German composition : $b A theoretical and practical guide to the art of translating English prose into German · Hermann Lange
Chapter 3
Chapter 40 of 173 · 1 min read
“By a slight and momentary movement, which the owner can easily effect, he can ascertain with considerable accuracy the size, colour, shape, weight (S. 10, N. 9), and value of any article whatever. A person possessed of one is thus saved from the necessity of asking a thousand questions and trying a variety of troublesome experiments, which would otherwise be necessary; and such a slow and laborious process would, after all, not succeed half so well as a single application of this admirable instrument.”
GEORGE. “If it is such a very useful thing (S. 27, N. 8), =I wonder= that everybody, that can at all afford it, does not have one.”
To avoid repetition render the verb ‘can’ here by +imstande sein+.
+bestimmen+, which use in the form of a Supine and place at the end of the whole clause.
of — whatever, +irgend eines Gegenstandes+.
A — one = The possessor.
is — questions = needs therefore (+also+) not (to) ask a thousand questions. To ask a question, +eine Frage stellen+.
and — experiments = and to make various troublesome experiments.
+Verfahren+, n.
after all not, +doch nicht+, which must not be placed between commas. Comp. S. 15, N. 3.
+gelingen.+
thing = object.
=I wonder=, +es wundert mich+; we wonder, +es wundert uns+; you wonder, +es wundert Sie+.
that — one = that not everybody, who can at all (+irgend+) make it possible, possesses the same (to agree with ‘object’).
Section 91.
A CURIOUS INSTRUMENT.
