Part 186

She was dead. Dear (S. 10, N. 2), gentle, patient, noble Nell was dead. Her little bird—a poor, slight thing, the pressure of the finger would have crushed—was stirring nimbly in its cage; and the strong heart of its child-mistress was mute and motionless for ever! Where were the traces of her early cares, her sufferings and fatigues? All gone. Sorrow was dead, indeed in her; but peace and perfect happiness were born—imaged in her tranquil beauty and (S. 10, N. 9) profound repose.

And still her former self lay there, unaltered in this change. Yes, the old fireside had smiled upon that same sweet face; it had passed like a dream through haunts of misery and care—at the door of the poor schoolmaster on the summer evening, before the furnace-fire upon the cold wet night, at the still bedside of the dying boy, there had been the same mild and loving look. So shall we know the angels in their majesty after death.—CHARLES DICKENS, “THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP.”

= from the traces.

= seemed to be a creature (+Kreatur+, f.). Fresh — God, +erst soeben aus der Hand Gottes hervorgegangen+, which use attributively before ‘creature’; breath, +Odem+, m.

+dann gebet mir etwas mit.+

+ein armseliges kleines Ding.+

+kindliche Herrin+, Nom.

+Alles war verschwunden.+

+war in ihr erstorben+; were born, +waren dafür wieder in ihr erstanden+; imaged in, +wie es ... bezeugte+; her tranquil beauty = her tranquil beautiful face (+Antlitz+, n.).

Liter. = And still (+dennoch+) lay her former self in this change (+Verwandlung+) unaltered there.

+der häusliche Herd+; ‘to smile upon’, here +auf etwas hernie´derlächeln+.

= brother.

Section 214.

THE CHILDHOOD OF ROBERT CLIVE.

Some lineaments of the character of the man were early discerned in the child. There remain letters written by his relations when he was in his seventh year; and from these letters it appears that, even at that early age, his strong will and his fiery passions, sustained by a constitutional intrepidity, had begun to cause great uneasiness to his family. “Fighting,” says one of his uncles, “to which he is out of measure addicted, gives his temper such a fierceness and imperiousness, that he flies out on every occasion.” The old people of the neighbourhood still remember to have heard from their parents how Bob Clive climbed to the top of the lofty steeple of Market Drayton, and with what terror the inhabitants saw (S. 78, N. 14, B) him seated on a stone spout near the summit. They also relate how he formed all the idle lads of the town into a kind of predatory army, and compelled the shop-keepers to submit to a tribute of apples and halfpence, in consideration of which he guaranteed the security of their windows. He was sent from school to school, making very little progress in his learning, and gaining for himself everywhere the character of an exceedingly naughty boy. One of his masters, it is said, was sagacious enough to prophesy that the idle lad would make a great figure in the world.—LORD MACAULAY, “LORD CLIVE.”

+Robert Lord Clive, geboren den 29. September 1725, gestorben den 22. November 1774, war der Begründer des brittischen Reiches in Indien.+

+Es existieren noch.+

+aus+; it appears, +ergiebt sich+.

+welche durch die ihm angeborene Unerschrockenheit noch unterstützt wurden.+

+daß er bei jeder Gelegenheit in heftigen Zorn gerät.+

He formed of them a kind of predatory army, +er bildete aus ihnen eine Art Räuberbande.+

in — which, +wofür+.

= studies.

to make a great figure in the world, +eine große Rolle in der Welt spielen+.

Section 215.

AN ADVENTURE WITH A LION.

It is well known that if one of a troop of lions is killed, the others take the hint, and leave that part of the country. So the next time the herds were attacked, I went with the people, in order to encourage them to rid themselves of the annoyance by destroying one of the marauders. We found the lions on a small hill about a quarter of a mile in length, which was covered with trees. A circle of men was formed round it, and they gradually closed up, ascending pretty near to each other. Being down below on the plain with a native schoolmaster, named Mebalwe, a most excellent man (S. 53, N. 9), I saw one of the lions sitting (S. 78, N. 14, B) on a piece of rock within the now-closed circle of men. Mebalwe fired at him before I could, and the ball struck the rock on which the animal was sitting. He bit at the spot struck, as a dog does at a stick or stone thrown at him; then leaping away, broke through the opening circle, and escaped unhurt. The men were afraid to attack him on account of their belief in [+an+] witchcraft. When the circle was re-formed, we saw two other lions in it; but were afraid to fire lest we should strike the men, and they allowed the beasts to burst through also. If (App. § 36) the Bakatta had acted according to the custom of the country, they would have speared the lions in their attempt to get out. Seeing we could not get them to kill one of the lions, we bent our footsteps towards the village; in going round the end of the hill, however, I saw one of the beasts sitting on a piece of rock as before, but this time he had a little bush in front. Being about thirty yards off, I took a good aim at his body through the bush, and fired both barrels into it. The men then called out: “He is shot! he is shot!” Others cried: “He has been shot by another man, too; let us go to him!” I did not see any one else shoot at him, but I saw the lion’s tail erected in anger behind the bush, and turning to the people, said: “Stop a little till I load again.”

= generally.