← The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments

The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments — Page 12

English → De Preface Level 7/10

[2] To the pieces of poetry which are interspersed throughout the work he has paid especial attention; not only correcting the errors which he found in them, but also always adding the vowel-points, and generally, commentaries or explanations.

[2] Den Gedichtstücken, die im gesamten Werk verstreut sind, hat er besondere Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet; nicht nur, indem er die darin gefundenen Fehler korrigierte, sondern auch, indem er stets die Vokalzeichen sowie im Allgemeinen Kommentare oder Erläuterungen hinzufügte.

Thus I have shewn that I am very greatly indebted to him for his learned labours.

So habe ich gezeigt, dass ich ihm für seine gelehrten Arbeiten in sehr hohem Maße zu Dank verpflichtet bin.

I should, however, add, that I have ventured to differ from him in interpreting a few words; having found more appropriate meanings assigned to them by Arabs in parts not visited by him, or such meanings given in printed dictionaries with which he is unacquainted; and I have also corrected a few errors which have escaped his notice.[3]

Ich sollte jedoch hinzufügen, dass ich es gewagt habe, von ihm bei der Deutung einiger Wörter abzuweichen; da ich ihnen von Arabern in Gegenden, die er nicht besucht hat, passendere Bedeutungen zugewiesen fand, oder solche Bedeutungen in gedruckten Wörterbüchern vorfand, die ihm unbekannt sind; und ich habe auch einige Fehler korrigiert, die seiner Aufmerksamkeit entgangen sind.[3]

Without the valuable aid which he has afforded me, I would not have attempted the translation; nor with it would I have done so were it not for the advantage that I derive from my having lived among Arabs.

Ohne die wertvolle Unterstützung, die er mir gewährt hat, hätte ich die Übersetzung nicht in Angriff genommen; und selbst mit ihr hätte ich dies nicht getan, wäre es nicht für den Vorteil, den ich daraus ziehe, unter Arabern gelebt zu haben.

No translator can always be certain that, from twenty or more significations which are borne by one Arabic word, he has selected that which his author intended to convey; but, circumstanced as I am, I have the satisfaction of feeling confident that I have never given, to a word or phrase in this work, a meaning which is inconsistent with its presenting faithful pictures of Arab life and manners.

Kein Übersetzer kann stets sicher sein, dass er aus zwanzig oder mehr Bedeutungen, die ein arabisches Wort trägt, jene ausgewählt hat, die sein Autor vermitteln wollte; aber in meiner Lage habe ich die Genugtuung, zuversichtlich zu sein, dass ich einem Wort oder einer Wendung in diesem Werk niemals eine Bedeutung gegeben habe, die damit unvereinbar wäre, treue Bilder des arabischen Lebens und der arabischen Sitten zu vermitteln.

"I have thought it right to omit such tales, anecdotes, &c., as are comparatively uninteresting or on any account objectionable.

„Ich habe es für richtig gehalten, solche Geschichten, Anekdoten usw. wegzulassen, die vergleichsweise uninteressant oder aus irgendeinem Grund anstößig sind.

Vocabulary

Gedichtstücken
Poetic passages or fragments within a larger work
gesamten
Entire, whole, complete
Werk
Work, literary or artistic creation
verstreut
Scattered, spread throughout
besondere
Special, particular, extraordinary
Aufmerksamkeit
Attention, care, attentiveness given to something
gewidmet
Devoted, dedicated attention or effort to something
indem
By doing, in that, while
darin
In it, therein, within that
gefundenen
Found, discovered (adjective form)
Fehler
Errors, mistakes, faults
korrigierte
Corrected, fixed errors in something
sondern
But rather, used after negation to contrast
stets
Always, constantly, at all times
Vokalzeichen
Vowel markings, diacritical signs indicating vowels
sowie
As well as, and also, together with
Allgemeinen
General, in general, overall
Kommentare
Comments, annotations, explanatory remarks
Erläuterungen
Explanations, clarifications, elucidations
hinzufügte
Added, appended additional content to something
gezeigt
Shown, demonstrated, indicated
gelehrten
Scholarly, learned, erudite
Arbeiten
Works, scholarly efforts, pieces of work
hohem
High, great, considerable (dative form)
Maße
Degree, measure, extent
Dank
Thanks, gratitude, acknowledgment
verpflichtet
Obligated, indebted, duty-bound to someone
sollte
Should, ought to, past subjunctive of 'sollen'
jedoch
However, nevertheless, yet
hinzufügen
To add, to append, to include additionally
gewagt
Dared, ventured, risked doing something
Deutung
Interpretation, meaning, explanation of something
einiger
Some, a few, of some (genitive form)
Wörter
Words, individual lexical items
abzuweichen
To deviate, to differ from an established view
Arabern
Arabs, Arabic-speaking people (dative plural)
Gegenden
Regions, areas, localities, districts
besucht
Visited, frequented, attended a place
passendere
More fitting, more appropriate, better suited
Bedeutungen
Meanings, definitions, senses of words
zugewiesen
Assigned, attributed, allocated to something
fand
Found, encountered, discovered (simple past)
solche
Such, of that kind, similar ones
gedruckten
Printed, published (adjective form)
Wörterbüchern
Dictionaries, reference books for word meanings
vorfand
Found upon arrival, encountered already existing
unbekannt
Unknown, unfamiliar, not recognized
einige
Some, a few, several
korrigiert
Corrected, amended, fixed (past participle)
entgangen
Escaped notice, gone unnoticed, been overlooked
Ohne
Without, lacking, in the absence of
wertvolle
Valuable, precious, highly useful
Unterstützung
Support, assistance, help provided by someone
gewährt
Granted, provided, given as support
hätte
Would have, past subjunctive of 'haben'
Übersetzung
Translation, rendering into another language
Angriff
Attack; here: undertaking, tackling a task
genommen
Taken, undertaken (past participle of 'nehmen')
selbst
Myself, himself, even, oneself
getan
Done, performed, accomplished (past participle)
wäre
Would be, past subjunctive of 'sein'
Vorteil
Advantage, benefit, favorable position
daraus
From it, out of it, therefrom
ziehe
Draw, derive, extract (first person singular)
gelebt
Lived, resided, existed (past participle)
Kein
No, not a single, none
Übersetzer
Translator, one who renders texts into another language
sicher
Sure, certain, safe, confident
zwanzig
Twenty, the number 20
arabisches
Arabic, of or relating to Arabic language
Wort
Word, single unit of language
trägt
Carries, bears, conveys (third person singular)
jene
That, those, the one (demonstrative pronoun)
ausgewählt
Selected, chosen, picked out carefully
Autor
Author, writer of a text or book
vermitteln
To convey, to communicate, to mediate meaning
wollte
Wanted to, intended to (simple past of 'wollen')
Lage
Situation, position, circumstance one is in
Genugtuung
Satisfaction, gratification, sense of fulfillment
zuversichtlich
Confident, optimistic, assured about something
Wendung
Turn of phrase, expression, idiomatic formulation
niemals
Never, at no time, not ever
Bedeutung
Meaning, significance, sense of a word
gegeben
Given, assigned, attributed (past participle of 'geben')
damit
So that, with it, in order to
unvereinbar
Incompatible, inconsistent, irreconcilable with something
treue
Faithful, loyal, accurate, true to the original
Bilder
Images, pictures, portrayals, depictions
arabischen
Arabic, of Arab culture or language (adjective)
Lebens
Life, of life (genitive singular)
Sitten
Customs, manners, traditions, social norms
richtig
Correct, right, proper, accurate
gehalten
Held, considered, regarded as appropriate
Geschichten
Stories, tales, narratives
Anekdoten
Anecdotes, short amusing or illustrative stories
usw
Abbreviation for 'und so weiter', meaning 'etc.'
wegzulassen
To omit, to leave out, to exclude something
vergleichsweise
Comparatively, relatively, by comparison
uninteressant
Uninteresting, boring, not engaging
irgendeinem
Some, any particular (dative indefinite pronoun)
Grund
Reason, cause, ground, basis for something
anstößig
Offensive, objectionable, indecent, causing offense
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