Chapter 2

On another floor of the same building may be found bundles of Pimento sticks and Malacca canes, a great store of mother-of-pearl, a heap of delicate, richly-tinted ear-shells, and a quantity of ivory. Here are elephants’ teeth, some of which are larger than bricks and weigh fourteen pounds. Passing out of this building, we find ourselves in an enormous shed with little black boards, hung at intervals, and bearing the names of vessels. Beneath these boards are goods lying ready for shipment, and these are at least as varied as the imports. Here are pickles, blacking, a cartload or so of bricks, and scores of anvils. There are church-bells, a chest of drawers, a rocking-horse, a mangle, and boxes, bales, and barrels innumerable.—‘THE GLOBE’ NEWSPAPER.

+In.+

Use the Active Voice with ‘+man+’, and say ‘one finds’. Comp. S. 4, N. 4. For the constr. see App. § 14.

+Nelkenpfeffer+, m.

+Malakkarohr.+

+zart.+

+Seeohrmuscheln.+

The clause must commence with the words ‘of which’.

‘To pass out’ here = to leave, v. trans. Construe according to S. 55, N. 1.

to find oneself, +sich befinden+.

+auf´hängen+; at, in. Construe according to S. 7, N. 3, B.

are — shipment, +liegen zur Einschiffung bestimmte Waren+.

+verschiedener Art.+

+Einfuhrartikel.+

Use this noun in its unaltered form.

Say ‘one or two loads of bricks’.

scores of, +eine Unzahl von+.

+Dort sind.+ Comp. S. 82, N. 7.

+in zahlloser Menge.+

Section 87.

DR. JOHNSON ON DEBT.

Dr. Johnson held that debt is ruin. His words on the subject are weighty, and worthy of being held in remembrance. “Do not,” said he, “accustom yourself to consider debt only as an inconvenience. You will find it a calamity. Poverty takes away so many means of doing good, and produces so much inability to resist evil, that it is by all virtuous means to be avoided. Let it be your first care, then, not to be in any man’s debt. Resolve not to be poor. Whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness. It destroys liberty. It makes some virtues impracticable and others extremely difficult. Frugality is not only the basis of quiet, but of beneficence. No man can help others that wants himself. We must have enough, before we have to spare.”—S. SMILES, SELF-HELP.

+über das Schuldenmachen.+

‘to hold’ here = to be of opinion, +der Ansicht sein+.

Say ‘that debt (das Schuldenmachen) leads (Pres. Subj.; Comp. App. §§ 28 and 31) to ruin’.

Say ‘What he says on (+über+) this subject (+Gegenstand+, m.) is important and worthy of our notice (+Beachtung+, f.)’.

Place the words ‘said he’ at the end of the whole clause.

=When verbs and adjectives, governing a preposition, are used in a principal clause and are followed by a subordinate clause, either in the form of a supine= (i.e. an infinitive with +zu+, see S. 1, N. 2) =or beginning with a subordinative conjunction, the adverb +da+, in connection with the preposition required, is generally placed in the principal clause=; as—

We will accustom ourselves to be thrifty.

+Wir wollen uns daran gewöhnen, sparsam zu sein.+

Do not excuse yourself with having had no time.

+Entschuldigen Sie sich nicht damit, daß Sie keine Zeit gehabt haben.+

The verb sich +gewöhnen+ requires the prep. +an+. Construe accordingly, and use the 2nd pers. sing.

an inconvenience, +als etwas Lästiges+.

Say ‘You will find that it leads to poverty’, see S. 3, N. 2.

to take away, +entzie´hen+, after which supply the pron. +uns+ (from us).

and — inability = and makes us so often incapable.

it is ... to be avoided = we must avoid it (to agree with +Armut+), see S. 62, N. 4.

by — means, +nach besten Kräften+.

Say ‘Beware therefore (+sich hüten+) of running into debt’. To run into debt, +Schulden machen+. Use the Supine according to S. 34, N. 10.

+sich etwas vor´nehmen.+

not — poor = not to get (+geraten+) into poverty.

Say ‘However little (+Wie gering+, after which supply the adverb +auch+) thy income (+Einnahme+, f.) may be, lay up a part of the same (+so lege doch einen Teil derselben zurück+)’.

+Armut ist dem Glücke feind.+

+einzelne.+

impracticable = impossible.

supply here the adverb +wiederum+ (again).

‘frugality’ here = thrift (to be used without the art.).

of quiet, +des innern Friedens+.

Supply here the adverb +auch+, and see S. 6, N. 10.

+Wohlthun+, n., to be used with the gen. of the def. art.

Say ‘He who (+Wer+, after which supply the pron. +selbst+) needs (+bedürfen+, requires the gen. of the def. art.) help, cannot help others’.

to have enough, +zur Genüge haben+.

Say ‘before (+ehe+) we can have to spare (+etwas übrig haben+)’.

Section 88.

A CURIOUS INSTRUMENT.