The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By Himself — Page 5
Accordingly he determined to put her to death: but it being found, just before her execution, that she had an infant at her breast; and no woman being prevailed on to perform the part of a nurse, she was spared on account of the child.
Dementsprechend beschloss er, sie hinzurichten: doch kurz vor ihrer Hinrichtung stellte sich heraus, dass sie ein Kleinkind an der Brust hatte; und da keine Frau dazu gebracht werden konnte, die Rolle einer Amme zu übernehmen, wurde sie um des Kindes willen verschont.
The men, however, do not preserve the same constancy to their wives, which they expect from them; for they indulge in a plurality, though seldom in more than two.
Die Männer jedoch bewahren ihren Frauen gegenüber nicht dieselbe Treue, die sie von diesen erwarten; denn sie erlauben sich eine Vielzahl von Frauen, wenngleich selten mehr als zwei.
Their mode of marriage is thus:--both parties are usually betrothed when young by their parents, (though I have known the males to betroth themselves).
Ihre Art der Eheschließung ist folgende: Beide Parteien werden gewöhnlich in jungen Jahren von ihren Eltern verlobt, (obwohl ich es erlebt habe, dass die Männer sich selbst verloben).
On this occasion a feast is prepared, and the bride and bridegroom stand up in the midst of all their friends, who are assembled for the purpose, while he declares she is thenceforth to be looked upon as his wife, and that no other person is to pay any addresses to her.
Bei dieser Gelegenheit wird ein Fest veranstaltet, und die Braut und der Bräutigam stehen inmitten all ihrer Freunde, die zu diesem Zweck versammelt sind, während er erklärt, dass sie fortan als seine Ehefrau zu betrachten sei und dass keine andere Person ihr den Hof machen dürfe.
This is also immediately proclaimed in the vicinity, on which the bride retires from the assembly.
Dies wird auch sogleich in der Umgebung bekannt gemacht, woraufhin sich die Braut aus der Versammlung zurückzieht.
Vocabulary
- Dementsprechend
- Accordingly; in accordance with that
- beschloss
- Decided; resolved (past tense of beschließen)
- er
- He; third person singular masculine pronoun
- sie
- She; they; third person feminine/plural pronoun
- hinzurichten
- To execute; to put to death judicially
- doch
- Yet; however; but; nevertheless; after all
- kurz
- Short; brief; concise in duration
- vor
- Before; in front of; ago in time
- ihrer
- Her; their; possessive pronoun feminine/plural genitive
- Hinrichtung
- Execution; capital punishment; putting to death
- stellte
- Placed; put; set (past tense of stellen)
- sich
- Oneself; reflexive pronoun for third person
- heraus
- Out; forth; turned out; emerged
- dass
- That; conjunction introducing subordinate clauses
- ein
- A; an; indefinite article masculine singular
- Kleinkind
- Small child; toddler; infant or young child
- an
- At; on; to; preposition indicating position
- der
- The; definite article feminine singular or plural
- Brust
- Breast; chest; bosom of person
- hatte
- Had; past tense of haben
- und
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- da
- There; then; since; because; here
- keine
- No; not any; negation of ein or plural
- Frau
- Woman; wife; lady; Mrs. or Ms.
- dazu
- To that; for that; in addition
- gebracht
- Brought; carried; led (past participle)
- werden
- To become; to be; auxiliary verb
- konnte
- Could; was able to (past tense)
- die
- The; definite article feminine singular
- Rolle
- Role; part; function in play
- einer
- A; an; one; indefinite feminine singular
- Amme
- Wet nurse; woman nursing another's child
- zu
- To; too; in order to; preposition
- übernehmen
- To take over; to assume; to accept
- wurde
- Was; became (past tense of werden)
- um
- Around; about; in order to; for sake
- des
- The; definite article masculine genitive
- Kindes
- Child's; genitive form of Kind
- willen
- Sake; for the sake of
- verschont
- Spared; exempted; left unharmed
- Männer
- Men; plural of Mann
- jedoch
- However; yet; nevertheless; still
- bewahren
- To preserve; to keep; to maintain
- ihren
- Their; to their; possessive pronoun feminine
- Frauen
- Women; plural of Frau
- gegenüber
- Toward; opposite; in relation to
- nicht
- Not; negation; standard negative particle
- dieselbe
- The same; identical; feminine singular form
- Treue
- Loyalty; faithfulness; fidelity in relationships
- von
- Of; from; by; preposition showing relation
- diesen
- These; those; plural demonstrative pronoun
- erwarten
- To expect; to await; to anticipate
- denn
- Because; for; since; causal conjunction
- erlauben
- To allow; to permit; to enable
- eine
- A; an; one; indefinite feminine article
- Vielzahl
- Multitude; plurality; large number of things
- wenngleich
- Although; even though; albeit
- selten
- Rarely; seldom; infrequently; not often
- mehr
- More; additional; greater quantity
- als
- As; than; when; comparative or temporal
- zwei
- Two; the number 2
- Ihre
- Your; her; formal possessive pronoun
- Art
- Kind; type; manner; way of doing
- Eheschließung
- Marriage; matrimony; act of getting married
- ist
- Is; present tense of sein
- folgende
- Following; next; subsequent; the following
- Beide
- Both; plural of both genders together
- Parteien
- Parties; sides; groups in agreement
- gewöhnlich
- Usually; ordinarily; commonly; typically happens
- in
- In; into; preposition indicating location
- jungen
- Young; youthful; plural accusative form
- Jahren
- Years; plural dative of Jahr
- Eltern
- Parents; mother and father together
- verlobt
- Engaged; betrothed; promised in marriage
- obwohl
- Although; even though; albeit
- ich
- I; first person singular pronoun
- es
- It; third person singular neuter
- erlebt
- Experienced; lived through; witnessed events
- habe
- Have; present tense of haben
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