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Dass jeder, der vorüber geht,
Ihr zuzuhören stille steht.

Du kleine, mit dem blondem Haar
Die längst schon meine Freude war,
Ich gehe, rauhe Winde wehn;

Willst du mit mir ins Hüttchen gehn?

THE INVITATION.

I HAVE Only a poor little hut; it stands on a verdant meadow, near a brook; the brook is small, but it could not well be clearer. Close to the poor little but stands a tree; one can hardly see the little hut for it, and it shelters those who are within from the sun, the cold, and the wind. And a pretty nightingale sings on this tree so sweet a song, that every one who passes by stands still to listen to her. Thou little one with fair hair, who has long since been my joy! I am going home, the winds are blowing roughly; wilt thou go with me into the little hut?

in

119. Die Einladung, fem. the invitation. All the words ung are fem. except der Sprung, the leap; der Ursprung, the origin; der Schwung, the swing; der Dung, (in upper Germany for der Dünger) the dung. The words in ung are mostly verbal nouns, as Einladung, from einladen, to invite; Anwendung, application, from anwenden, to apply; Bewegung, motion, from bewegen, to move; Drohung, menace, from drohen, to threaten, &c.

120. Ich hab'ein kleines Hüttchen nur, I have a small little hut only; I have only a small little hut; a poor little but. A small little hut appears a pleonasm: but Hüttchen, neut. is the diminutive of Die Hütte, fem. the hut, and the epithet klein added to it indicates that it is very small; ein kleines, neuter, because Hüttchen is neuter. All diminu. tives in chen are neuter, whatever be the gender of the word to which the syllable chen is tacked.

121. nur, conj. only, but. It means, no other, nothing else. Ich habe nur eine Bitte an Sie, I have but one request to make of you. Bleiben Sie nur noch einen Augenblick, stay but one moment longer.

122. Es steht, it stands, because the pronoun refers to Hüttchen, neut. stehen, irr. to stand; ich stehe, ich stand, (stund, which is mentioned by Mr. Rowbotham, is quite obsolete ;) ich habe gestanden, (in Upper Germany, ich bin gestanden.)

123. auf einer Wiesenflur, upon a meadow plain, on a verdant meadow; auf, prep. upon, on, is here construed with the dative, because there is no locomotion; eine Wiesenflur, fem. a poetical compound word, made of Wiese, fem. a meadow, and die Flur, fem. a verdant even flat field, either of grass or corn.

124. an einem Bach, close to a brook; der Bach, es, pl. die Bäche, the brook, the rivulet, the little stream. Ein Gieszbach, or Stürtzbach, a mountain torrent,

125. der Bach ist klein, the brook is small.

126. Könnt'aber wohl nicht heller seyn, could but well not clearer be, but it could not well be clearer. Könnte, impf, subj. of the aux. verb konnen, to be able. The conj. aber, but, may be placed either before or after the nominative of the verb; it has no influence upon the construction. Mein Vater ist krank, aber meine Mutter befindet sich recht wohl, my father is ill, but my mother is very well, may also be, meine Mutter aber befindet sich recht wohl. 127. wohl, adv. well, approaches here the idea of possibly.

128. heller, comp. of hell, clear, bright,

129. Am kleinen Hüttchen, a contraction for an dem kleinen Hüttchen, close to the small little hut. London liegt an der Themse, London lies (is situated) by the Thames.

130. steht ein Baum, stands a tree. der Baum, masc, des Baumes, e, pl. die Bäume, the tree; ein Obstbaum, masc. a fruit tree; der Baum, on board a ship, the boom; also the bar at the entry of a harbour; ein Mastbaum, masc. a mast.

131. man sieht vor ihm das Hüttchen kaum, one sees for it the little hut hardly, one can hardly see the little hut for it. The preposition vor, which is generally the English before, points here at the tree, as an obstacle which prevents the but being seen. Thus Wieland humorously

says:

"Er sieht den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht,"

" he does not see the woods for all the trees." The trees prevent his seeing the wood. Kaum, adv. hardly, scarcely. Und gegen Sonne, Kält und Wind beschützt er die darinnen sind; in prose it would be-und er beschützt die dieenigen die darinnen sind gegen Sonne, Kälte, und Wind,

and it (the tree) protects those who are within against the sun, the cold, and the wind. Diejenigen die, or die die, those who, but the poet leaves out one die. beschützen, reg. verb, to protect, derived from schützen, which has the same meaning; but the inseparable particle be renders the government of the verb a more particular object of its action. darinnen, for darin, is rather obsolete, it means within; gegen, prep. gov. acc. against, in the sense of towards or meeting the object, not in the sense of opposition or resistance; this is always expressed by wider. Gegen den Wind, is against the wind, meeting the wind; wider den Wind, against the wind, struggling against the wind.

132. die Sonne, fem. the sun. The late Mr. Harris betrayed his ignorance of the German language in his Hermes, when he asserted that the sun must in all languages be of necessity masculine, and the moon feminine. In German it is exactly the reverse-der Mond, masc. die Sonne, fem.

133. die Kälte, fem. the cold; der Wind, masc. the wind. In the language of seafaring men, ein widriger wind, is a foul wind; ein durche widrige Winde aufgehaltenes Schiff, a ship which is wind-bound. Der Wind schrahlt, or der Wind läuft schief, the wind scants; der Wind läuft um, the wind chops about, fig.; and in familiar language, Wind machen, to fib; Wind bekommen, to get secret intelligence.

134. Und eine gute Nachtigall, and a good nightingale, meaning a pretty or clever nightingale.

135. Singt auf den Baum so süssen Schall, sings on the tree so sweet sound, so sweet a song; singen, irr. verb, to sing; ich singe, ich sang, ich babe gesungen. adj. sweet.

Süss,

136. Dass jeder der vorüber geht, that every one who by passes, who passes by. Vorüber gehen is a sep. comp. verb (derived from gehen, to go, irr. ich gehe, ich ging, ich bin gegangen) to go by, to pass by; ich gehe vorüber, ich ging vorüber, ich bin vorüber gegangen. Sie geht alle Tage unserm Hause vorüber, she passes every day by our house; Ich weiss nicht ob sie unserm Hause vorüber geht, I do not know whether she passes by our house. But in common conversation we should more readily use the verb, vorbeigehen, which has the same meaning.

Some

church-yards in Germany have this inscription over their

entrance:

Alle die vorübergeht,

Sehet wie es um euch steht;
Was ihr seyd, das waren wir,
Was wir sind, das werdet ihr.

All ye that pass by, look to it how matters stand with you; what are you (now), that we were (once), (and) you will become what we are (now).

137. Goethe says: "Kannst du sagen: das ist! da alles vorübergeht?" Can you say of any thing that it is, when every thing is passing by, is transitory.

138. Ihr zuzuhören stille steht, to listen to her still stands; stands still to listen to her. ihr, dat. fem. because die Nachtigall, to which it refers, is fem.; zuzuhören, the verb is zuhören, to listen to. As it is a separ. comp. (derived from hören, to hear, with the particle zu) the zu, to, before the inf. is placed between the particle (which also happens to be zu) and the verb, Ich kann Ihnen nicht zuhören, I cannot listen to you; Ich habe nicht Zeit Ihnen zuzuhören, I have not time to listen to you; Ich höre Ihnen gerne zu, I listen to you with pleasure; Hören sir mir zu, listen to me. In some compound verbs, zu denotes a closing, as in zusiegeln, to seal; zuschliessen, to lock; zumachen, to shut, &c. and in others a continuation, as in zufahren, to drive on in a coach; zugehen, to go on; gehen Sie nur immer zu, go but on; Stille stehen, to stand still; Stehen sie stille, stand still; Das Kind steht nicht stille, the child does not stand still. The compound verbs formed with adjectives and substantives follow the same rules as those formed with separable particles. Thus we had above, Wind machen, to fib; which makes, ich mache Wind, ich machte Wind, ich habe Wind gemacht, and in the infinitive, Wind zu machen. Ich mache niemals Wind und ich habe keine Neigung Wind zu machen, I never fib, and I feel no inclination to fib.

139. Du kleine mit dem blondem Haar, thou little (one) with the fair hair. Observe that the Germans may convert their adjectives into substantives, denoting even individuals, with the article definite; die kleine, the little girl; der fröliche, the cheerful man. Hence such an adjective may be construed in the vocative, as here, only the gender

must be marked; if" thou little one" were addressed to a boy, it would be du kleiner. das Haar, es, e, pl. die Haare, the hair. In common life, we rather use the word in the plural. Sie hat schwarze Haare, she has black hair. Blond, adj. is the same with the French "blond," and means "fair," speaking of either the hair or the complexion. der Blonde, masc. is what the French call "le blondin," and die Blonde, "la blondine."

140. Die längst schon meine Freude war, who long ago already my joy was; who has long since been my joy. Die, pron. rel. fem. throws the verb war to the end of the sentence. längst, adv. long since, long ago. The adverb schon, already, tacked to it, is a strengthening expletive. Längst must not be confounded with längs, prep. along; längs dem Wege, along the road; wir sind längs dem Ufer spatzieren gegangen, we walked along the banks: nor with längstens, adv. of time, at the latest. Er wird längstens in einer Stunde zu Hause seyn, he will be at home at latest in one hour hence.

141. die Freude, fem. joy, satisfaction, pleasure. It has this last meaning, particularly in the pl. die Freuden des Lebens, the pleasures of life; Er hat Freude an seinen Kindern, he is happy in his children; Ich mache mir eine Freude daraus Ihnen zu dienen, I am happy to serve you, to render you service.

142. Ich gehe, I go, here means, I am going home to my hut; rauhe Winde wehen, rough winds blow; the winds blow roughly. rauh, adj. rough, harsh, uneven, uncouth, rugged; ein rauher Weg, a rugged road; eine rauhe Haut, a rough skin; rauhes Land, uncultivated ground; Eine rauhe Stimme haben, to have a voice that is rather hoarse, rauh mit jemand umgehen, to treat a person roughly. Wehen, reg. verb act. and neut. to blow; Es wehete ein frischer Wind vom Lande her, there was a fresh breeze from the land; der Wind hat allen Schnee auf einen Haufen geweht, the wind has blown all the snow into a heap.

143. Willst du mit mir ins Hüttchen gehn? wilt thou with me into the little hut go; wilt thou go with me into the little hut? ins Hüttchen is a contraction for in das Hüttchen; in here governs the acc. because it represents the English into, and marks a change of place. This last

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