Chapter 2

Every school (S. 5, N. 2), indeed, has its own traditionary standard of right and wrong, which cannot be transgressed with impunity, marking certain things as low and blackguard, and certain others as lawful and right. This standard is ever varying, though it changes only slowly and little by little. It is the leading boys only, who (S. 15, N. 3), subject to such standard, give, for the time being, the tone to all the rest, and make the school either a noble institution for the training of Christian Englishmen, or a place where a young boy will get more evil than if he were turned out to make his own way in London streets.—THOS. HUGHES, TOM BROWN’S SCHOOL DAYS.

+Maßstab+, m.; ‘of’, here +für+.

+bezeichnen+, see S. 16, N. 4, and introduce the clause with the conj. +und+.

+schändlich und gemein.+

+beständig.+

‘It is’, here +Es sind+.

+tonangebend.+

+diesem Maßstab unterworfen.+

+zur Zeit.+

to = for.

Supply here the rel. pron. ‘who’; to make the school a noble institution, +aus der Schule eine sittliche Anstalt machen+.

to (S. 19, N. 7) educate Christian (+christlichgesinnt+) Englishmen.

+Stätte+, f.

‘to get’, here +sich an´eignen+.

+hinaus´stoßen+; use the First Conditional.

his — streets = his fortune in (+auf+) the streets of London.

Section 80.

WORK IS A GREAT COMFORTER.

Two neighbouring gardeners had the misfortune of having their crop of early peas killed by frost. The one called upon the other to condole with him. “Ah,” cried he, “how unfortunate we have been, neighbour! Do you know? I have done nothing but fret ever since. But it seems you have there a fine healthy crop coming up already; what is it?” “This?” cried the other gardener, “why, it is a crop of peas (S. 16, N. 10) I sowed (S. 48, N. 2) immediately after my loss.” “What, coming up already?” replied the fretter. “Yes, while you were fretting, I was working.” “What! don’t you fret when you have a loss?” “Yes, but I always put it off until after I have repaired the mischief.” “Why, then you have no need to fret at all.” “True,” replied the industrious gardener, “I find working better than fretting.”—ANONYMOUS.

+Die Arbeit ist eine süße Trösterin.+

of — frost = that (S. 1, N. 3) their young peas were (S. 2, N. 1) destroyed by (+durch+, followed by the def. art.) frost.

to call upon a person, +einen besuchen+.

to condole with a person, +einem sein Beileid bezeigen+.

I have been unfortunate, +es ist mir unglücklich ergangen+.

Use the 2nd pers. sing.

ever since = ‘the whole time’, which place after the auxiliary; ‘but fret’, +als mich geärgert+.

+kräftig.+

+Saat+, f.

‘to come up’ here +hübsch grün aussehen+.

+Was ist’s für eine?+

+ei+; it — peas = they are (+es sind+) young peas.

+Wie+; coming up already? = and they look already so (supply +hübsch+) green?

+der Trauernde.+

+sich ärgern.+

Say ‘I have worked’.

+auf´schieben.+

+wieder gut machen.+

+Schade+, m.

+Richtig.+

Say ‘I find it better to work than to fret’.

Section 81.

PERSEVERANCE FINDS ITS REWARD.

Robert Bruce, restorer of the Scottish monarchy, being pursued one day by the enemy, was obliged to seek refuge in a barn and to spend the night there. In the morning, when he awoke, he saw a spider climbing up the beam of the roof. The spider fell down to the ground, but immediately tried to climb up again, when it a second time fell to the ground. It made a third attempt, which also failed. Twelve times did (S. 32, N. 11) the little spider try to climb up the beam, and twelve times it fell down again, but the thirteenth time it succeeded and gained the top of the beam. The king (S. 5, N. 2) immediately got up from his lowly couch, and said: “This little spider has taught (S. 42, N. 4) me perseverance; I will follow its example. Twelve times have I been beaten by the enemy. I will try my fortune once more!” He did so, and won the next battle. The king became the spider’s scholar.—N. GOODRICH.

Use the noun with the def. art.

Construe according to S. 55, N. 1, and use the Imperf. of the Passive Voice; by, +von+.

The pron. +er+ must be supplied here.

+genötigt+; ‘to seek refuge’, here +sich flüchten+.

+zu´bringen.+

Say ‘When he awoke in the (+am+) morning’.

+hinauf´kriechen ... an+; see S. 16, N. 4.

Use the indef. art. instead of the def. art.

+auf den Boden fallen.+

+zum zweiten Male.+

+herun´terfallen+, to avoid monotony.

I succeed, +es gelingt mir+.

The pron. +sie+ must be supplied here.

+das oberste Ende.+

+sich erheben.+

+bescheiden.+

The Active Voice will read better in German.

so = it.

Section 82.

THE NECESSITY OF VOLCANOES.

The remarkable proofs which modern geology has presented of vast accumulations of heated and melted matter beneath the earth’s crust, make it evident that (S. 3, N. 2) volcanoes are essential to the preservation of the globe. If (App. § 36) there were no safety-valves through the crust, such vast accumulations of heat would rend asunder even a whole continent. Volcanoes are those safety-valves, more than two hundred of which are scattered over the earth’s surface. But if no such passages existed (see S. 27, N. 8), nothing could prevent the pent-up gases from accumulating till they had (Impf. Subj.) gained strength enough to rend a whole continent, and perhaps the whole globe, into fragments.—REV. PROF. HITCHCOCK.

Use the gen. of the def. art.

Use the attributive construction explained in S. 48, N. 6, and say ‘The by (von, followed by the def. art.) modern geology presented (+auf´stellen+) remarkable proofs of (von) a vast accumulation’, etc.

+erhitzt.+

matter = masses.

+Erdrinde+, f.

essential = necessary; to = for.

‘=There is=’ and ‘=there are=’, used in a general sense, are generally rendered by the impers. v. ‘+=es giebt=+’.

Say ‘in the earth’s crust’.

+auseinan´derreißen.+

+sogar.+

are = form.

Here follow the words ‘of which’.

+verteilen.+

passages = openings.

the — accumulating = the accumulation of the pent-up (+ein´sperren+) gases.

+Kraft+, f.; enough, +hinreichend+, adj., to be placed before the noun ‘strength’.

‘and’ here +ja+. The verb ‘to rend into fragments’ (+auseinan´derreißen+, of which form the Supine, S. 1, N. 2) must of course be placed at the end of the whole passage.

Section 83.

THE POWER OF BEAUTY.

In one of the worst parts of London there is an institution which I visited. In one room I found about thirty-five men listening (S. 16, N. 4) to the teaching of the daughter of a small shopkeeper in the neighbourhood. She was one of the prettiest women (S. 16, N. 10) I ever saw in my life. I noticed that the young girl was quite alone with those rough men, and said to the superintendent: “Are you not afraid to leave the pretty young girl alone with all those men?” He replied: “I am.” “Then, why don’t you go to her?” “You mistake my fear. I am not afraid of their doing her any harm. They love her so much that they would lick the ground on which she walks, but I am afraid that some person may step in, who, not knowing the manner of the place, may say something impertinent to her; and if he did, he would not leave the place alive.”—LORD SHAFTESBURY.

Render ‘there is’ by the Pres. of +bestehen+.

+Anstalt+, f.

+ungefähr+.

+Unterricht+, m.

+Krämer.+

+aus.+

saw = have seen. The auxiliary may be omitted, according to S. 52, N. 8.

+roh.+

This noun may be used in its unaltered form.

+Furcht haben.+

+Ja, doch+, which place before the words ‘he replied’.

mistake = misunderstand.

I — harm = I fear not that they will do her any harm (+etwas zuleide thun+).

‘to lick’, here = to kiss.

+worauf.+

+befürchten.+

Say ‘a stranger’ could (Impf. Subj.) come in.

not — place, +unbekannt mit den Sitten dieser Anstalt+.

Impf. Subj.

+Ungehöriges.+

Supply here the object ‘+das+’.

+Haus.+

+lebendig+, before which supply the adverb ‘+wieder+’.

Section 84.

THE ENGLISH CLIMATE.

The air is generally very moist, most so near the western coast, and less so as we go eastward.

It is to the abundant moisture of the air that the beautiful foliage of our trees and the rich verdure of our fields and gardens, so much praised by foreigners who visit England, are chiefly owing. Moisture is one of the two things most necessary to vegetation, and hence our fields, trees, and woods possess during the greater part of the year a continuous richness of verdure, which cannot be found under the sunny skies of the shores of the Mediterranean.

The weather is at times liable to very sudden changes, depending (S. 16, N. 4) mainly on the changes of the wind.—HEWITT, PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF ENGLAND AND WALES.

most so near, +und zwar am feuchtesten an+.

so = moist.

+je mehr.+

Say ‘To the great moisture of the air owe (+verdanken+) our trees chiefly their beautiful foliage and our fields and gardens their rich verdure, which by foreigners, who visit England, is praised so much’.

The words ‘most (+höchst+) necessary’, qualifying the noun ‘things’, must precede it. Things = conditions.

+für.+

+daher+, adverbial conjunction, see App. § 24, B.

+an.+

Say ‘as (+wie+) one cannot find it (+ihn+)’.

under — shores, +an den sonnigen Küstenstrichen+.

+mitunter.+

+Windeswechsel+, m.

Section 85.

THE LONDON DOCKS.