White nights, and other stories — Page 4
They had spared nothing, neither columns, nor cornices, and my poor little friend was as yellow as a canary.
Sie hatten nichts verschont, weder Säulen noch Gesimse, und mein armes kleines Freundchen war so gelb wie ein Kanarienvogel.
It almost made me bilious.
Es machte mich fast gallensüchtig.
And to this day I have not had the courage to visit my poor disfigured friend, painted the colour of the Celestial Empire.
Und bis auf den heutigen Tag habe ich nicht den Mut gehabt, meinen armen entstellten Freund zu besuchen, der in der Farbe des Himmlischen Reiches angestrichen ist.
So now you understand, reader, in what sense I am acquainted with all Petersburg.
So verstehen Sie nun, lieber Leser, in welchem Sinne ich mit ganz Petersburg bekannt bin.
I have mentioned already that I had felt worried for three whole days before I guessed the cause of my uneasiness.
Ich habe bereits erwähnt, dass ich drei ganze Tage lang beunruhigt war, bevor ich die Ursache meiner Unruhe erriet.
And I felt ill at ease in the street--this one had gone and that one had gone, and what had become of the other?--and at home I did not feel like myself either.
Und auf der Straße fühlte ich mich unwohl – dieser war fort und jener war fort, und was war aus dem anderen geworden? – und zu Hause fühlte ich mich auch nicht wie ich selbst.
For two evenings I was puzzling my brains to think what was amiss in my corner; why I felt so uncomfortable in it.
Zwei Abende lang zerbrach ich mir den Kopf darüber, was in meinem Winkel nicht stimmte; warum ich mich darin so unwohl fühlte.
And in perplexity I scanned my grimy green walls, my ceiling covered with a spider's web, the growth of which Matrona has so successfully encouraged.
Und ratlos musterte ich meine schmutzigen grünen Wände, meine mit einem Spinnennetz bedeckte Decke, dessen Wachstum Matrona so erfolgreich begünstigt hatte.
I looked over all my furniture, examined every chair, wondering whether the trouble lay there (for if one chair is not standing in the same position as it stood the day before, I am not myself).
Ich sah all meine Möbel durch, untersuchte jeden Stuhl und fragte mich, ob das Problem dort lag (denn wenn ein Stuhl nicht an derselben Stelle steht wie am Tag zuvor, bin ich nicht ich selbst).
I looked at the window, but it was all in vain ... I was not a bit the better for it!
Ich schaute zum Fenster, aber es war alles vergebens … Es hatte mir nicht das Geringste geholfen!
Vocabulary
- Sie
- They or you (formal pronoun)
- hatten
- Had; past tense of haben
- nichts
- Nothing; not anything
- verschont
- Spared; left unharmed or untouched
- weder
- Neither; used in neither...nor constructions
- Säulen
- Columns; plural of Säule, architectural pillars
- noch
- Nor; still; yet; also used with weder
- Gesimse
- Cornices; decorative architectural molding ledges
- und
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- mein
- My; first-person singular possessive pronoun
- armes
- Poor; pitiful; unfortunate (adjective form)
- kleines
- Small; little (adjective inflected form)
- Freundchen
- Little friend; diminutive of Freund
- war
- Was; past tense of sein
- so
- So; thus; in such a way
- gelb
- Yellow; the color yellow
- wie
- Like; as; how
- ein
- A; an; indefinite article
- Kanarienvogel
- Canary; small yellow singing bird
- Es
- It; third-person singular neuter pronoun
- machte
- Made; did; past tense of machen
- mich
- Me; first-person singular accusative pronoun
- fast
- Almost; nearly; not quite
- Und
- And; coordinating conjunction starting sentence
- bis
- Until; up to; as far as
- auf
- On; upon; up to; preposition
- den
- The; definite article accusative masculine
- heutigen
- Today's; of today; current (inflected adjective)
- Tag
- Day; a 24-hour period
- habe
- Have; first-person singular of haben
- ich
- I; first-person singular nominative pronoun
- nicht
- Not; negation word
- Mut
- Courage; bravery; boldness
- gehabt
- Had; past participle of haben
- meinen
- My; accusative masculine possessive pronoun form
- armen
- Poor; pitiful; unfortunate (inflected adjective)
- entstellten
- Disfigured; distorted; deformed (inflected adjective)
- Freund
- Friend; a close companion
- zu
- To; too; at; closed (preposition)
- besuchen
- To visit; to call on someone
- der
- The; who; that (article or relative pronoun)
- in
- In; inside; within (preposition)
- Farbe
- Color; paint; hue
- des
- Of the; genitive definite article masculine/neuter
- Himmlischen
- Heavenly; celestial (inflected adjective form)
- Reiches
- Empire; realm; kingdom (genitive form)
- angestrichen
- Painted; coated with paint
- ist
- Is; third-person singular of sein
- So
- So; thus; therefore; in this way
- verstehen
- To understand; to comprehend
- nun
- Now; well; so then
- lieber
- Dear; beloved; rather (comparative of lieb)
- Leser
- Reader; one who reads
- welchem
- Which; what; in which (dative form)
- Sinne
- Sense; meaning; in what sense (dative)
- mit
- With; along with; by means of
- ganz
- Whole; entire; completely
- bekannt
- Acquainted; familiar; known
- bin
- Am; first-person singular of sein
- Ich
- I; first-person singular nominative pronoun
- bereits
- Already; previously; by now
- erwähnt
- Mentioned; referred to; noted
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction
- drei
- Three; the number 3
- ganze
- Whole; entire; complete (inflected adjective)
- Tage
- Days; plural of Tag
- lang
- Long; for a duration; lengthy
- beunruhigt
- Troubled; worried; unsettled
- bevor
- Before; prior to (subordinating conjunction)
- die
- The; definite article feminine or plural
- Ursache
- Cause; reason; origin of something
- meiner
- My; genitive/dative feminine possessive form
- Unruhe
- Restlessness; unease; agitation
- erriet
- Guessed; figured out; past tense of erraten
- Straße
- Street; road; avenue
- fühlte
- Felt; past tense of fühlen
- unwohl
- Unwell; uncomfortable; not feeling well
- dieser
- This; this one; demonstrative pronoun
- fort
- Away; gone; forth; onward
- jener
- That; that one; the other one
- was
- What; that; which (interrogative/relative)
- aus
- From; out of; finished (preposition)
- dem
- The; dative masculine or neuter article
- anderen
- Other; another; different (inflected adjective)
- geworden
- Become; past participle of werden
- Hause
- Home; house (dative form of Haus)
- auch
- Also; too; as well
- selbst
- Myself; itself; even; oneself
- Zwei
- Two; the number 2
- Abende
- Evenings; plural of Abend
- zerbrach
- Racked; broke; past tense of zerbrechen
- mir
- Me; myself; dative first-person pronoun
- Kopf
- Head; top of the body
- darüber
- About it; over it; concerning that
- meinem
- My; dative masculine/neuter possessive form
- Winkel
- Corner; angle; small space or nook
- stimmte
- Was correct; tuned; past tense of stimmen
- warum
- Why; for what reason
- darin
- Therein; in it; inside it
- ratlos
- Clueless; at a loss; helpless
- musterte
- Scrutinized; inspected; past tense of mustern
- meine
- My; first-person possessive adjective (nominative)
- schmutzigen
- Dirty; grimy; filthy (inflected adjective)
- grünen
- Green; inflected form of grün
- Wände
- Walls; plural of Wand
- einem
- A; one; dative indefinite article
- Spinnennetz
- Spiderweb; a web made by a spider
- bedeckte
- Covered; past tense of bedecken
- Decke
- Ceiling; also blanket or cover
- dessen
- Whose; of which; genitive relative pronoun
- Wachstum
- Growth; increase in size or extent
- erfolgreich
- Successfully; effectively; with good results
- begünstigt
- Favored; encouraged; promoted; fostered
- sah
- Saw; past tense of sehen
- all
- All; every; the whole of
- Möbel
- Furniture; household furnishings
- durch
- Through; by means of; across
- untersuchte
- Examined; investigated; past tense of untersuchen
- jeden
- Every; each; accusative masculine of jeder
- Stuhl
- Chair; a piece of seating furniture
- fragte
- Asked; questioned; past tense of fragen
- ob
- Whether; if (subordinating conjunction)
- das
- The; that; it (neuter article/pronoun)
- Problem
- Problem; an issue or difficulty
- dort
- There; in that place
- lag
- Lay; was located; past tense of liegen
- denn
- Because; for; then (conjunction or particle)
- wenn
- When; if; whenever (conjunction)
- an
- At; on; to; near (preposition)
- derselben
- The same; of the same (dative feminine)
- Stelle
- Place; spot; position; passage
- steht
- Stands; is located; third-person of stehen
- am
- At the; on the; contraction of an dem
- zuvor
- Before; previously; earlier
- schaute
- Looked; glanced; past tense of schauen
- zum
- To the; at the; contraction of zu dem
- Fenster
- Window; an opening in a wall
- aber
- But; however; yet (conjunction)
- es
- It; third-person singular neuter pronoun
- alles
- Everything; all of it
- vergebens
- In vain; fruitlessly; without result
- Geringste
- Least; slightest; smallest amount (superlative)
- geholfen
- Helped; past participle of helfen
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