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256. empor, adv. up, upwards. It is generally confined to poetry. aus dem bewegten Wasser, out of the agitated water. bewegt, part. past of the reg. act. bewegen, to agitate, to move, also morally to affect, to move to compassion. But when it signifies to induce, to have an influence upon the will, it is irr. and makes ich bewog, ich habe bewogen. Die Predigt bewegte mich bis zu Thränen, und bewog mich meine Reise aufzuschieben, the sermon moved me even to tears, and induced me to postpone my journey. Feucht, adj. damp, humid.

257. ein Weib, neut. a woman, a female; das Weib, es, e, pl. die Weiber. This word denotes a female companion of man, without any reference to the legality of the connexion, whilst die Frau always denotes the lawful wife. The folJowing epigram hinges upon the difference :

"Dass Boas seine Magd zu seinem Weib erkohren
Deswegen hält man ibn für keinen Thoren ;
Dich nur, Lykander, hat man ausgelacht

Dieweil du deine Magd zu deiner Frau gemacht,"

258. hervor, adv. forward, from behind, or out of a place. Was, which is properly the pron. inter. what, is also employed as a conj. instead of warum, why, wherefore. locken, verb, to allure, to entice. There is an old saying :"Wenn dich die bösen Buben locken, so folge ihnen nicht." When bad boys entice you, do not follow them.

259. hinauflocken, to allure upwards, in a direction opposite to the speaker or agent, as here, the water-nymph being in the water, uses the adv. hinauf. The angler would say, ich locke die Fische herauf, I allure the fish up towards

me.

Der

260. menschenwitz, human wit, human skill. Witz, es, masc. wit; anciently, knowledge, as in Vorwitz, sec. 71. Menschenlist, human stratagem. die List, fem. art, stratagem, innocent cunning. When attended with malice, it is expressed by Ränke, pl.

261. Todesgluth, death-fire. See Gluth, sec. 197. der Tod, es, masc. death.

262. Ach! wüsstest du, Ah! didst thou know, for, if thou didst know, sec. 22.

263. wie's Fischlein, contr. for wie das Fischlein, how the little fish. The Germans have several diminutives, but

the syllables chen and lein are the two principal. The termination chen (not gen,) is the same with the English "kin" in "Lambkin" which in the German is das Lämmchen, by the rule that all words in a and u take the diphthong ä ü, when changed into diminutives by the addition of either chen or lein; and any word thus changed into a diminuitive is of the neuter gender. Chen pre

vails in the north of Germany, and lein in the south; but they may be employed indifferently. Chen seems to be more expressive of prettiness, endearment, and playfulness; lein is less sportive, and has often a colouring of stiffness and gravity. But poets are more influenced by the sound. Fischchen, on account of two hissings joined together, would be very disagreeable to the ear. wohlig, adj. happy, well off, comfortable. auf dem Grund, at the bottom. der Grund, es, e, pl. die Gründe, ground, bottom, foundation; argument, reason, cause, motive.

264. Du stiegst herunter, thou wouldst come down. stiegst, the impf. of the subj. inetead of the conditional. Here it is heruntersteigen, because the water-nymph wants the angler to come down to her; just as we say, Kommen Sie her, come hither, this way, towards me.

265. und würdest erst gesund, and then only thou wouldst be well, happy. erst, adv. first, previously; only now, only then; only, not more. Here it means only then. We say, erst in drei Wochen, not before three weeks are over. Sie ist erst dreizehn Jahr alt, she is but thirteen years of age. Wann sie heirathen, werden sie erst glücklich seyn, you will be happy only (then) when you marry. gesund, adj. sound, healthy, wholesome; here it means happy, blessed.

266. Sich luben, refl. reg. verb, to refresh one's self, to comfort one's self.

267. die liebe Sonne, the dear sun, the lovely sun. lieb, adj. dear, lovely. Es ist mir lieb, I am glad. Est ist mir nicht lieb; es thut mir Leid; est ist mir Leid, I am sorry. The Germans are fond of giving the epithet of lieb to whatever they value or respect highly, whatever is essential to life. They say der liebe Gott, der liebe Himmel, die liebe Sonne, der liebe Mond, der liebe Regen, das liebe Brod, das liebe Geld. It comes near to the English "precious," in some expressions, as die liebe Zeit. But

lieber Freund is often said to an absolute stranger, and denotes some assumed superiority.

268. der Mond, es, masc. the moon.

We have already

noticed, sec. 132, the singularity that the sun is fem. and the moon masc. in the German language.

Hence Bürger,

in his song entitled "Auch ein Lied an den lieben Mond,"
says:-
:-

"Auch bist du's werth, mein sanfter holder, lieber
Ich weiss nicht recht wie ich dich nennen soll,
Mann oder Weib ?"

im meer, contr. for in dem meer, in the sea.
es, neut. the sea.

....

Das meer,

269. Kehrt wellenathmend ihr Gesicht nicht doppelt schöner her? does not their wave-breathing face return doubly beautiful? Herkehren is a poetical expression; in prose it would be wiederkehren, or zurückkehren. Kehren, reg. act. and neut. to sweep, to turn; conj. with seyn, when neut., and with haben, when act. Er ist nach Hause gekehrt, he has taken the way home. umkehren, to turn about. Sich an etwas kehren, to regard something, to pay attention to it. Er kehrt sich an nichts, he minds nothing.

270. das Gesicht, s. neut. the face, the sight, the vision. It has two plurals, die Gesichter, faces, grimaces, and die Gesichte, sights, visions. Goethe says, in his Faustus:

"Dass diese Fülle der Gesichte

Der trockne Schleicher stören muss!"

"Oh! that the dry sneeker must disturb this abundance of visions!"

271. verklärt, part. p. of the reg. act. verklären, to clear up, to render serene. In the Bible, to glorify: Gospel of St. John, xii. 28, Ich habe ihn verkläret, und will ihn abermals verklären, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. In the language of seafaring traders, to make their declaration at the Custom-house on arrival, or on sailing, which in their unstudied language they call einklariren and ausklariren. Here verklärt means glorious, ætherial.

272. dein eigen Angesicht, thy own face. Observe that with nouns of the neuter gender we very often employ the adj. in its absolute state, though coupled with a pronoun

possessive, or the article indefinite, or even without an article. We may say, es ist schön Wetter, instead of schönes Wetter, "it is fine weather;" but it is always safer to follow the rule, because this license is not allowable in every expression. We may say, es ist schwarz Brod, it is brown bread; but we could not say es ist gut Brod; it must be gutes Brod, it is good bread.

273. in ew'gen Thau, a contraction for in ewigen Thau, in everlasting dew. der Thau, es, masc. the dew. Mehlthau, mildew. Tears are poetically called der Thau der Augen, Netzt'ihm den nackten Fuss, wetted to him the naked foot, wetted his naked foot; exactly like the French lui mouilla les pieds. Netzt' shows again that it is the impf. nelzte, not the present. netzt, from the reg. act. netzen, to wet, to water, to bathe, to soak; to provide with a net; but in that sense benetzen is better. David says, Ich netze mein Lager mit Thränen, I water my couch with my tears. - Psalms, vi. 6.

274. Sehnsuchtsvoll, adj. desirous, impatient for, full of impatience for a thing, not impatient in the sense of having no patience; this is ungeduldig. die Liebste, the beloved one, but in the language of the common people, a sweetheart.

275. der Gruss, es, pl. Grüsse, masc. greeting, salutation, salute.

276. Da war's um ihn geschehn, it was all over with him, he was completely done for. We had um zu, sec. 36, and um, about, sec. 234. But um here denotes a deprivation, an overturning as it were. We say, um sein Leben kommen, to come down with one's life, to be deprived of life. um etwas kommen, to lose something that one had. um das Leben bringen, to deprive of life, whence, by a strong ellipsis, unbringen, to kill. Sich um das Bewustseyn trinken, to deprive one's self of consciousness by drinking. By the same analogy, est ist um ihn geschehn, he is done for, it is all over with him, he is lost, there is no remedy for his misfortune. The impers. verb es geschiehet, it happens, is irr. es geschah, es ist geschehn.

277. und ward nicht mehr gesehn, and was seen no more. The impf. of the passive voice. Ich ward gesehn, I was seen. The German passive being made with the verb

werden, to become, instead of seyn, to be, requires the utmost attention of the student.

278. One of Gellert's Fables, the last two lines of which are become almost proverbial in Germany, will serve us for a text to our practical remarks.

DER STERBENDE VATER.

Ein Vater hinterliess zween Erben,

Christophen, der war klug, und Görgen der war dumm.
Sein Ende kam, und kurz vor seinem Sterben

Sah er sich ganz betrübt nach seinem Christoph um.
Sohn, fing er an, mich quält ein trauriger Gedanke;
Du hast Verstand, wie wird dirs künftig gehn ?
Hör an, ich hab in meinem Schranke

Ein Kästchen mit Juwelen stehn;
Die sollen dein. Nimm sie, mein Sohn,
Und gieb dem Bruder nichts davon.

Der Sohn erschrak und stutze lange.

Ach Vater! hub er an, wenn ich so viel empfange,
Wie kömmt alsdann mein Bruder fort?

Ey! fiel der Vater ihm ins Wort,

Für Görgen ist mir gar nicht bange,

Der kömmt gewiss durch seine Dummheit fort.

THE DYING FATHER.

A father left behind two heirs; Christopher, who was clever, and George, who was silly. His end drew near, and a short time before his death he sadly looked round for his Christopher. My son, he began, a sorrowful thought troubles me. You have much sense, how will it go with you in future? Hark, I have in my closet a small casket with jewels, they shall be yours. Take them, my son, and give none of them to your brother.

The son was astonished and startled for a long time. But, alas! my father, he began, (at last) if I am to receive so much, how is my brother to get on? Oh! said the father interrupting him, I bave no fears whatever for George; he will certainly get forward through his silliness.

279. Der sterbende Vater, the dying father, sec. 43. All German participles, active and passive, follow the rules of the adjectives. A dying father would be Ein sterbender Vater.

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