The Picture of Dorian Gray — Page 10
It was not conscience that made me do so: it was a sort of cowardice.
Es war nicht das Gewissen, das mich dazu brachte: es war eine Art Feigheit.
I take no credit to myself for trying to escape."
Ich mache mir kein Verdienst daraus, dass ich versucht habe zu entkommen."
"Conscience and cowardice are really the same things, Basil.
„Gewissen und Feigheit sind wirklich dasselbe, Basil.
Conscience is the trade-name of the firm.
Das Gewissen ist der Handelsname der Firma.
That is all."
Das ist alles."
"I don't believe that, Harry, and I don't believe you do either.
„Ich glaube das nicht, Harry, und ich glaube auch nicht, dass Sie es tun.
However, whatever was my motive—and it may have been pride, for I used to be very proud—I certainly struggled to the door.
Wie auch immer, was auch immer mein Beweggrund war – und es mag Stolz gewesen sein, denn ich war früher sehr stolz – ich kämpfte mich jedenfalls zur Tür vor.
There, of course, I stumbled against Lady Brandon.
Dort natürlich stieß ich gegen Lady Brandon.
You know her curiously shrill voice?"
Sie kennen ihre merkwürdig schrille Stimme?"
"I could not get rid of her.
„Ich konnte sie nicht loswerden.
She brought me up to royalties, and people with stars and garters, and elderly ladies with gigantic tiaras and parrot noses.
Sie führte mich zu Mitgliedern des Königshauses und Leuten mit Sternen und Hosenbandern, und zu älteren Damen mit riesigen Diademen und Papageiennasen.
She spoke of me as her dearest friend.
Sie sprach von mir als ihrem liebsten Freund.
I had only met her once before, but she took it into her head to lionize me.
Ich hatte sie zuvor nur einmal getroffen, aber sie hatte sich in den Kopf gesetzt, mich zu feiern.
I believe some picture of mine had made a great success at the time, at least had been chattered about in the penny newspapers, which is the nineteenth-century standard of immortality.
Ich glaube, eines meiner Bilder hatte zu der Zeit großen Erfolg gehabt, zumindest war in den Penny-Zeitungen darüber geschwatzt worden, was der Standard der Unsterblichkeit im neunzehnten Jahrhundert ist.
Suddenly I found myself face to face with the young man whose personality had so strangely stirred me.
Plötzlich befand ich mich dem jungen Mann gegenüber, dessen Persönlichkeit mich so seltsam bewegt hatte.
We were quite close, almost touching.
Wir waren ganz nah beieinander, fast berührten wir uns.
Our eyes met again.
Unsere Augen trafen sich wieder.
Vocabulary
- Es
- It; neuter pronoun used as subject
- war
- Was; past tense of 'sein' (to be)
- nicht
- Not; basic negation word
- das
- The; neuter definite article or pronoun
- Gewissen
- Conscience; one's inner moral sense
- mich
- Me; first-person accusative pronoun
- dazu
- To do so; additionally, for that purpose
- brachte
- Brought; past tense of 'bringen'
- es
- It; neuter third-person pronoun
- eine
- A/an; feminine indefinite article
- Art
- Kind, sort, type of something
- Feigheit
- Cowardice; lack of courage or bravery
- Ich
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- mache
- Make/do; first-person present of 'machen'
- mir
- Me/myself; first-person dative pronoun
- kein
- No/not a; negating article or determiner
- Verdienst
- Merit, credit, or earned achievement
- daraus
- From it/that; out of that thing
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing clause
- ich
- I; first-person singular pronoun
- versucht
- Tried/attempted; past participle of 'versuchen'
- habe
- Have; first-person present of 'haben'
- zu
- To; preposition or infinitive marker
- entkommen
- To escape, get away from something
- und
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- sind
- Are; third-person plural of 'sein'
- wirklich
- Really, truly; adverb emphasizing truth
- dasselbe
- The same; referring to identical thing
- Das
- That/the; neuter demonstrative or article
- ist
- Is; third-person singular of 'sein'
- der
- The; masculine/genitive definite article
- Handelsname
- Trade name; commercial name of a product
- Firma
- Company, firm; a business organization
- alles
- Everything, all; indefinite pronoun
- glaube
- Believe/think; first-person present of 'glauben'
- auch
- Also, too; additive adverb
- Sie
- You (formal); polite second-person pronoun
- tun
- To do; general action verb
- Wie
- How/as; interrogative or comparative word
- immer
- Always, ever; temporal adverb
- was
- What; interrogative or relative pronoun
- mein
- My; first-person singular possessive adjective
- Beweggrund
- Motive, reason; driving cause for action
- mag
- May/might; modal verb expressing possibility
- Stolz
- Pride; feeling of self-satisfaction or dignity
- gewesen
- Been; past participle of 'sein'
- sein
- To be; infinitive of fundamental linking verb
- denn
- Because/for; causal conjunction or particle
- früher
- Earlier, formerly; comparative adverb of 'früh'
- sehr
- Very; intensifying adverb
- stolz
- Proud; adjective expressing pride
- kämpfte
- Fought, struggled; past tense of 'kämpfen'
- jedenfalls
- In any case, at any rate
- zur
- To the; contraction of 'zu der'
- Tür
- Door; entrance or exit of a room
- vor
- Before, in front of; preposition
- Dort
- There; adverb indicating that place
- natürlich
- Of course, naturally; adverb of affirmation
- stieß
- Bumped/ran into; past tense of 'stoßen'
- gegen
- Against, into; preposition indicating contact
- kennen
- To know (a person or thing)
- ihre
- Her/their; feminine possessive adjective
- merkwürdig
- Strange, peculiar, remarkable in an odd way
- schrille
- Shrill, piercing; describing a sharp sound
- Stimme
- Voice; sound produced when speaking or singing
- konnte
- Could; past tense of modal verb 'können'
- sie
- She/they/her; third-person pronoun
- loswerden
- To get rid of, shake off someone
- führte
- Led, guided; past tense of 'führen'
- Mitgliedern
- Members; dative plural of 'Mitglied'
- des
- Of the; genitive definite article
- Königshauses
- Royal house; genitive of 'Königshaus'
- Leuten
- People; dative plural of 'Leute'
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment
- Sternen
- Stars; also decorative orders/medals on clothing
- Hosenbandern
- Garters; ribbons or bands worn on clothing
- älteren
- Older, elderly; comparative adjective inflected
- Damen
- Ladies; plural of 'Dame', women
- riesigen
- Huge, enormous; inflected adjective
- Diademen
- Tiaras, diadems; ornamental head jewellery
- sprach
- Spoke; past tense of 'sprechen'
- von
- Of/from; preposition indicating origin or relation
- als
- As/when; conjunction or comparative particle
- ihrem
- Her/their; dative possessive pronoun
- liebsten
- Dearest, most beloved; superlative of 'lieb'
- Freund
- Friend; a male companion or acquaintance
- hatte
- Had; past tense of 'haben'
- zuvor
- Before, previously; temporal adverb
- nur
- Only, just; restrictive adverb
- einmal
- Once, one time; adverb of frequency
- getroffen
- Met; past participle of 'treffen'
- aber
- But, however; coordinating conjunction
- sich
- Herself/himself/itself; reflexive pronoun
- in
- In, into; preposition of location or direction
- den
- The; masculine accusative definite article
- Kopf
- Head; the upper part of the body
- gesetzt
- Set, placed; past participle of 'setzen'
- feiern
- To celebrate; to honor something with festivities
- eines
- One of; genitive indefinite article/numeral
- meiner
- My; genitive first-person possessive pronoun
- Bilder
- Pictures, paintings; plural of 'Bild'
- Zeit
- Time; duration or a period of time
- großen
- Great, big; inflected adjective
- Erfolg
- Success; a positive or desired outcome
- gehabt
- Had; past participle of 'haben'
- zumindest
- At least; limiting adverb
- darüber
- About it, over it; prepositional adverb
- geschwatzt
- Gossiped, chattered; past participle of 'schwatzen'
- worden
- Become/been; auxiliary past participle for passive
- Standard
- Standard; a level or model of quality
- Unsterblichkeit
- Immortality; state of living or lasting forever
- im
- In the; contraction of 'in dem'
- neunzehnten
- Nineteenth; ordinal number in inflected form
- Jahrhundert
- Century; a period of one hundred years
- Plötzlich
- Suddenly; adverb indicating abrupt occurrence
- befand
- Found oneself; past tense of 'sich befinden'
- dem
- The; dative masculine/neuter definite article
- jungen
- Young; inflected adjective
- Mann
- Man; an adult male person
- gegenüber
- Opposite, facing; preposition or adverb
- dessen
- Whose/of whom; genitive relative pronoun
- Persönlichkeit
- Personality; the character traits of a person
- so
- So, thus; adverb of degree or manner
- seltsam
- Strange, odd; unusually peculiar
- bewegt
- Moved, stirred; past participle of 'bewegen'
- Wir
- We; first-person plural subject pronoun
- waren
- Were; past tense of 'sein' (plural)
- ganz
- Quite, entirely, very; intensifying adverb
- nah
- Near, close; adjective or adverb of proximity
- beieinander
- Together, near each other; adverb
- fast
- Almost, nearly; adverb of approximation
- berührten
- Touched; past tense of 'berühren'
- wir
- We; first-person plural pronoun
- uns
- Us/ourselves; first-person plural accusative/dative
- Unsere
- Our; first-person plural possessive adjective
- Augen
- Eyes; plural of 'Auge'
- trafen
- Met, encountered; past tense of 'treffen'
- wieder
- Again, once more; adverb of repetition
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