The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By Himself — Page 1
THE
DIE
INTERESTING NARRATIVE
INTERESSANTE ERZÄHLUNG
OF
VON
THE LIFE
DEM LEBEN
OF
VON
OLAUDAH EQUIANO,
OLAUDAH EQUIANO,
OR
ODER
GUSTAVUS VASSA,
GUSTAVUS VASSA,
THE AFRICAN.
DEM AFRIKANER.
_WRITTEN BY HIMSELF._
_VON IHM SELBST VERFASST._
_Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
_Siehe, Gott ist mein Heil; ich will vertrauen und mich nicht fürchten, denn Gott der Herr ist meine Stärke und mein Lied; er ist auch mein Heil geworden.
And in that shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people. Isaiah xii. 2, 4._
Und ihr werdet an jenem Tage sagen: Lobet den Herrn, rufet seinen Namen an, verkündet seine Taten unter den Völkern. Jesaja xii. 2, 4._
LONDON:
LONDON:
Printed for and sold by the Author, No. 10, Union-Street, Middlesex Hospital
Gedruckt für und verkauft vom Autor, Nr. 10, Union-Street, Middlesex Hospital
Sold also by Mr. Johnson, St. Paul's Church-Yard; Mr. Murray, Fleet-Street; Messrs. Robson and Clark, Bond-Street; Mr. Davis, opposite Gray's Inn, Holborn; Messrs. Shepperson and Reynolds, and Mr. Jackson, Oxford Street; Mr. Lackington, Chiswell-Street; Mr. Mathews, Strand; Mr. Murray, Prince's-Street, Soho; Mess. Taylor and Co. South Arch, Royal Exchange; Mr. Button, Newington-Causeway; Mr. Parsons, Paternoster-Row; and may be had of all the Booksellers in Town and Country.
Auch erhältlich bei Mr. Johnson, St. Paul's Church-Yard; Mr. Murray, Fleet-Street; Messrs. Robson und Clark, Bond-Street; Mr. Davis, gegenüber Gray's Inn, Holborn; Messrs. Shepperson und Reynolds, und Mr. Jackson, Oxford Street; Mr. Lackington, Chiswell-Street; Mr. Mathews, Strand; Mr. Murray, Prince's-Street, Soho; Mess. Taylor und Co. South Arch, Royal Exchange; Mr. Button, Newington-Causeway; Mr. Parsons, Paternoster-Row; und bei allen Buchhändlern in Stadt und Land erhältlich.
[Entered at Stationer's Hall.]
[Eingetragen in der Stationer's Hall.]
[Illustration: Olaudah Equiano or GUSTAVUS VASSA, _the African_]
[Abbildung: Olaudah Equiano oder GUSTAVUS VASSA, _der Afrikaner_]
To the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain.
An die geistlichen und weltlichen Lords sowie die Gemeinen des Parlaments von Großbritannien.
_My Lords and Gentlemen_,
_Meine Lords und meine Herren_,
Permit me, with the greatest deference and respect, to lay at your feet the following genuine Narrative; the chief design of which is to excite in your august assemblies a sense of compassion for the miseries which the Slave-Trade has entailed on my unfortunate countrymen.
Gestatten Sie mir, mit der größten Ehrerbietung und Achtung, Ihnen die folgende wahrhaftige Erzählung zu Füßen zu legen; deren vornehmster Zweck es ist, in Ihren erhabenen Versammlungen ein Gefühl des Mitgefühls für das Elend zu erwecken, das der Sklavenhandel meinen unglücklichen Landsleuten auferlegt hat.
Vocabulary
- INTERESSANTE
- Interesting, engaging, or noteworthy
- ERZÄHLUNG
- A narrative, story, or account
- VON
- Preposition meaning of, from, or by
- LEBEN
- Life; or to live as a verb
- ODER
- Conjunction meaning or, alternatively
- AFRIKANER
- African person; one who is from Africa
- IHM
- Dative pronoun: him, to him
- SELBST
- Self, oneself; emphasizing personal identity or action
- VERFASST
- Written or composed by someone; authored
- Siehe
- See, behold; imperative directing reader's attention
- Gott
- God, the divine being or deity
- ist
- Is; third-person singular of sein (to be)
- mein
- My; first-person singular possessive adjective
- Heil
- Salvation, welfare, or deliverance
- ich
- I; first-person singular nominative pronoun
- will
- Want to, intend to; modal of desire
- vertrauen
- To trust, to have confidence in someone
- und
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- mich
- Me; first-person singular accusative pronoun
- nicht
- Not; negation particle in German sentences
- fürchten
- To fear, to be afraid of something
- denn
- For, because; causal conjunction or particle
- Herr
- Lord, mister, or sir; a title of address
- meine
- My; possessive adjective (feminine/plural form)
- Stärke
- Strength, power, or force
- Lied
- Song, a musical or lyrical composition
- er
- He; third-person singular masculine pronoun
- auch
- Also, too, as well
- geworden
- Become; past participle of werden (to become)
- Und
- And; coordinating conjunction beginning a clause
- ihr
- You (plural); or her possessive adjective
- werdet
- Will (you plural); future auxiliary verb form
- an
- At, on, to; common German preposition
- jenem
- That (dative); demonstrative adjective referring to something
- Tage
- Day (dative form); a period of daylight
- sagen
- To say, to tell, to speak
- Lobet
- Praise (imperative plural); command to give praise
- Herrn
- Lord or mister (accusative/genitive form)
- rufet
- Call out, invoke; archaic imperative plural of rufen
- seinen
- His; accusative masculine possessive pronoun
- Namen
- Name (accusative/dative); a word identifying someone
- verkündet
- Proclaim, announce, or declare to others
- seine
- His; possessive adjective (feminine/plural/accusative forms)
- Taten
- Deeds, acts, or actions performed by someone
- unter
- Under, among, beneath; common German preposition
- Völkern
- Peoples, nations (dative plural); diverse human groups
- Gedruckt
- Printed; past participle of drucken (to print)
- für
- For; preposition indicating purpose or recipient
- verkauft
- Sold; past participle of verkaufen (to sell)
- vom
- Contraction of von dem: from the
- Autor
- Author; the person who wrote a work
- Nr
- Abbreviation for Nummer: number, used in addresses
- Hospital
- Hospital; building providing medical care to patients
- Auch
- Also, additionally, as well; adverb of addition
- erhältlich
- Available, obtainable; can be purchased or acquired
- bei
- At, with, near; preposition indicating location or person
- gegenüber
- Opposite, across from; preposition indicating facing position
- allen
- All (dative plural); every, referring to all persons
- Buchhändlern
- Booksellers (dative plural); those who sell books
- in
- In, into; basic German preposition of location
- Stadt
- City, town; an urban settlement or municipality
- Land
- Country, land, or rural area
- Eingetragen
- Registered, entered; past participle of eintragen
- Abbildung
- Illustration, image, or figure in a text
- oder
- Or; coordinating conjunction presenting an alternative
- Afrikaner
- African; a person originating from the African continent
- An
- To, at; preposition used in addressing someone
- geistlichen
- Spiritual, ecclesiastical; relating to clergy or religion
- weltlichen
- Secular, worldly; relating to non-religious matters
- sowie
- As well as, and also; additive conjunction
- Gemeinen
- Commons; members of the House of Commons Parliament
- Parlaments
- Parliament (genitive); the legislative body of government
- von
- Of, from, by; preposition of origin or possession
- Großbritannien
- Great Britain; island nation comprising England, Scotland, Wales
- Meine
- My (plural/feminine); possessive adjective for first person
- Herren
- Gentlemen, lords; plural of Herr, a polite address
- Gestatten
- Permit, allow; allow someone to do something
- Sie
- You (formal); third-person plural or formal second person
- mir
- Me, to me; first-person singular dative pronoun
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- größten
- Greatest (superlative, inflected); of the highest degree
- Ehrerbietung
- Reverence, deference; respectful esteem shown to someone
- Achtung
- Respect, attention, regard; also a warning exclamation
- Ihnen
- You (formal dative); to you, used formally
- folgende
- Following, ensuing; the next or subsequent item
- wahrhaftige
- Truthful, genuine, authentic; truly factual account
- Erzählung
- Narrative, story; a written or spoken account
- zu
- To, at, too; preposition or infinitive particle
- Füßen
- Feet (dative plural); lower extremities of the body
- legen
- To lay, to place something down carefully
- deren
- Whose, of which; relative or demonstrative genitive pronoun
- vornehmster
- Principal, foremost; of the highest rank or importance
- Zweck
- Purpose, aim, goal of an action or work
- es
- It; third-person singular neuter pronoun
- Ihren
- Your (formal accusative/dative); possessive of Sie
- erhabenen
- Exalted, elevated, noble; of great dignity or stature
- Versammlungen
- Assemblies, gatherings; organized groups meeting together
- ein
- A, an; indefinite article or the number one
- Gefühl
- Feeling, sensation, emotion experienced by someone
- Mitgefühls
- Compassion, sympathy (genitive); empathy felt for another
- Elend
- Misery, wretchedness, suffering endured by someone
- erwecken
- To awaken, to arouse a feeling or awareness
- Sklavenhandel
- Slave trade; trafficking of enslaved human beings
- meinen
- My (accusative plural/masculine); possessive adjective form
- unglücklichen
- Unfortunate, unhappy, wretched; suffering misfortune or sadness
- Landsleuten
- Fellow countrymen (dative plural); people from the same land
- auferlegt
- Imposed, inflicted upon; placed as a burden on someone
- hat
- Has; third-person singular of haben (to have)
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