The Odyssey: Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original — Page 5
Now all the rest, as many as fled from sheer destruction, were at home, and had escaped both war and sea, but Odysseus only, craving for his wife and for his homeward path, the lady nymph Calypso held, that fair goddess, in her hollow caves, longing to have him for her lord.
Nun waren alle anderen, so viele wie dem völligen Verderben entflohen waren, zu Hause und hatten sowohl dem Krieg als auch dem Meer entkommen, aber Odysseus allein, der sich nach seiner Frau und nach seinem Heimweg sehnte, wurde von der edlen Nymphe Kalypso, jener schönen Göttin, in ihren hohlen Höhlen festgehalten, die begehrte, ihn zu ihrem Herrn zu haben.
But when now the year had come in the courses of the seasons, wherein the gods had ordained that he should return home to Ithaca, not even there was he quit of labours, not even among his own; but all the gods had pity on him save Poseidon, who raged continually against godlike Odysseus, till he came to his own country.
Doch als nun das Jahr im Lauf der Jahreszeiten gekommen war, worin die Götter bestimmt hatten, dass er nach Ithaka nach Hause zurückkehren sollte, war er auch dort nicht frei von Mühsalen, nicht einmal unter den Seinen; aber alle Götter hatten Mitleid mit ihm außer Poseidon, der unablässig gegen den gottgleichen Odysseus wütete, bis er in sein eigenes Land kam.
Howbeit Poseidon had now departed for the distant Ethiopians, the Ethiopians that are sundered in twain, the uttermost of men, abiding some where Hyperion sinks and some where he rises.
Jedoch hatte Poseidon sich nun zu den fernen Äthiopiern aufgemacht, den Äthiopiern, die in zwei Teile getrennt sind, den äußersten der Menschen, die teils dort wohnen, wo Hyperion untergeht, und teils dort, wo er aufgeht.
There he looked to receive his hecatomb of bulls and rams, there he made merry sitting at the feast, but the other gods were gathered in the halls of Olympian Zeus.
Dort gedachte er seine Hekatombe von Stieren und Widdern zu empfangen, dort machte er sich fröhlich beim Festmahl, aber die anderen Götter hatten sich in den Hallen des olympischen Zeus versammelt.
Then among them the father of men and gods began to speak, for he bethought him in his heart of noble Aegisthus, whom the son of Agamemnon, far-famed Orestes, slew.
Da begann unter ihnen der Vater der Menschen und Götter zu sprechen, denn er gedachte in seinem Herzen des edlen Ägisth, den der Sohn des Agamemnon, der weitberühmte Orestes, erschlug.
Thinking upon him he spake out among the Immortals: 'Lo you now, how vainly mortal men do blame the gods! For of us they say comes evil, whereas they even of themselves, through the blindness of their own hearts, have sorrows beyond that which is ordained.
Indem er an ihn dachte, sprach er unter den Unsterblichen: „Sehet nun, wie vergeblich die sterblichen Menschen die Götter anklagen! Denn von uns, sagen sie, kommt das Übel, während sie doch durch die Verblendung ihrer eigenen Herzen Leiden haben, die über das hinausgehen, was bestimmt ist.
Vocabulary
- Nun
- Now; used to introduce or transition a statement
- waren
- Were; past tense of 'sein' (to be)
- alle
- All; every one of a group
- anderen
- Others; the remaining ones in a group
- so
- So; thus; in this way
- viele
- Many; a large number of
- wie
- As; how; like
- dem
- The; dative masculine/neuter definite article
- völligen
- Complete; total; utter (inflected form)
- Verderben
- Ruin; destruction; complete downfall
- entflohen
- Escaped; fled from danger or peril
- zu
- To; at; too (preposition or particle)
- Hause
- Home; one's place of residence (dative form)
- und
- And; connects words or clauses together
- hatten
- Had; past tense of 'haben' (to have)
- sowohl
- Both; as well as (used in correlative constructions)
- Krieg
- War; armed conflict between nations or groups
- als
- As; than; when (conjunction with multiple uses)
- auch
- Also; too; as well
- Meer
- Sea; large body of salt water
- entkommen
- Escaped; managed to get away from something
- aber
- But; however; yet (coordinating conjunction)
- allein
- Alone; only; by oneself
- der
- The; who (masculine nominative article or relative pronoun)
- sich
- Himself/herself/itself; reflexive pronoun
- nach
- After; to; toward (preposition of direction or time)
- seiner
- His; possessive pronoun in dative/genitive form
- Frau
- Wife; woman; Mrs.
- seinem
- His; possessive pronoun in dative masculine form
- Heimweg
- Way home; journey back to one's homeland
- sehnte
- Longed; yearned intensely for something or someone
- wurde
- Was; became; passive auxiliary (past tense)
- von
- By; from; of (preposition indicating origin or agent)
- edlen
- Noble; of high rank or fine character (inflected)
- jener
- That; that one (demonstrative pronoun, distant reference)
- schönen
- Beautiful; lovely (inflected adjective form)
- Göttin
- Goddess; a female divine being
- in
- In; into; inside (preposition of location)
- ihren
- Her; their (accusative possessive pronoun, inflected)
- hohlen
- Hollow; cave-like (inflected adjective)
- Höhlen
- Caves; hollow spaces within rock or earth
- festgehalten
- Held captive; kept detained against one's will
- die
- The; who; which (definite article or relative pronoun)
- begehrte
- Desired; craved; wanted passionately (past tense)
- ihn
- Him; accusative form of the pronoun 'er'
- ihrem
- Her; their (dative possessive pronoun, inflected)
- Herrn
- Lord; master; husband (dative/accusative form)
- haben
- To have; to possess something
- Doch
- Yet; however; still (concessive conjunction)
- nun
- Now; at this point in time
- das
- The; that (neuter definite article or demonstrative)
- Jahr
- Year; a period of twelve months
- im
- In the; contraction of 'in dem'
- Lauf
- Course; run; progression of time or events
- Jahreszeiten
- Seasons; the four divisions of the year
- gekommen
- Come; arrived (past participle of 'kommen')
- war
- Was; past tense of 'sein' (to be)
- worin
- In which; wherein (relative or interrogative adverb)
- Götter
- Gods; divine beings worshipped in polytheistic religion
- bestimmt
- Determined; decreed; certain (past participle or adjective)
- dass
- That; introduces a subordinate clause
- er
- He; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- zurückkehren
- To return; to go back to a place
- sollte
- Should; was supposed to (past subjunctive of 'sollen')
- dort
- There; at that place
- nicht
- Not; negation particle in German
- frei
- Free; unrestrained; without burden
- Mühsalen
- Hardships; toils; laborious struggles (plural)
- einmal
- Once; one time; even (adverb with multiple meanings)
- unter
- Under; among; beneath (preposition)
- den
- The; them (accusative/dative plural definite article)
- Seinen
- His own people; his family or kin
- Mitleid
- Pity; compassion; sympathy for another's suffering
- mit
- With; together with (preposition)
- ihm
- Him; dative form of the pronoun 'er'
- außer
- Except; besides; apart from
- unablässig
- Incessantly; without pause or interruption
- gegen
- Against; toward; opposing (preposition)
- gottgleichen
- Godlike; equal to a god in stature (inflected)
- wütete
- Raged; was furious; acted with violent anger
- bis
- Until; up to; as far as
- sein
- His; to be (possessive pronoun or infinitive)
- eigenes
- Own; one's very own (inflected adjective)
- Land
- Land; country; native region
- kam
- Came; arrived (past tense of 'kommen')
- Jedoch
- However; nevertheless; but (formal conjunction)
- hatte
- Had; past tense of 'haben' (to have)
- fernen
- Distant; far-off (inflected adjective)
- aufgemacht
- Set off; departed; opened up (past participle)
- zwei
- Two; the number 2
- Teile
- Parts; portions; sections of something
- getrennt
- Separated; divided apart (past participle of 'trennen')
- sind
- Are; third-person plural present of 'sein'
- äußersten
- Outermost; farthest; extreme (superlative adjective, inflected)
- Menschen
- People; humans; human beings
- teils
- Partly; in part; on one side
- wohnen
- To live; to reside at a place
- wo
- Where; at which place
- untergeht
- Sets; goes under; descends below the horizon
- aufgeht
- Rises; goes up; ascends above the horizon
- Dort
- There; at that particular place
- gedachte
- Intended; planned; thought of (past tense)
- seine
- His; possessive pronoun (nominative/accusative feminine or plural)
- Stieren
- Bulls; male cattle used for sacrifice (dative plural)
- Widdern
- Rams; male sheep used for sacrifice (dative plural)
- empfangen
- To receive; to accept; to welcome
- machte
- Made; did (past tense of 'machen')
- fröhlich
- Joyful; merry; cheerful and happy
- beim
- At the; during the (contraction of 'bei dem')
- Festmahl
- Feast; banquet; celebratory meal
- Hallen
- Halls; large rooms or assembly spaces
- des
- Of the; genitive masculine/neuter definite article
- olympischen
- Olympian; relating to Mount Olympus (inflected adjective)
- versammelt
- Assembled; gathered together in one place
- Da
- Then; there; at that moment
- begann
- Began; started (past tense of 'beginnen')
- ihnen
- Them; to them (dative plural pronoun)
- Vater
- Father; male parent
- sprechen
- To speak; to talk; to say something
- denn
- For; because; then (conjunction or particle)
- Herzen
- Heart; hearts; innermost feelings (dative form)
- Sohn
- Son; male offspring of a parent
- weitberühmte
- Widely famous; renowned far and wide (inflected adjective)
- erschlug
- Slew; killed with a blow (strong past tense)
- Indem
- While; as; by doing (subordinating conjunction)
- an
- At; on; to (preposition indicating proximity or direction)
- dachte
- Thought; reflected upon (past tense of 'denken')
- sprach
- Spoke; said (past tense of 'sprechen')
- Unsterblichen
- Immortals; the gods who never die (dative plural)
- vergeblich
- In vain; futile; without result or success
- sterblichen
- Mortal; of humans who are subject to death (inflected)
- anklagen
- To accuse; to blame someone for something
- Denn
- For; because; as (explanatory conjunction)
- uns
- Us; to us (accusative/dative first-person plural pronoun)
- sagen
- To say; to tell; to state something
- sie
- They; she; them (personal pronoun, context-dependent)
- kommt
- Comes; arrives (third-person singular present of 'kommen')
- Übel
- Evil; ill; misfortune or harm
- während
- While; during; whereas (conjunction or preposition)
- doch
- Yet; still; indeed (emphatic or concessive particle)
- durch
- Through; by means of (preposition)
- Verblendung
- Delusion; blindness; reckless self-deception
- ihrer
- Their; her (genitive/dative possessive pronoun, inflected)
- eigenen
- Own; one's very own (inflected adjective, plural/dative)
- Leiden
- Suffering; sorrows; hardships endured
- über
- Over; above; beyond (preposition)
- hinausgehen
- To go beyond; to exceed what is destined
- was
- What; that which (relative or interrogative pronoun)
- ist
- Is; third-person singular present of 'sein' (to be)
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