Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience — Page 3
I would fain say something, not so much concerning the Chinese and Sandwich Islanders as you who read these pages, who are said to live in New England; something about your condition, especially your outward condition or circumstances in this world, in this town, what it is, whether it is necessary that it be as bad as it is, whether it cannot be improved as well as not.
Ich würde gern etwas sagen, nicht so sehr über die Chinesen und die Bewohner der Sandwichinseln, sondern über euch, die ihr diese Seiten lest und von denen es heißt, dass ihr in Neuengland lebt; etwas über eure Lage, besonders eure äußere Lage oder eure Verhältnisse in dieser Welt, in dieser Stadt, wie sie beschaffen ist, ob es notwendig ist, dass sie so schlecht ist, wie sie ist, ob sie nicht ebenso gut verbessert werden könnte.
I have travelled a good deal in Concord; and everywhere, in shops, and offices, and fields, the inhabitants have appeared to me to be doing penance in a thousand remarkable ways.
Ich bin viel in Concord gereist; und überall, in Läden, Büros und auf Feldern, schienen mir die Bewohner auf tausend bemerkenswerte Weisen Buße zu tun.
What I have heard of Brahmins sitting exposed to four fires and looking in the face of the sun; or hanging suspended, with their heads downward, over flames; or looking at the heavens over their shoulders "until it becomes impossible for them to resume their natural position, while from the twist of the neck nothing but liquids can pass into the stomach;" or dwelling, chained for life, at the foot of a tree; or measuring with their bodies, like caterpillars, the breadth of vast empires; or standing on one leg on the tops of pillars,—even these forms of conscious penance are hardly more incredible and astonishing than the scenes which I daily witness.
Was ich über Brahmanen gehört habe, die, vier Feuern ausgesetzt, in die Sonne blicken; oder die mit dem Kopf nach unten über Flammen hängen; oder die über ihre Schultern zum Himmel schauen, „bis es ihnen unmöglich wird, ihre natürliche Haltung wieder einzunehmen, während durch die Verdrehung des Halses nur noch Flüssigkeiten in den Magen gelangen können;" oder die, auf Lebenszeit gekettet, am Fuße eines Baumes wohnen; oder die mit ihren Körpern, wie Raupen, die Breite gewaltiger Reiche ausmessen; oder die auf einem Bein auf den Spitzen von Säulen stehen, – selbst diese Formen bewusster Buße sind kaum unglaublicher und erstaunlicher als die Szenen, die ich täglich beobachte.
Vocabulary
- würde
- Would; subjunctive form of 'werden'
- gern
- Gladly; willingly; with pleasure
- etwas
- Something; somewhat; a little
- sagen
- To say; to tell; to express verbally
- nicht
- Not; negation particle in German
- so
- So; thus; in this way
- sehr
- Very; extremely; to a great degree
- über
- About; over; above; concerning a topic
- die
- The; definite article for feminine/plural nouns
- Chinesen
- Chinese people; inhabitants of China
- Bewohner
- Inhabitants; residents of a place or region
- sondern
- But rather; used after negation to contrast
- euch
- You; second person plural dative/accusative pronoun
- ihr
- You (plural); your; second person plural pronoun
- diese
- These; this; demonstrative pronoun/adjective
- Seiten
- Pages; sides; surfaces of a sheet
- lest
- Read (you plural); imperative/present of 'lesen'
- von
- Of; from; by; preposition indicating origin or belonging
- denen
- Of whom; of which; relative/dative plural pronoun
- es
- It; third person neuter singular pronoun
- heißt
- Is called; means; it is said
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause
- lebt
- Lives; third person singular of 'leben'
- eure
- Your (plural possessive); belonging to you all
- Lage
- Situation; position; condition; location
- besonders
- Especially; particularly; in a special way
- äußere
- Outer; external; outward circumstances or appearance
- oder
- Or; coordinating conjunction presenting alternatives
- Verhältnisse
- Circumstances; conditions; relations; social situations
- dieser
- Of this; this (genitive/dative demonstrative adjective)
- Welt
- World; earth; the entirety of human existence
- Stadt
- City; town; urban settlement
- wie
- How; as; like; in what manner
- sie
- She; they; it; third person pronoun
- beschaffen
- Constituted; structured; of a particular nature
- ob
- Whether; if; subordinating conjunction for indirect questions
- notwendig
- Necessary; essential; unavoidably required
- schlecht
- Bad; poor; of low quality
- ebenso
- Equally; just as; likewise; in the same way
- gut
- Good; well; of high quality
- verbessert
- Improved; made better; enhanced
- werden
- To become; auxiliary for future/passive constructions
- könnte
- Could; subjunctive of 'können'; expressing possibility
- bin
- Am; first person singular of 'sein' (to be)
- viel
- Much; a lot; many; great in quantity
- gereist
- Traveled; past participle of 'reisen' (to travel)
- überall
- Everywhere; in all places; throughout
- Läden
- Shops; stores; retail establishments
- Büros
- Offices; workplaces for administrative tasks
- auf
- On; upon; at; preposition indicating surface or location
- Feldern
- Fields; open agricultural land areas
- schienen
- Seemed; appeared; past tense of 'scheinen'
- mir
- To me; first person singular dative pronoun
- tausend
- Thousand; the number 1000
- bemerkenswerte
- Remarkable; noteworthy; deserving special attention
- Weisen
- Ways; manners; methods of doing something
- Buße
- Penance; atonement; penalty for wrongdoing
- zu
- To; too; at; preposition or infinitive marker
- tun
- To do; to perform; to carry out an action
- Was
- What; interrogative/relative pronoun
- gehört
- Heard; past participle of 'hören' (to hear)
- habe
- Have; first person singular of 'haben'
- vier
- Four; the number 4
- Feuern
- Fires; burning flames; plural of 'Feuer'
- ausgesetzt
- Exposed; subjected to; past participle of 'aussetzen'
- Sonne
- Sun; the star at the center of our solar system
- blicken
- To look; to gaze; to direct one's eyes
- mit
- With; together with; using; preposition of accompaniment
- Kopf
- Head; the uppermost part of the human body
- nach
- After; toward; according to; preposition of direction
- unten
- Down; below; downward direction
- Flammen
- Flames; tongues of fire; burning gas
- hängen
- To hang; to be suspended; to dangle
- ihre
- Their; her; possessive pronoun (third person)
- Schultern
- Shoulders; upper body joints connecting arms to torso
- zum
- To the; contraction of 'zu dem'
- Himmel
- Sky; heaven; the expanse above the earth
- schauen
- To look; to gaze; to watch something
- bis
- Until; up to; as far as
- ihnen
- Them; to them; third person plural dative pronoun
- unmöglich
- Impossible; not able to be done or achieved
- wird
- Becomes; will; third person singular of 'werden'
- natürliche
- Natural; occurring in nature; not artificial
- Haltung
- Posture; attitude; bearing; bodily position
- wieder
- Again; once more; back to a former state
- einzunehmen
- To take; to adopt (a posture); to occupy
- während
- While; during; a conjunction indicating simultaneous action
- durch
- Through; by means of; via
- Verdrehung
- Twisting; distortion; contortion of a body part
- Halses
- Of the neck; genitive of 'Hals'
- nur
- Only; just; merely; nothing more than
- noch
- Still; yet; even; additionally
- Flüssigkeiten
- Liquids; fluids; substances that flow freely
- Magen
- Stomach; digestive organ in the abdomen
- gelangen
- To reach; to arrive at; to get to a place
- können
- Can; to be able to; modal verb of ability
- Lebenszeit
- Lifetime; the entire duration of one's life
- gekettet
- Chained; shackled; bound with chains
- am
- At the; contraction of 'an dem'
- Fuße
- Foot (base); at the foot of something
- Baumes
- Of a tree; genitive of 'Baum'
- wohnen
- To live; to reside; to dwell somewhere
- ihren
- Their; accusative/dative possessive pronoun (plural)
- Körpern
- Bodies; physical forms; plural of 'Körper'
- Raupen
- Caterpillars; larval stage of butterflies or moths
- Breite
- Width; breadth; latitudinal extent of something
- gewaltiger
- Vast; enormous; of immense size or power
- Reiche
- Empires; realms; kingdoms; vast dominions
- ausmessen
- To measure out; to survey; to determine dimensions
- Bein
- Leg; one of the lower limbs of the body
- Spitzen
- Tips; peaks; tops; pointed ends of something
- Säulen
- Pillars; columns; vertical structural supports
- stehen
- To stand; to be in an upright position
- selbst
- Itself; even; oneself; used for emphasis
- Formen
- Forms; shapes; types; varieties of something
- bewusster
- More conscious; more deliberate; more self-aware
- kaum
- Hardly; barely; scarcely; almost not
- unglaublicher
- More incredible; more unbelievable; more astonishing
- erstaunlicher
- More astonishing; more amazing; more surprising
- als
- Than; as; when; used in comparisons
- Szenen
- Scenes; situations; visual episodes observed
- täglich
- Daily; every day; occurring on a daily basis
- beobachte
- Observe; watch; first person singular of 'beobachten'
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