The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Page 8
I took the liberty of pointing out to my gentleman that the whole business looked apocryphal, and that a man does not, in real life, walk into a cellar door at four in the morning and come out with another man's cheque for close upon a hundred pounds.
Ich nahm mir die Freiheit, meinem Herrn darauf hinzuweisen, dass die ganze Sache apokryph aussah und dass ein Mann im wirklichen Leben nicht um vier Uhr morgens durch eine Kellertür geht und mit dem Scheck eines anderen Mannes über nahezu hundert Pfund wieder herauskommt.
But he was quite easy and sneering.
Aber er war ganz gelassen und höhnisch.
So we all set off, the doctor, and the child's father, and our friend and myself, and passed the rest of the night in my chambers; and next day, when we had breakfasted, went in a body to the bank.
Also machten wir uns alle auf den Weg, der Arzt, der Vater des Kindes, unser Freund und ich, und verbrachten den Rest der Nacht in meinen Räumen; und am nächsten Tag, nachdem wir gefrühstückt hatten, gingen wir geschlossen zur Bank.
I gave in the cheque myself, and said I had every reason to believe it was a forgery.
Ich reichte den Scheck selbst ein und sagte, ich hätte jeden Grund zu glauben, dass er eine Fälschung sei.
Not a bit of it.
Nicht im Geringsten.
"Yes, it's a bad story.
„Ja, es ist eine schlimme Geschichte.
For my man was a fellow that nobody could have to do with, a really damnable man; and the person that drew the cheque is the very pink of the proprieties, celebrated too, and (what makes it worse) one of your fellows who do what they call good.
Denn mein Mann war ein Kerl, mit dem niemand zu tun haben wollte, ein wirklich verdammenswerter Mensch; und die Person, die den Scheck ausgestellt hat, ist der Inbegriff des Anstands, überdies bekannt und (was die Sache noch schlimmer macht) einer jener Männer, die tun, was sie das Gute nennen.
Blackmail, I suppose; an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth.
Erpressung, nehme ich an; ein ehrlicher Mann, der für einige Eskapaden seiner Jugend tief in die Tasche greifen muss.
Black Mail House is what I call the place with the door, in consequence.
Black Mail House ist daher der Name, den ich dem Ort mit der Tür gebe.
Vocabulary
- nahm
- Past tense of nehmen; took or seized something
- mir
- Dative form of 'ich'; to me, for me
- Freiheit
- Freedom, liberty; the state of being free
- Herrn
- Dative or accusative form of Herr; gentleman, lord, master
- darauf
- Adverb meaning thereupon, on it, thereafter
- hinzuweisen
- To point out, draw attention to something
- ganze
- Adjective meaning entire, whole, complete
- Sache
- Thing, matter, affair, issue or case
- apokryph
- Apocryphal; of doubtful authenticity or questionable origin
- aussah
- Past tense of aussehen; appeared, looked a certain way
- wirklichen
- Adjective meaning real, actual, genuine
- Leben
- Noun meaning life or existence
- Uhr
- Clock, watch; used to express time of day
- morgens
- Adverb meaning in the morning, every morning
- durch
- Preposition meaning through, via, by means of
- Kellertür
- Basement or cellar door of a building
- Scheck
- A bank cheque used for financial payment
- anderen
- Genitive or dative form of ander; another, other
- über
- Preposition meaning over, above, about, more than
- nahezu
- Adverb meaning almost, nearly, approximately
- Pfund
- Pound; unit of currency or unit of weight
- wieder
- Adverb meaning again, once more, back
- herauskommt
- Third person singular of herauskommen; comes out, emerges
- ganz
- Adverb or adjective meaning quite, entirely, completely
- gelassen
- Calm, composed, cool-headed under pressure
- höhnisch
- Scornful, mocking, derisive in attitude or tone
- Also
- Adverb meaning so, thus, therefore, well then
- alle
- Adjective or pronoun meaning all, everyone, everybody
- Weg
- Path, way, road or route to a destination
- Arzt
- Medical doctor or physician who treats patients
- Vater
- Father; male parent of a child
- Kindes
- Genitive form of Kind; of the child
- unser
- Possessive pronoun meaning our
- Freund
- Friend; a person one knows and likes
- verbrachten
- Past tense plural of verbringen; spent time somewhere
- Rest
- Remainder, rest, what is left over
- Nacht
- Night; the dark period between sunset and sunrise
- meinen
- Accusative possessive pronoun; my; or to mean, think
- Räumen
- Dative plural of Raum; rooms, spaces, chambers
- nächsten
- Superlative of nah; next, nearest, closest
- Tag
- Day; a 24-hour period
- nachdem
- Subordinating conjunction meaning after, once
- gefrühstückt
- Past participle of frühstücken; had breakfast
- geschlossen
- Closed; united together; or past participle of schließen
- Bank
- Bank; financial institution or a bench to sit on
- reichte
- Past tense of reichen; handed over, passed, sufficed
- selbst
- Reflexive intensifier; himself, herself, itself, oneself
- hätte
- Subjunctive of haben; would have, had conditionally
- jeden
- Accusative of jeder; every, each one
- Grund
- Reason, ground, basis, foundation for something
- glauben
- To believe, think, have faith in something
- Fälschung
- Forgery, fake, falsification, counterfeit document or item
- sei
- Subjunctive form of sein; be, is (reported speech)
- Geringsten
- Superlative of gering; the slightest, least, smallest
- schlimme
- Adjective meaning bad, nasty, serious, terrible
- Geschichte
- Story, history, tale or narrative account
- Denn
- Conjunction or particle meaning for, because, then
- Kerl
- Informal word for fellow, guy, bloke, chap
- niemand
- Indefinite pronoun meaning nobody, no one
- tun
- Infinitive meaning to do, to act, to perform
- wollte
- Past tense of wollen; wanted, wished, intended
- wirklich
- Adverb or adjective meaning really, truly, genuinely
- verdammenswerter
- Adjective meaning damnable, reprehensible, worthy of condemnation
- Mensch
- Human being, person; also used as an exclamation
- Person
- Person, individual human being
- ausgestellt
- Past participle of ausstellen; issued, exhibited, displayed
- Inbegriff
- Epitome, embodiment, quintessence of something
- Anstands
- Genitive of Anstand; of decency, propriety, good manners
- überdies
- Adverb meaning moreover, besides, in addition, furthermore
- bekannt
- Known, well-known, familiar, acquainted with something
- noch
- Adverb meaning still, yet, even, additionally
- schlimmer
- Comparative of schlimm; worse, more serious
- jener
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning that, those, of that kind
- Gute
- Nominalized adjective meaning the good, goodness
- nennen
- To call, name, refer to someone or something
- Erpressung
- Blackmail, extortion; coercing money through threats
- ehrlicher
- Comparative of ehrlich; more honest, more straightforward
- einige
- Indefinite pronoun or adjective meaning some, a few
- Eskapaden
- Escapades, adventures, youthful misdemeanors or pranks
- Jugend
- Youth, young age; period of being young
- tief
- Adjective or adverb meaning deep, low, profound
- Tasche
- Pocket or bag; container for carrying items
- greifen
- To grasp, reach into, grab or seize something
- muss
- Third person singular of müssen; must, has to
- daher
- Adverb meaning therefore, hence, from there, that is why
- Name
- Name; a word by which something is known
- Ort
- Place, location, spot, town or locality
- Tür
- Door; a movable barrier closing an entrance
- gebe
- First person singular subjunctive of geben; give, may give
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