solely for an associate in something evil or contemptible, an accomplice or tool. 7. Er schmiedete...weiter,=(36, 26) schmiedete...fort, cf. 3, 12, n. 8. als ob...fei, as if there were. As a general rule a merely sup posed case is expressed in Germ. by the past tenses of the subjunctive,— als ob...wäre or gewesen wäre-; but this rule is not very strictly adhered to, and the present tenses of the subjunct. are not seldom purposely used, as probably both here and in 45, 25, in order to convey more vividly the impression of an actual present fact, the supposed case so engaging the imagination as for the moment to be regarded as real. 9. ging nur dann, wann=wenn, cf. 1. 12 below, and 28, 16, n. 10. Ranne, Eng. can, fr. Lat. canna, a reed, then a small vessel, Gr. kávva or kávvŋ, a reed or something made of reed. Kluge however rejects this commonly accepted etymology, and thinks it probable that Kanne is a genuine Teutonic word. It is used of a vessel of any material, in shape cylindrical or widening out in the middle; so Bierkanne, Theekanne, Porzellankanne, &c. II. die ganze übrige Bürgerschaft; -schaft collective (cf. Mannschaft, 37, 29; Dienerschaft, 67, 28), all the rest of the citizens.' Note the use of the verb in the singular with this collective. 14. stadtkundigerweise. kund, adj. used only predicatively (orig. perf. part. of fönnen kennen, to know), known; Kunde (36, 28)=Kenntniß, knowledge, news; fundig, both 'knowing,' acquainted with (e.g. einer Sprache kundig), and 'known,' public, notorious. In the latter meaning fündig or kundbar is more usual, except in compounds, as land-, stadtkundig (71, 6), &c., known over the country, town, &c. In colloq. Germ. adverbs are very freely formed with -weise (Weise, way or manner), Eng. wise; those formed fr. adjs. are adverbial genitives. stadtkundigerweise, as was known all over the town (cf. 89, 11). 15. gut eine Stunde (33, 9, n.), or eine gute Stunde, a good hour's walk.—vor dem Thor (27, 3, n.)=outside the gate and distant from it, 'from the town-gate.'-vor wie nach, 27, 23, n. 19. schelten, to scold, chide, abuse, cf. Scheltwort, 105, 9; 3md. so und so (now almost only in censure or reviling, e.g. einen Narren, einen Lügner) schelten, to 'call' reproachfully, to rail at as.... 20. Gemeingeist (gemein, common; cf. Gemeinwohl, common weal, &c.), public spirit.—faßten dieß...in ein Wort. fassen, to put as contents into some receptacle, to bring or mould into a certain form (expressed by in and an accus.), esp. a form of words, to 'express'; cf. 81, 30. 21. nach landesüblicher Weise: landesüblich, adj., according to the usage of the country. Weise (cf. 1. 14, above, n.) simply serves to form an adverbial expression.—bündig (binden, to bind) means both binding in point of logic, convincing, as ein bündiger Beweis, and also compact or concise in expression, pregnant, laconic. Here we have the latter meaning, as also in the phrase kurz und bündig (54, 4), to the point, plainly, laconically, categorically. 22. Michel Leimsieder. Leimsieder, lit., glue-boiler, is used fig. of a phlegmatic, listless person, without interest in what he does or what is going on. Here perhaps we might render 'Sluggish Mick,' and then Leimsiederei below, 'sluggishness.' 23. hätte man ihm...noch verziehen. noch (cf. 12, 12, n., b, d) is often used not so much of time, as to mark a certain stage or point reached or occupied in a scale (cf. 84, 14, n.); so here it expresses that up to the point indicated-that of his political indifference-their willingness to forgive might 'still' have held out. noch may in such cases often be rendered by 'even.' 24.. eingeboren, born in (lit. into) a place, native. 25. Trude, familiar abbreviation of Gertrud.—The word Bauer (fr. bauen, to cultivate, till), once applied to the whole population outside the Burgen, or towns (cf. 17, 17, n.), is still in its widest meaning equi valent to the Eng. 'peasant' or countryman in general, cf. 104, 9, die Bauern, the peasantry. But while the English word peasant in its narrower application denotes particularly the lowest class of tillers of the soil, chiefly mere day-labourers, the word Bauer as a specific classdesignation usually denotes the independent cultivator of a larger or smaller portion of land, either his own or held under a fixed tenure. In this sense a simple day-labourer, or Tagelöhner, has no claim to the title of Bauer, which marks a class including many well-to-do farmers of their own land, and thus is not adequately rendered by the Eng. 'peasant.' Numerous expressions, most of them provincial, designate the different grades of Bauern. A Vollbauer or ganzer Bauer is one who possesses an undivided Hof or farm of a certain extent, in distinction from a Halbbauer, who possesses only half as much, a Viertelbauer, &c. A Seldner or Söldner is according to Schmeller (Bayerisches Wörterbuch) the owner or occupant of a Selden or of a Hof; much the same as the N. G. Rothsaß, Käthner, or Kötter (Eng. cotter), the owner of a cottage and but a small patch of land. 27. zum hergelaufenen Pack. herlaufen, to run or wander hither (5, 2, n.), i.e. from elsewhere, from nobody knows where. Hence, from the distrust with which in old times all were regarded who wandered away from their own parish to seek their fortunes elsewhere, hergelaufen =vagrant, vagabond. Pack, contemptuous, pack, mob, rabble. 29. 3unftmann=3unftgenosse (4, 3), Zünstler (6, 5), fr. Zunft (4, 1, n.). -für's Heil der Stadt, 9, 23, n. 30. Em. etw. wehren (or verwehren, 114, 2), to forbid a person a thing, to prevent him from doing or getting something; so 55, 29. For wehren with dat. alone, cf. 5, 15, n. PAGE 36. 1. versalzen: ver (cf. 4, 23, n.) denotes error, as verzeichnen, to draw wrongly; to spoil something by overdoing, as verbaden, to overbake, burn, &c. Em. etw. versalzen, colloq. (= Em. etw. verleiden), to spoil a person's pleasure in a thing, give him a sickening' of it, &c. 5. dem entsprechend: dem demonst., =diesem (19, 4, n.), as in troßdem, außerdem, &c. 6. It has already been mentioned in the Introduction to the preceding story that the guild organization served also as the basis of the military system, so far as concerned the artisan class. Every handicraftsman served in his guild, under the leadership of the guildmaster. 8. Stadtmauer zu beseßen. In composition with verbs already transitive, the prefix be generally changes the direction of the action expressed by the verb, e.g. gießen, to pour (water on plants, &c.), begießen (84, 1), to water (plants, &c.), drench; so feßen, to set or put (something on or in something), beseßen, to cover, fill, occupy (something with something put on or in it), e.g. ein (sc. mit Speisen) gut beseßter Tisch, a well-spread table; ein Play ist beseßt, is occupied (in the first place, by laying something on it, to keep it). So as a military term, eine Stadt, einen Paß, &c. [mit Truppen] beseßen,—die Truppen beseßen den Paß, “occupy,' 'man.' IO. es fügte sich, 20, 23, n. 17. Wacht, Schildwacht (113, 5), now generally Wache, Schildwache (cf. Wachposten, 38, 14), watch, guard, sentry.-nervig, like Eng. nervous, for sinewy, strong. 21. neuerdings, recently, lately. Cf. allerdings, 40, 3, n., schlechterdings, 70, 16, n., &c. These anomalous forms have arisen by corruption from an original gen. plur. used adverbially, neuer Dinge, &c.; the 8 of the gen. sing., which has crept as an inorganic element into other advs., as giving them more of an adverbial appearance (cf. 10, 11, n.), has here displaced the true plur. form of the second element in the compound. 22. dafür halten, daß..., to hold, be of opinion, that.... 23. selbstgenügsam (genug, enough; genügen, to suffice), self-sufficing, finding all one wants in oneself, hence, [slightingly] indifferent to others. This seems to be all that is meant in the present passage; the word in itself might also include, like the Eng. 'self-sufficient,' the idea of complacent self-satisfaction, presumptuous vanity, which however would be out of keeping with the character of the smith as here drawn.—für... nichts (cf. 22, 27, n.) tauge (cf. tüchtig, 23, 7, n.). 25. Der Schmied nahm das ganz ruhig hin. In hinnehmen, to ‘accept,' take in a philosophical or matter-of-fact way (cf. 53, 2), submit to, put up with, hin retains its proper meaning, ‘away' (cf. 5, 2, n.), but as this meaning has become subordinate to the chief idea of taking to oneself, accepting without resistance, it seems at first sight as though hin had changed its meaning and assumed that of her. The idea however that really lies in the word is that of meekly or wisely 'taking away' to oneself, or quietly accepting, something that is or is thought to be unwelcome. 26. Etw. versteht sich (cf. 33, 18, n.) [von selbst],—ist selbstverständlich, is a matter of course. 28. Kunde, 35, 14, n.—Etw. wird Em., something (lit., becomes, i.e.) falls to or is given to one, one receives something. = 30. mit seinen Freunden zusammenstoßen. zusammenstoßen mit..., as here used, is a specially military expression, used of troops and their officers, stoßen zu...(cf. 97, 27, n.), sich vereinigen mit..., 'to join.' In ordinary language it is generally used only of an accidental or unconcerted rencontre (cf. auf Einen, etw. stoßen, to come upon, meet with), not of an arranged meeting, for which zusammentreffen (41, 14) is the usual word. 31. einen Hauptstreich führen (Haupt-, 10, 30, n.; Streich, stroke, blow; quick military manœuvre; führen, to 'deal,' direct), to make a grand assault. Es galt...zu, 5, 7, n.. PAGE 37. I. Em. or etwas (dat.) zuvorkommen, to come or get before, anticipate, forestall, prevent. 2. Etwas steht auf Spiß und Knopf is an old, now little known phrase (Auerbach however writes: daheim habe der Meister...gethan, wie wenn Alles bei ihm auf Spiß und Knopf stehe), indicating such a critical position of affairs that a decision between two alternatives must promptly be made or happen. Spiß or Spiße is here the point of the sword, Knopf, knob, the chief piece of the hilt, which in old times was used in sealing contracts; hence the phrase Spit oder Knopf! used to present the alternative of death or a treaty of surrender, and the expression above quoted. 'And such was the critical nature of the situation, that they had only the alternatives...' 6. säumen, to delay, tarry, linger; versäumen (ver, 3, 11, n.), to throw away or lose through delay or neglect, to let slip, allow to pass unused, &c., as eine Gelegenheit vers., cf. 59, 21; also, to neglect to do something, 66, 24.—auf. etw. Verzicht (renunciation) leisten (to do, perform, &c.), =auf etw. verzichten, to renounce, relinquish.—jeden, 17, 14, n. 7. alle Plage, 17, 4, n.-bedenklich, 15, 8, n. 9. Em. den Weg verlegen (cf. verstopfen, 17, 22, n.), to block up one's way (lit., by laying down something in it; cf. verschütten, to block up, fr. schütten, to pour or throw down), hinder one's progress, prevent one from going anywhere, cf. 39, 27. IO. gen, archaic, gegen, of which it is an abbreviation.' march; so 38, 2; 41, 15. (5, 17, n.), he 'meant to,' 'was going to' 12. zu dem (19, 4, n.) Ende.—Kundschafter, one who kundschaftet, goes out in search of Kundschaft or Kunde (35, 14, n.), a spy, one sent to reconnoitre. 13. Geselle (5, 13, n.), journeyman; Junge, boy, here Lehrling, apprentice. 16. En. auf or bei etw. (dat.) ertappen, to catch or surprise one in a thing; so 69, 8.—verdächtig, 38, 3, n.—festnehmen=gefangen nehmen. 17. billig, fair, reasonable; hence (of prices) low, (of the wares) cheap.-Lösegeld, fr. lösen, to make los, loose or free, to redeem. 18. Mastochsen (Mast, mast; food for fattening, mast or other) are stall-fattened oxen, ready for slaughter. 21. Maltersack, sack containing a Malter, a corn-measure varying according to time and place. 23. gegen Quittung (quittieren fr. the same L. Lat. source as Fr. quitter, fr. which Eng. quit), in return or exchange for a receipt, 'on giving a receipt.'-in Empfang nehmen, denoting an active reception or taking into possession, is not quite the same with empfangen, which may denote a passive and involuntary reception. 24. außer sich (dat.), lit., outside of, i.e., 'beside' themselves.diesen Schaden sammt dem Spott. Schaden, damage, disaster, loss. Spott, ridicule, derision. Wer den Schaden hat, darf (=braucht...zu) für den Spott nicht sorgen (lit., need not trouble himself about the ridicule, i.e., it is sure enough to come of itself), is a standing proverb, which we might render, 'The laugh is always against the loser.' |