German composition : $b A theoretical and practical guide to the art of translating English prose into German · Hermann Lange
Chapter 5
Chapter 53 of 173 · 1 min read
Princes, peers, soldiers, and statesmen were all sneaking in hiding places whilst the capital was made over to the mercy of a few dozen incendiaries. The daughter-in-law, seeing (S. 55, N. 1) the King depart, carries her child to the Chamber of Deputies, and there, with womanly courage and queenly dignity, vindicates his rights. Her friends entreat her to withdraw. Firm in her purpose, she does not move an inch. She attempts to speak, but is interrupted; and he who interrupts is himself silenced by an armed mob that pours into the hall. The Duchess is forced away, and in that terrible extremity is separated from her son. The child is seized by (S. 106, N. 23) a rough hand, which is strong enough to strike, but generous enough to save. The boy is brought to his mother, and mother and son pass from asylum to asylum, chased by scythes, sabres, muskets, and, worse than all, the bloody passions of an infuriated “canaille”. For four days they creep into hiding places; on the fifth day they are beyond the frontier.
The Peers of France were called ‘Pairs’, which term is used in German, the final +s+ being pronounced.
to sneak into hiding places, +in den Winkel kriechen+.
was made over = was left (+überlas´sen+), with the dat. Construe the sentence after the following model:—+Die Festung wurde einer kleinen Anzahl Soldaten auf Gnade oder Ungnade überlassen.+
+davon´reisen.+ Comp. App. § 19.
+führen+, before which the subjective pronoun ‘she’ must be supplied.
+Deputiertenkammer+, f.
and — rights = where she vindicates his rights with, etc.
+Fest ihren Zweck verfolgend.+
+zurück´weichen.+
and — himself, +und der sie Unterbrechende selbst wird+.
to pour = to rush.
+Saal+, m.
+gewaltsam hinweg´drängen+.
After the rel. pron. insert the adverb +zwar+ (certainly, it is true, indeed), which will give more force to the clause.
+darein´zuschlagen.+
‘but’, here +doch+, or +aber auch+.
‘to bring’, here = to bring back.
‘to pass’, here = to flee.
chased = pursued; by, +von+.
what is still worse.
+von dem blutgierigen Zorn eines rasenden Pöbels.+
+Vier Tage lang+.
they — places = they try to conceal themselves.
Section 106.
THE DRAMA OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848.
