The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By Himself — Page 6
Some time after she is brought home to her husband, and then another feast is made, to which the relations of both parties are invited: her parents then deliver her to the bridegroom, accompanied with a number of blessings, and at the same time they tie round her waist a cotton string of the thickness of a goose-quill, which none but married women are permitted to wear: she is now considered as completely his wife; and at this time the dowry is given to the new married pair, which generally consists of portions of land, slaves, and cattle, household goods, and implements of husbandry.
Einige Zeit danach wird sie zu ihrem Mann nach Hause gebracht, und dann wird ein weiteres Fest veranstaltet, zu dem die Verwandten beider Parteien eingeladen sind: Ihre Eltern übergeben sie dann dem Bräutigam, begleitet von einer Reihe von Segenssprüchen, und gleichzeitig binden sie ihr einen Baumwollfaden von der Stärke eines Gänsekiels um die Taille, den nur verheiratete Frauen tragen dürfen: Sie gilt nun als vollständig seine Ehefrau; und zu diesem Zeitpunkt wird der Mitgift dem neu vermählten Paar übergeben, die im Allgemeinen aus Landanteilen, Sklaven und Vieh, Haushaltsgegenständen und landwirtschaftlichen Geräten besteht.
These are offered by the friends of both parties; besides which the parents of the bridegroom present gifts to those of the bride, whose property she is looked upon before marriage; but after it she is esteemed the sole property of her husband.
Diese werden von den Freunden beider Parteien angeboten; darüber hinaus überreichen die Eltern des Bräutigams Geschenke an die Eltern der Braut, deren Eigentum sie vor der Ehe gilt; aber danach wird sie als alleiniges Eigentum ihres Mannes betrachtet.
The ceremony being now ended the festival begins, which is celebrated with bonefires, and loud acclamations of joy, accompanied with music and dancing.
Da die Zeremonie nun beendet ist, beginnt das Fest, das mit Freudefeuern und lauten Jubelrufen gefeiert wird, begleitet von Musik und Tanz.
We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets.
Wir sind beinahe ein Volk von Tänzern, Musikern und Dichtern.
Thus every great event, such as a triumphant return from battle, or other cause of public rejoicing is celebrated in public dances, which are accompanied with songs and music suited to the occasion.
So wird jedes große Ereignis, wie etwa eine triumphale Rückkehr aus der Schlacht oder ein anderer Anlass zur öffentlichen Freude, in öffentlichen Tänzen gefeiert, die von Liedern und zur Gelegenheit passender Musik begleitet werden.
The assembly is separated into four divisions, which dance either apart or in succession, and each with a character peculiar to itself.
Die Versammlung ist in vier Gruppen aufgeteilt, die entweder getrennt oder nacheinander tanzen, jede mit einem ihr eigentümlichen Charakter.
Vocabulary
- Einige
- Some, a few of something
- Zeit
- Time; a period or duration
- danach
- After that; subsequently
- wird
- Is; becomes (third person singular present)
- sie
- She, they, or formal you
- zu
- To, at, or too (preposition/adverb)
- ihrem
- Her, their (dative possessive pronoun)
- Mann
- Man; husband
- nach
- To, after, or toward (preposition)
- Hause
- Home; used in phrase 'nach Hause'
- gebracht
- Brought; past participle of bringen
- und
- And (coordinating conjunction)
- dann
- Then; at that point in time
- ein
- A, an (indefinite article)
- weiteres
- Further, additional (neuter adjective form)
- Fest
- Festival, celebration, or feast
- veranstaltet
- Organized, arranged, held (an event)
- dem
- The (dative masculine/neuter article)
- die
- The (feminine/plural definite article)
- Verwandten
- Relatives, family members
- beider
- Of both (genitive form of beide)
- Parteien
- Parties, sides in an agreement or event
- eingeladen
- Invited; past participle of einladen
- sind
- Are (third person plural present of sein)
- Ihre
- Her, their, or formal your (possessive)
- Eltern
- Parents (mother and father)
- übergeben
- To hand over, transfer, deliver something
- Bräutigam
- Groom; the man being married
- begleitet
- Accompanied; escorted alongside someone
- von
- From, of, by (preposition)
- einer
- A, one (dative/genitive feminine article)
- Reihe
- Row, series, or number of things
- gleichzeitig
- Simultaneously, at the same time
- binden
- To tie, bind, or fasten something
- ihr
- Her, your (plural possessive or dative)
- einen
- A, one (accusative masculine article)
- der
- The (masculine definite article)
- Stärke
- Strength, thickness, or intensity
- eines
- Of a, of one (genitive indefinite article)
- um
- Around, at, for (preposition/conjunction)
- Taille
- Waist; the middle part of the body
- den
- The (accusative masculine/dative plural article)
- nur
- Only, just, merely
- verheiratete
- Married (adjective describing marital status)
- Frauen
- Women; plural of Frau
- tragen
- To wear, carry, or bear something
- dürfen
- To be allowed to, may (modal verb)
- Sie
- She, they, or formal you (pronoun)
- gilt
- Is considered, counts as (from gelten)
- nun
- Now, at this point in time
- als
- As, than, when (conjunction/preposition)
- vollständig
- Completely, fully, entirely
- seine
- His (possessive pronoun, nominative feminine)
- Ehefrau
- Wife; a legally married female spouse
- diesem
- This (dative masculine/neuter demonstrative)
- Zeitpunkt
- Point in time, moment
- neu
- New, fresh, recently
- Paar
- Couple, pair of two people
- im
- In the (contraction of in + dem)
- Allgemeinen
- In general; generally speaking
- aus
- Out of, from, consisting of
- Vieh
- Livestock, cattle, farm animals
- landwirtschaftlichen
- Agricultural, relating to farming
- Geräten
- Tools, equipment, implements
- besteht
- Consists of, exists (from bestehen)
- Diese
- These, those (plural demonstrative pronoun)
- werden
- To become; future auxiliary verb
- Freunden
- Friends (dative plural)
- angeboten
- Offered; past participle of anbieten
- darüber hinaus
- Furthermore, beyond that, in addition
- überreichen
- To present, hand over formally
- des
- Of the (genitive masculine/neuter article)
- Geschenke
- Gifts, presents
- an
- At, to, on (preposition)
- Braut
- Bride; a woman being married
- deren
- Whose, their (genitive relative pronoun)
- Eigentum
- Property, ownership, possession
- vor
- Before, in front of (preposition)
- Ehe
- Marriage; the institution of matrimony
- aber
- But, however (conjunction/adverb)
- alleiniges
- Sole, exclusive (neuter adjective form)
- ihres
- Her, their (genitive possessive pronoun)
- betrachtet
- Considered, regarded as (from betrachten)
- Da
- Since, because, there (conjunction/adverb)
- Zeremonie
- Ceremony, formal ritual event
- beendet
- Ended, finished, concluded
- ist
- Is (third person singular of sein)
- beginnt
- Begins, starts (third person singular)
- das
- The (neuter definite article/pronoun)
- mit
- With, by means of (preposition)
- lauten
- Loud (adjective in dative plural form)
- gefeiert
- Celebrated; past participle of feiern
- Musik
- Music; the art of organized sound
- Tanz
- Dance; rhythmic movement to music
- Wir
- We (first person plural pronoun)
- beinahe
- Almost, nearly, not quite
- Volk
- People, nation, folk
- Tänzern
- Dancers (dative plural of Tänzer)
- Musikern
- Musicians (dative plural of Musiker)
- Dichtern
- Poets (dative plural of Dichter)
- So
- So, thus, in this way
- jedes
- Every, each (neuter indefinite pronoun)
- große
- Great, large, big (adjective)
- Ereignis
- Event, occurrence, happening
- wie
- How, as, like (conjunction/adverb)
- etwa
- For example, about, approximately
- eine
- A, one (feminine indefinite article)
- Rückkehr
- Return, coming back from somewhere
- Schlacht
- Battle, military combat engagement
- oder
- Or (coordinating conjunction)
- anderer
- Other, another (genitive/adjective form)
- Anlass
- Occasion, reason, cause for something
- zur
- To the (contraction of zu + der)
- öffentlichen
- Public (dative/genitive adjective form)
- Freude
- Joy, happiness, delight
- in
- In, into (preposition)
- Tänzen
- Dances (dative plural of Tanz)
- Liedern
- Songs (dative plural of Lied)
- Gelegenheit
- Opportunity, occasion, chance
- passender
- More suitable, more fitting (comparative)
- Die
- The (feminine/plural definite article)
- Versammlung
- Assembly, gathering, meeting of people
- vier
- Four (the number 4)
- Gruppen
- Groups, teams, clusters of people
- aufgeteilt
- Divided up, split into parts
- entweder
- Either (used in either...or constructions)
- getrennt
- Separately, apart, divided
- nacheinander
- One after another, in succession
- tanzen
- To dance (infinitive verb)
- jede
- Each, every (feminine adjective/pronoun)
- einem
- A, one (dative masculine/neuter article)
- eigentümlichen
- Peculiar, distinctive, characteristic (adjective)
- Charakter
- Character, nature, distinctive quality
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