III.

I[1] took up that man’s history, and _I_ found it animated by[2] the spirit of[3] Him who[4] had “compassion on the multitude.” John Pounds was a clever man besides[5]; and, like[6] Paul, if he could not win a poor boy in (+auf+) any other way, he won him by art. He[7] would be seen chasing a ragged boy along the quays, and compelling him to come to[8] school, not by (+durch+) the power[9] of a policeman, but by the power of a hot potato. He knew the love an[10] Irishman has for a potato; and[11] John Pounds might be seen holding under a boy’s nose a _very_ hot potato, and[12] wearing a coat as ragged as the boy himself wore. When the day comes when[13] honour shall be done to whom honour is due[14], I[15] can fancy the crowd of those whose fame poets (S. 3, N. 2) have sung[16], and to whose memory monuments have been raised, dividing[17] like a wave, and[18] passing the great, and the noble, and the mighty of the land, this poor, obscure old man stepping forward and receiving the especial notice of Him who said: “Inasmuch[19] as ye did it to one of the least of those, ye did it also to me.”—DR. GUTHRIE.

[1] I followed up (_verfolgen_) the life of this man.

[2] +von.+

[3] of Him, +dessen+.

[4] who (_der da_) had compassion with the poor.

[5] +auch+, placed after the verb.

[6] +wie Paulus+, which place after ‘him’; by art = through cunning (+List+).

[7] He — seen = One saw him often; to chase a person, +einem nach´laufen+. Read S. 78, N. 14, 2.

[8] +zur Schule.+

[9] +Macht+, f.

[10] Say ‘of an I. for a hot potato’.

[11] and one could often see how J. P. held a hot potato under a boy’s nose.—To hold a potato under one’s nose, +einem eine Kartoffel unter die Nase halten+.

[12] and (insert here +dabei+) wore as ragged a coat as the boy himself.

[13] +an dem Ehre erwiesen wird.+

[14] to be due, +gebühren+.

[15] Say ‘then I see (+dann sehe ich im Geiste+) how all those’, etc.

[16] +besingen.+

[17] +sich gleich einer Woge auseinanderteilen.+

[18] and — said = see, how this poor, unknown old man steps forward (+hervor´treten+) and passes by (+an einem vorü´berschreiten+) the great, noble and mighty of the land, and is received (S. 2, N. 1) with especial attention by Him (+von Ihm+, which place after the conj. ‘and’) who (insert +da+) said.

[19] Say ‘What you (+ihr+) have done to the least (+dem Geringsten+) of (+unter+) these, that have you done to me’.

_Section 126._

SHYLOCK[1] MEDITATING REVENGE.

If it will feed[2] nothing else (S. 27, N. 8), it will[3] feed my revenge. He has disgraced[4] me, and hindered[5] me of half a million! laughed[6] at my losses, mocked[7] at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted[8] my bargains, cooled[9] my friends, heated[10] my enemies! And[11] what’s his reason? I am a Jew! Has[12] not a Jew eyes? Has not a Jew hands, organs, senses, affections,[13] passions? Is (S. 2, N. 1) he not fed with[14] the same food, hurt with the same weapon, subject[15] to the same diseases, healed[16] by the same means, warmed[17] and cooled by the same summer and winter, as a Christian _is_? If[18] you stab us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? and[19] if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like[20] you in the rest (S. 27, N. 8), we will resemble you in that[21]! If a Jew wrong a Christian, what[22] is his humility? Revenge[23]. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what[24] should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why[25], revenge! The villany you teach (S. 42, N. 4) me I[26] will execute; and[27] it shall go hard but[28] I will better the instruction.—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, “THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.”

[1] +Shylock auf Rache sinnend.+

[2] feed = satisfy.

[3] Insert the adv. +doch+ after the subject.

[4] disgraced = insulted, +beschimpft+.

[5] +einen um etwas bringen.+

[6] Supply ‘has’ to begin this clause; at, +über+, with acc.

[7] to mock at a thing, +etwas verspotten+, v. tr.; ‘my gains’ may be rendered by meinen Profit.

[8] crossed (+durchkreu´zen+) my enterprises.

[9] cooled = made indifferent.

[10] heated = incited (+auf´reizen+).

[11] And for what (+aus welchem+) reason?

[12] =As a rule the English ‘not a’ or ‘not an’ is best rendered by the indef. numeral +kein+.= Say ‘Has a Jew no eyes’?

[13] feelings.

[14] +von.+

[15] Say ‘is he not subject to’, etc.; to be subject to a thing, +einer Sache unterworfen sein+.

[16] This verb requires again the passive voice, and copula and subject must be supplied; by, +durch+.

[17] Say ‘not warmed’, the auxiliary need not be repeated here.

[18] Begin with the principal sentence in this and the two following passages. ‘You’, here +ihr+.

[19] Say ‘and we shall not revenge ourselves, if you wrong us (+Unrecht zufügen+)’.

[20] to be like, +gleichen+, with dat.; in the rest, +in allem übrigen+.

[21] in that, +darin+.

[22] what is = in what (wherein) consists.

[23] +In der Rache.+

[24] in what (wherein) shall according to the Christian example consist his sufferance (+Dulden+, n., or +Duldung+, f.)?

[25] +Nun, doch wohl in der Rache!+

[26] +ich will sie anwenden.+

[27] and — hard, +und es müßte seltsam zugehen+.

[28] but — instruction = if I should not even (+noch+, after ‘not’) excel (‘should excel’ Imperf. of the Subj. of +übertreffen+; App. § 33) my teachers.

_Section 127._

CHARACTER[1] OF CHARLEMAGNE.