The Scarlet Letter — Page 12
And yet, though invariably happiest elsewhere, there is within me a feeling for old Salem, which, in lack of a better phrase, I must be content to call affection.
Und doch, obwohl ich anderswo unweigerlich am glücklichsten bin, hege ich in mir ein Gefühl für das alte Salem, das ich, in Ermangelung eines besseren Ausdrucks, mich damit begnügen muss, Zuneigung zu nennen.
The sentiment is probably assignable to the deep and aged roots which my family has struck into the soil.
Dieses Gefühl ist wahrscheinlich auf die tiefen und alten Wurzeln zurückzuführen, die meine Familie in den Boden geschlagen hat.
It is now nearly two centuries and a quarter since the original Briton, the earliest emigrant of my name, made his appearance in the wild and forest-bordered settlement, which has since become a city.
Es sind nun fast zwei Jahrhunderte und ein Viertel vergangen, seit der ursprüngliche Brite, der früheste Auswanderer meines Namens, in der wilden, von Wäldern gesäumten Siedlung erschien, die seitdem zu einer Stadt geworden ist.
And here his descendants have been born and died, and have mingled their earthy substance with the soil; until no small portion of it must necessarily be akin to the mortal frame wherewith, for a little while, I walk the streets.
Und hier wurden seine Nachkommen geboren und starben, und vermischten ihre irdische Substanz mit dem Boden; bis ein nicht geringer Teil davon notwendigerweise dem sterblichen Leib verwandt sein muss, mit dem ich für eine kleine Weile die Straßen entlanggehe.
In part, therefore, the attachment which I speak of is the mere sensuous sympathy of dust for dust.
Zum Teil ist daher die Verbundenheit, von der ich spreche, die bloß sinnliche Sympathie von Staub für Staub.
Few of my countrymen can know what it is; nor, as frequent transplantation is perhaps better for the stock, need they consider it desirable to know.
Wenige meiner Landsleute können wissen, was das ist; noch müssen sie es, da häufiges Verpflanzen vielleicht besser für den Stamm ist, als wünschenswert erachten, es zu wissen.
But the sentiment has likewise its moral quality.
Aber das Gefühl hat ebenso seine moralische Qualität.
The figure of that first ancestor, invested by family tradition with a dim and dusky grandeur, was present to my boyish imagination, as far back as I can remember.
Die Gestalt jenes ersten Vorfahren, der durch die Familientradition mit einer dunklen und düsteren Erhabenheit umgeben war, war meiner kindlichen Vorstellungskraft gegenwärtig, so weit ich mich zurückerinnern kann.
It still haunts me, and induces a sort of home-feeling with the past, which I scarcely claim in reference to the present phase of the town.
Es verfolgt mich noch immer und erzeugt eine Art Heimatgefühl gegenüber der Vergangenheit, das ich in Bezug auf die gegenwärtige Phase der Stadt kaum beanspruche.
Vocabulary
- doch
- Yet, however, or emphatic particle expressing contrast
- obwohl
- Subordinating conjunction meaning although or even though
- anderswo
- Adverb meaning somewhere else or elsewhere
- unweigerlich
- Adverb meaning inevitably, unavoidably, or without fail
- glücklichsten
- Superlative form of happy, meaning happiest
- hege
- First-person singular of hegen, to harbor or nurture a feeling
- Gefühl
- Noun meaning feeling, emotion, or sense
- Ermangelung
- Noun meaning lack or absence of something better
- Ausdrucks
- Genitive of Ausdruck, meaning expression or term
- begnügen
- Reflexive verb meaning to content oneself or be satisfied
- Zuneigung
- Noun meaning affection, fondness, or attachment toward someone
- nennen
- Verb meaning to call, name, or designate something
- wahrscheinlich
- Adverb or adjective meaning probably or likely
- tiefen
- Inflected adjective meaning deep or profound
- Wurzeln
- Plural noun meaning roots, literal or figurative origins
- zurückzuführen
- Infinitive meaning to trace back or attribute to something
- Boden
- Noun meaning ground, soil, or floor
- geschlagen
- Past participle of schlagen, here meaning struck or taken root
- nun
- Adverb meaning now or by this point in time
- fast
- Adverb meaning almost or nearly
- Jahrhunderte
- Plural noun meaning centuries or hundred-year periods
- Viertel
- Noun meaning quarter or one fourth of something
- vergangen
- Past participle or adjective meaning passed or elapsed
- seit
- Preposition meaning since or for a duration of time
- ursprüngliche
- Adjective meaning original, first, or primordial
- Brite
- Noun meaning a British person or Briton
- früheste
- Superlative adjective meaning earliest or very first
- Auswanderer
- Noun meaning emigrant, one who leaves their homeland
- Namens
- Genitive of Name, meaning of the name or named
- wilden
- Inflected adjective meaning wild, untamed, or savage
- Wäldern
- Dative plural of Wald, meaning forests or woods
- gesäumten
- Inflected past participle meaning lined or bordered by something
- Siedlung
- Noun meaning settlement, colony, or residential development
- erschien
- Simple past of erscheinen, meaning appeared or arrived
- seitdem
- Adverb or conjunction meaning since then or ever since
- geworden
- Past participle of werden, meaning become or having become
- Nachkommen
- Plural noun meaning descendants or offspring
- geboren
- Past participle of gebären, meaning born
- starben
- Simple past plural of sterben, meaning died or passed away
- vermischten
- Simple past of vermischen, meaning mixed or blended together
- irdische
- Adjective meaning earthly, terrestrial, or mortal
- Substanz
- Noun meaning substance, matter, or physical material
- bis
- Preposition or conjunction meaning until or up to
- geringer
- Comparative adjective meaning lesser, smaller, or minor
- Teil
- Noun meaning part, portion, or share of something
- davon
- Adverb meaning of it, thereof, or from that
- notwendigerweise
- Adverb meaning necessarily or of necessity
- sterblichen
- Inflected adjective meaning mortal or subject to death
- Leib
- Noun meaning body, especially the living human body
- verwandt
- Adjective or past participle meaning related or akin to
- Weile
- Noun meaning a while or short period of time
- entlanggehe
- First-person singular of entlanggehen, meaning walk along
- daher
- Adverb meaning therefore, hence, or from there
- Verbundenheit
- Noun meaning connectedness, bond, or sense of belonging
- bloß
- Adverb or adjective meaning merely, only, or bare
- sinnliche
- Adjective meaning sensory, sensual, or relating to the senses
- Sympathie
- Noun meaning sympathy, affinity, or fellow feeling
- Staub
- Noun meaning dust or fine particles of matter
- Wenige
- Pronoun or adjective meaning few or a small number
- Landsleute
- Plural noun meaning compatriots, countrymen, or fellow citizens
- noch
- Adverb meaning still, yet, or even more
- da
- Adverb or conjunction meaning there, here, or because
- häufiges
- Inflected adjective meaning frequent or repeated
- Verpflanzen
- Noun or infinitive meaning transplanting or uprooting oneself
- vielleicht
- Adverb meaning perhaps, maybe, or possibly
- Stamm
- Noun meaning tribe, trunk, or ancestral stock
- wünschenswert
- Adjective meaning desirable or worth wishing for
- erachten
- Verb meaning to consider, deem, or regard as something
- ebenso
- Adverb meaning likewise, equally, or just as much
- moralische
- Inflected adjective meaning moral or ethical in nature
- Qualität
- Noun meaning quality, characteristic, or attribute
- Gestalt
- Noun meaning figure, form, shape, or physical appearance
- jenes
- Genitive demonstrative pronoun meaning of that or that one's
- Vorfahren
- Plural noun meaning ancestors or forebears
- Familientradition
- Compound noun meaning family tradition passed through generations
- dunklen
- Inflected adjective meaning dark, shadowy, or obscure
- düsteren
- Inflected adjective meaning gloomy, somber, or dismal
- Erhabenheit
- Noun meaning sublimity, grandeur, or loftiness of character
- umgeben
- Past participle meaning surrounded or enveloped by something
- kindlichen
- Inflected adjective meaning childlike or pertaining to childhood
- Vorstellungskraft
- Noun meaning imagination or power of mental visualization
- gegenwärtig
- Adjective or adverb meaning present, current, or at present
- weit
- Adjective or adverb meaning far, wide, or distant
- zurückerinnern
- Reflexive verb meaning to remember back or recall the past
- verfolgt
- Third-person singular of verfolgen, meaning pursues or haunts
- immer
- Adverb meaning always or continually
- erzeugt
- Past participle or third-person of erzeugen, meaning produces or generates
- Art
- Noun meaning kind, type, manner, or sort
- Heimatgefühl
- Compound noun meaning sense of home or belonging
- gegenüber
- Preposition or adverb meaning opposite, toward, or in relation to
- Vergangenheit
- Noun meaning the past or former times
- Bezug
- Noun meaning reference, relation, or connection to something
- gegenwärtige
- Inflected adjective meaning current, present, or of today
- Phase
- Noun meaning phase, stage, or period of development
- kaum
- Adverb meaning hardly, barely, or scarcely
- beanspruche
- First-person singular of beanspruchen, meaning I claim or assert
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