Part 11

When Franklin made his discovery of the identity of lightning and electricity, it was sneered at, and people asked: “Of what use is it?” To which his apt reply was: “What is the use of a child?—It may become a man!”—S. SMILES.

Of — it, +Wozu nützt es?+

‘=When=’, referring to definite time of the Past, must always be rendered by ‘+=als=+’.

of the identity, von der Identität, f.; see S. 3, N. 2.

When the agent from which the action proceeds is not mentioned, the =English Passive Voice= is often rendered by a =reflective verb=, or by the indefinite pronoun +=man=+ and a verb in the =Active Voice=; as—

At last the book was found.

+Endlich {~fand sich~} das Buch.+ +{~fand man~ }+

Say ‘people (+man+) sneered at it.’

A. To sneer at something, +über etwas spotten+; B. ‘=at it=’ = there at, +=darüber=+. The English pronouns ‘=it=’, ‘=them=’, ‘=that=’, and ‘=those=’, dependent on a preposition governing in German the dative or accusative, are generally to be rendered by the pronominal adverb ‘+=da=+’ in combination with a corresponding preposition. This is always the case when ‘it’ and ‘that’, in connection with a preposition are used indefinitely, and frequently when either of these pronouns refers to a noun representing an inanimate object or an abstract idea. The letter +r+ is inserted between the adverb +da+ and the preposition, whenever the latter begins with a vowel.

To — was = Upon this (+Hierauf+) he (inverted constr., see App. § 14) gave the following striking (+treffend+) answer.

may = can; to become a man, +zum Manne werden+.

Section 5.

WEALTH.

Wealth, after all, is but a relative thing: for he who has little, and wants still less, is richer than he who has much, and wants still more.—REV. C. COTTON.

wealth, +Reichtum+, m., see S. 3, N. 2.

after all ... but, +doch immer nur+; a — thing, +etwas Relatives+.

=When the subject, which may be preceded by its attributes, occupies the first place in a principal clause, either the copula or the verb must follow immediately.=

to have = to possess.

‘to want’, here +bedürfen+.

Section 6.

MENDELSSOHN IN BIRMINGHAM.

When Mendelssohn, on the first performance of his ‘Elijah’ in Birmingham, was about to enter the orchestra, he said laughingly to one of his friends and critics: “Stick your claws into me! Don’t tell me what you like, but what you don’t like!”—ATHENÆUM.

See S. 4, N. 2.

The preposition ‘on’, signifying ‘on the occasion of’, must be rendered by ‘+bei+’. ‘Performance’, +Aufführung+, f.

Use the gen. of the def. art.; Elijah, +Elias+.

‘=to be about=’, +~im Begriff sein~+. ‘To be about’ may also be rendered by the auxiliary verb of mood +~wollen~+ and the infinitive of another verb; as—

I was just about to leave, when the letter arrived.

+~Ich war~ gerade ~im~ Begriff abzureisen+ (or +~Ich wollte~ gerade ~abreisen~+), +als der Brief ankam.+