Month 35: Pages 49-50

This Month's Installment

As always the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about:

the mealtimes, prepared in moderation, that he always had alone, also offered him no rest because he could mull over his thoughts unhindered; some good plans that he considered for his congregation remained unrealized because he didn't have the wifely hand.  Who could offer it to him better than his sister!
     She was the youngest of the three of them.  When they 

---49---

were children, the age difference had not let a closer relationship develop between them.  That first happened when he came back to work for the second theological exam in the house of his mother, who had now long since passed away.  She was seventeen years old then, but of a [Reise] that went out above her age and with a thirst for knowledge that let her take an interest in some of his works with understanding.  The faithful loyalty that the two of them had kept for one another for her whole life had begun then.  Only later did he find out that that winter she had refused every invitation, every request of a friend just in order to be together with him for an evening hour that he had free for her.  She had never told him anything about it.  Now he again was granted the chance to be able to rebuild with sincere joy the old relationship that he needed more than ever from her.
     Else had come.  In the determined way that was forever her own, in the first days she immediately questioned many of the changes in the house, like the way of life of her brother.  At first, she didn't make much sense to him, but he soon felt her benefit.

Grammatical Minutae

I couldn't find a direct translation of weiterspinnen ("weil er ungehindert seine Gedanken weiterspinnen konnte"), although it's clearly a compound form from weiter (further) and spinnen (to spin).  That's to spin in a sense similar to that in the phrase to spin a yarn.  Eventually, I translated this as "to mull over," which retains some of the implied movement in weiterspinnen.

Although it's not a translation listed in my dictionary, I translated aufkommen as develop.  My dictionary gives me words that are synonymous with develop, but they're not applicable in this context (about a relationship).  Aufkommen is plainly translated as arise, but there are also specific meanings including thunderstorms (to come up) and wind (to spring).  Develop has the same sense, but it fits better within this particular context.

I'm not particularly happy with my word order in the sentence "That first happened when he came back to work for the second theological exam in the house of his mother, who had now long since passed away" because it makes it sound like the theological exam is being held in Hans' mother house, but the relative clause presents some problems in shuffling the order.  It's this way in the original text too:  "Das trat erst ein, als er zur Arbeit für das zweite theologische Examen in des Haus seiner Mutter, die nun auch längst heimgegangen war, zurückkehrte."  At least I was able to move "zurückkehrte" forward in the sentence when I translated it.

I italicized Reise because the meaning I know and the definitions my dictionary provides (all having to do with travel) don't make sense in this context.

"In the determined way that was forever her own, in the first days she immediately questioned many of the changes in the house, like the way of life of her brother." has some clunky word order too, but there are just so many elements in it.

I should also admit that I didn't translate a sentence or clause to-day (the 14th) because I was at the end of a paragraph.  The sentence at the beginning of the next paragraph is a longer one, so I would have split it into clauses, and as a result, this month's installment would have had an odd ending (although I ended in the middle of a sentence last month too...).

Month 34: Pages 48-49

This Month's Installment

As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about:

And now my sisterly nervousness, which causes you so much trouble, scolds, but I find it is not sufficiently taken care of for you.  You know what this is about.  Even as a lecturer in Bonn you askt

---48---

me repeatedly to come to you and to run your household.  I couldn't then.  And, quite frankly, my dear boy, I also didn't want to.  The field that presented itself to me was for me, with all love for you, too small.  Now you are the priest of a large congregation, and what you indicated to me several times, I understand very well: there is no wifely helper for you for your work in the congregation.
     So, shortly and clearly: if you want me, I will gladly come, run the household for you, try to make life a little more comfortable for you, and satisfy my need for activity with work on the duties for your congregation.
     Now write to me just as frankly what you think.  I am ready at any moment; yes, I may even add that the wish to be able to be something for you and to live together with you was not without effect on my notice [of leaving my position].
     Warm regards, old boy, from your loyal sister

Else

     Nothing could be more welcome to Hans than this letter, which he found one morning on his writing desk.  Else had hit on the right thing.  Indeed, he was lonely.  He brooded in the long evenings, which he spent - almost without exception - at his writing desk, in all types of spiritual questions and problems;

---&---

For the first time, I have no comments on the grammar, which leaves this post a bit shorter than usual. 

Month 33: Pages 47-48

This Month's Installment

As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about:

"Hopefully you will now pay a little more attention to your pastor."
     Fritz wasn't so sure: was it an honest opinion that spoke out of the words of the other brother

---47---

or hidden teasing?  He wanted to take it as the former.
     "And I am grateful to you," he replied, "that you have suggested this visit to me.  It will not have been my last."
     It was the only thing that Fritz spoke on the trip.  From then on, he was silent until they arrived home. 

[Adl.] Malkitten, 15 September 1913

     Dear Hans,
I would like to inform you to-day that after much consideration I have decided to give up my position here.  My two boys, who have well cut off in a just-held test, are going to high school now, and with a little girl of only six years old beginning again - I have little inclination - although one asks me about it urgently.  Generally, my initial experience and repeatedly exprest opinion of you has been right: my talents and abilities are suited more for the wifely practice than for the pedagogical field.  The successes that I gained here lay more in the talent and the diligent striving of my pupils than in me.
     Your letters, dear Hans, always give me a warm pleasure.  Alone I always have the feeling, as if near all of your joy, to work again in our beloved East Prussia, yet even a thin string sounds in them.

Grammatical Minutiae

This month's installment includes the beginning of a letter, which is exciting because it reveals the temporal setting of the novel (15 September 1913).  However, it's also frustrating because I have no idea what "Adl. Malkitten" means.  I'm assuming that "Adl." is an abbreviation, but I don't know of what.  Because it's alongside the date at the beginning of the letter, I'm assuming that Malkitten is a location, but I couldn't find an existing Malkitten, so either it's no longer extant or it's completely fictional.

The last sentence from this month's installment gave me some trouble, and I'm not sure it makes much sense.  There's an "ihnen" in the original text, but I don't know what its antecedent is.  It's plural, but there aren't any plural nouns in that sentence.  It might refer back to "deine Briefe" from the previous sentence, but there's quite a bit of space between them.

Month 32: Pages 46-47

This Month's Installment

As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about.

It was written in his features.  She liked men who could be both serious and happy, each in its time.
     He, however, lookt in her eyes with pleasure.  Under the thick blond hair that almost nestled into her eyebrows, they sometimes shone like the cornflowers in the quiet field.  It was

---46---

the health, country and the rural purity that he found and loved in the fresh character of this girl.
     Hans was keen to get going.  The cab was already at the door.  The uncle, of course, already lay in bed.  But Hutemach, who never went to sleep before everyone in the house was, would wait for them.  Fritz could no longer resist his hint; he finally rose to his feet and said goodbye to the priest and his wife with warm words of thanks.  Now he also shook Hanna's hand.
     "To better neighborliness from to-day on!  Right?  And if your duty" - he put a soft tone on this word - "takes you to Bärwalde once again, then don't forget that an old, frail man lives there in the manor house, for whom a happy word and face brings a little sunshine into his darkness.  And - this, of course, just by the way - also a younger man, for whom a little cheering up after the hard drudgery in the field certainly couldn't hurt.  Or is that too insignificant for Samaritan action?"
     "I will write it in my workbook as a visit, maybe I won't forget it then."
     "Approval and farewell!  Or hopefully till we meet again!"
     "I am glad that my brotherly warning has fallen on such fertile soil," Hans said as they both sat in the small cab, leaning close against each other, and the gentle mare took a few bold jumps in anticipation of the familiar stable, which she usually didn't do.

Grammatical Minutiae

I don't think that "nestled into" is the best translation of "schmiegten" in this context ("hair that almost nestled into her eyebrows"), but it's the only translation my dictionary supplies, so it's what I have to go with.

I've italicized "brings" above, not because I think I translated it wrong but because I don't understand how it's supposed to be parsed.  That clause is "dem ein frohes Wort und Gesicht ein wenig Sonnenschein in sein Dunkel bringt."  I can translate each word, but either I have the cases wrong or there's a subject-verb disagreement in the text because when I translated it as a whole, I got: "for whom a happy word and face brings a little sunshine into his darkness."  There's a plural subject ("ein frohes Wort und Gesicht"/"a happy word and face") but a singular verb ("bringt"/"brings").  I'll admit that what I have isn't the smoothest translation, but I'm not sure how to improve it because I'm confused about the subject(s).

Month 31: Pages 45-46

This Month's Installment

As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about:

     After dinner, they went into the living room, and the conversation turned itself to less important things.  Some innocent happiness was in the air and on the faces.  Fritz had started a little banter with the pretty Hanna, in which her Samaritan function again played a

---45---

rôle.  And she answered him so quickly and with such good wit, that this humorous duel gave him a growing joy.  Both their eyes shone with a pleasure for fighting.  The entrance of the serious men, who didn't immediately know how to find themselves in the changed atmosphere, disturbed them little; they barely paid attention to it and continued making jokes in the nonchalance of their youth.
     Their cheerful sense even passed over the worries and sorrows of the old woman, who sat in the corner of the ancient sofa with her tired head leaning on a cushion.  Only now and then a short, compassionate look from the youthful eyes of the girl flew over to her.  Why did she make so many heavy thoughts for herself?  Life was so beautiful and rich!  One just had to see it properly and approach with good confidence.  Her fate too had really been no easy thing.  Orphaned and destitute from early childhood on, only to obtain the charity of grandparents - not everyone would take it so calmly.  But she had never lost courage.  And if she sometimes had to stand there totally alone, she didn't want to be afraid of the struggle.  If the grandmother still thought about Fritz's serious words earlier in the garden?  But she had been right, she already believed him well enough to know: he really hadn't meant any harm.  He also belonged to the strong and courageous, who, when it depended on it, would yield to no enemy.

Grammatical Minutiae

The first sentence in this chapter (chapter seven) has a singular indefinite pronoun as the subject.  It's "nach dem Abendessen ging man in das Wohnzimmer...."  To translate this literally as "After the dinner, one went into the living room..." seemed a bit too formal and stiff, so I changed it a bit to get "After dinner, they went into the living room...."  As far as word-for-word translation, it's not strictly accurate, but I think it provides a better sense of what's going on.

My dictionary tells me that the phrase "ich habe es nicht böse gemeint" means "I didn't mean any harm," although it literally means "I didn't mean it badly."  In the novel text, however, it appears as "er hatte es so böse nicht gemeint" (my emphasis).  The so modifies an adverb in the German, but in the translation my dictionary provides for this phrase, there is no adverb.  Instead, it's become a direct object ("any harm").  In order to retain something of the original sense, I translated this as "he really hadn't meant any harm."  Hopefully, the intensification of so comes across in really.

Month 30: Pages 44-45

This Month's Installment

As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about.  I was able to finagle my clauses so that the end of this month's installment is also the end of chapter six.

     He could not continue talking.  His words had fallen like a spark of fire in the small gathering.  "War!?" cried Hans.  "How do you get to war all of a sudden?"
     "War!" the pastor said at the same time, and - his hands instinctively folded in his manner - he added: "God in mercy keep us from it!"  The pastor's frail wife, however, had become deathly pale, 

---44---

a stuttering twitch ran over her bloodless lips, she wanted to say something, but the word died away before she could utter it.
     Hanna noticed it and caressed her hand reassuringly:  "Don't bother, Grandmother.  The captain is inclined to be very belligerent to-day; he has been since his entrance, but he means no harm."
     "I don't at all know why the government gets so excited about my word.  We certainly cannot always stay in peace, and being prepared means everything here.  Or did we want to hide from ourselves that we are surrounded all around by a world of enemies, who wait only for the given moment while we are still here lulling ourselves to sleep in the most delightful dreams of love and fraternization?"
     "If the war comes, it comes from God, and we have to get used to it," opined the old priest.  "To think about it now is possibly a little premature."
     "I don't even know how you suddenly come up with these thoughts, Fritz," and with a quick, rebuking look, Hans pointed out the pastor's old wife; fear peered out of every feature of her wilted face.
     Now Fritz saw what he caused.  "You're right," he said, relenting, "it was just a silly idea that this peaceful evening gave me.  Since we like to live and think in opposites."

Fun Word I Happened Upon

• der Gurtmuffel - seatbelt offender; ein ~ sein to hate wearing seatbelts [der Muffel by itself means something like stick-in-the-mud]

Grammatical Minutiae

I had to change the word order a bit in the clause "Die schwächliche Pastorsfrau aber was totenbleich geworden."  Pastorsfrau is one word in German, but it becomes two in English: pastor's wife.  I couldn't keep the adjective where it was because that would result in "the frail pastor's wife," which could be incorrectly understood as "the wife of the frail pastor."  Instead, I worded it as "the pastor's frail wife."  Mostly I'm noting this just because I think it's interesting; it doesn't really require a grammatical explanation.
The same situation also showed up in a later sentence.

Although it's not the context in which I'd usually use the word, I followed my dictionary's suggestion to translate "kriegerisch" as "belligerent," because they have the same core, as it were.  Kriegerisch is related to der Krieg (the German word for war), and belligerent comes from bellum (the Latin word for war).

I translated "meinte" (in "meinte der alte Pfarrer") as "opined."  My dictionary suggests translating meinen as to think, to believe, or to mean.  To say is listed at the bottom, and that's the sense here, but since meinen is obviously related to die Meinung (opinion), I felt opine was appropriate.  Opine is translated as meinen in the English to German section of my dictionary.

Wohl can be translated so many different ways that I don't know whether I have the correct sense in the sentence "Jetzt an ihn zu denken, ist wohl ein wenig verfrüht."  I translated this as "To think about it now is possibly a little premature," but probably or truly might work instead of possibly.

Month 29: Pages 43-44

This Month's Installment

As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about:

     And when in this moment, a bottle of red wine appeared on the table, he couldn't refrain from telling the story about old Karenke and the ten bottles of Onkels though without in any way connecting it to Hanna's good work.  The priest and his wife laughed, but she understood his intention very well.  However, she didn't let herself lose her composure in the least; yes, from her eyes a quick, battle-brave look met him, a look that said, "Just wait!  Perhaps my hour is coming too; then we'll get even!"  That was just what he liked.  He wanted to embarrass her, and she pickt up the gauntlet. 

---43---

     The evening came creeping on soft feet.  The sun sank lower, out of the valley rose the gold and hung itself in glistening chains on the white-gray cloud bank that lined the horizon.  Once more the sun reached through with crimson hands and lookt on the earth with fiery eyes.  The sparrows chirpt even more quietly; the doves too had gone to bed on their [Schlag] in the hayloft.  It had become very quiet in the world; a faint wind came from the meadows and carried over autumnal scents.  Deep evening-peace covered the parsonage, its garden, and its farmstead with broad, shadowing pinions; from the church across the way, the evening bells rang a few times, then they fell silent.
     "Wonderful," Fritz said then.  He had indulged himself until then in silent devotion of this celebratory evening mood while the others carried on a casual conversation around him.  "When one sits here like this in the middle of this [Pfarridnlle] this evening, which fills the world with its Sabbath calm, then for one it's as it always has to stay on earth, as it could never become different.  And when one then thinks about it, how all of a sudden going to war over these peaceful valleys, how it can wake us all up out of the carefree calm of the peaceful delight of nature!"

Interesting Words I Happened Upon

• der Wolkenkratzer - in English, it's skyscraper, but in German, it's cloudscraper
• das Sechseck - octagon, but literally, "six-corner"
• die Blessur - wound, which I found interesting because the French word for wound is la blessure.  According to Wiktionary, German borrowed the word from French.
• das Durchschlagpapier - carbon paper, but since durchslagen means variously to go through, to pass through, the show through, to come through, it's literally something like "to-pass-through paper."

Grammatical Minutiae/Commentary

I think there are some Biblical references in the clause "Tiefer Abendfriede deckte das Pfarrhaus, seinen Garten, seine Gehöfte mit weiten, schattenden Fittichen," which I've translated as "Deep evening-peace covered the parsonage, its garden, and its farmstead with broad, shadowing pinions."  It has some resemblance with Psalm 91:4: "He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler" and Psalm 17:8: "Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings."  I have Martin Luther's translation of the Psalms, so I lookt up these verses and found some of the same words from the novel text (in bold).  Psalm 91:4:  "Er wird dich mit seinen Fittichen decken, und Zuflucht wirst du haben unter seinen Flügeln.  Seine Wahrheit ist Schirm und Schild."  Psalm 17:8:  "Behüte mich wie einen Augapfel im Auge, beschirme mich unter dem Schatten deiner Flügel."

I wasn't surprised that I didn't find "Pfarridnlle" in my German dictionary.  I don't know if I'm reading the type font wrong (which has happened before) or if it's a typo or if something else is going on.

Month 28: Pages 41-43

This Month's Installment

As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about:

     With warmth, Hans returned the greeting of his former teacher.  The quick walk through 

---41---

the fresh autumn air had woven a brownish shimmer around his pale face; his eyes shone youthfully.  Now he sat with both ages under the dense pipe-leaf arbor as he so often did in earlier years, and memories from past times came alive.
     A young girl appeared and brought the coffee.
     "Hanna Teichgräber, Theo's daughter, who now lives with us as my and the grandmother's faithful assistant," introduced the old gentleman.  And Hans' eye lingered with pleasure on the lovely vision, whose well-built body came in the simple linen dress with the white apron at the right length, while the yellow-blonde hair was combed to both sides over her forehead.  A trace of purity and freshness lay on the rosy face, spoke from the velvet-blue eyes, in which - compared to someone of so few years - were strength and determination.  The freshness of the swelling life that the maturity pushed against breathed around the whole figure.
     The golden sunlight lay full and soft on the pipe-leaves and now and then forced itself an entrance into the silent dark of the arbor.  Outside a few doves flew here and there and bathed the bright [Schwingen] in the air; in the fruit trees chirpt the sparrows so much louder than the day inclined itself.
     Wonderfully, this image full of quiet calm and still, cherished peace touched Hans' soul.  He thought about the inner struggles, the draining uneasiness that he suffered through recently.  This contrast, however, was not reconciled to him; he knew that his life would still face many a difficult struggle.  At the same time, he felt within himself strength and courage to take it on. 

---42---

     A slight autumn fog crept over the earth; the air became even more pure, but at the same time also cool.  The priest suggested a walk with Hans when one heard the approach of a carriage.
      "The Bärwald taxi!" cried Hanna, and a peculiar vehicle rolled up: a single gray-upholstered seat with a high back on a strange, ornate, yellow-painted wheeled frame.  On it lay, stretched out at length, Fritz Warsow, and with a casual hand he drove the gentle mare that one groomed to harness in front of this vehicle.  Even two, possibly three, people could travel on the taxi; as far as space is concerned, they had to sit on both sides, back to back, and be very slim and little, and the third perhaps in front in order to hold the lead.  But now Fritz was the absolute ruler and made himself comfortable.
     The old priest wanted to introduce again, but Fritz interrupted him:  "I have already had the pleasure to welcome the kind young lady on one of her Samaritan errands in Bärwald."

Interest Phrase I Happened Upon

fertig ist die Laube! - literally, this is "the arbor is finished!" but my dictionary translates it as the phrase "and Bob's your uncle!" so I'm assuming it has the sense of "well, there you have it!"

Grammatical Minutiae

Minutia, really, since there's only one:

I couldn't find a translation for "sammetblauen" as a whole, but I recognized "blauen" as an inflected form of blau, which is blue.  I did a bit of searching and found that der Samt is the word for velvet.  I'm not completely confident on this, but I think "sammetblauen" means something like "velvet-blue."

Month 27: Pages 40-41

This Month's Installment

As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about:

The lush yellow-gold of the dough with the many dark spots of the large and small raisins tempted even the finest taste; because no one was as good at [Glumse] cakes as the pastor's wife; for a long time she'd had this calling in the whole area.  In a silver can, an old heirloom of the priest's family that has survived for centuries, the [Schmandt] gleamed.  The coffee was not there yet; it would be prepared only when the visit was drawing near.
     The priest sat in a comfortable garden chair and read the newspaper that had just arrived.  He was a man of medium size and muscular build.  On the stocky [Kumpfe] sat a big, angular head with white - but still very thick - hair, a firm mouth, and small, mouse-gray eyes that dreamed under bushy brows.  Earlier they had certainly flashed; now they had become stiller - a true authentic scholarly head with a penchant for pensiveness, but not without inclination to action.  In the stubbornness of this seventy years, still fresh moves, the expression of a maturity and clarity; the one to look at him 

---40---

thought that it was won only after many a hard battle.
     His wife lookt much older and more worry worn than he, although she was ten years younger.  She had a small, delicate face and a tired sound in her voice; she still suffered from the early death of the only, hopeful son.  The oppositions of life that made him strong and firm had broken her.  A foot pain that had appeared a year ago forced her to use a cane for help while walking; nevertheless she was constantly active in her housekeeping.
     "Well I knew that Hans wouldn't forget his old teacher," the priest said as he put forth cigar and newspaper.  "How often have we sat here and discussed all sorts of theological and philosophical questions!  Even then he had the distinct nature of a lecturer.  That he has completely passed over to priestly service really surprises me."
     "It hasn't been a big jump for him," replied his wife, who - with events as with people - tried to bring out the littlest bit of good.
     "Don't say that.  He has a large and educated audience in Rodenburg, where he can work much good in the congregation."
     "Eventually he will take over Bärwalde and become your patron."
     "I couldn't think of a better - but isn't someone coming there?  Right, he is it!  Welcome and greetings in God, my dear Warsow!  You don't even know how very happy you make the old man through your visit!"

Interesting Word I Happened Upon

• eckig - my dictionary translates this as rectangular or angular, but since die Ecke is the word for corner, it's literally something like "corner-y.

Grammatical Minutiae

I couldn't find Kumpfe in my dictionary or even on the internet.  Judging by the context, I think it means something like shoulders, but I'm not confident enough about that to actually stick it in my translation.

Both recht and echt have so many meanings that I don't know if I captured the correct sense in my translation.  The original has "ein rechter, echter Gelehrtenkopf," which I've translated as "a true, authentic scholarly head."

The same goes for Zug in a later sentence.  It's plural in the text ("Zügen"), and I translated it as "moves," but I think characteristics might also work.  In that same sentence, there's the word "Geklärtheit."  I couldn't find this in my dictionary, but I'm pretty sure it's related to Klarheit (which I did find), so I translated it as "clarity."  It's paired with "Reife," which my dictionary translates as "maturity," so my English translation of this word pair rhymes.

I took a bit of liberty with "dennoch war sie von unaufhaltsamer Tätigkeit in ihrer Wirtschaft."  Literally, it's something like "nevertheless she was of unstoppable activity in her housekeeping."  Initially, I was going to change this to "she was constantly occupied."  Tätigkeit can mean occupation, so this was just shifting the parts of speech a bit.  I'd incorrectly translated dennoch as therefore, and when I remembered that it actually means nevertheless, I lookt at what I had again and realized that it didn't sufficiently portray movement despite the foot pain mentioned in the previous clause of the sentence.  So I amended it to "nevertheless she was constantly active in her housekeeping."  There's still a bit of shifting with regard to parts of speech, but it retains the same meaning while also implying motion.

I disregarded grammar for sense with the clause "die bei den Ereignissen wie bei dem Menschen immer das weniger Gute hervorzuheben suchte," specifically the "weniger Gute."  "Weniger" is the comparative adjective, so it's "less good" or "lesser good," but with "hervorzuheben suchte" ("tried to bring out"), I think it's meant as "the littlest bit of good," which has a superlative adjective.  I think I have the sense correctly (that the priest's wife is an optimist), but I'm unable to explain the grammar here.

Month 26: Pages 38-40

This Month's Installment

As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about:

She lost her parents early, so the two old folks brought her to them at Pronitten."
     "Ah, I know already!  The daughter of Theo, the 

---38---

doctor.  He lost his wife to a lingering illness, accused himself that he had treated her wrongly, and then soon died himself.  The old man had gotten over it with enough difficulty; only his childlike faith helpt him through it."
     A short pause.
     "But why do you call her the Little Red Riding Hood from Samaria?"
     Fritz laughed.  "Because I met her one afternoon here in our little village with a red cap on her blonde hair and a big basket in which she brought a bottle of wine and other tonic for old Karenke."
     "Was he sick?"
     "Yes, very sick.  Quite often he lookt so deeply in the glass that Beelzebub and other devils raged in him."
     "No, captain, you must always have your teasing!" said Hutemach, and to Hans, explaining: "The little Teichgräber child didn't want to go to him at all, but rather to his wife, who has been badly suffering for a long time and whom Pastor always visits when he comes to Bärwalde."
     "But the bottle of wine should have been for him, with that he cured himself from the gutrot!  That's a fact.  By the way, the little one has caused something good with that because since then old Karenke has become distinguished and drinks only red wine.  And he prefers Onkels Marke.  Or am I speaking a falsehood again?"  And with a triumphant look to Hutemach, whom, in all friendliness, he often gave a hard time:  "Then why did you fire Marie, his daughter, who was so good a chambermaid, just like that one day?  Because in the old man's parlor Mr. Borowski has found empty bottles of the brand that's there on the table.  But 

---39---

it means nothing to the Samaritan service of young ladies."
     Now even the old Bärwald resident laughed.  And nothing pleased Hutemach more than when he did that.  He could still laugh so heartily and with such childlike cheer. 

     In the arbor of the Pronitt parish garden, thickly overgrown with pipe-leaf, the coffee table was set.  A bowl piled high with freshly baked [Glumse] cakes stood in the middle of the table, framed by two old-fashioned vases of autumnal flowers.

Grammatical Minutiae

My dictionary translates schleppend as sluggish, slow, labored, and various other similar words, but none of them fit the context in which it's used in the text:  "einer schleppenden Krankheit."  I translated this as "a lingering illness."

Two months ago, when I ran across "Teichgräber," I translated it literally as "pond-digger," but after running into it again for this month's installment, I realized that it's actually a surname.  It appears as "Die kleine Teichgräber," which is literally "the little Teichgräber" and which I've translated as "the little Teichgräber child."

I kept "Onkels Marke" in German because I'm pretty sure it's a specific type of wine.  Translated, it's "uncle's brand."

I translated "Stubenmächen" as "chambermaid," although my dictionary notes that this is obsolete.  I'm not sure if the "obsolete" qualification applies to the text I'm translating because it's from 1916.  The rest of the sentence suggests that "Stubenmädchen" is an occupation from which Marie was fired, so "chambermaid" seems to make sense.

I took some liberties with the sentence "Er konnte noch so herzlich und kindlich froh lachen" because I couldn't really think of a way to render "kindlich froh" adverbially in English.  Instead, I put that part as a prepositional phrase and added "such" to retain the "so" in the original, which I'm assuming modifies both "herzlich" and "kindlich froh."  So I ended up with "He could still laugh so heartily and with such childlike cheer."

It occurred to me only after I'd pasted in this month's installment that I haven't been very consistent with place names.  I have both "Pronitten" and "Pronitt," although it's the same place.  I think I've been equally inconsistent with "Bärwald"/"Bärwalde."