Page images
PDF
EPUB

Dritter Auftritt.

PAGE 29.

2. übermenschlich: lit. 'superhumanly; '-vastly, infinitely.

4. ja so, cf. 23, 13, n.—soll, ‘is to;' cf. 8, 12, n.—ja, cf. 19, 28, n. 6. Wollten...? see 41, 17, n., and cf. 27, 23, Wünschen...? But wollten might here and in 29, 6 possibly be taken as imperf. ind., as in Eng. one hears, 'Did you wish...?' for 'Do you...?'

10. d[a]raufgehen, to go, i.e. be consumed or expended (upon it). It is used absolutely, the da in darauf (cf. 7, 26, n.) expressing, as usual in such compds., the indefinite or unmentioned object; cf. daranseßen, to stake. In dieser Familie geht viel darauf, this family spends freely. [viel] draufgehen lassen thus means, to be lavish in expenditure. Say, 'can be liberal.'-bazu, for it, 'for doing so.'

II. wo es sich...: for the continuation of the sentence, see below, 1. 18, um die Ankunft von Personen-; to complete it, handeln must be added. Es handelt sich um etwas (cf. 65, 19; 67, 4), the matter in hand, in question, is... Tr., 'when persons are coming.'

14. Maj. werden doch wol...? It is now most generally approved to write and pronounce wohl in all senses of the word. But for the particle, both the original spelling wol, and the original short pronunciation, are still not uncommon.—In declaratory sentences (including questions containing a statement) the particle wohl—always unaccented-'probably, presumably, I suppose,' tones down the direct assertive force, cf. 16, 19, n.; 32, 19; 59, 6, &c. It often implies, like I suppose,' that the speaker asks or assumes, for the confirmation of his statement or conjecture, the assent of the person addressed. It is thus often almost synonymous with doch similarly used (cf. 12, 28, n.), the general difference being that tech has in view rather the possibility that something to the contrary may be urged, while wohl rather assumes that this will not be the case, and takes assent for granted. Das ist doch nicht wahr [?] That surely is not true [?] Es ist wohl nicht wahr [?] I suppose it is not true [?] Cf. 33, 11, 14; 36, 8; 50, 17, &c. Doch wohl expresses the combined force of the two particles, I suppose I am safe in assuming

[ocr errors]

-'I presume, suppose,' cf. 56, 20; 57, 5.

22. da, cf. 16, 4, n.

27. Ich glaube gar, 'I do believe,' cf. 37, 30, n.

31. Ich würd' Ihn auch bei Fragen! A verb or verbal idea must be understood with würde. Fragen is more probably subst. inf. than pl. of

Frage. bei has its frequent force of accompanying circumstance or condition, cf. 6, 28, n.; bei Fragen = wenn Er fragte. Tr., 'Ask! I'd teach you, if you did.'

PAGE 30.

5. bis ich..., 'by the time I have...' Notice that bis, used of time, unites the two allied meanings of our 'until' and 'by:' Ich bleibe bis morgen, ...till to-morrow. Sie sollen es bis morgen haben, ... by to-morrow. That is, it denotes the extreme limit of a space of time, not only (a) during the whole of which some condition or action is present or absent; but also (b) at some or no point within which something will be or take place. When ambiguity would arise from the double meaning of bis (chiefly with a negative), its use is avoided; thus we should say: Ich werde erst (not nicht bis) morgen zurückkommen, ...not ...until...' Singularly enough, the second mentioned usage of bis seems to have escaped the notice of almost all grammarians and lexicographers (including Grimm), both English and German.

8. muß...heraus, cf. 12,7, n. Note that in béi sich behalten, 'to keep to oneself' (secrets, &c.), as also in ár sich behalten, the accent rests on the prep., while in für sich behalten it rests on the pronoun.

Vierter Auftritt.

15. Etw. (Es) drückt or stößt Em. das Herz ab, something breaks one's heart, one's heart is ready to burst. The prefix ab, 'off, away,' has here more the force of 'out,'-to crush, strike or force out.

17. andere Saiten aufziehen, lit., to put on other strings (to an instrument), fig., to change one's tone or behaviour; in commonest use, with the variations gelindere, mildere Saiten, for to 'change one's tone, come down a peg.'-die Kameele alle 'nmal durch ein Nadelöhr schicken. If the N. T. proverb of the camel going through a needle's eye is here applied in its proper sense, this must mean: alle Unmöglichkeiten möglich machen, surmount all the apparently insuperable difficulties in the way. This interpretation taken alone does not however seem quite suitable to the context; this suggests the application of Kameele, 'blockheads, donkeys,' to the persons against whom the king is inveighing. There seems to be a play on the word Kameele, the 'blockheads' being also the obstacles which the king is determined to clear out of the way. We might render, 'I'll change my tone, and send them all to the rightabout.'

26. Ganz genehm or angenehm is a usual formula to intimate readiness to receive a visitor; "He is welcome,' Show him in.'

[ocr errors]

PAGE 31.

3. 3u dienen, 'At your service,' here=a =an affirmative. So, 3u Befehl, Often simply the respectful acknowledgment of a summons or order, 55, 30, Zu befehlen; 92, 13.

32, 14.

6. ...der? Der Lat. iste, 'that one there.' Say, 'the man.' So 40, 21; 81, 8: cf. 33, 4, n.

7. Schäm' Er sich (imper., a common idiom) = Er sollte sich schämen, cf. 4, 22.—Kammerhusar, a hussar, or servant dressed as such, employed as valet de chambre.

12. Er hört's ja, cf. 19, 28, n. 'Why you hear (don't you?)' ‘Didn't I tell you so?'

13. Den Augenblick or im A., in a moment, directly.

22.

24.

Sie sollte...? cf. 20, 10, n. 'She consent...?'

mit dem bunten Schattenriß = Silhouette (final e sounded in Germ.). 'A gay coloured silhouette' sounds rather strange; but ornaments, flowers, orders and other decorations were sometimes painted into the otherwise black picture.

Fünfter Auftritt.

PAGE 32.

11. Nă, familiar but not vulgar interj., with varying force; here ='Well' (no matter, let it pass). Cf. 34, 27; 36, 13, &c.

20. England schlecht machen, 'run down England.'

25. bis..., lit. until;' here, 'before.'—dahin angekommen: ankommen, to arrive, is properly used only with words denoting 'place where,' not motion towards; ta would therefore here be correct. Say, 'before we arrive at the point where...'

27. da so herum: for this expletive (unaccented) so, common in familiar conversation, cf. 33, 18, 31; 34, 4; 36, 15, &c. It generally serves simply to make the expression looser and more casual.

28. Ich denke.....: Engl. idiom requires the imperf., 'I thought he was...' The use of the pres. indicates that the speaker, in spite of evidence that seems to speak to the contrary, is still not inclined definitely to give up his opinion, and express it as past. Cf. 95, 24, n.

PAGE 33.

I. wohl (cf. 16, 22), Oh yes, certainly.-Gewerbfleiß, industrial activity; Handel, commerce; Verkehr, traffic.

4.

Die wird... die is the demonst. pron., which regularly represents the 3rd personal pron., where the latter, as having demonstrative force, becomes accented. Thus 'He did it,' is Der-not Er hat es gethan. Cf. below, 1. 23; 34, 15; 35, 10; 36, 13; 79, 26, &c. Whit. 166, 2, b. —etw. läßt sich (noch] halten or es läßt sich noch mit etw. halten, is an idiomatic phrase to intimate, somewhat sarcastically, that something is not at all excessive or wonderful. 'There isn't too much of that-That isn't alarming in Austria.' The original figure is probably that of an easygoing steed, halten having the force of zurückhalten, zügeln.

7. sich insinuiren sich einschmeicheln, to insinuate or ingratiate oneself. 'I seem not to be getting into his good graces at all.'

9. mir zu Munte...: more usual is Em. nach dem Munde reden, to anticipate or chime in with a person's opinions, to humour him.

12. das Erdreich, the soil. It originally meant, as it still does in biblical language, the earth in its widest extent, in contrast to Himmel reich, the kingdom of heaven.

15. Was ist nur (cf. 17, 22, n.) dem Mann eingefallen? Etw. fällt mir ein, something' occurs to me. 'Whatever is the man thinking of?' 'What has got into the man's head?'

16. Firlefanz, 'gimcrack;' most in use as a collective for foolery, nonsense, trumpery.—à la, the Fr. idiom also used in Eng.,=à la façon de, in the manner of.-Ludewig is the older form, still heard among the common people, of the now current Germ. Ludwig, Louis, Lewis.

18. se (32, 27, n.) beiläufig (21, 18, n.)—lit., running alongside, as a secondary matter-,' by the way, by the bye,' so 85, 9.

19. Weiß ich..., cf. 19, 13, n. hat mein Sohn...

24. Und bei solchen Kameralverhältnissen...Lat. camera, a vault or arch, in L. Lat. a chamber, cf. Kammer, thus treasury, so Rent, Schaß,, Finanzkammer; Kameral fr. cameralis, pertaining to the exchequer or state-finances, 'cameralistic.' Kameralia or Kameralwissenschaft, the science of finance or public revenue, cameralistics. Tr. 'and in such a state of finance...'

29. The Dessauer March is a popular melody of Italian origin, with which Leopold of Anhalt Dessau (see Introd. and 96, 15, ff.) was greeted on his triumphal entry into Turin in 1706, and which became a favourite with him and was called by his name.

31. Heidenkomödie. Komödie was formerly used in the wider sense of Schauspiel. The king refers to the dramatic amusements at Rheinsberg (see Introd.), especially to the French plays of the old classical type, which he regards as ‘heathenish.' He himself 'deemed comedies

sinful,' and especially in the early part of his reign was very rigorous in his treatment of plays and players. He did not however disdain at times to amuse himself and his friends with the feats of acrobats, puppet-plays, &c. Cf. Act III. Sc. 11. (p. 61, l. 15, ff.).

I.

PAGE 34.

Vertrautenrollen, the rôle of 'confidant,' common in Fr. plays.

4. das... Wesen innehat. Wesen is originally an old inf. of the verb to be, whence still war (old form was), wäre (cf. Eng. was, were), gewesen. Used now only as a subst., it has very various and wide significations; essential character (8, 13); mode of existence; behaviour or bearing (85, 22), &c. innehaben is to have in possession or occupation, thus fig., to be master of, versed in. We might render, ‘who is quitë at home among those wicked Greeks and Romans.'—gesonnen sein=gewillt or Willens sein, to be ‘minded' to, to purpose. Cf. 83, 26, n.

7. so wollt' ich Sie gebeten haben=so wollt' ich Sie bitten. This construction sometimes appropriately expresses the difference it literally conveys, pointing back to a time thought of as already past, e.g. Ich will nicht damit gesagt haben, I do not mean by that (viz. by what I have just said). But it is more usually a mere circumlocution.

12. Ehre, Unehre, Lob, Spott &c. einlegen, to earn, gain, &c. This fig. use of the word = ravontragen, heimtragen, erwerben, prob. has its origin in a now obs. meaning of einlegen, to pack up (wares) and carry back home, in contrast to auslegen, to lay out for sale.

18. mir (cf. 61, 20; 98, 31, &c.) is here the so-called ‘ethical dative,’ which is but a particular case of the 'dat. of interest.' It is always a pers. pron., and points out a person as affected by, or taking an interest in, the action expressed by the verb. It is often merely expletive, and even when it is not, can seldom be rendered into English, though it is common in Shakespeare: 'See how this river comes me cranking in,' 1 Hen. IV. III. I. 'He steps me to her trencher,' Two Gent. of Ver. IV. 4. Cf. Aue, § 358; Whitney, 222, III. c; Eve, 67.—tie fremden Herrschaften. The word Herrschaft, as a concrete term, is marked by its suffix as a collective, cf. Mannschaft, crew, Dienerschaft, (body of) servants (male and female); so Herrschaft, persons taken collectively, who occupy in any sphere the position of Herr or Herrin. Herrschaft is however often used even when it includes only one person: Wo ist Ihre Herrschaft ?...your master-mistress, master and mistress-the family. It is also used in the pl. with the same collective sense, die hohen,

« PreviousContinue »