The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments — Page 8
His acquaintance with Arab manners and customs was insufficient to preserve him always from errors of the grossest description, and by the _style_ of his version he has given to the whole a false character, thus sacrificing, in a great measure, what is most valuable in the original work,--I mean its minute accuracy with respect to those peculiarities which distinguish the Arabs from every other nation, not only of the West, but also of the East.
Seine Bekanntschaft mit arabischen Sitten und Gebräuchen war unzureichend, um ihn stets vor Fehlern der gröbsten Art zu bewahren, und durch den _Stil_ seiner Übersetzung hat er dem Ganzen einen falschen Charakter verliehen, wodurch er in hohem Maße das geopfert hat, was im Originalwerk am wertvollsten ist – ich meine seine genaue Genauigkeit in Bezug auf jene Eigentümlichkeiten, die die Araber von jeder anderen Nation unterscheiden, nicht nur des Westens, sondern auch des Ostens.
Deceived by the vague nature of Galland's version, travellers in Persia, Turkey, and India, have often fancied that the Arabian Tales describe the particular manners of the natives of those countries; but no one who has read them in the original language, having an intimate acquaintance with the Arabs, can be of this opinion: it is in Arabian countries, and especially in Egypt, that we see the people, the dresses, and the buildings, which it describes in almost every case, even when the scene is laid in Persia, in India, or in China.
Durch den vagen Charakter von Gallands Übersetzung getäuscht, haben Reisende in Persien, der Türkei und Indien oft geglaubt, dass die Arabischen Erzählungen die besonderen Sitten der Einwohner jener Länder beschreiben; aber niemand, der sie in der Originalsprache gelesen hat und mit den Arabern vertraut ist, kann dieser Meinung sein: Es ist in arabischen Ländern, und besonders in Ägypten, dass wir die Menschen, die Kleidung und die Gebäude sehen, die es in fast jedem Fall beschreibt, selbst wenn die Handlung in Persien, in Indien oder in China spielt.
"Convinced of the truth of this assertion, I consider myself possessed of the chief qualifications for the proper accomplishment of my present undertaking, from my having lived several years in Cairo, associating almost exclusively with Arabs, speaking their language, conforming to their general habits with the most scrupulous exactitude, and received into their society on terms of perfect equality.
„Überzeugt von der Wahrheit dieser Behauptung betrachte ich mich als im Besitz der wichtigsten Voraussetzungen für die ordnungsgemäße Erfüllung meines gegenwärtigen Vorhabens, da ich mehrere Jahre in Kairo gelebt habe, fast ausschließlich mit Arabern verkehrt habe, ihre Sprache gesprochen habe, mich mit größter Gewissenhaftigkeit ihren allgemeinen Gewohnheiten angepasst habe und unter Bedingungen vollkommener Gleichheit in ihre Gesellschaft aufgenommen wurde.
Vocabulary
- Seine
- His; possessive pronoun indicating male possession
- Bekanntschaft
- Acquaintance; familiarity with something or someone
- mit
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or association
- arabischen
- Arabic; adjective relating to Arabs or their culture
- Sitten
- Customs; traditional practices and behavioral norms
- und
- And; conjunction linking words or clauses together
- Gebräuchen
- Customs; established practices and traditional usages
- war
- Was; past tense singular of 'to be'
- unzureichend
- Insufficient; inadequate or not enough quantity
- um
- To; in order to; preposition indicating purpose
- ihn
- Him; masculine accusative personal pronoun
- stets
- Always; continuously or at all times constantly
- vor
- Before; in front of or prior to something
- Fehlern
- Errors; mistakes or faults in judgment
- der
- The; definite article for feminine nouns
- gröbsten
- Crudest; most rough or most obvious type
- Art
- Kind; type or variety of something
- zu
- To; preposition indicating direction or purpose
- bewahren
- Protect; to keep safe from harm damage
- durch
- Through; by means of or via something
- den
- The; definite article for masculine accusative
- Stil
- Style; manner of expression or artistic approach
- seiner
- His; possessive pronoun in genitive or dative
- Übersetzung
- Translation; conversion of text from one language
- hat
- Has; third person singular present of 'haben'
- er
- He; masculine nominative personal pronoun
- dem
- The; definite article in dative masculine form
- Ganzen
- Whole; the entirety or complete collection
- einen
- A; indefinite article in masculine accusative
- falschen
- False; incorrect or not genuine in nature
- Charakter
- Character; distinctive qualities or personality traits
- verliehen
- Imparted; gave or bestowed upon something
- wodurch
- Whereby; by which or through which means
- in
- In; preposition indicating location or state
- hohem
- High; great in degree or extent
- Maße
- Measure; extent or degree of something
- das
- That; which; definite article neuter nominative
- geopfert
- Sacrificed; given up or relinquished willingly
- was
- What; interrogative or relative pronoun
- im
- In the; contraction of in dem
- am
- On the; contraction of an dem
- wertvollsten
- Most valuable; having greatest worth importance
- ist
- Is; third person singular present of 'sein'
- ich
- I; first person singular personal pronoun
- meine
- Mean; intend or refer to something
- seine
- His; possessive pronoun for masculine nouns
- genaue
- Exact; precise or accurate in detail
- Genauigkeit
- Exactness; precision or accuracy in details
- Bezug
- Relation; reference or connection to something
- auf
- On; upon or indicating reference direction
- jene
- Those; that or those particular ones
- Eigentümlichkeiten
- Peculiarities; distinctive characteristics or unique features
- die
- That; which; definite article feminine nominative
- Araber
- Arabs; people from Arabian Peninsula region
- von
- From; indicating origin or possession relationship
- jeder
- Every; each individual one without exception
- anderen
- Other; different from the one mentioned
- Nation
- Nation; large group of people same country
- unterscheiden
- Distinguish; differentiate or recognize as different
- nicht
- Not; negation or denial word in German
- nur
- Only; solely or exclusively without others
- des
- Of the; genitive article masculine or neuter
- Westens
- West; western direction or western regions
- sondern
- But; rather contrasting conjunction in German
- auch
- Also; as well or furthermore additionally
- Ostens
- East; eastern direction or eastern regions
- Durch
- Through; by means of or via
- vagen
- Vague; unclear imprecise or indefinite manner
- getäuscht
- Deceived; misled or tricked into error
- haben
- Have; to possess or experience something
- Reisende
- Travelers; people who journey to places
- Türkei
- Turkey; country in Western Asia Minor
- Indien
- India; large country in South Asia
- oft
- Often; frequently or repeatedly many times
- geglaubt
- Believed; thought or supposed to be true
- dass
- That; conjunction introducing subordinate clause German
- Arabischen
- Arabic; the language spoken by Arabs
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