German composition : $b A theoretical and practical guide to the art of translating English prose into German · Hermann Lange
Chapter 1
Chapter 45 of 173 · 2 min read
At a distance these glaciers, as I have said before, look like frozen rivers (S. 26, N. 3); when one approaches nearer, or when they press downward into the valley, they look like immense crystals and pillars of ice piled together in every conceivable form. The effect of this pile of ice, lying (S. 48, N. 6) directly in the lap of green grass and flowers, is quite singular. Before we had entered the valley, the sun had gone down; the sky behind the mountains was clear, and it seemed for a few moments as if darkness was rapidly coming on. But in a few moments commenced a scene of transfiguration, more glorious than anything I had witnessed yet. The cold, white, dismal fields of ice gradually changed into hues of the most beautiful rose colour. A bank of white clouds, which rested above the mountains, kindled and glared, as if some spirit of light had entered into them.
+bei+, contracted with the dat. of the def. art.
Comp. S. 26.
Place the words ‘as — before’ at the head of the whole passage; ‘at a distance’, in +der Entfernung+. For the constr. see App. § 15.
‘to look like’, here ‘+ähnlich sehen+’, which requires the dat.
The clause ‘when — nearer’ may be briefly rendered by ‘+in der Nähe+’, i.e. ‘close by’.
+hinein´dringen.+
+abwärts.+
‘to look’ may here be rendered by +aus´sehen+, to avoid repetition; ‘like’ must then be turned by ‘+wie+’.
To render ‘pillars of ice’ form a comp. n. analagous to ‘ice-pillars’.
to pile together, +auf´schichten+; use the attributive constr.
+Eindruck+, m.
pile of ice, +Eismasse+, f.
+unmittelbar.+
Use the gen. of the def. art.
+betreten+, v. tr.
it seemed = it had the appearance. The adverbial circumstance of time ‘for a few moments’ may be emphasized by being placed immediately after the conj. ‘and’.
Darkness is coming on, +die Dunkelheit bricht herein+.
But — moments = But soon.
Form a comp. n.
The passage ‘more — yet’ may be elegantly rendered by ‘+welche alles bereits Geschaute noch an Herrlichkeit übertraf+’.
Form a comp. n.
to change into something, +in etwas ü´bergehen+.
+Farbentöne.+
+Rosenrot+, n.
A — clouds, +Ein weißes Gewölk+.
rested = hung.
kindled = reddened (+errö´ten+).
glared = glowed (+erglü´hen+).
as — them, +wie von einem Lichtgeiste erfüllt+.
Section 97.
THE GLACIERS AT SUNSET.
