German composition : $b A theoretical and practical guide to the art of translating English prose into German · Hermann Lange
Chapter 3
Chapter 10 of 173 · 1 min read
In the meantime the spring returned, and the Indians again took the field. The old man, who was still vigorous, and able to bear the fatigues of war, set out with them, and was accompanied by his prisoner. They marched above two hundred leagues across the forests, and came at length to a plain, where the British forces were encamped. The old man showed his prisoner the tents at a distance: “There,” said he, “are thy countrymen. There is the enemy who waits to give us battle. Remember that I have saved thy life, that I have taught thee to conduct a canoe, to arm thyself with bow and arrows, and to surprise the beaver in the forest. What wast thou when I first took thee to my hut? Thy hands were those of an infant. They could neither procure thee sustenance nor safety. Thy soul was in utter darkness. Thou wast ignorant of everything. Thou owest all things to me. Wilt thou, then, go over to thy nation, and take up the hatchet against us?”
Say ‘Meanwhile it became spring’; to take the field, +ins Feld ziehen+.
+die Kriegsbeschwerden+; ‘to set out’, here +ziehen+.
more than.
to = into.
forces = troops; to encamp, +sein Lager auf´schlagen+.
+von weitem+, which place before the accusative.
who waits, +der darauf lauert+; to give battle = to attack.
+Bedenke.+
A. =The definite article= is often used =instead of the possessive adjective pronoun= in cases where the possessor is clearly seen from the context; as—
+Ich habe die Feder in ~der~ Hand.+
I have the pen in my hand.
B. =The possessor is often indicated by a personal pronoun in the dative case=; as—
+Ich will ~mir die~ Hände waschen.+
I will wash my hands.
The latter mode of construction must be applied in this case.
‘I have taught thee to conduct a canoe.’ Read once more S. 42, N. 4, and mark further that: =that which is taught is often expressed in the form of a Supine=, as in this instance.
We say ‘+mit Pfeil und Bogen+’.
+überfal´len+.
+gewäh´ren+; sustenance, +Nahrung+, f.
+lag in Finsternis gehüllt.+
+also+; nation = people; to take up = to seize.
Section 44.
THE INDIAN CHIEF.
