expressions can never be mistaken one for the other. Ein gläubiger Christ, a faithful Christian, a firm believer ; er ist ein Gläubiger meines Bruders, he is my brother's creditor. das Grub, es, pl. die Gräber, neut. the grave, the tomb. Do not confound it with der Graben, ens, masc. the ditch. der Rand, es, pl. Ränder, (in some parts of Germany incorrectly Rände,) masc. the edge, brink, border, margin. See sec. 145. The German familiar expression, das versteht sich am Rande, signifies, that is well understood, that requires no comment in the margin. Ergebung, fem. resignation, the act of surrendering in war, and fig. surrendering one's will to that of another. Again a verbal noun, from the refl. irr. sich ergeben, to surrender. das Recht, es, pl. e, right, law, justice. The Germans say, like the French, Recht haben, (avoir raison) to be right; Unrecht haben, (avoir tort) to be wrong; einem Recht geben, to acknowledge that a person is right, to agree with him. die natürlichen Rechte des Menschen, the rights of man; die Rechte, law, jurisprudence; Mein Vetter widmet sich den Rechten, my cousin studies the law, dedicates himself to the profession of the law. The adv. is recht, very; and the adj. recht, right, and also the opposite of left. die rechte Hand, the right hand. 237. ungekränkt, adj. unimpaired, unvexed, from Kränken, reg. act. to vex, part. p. gekränkt, of which we make this adj. with the addition of the negative un, sec. 202. geblieben, part. past of the irr. neut. bleiben, to remain, to continue, (ich bleibe, ich bleib, ich bin geblieben.) Warum sind Sie zu Hause geblieben? why did you stay at home? "To remain," as a complimentary expression at the end of a letter, is always verbleiben, the particle ver having here a strengthening power, which gives more intensity to the expression. Ich verbleibe ihr gehorsamer Diener, I remain your obedient servant. 238. Schwer reisst sich von seinen Lieben los, with difficulty tears itself (mankind) from its darlings. Schwer, adj. and adv. heavy, difficult, heavily, with difficulty; reisst los, from the separ. comp. losreissen, derived from reissen, irr. act. to tear, and los, loose, (ich reisse los, ich risz los, ich habe losgerissen, as act. neut. ich bin losgerissen.) das Menschliche Geschlecht, the human race, mankind; das Geschlecht, es, pl. er, race, sex, genus, gender; das schöne Geschlecht, the fair (le beau sexe.) der Schmerz, masc. F pain, grief. There are two declensions for this word: 1. der Schmerz, des Schmerzens, den Schmerz; 2. der Schmerz, des Schmerzes, dem Schmerze, den Schmerz. The pl. of both is die Schmerzen. Ich habe Kopfschmerzen, I have the head-ache. 239. ringen, irr. act. and neut. to wrestle, to wrench, to wring. In the north of Germany they say wringen, which brings it still nearer to the English. Sinken, irr. neut. to sink, (ich sinke, ich sank, ich bin gesunken,) sec. 42. winken, reg. neut. and act. to beckon, to twinkle, to nod. viel zu früh, much too early, much too soon. Remember that the German zu is both "to" and "too ;" Sie sind zu gütig, you are too kind, over-kind. das Leben, s, neut. life, motion, vivacity, noise; am Leben seyn, to be alive; auf Leben und Sterben, in case of death; für mein Leben gern, very willingly, with great pleasure, with great desire. Ich trinke für mein Leben gern ein Glas alten Rheinwein, I am very fond of a glass of old Hock. Aber will der Muth dir sinken, but if thy courage will sink, if your courage be ready to fail. 240. Blicke zu der Wolke Saum, look to the hem of the cloud; look up to the skirts of the clouds; blicken, `reg. neut. to look, to shine; die Wolke, fem. the cloud. der Saum, es, e, masc. like all the words in aum, pl. die Säume, a hem, edge, border, skirt, seam-Jerem. xiii. 22, deine Säume sind dir aufgedeckt, thy skirts are discovered. 241. wie süssen Traum, like sweet dream: the adj. has the termination of the acc. masc., because der Traum, es, e, pl. die Träume, a dream, is masc.; süss, adj. sweet. 242. Morgenroth, the dawn of morning, the dawn of day, comp. of der morgen, masc. the morning, and rɔth, adj. red. 243. trinken, irr. act. and neut. to drink (ich trinke, ich trank, ich habe getrunken.) To give water to, to water animals, is tränken, poetically to irrigate, which is regular. 244. Droben, adv. contraction of dort oben, or da oben, above. 245. dort, adv. yonder; das Himmelszelt, neut. the tent of heaven, the canopy of heaven, comp. of der Himmel, heaven, and das Zelt, es, pl. die Zelte, the tent. The common people at Berlin make the pl. Zelter, which is incorrect, and ought to be carefully avoided, because ein Zelter, masc. is a horse that ambles, an ambler. 246. der Hoffnung goldne Pforte, hope's golden gate, the golden gate of hope; goldne, contr. for goldene, fem. of the adj. golden, made entirely or partly of gold, golden. The congeniality of the German and English language is evident also in the use of adjectives denoting the stuff or matter of which a thing is made. They may, in both languages, be used as epithets; ein goldnes Thor, a golden gate; but they cannot be employed as attributes or predicates. We cannot say, das Thor ist golden, the gate is golden; it must be in both languages, das Thor ist von Gold, the gate is of gold, or gold. 247. die Pforte, fem. the gate, the postern gate; die Ottomanische Pforte, or only die Pforte, the Turkish empire; die hohe Pforte, the court of the Grand Signior at Constantinople. 248. die Inschrift, the inscription; ein Trosteswort, neut. a word of comfort. Wiedersehn, sep. irr. act. comp. made of wieder, again, and sehen, to see. Ich sehe wieder, ich sah wieder, ich habe wiedergesehn. Sahen Sie sie gestern wieder? did you see her again yesterday? in bess'rer Welt, contr. for in besserer. Welt being fem. and the expression used without an article, the adj. has the termination of the dative fem. In familiar conversation we should say, in einer besseren Well, in a better world. Observe again, two s's where the English word has two t's "better," besser, like "water,” wasser. 249. A song of Goethe's, called "The Fisher," forms the next vehicle for our remarks. DER FISCHER. Das Wasser rauscht', das Wasser schwoll, Sah nach dem Angel ruhevoll Kühl bis ans Herz hinan. Und wie er sitzt und wie er lauscht, Theilt sich die Fluth empor; Aus dem bewegten Wasser rauscht Ein feuchtes Weib hervor. Sie sang zu ihm, sie sprach zu ihm: Mit Menschenwitz und Menschenlis Ach! wüsstest du wie's Fischlein ist So wonlig auf dem Grund, Labt sich die liebe Sonne nicht, Lockt dich der tiefe Himmel nicht, Lockt dich dein eigen Angesicht Nicht her in ew'gen Thau? Das Wasser rauscht', das Wasser schwoll, Sein Herz wuchs ihm so sehnsuchtsvoll, Wie bei der Liebsten Gruss. Sie sprach zu ihm, sie sang zu ihm; Da war's um ihn geschehn. Halb zog sie ihn, halb sank er hin. THE ANGLER. The water rushed, the water swelled, an angler sat near it; cool up to his heart he calmly looked at the angle, and as he sat in soft repose, the rising flood opened, and out of the agitated water rushed up a humid female. She sung to him, she said to him, why doest thou allure my brood up with human skill and human stratagem to this killing heat? Ah! didst thou but know how happy the fish are below, thou wouldst come down as thou art, and only then thou wouldst know happiness. Does not the lovely sun, does not the moon, refresh themselves in the sea? Does not their wave-breathing face return more beautiful? Does not this deep heaven, this humid æthereal blue, attract thee? Does not the reflection of thine own face tempt thee down into the everlasting dew? The water rushed, the water swelled, and wetted his naked foot: his heart felt a longing, as if it had been a greeting from his love. She said to him, she sung to him; and it was all over with him; she half dragged him, he half sunk down, and never was seen any more. 250. der Fischer, s. masc. the fisher, the angler. The verbal names of men carrying on a certain trade or profession have the same termination in er, in English and in German, and are mostly derived from the infinitive of the verb which denotes the occupation. Der Bäcker, the baker; der Brauer, the brewer; der Lehrer, the teacher; der Mahler, the painter, &c. 251. das Wasser rauscht', the water rushed. The apos trophe after the t shows that it is not the present of the indicative, but the imperfect, the poet being at liberty to reject the final e, for the sake of the metre: in prose it must be rauschte, from the reg. neut. verb, rauschen, to rush, to gush out with a noise, to rattle. It is conj. with haben, and applies equally to wind and water, and to silks: fig. ein rauschendes Vergnügen, a noisy pleasure. Das Wasser schwoll, the water swelled; schwellen, irr. neut. ich schwelle, du schwillst, er schwillt, pl. reg. ich schwoll, ich bin geschwollen, to swell, to be puffed up. As an active verb it is regular, and some modern writers make the neut. schuillen, and the act. schwellen; just as we say, quillen and quellen, sinken and senken, schwimmen and schwemmen, springen and sprengen, trinhen and tränken, sec. 42 and 243. 252. ein Fischer sass daran, a fisher sat close to it. Sass, impf. of the irr. neut. sitzen, to sit; ich sitze, ich sass, ich habe gesessen. In conjunction with the adverbs, like gut, well; schlecht, übel, badly; schön, well, beautifully, &c. sitzen, alluding to clothes, means "to fit." Das Kleid sitzt nicht gut, the coat does not fit well: and here again the active verb is setzen, agreeably to the preceding remark, to place: setzen sie sich, set yourself down, refl. der Angel, s, pl. die Angeln, masc. the fishing-hook, the angle: it is now generally employed as a fem. in which case it denotes also the whole angling rod, die Angelruthe. 253. Kühl bis ans Herz hinan, cool up to his heart. These words, connected with the ruhevoll, tranquil, calm, in the preceding lines, are intended to show that the angler was not in a romantic mood, but was wholly taken by surprise when the humid female, rising from the deep, sung to him. 254. und wie er sitzt und wie er lauscht, and as he sits, and as he watches. The German wie is both "how" and "as;" the French "comment" and " comme." Wie befinden Sie sich? Recht wohl wie sie sehen, how do you do? Very well, as you see. Comment vous portez-vous? Très bien, comme vous voyez. lauschen, reg. neut. conj. with haben, to listen, to spy, to be on the watch, particularly with a mischievous intention; to be half dozing, to lounge, to recline for repose, as here. 255. Theilt sich, divides itself, opens, from the reg. act. theilen, to divide in parts. |