you'
- war
- Was; past tense of 'sein' (to be)
- ein
- A, an; indefinite article
- schlankes
- Slender, slim; adjective describing a thin figure
- Mädchen
- Girl; young female person
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment
- kleiner
- Small, little; adjective in inflected form
- Brust
- Chest, breast; front part of the torso
- und
- And; coordinating conjunction linking elements
- aufrechter
- Upright, erect; describing a straight posture
- Haltung
- Posture, attitude; way of holding the body
- die
- The; definite article or relative pronoun
- sie
- She, they, or formal 'you' pronoun
- dadurch
- Thereby, by doing so; adverb of cause
- betonte
- Emphasized, stressed; past tense of 'betonen'
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause
- ihren
- Her, their; accusative possessive pronoun
- Körper
- Body; the physical form of a person
- an
- At, on, to; versatile German preposition
- den
- The; accusative definite article or pronoun
- Schultern
- Shoulders; plural of 'Schulter', body part
- wie
- Like, as, how; comparing or questioning word
- junger
- Young; adjective describing youth, inflected form
- Kadett
- Cadet; young military or naval trainee
- nach
- After, to, toward; preposition of direction
- hinten
- Behind, backward; directional adverb
- warf
- Threw; past tense of 'werfen' (to throw)
- Ihre
- Her, their, or formal 'your'; possessive pronoun
- grauen
- Grey; adjective describing a grey color
- von
- From, of, by; common German preposition
- der
- The; nominative masculine definite article
- Sonne
- Sun; the star at the center of our solar system
- strapazierten
- Strained, weathered; worn out by stress or exposure
- Augen
- Eyes; plural of 'Auge', organs of sight
- sahen
- Looked, saw; past tense plural of 'sehen'
- mich
- Me; first person singular accusative pronoun
- höflicher
- Polite, courteous; adjective in comparative or inflected form
- gegenseitiger
- Mutual, reciprocal; shared between two parties
- Neugier
- Curiosity; strong desire to know or learn something
- aus
- From, out of; preposition indicating origin or exit
- einem
- A, an; dative indefinite article
- blassen
- Pale; adjective describing a light or wan complexion
- charmanten
- Charming; adjective describing pleasant attractiveness
- unzufriedenen
- Discontented, dissatisfied; adjective in inflected form
- Gesicht
- Face; the front part of one's head
- Mir
- Me, to me; first person singular dative pronoun
- fiel
- Fell; past tense of 'fallen' (to fall, occur)
- nun
- Now, then; adverb indicating current moment
- ich
- I; first person singular subject pronoun
- oder
- Or; coordinating conjunction presenting alternatives
- Bild
- Picture, image; a visual representation or photo
- ihr
- Her, their, or 'you' (plural); pronoun or possessive
- schon
- Already, before; adverb indicating prior occurrence
- irgendwo
- Somewhere; indefinite adverb of place
- gesehen
- Seen; past participle of 'sehen' (to see)
- hatte
- Had; past tense of 'haben' (to have)
- Bevor
- Before; subordinating conjunction of time
- antworten
- To answer, reply; infinitive of response verb
- konnte
- Could; past tense of 'können' (to be able)
- er
- He; third person singular masculine pronoun
- mein
- My; first person singular possessive adjective
- Nachbar
- Neighbor; person living nearby
- sei
- Be; subjunctive form of 'sein' (to be)
- wurde
- Became, was; past tense of 'werden'
- das
- The; neuter definite article or demonstrative pronoun
- Abendessen
- Dinner, evening meal; the main meal of the evening
- angekündigt
- Announced; past participle of 'ankündigen'
- schob
- Pushed, shoved; past tense of 'schieben'
- seinen
- His; accusative possessive pronoun, masculine
- angespannten
- Tense, strained; adjective describing tension
- Arm
- Arm; the upper limb of the human body
- bestimmt
- Decidedly, certainly; adverb expressing determination
- unter
- Under, beneath; preposition of position
- meinen
- My; accusative form of possessive pronoun
- drängte
- Pushed, urged; past tense of 'drängen'
- dem
- The; dative definite article
- Zimmer
- Room; enclosed space within a building
- als
- As, when, than; conjunction of comparison or time
- würde
- Would; conditional form of 'werden'
- einen
- A, an; accusative indefinite article
- Spielstein
- Game piece, token; a piece used in a board game
- auf
- On, onto, upon; preposition of position
- anderes
- Another, different; adjective meaning other
- Feld
- Field, square; open area or game board space
- setzen
- To place, set; to put something in a position
- Schlank
- Slender, slim; describing a lean body shape
- lässig
- Casual, laid-back; effortlessly relaxed manner
- Hände
- Hands; plural of 'Hand', body extremities
- leicht
- Lightly, easily; adverb meaning with little force
- Hüften
- Hips; plural of 'Hüfte', sides of the waist
- gestützt
- Propped, rested; past participle of 'stützen'
- gingen
- Went, walked; past tense plural of 'gehen'
- beiden
- Both; referring to two people or things together
- jungen
- Young; adjective in inflected form
- Frauen
- Women; plural of 'Frau' (woman, wife)
- uns
- Us; first person plural accusative/dative pronoun
- voran
- Ahead, in front; adverb of direction
- eine
- A, one; feminine indefinite article
- rosafarbene
- Pink-colored; adjective describing a pink hue
- Veranda
- Veranda, porch; covered outdoor terrace of a house
- zum
- To the; contraction of 'zu dem'
- Sonnenuntergang
- Sunset; the time when the sun sets in the evening
- hin
- Toward, there; directional adverb indicating movement
- offen
- Open; adjective meaning not closed or accessible
- wo
- Where; interrogative or relative adverb of place
- vier
- Four; the cardinal number 4
- Kerzen
- Candles; plural of 'Kerze', wax light sources
- Tisch
- Table; a piece of furniture with a flat surface
- im
- In the; contraction of 'in dem'
- nachlassenden
- Diminishing, dying down; wind losing its strength
- Wind
- Wind; moving air in the atmosphere
- flackerten
- Flickered; past tense plural of 'flackern'
- löschte
- Extinguished; past tense of 'löschen' (to put out)
- Fingern
- Fingers; dative plural of 'Finger'
- strahlte
- Radiated, beamed; past tense of 'strahlen'
- alle
- All, everyone; pronoun or adjective meaning everyone
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