Section 16. POOR PAY[1].
Reading edition
Section 16. POOR PAY[1].
When the Duke of Marlborough, immediately after the battle of Blenheim[2], observed[3] a soldier leaning[4] pensively on the butt-end of his musket, he accosted[5] him thus: “Why so pensive[6], my friend, after so[7] glorious a victory?” “It may be glorious[8],” replied the brave fellow, “but[9] I am thinking that all the human blood I[10] have spilled this day[11] has only[12] earned me fourpence.”—Rev. R. K. Arvine.
The teacher, noticing the boy’s talent, applied to the prince on his behalf. Der Lehrer, welcher das Talent des Knaben bemerkte, verwendete sich für ihn bei dem Fürsten.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · Armselige Bezahlung.Note 2 · Die Schlacht bei Blindheim (Engl. ‘Blenheim’) wurde am 13ᵗᵉⁿ August 1704 von dem Herzog von Marlborough in Verbindung mit dem östereichischeNote 3 · Place the verb ‘observed’ after the noun ‘soldier’.Note 4 · ‘leaning — musket’. This passage must be changed into a relative clause, thus: ‘who leant (sich stützen) pensively (gedankenvoll) upon the bNote 5 · to accost, anreden; thus, folgendermaßen.Note 6 · here ‘nachdenkend’ in order to avoid the repetition of the same word.Note 7 · so ... a, ein ... so.Note 8 · Make the word ‘glorious’ emphatic by placing it at the head of the clause, and see App. § 14. Insert the adverb ‘wohl’ between the subject aNote 9 · but — thinking, aber ich bedenke.Note 10 · Supply the relative pronoun ‘which’, for: The relative pronoun can never be omitted in German; to spill, vergießen.Note 11 · this day = to-day.Note 12 · This work has only earned me a shilling, diese Arbeit hat mir nur einen Schilling eingebracht.