Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None — Page 14
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The first part of "Zarathustra" was written in about ten days—that is to say, from the beginning to about the middle of February 1883.
Der erste Teil des „Zarathustra" wurde in etwa zehn Tagen geschrieben – das heißt, von Anfang bis etwa Mitte Februar 1883.
"The last lines were written precisely in the hallowed hour when Richard Wagner gave up the ghost in Venice."
„Die letzten Zeilen wurden genau in der geheiligten Stunde geschrieben, in der Richard Wagner in Venedig den Geist aufgab."
With the exception of the ten days occupied in composing the first part of this book, my brother often referred to this winter as the hardest and sickliest he had ever experienced.
Mit Ausnahme der zehn Tage, die mit der Abfassung des ersten Teils dieses Buches verbracht wurden, bezeichnete mein Bruder diesen Winter oft als den härtesten und krankheitsgeplagtesten, den er je erlebt hatte.
He did not, however, mean thereby that his former disorders were troubling him, but that he was suffering from a severe attack of influenza which he had caught in Santa Margherita, and which tormented him for several weeks after his arrival in Genoa.
Er meinte damit jedoch nicht, dass ihn seine früheren Leiden plagten, sondern dass er an einem schweren Grippenanfall litt, den er sich in Santa Margherita zugezogen hatte und der ihn mehrere Wochen nach seiner Ankunft in Genua quälte.
As a matter of fact, however, what he complained of most was his spiritual condition—that indescribable forsakenness—to which he gives such heartrending expression in "Zarathustra".
Tatsächlich jedoch beklagte er sich am meisten über seinen seelischen Zustand – jene unbeschreibliche Verlassenheit –, der er im „Zarathustra" so herzzerreißenden Ausdruck verleiht.
Even the reception which the first part met with at the hands of friends and acquaintances was extremely disheartening: for almost all those to whom he presented copies of the work misunderstood it.
Sogar die Aufnahme, die der erste Teil bei Freunden und Bekannten fand, war äußerst entmutigend: denn fast alle, denen er Exemplare des Werkes überreichte, missverstanden es.
"I found no one ripe for many of my thoughts; the case of 'Zarathustra' proves that one can speak with the utmost clearness, and yet not be heard by any one.
„Ich fand niemanden, der für viele meiner Gedanken reif war; der Fall des ‚Zarathustra' beweist, dass man mit größter Klarheit sprechen und dennoch von niemandem gehört werden kann.
Vocabulary
- Der
- Definite article: the (masculine nominative)
- erste
- First in order or sequence
- Teil
- A part or section of a larger whole
- des
- Definite article: of the (genitive case)
- wurde
- Past tense of werden: was, became
- in
- Preposition indicating location or time: in, into
- etwa
- Approximately, roughly, about
- zehn
- The number ten
- Tagen
- Days (dative plural of Tag)
- geschrieben
- Past participle of schreiben: written
- das
- Definite article or pronoun: the, that (neuter)
- heißt
- Means, is called; das heißt means that is
- von
- Preposition meaning from, of, by
- Anfang
- Beginning, start of something
- bis
- Preposition or conjunction meaning until, up to
- Mitte
- Middle, center, midpoint of something
- Februar
- The second month of the year, February
- Die
- Definite article: the (feminine or plural)
- letzten
- Last, final (inflected form of letzt-)
- Zeilen
- Lines of text, rows of written words
- wurden
- Past tense plural of werden: were, became
- genau
- Exactly, precisely, accurately
- der
- Definite article: the (various cases)
- geheiligten
- Sanctified, hallowed, consecrated (adjective inflected)
- Stunde
- Hour, a unit of time or a moment
- Venedig
- Venice, a city in northeastern Italy
- den
- Definite article: the (masculine accusative or dative plural)
- Geist
- Spirit, mind, intellect, or ghost
- aufgab
- Past tense of aufgeben: gave up, surrendered
- Mit
- Preposition meaning with, along with
- Ausnahme
- Exception, an instance excluded from a rule
- Tage
- Days (plural of Tag)
- die
- Definite article or relative pronoun: the, which, who
- mit
- Preposition meaning with, using, together with
- Abfassung
- Drafting or composition of a written text
- ersten
- First (inflected form, genitive or dative)
- Teils
- Part, portion (genitive singular of Teil)
- dieses
- This (genitive singular demonstrative pronoun/article)
- Buches
- Book (genitive singular of Buch)
- verbracht
- Past participle of verbringen: spent (time)
- bezeichnete
- Past tense of bezeichnen: described, labeled, termed
- mein
- My, possessive pronoun first person singular
- Bruder
- Brother, a male sibling
- diesen
- This (accusative masculine demonstrative pronoun)
- Winter
- Winter, the coldest season of the year
- oft
- Often, frequently, many times
- als
- As, than, when (conjunction or preposition)
- härtesten
- Hardest, most difficult (superlative of hart)
- und
- Conjunction meaning and, connecting words or clauses
- krankheitsgeplagtesten
- Most plagued by illness (superlative compound adjective)
- er
- Personal pronoun: he, him
- je
- Ever, at any time; ever in his life
- erlebt
- Past participle of erleben: experienced, lived through
- hatte
- Past tense of haben: had (third person singular)
- Er
- Personal pronoun: he (capitalized at sentence start)
- meinte
- Past tense of meinen: meant, thought, said
- damit
- With that, thereby, by this means
- jedoch
- However, yet, nevertheless (concessive conjunction)
- nicht
- Not, negation particle in German
- dass
- That (subordinating conjunction introducing a clause)
- ihn
- Him, accusative form of the pronoun er
- seine
- His (possessive pronoun, feminine or plural form)
- früheren
- Earlier, former, previous (inflected form of früher)
- Leiden
- Sufferings, ailments, illnesses (plural of Leiden)
- plagten
- Past tense plural of plagen: tormented, plagued
- sondern
- But rather, on the contrary (coordinating conjunction)
- an
- Preposition meaning at, on, to, from
- einem
- Indefinite article dative: a, an (masculine/neuter)
- schweren
- Severe, heavy, serious (inflected form of schwer)
- Grippenanfall
- A bout or attack of influenza, severe flu
- litt
- Past tense of leiden: suffered, endured pain
- sich
- Reflexive pronoun: himself, herself, itself, oneself
- zugezogen
- Past participle of zuziehen: contracted, drawn upon oneself
- mehrere
- Several, a number of, more than two
- Wochen
- Weeks (plural of Woche)
- nach
- After, to, toward (preposition of time or place)
- seiner
- His (genitive/dative possessive pronoun form)
- Ankunft
- Arrival, the act of arriving somewhere
- Genua
- Genoa, a port city in northwestern Italy
- quälte
- Past tense of quälen: tormented, tormented, afflicted
- Tatsächlich
- Actually, in fact, indeed, truly
- beklagte
- Past tense of beklagen: complained, lamented, mourned
- am
- Contraction of an dem: at the, on the
- meisten
- Most (superlative of viel), the greatest amount
- über
- Over, about, above, concerning (preposition)
- seinen
- His (accusative possessive pronoun, masculine)
- seelischen
- Psychological, spiritual, of the soul (inflected)
- Zustand
- Condition, state, situation of a person or thing
- jene
- That, those (demonstrative pronoun or article)
- unbeschreibliche
- Indescribable, beyond words, impossible to describe
- Verlassenheit
- Desolation, sense of abandonment, profound loneliness
- im
- Contraction of in dem: in the
- so
- So, thus, in such a way, therefore
- herzzerreißenden
- Heartbreaking, heartrending, deeply moving (inflected)
- Ausdruck
- Expression, a way of conveying meaning or feeling
- verleiht
- Third person singular of verleihen: grants, lends, confers
- Sogar
- Even, as much as, going so far as
- Aufnahme
- Reception, welcome, acceptance by others
- bei
- At, by, with, near (preposition of place)
- Freunden
- Friends (dative plural of Freund)
- Bekannten
- Acquaintances (dative plural of Bekannte)
- fand
- Past tense of finden: found, encountered
- war
- Past tense of sein: was (third person singular)
- äußerst
- Extremely, utterly, to the greatest degree
- entmutigend
- Discouraging, disheartening, dampening one's spirit
- denn
- Because, for, since (causal conjunction)
- fast
- Almost, nearly, not quite entirely
- alle
- All, everyone, every one of them
- denen
- Whom, to whom (relative pronoun, dative plural)
- Exemplare
- Copies, specimens of a book or publication
- Werkes
- Work, opus (genitive singular of Werk)
- überreichte
- Past tense of überreichen: handed over, presented formally
- missverstanden
- Past participle of missverstehen: misunderstood, misconstrued
- es
- It, neuter personal pronoun third person singular
- Ich
- I, first person singular subject pronoun
- niemanden
- Nobody, no one (accusative form of niemand)
- für
- For, in favor of (preposition with accusative)
- viele
- Many, a large number of people or things
- meiner
- My (genitive possessive pronoun, first person singular)
- Gedanken
- Thoughts, ideas (plural of Gedanke)
- reif
- Ripe, mature, ready (for understanding or acceptance)
- Fall
- Case, instance, situation; also fall (noun)
- beweist
- Third person singular of beweisen: proves, demonstrates
- man
- One, you, people in general (impersonal pronoun)
- größter
- Greatest, utmost (superlative of groß, strong form)
- Klarheit
- Clarity, clearness of thought or expression
- sprechen
- To speak, to talk, to express oneself verbally
- dennoch
- Nevertheless, still, yet, despite that
- niemandem
- Nobody, no one (dative form of niemand)
- gehört
- Past participle of hören: heard; also belongs to
- werden
- To become; auxiliary for passive voice and future
- kann
- Can, is able to (modal verb, third person singular)
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