German composition

Section 68. TENDER, TRUSTY, AND TRUE. VIII.

Reading edition

Boys, I like peace; I like (S. 51, N. 13) to see you play like good, true-hearted little men⁠[1]. Never⁠[2] fight if you can help⁠[3] it; but⁠[4] never strike a boy who is no match for you, and never stand⁠[5] by quietly whilst another boy is doing (S. 32, N. 11) it. Tender, trusty, and true, boys; tender and true. King David, King Alfred, George Washington, William Channing, Theodore Parker⁠[6], more great men than I can name, were all of that sort; and⁠[7] they came out right, because they went in right. Brave as lions⁠[8], true as steel, with kind⁠[9] hearts for doves, ravens, and sparrows, they (App. § 14) would never tear⁠[10] birds’ nests, or sling stones to⁠[11] kill birds, because they felt as Jesus did when he said: “Blessed are the merciful.”—Rev. Robert Collyer, The Life that now is.

Notes in this chapter

Note 11 · I was observing = I observed (beobachten). Which are coming = which come. The English compound forms of the verb with the auxiliary and the Note 13 · When there is in a principal clause a transitive verb, the object of which is contained in a following objective clause, which often assumes Note 1 · ‘man’, here Bursche.Note 2 · The adverb cannot precede the Imperative in German. ‘To fight’, here sich schlagen.Note 3 · to help = to avoid.Note 4 · Render ‘but’ by jedoch, which place immediately after the verb.Note 5 · to stand by quietly, müßig dabei stehen.Note 6 · Theodore Parker, berühmter amerikanischer Geistlicher und Gelehrter, wurde im Jahre 1810 zu Lexington in Massachusetts geboren und starb im Note 7 · and — right, und sie traten als Sieger aus dem Kampfe hervor, weil sie für das Recht in den Kampf traten.Note 8 · Use the noun ‘lions’ with the def. art., but not the noun ‘steel’.Note 9 · ‘kind’ here = feeling.Note 10 · zerstören.Note 11 · See S. 19, N. 7, and supply the prepositional adverb damit before the object.