ÀҾ˹éÒ˹ѧÊ×Í
PDF
ePub

The French also say, au dire des anciens, as is stated by the ancients. They have very few substantives made of infinitives, as le manger, le boire, le faire, &c. and the Abbé d'Olivet justly observes: "Y auroit-il si grand mal à étendre un peu cette liberté de créer des substantifs dans ce gout là, puisqu'elle peut occasionner des expressions neuves et heureuses? Témoin la réponse de l'Angéli, ce fou de la vieille cour, immortalisé par Boileau Un jour le roi lui ayant demandé pourquoi on ne le voyoit jamais au Sermon: Sire, dit-il, c'est que je n'entends pas le raisonner, et je n'aime pas le brailler." See page 155, X.

Sa peccadille, his peccadillo; une peccadille, f. a slight fault, a slight sin, page 152, X. The termination ille is often a diminutive, as here, and in armadille, a small fleet; cantatille, a little cantate: ooquille, a small shell; croustille, a small crust of bread; escadrille, a small squadron of ships; faucille, a small sickle; fibrille, a slender fibre; flottille, a small fleet; mantille, a very small lady's cloak; ormille, a plot of young elms; volatille, small birds; des ramilles, faggots of small wood; mercantille, a trade of little value; vétille, a trifle, an insignificant thing.

We select again one of Gellert's Fables, entitled, Der Bauer und sein Sohn (the Peasant and his Son.) It runs thus:

EIN guter dummer Bauerknabe,

Den Junker Hans einst mit auf Reisen nahm,

Und der Trotz seinem Herrn, mit einer guten Gabe

Recht dreist zu lügen, wieder kam,

Ging, kurtz nach der vollbrachten Reise,

Mit seinem Vater üher Land.

Fritz, der im Gehn recht Zeit zum Lügen fand,

Log auf die unverschämste Weise.

Zu seinem Unglück kam ein groszer Hund gerannt.
Ja, Vater, rief der unverschämte Knabe,
Ihr mögt mirs glauben, oder nicht,

So sag'ich euchs und jedem ins Gesicht,

Dasz ich einst einen Hund by Haag gesehen habe,
Hart an dem Weg wo man nach Frankreich fährt,
Der, ja ich bin nicht ehrenwerth.

Wenn er nicht gröszer war,`als euer grösztes Pferd.

Das, sprach der Vater, nimmt mich Wunder;
Wiewohl ein jeder Ort läst Wunderdinge sehn,
Wir, zum Exempel, gehn jetzunder

Und werden keine Stunde gehn,

So wirst du eine Brücke sehn.
(Wir müszen selbst darüber gehn)
Die hat dir manchen schon betrogen ;

(Denn überhaupt solls dort nicht gar zu richtig seyn,)
Auf dieser Brücke liegt ein Stein,

An den stöszt man wenn man denselben Tag gelogen,
Und fällt, und bricht sogleich das Bein.

Der Bub'erschrack, so bald er diesz vernommen.
Ach! sprach cr, lauft doch nicht so sehr!

Doch wieder auf den Hund zu kommen,

Wie grosz sagt'ich dasz er gewesen wär?

Wie euer groszes Pferd? Dazu will viel gehören.
Der Hund jetzt fällt mirs ein, war est ein halbes Jahr ;

Allein das wollt'ich wohl beschwören

Dasz er so grosz als maneher Ochse war..

Sie gingen noch ein gutes Stücke ;

Doch Fritzen schlug das Hertz. Wie konnt'es anders seyn ?
Denn niemand bricht doch gern ein Bein.

Er sah nunmehr die richterische Brücke
Und fühlte schon den Beinbruch halb..

Ia, Vater, fing er an, der Hund von dem ich redte,

War grosz, und wenn ich ihn auch was vergröszert hätte,

So war er doch viel gröszer als ein Kalb.

Die Brücke kömmt. Fritz! Fritz! wie wird dirs gehn! ¦
Der Vater geht voran; doch Fritz hält ihn geschwind.

Ach Vater! spricht er, seyd kein Kind,

Und glaubt dasz ich dergleichen Hund gesehen.

Denn kurz und gut, eh wir darüber gehen,

Der Hund war nur so grosz wie alle Hunde sind.

A SILLY Peasant's boy, whom Lord Jack once took with him on his travels, and who returned home with the talent of boldly telling untruths, as well as his master, went, shortly after this journey, with his Father into the country. Frederick, who on the way found plenty of time for retailing untruths, told them in the most impudent manner. For his misfortune a large dog came running up to them. Yes, father, cried the impudent boy, you may believe me or not, but I tell you, and will tell any one to his face, that I once saw, near the Hague, close to the road to France, a dog, which, I'll forfeit my honour if he was not bigger than your tallest horse. That surprises. me, said the father; but every place has its wonders, we, for in

stance, shall not have gone one hour farther on our road, when you will see a bridge, and we have to cross it, by which many a man has been taken in, for in general it is said to be haunted. On this bridge there is a stone against which one stumbles, if one has told a lie on the same day, and one falls and instantly breaks one's leg. The Boy was frightened when he heard this. Ah! said he, don't walk so fast. But to return to the dog, of what size did I say he was? like your tall horse? That is saying a great deal. The dog, it now occurs to me, was only half a year old; but I would take my oath that he was as big as many an Ox. They yet went a good way: but Frederick's heart was beating. How could it be otherwise? No one is fond of breaking a leg. He now beheld the bridge of judgment, and felt already half the pain of a broken leg. Yes, father, he began, the dog of which I spoke was large, and though I may have magnified a little, yet he actually was bigger than a calf. They got to the bridge. Frederick! Frederick! how will it go with you? The father walked before, but Frederick quickly detained him. Ah! Father, said he, don't be so childish as to believe that I saw such a dog; for to make it short, before we cross the bridge, the dog was only as big as dogs are in general.

Ein guter dummer Bauerknabe, a (good) silly peasant's boy. The adj. Gut, here means stupid, without being mischievous. Thus we call a plain honest man, but rather deficient in understanding, eine gute ehrliche Haut, (a good honest skin.) Ein guter Narr, a silly fool, who is not mischievously inclined.

Junker Hans, Lord Jack. Junker is properly a contraction of junger Herr, young lord. This title was anciently England, to the sons of

given only, as is still the case in Dukes and Marquisses, but has long since been given to all the sons of every nobleman. A young nobleman on entering the military service is called Junker, until he obtains an officer's commission. And sometimes the word applies even to a grown up nobleman, but always in a sneering way, as page 296, XIX.: in Bürger's Ballad "Dem Junker Plump.” We also say of a nobleman who constantly lives on his estate in the country, er ist ein Landjunker. In Hamburg they call the youngest apprentice of a baker Junker, and in some sea ports of the Baltic merchants were anciently named Junker, hence the Junkerhof, a commercial building at Dantzick. Junkeriren, or junkern, r. n. v. to live merry like a young

nobleman. May not the English "junketting" be derived from this verb?

Hans, Jack, is the diminutive of Johann, John.

master.

Trotz seinem Herrn, as well as his master, vying with his Der Trotz, es, e, m. scorn, spite, arrogance, sauciness, hectoring, obstinacy; aus Trotz, out of spite; einem Trotz bieten, to defy one. Construed with the dative it means in spite of, notwithstanding; but here it is vying with, as well as; thus we say, er läuft Trotz einem Läufer, he runs as well, as fast, as a running footman. Modern writers consider it as an adverb, when it means notwithstanding. They spell it without a capital letter, and construe it with the genitive: trotz seines Reichthums ist er doch nicht glücklich, in spite of his wealth he is not happy. See trotzen, page 348, 349, XXII.

Mit einer guten Gabe, with a good gift, with the happy talent, the word "happy," being used ironically. Gut here means perfect, complete, but may be explained as a sneer. Nach der vollbrachten Reise, after the performed journey; vollbracht, part. past. of the irr. insep. comp. a. v. vollbringen, to perform, to execute, to accomplish, to achieve. It follows the irregularities of bringen. Ich vollbringe, ich vollbrachte, ich habe vollbracht. We say, nach vollbrachter Arbeit ist gut ruhen, after the labour has been performed, rest is sweet. And Luther translates the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, vii. 18., Wollen hab'ich wohl, aber vollbringen das Gute find'ich nicht, "to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not." The German verbs, formed with voll, are inseparable, when they denote completion or achieving, as here, and in vollziehen, to execute. Die vollziehende Gewalt, the executive power; vollführen, to fulfil; vollenden, to finish; vollstrecken, to execute a sentence. But they are separable whenever the adjective voll retains its meaning of "full." Thus we say, vollgiessen, to pour full. Ich giesze voll, ich gosz voll, ich habe vollgegossen; and though active verbs compounded with voll govern the accusative of the thing, when used without voll, they govern the accusative of the vessel or object which is filled by

means of the verb, whenever they are employed with voll. Thus we say, without roll: ich giesze den Wein in das Glasz, I pour the wine into the glass; ich schütte den Weitzen in den Suck, I put the wheat into the sack; but on using voll—ich giesze das Glasz voll, I fill the glass; ich schütte den Sack voll, I fill the sack. They are elliptical expressions. Ein Glasz vollgiessen, is ein Glasz durch giessen voll machen, to make a glass full by pouring into it. See the adj. coll, page 299, 300, XIX.

Log is the preter. of the irr. n. lügen, to lie, page 333, XXI. Ich lüge, ich log, ich habe gelogen,

Ich bin nicht ehrenwerth, I am not worthy of honour, I'll forfeit my honour. This is an adj., but we often say, das ist aller Ehren werth, that is very acceptable; in this case it is the subst. Ehre, honour, construed with werth, worthy, and must be spelt separately. The subst. die Ehre, f. honour, like die Erde, earth; Gnade, grace, favour; Frau, woman; Seele, soul, and others, may also be declined der Ehren, in the genitive and dative, page 348, XXII.

Das nimmt mich Wunder, that makes me wonder, I wonder at it. Anciently wunder nehmen, to harbour wonder, to' wonder.

Wiewohl, conj. though, although, throws the verb to the end of the sentence. Wiewohl sie noch jung ist, though she is yet young; ich that als wüszte ich von nichts wiewohl ich davon schon gehört hatte, I did as if I knew nothing of the matter, though I had heard of it before. The poët uses it here in the sense of " however," adverbially, in which case it has no influence upon the construction.

Jetzunder is an antiquated, and now vulgar form of jetzt, adv. of time, at present, page 47, III.

Und werden keine Stunde gehn, and shall not go one hour, and shall not have one hour to go; die Stunde, f. the hour; er kömmt um ein Uhr und bleibt eine Stunde mit mir, he comes at one o'clock, and stays an hour with me. But eine Stunde, * in Germany, also means half a German mile, or two and a half English miles, because they reckon that it requires two hours to walk a German mile, which is nearly five English

« ¡è͹˹éÒ´Óà¹Ô¹¡ÒõèÍ
 »