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Nach viel vergeblichem Bemühn

Heiszt er die Fremden wieder ziehn.

Sucht selber in dem Hause nach,

Durchsucht des Vaters Schlafgemach,

Un findt mit leichter Müh, (wie grosz war sein Vergnügen!)
Ihn unter einer Diele liegen.

THE TREASURE.

A sick father called his son: Son, said he, in order to provide for thee, I have a long time ago bid a treasure. It lies here, (on saying these words) the father died. What was his son's consternation! A treasure! such were his words. A treasure! but in what place? Where shall I find it? He sends for people who are reported to be able to dig for treasures; breaks through the hard floor of the barn, digs all over the garden and the house, and yet he discovers no treasure. After many fruitless exertions, he dismisses the strangers, sets himself about searching the house and his father's bed-room, and at last (how great was his joy!) he finds the treasure hid under a deal board.

32. Der Schatz, masc. the treasure, des Schatzes, dem Schatze. The plural is Schätze. It also means a stock of goods, a collection: as ein Kornschatz, a stock of corn; ein Brautschatz, a marriage-portion; ein Kunstschatz, a collection of curiosities of art. In very familiar language, Schatz is a term of endearment; mein Schatz, my love hence the verb schätzen, to value, and the adjective schützbar, valuable.

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33. Ein kranker Vater, a sick father. The r would he dropped if it were "the sick father," because the article der would show the gender. "My father is sick," would be, mein Vater ist krank; der Vater, des Vaters, and in the plural die Väter. All words in er are mas. except of course die Mutter, die Tochter, and die Schwester, mother, daughter, and sister; and die Butter, butter; die Feder, the pen; die Kammer, the chamber; das Wasser, the water; das Feuer, the fire; das Laster, vice; das Wunder, the wonder; das Zimmer, the room; das Frauenzimmer, the female, the fair sex.

See sec. 14. den

34. rief den Sohn, called the son. Sohn, acc. sing. masc. der Sonn, the son; des Sohnes, dem Sohne. The h renders the o longer than in English. In the plural it has the diphthong die Söhne, the sons. the words in ohn are mas.; as der Lohn, the reward, wages; der Hohn, scorn.

All

35. Sohn, sprach er, son, spoke he, said he. See sec. 3.

36. um dich zu versorgen, to provide for thee; um zu, a co junction, like the English "for to," instead of "in order to." The um strengthens the zu, and marks the object or purpose of an action more intensely. Ich esse um zu leben, I eat in order to live; but the government of the verb is always placed between the um and zu: er thut es um seinen Zweck zu erreichen, he does it for to obtain his end. Versorgen, reg. v. a. insep. comp. to provide for, derived from sorgen, to care. Versorgen may have anciently been fürsorgen, to care for. The ver has not its destructive power here, as in verbrauchen, to consume by using; verbrennen, to consume by burning, &c. Ver being insep., like ent, sec. 5. it has no ge in the part. past, and makes simply versorgt. Ich habe meinen Sohn versorgt, I have provided for my son.

37. Hab' ich, for habe ich, have I, because um dich zu versorgen stands first. See sec. 18.

38. vor langer Zeit, before a long time, a long time ago. Vor is a prep. "before," which governs the dat. and acc. according as there is a locomotion or not. Here it has the dative, which, as the adj. is used without an article, is marked in the adj. itself. Langer, f. because Zeit, time, is f.; in the pl. die Zeiten. All words in eit are fem. except der Streit, the dispute, the contention. The adjective in German is indeclinable, like the English, when it is a predicate or attribute, and refers to a substantive, generally by means of the verb is. Mein Vater ist sehr gütig. Meine Mutter ist sehr gütig. Meine Schwestern sind sehr gütig. My father, my mother is, and my sisters are, very kind. But when the adjective is coupled with the substantive as an epithet, we have already noticed its construction with the definite article sec. 10, and with the article indefinite sec. 16. There remains only the case when it is employed as in English, "good wine, fine apples," without any articles; in that case it takes the termination of the articles themselves. In the masculine, guter Wein, gutes Weines, gutem Weine, gutem Wein, good wine. Hence you may say in the accusative, "Have you good wine?" Haben Sie guten Wein? In the feminine, grosse Freude, grosser Freude, grosser Freude, grosse Freude, great joy; Es ist ein Zeichen grosser Freude. It is a sign of great joy. In the neuter, schlechtes Korn, schlechtes Kornes, schlectem

Korne, schlechtes Korn, bad corn. In the plural for all three genders, kleine Kinder, kleiner Kinder, kleinen Kindern, kleine Kinder, little children.

39. einst, an adv. of time, " once," but it also refers to the future; Ich hoffe Sie einst wiederzusehen, I hope to see you again at some future time. Here it is rather an expletive.

40. einen Schatz, acc. m. with the indef. art. a treasure. 41. verborgen, hid, part. past or the insep. comp. verb, verbergen, to hide, derived from bergen, which originally signified to save, to preserve; nun bin ich geborgen, now 1 am safe, secure; gestrandete Güler bergen, to save stranded goods. Verbergen, to preserve away, so that it be unknown to others, is to hide; it follows the irregular of bergen, viz. verbarg in the imperf. and verborgen in the part. past.

42. er liegt, he lies, because it refers to der Schatz, m. liegt, from liegen, to lie; irregular, ich liege, ich lag, ich habe gelegen. It is neuter; the active is legen, to lay, reg. We have several neuter verbs in German, which become active by changing the vowel; as sinken, to sink, neuter, makes senken, to sink, active.

43. Hier starb der Vater schon, here died the Father already. Starb, imperf. of the irr. n. v. sterben, which in German is not to starve, but to die any kind of death. It has gestorben in the part. past, and is conjugated with the verb seyn, to be. Er est gestorben, he has died. He is dead, would be, Er es todt. Schon, adv. of time, "already:" sind sie schon hier? are you here already?

44. Wer, who, pron. inter. masc. fem. wer ist da? who is there? A German soldier, on duty, does not say, who goes there? but simply wer da? who is there? omitting the verb by way of an ellipsis.

45.

war, "was," imperf. of the aux. verb seyn, to be, which must be learnt by heart in the Grammar.

46. bestürtzter, more alarmed, is the compar. of the adj. and part. past. bestürtzt, alarmed, in consternation. The degrees of comparison are the same in German as in English. er, added to the adjective, gives the comparative of whatever length the positive may be; nachlässig, negligent, makes nachlässiger, more negligent; aufmerksam, attentive; aufmerksamer, more attentive.

47. als der Sohn, than the son; als is the conj. as, which is employed after a compound, for "than." Tugend ist besser als Reichthum, virtue is better than riches.

48. So waren seine Worte, so were, such were his words. Wort is one of those nouns which have two plurals, one Worte, and the other with the diphthong, Wörter. The former is collective, and means spoken, or connected words, the component parts of a speech, (verba," des paroles") the latter (wörter) individual, unconnected words, (vocabula, "des môts.") A Dictionary in German is ein Wörterbuch, neut.

49. allein, conj. but, is the same as aber; but it is also an adj. "alone."

50. an welchem Orte, at what place, in what place; an, like in, gov. both the dat. and acc. Here it is construed with the dative, because there is no locomotion. welchem, dat. masc. sing. of the pron. rel. welcher, welche, welches, which, to agree with Ort, mas. der Ort, des Ortes, dem Orte, in the pl. Orte, and Oerter, with the diphthong, like Wort.

51. Wo find ich ihn? where find I him? because it refers to Schatz, m. where shall I find it? The Germans often employ the present instead of the future. Wo, inter. adv. of place, "where ;" ich finde, I find; from the irr. finden, to find; ich fand, I found; ich habe gefunden, I have found.

52. er schickt nach Leuten aus, he sends out after people ausschicken, a sep. comp. verb, which throws the particle behind in simple tenses, is derived from the reg. schicken, to send. nach, prep. after; sometimes it means towards. Ich gehe nach Hause, I am going home. It governs the dative. Leuten is the dat. of Leute, people; used only in the plural, like the French gens: ce sont de bonnes gens. "Es sind gute Leute," they are good people.

66

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53. Die Schätze sollen graben können. This is the most difficult line in the Fable. Die is here pron. rel. who; Schätze, pl. treasures; sollen, which generally means ought, are to, shall," here means are reported to." Die Griechen sollen die Türken geschlagen haben, the Greeks are reported to have beat the Turks: but it always means a vague report, which demands confirmation. graben, to dig, is irr.; ich grub, I digged; Ich habbe gegraben, İ

have dug. Können, aux. verb, to be able. Ich kann nicht, I cannot. Können Sie? can you? Both Sollen and Können must be learnt in the Grammar. They occur as frequently as the English shall and can.

54. durchbricht, breaks through, from the insep. comp. verb, durchbrichen, derived from the irregular brechen, to break; ich brach, ich habe geborchen. Durch is sometimes separable, and sometimes inseparable. It generally is inseparable when it has the power of a preposition, and the verb is an active one, as here. But we should say separably, der Flusz bricht überall durch, the river breaks through every where; and inseparably, die Sonne durchbricht die Wolken, the sun breaks through the clouds.

55. der Scheuren harte Tennen, the barn's hard floors, the hard floors of barns.

56. durchgräbt den Garten und das Haus, digs through; the same as durchbricht.

57. und gräbt doch keinen Schatz heraus, and yet digs no treasure out. Herausgraben is a separable compound verb, which follows the same rule as anfangen, sec. 6.

58. nach viel vergeblichem Bemühn, after much fruitless trouble. viel, much, is indeclinable here, but it may be used as an adjective, and declined. vergeblichem, dat. neut. of the adjective, because it is used without the article, and agrees with das Bemühn, the trouble. vergeblich means both venial, pardonable, and fruitless, ineffectual.

59. heiszt er, he bids, from the irr. heissen, which, as an active verb, is to bid, to order; as a neuter, to be called. Wie heissen Sie? what is your name? how are you called? Heissen makes ich hiesz, ich habe geheissen.

60. die Fremden, the strangers, from the adjective, fremd, strange, foreign, which used substantively, makes ein Fremder, a stranger, and der Fremde, the stranger, because in the latter the article shews the gender.

61. wieder ziehn, to move again, to remove. Ziehen is irregular; ich ziehe, ich zog, ich habe gezogen. einziehen, to move into a house; ausziehen, to remove, to move out of it.

62. sucht selber in dem Hause nach, searches in the house himself; from the regular separable compound verb nachsuchen, derived from the regular suchen, to search, to seek.

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