Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience — Page 5
The portionless, who struggle with no such unnecessary inherited encumbrances, find it labor enough to subdue and cultivate a few cubic feet of flesh.
Die Mittellosen, die mit keinerlei solch unnötigem ererbtem Ballast zu kämpfen haben, finden es Mühe genug, ein paar Kubikfuß Fleisch zu bändigen und zu kultivieren.
But men labor under a mistake.
Aber die Menschen arbeiten unter einem Irrtum.
The better part of the man is soon plowed into the soil for compost.
Der bessere Teil des Menschen wird bald als Kompost in die Erde gepflügt.
By a seeming fate, commonly called necessity, they are employed, as it says in an old book, laying up treasures which moth and rust will corrupt and thieves break through and steal.
Durch ein scheinbares Schicksal, gemeinhin Notwendigkeit genannt, sind sie damit beschäftigt, wie es in einem alten Buch heißt, Schätze anzuhäufen, welche Motten und Rost verderben und Diebe einbrechen und stehlen werden.
It is a fool's life, as they will find when they get to the end of it, if not before.
Es ist das Leben eines Narren, wie sie feststellen werden, wenn sie an sein Ende gelangen, wenn nicht früher.
It is said that Deucalion and Pyrrha created men by throwing stones over their heads behind them:—
Es heißt, dass Deukalion und Pyrrha Menschen erschufen, indem sie Steine über ihre Köpfe hinter sich warfen:—
Inde genus durum sumus, experiensque laborum, Et documenta damus quâ simus origine nati.
Inde genus durum sumus, experiensque laborum, Et documenta damus quâ simus origine nati.
Or, as Raleigh rhymes it in his sonorous way,—
Oder, wie Raleigh es auf seine wohlklingende Art in Reime fasst,—
"From thence our kind hard-hearted is, enduring pain and care, Approving that our bodies of a stony nature are."
„Daher ist unser Geschlecht hartherzig, Schmerz und Sorge ertragend, was beweist, dass unsere Körper steinerner Natur sind."
So much for a blind obedience to a blundering oracle, throwing the stones over their heads behind them, and not seeing where they fell.
So viel zu einem blinden Gehorsam gegenüber einem stümperhaften Orakel, das die Steine über ihre Köpfe hinter sich warf und nicht sah, wo sie fielen.
Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them.
Die meisten Menschen, selbst in diesem verhältnismäßig freien Land, sind durch bloße Unwissenheit und Irrtum so sehr mit den künstlichen Sorgen und überflüssig groben Mühen des Lebens beschäftigt, dass dessen feinere Früchte von ihnen nicht gepflückt werden können.
Their fingers, from excessive toil, are too clumsy and tremble too much for that.
Ihre Finger sind von übermäßiger Mühsal zu ungeschickt und zittern zu sehr dafür.
Vocabulary
- Mittellosen
- The destitute; people without financial means
- mit
- Preposition meaning with or along with
- keinerlei
- No kind of; not any whatsoever
- solch
- Such; of that kind or nature
- unnötigem
- Unnecessary; not needed or required (dative inflected)
- ererbtem
- Inherited; passed down from ancestors (dative inflected)
- Ballast
- Ballast; unnecessary burden or dead weight
- kämpfen
- To fight; to struggle or contend with something
- finden
- To find; to discover or consider something
- Mühe
- Effort; trouble or difficulty in doing something
- genug
- Enough; a sufficient amount or degree
- paar
- A few; a small number of things
- Fleisch
- Flesh or meat; bodily tissue of living beings
- bändigen
- To tame; to control or subdue something unruly
- kultivieren
- To cultivate; to develop or refine something carefully
- Irrtum
- Error; a mistaken belief or misconception
- bessere
- Better; of higher quality or greater value
- Teil
- Part; a portion or section of a whole
- bald
- Soon; in a short time from now
- Kompost
- Compost; decomposed organic matter used as fertilizer
- Erde
- Earth or soil; ground or the planet Earth
- gepflügt
- Plowed; turned over soil using a plow
- scheinbares
- Apparent; seeming but perhaps not real
- Schicksal
- Fate; destiny or fortune that befalls someone
- gemeinhin
- Commonly; generally or usually in most cases
- Notwendigkeit
- Necessity; something that is required or unavoidable
- genannt
- Called or named; referred to as something specific
- damit
- With it; so that or thereby occupied with
- beschäftigt
- Busy; occupied or engaged with an activity
- Schätze
- Treasures; valuable possessions or riches
- anzuhäufen
- To accumulate; to pile up or amass things
- Motten
- Moths; insects that damage fabric or stored goods
- Rost
- Rust; corrosion that degrades metal over time
- verderben
- To spoil or corrupt; to ruin or destroy something
- Diebe
- Thieves; people who steal others' possessions
- einbrechen
- To break in; to burglarize or forcibly enter
- stehlen
- To steal; to take something without permission
- Narren
- Fool; a foolish or unwise person
- feststellen
- To determine; to realize or establish a fact
- Ende
- End; the final point or conclusion of something
- gelangen
- To reach; to arrive at or attain something
- früher
- Earlier; previously or sooner in time
- erschufen
- Created; past tense of erschaffen, to create
- indem
- By; subordinating conjunction meaning by doing something
- Steine
- Stones; hard natural rock objects
- Köpfe
- Heads; the uppermost part of the body
- hinter
- Behind; preposition indicating position at the back
- warfen
- Threw; past tense of werfen, to throw
- wohlklingende
- Melodious; sounding pleasant or harmonious to ears
- Art
- Manner or kind; way of doing something
- Reime
- Rhymes; words or verses with matching sounds
- fasst
- Puts into words; composes or summarizes in form
- Daher
- Therefore; consequently or for that reason
- Geschlecht
- Race or generation; lineage or humankind collectively
- hartherzig
- Hard-hearted; callous or without compassion
- Schmerz
- Pain; physical or emotional suffering
- Sorge
- Worry or care; concern or anxiety about something
- ertragend
- Enduring; bearing or tolerating hardship patiently
- beweist
- Proves; demonstrates or shows evidence of something
- Körper
- Bodies; physical forms of living organisms
- steinerner
- Of stony nature; made of or like stone (genitive)
- Natur
- Nature; the natural world or inherent character
- blinden
- Blind; lacking sight or uncritical (inflected adjective)
- Gehorsam
- Obedience; compliance with orders or authority
- gegenüber
- Toward or opposite; facing or in relation to
- stümperhaften
- Bungling; incompetent or amateurish in quality
- Orakel
- Oracle; a prophetic or authoritative pronouncement
- warf
- Threw; third-person singular past of werfen
- fielen
- Fell; past tense of fallen, to fall or drop
- meisten
- Most; the greatest number or majority of people
- selbst
- Even or itself; reflexive intensifier or pronoun
- verhältnismäßig
- Relatively; comparatively or proportionately speaking
- freien
- Free; liberated or unrestrained (inflected adjective)
- bloße
- Mere; nothing more than, pure or bare
- Unwissenheit
- Ignorance; lack of knowledge or awareness
- künstlichen
- Artificial; man-made or unnecessarily contrived
- Sorgen
- Worries; cares or concerns weighing on someone
- überflüssig
- Superfluous; unnecessary or in excess of what's needed
- groben
- Crude or coarse; rough or unrefined in nature
- Mühen
- Toils; laborious efforts or hardships endured
- dessen
- Whose or of which; genitive relative pronoun
- feinere
- Finer; more refined or delicate in quality
- Früchte
- Fruits; produce or results of effort or nature
- gepflückt
- Plucked; picked or harvested by hand
- Finger
- Fingers; the digits of the human hand
- übermäßiger
- Excessive; beyond what is normal or necessary
- Mühsal
- Toil; hardship or exhausting laborious effort
- ungeschickt
- Clumsy; lacking skill or dexterity in action
- zittern
- To tremble; to shake from cold, fear, or exhaustion
- dafür
- For it; in exchange for or because of that
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