This Month's Installment
The italicized parts are what I'm unsure about:They went homewards together. It was hot again, almost unbearably; with merciless heat the sun beat on the beach. They had chosen the shady path on the big street. Nuscha chatted in her old manner, but not longer as personally as earlier, she almost didn't speak of herself at all. Generally, she had become more reserved towards him since that evening up on the cliff of Adlerhorst.
Behind them sounded a blaring signal, the horn of a car, but different, as if it were leading something other than a motor vehicle. Nuscha broke off in the middle of a word, rushed close to the street, and remained standing there.
With relatively slow speed, the motor vehicle, which was half closed, came past. Hans made out the contours of a slender female figure that sat inside with several other ladies.
"The crown princess! Finally I have seen her! And how pleasantly she returned my greetings and lookt at me!" cried Nuscha coming back, and her whole face beamed.
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The sport week had started. Now from the early morning until the late evening began an uninterrupted competition on all areas of physical exercise. Horse racing on impeccable fields in view of the sea, air-gondolas gliding above it, law sports, soccer, running and jumping and throwing games on the Manzen Square, hunting-like shooting at clay pigeons, [Kipp-] and wood hares in positions of the municipal manor forest, swimming and sailing competitions, and flower trips on the sea.
A bigger draw than all the others, however, was the great tennis tournament in which, with the most well known players of the world, the crown prince participated, who had arrived in Zoppot on the evening before the opening day.
For Hans all of these events offered little attraction, and therefore they were not unwelcome to him, they made his favorite walks on the beach and through the beautiful forest free from the crowd of people, who had spoiled them for him so many times; never had he been able to talk a walk in such wonderful solitude as in these days.
One afternoon, however, he decided, but at Nuscha's request, to witness a tennis tournament as a spectator with her. And he didn't regret it because, although he didn't understand the slightest thing about the game, he enjoyed the unspoilt youth and naturalness with which the German crown prince right in front of him moved among the players, the sure smoothness with which he gave and took his balls and laughed from his heart when one or the other was unsuccessful for him.
Most of all, however, Nuscha captivated his eye. She sat opposite him, her gaze was alternately directed, one minute on the playing crown prince, the next on his
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charming wife, who, without participating in the tournament herself, lingered in the middle of the space with her entourage. And in this gaze was such life, such burning desire: "Could you be there in the midst of them a single time, giving and taking such balls!" that something like a regret with this wonderful child became awake in him.
And now something else happened that lent this week a special attraction:
Grammatical Minutiae/Commentary
This was the end of chapter thirteen and the start of chapter fourteen.I'm not a tennis player, so I don't know if there's a better way to phrase "giving and taking such balls."
Although I could translate all of the words in the sentence, I really didn't get the sense of "And in this gaze was such life..." and it turned out a bit rough.
