Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None — Page 12
His friends caused him many disappointments, which were the more bitter to him, inasmuch as he regarded friendship as such a sacred institution; and for the first time in his life he realised the whole horror of that loneliness to which, perhaps, all greatness is condemned.
Seine Freunde bereiteten ihm viele Enttäuschungen, die ihm umso bitterer waren, als er die Freundschaft als eine so heilige Institution betrachtete; und zum ersten Mal in seinem Leben erkannte er den ganzen Schrecken jener Einsamkeit, zu der vielleicht alle Größe verurteilt ist.
But to be forsaken is something very different from deliberately choosing blessed loneliness.
Aber verlassen zu werden ist etwas ganz anderes, als sich bewusst für die gesegnete Einsamkeit zu entscheiden.
How he longed, in those days, for the ideal friend who would thoroughly understand him, to whom he would be able to say all, and whom he imagined he had found at various periods in his life from his earliest youth onwards.
Wie sehnte er sich in jenen Tagen nach dem idealen Freund, der ihn vollkommen verstehen würde, dem er alles sagen könnte, und den er sich einbildete, zu verschiedenen Zeiten seines Lebens von seiner frühesten Jugend an gefunden zu haben.
Now, however, that the way he had chosen grew ever more perilous and steep, he found nobody who could follow him: he therefore created a perfect friend for himself in the ideal form of a majestic philosopher, and made this creation the preacher of his gospel to the world.
Da jedoch der Weg, den er gewählt hatte, immer gefährlicher und steiler wurde, fand er niemanden, der ihm folgen konnte: Er schuf sich daher einen vollkommenen Freund in der idealen Gestalt eines majestätischen Philosophen und machte diese Schöpfung zum Verkünder seines Evangeliums an die Welt.
Vocabulary
- Seine
- His; possessive pronoun referring to a male subject
- Freunde
- Friends; plural of Freund
- bereiteten
- Prepared or caused; past tense of bereiten
- ihm
- Him; dative personal pronoun, third person singular
- viele
- Many; indicating a large number of things
- Enttäuschungen
- Disappointments; plural of Enttäuschung
- die
- Which/that; relative pronoun or definite article
- umso
- All the more; intensifier used in comparisons
- bitterer
- More bitter; comparative form of bitter
- waren
- Were; past tense plural of sein (to be)
- als
- As/when/than; conjunction used in comparisons or clauses
- er
- He; third person singular masculine pronoun
- Freundschaft
- Friendship; bond of mutual affection between people
- eine
- A/an; indefinite article, feminine or accusative form
- so
- So/such; adverb indicating degree or manner
- heilige
- Sacred/holy; regarded with reverence and deep respect
- Institution
- Institution; established organization or social practice
- betrachtete
- Regarded/viewed; past tense of betrachten
- und
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- zum
- To the; contraction of zu dem
- ersten
- First; ordinal number in declined form
- Mal
- Time/instance; occurrence in a sequence
- in
- In; preposition indicating location or time
- seinem
- His; possessive pronoun in dative masculine form
- Leben
- Life; the existence of a living being
- erkannte
- Recognized/realized; past tense of erkennen
- den
- The; definite article in accusative masculine form
- ganzen
- Whole/entire; adjective in declined form
- Schrecken
- Horror/terror; feeling of intense fear or dread
- jener
- That/those; demonstrative pronoun referring to something distant
- Einsamkeit
- Loneliness/solitude; state of being alone or isolated
- zu
- To/too; preposition or infinitive particle
- der
- The; definite article or relative pronoun
- vielleicht
- Perhaps/maybe; expressing uncertainty or possibility
- alle
- All/every; referring to the entirety of a group
- Größe
- Greatness/size; quality of being grand or significant
- verurteilt
- Condemned/sentenced; past participle of verurteilen
- ist
- Is; third person singular present of sein
- Aber
- But; coordinating conjunction expressing contrast
- verlassen
- Abandoned/left; past participle or infinitive of verlassen
- werden
- To become/be; auxiliary or full verb
- etwas
- Something; indefinite pronoun indicating an unspecified thing
- ganz
- Quite/completely; adverb meaning entirely or very
- anderes
- Different/other; adjective referring to something distinct
- sich
- Oneself/themselves; reflexive pronoun
- bewusst
- Consciously/aware; adjective meaning deliberate or conscious
- für
- For; preposition indicating purpose or benefit
- gesegnete
- Blessed; adjective describing something favored or sacred
- entscheiden
- To decide; to make a choice or determination
- Wie
- How; interrogative or exclamatory adverb
- sehnte
- Longed/yearned; past tense of sich sehnen
- jenen
- Those; demonstrative pronoun in dative plural form
- Tagen
- Days; plural of Tag in dative case
- nach
- After/for; preposition indicating direction or longing
- dem
- The; definite article in dative masculine or neuter
- idealen
- Ideal; adjective in declined form meaning perfect or model
- Freund
- Friend; a person with whom one has a bond
- ihn
- Him; accusative personal pronoun, third person singular
- vollkommen
- Perfectly/completely; adverb meaning entirely or flawlessly
- verstehen
- To understand; to comprehend someone's thoughts or feelings
- würde
- Would; subjunctive form of werden for conditional mood
- alles
- Everything; pronoun referring to the totality of things
- sagen
- To say/tell; to express something verbally
- könnte
- Could; subjunctive of können, expressing possibility
- einbildete
- Imagined/fancied; past tense of sich einbilden
- verschiedenen
- Various/different; adjective in declined form
- Zeiten
- Times/periods; plural of Zeit
- seines
- His; possessive pronoun in genitive masculine form
- Lebens
- Of life; genitive form of Leben
- von
- From/of; preposition indicating origin or possession
- seiner
- His; possessive pronoun in genitive or dative feminine
- frühesten
- Earliest; superlative of früh in declined form
- Jugend
- Youth; the period of early life and adolescence
- an
- At/on/from; preposition indicating start or proximity
- gefunden
- Found; past participle of finden
- haben
- To have; auxiliary or main verb
- Da
- Since/because/there; conjunction or adverb of place/cause
- jedoch
- However; conjunction expressing contrast or reservation
- Weg
- Path/way; route or course chosen in life
- gewählt
- Chosen; past participle of wählen
- hatte
- Had; past tense of haben used in past perfect
- immer
- Always/ever; adverb indicating continuous or increasing action
- gefährlicher
- More dangerous; comparative form of gefährlich
- steiler
- Steeper; comparative form of steil
- wurde
- Became/was; past tense of werden
- fand
- Found; simple past tense of finden
- niemanden
- Nobody; accusative form of niemand
- folgen
- To follow; to come after or accompany someone
- konnte
- Could; simple past of können
- Er
- He; third person singular masculine subject pronoun
- schuf
- Created; simple past of schaffen (to create)
- daher
- Therefore/hence; adverb indicating result or consequence
- einen
- A/an; indefinite article in accusative masculine form
- vollkommenen
- Perfect; adjective in declined accusative form
- Gestalt
- Figure/form; shape or character of a person
- eines
- Of a; indefinite article in genitive form
- majestätischen
- Majestic; adjective describing grand and imposing dignity
- Philosophen
- Philosopher; thinker devoted to wisdom and reasoning
- machte
- Made; simple past tense of machen
- diese
- This/these; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- Schöpfung
- Creation; something brought into existence by creative act
- Verkünder
- Proclaimer/herald; one who announces or spreads a message
- Evangeliums
- Of the gospel; genitive of Evangelium, the good news
- Welt
- World; the earth and all of humanity
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