The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People — Page 1
Morning-room in Algernon's flat in Half-Moon Street. The room is luxuriously and artistically furnished. The sound of a piano is heard in the adjoining room.
Morgenzimmer in Algernons Wohnung in der Half-Moon Street. Das Zimmer ist luxuriös und künstlerisch eingerichtet. Aus dem Nebenzimmer ist der Klang eines Klaviers zu hören.
[Lane is arranging afternoon tea on the table, and after the music has ceased, Algernon enters.]
[Lane richtet den Nachmittagstee auf dem Tisch an, und nachdem die Musik verstummt ist, tritt Algernon ein.]
Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?
Haben Sie gehört, was ich gespielt habe, Lane?
I didn't think it polite to listen, sir.
Ich hielt es nicht für höflich zuzuhören, Sir.
I'm sorry for that, for your sake. I don't play accurately—any one can play accurately—but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life.
Das tut mir leid, um Ihretwillen. Ich spiele nicht präzise – das kann jeder – aber ich spiele mit wunderbarem Ausdruck. Was das Klavier betrifft, ist Gefühl meine Stärke. Die Wissenschaft bewahre ich für das Leben.
Yes, sir.
Ja, Sir.
And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell?
Und, da wir gerade von der Wissenschaft des Lebens sprechen, haben Sie die Gurkensandwiches für Lady Bracknell geschnitten?
Yes, sir. [Hands them on a salver.]
Ja, Sir. [Reicht sie auf einem Tablett.]
[Inspects them, takes two, and sits down on the sofa.] Oh! . by the way, Lane, I see from your book that on Thursday night, when Lord Shoreman and Mr. Worthing were dining with me, eight bottles of champagne are entered as having been consumed.
[Begutachtet sie, nimmt zwei und setzt sich auf das Sofa.] Oh! Übrigens, Lane, ich entnehme Ihrem Buch, dass am Donnerstagabend, als Lord Shoreman und Mr. Worthing bei mir zu Abend aßen, acht Flaschen Champagner als verbraucht eingetragen sind.
Yes, sir; eight bottles and a pint.
Ja, Sir; acht Flaschen und ein Pint.
Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne? I ask merely for information.
Warum trinken die Dienstboten in einem Junggesellenhaushalt unweigerlich den Champagner? Ich frage nur der Information halber.
I attribute it to the superior quality of the wine, sir. I have often observed that in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand.
Ich führe es auf die überlegene Qualität des Weines zurück, Sir. Ich habe oft beobachtet, dass in verheirateten Haushalten der Champagner selten von einer erstklassigen Marke ist.
Good heavens! Is marriage so demoralising as that?
Allmächtiger! Ist die Ehe wirklich so demoralisierend?
I believe it _is_ a very pleasant state, sir.
Ich glaube, es ist durchaus ein sehr angenehmer Stand, Sir.
Vocabulary
- Morgenzimmer
- Morning room; a sitting room used in the morning
- in
- Preposition meaning 'in' or 'into'
- Wohnung
- An apartment or residential dwelling
- der
- Definite article 'the' (masculine/genitive)
- Das
- Definite article 'the' (neuter nominative)
- Zimmer
- A room inside a building or apartment
- ist
- Third-person singular of 'sein,' meaning 'is'
- luxuriös
- Describing something as luxurious or opulent
- und
- Coordinating conjunction meaning 'and'
- künstlerisch
- Relating to art; artistic in style or manner
- eingerichtet
- Furnished or decorated, past participle of einrichten
- Aus
- Preposition meaning 'from' or 'out of'
- dem
- Dative definite article 'the' (masculine/neuter)
- Nebenzimmer
- An adjoining or next-door room
- Klang
- A sound or tone; past tense of klingen
- eines
- Indefinite article 'a/an' in genitive case
- Klaviers
- Genitive form of Klavier, meaning 'piano'
- zu
- Preposition or particle meaning 'to' or 'too'
- hören
- To hear or to listen to something
- richtet
- Third-person singular of richten; to arrange or set
- den
- Accusative definite article 'the' (masculine)
- Nachmittagstee
- Afternoon tea; the tradition of tea in the afternoon
- auf
- Preposition meaning 'on,' 'onto,' or 'upon'
- Tisch
- A table, typically used for dining or working
- an
- Preposition meaning 'at,' 'on,' or 'to'
- nachdem
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'after'
- die
- Definite article 'the' (feminine/plural)
- Musik
- Music; organized sound for artistic expression
- verstummt
- Falls silent; ceases to make sound
- tritt
- Third-person singular of treten; steps or enters
- ein
- Indefinite article 'a'; also a separable verb prefix
- Haben
- To have; auxiliary verb in perfect tense
- Sie
- Formal 'you' or third-person plural 'they'
- gehört
- Past participle of hören; 'heard'
- was
- Interrogative or relative pronoun meaning 'what'
- ich
- First-person singular pronoun meaning 'I'
- gespielt
- Past participle of spielen; 'played'
- habe
- First-person singular of haben; 'have'
- Ich
- First-person singular pronoun meaning 'I'
- hielt
- Past tense of halten; 'held' or 'considered'
- es
- Neuter pronoun meaning 'it'
- nicht
- Negation word meaning 'not'
- für
- Preposition meaning 'for'
- höflich
- Polite or courteous in manner or behavior
- zuzuhören
- Infinitive of zuhören; to listen attentively
- tut
- Third-person singular of tun; 'does'
- mir
- Dative first-person pronoun meaning 'me' or 'to me'
- leid
- Used in 'es tut mir leid,' meaning 'I am sorry'
- um
- Preposition meaning 'around,' 'at,' or 'for'
- Ihretwillen
- For your sake; out of consideration for you
- spiele
- First-person singular of spielen; 'I play'
- präzise
- Precisely or accurately; with exactness
- das
- Neuter definite article or demonstrative pronoun 'that'
- kann
- Modal verb meaning 'can' or 'is able to'
- jeder
- Pronoun or adjective meaning 'everyone' or 'each'
- aber
- Conjunction meaning 'but' or 'however'
- mit
- Preposition meaning 'with'
- wunderbarem
- Dative form of wunderbar; wonderful or marvelous
- Ausdruck
- Expression; conveying emotion or meaning artistically
- Was
- Interrogative pronoun 'what'; here used as 'as for'
- Klavier
- A piano; keyboard musical instrument
- betrifft
- Concerns or regards; third-person of betreffen
- Gefühl
- Feeling, emotion, or a sense of something
- meine
- Possessive pronoun 'my' (feminine/plural form)
- Stärke
- Strength or strong point; a particular talent
- Die
- Definite article 'the' (feminine/plural nominative)
- Wissenschaft
- Science or scholarship; systematic academic knowledge
- bewahre
- May it preserve; subjunctive of bewahren (to preserve)
- Leben
- Life; the state of being alive
- Ja
- Yes; an affirmative response
- Und
- Conjunction meaning 'and'
- da
- Conjunction meaning 'since' or adverb 'there/here'
- wir
- First-person plural pronoun meaning 'we'
- gerade
- Just now; at this moment; straight or exactly
- von
- Preposition meaning 'of,' 'from,' or 'about'
- des
- Genitive definite article 'of the' (masculine/neuter)
- Lebens
- Genitive form of Leben; 'of life'
- sprechen
- To speak or talk about something
- haben
- To have; auxiliary verb for perfect tense
- Gurkensandwiches
- Cucumber sandwiches; light finger-food snacks
- geschnitten
- Past participle of schneiden; 'cut' or 'sliced'
- Reicht
- Third-person singular of reichen; passes or offers
- sie
- Third-person pronoun 'she,' 'they,' or formal 'you'
- einem
- Dative indefinite article 'a/an' (masculine/neuter)
- Tablett
- A tray used for carrying food or drinks
- Begutachtet
- Examines or inspects; third-person of begutachten
- nimmt
- Third-person singular of nehmen; 'takes'
- zwei
- The number two
- setzt
- Third-person of setzen; sets or sits (reflexive)
- sich
- Reflexive pronoun meaning 'himself,' 'herself,' 'itself'
- Sofa
- A sofa or couch for sitting or reclining
- Oh
- Exclamation expressing surprise or realization
- Übrigens
- By the way; incidentally
- entnehme
- First-person of entnehmen; deduce or gather from
- Ihrem
- Dative possessive of Sie; 'your' (formal, dative)
- Buch
- A book or written record
- dass
- Subordinating conjunction meaning 'that'
- am
- Contraction of an dem; 'on the' or 'at the'
- Donnerstagabend
- Thursday evening; the evening of Thursday
- als
- Conjunction meaning 'when,' 'as,' or 'than'
- bei
- Preposition meaning 'at,' 'by,' or 'with'
- Abend
- Evening; the later part of the day
- aßen
- Past tense plural of essen; 'ate' (they ate)
- acht
- The number eight
- Flaschen
- Plural of Flasche; bottles of liquid
- Champagner
- Champagne; a sparkling wine from France
- verbraucht
- Consumed or used up; past participle of verbrauchen
- eingetragen
- Entered or recorded; past participle of eintragen
- sind
- Third-person plural of sein; 'are'
- Warum
- Interrogative adverb meaning 'why'
- trinken
- To drink; consuming a liquid beverage
- Dienstboten
- Servants or domestic staff in a household
- Junggesellenhaushalt
- Bachelor household; a single man's home
- unweigerlich
- Inevitably or without fail; unavoidably
- frage
- First-person singular of fragen; 'I ask'
- nur
- Only, just; limiting or restricting adverb
- Information
- Information; knowledge or data about something
- halber
- For the sake of; suffix meaning 'for reasons of'
- führe
- First-person of führen; 'I lead/attribute back to'
- überlegene
- Superior or excellent (adjectival form of überlegen)
- Qualität
- Quality; the standard or grade of something
- Weines
- Genitive of Wein; 'of the wine'
- zurück
- Back; returning to a previous state or place
- oft
- Often; frequently occurring or repeating
- beobachtet
- Observed or noticed; past participle of beobachten
- verheirateten
- Married; adjectival form of verheiraten (to marry)
- Haushalten
- Dative plural of Haushalt; households
- selten
- Rarely or seldom; not occurring frequently
- einer
- Genitive or dative of ein; 'of a' or 'one'
- erstklassigen
- First-class or top-quality (adjectival inflected form)
- Marke
- Brand or mark; a label identifying a product
- Allmächtiger
- Almighty; exclamation invoking God's power
- Ist
- Third-person singular of sein; 'is'
- Ehe
- Marriage; the institution of being wed
- wirklich
- Really or truly; used for emphasis or confirmation
- so
- So or thus; indicating degree or manner
- demoralisierend
- Demoralizing; causing loss of confidence or morale
- glaube
- First-person singular of glauben; 'I believe'
- durchaus
- Thoroughly or absolutely; expressing full agreement
- sehr
- Very; intensifying adverb
- angenehmer
- More pleasant; comparative of angenehm
- Stand
- State, status, or social standing; condition
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