Part 106

+bei sich+; after — parts = to (= in order to) read to him their parts (+Rollen+) after dinner (+nach Tische+, which place after the conj. +um+ and the dat. of the persn. pron.). To read, +vor´lesen+.

To take instructions, +Anweisungen entge´gennehmen+.

Section 131.

GOETHE’S DAILY LIFE AT WEIMAR.

III.

He was fond of wine (S. 3, N. 2) and drank daily his two or three bottles. Lest this statement should convey a false impression, I hasten to recall to the reader’s recollection the very different habits of our fathers in respect to drinking. It was no unusual thing to be called “a three-bottle-man” in those days in England, when the three bottles were of port or Burgundy; and Goethe, a Rhinelander, accustomed from boyhood to wine, drank a wine which his English contemporaries would have called water. The amount he drank never did more than exhilarate him, and never made him unfit for work or for society. Over his wine, then, he sat some hours; no such thing as dessert was seen upon his table in those days; not even the customary coffee after dinner. His mode of living was extremely simple; and even when persons of very moderate circumstances burned wax, two poor tallow candles were all that could be seen in his rooms. In the evening he often went to the theatre, and there his customary glass of punch was brought (S. 4, N. 4, +man+) at six o’clock (App. § 9). If (S. 27, N. 7) not at the theatre, he received friends at home. Between eight and nine a frugal supper was laid, but he never took anything except a little salad or preserves. By ten o’clock he was usually in bed.—G. H. LEWES, “LIFE OF GOETHE.”

Lest — impression = In order that (+Damit+) this observation may (Present Subj. of +mögen+; read App. §§ 33 and 34) not make a false impression.—For the position of the verbs see App. § 18.

to — drinking = to remind the reader of (+an+) the very different (+ganz andern+) habits of our fathers in respect of drinking.—To transl. ‘drinking’ form a noun of the infinitive of the verb ‘to drink’, and use it with the def. art., according to S. 3, N. 2, and S. 11, N. 7.

no — thing, +nichts Ungewöhnliches+; in those days, +damals+, which place with ‘in England’ after ‘was’.

‘when’, here +wo+. Notice that: =The relative conjunction ‘+wo+’ is often used in reference to time as a translation of ‘when’ in the sense of ‘at= (=in= or =during=) =which time’=; as—+Es geschah zu einer Zeit, ~wo~+ (+zu+ or +in welcher+) +Sie abwesend waren+, it happened at a time when you were absent. =It is also used relatively, in reference to place, instead of a relative pronoun preceded by a preposition=; as—+Kennst du das Land, ~wo~ (in welchem) die Zitronen blühen?+ (Goethe) Know you the land where (in which) the citrons bloom? +Dies ist das Haus, wo (in dem) er wohnt+, this is the house where (in which) he lives.

a — wine, +als Rheinländer von Jugend auf an Wein gewöhnt+.

The — him = What he drank had never any (= an) other effect than (+als+) to exhilarate him; to exhilarate, +angenehm an´regen+.

So he sat for hours (+stundenlang+) over his (+beim+) wine.

+Lebensweise+, f.

+Leute+; of = in.

wax = wax candles.

two — rooms = one saw in his rooms only two poor (+dürftig+) tallow candles.

+dahin+.

+bei sich zu Hause+.

to lay a frugal supper, +ein einfaches Abendessen auftragen+; to lay the table (the cloth), +den Tisch decken+.

Say ‘but he (himself) took (+essen+ or +genießen+, S. 3, N. 8.) only a little salad or preserves’.

+Um+.

Section 132.

THE PROGRESS IN THE ART OF PRINTING.

(Conclusion of a speech delivered at the Caxton Celebration, June 30, 1877, in London.)

I now call attention, in a few words, to the progress of this art. I hold up a volume in my (S. 43, N. 9) hand, to which I beg everyone to direct his eye, because I think it may be called the climax and consummation of this art. This volume is bound, as you see, and stamped with the arms of the University of Oxford. It is a Bible bound in a manner that commends itself to the reader—I believe in every sense an excellent piece of workmanship, containing more than one thousand pages. Well, you will say: “That is very commonplace, why bring it before us?” I do so in order to tell you that this book sixteen hours ago did not exist—it was not bound, it was not folded, it was not printed. Since the clock struck twelve last night at the University Press in Oxford, the people (+man+) there have printed and sent us this book. They (+man+) have sent several copies to be distributed here in the midst of your festival. That shows what can be done, and that is what has been done, and it shows the state to which this great art is now happily arrived. If I began with a humiliating confession as to the small share we could claim in contributing to the early history of printing, we may leave off, ladies and gentlemen, in a better spirit, because I think that such a performance as this is one that will be admitted to be a credit in any portion of the world. Now I will trouble you no longer, but (S. 6, N. 10) will ask you to drink with me to the memory of this most distinguished name: “To the memory of William Caxton, the (S. 53, N. 9) first English printer, and a native of this our beloved country.”—THE RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE.

+Die Fortschritte in der Buchdruckerkunst.+ =The noun ‘progress’ is generally rendered by the corresponding plural form in German.=

+Schluß einer am 30. Juni 1877 bei Gelegenheit der Caxtonfeier in London gehaltenen Rede. ~William Caxton~, der erste Buchdrucker Englands, wurde im Jahre 1412 zu Weald m Kent geboren, wohnte aber später als Bürger und Kaufmann in London, woselbst er auch im Jahre 1492 starb.+