II.

“I am sorry,” replied the king, “that[1] my vessel is already chosen, and _that_ I cannot therefore sail with the son of the man who served[2] my father. But[3] the prince, with all his company, shall go along with you in the fair White Ship manned by fifty sailors of renown.”

An[4] hour or two afterwards, the king (App. § 15) set sail[5] in[6] the vessel he had chosen, accompanied by other vessels, and[7], sailing all night with a fair and gentle wind, arrived upon the coast of England in the morning. While[8] it was yet night, the[9] people in some of the ships heard a faint wild cry come[10] over the sea, and wondered what[11] it was.

[1] Say ‘that I have already chartered (+bedingen+) a ship’.

[2] Use the =Perfect=, which is used in German to express an action or occurrence both perfect and past, without reference to any other action or occurrence.

[3] Render ‘but’ by +jedoch+, which place after ‘shall’; with — company, +samt seinem ganzen Gefolge+; ‘to go along’, here +fahren+, to be placed at the end of the whole clause, which construe accord. to S. 48, N. 6.

[4] An — afterwards = Soon after.

[5] to set sail, +ab´segeln+.

[6] =To place the qualifying parts before the word qualified is one of the most striking peculiarities of German Grammar.= This construction, called =attributive constriction=, has been explained in section 7, Note 3 with respect to the rendering of the Perfect (or Past) Participle qualifying a preceding noun; but it must here be pointed out that it may likewise be used for rendering the Present Participle qualifying a preceding noun (comp. S. 16, N. 4), and that it is sometimes even suitable for translating short relative clauses. This, as long as it is not too much indulged in, imparts to the construction great conciseness and vigour, and avoids the too frequent use of relative pronouns, which, contrary to English construction, cannot be omitted in German. (Comp. S. 16, N. 10.)

EXAMPLES.

When the fleet, _favoured_ by the finest weather, was about to set sail, there arose a shout of joy, _proceeding_ from many thousands of voices, and resounding mightily from the shore.

+~Als die von dem schönsten Wetter begünstigte Flotte~ im Begriff war abzusegeln, erhob sich ~ein von vielen tausend Stimmen erschallender Jubelruf~, von dem das Ufer mächtig wiederhallte.+

The child, gently _sleeping_ in his mother’s arms, was suddenly roused by his father’s noisy entrance.

+~Das in den Armen der Mutter sanft schlafende Kind~ wurde plötzlich durch den lärmenden Eintritt des Vaters aufgeweckt.+

The church, _which was damaged by the siege_, is now being restored.

+~Die durch die Belagerung beschädigte Kirche~ wird jetzt wiederhergestellt.+

The clause ‘in — vessels’ requires the attributive construction, since the two relative clauses, otherwise required, would make the rendering very lengthy and monotonous. To avoid a useless repetition, translate the first noun ‘vessel’ by +Schiff+ and the second by +Fahrzeug+, and connect the two clauses by the conjunction +und+.

[7] The passage ‘and — morning’ may be briefly rendered thus: and arrived, favoured (+begünstigt+, App. § 1) by a gentle (+mäßig+) wind, the (+am+) next morning in England.

[8] Say ‘During the night’.

[9] the people = one, after which supply the conj. +jedoch+; in ships = upon some ships.

[10] come — sea, +von der See herüber+, which place after ‘ships’; wild cry, +Angstschrei+.

[11] +was dies zu bedeuten habe.+

_Section 49._

THE WHITE SHIP.