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 geschn, 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. Sah er sich ganz betrübt nach seinem Christoph um. Ein Kästchen mit Juwelen stehn; Der Sohn erschrak und stutze lange. Ach Vater! hub er an, wenn ich so viel empfange, 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 have 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. 66 280. hinterliess, imp. of the insep. irr. comp. hinterlassess, to leave behind in general, and more particularly to leave behind after death. ich hinterlasse, ich hinterliess, ich habe hinterlassen; in zurücklassen, a sep. irr. comp. which also means to leave behind: the word zurück, behind," denotes in a situation to be yet able to come after, or to get at a thing again, whilst hinter, "behind," gives the idea of an absolute leaving or remaining behind, without any possibility of recovery, or coming up again with a thing. 281. "Tiberius verliess die Stadt Rom, welche der Ört war, wo er sich bis dahin aufgehalten hatte, und begab sich nach Caprea. Er hinterliess den Befehl dass niemand in seiner Abwesenheit zu ihm kommen sollte; er liess auch den grössten Theil seiner Bedienten zurück, und nahm nur ein kleines Gefolge mit ;" Tiberius left Rome, the place where he had till then resided, and went to Caprea. He left word behind that no one should come to him during his absence; he also left most of his domestics (back) behind, and took only a small retinue with him. zurück therefore includes the idea of "back, and as zurücklassen is sep. it makes ich lasse zurück, ich liess. zurück, ich habe zurückgelassen. 282. zween Erben, two heirs. In Gellert's time the numeral zwei, two, had three different terminations, according to the gender of the word with which it was combined; in the masculine it was, as here, zween Männer, two men; in the feminine, zwo Frauen, two women; and in the neuter, zwei Häuser, two houses. But now zwei remains the same for all three genders, zwei Männer, zwei Frauen, zwei Häuser; only in the genitive it is zweier, and in the dative zweien, particularly when it is employed absolutely without any substantive. der Erbe, des Erben, pl. die Erben, masc. the heir; er hat ihn zu seinem Erben eingesetzt, he has named him his heir. lachende Erben, laughing heirs, is the designation of strangers who inherit property to which they had no right; das Erbe, s. neut. the hereditary estate, a freehold, in opposition to Lehngut, a fief. 283. Klug, adj. clever, sensible, prudent; dumm, adj. silly, stupid, awkward. 284. Sein Ende kam, his end came, his end drew near. Das Ende, des Endes, pl, die Enden, the end. Kurz, adj. short, adv. shortly, a short time. Das Sterben, s, neut. dying. Almost every infinitive in German may be employed as a noun substantive, to denote the abstract action of the verb, and every such infinitive used as a substantive is of the neuter gender, but has no plural; and though there may be another noun denoting the same action, yet the verbal noun is more energetic, as it paints the action. Das Hoffen, hoping, is more expressive than die Hoffnung; Das Drohen, menacing, more so than die Drohung. The late Baroness de Stäel Holstein considered this a great advantage in the German language. um. 285. Sah er sich ganz betrübt nach seinem Christoph Er sah sich um, he looked round, he looked about, from the separ. irr. compound, sich umsehen, to look about. Ich sehe mich um, ich sah mich um, ich habe mich umgesehn, sec. 36,277. Sich nach etwas umsehen, to look about for something: nach, prep. after, governs the dative. As it includes the idea of an approximation, it may be construed with any verb expressive of a desire to attain an object. Ich sehe mich nach meiner Schwester um, I look for my sister, I wish to bring her near to me. 286. Quälen, reg. active, to plague, to torment, to vex, to disquiet. 287. traurig, adj. mournful, sad, sorrowful, melancholy. 288. der Gedanke, ens, pl. die Gedanken, masc. the thought, the idea. Verstand haben, to have understanding, exactly like the French "avoir de l'esprit," to have much good sense, to be sensible. Der Verstand, es, masc. sense, understanding. 289. wie wird dirs gehn? how will it go to thee; in English, how will it go with thee? dirs is a contraction; wie wird dir es gehn; but the pronoun es may indifferently be tacked to the auxiliary wird, or to the pron. pers. dir. We may say, wie wirds dir gehen, or wie wird dirs gehen the latter is less harsh. : 290. Künftig, sec. 71. 291. Hor an, imperative sing. of the sep. comp. anhören, to listen attentively, to hearken; ich höre an, ich horte an, ich habe angehört: it denotes a greater degree of attention than zuhören, to listen, which is also sep. 292. der Schrank, es, pl. die Schränke, masc. the closet. It is generally combined with the name of the article which it is chiefly destined to contain. Ein Büchershrank, a book-case, ein Kleiderschrank, a wardrobe, ein Brodschrank, a pantry, ein Speiseschrank or Küchenschrank, a larder, &c. This word must not be confounded with der Schranke, or der Schranken, also masc., and in the plural die Schranken, bars, fences, pales, bounds, limits. die in den Schranken laufen, 1 Corinth. ix. 24, "they who run in a race;" in Schranken halten, to keep within bounds. 293. ein Kästchen, neut. a small chest, a small casket. It is the diminutive of der Kasten, masc. the chest, the wooden box. der Juwele, masc. but more generally das Juwel, s, plural, Juwelen, the jewel, a precious stone properly set, or ornaments of precious stones. Observe that you say in German, ein Kästchen mit Juwelen, a casket with jewels. 294. Die sollen dein, an ellipsis for die sollen dein seyn, they shall be thine. 295. Nimm sie, take them, imperat. sing. of the irr. active verb, nehmen, to take: ich nehme, du nimmst, er nimmt, ich nahm, ich habe genommen. 296. gieb, imper. sing. of the irr. active verb, geben, to give; ich gebe, du giebst, er giebt, ich gab, ich habe gegeben. 297. erschrak, impf. singular of the irr. neut. verb, erschrecken, to be frightened, to be astonished; ich erschrecke, du erschrickst, er erschrickt, ich erschrak, ich bin erschrecken; but the active verb, erschreck, to terrify, to frighten, is regular. The common people make the neuter a refl. verb: they say, ich habe mich erschrocken, but this is incorrect; it ought to be ich bin erschrocken. 298. stutzte, imperf. s. of the reg. neut. verb, stutzen, to startle. It is generally construed with the prep. über; über etwas stutzen, to startle at something. 299. lange, adv. a long time. 300. hub er an, he began, impf. s. of the irr. sep. neut. verb, anheben, to begin; ich hebe an, ich hub an, ich habe angehoben. It is generally more solemn than anfangen. 301. empfangen, insep. irr. comp. to receive; ich empfange, ich empfing, ich habe empfangen. Empfahen is the same as empfangen, but used only in the higher styles of writing, G |