Chapter 2

Dear Sirs,

Though strangers, I feel we shall be great friends, and I shall always remember my feelings of gratefulness, when I first caught sight of your supplies, and my poor, faithful, and brave people cried out: “Master, we are saved!—food is coming!” The old and the young—the men, the women, and the children—lifted their wearied and worn-out frames, and began to chant lustily an extemporaneous song, in honour of the white people by (+an+) the great salt sea (the (S. 53, N. 9) Atlantic) who had listened to their prayers. I had to rush to my tent to hide the tears that would issue, despite all my attempts to composure.

Gentlemen, that the blessing of God may attend your footsteps whithersoever you go, is the very earnest prayer of

Yours faithfully,

H. M. STANLEY,

Commanding the Anglo-American Expedition.—

H. M. STANLEY, “THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT.”

+obgleich wir uns noch fremd sind.+

Say ‘and I shall never forget the feelings of gratefulness which I experienced (+empfinden+, insep. comp. str. v.), when’, etc.

Say ‘there come provisions’!

+abgemagert.+

+Körper+, m., which use in the Sing.

+ein aus dem Stegreife entworfenes Lied+; to chant = to sing.

in — people, +den Weißen ... zu Ehren+; the words +zu Ehren+ must be placed at the end of the clause.

Use the Imperfect of +müssen+.

to issue = to break forth, +hervor´brechen+.

to composure = to compose myself.

The adverbial clause ‘whithersoever you go’ may be briefly rendered by the adverb ‘+stets+’.

earnest = sincere; faithfully, +ergeben+ (adject.).

Section 151.

RETURNED KINDNESS.

When (S. 4, N. 2) the country near Albany was newly settled, a starving Indian came to the inn at Lichfield and asked for a night’s shelter and some supper, at the same time confessing that, from failure in hunting, he had nothing to pay. The hostess drove him away with reproachful epithets, and as the Indian was about (S. 6, N. 4) scornfully to retire,—there being (S. 30, N. 4) no other inn for many a weary mile,—a man, who was sitting by, directed the hostess to supply his wants, and promised to pay her. As soon as the Indian’s supper was ended, he thanked his benefactor, and said he would some day return his kindness. Several years thereafter the settler was taken a prisoner by a hostile tribe, and carried off to (S. 72, N. 4) Canada. His life was spared, but he was detained in slavery. One day, however, an Indian came to him, and bade the captive follow him. The Indian never told where they were going, nor what was his object; but day after day the captive followed his mysterious guide, till one afternoon they came suddenly on a beautiful expanse of cultivated fields, with many houses rising amongst them. “Do you know that place?” asked the Indian. “Ah, yes—it is Lichfield!” and whilst the astonished exile had not yet recovered from his surprise and (S. 10, N. 9) amazement, the Indian exclaimed: “And I am the starving Indian, on whom, at this very place, you took pity. And now that I have repaid you, I pray you go home!”—DR. DWIGHT.

+vergelten+, insep. comp. str. v.

+unweit+; newly, +eben+; ‘to settle’, here +kolonisieren+.

at — confessing = on which occasion (+wobei+) he confessed.

+wegen erfolgloser Jagd.+

nothing to pay = no money for (+zu+, contracted with the dat. of the def. art.) paying.

reproachful epithets, +Scheltworte+.

for — mile, +meilenweit in der Runde+.

‘a man’, here = a guest. The verb ‘directed’ (+heißen+, str. v.) must be placed before the subject, since the subordinate clause precedes the principal one.

to supply a person’s wants, +für die Bedürfnisse eines Menschen sorgen+.

Say ‘As soon as the Indian had eaten (+verzehren+) his supper’.

+später.+

+verschonen.+

in slavery = as a slave; ‘to detain’, here +gefangen halten+.

Say ‘One day, however, came an Indian to the prisoner with the intimation (+Weisung+, f.) to follow him’. This construction is necessary to avoid the repetition of the pronoun ‘+ihm+’.

nor — object = or else his intention.

+für.+

+zu einer schönen Fläche urbar gemachter Felder.+

exile = settler.

to take pity on a person, +sich eines Menschen erbarmen+; supply the adverb +einmal+ (one day) before the verb.

that = since, +da+; to repay a person, +einem seine Schuld ab´tragen+.

Section 152.

NEW YEAR’S EVE.