George - Georg
Shaw - Dickicht
PREFACE
preface - Vorwort, Vorrede
A Professor of Phonetics.
Phonetics - Phonetik; phonetisch, phonetisch
As will be seen later on, Pygmalion needs, not a preface, but a sequel, which I have supplied in its due place. The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it. They spell it so abominably that no man can teach himself what it sounds like. It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him. German and Spanish are accessible to foreigners: English is not accessible even to Englishmen. The reformer England needs today is an energetic phonetic enthusiast: that is why I have made such a one the hero of a popular play. There have been heroes of that kind crying in the wilderness for many years past. When I became interested in the subject towards the end of the eighteen-seventies, Melville Bell was dead; but Alexander J. Ellis was still a living patriarch, with an impressive head always covered by a velvet skull cap, for which he would apologize to public meetings in a very courtly manner. He and Tito Pagliardini, another phonetic veteran, were men whom it was impossible to dislike. Henry Sweet, then a young man, lacked their sweetness of character: he was about as conciliatory to conventional mortals as Ibsen or Samuel Butler. His great ability as a phonetician (he was, I think, the best of them all at his job) would have entitled him to high official recognition, and perhaps enabled him to popularize his subject, but for his Satanic contempt for all academic dignitaries and persons in general who thought more of Greek than of phonetics.
sequel - Fortsetzung, Folge
supplied - geliefert; Stellvertretung, Versorgung, Vorrat; liefern
due - fällig
respect - Achtung, Respekt, respektieren
abominably - abscheulich
Englishman - Engländer
despise - verachten
German - Deutscher, Deutsche, Germane, Germanin, Achtelcicero, Deutsch
Spanish - spanisch; Spanisch; Spanier
accessible - zugänglich
foreigners - Ausländern; Ausländer, Ausländerin
reformer - Reformer, Reformerin, Reformator, Reformatorin
energetic - energisch, energiegeladen, Energie
enthusiast - Enthusiasten; Enthusiast
wilderness - Wildnis, Wüste
bell - Klingel, Schelle, Glocke
Alexander - Alexander
Ellis - Elli
patriarch - Patriarch, Erzvater
impressive - beeindruckend
velvet - Samt
skull - Totenschädel, Totenkopf, Schädel
cap - Ventilkappe; Mütze, Haube, Kappe, Deckel; Laufflächenkrone
apologize - entschuldigen
meetings - Versammlung, Treffen, Sitzung
courtly - höflich; vornehm
veteran - Veteran, Kriegsveteran
whom - wen; wem; dem, der, den, die
dislike - Abneigung; Unbehagen; ablehnen
lacked - gefehlt; Gummilack
sweetness - Süßigkeit; Süße
conciliatory - versöhnlich
conventional - konventionell
mortals - sterblich, tödlich, Sterblicher, Sterbliche
butler - Butler
phonetician - Phonetiker, Fonetiker, Phonetikerin, Fonetikerin
entitled - berechtigt; betiteln, benennen, den Titel verleihen
high official - Würdenträger
recognition - Erkennen, Wiedererkennen, Erkennung, Anerkennung
enabled - aktiviert; berechtigen, befähigen, ermöglichen, anordnen
popularize - popularisieren
satanic - satanisch
contempt - Verachtung; Schande, Blamage, Mißachtung, Beamtenbeleidigung
academic - Akademiker; akademisch; intellektuell
dignitaries - Honoratioren; Würdenträger, Würdenträgerin
Greek - griechisch; Griechisch, griechische Sprache, Grieche, Griechin
Once, in the days when the Imperial Institute rose in South Kensington, and Joseph Chamberlain was booming the Empire, I induced the editor of a leading monthly review to commission an article from Sweet on the imperial importance of his subject. When it arrived, it contained nothing but a savagely derisive attack on a professor of language and literature whose chair Sweet regarded as proper to a phonetic expert only. The article, being libelous, had to be returned as impossible; and I had to renounce my dream of dragging its author into the limelight. When I met him afterwards, for the first time for many years, I found to my astonishment that he, who had been a quite tolerably presentable young man, had actually managed by sheer scorn to alter his personal appearance until he had become a sort of walking repudiation of Oxford and all its traditions. It must have been largely in his own despite that he was squeezed into something called a Readership of phonetics there. The future of phonetics rests probably with his pupils, who all swore by him; but nothing could bring the man himself into any sort of compliance with the university, to which he nevertheless clung by divine right in an intensely Oxonian way. I daresay his papers, if he has left any, include some satires that may be published without too destructive results fifty years hence. He was, I believe, not in the least an ill-natured man: very much the opposite, I should say; but he would not suffer fools gladly.
Imperial - kaiserlich; imperial
Institute - einrichten, gründen; Anstalt, Institut
Joseph - Josef, Joseph, Josef, Joseph, Josef von Arimathäa
chamberlain - Kammerherr, Kämmerer
booming - boomt; dröhnend
Empire - Reich, Imperium, Kaiserreich, Kaisertum, Weltreich
induced - veranlasst; dazu bringen, anstacheln, bewirken, verursachen
editor - Herausgeber, Editor, Redakteur, Schriftleiter
leading - führend; führen; (lead) führend; führen
monthly - monatlich
commission - Auftrag; Kommission, Ausschuss, Abschlußprämie
importance - Bedeutung; Wichtigkeit, Belang
savagely - brutal
derisive - spöttisch
literature - Literatur
regarded - betrachtet; schätzen, betrachten, berücksichtigen
proper - richtig, passend, angemessen, eigentlich, Eigenname
phonetic - phonetisch
libelous - verleumderisch
renounce - sich distanzieren, sich verleugnen, verzichten;einer Sache abschwören
dragging - Planierschleppe; nachschleppen, schleppen, ziehen
limelight - Rampenlicht, Kalklicht
astonishment - Staunen, Erstaunen, Verwunderung
tolerably - erträglich
presentable - vorzeigbar; salonfähig
sheer - durchsichtig; scheren, ausreißen, gieren; rein, blank
scorn - verachten; verschmähen; verspotten; Verachtung
alter - verändern, ändern, wandeln, modifizieren, abändern
repudiation - Ablehnung
Oxford - Oxford, Ochsenfurt
largely - groß, weitgehend, große
despite - trotz
squeezed - ausgequetscht; drücken, klemmen, pressen, quetschen, quetschen
Readership - Leserschaft
pupils - Schulkind, Pupille, Schüler
swore - geschworen; schwören
compliance - Einhaltung; Einwilligung, Fügsamkeit, Konformität, Compliance
nevertheless - nichtsdestoweniger, trotzdem, lauch wenn, dennoch
clung - geklammert; anschmiegen
divine - göttlich
intensely - intensiv
Oxonian - Oxonisch
daresay - wagen Sie es; Ich möchte sagen.., Ich könnte mir denken..
satires - Satiren; Satire
destructive - zerstörerisch
hence - von hier, fort, von dannen, daher, deshalb
suffer - leiden; erleiden
fools - Dummköpfe; dumme Gans, Dummkopf, Narr, Närrin, Pute, Narr
gladly - gerne; gern
Those who knew him will recognize in my third act the allusion to the patent Shorthand in which he used to write postcards, and which may be acquired from a four and six-penny manual published by the Clarendon Press. The postcards which Mrs. Higgins describes are such as I have received from Sweet. I would decipher a sound which a cockney would represent by zerr, and a Frenchman by seu, and then write demanding with some heat what on earth it meant. Sweet, with boundless contempt for my stupidity, would reply that it not only meant but obviously was the word Result, as no other Word containing that sound, and capable of making sense with the context, existed in any language spoken on earth. That less expert mortals should require fuller indications was beyond Sweet's patience. Therefore, though the whole point of his "Current Shorthand" is that it can express every sound in the language perfectly, vowels as well as consonants, and that your hand has to make no stroke except the easy and current ones with which you write m, n, and u, l, p, and q, scribbling them at whatever angle comes easiest to you, his unfortunate determination to make this remarkable and quite legible script serve also as a Shorthand reduced it in his own practice to the most inscrutable of cryptograms. His true objective was the provision of a full, accurate, legible script for our noble but ill-dressed language; but he was led past that by his contempt for the popular Pitman system of Shorthand, which he called the Pitfall system. The triumph of Pitman was a triumph of business organization: there was a weekly paper to persuade you to learn Pitman: there were cheap textbooks and exercise books and transcripts of speeches for you to copy, and schools where experienced teachers coached you up to the necessary proficiency. Sweet could not organize his market in that fashion. He might as well have been the Sybil who tore up the leaves of prophecy that nobody would attend to.
allusion - Anspielung, Allusion
patent - Patent
shorthand - Kurzschrift, Stenografie, Stenographie, Stenogramm
postcards - Postkarten; Postkarte
acquired - erworben; erwerben, erwerben, akquirieren
manual - Leitfaden, manuell, Manual, Handbuch
press - Presse (Maschine), Presse (Zeitung); drängen, drücken
decipher - dechiffrieren, entschlüsseln, entziffern
Cockney - Londoner
represent - vorstellen, darstellen, vertreten
demanding - anspruchsvoll; Nachfrage, Bedarf, Nachfrage, Anspruch
boundless - grenzenlos, unbegrenzt
stupidity - Dummheit
Obviously - Offensichtlich; augenscheinlich
capable - fähig
require - erfordern; brauchen, benötigen
indications - Hinweise; Anzeichen, Anzeige, Hinweis, Indiz
beyond - darüber hinaus; jenseits
patience - Geduld
therefore - deswegen, deshalb, darum, also (folglich), daher
though - aber; trotzdem, doch, allerdings, obwohl, obgleich
current - Strömung; Strom; gegenwärtig, aktuell, zeitnah
perfectly - perfekt, einwandfrei, vollkommen, durchaus
vowels - Vokale; Vokal; q
consonants - Konsonanten; Konsonant, Mitlaut, Konsonant, Mitlaut
stroke - Schlaganfall; streicheln; Stoß, Schlag, Streich, Hub
scribbling - Geschmiere, Gekrakel, Gekritzel; (scribble); Geschmiere
whatever - Jacke wie Hose; was immer, was auch immer, egal, naja, nebbich
angle - Winkel; Angel
unfortunate - unglücklich, unglückselig
determination - Bestimmung; Determination; Bestimmtheit; Feststellung; Entschluss; Unterscheidung
remarkable - bemerkenswert, verwunderlich, denkwürdig, beachtenswert
legible - lesbar; leserlich
inscrutable - undurchschaubar
cryptograms - Kryptogramme; Kryptogramm
objective - objektiv; Gegenstand, Objekt, Ziel, Objektiv
provision - Bestimmung; Vorrat
accurate - genau
noble - edel; Adeliger, Adliger, Adelige, Adlige
led - geführt; LED; (lead) führen, anführen
Pitman - Bergmann
pitfall - Fallstrick; Fallgrube, Fanggrube, Wildgrube
triumph - Sieg, Erfolg
weekly - wöchentlich; Wochenzeitschrift, Wochenblatt, Wochenzeitung
persuade - überzeugen (zu);überzeugen (von);jdn. breitschlagen
textbooks - Lehrbücher; Lehrbuch
transcripts - Abschriften; Abschrift, Transkript
proficiency - Kompetenz, Können, Begabung, Befähigung
tore up - zerfetzte
prophecy - Prophezeiung, Weissagung
The four and six-penny manual, mostly in his lithographed handwriting, that was never vulgarly advertized, may perhaps some day be taken up by a syndicate and pushed upon the public as The Times pushed the Encyclopaedia Britannica; but until then it will certainly not prevail against Pitman. I have bought three copies of it during my lifetime; and I am informed by the publishers that its cloistered existence is still a steady and healthy one. I actually learned the system two several times; and yet the shorthand in which I am writing these lines is Pitman's. And the reason is, that my secretary cannot transcribe Sweet, having been perforce taught in the schools of Pitman. Therefore, Sweet railed at Pitman as vainly as Thersites railed at Ajax: his raillery, however it may have eased his soul, gave no popular vogue to Current Shorthand. Pygmalion Higgins is not a portrait of Sweet, to whom the adventure of Eliza Doolittle would have been impossible; still, as will be seen, there are touches of Sweet in the play. With Higgins's physique and temperament Sweet might have set the Thames on fire. As it was, he impressed himself professionally on Europe to an extent that made his comparative personal obscurity, and the failure of Oxford to do justice to his eminence, a puzzle to foreign specialists in his subject. I do not blame Oxford, because I think Oxford is quite right in demanding a certain social amenity from its nurslings (heaven knows it is not exorbitant in its requirements!); for although I well know how hard it is for a man of genius with a seriously underrated subject to maintain serene and kindly relations with the men who underrate it, and who keep all the best places for less important subjects which they profess without originality and sometimes without much capacity for them, still, if he overwhelms them with wrath and disdain, he cannot expect them to heap honors on him.
lithographed - lithographiert; Lithografie, Lithographie, Steindruck
handwriting - Handschrift; (handwrite); Handschrift
vulgarly - vulgär
advertized - beworben; werben (du wirbst, er wirbt), ich/er/sie warb
syndicate - Syndikat
upon - auf; mit
Encyclopaedia - Enzyklopädie; Konversationslexikon, Lexikon, Lexikon
prevail - erman: die Vorherrschaft erringen (''over'' über); sich durchsetzen (''against'' gegen); vorherrschen; überzeugen können
lifetime - Leben, Lebensdauer, Lebenszeit, Ewigkeit
informed - informiert; benachrichtigen, mitteilen, informieren
publishers - Verlage; Herausgeber, Herausgeberin, Verlag
cloistered - klösterlich; Kreuzgang, Kloster
existence - Existenz, Dasein
steady - beständig; stetig; stabilisieren
transcribe - transkribieren
perforce - erzwingen; notgedrungen, zwangsläufig
railed - geschnallt; Gleis, Schiene, Reling, Geländer
vainly - vergeblich
raillery - rasseln; Spötteleien, Spöttelei, Spötterei
eased - gelockert; EAS
soul - Inbrunst, Seele, Gefühl, Herz
vogue - Mode
portrait - Portrait, Porträt, Hochformat
physique - Körperbau, Statur
temperament - Temperament, Charakter, Veranlagung, Stimmung
set - gesetzt; Seth
Thames - Die Themse; Themse
impressed - beeindruckt; beeindrucken, prägen
professionally - professionell
extent - Umfang, Ausdehnung, Ausmaß, Größe
comparative - vergleichend; komparativ; verhältnismäßig, relativ, Höherstufe
obscurity - Dunkelheit, Unklarheit
failure - Versagen; Misserfolg, Ausfall, Verschlechterung, Misslingen
justice - Gerechtigkeit, Genugtuung, Justiz
eminence - Eminenz
puzzle - Rätsel; Puzzle, Geduldspiel, Geduldsspiel
specialists - Spezialisten; Spezialist, Spezialistin, Fachmann, Fachfrau
blame - jemadem die Schuld zuweisen
amenity - Annehmlichkeit, Anmut, Einrichtung, öffentliche Einrichtung
nurslings - Säuglinge
Heaven - Der Himmel; Himmel, Firmament, Paradies
requirements - Anforderungen; Anforderung, Anforderung, Anforderung
genius - Genie; Genialität
seriously - ernst, ernsthaft
underrated - unterschätzt; unterschätzen
maintain - unterhalten, warten, beibehalten, aufrechterhalten
serene - Gelassenheit; heiter
relations - Beziehungen; Beziehung, Relation, Relation, Verwandter
originality - Originalität
capacity - Kapazität; Befugnis
overwhelms - überwältigt; überwältigen, übermannen, überrumpeln, de
wrath - Zorn, Wut, Ärger, Ingrimm, Vergeltung
disdain - Verachtung, Geringschätzung (disrespect)
heap - Menschenmenge, Masse, Haufen, Haufe, Heap
honors - Ehrungen; Ehre, Ehre, ehren, ehren
Of the later generations of phoneticians I know little. Among them towers the Poet Laureate, to whom perhaps Higgins may owe his Miltonic sympathies, though here again I must disclaim all portraiture. But if the play makes the public aware that there are such people as phoneticians, and that they are among the most important people in England at present, it will serve its turn.
generations - Generationen; Generation, Geschlecht
phoneticians - Phonetiker, Fonetiker, Phonetikerin, Fonetikerin
poet - Dichter, Dichterin; i ormal
Laureate - Preisträger; Laureat, Laureatin
owe - schulden, schuldig sein
sympathies - Sympathien; Mitleid
disclaim - ablehnen, dementieren
portraiture - Porträtmalerei; Porträtphotographie
aware - wachsam, gewahr, bewusst, checkgewahr
I wish to boast that Pygmalion has been an extremely successful play all over Europe and North America as well as at home. It is so intensely and deliberately didactic, and its subject is esteemed so dry, that I delight in throwing it at the heads of the wiseacres who repeat the parrot cry that art should never be didactic. It goes to prove my contention that art should never be anything else.
boast - rühmen; stolz sein auf etw
deliberately - absichtlich
didactic - didaktisch
esteemed - wertgeschätzt; Achtung, Ansehen
delight in - sich freuen an
wiseacres - Klugscheißer, Besserwisser, Neunmalkluger
parrot - Papagei; nachplappern
Prove - er/sie hat/hatte bewiesen, beweisen, erhärten
contention - Streitigkeiten; Streit; Behauptung
Finally, and for the encouragement of people troubled with accents that cut them off from all high employment, I may add that the change wrought by Professor Higgins in the flower girl is neither impossible nor uncommon. The modern concierge's daughter who fulfils her ambition by playing the Queen of Spain in Ruy Blas at the Theatre Francais is only one of many thousands of men and women who have sloughed off their native dialects and acquired a new tongue.
encouragement - Ermutigung
accents - Akzente; Dialekt, Akzent, Betonung; betonen, akzentuieren
employment - Anstellung; Beschäftigung, Erwerbstätigkeit, Arbeit, Gebrauch
nor - weder noch, auch nicht
uncommon - ungebräuchlich; ungewöhnlich
concierge - Concierge, Portier, Portierin, Hotelportier
fulfils - erfüllt; erfüllen, ableisten, anfüllen, gerecht werden
Ambition - Ehrgeiz, checkAmbition (5)
Spain - Spanien
native - gebürtig; einheimisch; nativ; Ureinwohner, Ureinwohnerin
dialects - Dialekte; Dialekt, Mundart
tongue - Zunge, Lasche
But the thing has to be done scientifically, or the last state of the aspirant may be worse than the first. An honest and natural slum dialect is more tolerable than the attempt of a phonetically untaught person to imitate the vulgar dialect of the golf club; and I am sorry to say that in spite of the efforts of our Academy of dramatic art, there is still too much sham golfing English on our stage, and too little of the noble English of Forbes Robertson.
scientifically - wissenschaftlich
aspirant - Anwärter; Aspirant, Aspirantin, Bewerber, Bewerberin
honest - ehrlich, aufrichtig; (hon); ehrlich, aufrichtig
slum - Elendsviertel
dialect - Dialekt, Mundart
more tolerable - erträglichere
attempt - versuchen; Versuch, Bestreben, Bestrebung, Anschlag, Attentat
phonetically - phonetisch
imitate - imitieren
vulgar - vulgär, unfein, ungebildet, unanständig
spite - Bosheit; trotz
efforts - Anstrengungen; Anstrengung, Aufwand
Academy - Akademie, akademische Einrichtung
dramatic art - Dramatik
sham - Schwindel; Schein., Fälschung
Covent Garden at 11.15 p.m. Torrents of heavy summer rain. Cab whistles blowing frantically in all directions.
torrents - Sturzbach, Sturzflut
cab - Taxi, Fiaker
whistles - pfeift; Pfeife, Trillerpfeife, Flöte, Pfeifen
frantically - verzweifelt
Pedestrians running for shelter into the market and under the portico of St. Paul's Church, where there are already several people, among them a lady and her daughter in evening dress. They are all peering out gloomily at the rain, except one man with his back turned to the rest, who seems wholly preoccupied with a notebook in which he is writing busily.
pedestrians - Fußgänger-, fußgänger-, Fuß-, fuß-, Geh-, geh-, umständlich
shelter - Unterkunft; Zuflucht, Obdach, Zufluchtsort, Schutzraum
portico - Säulengang; Portikus
Paul - Paulus, Paul
evening dress - Abendkleid , Abendgarderobe , Abendrobe
peering - spähen; seinesgleichen, Beaufsichtigende; schielen, starren
gloomily - düster, finster
wholly - ganz
preoccupied - besorgt; erfüllen
notebook - Notizbuch, Notizheft, Notizblock, Merkheft
busily - fleißig; eifrig, geschäftig, beschäftigt
The church clock strikes the first quarter.
church clock - Kirchturmuhr , Kirchenuhr
strikes - Streiks; streichen, schlagen, prägen, streiken, scheinen
THE DAUGHTER [in the space between the central pillars, close to the one on her left] I'm getting chilled to the bone. What can Freddy be doing all this time? He's been gone twenty minutes.
central - zentral, mittig
pillars - Pfeilern; Pfeiler, Säule
chilled - gekühlt; Mutlosigkeit, Frostgefühl
THE MOTHER [on her daughter's right] Not so long. But he ought to have got us a cab by this.
A BYSTANDER [on the lady's right] He won't get no cab not until half-past eleven, missus, when they come back after dropping their theatre fares.
bystander - Unbeteiligte; Zuschauer, Schaulustiger
Missus - Herrin; Frau
THE MOTHER. But we must have a cab. We can't stand here until half-past eleven. It's too bad.
THE BYSTANDER. Well, it ain't my fault, missus.
fault - Fehler; Schuld; Fehler, Charakterschwäche, Verfehlung
THE DAUGHTER. If Freddy had a bit of gumption, he would have got one at the theatre door.
gumption - Köpfchen; Grips, Vernunft, Biss, Durchhaltevermögen
THE MOTHER. What could he have done, poor boy?
THE DAUGHTER. Other people got cabs. Why couldn't he?
cabs - Taxis; Taxi, Fiaker
Freddy rushes in out of the rain from the Southampton Street side, and comes between them closing a dripping umbrella. He is a young man of twenty, in evening dress, very wet around the ankles.
rushes - eilt; stürzen, drängen, hetzen, rasen; Eile, Andrang
dripping - tropft; Bratenfett; (drip) tropft; Bratenfett
THE DAUGHTER. Well, haven't you got a cab?
FREDDY. There's not one to be had for love or money.
THE MOTHER. Oh, Freddy, there must be one. You can't have tried.
THE DAUGHTER. It's too tiresome. Do you expect us to go and get one ourselves?
tiresome - lästig
FREDDY. I tell you they're all engaged. The rain was so sudden: nobody was prepared; and everybody had to take a cab. I've been to Charing Cross one way and nearly to Ludgate Circus the other; and they were all engaged.
engaged - verlobt; beschäftigen, anstellen, angreifen, anlegen, einrasten
sudden - plötzlich, jäh
Charing - Zeichen; verkohlen; Saibling
circus - Zirkus
THE MOTHER. Did you try Trafalgar Square?
FREDDY. There wasn't one at Trafalgar Square.
wasn - Was
THE DAUGHTER. Did you try?
FREDDY. I tried as far as Charing Cross Station. Did you expect me to walk to Hammersmith?
THE DAUGHTER. You haven't tried at all.
THE MOTHER. You really are very helpless, Freddy. Go again; and don't come back until you have found a cab.
helpless - hilflos
FREDDY. I shall simply get soaked for nothing.
Simply - einfach
soaked - durchtränkt; durchnässen, tränken, einweichen, durchziehen
THE DAUGHTER. And what about us? Are we to stay here all night in this draught, with next to nothing on. You selfish pig"
draught - Tiefgang; Spielstein
Selfish - egoistisch, selbstsüchtig, egozentrisch, checkegoistisch
FREDDY. Oh, very well: I'll go, I'll go. [He opens his umbrella and dashes off Strandwards, but comes into collision with a flower girl, who is hurrying in for shelter, knocking her basket out of her hands. A blinding flash of lightning, followed instantly by a rattling peal of thunder, orchestrates the incident]
dashes - Bindestriche; Bindestrich, Gedankenstrich, Querstrich, Strich
collision - Zusammenstoß, Kollision
hurrying - Beeilung; beeilend, eilend; (hurry); Eile; beeilen
basket - Korb
blinding - geblendet; blendend, grell; (blind); blind, unkritisch
flash - Blitzlicht; aufleuchten, blitzen, aufflammen
lightning - Blitzschlag; Blitz; Entladung
instantly - sofort; unmittelbar
rattling - klappernd, ratternd, klirrend, rasselnd; (rattle) klappernd
peal of thunder - Donnerschlag
orchestrates - orchestriert; orchestrieren, orchestrieren
incident - Vorfall, Begebenheit, Ereignis, Geschehnis
THE FLOWER GIRL. Nah then, Freddy: look wh'y'gowin, deah.
FREDDY. Sorry [he rushes off].
THE FLOWER GIRL [picking up her scattered flowers and replacing them in the basket] There's menners f'yer! Te-oo banches o voylets trod into the mad. [She sits down on the plinth of the column, sorting her flowers, on the lady's right. She is not at all an attractive person. She is perhaps eighteen, perhaps twenty, hardly older. She wears a little sailor hat of black straw that has long been exposed to the dust and soot of London and has seldom if ever been brushed. Her hair needs washing rather badly: its mousy color can hardly be natural.
scattered - verstreut; zerstreuen, zerstreuen, streuen, verstreuen
menners - Manieren
trod - getreten; schritt, zertrat, trat; (tread) getreten; schritt
mad - wahnsinnig, verrückt, toll, irre
plinth - Sockel
hardly - hart, rau, kaum
sailor - Matrose, Matrosin, Seemann, Seefrau
straw - Halm, Strohhalm, Stroh, strohfarben, strohgelb, Stroh-
exposed - ausgesetzt; aufdecken, offenbaren, entblößen, bloßlegen
dust - Staub; entstauben, abstauben, ein Sandbad nehmen, sandbaden
Soot - Ruß; ''Swiss spelling:'' Russ
seldom - selten
mousy - mürrisch; mausgrau
She wears a shoddy black coat that reaches nearly to her knees and is shaped to her waist. She has a brown skirt with a coarse apron. Her boots are much the worse for wear. She is no doubt as clean as she can afford to be; but compared to the ladies she is very dirty. Her features are no worse than theirs; but their condition leaves something to be desired; and she needs the services of a dentist].
shoddy - minderwertig, billig, schäbig, schlampig, Reißwolle
waist - Taille; Rumpf
coarse - grob, grobkörnig, derb, primitiv
apron - Schürze; Vorfeld; Fußsack
doubt - bezweifeln, Zweifel
afford - leisten
desired - gewünscht; begehren, begehren, Begehren
THE MOTHER. How do you know that my son's name is Freddy, pray?
Pray - Bitte bedenken Sie doch!; beten
THE FLOWER GIRL. Ow, eez ye-ooa san, is e? Wal, fewd dan y'de-ooty bawmz a mather should, eed now bettern to spawl a pore gel's flahrzn than ran awy atbaht pyin. Will ye-oo py me f'them? [Here, with apologies, this desperate attempt to represent her dialect without a phonetic alphabet must be abandoned as unintelligible outside London.]
ye - ja; euch, ihr, dir, du
San - Speichernetzwerk
Dan - Dan
bettern - besser
pore - Pore
gel - das Gel
awy - schrecklich
apologies - Entschuldigungen; Entschuldigung, Apologie
desperate - verzweifelt bemüht, sehnsuchtsvoll verlangend, aussichtslos
alphabet - ABC, Alphabet
abandoned - im Stich lassen, preisgeben, verlassen, abbrechen
unintelligible - unverständlich
THE DAUGHTER. Do nothing of the sort, mother. The idea!
THE MOTHER. Please allow me, Clara. Have you any pennies?
THE DAUGHTER. No. I've nothing smaller than sixpence.
THE FLOWER GIRL [hopefully] I can give you change for a tanner, kind lady.
hopefully - hoffentlich
tanner - Gerber; (tan) Gerber
THE MOTHER [to Clara] Give it to me. [Clara parts reluctantly]. Now [to the girl] This is for your flowers.
reluctantly - widerstrebend
THE FLOWER GIRL. Thank you kindly, lady.
THE DAUGHTER. Make her give you the change. These things are only a penny a bunch.
bunch - Bund, lowers, Traube, bündeln, anordnen
THE MOTHER. Do hold your tongue, Clara. [To the girl]. You can keep the change.
THE FLOWER GIRL. Oh, thank you, lady.
THE MOTHER. Now tell me how you know that young gentleman's name.
gentleman - Herr; Herr, meine Herren
THE FLOWER GIRL. I didn't.
THE MOTHER. I heard you call him by it. Don't try to deceive me.
deceive - betrügen, täuschen
THE FLOWER GIRL [protesting] Who's trying to deceive you? I called him Freddy or Charlie same as you might yourself if you was talking to a stranger and wished to be pleasant. [She sits down beside her basket].
protesting - protestieren, demonstrieren, Einspruch erheben, Einwände äußern
pleasant - angenehm
beside - daneben; neben
THE DAUGHTER. Sixpence thrown away! Really, mamma, you might have spared Freddy that. [She retreats in disgust behind the pillar].
thrown away - verscherztem
mamma - die Mama
spared - verschont; Sparring; Holm (Tragfläche); Holm (Rotorblatt); boxen
retreats - Rückzugsgebiete; Rückzug
in disgust - mit Abscheu, angewidert
pillar - Pfeiler, Säule
An elderly gentleman of the amiable military type rushes into shelter, and closes a dripping umbrella. He is in the same plight as Freddy, very wet about the ankles. He is in evening dress, with a light overcoat. He takes the place left vacant by the daughter's retirement.
elderly - ältere Menschen; älter, bejahrt, betagt
amiable - liebenswürdig, liebenswert, gutmütig
military - Militär
plight - Notlage; sich verloben; Misere, schlimmer Zustand, Verlobung
overcoat - Mantel
vacant - unbesetzt; frei, vakant, leer, nichtssagend, ausdruckslos
retirement - Rente, Ruhestand, Lebensabend
THE GENTLEMAN. Phew!
Phew - puh; pfui
THE MOTHER [to the gentleman] Oh, sir, is there any sign of its stopping?
THE GENTLEMAN. I'm afraid not. It started worse than ever about two minutes ago. [He goes to the plinth beside the flower girl; puts up his foot on it; and stoops to turn down his trouser ends].
I'm afraid not - Leider nicht!
stoops - hält sich zurück; Buckel, sich beugen
trouser - Hose
THE MOTHER. Oh, dear! [She retires sadly and joins her daughter].
retires - in den Ruhestand geht; pensionieren, zurücktreten
THE FLOWER GIRL [taking advantage of the military gentleman's proximity to establish friendly relations with him]. If it's worse it's a sign it's nearly over. So Cheer up, Captain; and buy a flower off a poor girl.
proximity - Nähe, Nachbarschaft
establish - feststellen, etablieren, eröffnen, gründen, niederlassen
Cheer up - Sei guten Mutes!, Kopf hoch!;aufheitern
captain - Stabshauptmann, Kapitän zur See, Kapitän, Flugkapitän
THE GENTLEMAN. I'm sorry, I haven't any change.
THE FLOWER GIRL. I can give you change, Captain,
THE GENTLEMEN. For a sovereign? I've nothing less.
gentlemen - Herr, Herr, Herr, meine Herren
sovereign - souverän
THE FLOWER GIRL. Garn! Oh do buy a flower off me, Captain. I can change half-a-crown. Take this for tuppence.
crown - Zenit; krönen; Bombage (ballige Fläche), Zahnkrone; Baumkrone
Tuppence - zwei Pence
THE GENTLEMAN. Now don't be troublesome: there's a good girl. [Trying his pockets] I really haven't any change"Stop: here's three hapence, if that's any use to you [he retreats to the other pillar].
troublesome - lästig
THE FLOWER GIRL [disappointed, but thinking three halfpence better than nothing] Thank you, sir.
disappointed - enttäuscht; enttäuschen, vorenthalten, berauben
halfpence - halbe Pence
THE BYSTANDER [to the girl] You be careful: give him a flower for it. There's a bloke here behind taking down every blessed word you're saying. [All turn to the man who is taking notes].
bloke - Kerl
taking down - abhängend
blessed - gesegnet; selig; (bless); gesegnet; selig
THE FLOWER GIRL [springing up terrified] I ain't done nothing wrong by speaking to the gentleman. I've a right to sell flowers if I Keep off the kerb. [Hysterically] I'm a respectable girl: so help me, I never spoke to him except to ask him to buy a flower off me. [General hubbub, mostly sympathetic to the flower girl, but deprecating her excessive sensibility. Cries of Don't start hollerin. Who's hurting you? Nobody's going to touch you. What's the good of fussing? Steady on. Easy, easy, etc., come from the elderly staid spectators, who pat her comfortingly. Less patient ones bid her shut her head, or ask her roughly what is wrong with her.
terrified - verängstigt; erschrecken
Keep off - Betreten verboten!;abhalten
kerb - Bordsteinkante; Bordstein, Randstein, Bordkante, Kantstein
hysterically - hysterisch
respectable - respektabel; angesehen, geachtet
hubbub - Tumult, Wirrwarr, Tohuwabohu, Trubel
sympathetic - sympathisch; mitfühlend
deprecating - abwertend; ablehnen, missbilligen, nicht gutheißen
excessive - übertrieben; übermäßig, exzessiv
sensibility - Sensibilität, Empfindlichkeit, Empfindungsvermögen
hollerin - schreien
fussing - aufgeregt; Lärm, Wirbel, Aufstand, Gehabe
Steady on - Halt!
etc - usw
spectators - Zuschauer, Zuschauerin, Schaulustiger
comfortingly - tröstlich
bid - Angebot, reizen, Gebot, Bieten, bieten
roughly - ungefähr; grob; uneben
A remoter group, not knowing what the matter is, crowd in and increase the noise with question and answer: What's the row? What she do? Where is he? A tec taking her down. What! him? Yes: him over there: Took money off the gentleman, etc. The flower girl, distraught and mobbed, breaks through them to the gentleman, crying mildly] Oh, sir, don't let him charge me. You dunno what it means to me. They'll take away my character and drive me on the streets for speaking to gentlemen. They"
remoter - entfernter; fern, entfernt, abgelegen, fernbetrieb
Row - Rudern; Reihe, Zeile
distraught - verstört, aufgelöst, außer sich, völlig verzweifelt
mobbed - gemobbt; Meute, Pöbel
breaks through - (break through) durchbrechen
mildly - sanft, mild
charge - Gebühr; Entgelt; Ladung; Last; Rempeln; beauftragen, belasten
dunno - keine Ahnung
THE NOTE TAKER [coming forward on her right, the rest crowding after him] There, there, there, there! Who's hurting you, you silly girl? What do you take me for?
taker - Abnehmer, Kunde
silly - doof, dumm, albern, Dummerchen
THE BYSTANDER. It's all right: he's a gentleman: look at his boots. [Explaining to the note taker] She thought you was a copper's nark, sir.
copper - Kupfer
nark - Spitzel
THE NOTE TAKER [with quick interest] What's a copper's nark?
THE BYSTANDER [inept at definition] It's a"well, it's a copper's nark, as you might say. What else would you call it? A sort of informer.
inept - ungeschickt; unfähig; ungeeignet, untauglich
definition - Begriffserklärung, Definition, Definierung
informer - Informant, Hinweisgeber, Tippgeber, Zuträger, Denunziant
THE FLOWER GIRL [still hysterical] I take my Bible oath I never said a word"
hysterical - hysterisch
Bible - Bibel
oath - Eid, Schwur, Fluch, erman:
THE NOTE TAKER [overbearing but good-humored] Oh, shut up, shut up. Do I look like a policeman?
overbearing - überheblich; überwältigen
humored - gelaunt; Komik, Humor
THE FLOWER GIRL [far from reassured] Then what did you take down my words for? How do I know whether you took me down right? You just show me what you've wrote about me. [The note taker opens his book and holds it steadily under her nose, though the pressure of the mob trying to read it over his shoulders would upset a weaker man]. What's that? That ain't proper writing. I can't read that.
reassured - beruhigt; versichern, beruhigen
whether - ob
steadily - beständig; stetige, stet, zuverlässig
pressure - Druck; unter Druck setzen
mob - Meute, Pöbel
upset - verärgert; aufgebracht, aufgewühlt, verstimmt, gereizt, nervös
THE NOTE TAKER. I can. [Reads, reproducing her pronunciation exactly] "Cheer ap, Keptin; n'haw ya flahr orf a pore gel."
reproducing - reproduzieren, sich vermehren, sich reproduzieren
pronunciation - Aussprache
cheer - anfeuern, jauchzen, aufmuntern, jubeln
Haw - Hagebutte
Ya - Ja; Yum
THE FLOWER GIRL [much distressed] It's because I called him Captain. I meant no harm. [To the gentleman] Oh, sir, don't let him lay a charge agen me for a word like that. You"
distressed - verzweifelt; Kummer, Bedrängnis, Drangsal, Bekümmerung, Not
harm - Schaden
lay - legen; richten (Tisch)
THE GENTLEMAN. Charge! I make no charge. [To the note taker] Really, sir, if you are a detective, you need not begin protecting me against molestation by young women until I ask you. Anybody could see that the girl meant no harm.
molestation - Belästigung, Behelligung
THE BYSTANDERS GENERALLY [demonstrating against police espionage] Course they could. What business is it of yours? You mind your own affairs. He wants promotion, he does. Taking down people's words! Girl never said a word to him. What harm if she did?
bystanders - Unbeteiligte; Zuschauer, Schaulustiger
generally - im Allgemeinen
demonstrating - demonstrieren, demonstrieren, aufzeigen, demonstrieren
espionage - Spionage
affairs - Angelegenheiten; Angelegenheit, Angelegenheit, Scharmützel
promotion - Beförderung, Aufstieg, Höherversetzung, Werbung
Nice thing a girl can't shelter from the rain without being insulted, etc., etc., etc. [She is conducted by the more sympathetic demonstrators back to her plinth, where she resumes her seat and struggles with her emotion].
insulted - beleidigt; beleidigen, Beleidigung, Kränkung, Verletzung
conducted - durchgeführt; Leitung, Führung, leiten, führen, sich verhalten
more sympathetic - teilnahmsvollere
demonstrators - Demonstranten; Demonstrant, Demonstrantin
resumes - Lebensläufe; weiter; Lebenslauf; fortsetzen, wiedererlangen
struggles - Kämpfe; Kampf, Gefecht
emotion - Emotionen; Gefühl, Empfindung
THE BYSTANDER. He ain't a tec. He's a blooming busybody: that's what he is. I tell you, look at his boots.
blooming - blühen; Blüte, Blütenpracht, Duft
busybody - Wichtigtuer, Wichtigtuerin; q
THE NOTE TAKER [turning on him genially] And how are all your people down at Selsey?
genially - freundlich, heiter
THE BYSTANDER [suspiciously] Who told you my people come from Selsey?
THE NOTE TAKER. Never you mind. They did. [To the girl] How do you come to be up so Far East? You were born in Lisson Grove.
Far East - Fernost
grove - Hain, Gehölz, Wäldchen
THE FLOWER GIRL [appalled] Oh, what harm is there in my leaving Lisson Grove? It wasn't fit for a pig to live in; and I had to pay four-and-six a week. [In tears] Oh, boo"hoo"oo"
appalled - entsetzt; erschrecken, entsetzen
Tears - Tränen; zerreißen, ich/er/sie/es riss, riß
boo - Buh; auspfeifen
hoo - hu; Hoo
THE NOTE TAKER. Live where you like; but stop that noise.
THE GENTLEMAN [to the girl] Come, come! he can't touch you: you have a right to live where you please.
A SARCASTIC BYSTANDER [thrusting himself between the note taker and the gentleman] Park Lane, for instance. I'd like to go into the Housing Question with you, I would.
sarcastic - sarkastisch
thrusting - schubsen; stoßend, Stichwaffe, drängend; (thrust); Stoß, Stich
lane - Fahrspur; Gasse; Spur, Route
instance - Beispiel, Fall, Instanz
THE FLOWER GIRL [subsiding into a brooding melancholy over her basket, and talking very low-spiritedly to herself] I'm a good girl, I am.
subsiding - einsinken, abklingen, nachlassen, abschwellen
brooding - grüblerisch, grübelnd; (brood); Brut; brüten, grübeln
melancholy - Melancholie, Schwermut, Wehmut
spiritedly - temperamentvoll
THE SARCASTIC BYSTANDER [not attending to her] Do you know where I come from?
THE NOTE TAKER [promptly] Hoxton.
promptly - unverzüglich; bereit
Titterings. Popular interest in the note taker's performance increases.
titterings - Kribbeln; kichernd
performance - Durchführung, Leistung, Aufführung, Auftritt, Performance
THE SARCASTIC ONE [amazed] Well, who said I didn't? Bly me! You know everything, you do.
amazed - erstaunt; verwundern
THE FLOWER GIRL [still nursing her sense of injury] Ain't no call to meddle with me, he ain't.
meddle - einmischen
THE BYSTANDER [to her] Of course he ain't. Don't you stand it from him. [To the note taker] See here: what call have you to know about people what never offered to meddle with you? Where's your warrant?
offered - angeboten; offerieren, anbieten, bieten, zeigen; Antrag
warrant - Haftbefehl; Nachweis; Befehl; garantieren
SEVERAL BYSTANDERS [encouraged by this seeming point of law] Yes: where's your warrant?
encouraged - ermutigt; ermutigen, ermuntern, empfehlen
THE FLOWER GIRL. Let him say what he likes. I don't want to have no truck with him.
THE BYSTANDER. You take us for dirt under your feet, don't you? Catch you taking liberties with a gentleman!
dirt - Schmutz; Erde, Boden, Dreck
don't you? - Du weißt doch, dass ...
liberties - Freiheiten; Freiheit
THE SARCASTIC BYSTANDER. Yes: tell HIM where he come from if you want to go fortune-telling.
Fortune - Fortuna; Schicksal, Glück, Vermögen
THE NOTE TAKER. Cheltenham, Harrow, Cambridge, and India.
Harrow - eggen; Egge
India - Indien
THE GENTLEMAN. Quite right. [Great laughter. Reaction in the note taker's favor. Exclamations of He knows all about it. Told him proper. Hear him tell the toff where he come from? etc.]. May I ask, sir, do you do this for your living at a music hall?
reaction - Reaktion
favor - Gefallen, Gefälligkeit, Gunst, Gnade, Huld, begünstigen
exclamations - Ausrufe; Ausruf, Exklamation
toff - Stutzer, Geck, Pinkel
THE NOTE TAKER. I've thought of that. Perhaps I shall some day.
The rain has stopped; and the persons on the outside of the crowd begin to drop off.
THE FLOWER GIRL [resenting the reaction] He's no gentleman, he ain't, to interfere with a poor girl.
resenting - nachtragend; zurückgesandt; verübeln, übelnehmen
interfere - eingreifen, einmischen
THE DAUGHTER [out of patience, pushing her way rudely to the front and displacing the gentleman, who politely retires to the other side of the pillar] What on earth is Freddy doing? I shall get pneumonia if I stay in this draught any longer.
rudely - unhöflich; grob, unanständig
displacing - umsiedeln, vertreiben, verschieben, verlagern, verdrängen
politely - höflich
pneumonia - Lungenentzündung; Pneumonie
THE NOTE TAKER [to himself, hastily making a note of her pronunciation of "monia"] Earlscourt.
hastily - hastig
THE DAUGHTER [violently] Will you please keep your impertinent remarks to yourself?
violently - gewaltsam; gewalttätig
impertinent - unverschämt, impertinent, irrelevant, unwichtig
remarks - Bemerkungen; bemerken; Anmerkung, Bemerkung
THE NOTE TAKER. Did I say that out loud? I didn't mean to. I beg your pardon. Your mother's Epsom, unmistakeably.
beg - Männchen machen; etwas erbitten (von jemandem); bitten (um)
Pardon - Vergebung, Verzeihung, Begnadigung, verzeihen, vergeben
unmistakeably - unverwechselbar
THE MOTHER [advancing between her daughter and the note taker] How very curious! I was brought up in Largelady Park, near Epsom.
advancing - fortschreitend; erhöhen, erheben, befördern, vorrücken
Curious - neugierig, sonderbar, merkwürdig
THE NOTE TAKER [uproariously amused] Ha! ha! What a devil of a name! Excuse me. [To the daughter] You want a cab, do you?
uproariously - aufrüttelnd
amused - amüsiert; amüsieren, vergnügen, belustigen, erheitern
ha - Das war jetzt aber ernst!
devil - dem Teufel; Teufel, Satan, Teufelin, reizen, ärgern
Excuse - Wie bitte; entschuldigen, verzeihen, sich entschuldigen
THE DAUGHTER. Don't dare speak to me.
dare - sich getrauen, wagen, jemanden herausfordern
THE MOTHER. Oh, please, please Clara. [Her daughter repudiates her with an angry shrug and retires haughtily.] We should be so grateful to you, sir, if you found us a cab. [The note taker produces a whistle]. Oh, thank you. [She joins her daughter]. The note taker blows a piercing blast.
repudiates - ablehnt; verleugnen (sb./sth.), abstreiten, leugnen
shrug - Schulterzucken, Achselzucken, mit den Schultern zucken
haughtily - hochmütig, stolz, überheblich, arrogant
grateful - dankbar, erkenntlich, wohltuend, zufrieden
whistle - Pfeife, Trillerpfeife, Flöte, Pfeifen, Pfiff
piercing - Piercing; durchdringend, stechend, beißend
blast - schlagen, vernichten, sprengen; mit Wucht schießen; Bö
THE SARCASTIC BYSTANDER. There! I knowed he was a plain-clothes copper.
knowed - gewusst
plain-clothes - (plain-clothes) Zivilkleidung
THE BYSTANDER. That ain't a police whistle: that's a sporting whistle.
THE FLOWER GIRL [still preoccupied with her wounded feelings] He's no right to take away my character. My character is the same to me as any lady's.
wounded - verwundet; anschießen, verwunden
feelings - Gefühle; Gefühl, Eindruck
THE NOTE TAKER. I don't know whether you've noticed it; but the rain stopped about two minutes ago.
THE BYSTANDER. So it has. Why didn't you say so before? and us losing our time listening to your silliness. [He walks off towards the Strand].
silliness - Dummheit, Albernheit
Strand - Strand, Ader, Faden, Strähne; auf den Strand setzen
THE SARCASTIC BYSTANDER. I can tell where you come from. You come from Anwell. Go back there.
THE NOTE TAKER [helpfully] Hanwell.
helpfully - hilfreich, hilfreiche
THE SARCASTIC BYSTANDER [affecting great distinction of speech] Thenk you, teacher. Haw haw! So long [he touches his hat with mock respect and strolls off].
distinction - Unterscheidung; Unterschied; Auszeichnung
Mock - Spott; Nachahmung, Imitation, Parodie, Veralberung, Prototyp
strolls - Spaziergang, Bummel, spazieren gehen, bummeln, schlendern
THE FLOWER GIRL. Frightening people like that! How would he like it himself.
frightening - beängstigend; Angst machen, erschrecken, schrecken, beängstigen
THE MOTHER. It's quite fine now, Clara. We can walk to a motor bus. Come. [She gathers her skirts above her ankles and hurries off towards the Strand].
motor - Motor, Triebwerk, Antrieb
gathers - sammelt; sammeln, versammeln
hurries - beeilt sich; Eile, beeilen
THE DAUGHTER. But the cab"[her mother is out of hearing]. Oh, how tiresome! [She follows angrily].
angrily - verärgert, wütend
All the rest have gone except the note taker, the gentleman, and the flower girl, who sits arranging her basket, and still pitying herself in murmurs.
pitying - Mitleid
murmurs - murmelt; Rauschen
THE FLOWER GIRL. Poor girl! Hard enough for her to live without being worrited and chivied.
chivied - gescheucht; Hetze, Hetzjagd
THE GENTLEMAN [returning to his former place on the note taker's left] How do you do it, if I may ask?
former - erstgenannt, ehem. ehemalig, frühere, früher
THE NOTE TAKER. Simply phonetics. The science of speech. That's my profession; also my hobby. Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby! You can spot an Irishman or a Yorkshireman by his brogue. I can place any man within six miles. I can place him within two miles in London. Sometimes within two streets.
profession - Bekenntnis; Beruf, Profession, Profess, Gelübde
spot - Fleck, Punkt, Pickel, Pustel, Bisschen, Stelle, Ort, Werbespot
Irishman - Irländer; Ire
brogue - irischer Akzent, Arbeitsschuh
within - in, innerhalb
THE FLOWER GIRL. Ought to be ashamed of himself, unmanly coward!
ashamed - schämen
unmanly - unmännlich
coward - Feigling
THE GENTLEMAN. But is there a living in that?
THE NOTE TAKER. Oh yes. Quite a fat one. This is an age of upstarts. Men begin in Kentish Town with 80 pounds a year, and end in Park Lane with a hundred thousand. They want to drop Kentish Town; but they give themselves away every time they open their mouths. Now I can teach them"
upstarts - Emporkömmlinge; Emporkömmling, Parvenü, Neureicher, Angeber
Kentish - Kentisch
THE FLOWER GIRL. Let him mind his own business and leave a poor girl"
THE NOTE TAKER [explosively] Woman: cease this detestable boohooing instantly; or else seek the shelter of some other place of worship.
explosively - explosiv
cease - aufhören, einstellen
detestable - verabscheuungswürdig
seek - suchen
worship - Verehrung, Anbetung, Gottesdienst
THE FLOWER GIRL [with feeble defiance] I've a right to be here if I like, same as you.
feeble - kraftlos, schwach, dürftig
defiance - Trotzigkeit; Trotz, Auflehnung, Widerstand, offener Ungehorsam
THE NOTE TAKER. A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere"no right to live. Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespear and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon.
utters - äußerst
depressing - deprimierend; deprimieren
disgusting - ekelhaft; ekeln, Ekel
articulate - wortgewandt; artikulieren, deutlich aussprechen
native language - Muttersprache
crooning - summend; (croon); summen, säuseln, gefühlsbetontes Lied
bilious - gallig; widerlich, Gallen.., reizbar
pigeon - Taube
THE FLOWER GIRL [quite overwhelmed, and looking up at him in mingled wonder and deprecation without daring to raise her head] Ah"ah"ah"ow"ow"oo!
overwhelmed - überwältigt; überwältigen, übermannen, überrumpeln, de
mingled - vermengt; vermischen, vermengen, untermischen
wonder - Wunder, Mirakel, wundern
deprecation - Missbilligung
daring - gewagt; mutig; Wagemut, Kühnheit; (dare) gewagt; mutig; Wagemut
THE NOTE TAKER [whipping out his book] Heavens! what a sound! [He writes; then holds out the book and reads, reproducing her vowels exactly] Ah"ah"ah"ow"ow"ow"oo!
whipping - (whip) auspeitschen, flitzen, peitschen; (whip); Peitsche
heavens - Himmel, Firmament
holds out - verharrt
THE FLOWER GIRL [tickled by the performance, and laughing in spite of herself] Garn!
tickled - gekitzelt; Kitzeln
THE NOTE TAKER. You see this creature with her kerbstone English: the English that will keep her in the gutter to the end of her days. Well, sir, in three months I could pass that girl off as a duchess at an ambassador's garden party. I could even get her a place as lady's maid or shop assistant, which requires better English.
creature - Wesen, Lebewesen, Fabelwesen
kerbstone - Bordsteinkante; Prellstein, Randstein
gutter - Regenrinne, Rinnstein, Gosse
Duchess - Herzogin
ambassador - Botschafter, Botschafterin
maid - Dienstmädchen; Mädchen; Stubenmädchen
requires - erfordert; erfordern, brauchen, benötigen
That's the sort of thing I do for commercial millionaires. And on the profits of it I do genuine scientific work in phonetics, and a little as a poet on Miltonic lines.
commercial - Werbung; kommerziell
millionaires - Millionäre; (millionaire); Millionär, Millionärin
profits - Gewinn, Profit, Gewinn, nützen, profitieren, erreichen
genuine - echt, original, genuin
scientific - wissenschaftlich
THE GENTLEMAN. I am myself a student of Indian dialects; and"
Indian - indisch, indianisch, Inder, Inderin, Indianer, Indianerin
THE NOTE TAKER [eagerly] Are you? Do you know Colonel Pickering, the author of Spoken Sanscrit?
eagerly - eifrig
Colonel - Herr Oberst; Oberst
THE GENTLEMAN. I am Colonel Pickering. Who are you?
THE NOTE TAKER. Henry Higgins, author of Higgins's Universal Alphabet.
universal - allgemein, Allgemein-, universell, weltweit, Welt-
PICKERING [with enthusiasm] I came from India to meet you.
enthusiasm - Begeisterung, Enthusiasmus, Schwärmerei
HIGGINS. I was going to India to meet you.
PICKERING. Where do you live?
HIGGINS. 27A Wimpole Street. Come and see me tomorrow.
see me tomorrow - kommen Sie morgen zu mir
PICKERING. I'm at the Carlton. Come with me now and let's have a jaw over some supper.
jaw - Kiefer, Maul
supper - Abendbrot; Abendessen
HIGGINS. Right you are.
THE FLOWER GIRL [to Pickering, as he passes her] Buy a flower, kind gentleman. I'm short for my lodging.
short for - ist nicht, hat nicht ..., bin nicht
lodging - Unterbringung; Unterkunft; (lodge); Lodge; Loge; Biberburg; feststecken
PICKERING. I really haven't any change. I'm sorry [he goes away].
HIGGINS [shocked at girl's mendacity] Liar. You said you could change half-a-crown.
shocked - schockiert; Schock, Betroffenheit, Empörung, Schlag, Stoß
mendacity - Verlogenheit; Unwahrheit
liar - Lügner, Lügnerin
THE FLOWER GIRL [rising in desperation] You ought to be stuffed with nails, you ought. [Flinging the basket at his feet] Take the whole blooming basket for sixpence.
desperation - Verzweiflung
stuffed - ausgestopft; Sachen, Kram, Zeug
nails - Nägel; nageln (derb. koitieren); annageln, Nagel, nageln
flinging - Schleudern; Affäre (Liebesaffäre)
The church clock strikes the second quarter.
HIGGINS [hearing in it the voice of God, rebuking him for his Pharisaic want of charity to the poor girl] A reminder. [He raises his hat solemnly; then throws a handful of money into the basket and follows Pickering].
rebuking - Tadel, Anschiss, Rüge, Schelte, Zurechtweisung, Vorhaltung
reminder - Gedächtnisstütze; Mahnung, Mahnungbrief, Mahnschreiben
solemnly - feierlich, festlich, ernst
handful - Handvoll; Handbreite
THE FLOWER GIRL [picking up a half-crown] Ah"ow"ooh! [Picking up a couple of florins] Aaah"ow"ooh! [Picking up several coins] Aaaaaah"ow"ooh! [Picking up a half-sovereign] Aasaaaaaaaaah"ow"ooh!!!
coins - Münzen; Münze, Geldstück
FREDDY [springing out of a taxicab] Got one at last. Hallo! [To the girl] Where are the two ladies that were here?
taxicab - Taxi
THE FLOWER GIRL. They walked to the bus when the rain stopped.
FREDDY. And left me with a cab on my hands. Damnation!
damnation - Verdammnis
THE FLOWER GIRL [with grandeur] Never you mind, young man. I'm going home in a taxi. [She sails off to the cab. The driver puts his hand behind him and holds the door firmly shut against her. Quite understanding his mistrust, she shows him her handful of money].
grandeur - Erhabenheit; Herrlichkeit, Pracht, Hoheit
firmly - sicher, fest
mistrust - Misstrauen
Eightpence ain't no object to me, Charlie. [He grins and opens the door]. Angel Court, Drury Lane, round the corner of Micklejohn's oil shop. Let's see how fast you can make her hop it. [She gets in and pulls the door to with a slam as the taxicab starts].
eightpence - acht Pence
grins - grinst; (to grin) grinsen, strahlen
angel - Engel
Court - Hof, Hofstaat, Gericht, Gerichtshof, Platz, werben
hop - tanzen (hüpfen); schwoofen (ugs. tanzen)
slam - zuschlagen, hart anpacken, zuknallen; harte Kritik
FREDDY. Well, I'm dashed!
dashed - gestrichelt; Bindestrich, Gedankenstrich, Querstrich, Strich
Next day at 11 a.m. Higgins's laboratory in Wimpole Street. It is a room on the first floor, looking on the street, and was meant for the drawing-room. The double doors are in the middle of the back hall; and persons entering find in the corner to their right two tall file cabinets at right angles to one another against the walls.
laboratory - Labor, Laboratorium, Laborgebäude
file - Datei; Kartei, File, Aktenmappe, Reihe; ablegen (Briefe usw.)
cabinets - Schränke; Schrank, Wandschrank, Kabinett
angles - Winkeln; Angel
In this corner stands a flat writing-table, on which are a phonograph, a laryngoscope, a row of tiny organ pipes with a bellows, a set of lamp chimneys for singing flames with burners attached to a gas plug in the wall by an indiarubber tube, several tuning-forks of different sizes, a life-size image of half a human head, showing in section the vocal organs, and a box containing a supply of wax cylinders for the phonograph.
phonograph - Tonaufzeichnungsgerät
laryngoscope - Laryngoskop
tiny - winzig; Kleinkind
pipes - Rohre; Flöte, Orgelpfeife, Rohr
bellows - Faltenbalg; brüllen, röhren, brüllen, grölen
chimneys - Schornsteine; Kamin, Esse, Schlot, Schornstein, Kamin, Schlot
flames - Flammen; Flamme, q
burners - Brenner, Kochplatte, Herdplatte, Heizplatte, Heizspirale
attached - befestigt; anbringen
plug - Stecker; Stöpsel, Stopfen, Pfropfen, Pfropf
tube - Schlauch; Rohr, Röhre, Tube
tuning - Anpassung; Stimmung; (tun); Anpassung; Stimmung
showing in - hereinführend
vocal - stimmhaft, stimmlich, mündlich, lautstark
organs - Organe; Organ
supply - Stellvertretung, Versorgung, Vorrat; liefern
wax - das Wachs
cylinders - Zylindern; Zylinder, Zylinder, Zylinder, Zylinder, Brennkammer
Further down the room, on the same side, is a fireplace, with a comfortable leather-covered easy-chair at the side of the hearth nearest the door, and a coal-scuttle. There is a clock on the mantelpiece. Between the fireplace and the phonograph table is a stand for newspapers.
fireplace - Kamin, Feuerstelle, Herd
leather - Leder; ledern
hearth - Feuerstelle, Herdboden, Grund, Kaminboden
coal - Kohle, Steinkohle
scuttle - versenken; ruinieren; Lüftungsblech (am Auto)
mantelpiece - Kaminsims
On the other side of the central door, to the left of the visitor, is a cabinet of shallow drawers. On it is a telephone and the telephone directory. The corner beyond, and most of the side wall, is occupied by a grand piano, with the keyboard at the end furthest from the door, and a bench for the player extending the full length of the keyboard. On the piano is a dessert dish heaped with fruit and sweets, mostly chocolates.
cabinet - Schrank, Wandschrank, Kabinett, Rat, Ministerrat
shallow - flach; q
drawers - Schubladen; Zeichner, Schublade, Aussteller
Directory - Verzeichnis, Ordner
side wall - Seitenwand
occupied - besetzt; in Anspruch nehmen, belegen, bewohnen, besetzen
grand piano - Flügel
keyboard - Tastatur, Klaviatur, Manual, Keyboard
Bench - Bank, Sitzbank, Richter
extending - erweitern, ausdehnen, erweitern, ausdehnen, ausweiten
full length - in Lebensgröße
dessert - Nachtisch, Nachspeise, Dessert
heaped - gehäuft; Menschenmenge, Masse, Haufen, Haufe, Heap, Haufen
The middle of the room is clear. Besides the easy chair, the piano bench, and two chairs at the phonograph table, there is one stray chair. It stands near the fireplace. On the walls, engravings; mostly Piranesis and mezzotint portraits. No paintings.
besides - Außerdem; neben, neben
stray - verirrt; Streuverlust; abirren, vagabundieren, streunen, irren
engravings - Gravuren; Gravieren
mezzotint - Mezzotinto
portraits - Porträts; Portrait
paintings - Gemälde
Pickering is seated at the table, putting down some cards and a tuning-fork which he has been using. Higgins is standing up near him, closing two or three file drawers which are hanging out. He appears in the morning light as a robust, vital, appetizing sort of man of forty or thereabouts, dressed in a professional-looking black frock-coat with a white linen collar and black silk tie. He is of the energetic, scientific type, heartily, even violently interested in everything that can be studied as a scientific subject, and careless about himself and other people, including their feelings.
hanging - (to hang) hängen, schweben; (hang) (to hang) hängen, schweben
robust - robust
vital - Leben
thereabouts - so ungefähr; daherum, dortherum, in der Gegend, um die Ecke
frock-coat - (frock-coat) Bratenrock
linen - Wäsche; Leinen; Heimtextilien
collar - Kragen; Halskette; Halsband; Ring
silk - Seide
heartily - von Herzen; herzlich
careless - unvorsichtig, unbedacht, unachtsam, leichtsinnig
He is, in fact, but for his years and size, rather like a very impetuous baby "taking notice" eagerly and loudly, and requiring almost as much watching to keep him out of unintended mischief. His manner varies from genial bullying when he is in a good humor to stormy petulance when anything goes wrong; but he is so entirely frank and void of malice that he remains likeable even in his least reasonable moments.
impetuous - ungestüm
requiring - erfordern; verlangend, verlangt; (require); erfordern; brauchen
unintended - ungewollt
mischief - Unfug, Unheil, Querulantentum
varies - variiert; variieren, verändern, sich ändern, de
genial - großartig
bullying - Mobbing; Rabauke, Bully, Tyrann, Schikaneur, einschüchtern
humor - Komik, Humor
stormy - stürmisch
petulance - Gereiztheit, Launenhaftigkeit, Launigkeit
entirely - vollständig; ganz, total, entirely
frank - freimütig, offen
void - nichtig
malice - Boshaftigkeit, Böse, Bosheit, Bösartigkeit
remains - bleibt; Überrest (2), de
likeable - angenehm, liebenswert, sympathisch
reasonable - vernünftig
HIGGINS [as he shuts the last drawer] Well, I think that's the whole show.
drawer - Zeichner, Schublade, Aussteller
PICKERING. It's really amazing. I haven't taken half of it in, you know.
HIGGINS. Would you like to go over any of it again?
PICKERING [rising and coming to the fireplace, where he plants himself with his back to the fire] No, thank you; not now. I'm quite done up for this morning.
done up - (do up) nachbessern
HIGGINS [following him, and standing beside him on his left] Tired of listening to sounds?
PICKERING. Yes. It's a fearful strain. I rather fancied myself because I can pronounce twenty-four distinct vowel sounds; but your hundred and thirty beat me. I can't hear a bit of difference between most of them.
fearful - furchtbar; furchtsam, ängstlich, verängstigt
strain - Belastung; Spannung, starke Inanspruchnahme, Zug; anstrengen
fancied - Lust gehabt; extravagant, originell
distinct - deutlich
vowel - Vokal; q
HIGGINS [chuckling, and going over to the piano to eat sweets] Oh, that comes with practice. You hear no difference at first; but you keep on listening, and presently you find they're all as different as A from B. [Mrs. Pearce looks in: she is Higgins's housekeeper] What's the matter?
chuckling - glucksend, kichernd; (chuckle) glucksend, kichernd
Presently - Gegenwärtig; sogleich
housekeeper - Haushälterin; Hausfrau; (hired) Haushälterin; (hired) Haushälter
MRS. PEARCE [hesitating, evidently perplexed] A young woman wants to see you, sir.
hesitating - zögernd; zögern, zögern, stammeln
evidently - offensichtlich
perplexed - perplex; verwirren
HIGGINS. A young woman! What does she want?
MRS. PEARCE. Well, sir, she says you'll be glad to see her when you know what she's come about. She's quite a common girl, sir. Very common indeed. I should have sent her away, only I thought perhaps you wanted her to talk into your machines. I hope I've not done wrong; but really you see such queer people sometimes"you'll excuse me, I'm sure, sir"
Glad - Erfreut; freudig, froh
indeed - tatsächlich; in der Tat, genau, allerdings, checkgewiss
queer - seltsam; unwohl; schwul, lesbisch, queer, Queers, Homosexueller
HIGGINS. Oh, That's all right, Mrs. Pearce. Has she an interesting accent?
That's all right - Es ist schon in Ordnung.
accent - Dialekt, Akzent, Betonung; betonen, akzentuieren
MRS. PEARCE. Oh, something dreadful, sir, really. I don't know how you can take an interest in it.
dreadful - furchtbar, schrecklich
HIGGINS [to Pickering] Let's have her up. Show her up, Mrs. Pearce [he rushes across to his working table and picks out a cylinder to use on the phonograph].
picks out - (pick out) aussuchen
cylinder - Zylinder, Brennkammer, Rolle
MRS. PEARCE [only half resigned to it] Very well, sir. It's for you to say. [She goes downstairs].
resigned - zurückgetreten; aufgeben, resignieren, abdanken
HIGGINS. This is rather a bit of luck. I'll show you how I make records. We'll set her talking; and I'll take it down first in Bell's visible Speech; then in broad Romic; and then we'll get her on the phonograph so that you can turn her on as often as you like with the written transcript before you.
visible - sichtbar
broad - breit, deutliche, großräumig
transcript - Niederschrift; Abschrift, Transkript, Protokoll, Mitschrift
MRS. PEARCE [returning] This is the young woman, sir.
The flower girl enters in state. She has a hat with three ostrich feathers, orange, sky-blue, and red. She has a nearly clean apron, and the shoddy coat has been tidied a little. The pathos of this deplorable figure, with its innocent vanity and consequential air, touches Pickering, who has already straightened himself in the presence of Mrs.
ostrich - Strauß, Vogelstrauß
feathers - Federn; Feder, Vogelfeder, befiedern
sky-blue - (sky-blue) himmelblau
deplorable - bedauernswert
innocent - rein; unschuldig
vanity - Vergänglichkeit; Eitelkeit; Leere
consequential - folgenreich
straightened - begradigt; richten (gerade biegen); gerade machen, gerade werden
presence - Anwesenheit
Pearce. But as to Higgins, the only distinction he makes between men and women is that when he is neither bullying nor exclaiming to the heavens against some featherweight cross, he coaxes women as a child coaxes its nurse when it wants to get anything out of her.
exclaiming - ausrufen
featherweight - Federgewicht; Federgewichtler
coaxes - überredet; schmeicheln, gut zureden; Koaxialkabel
HIGGINS [brusquely, recognizing her with unconcealed disappointment, and at once, baby-like, making an intolerable grievance of it] Why, this is the girl I jotted down last night. She's no use: I've got all the records I want of the Lisson Grove lingo; and I'm not going to waste another cylinder on it. [To the girl] Be off with you: I don't want you.
brusquely - brüskiert; schroffe
unconcealed - unverhohlen
disappointment - Enttäuschung, Verdruss, Misserfolg, Fehlschlag, Reinfall
intolerable - unerträglich
grievance - Kummer; Ärgernis, Missstand, Übelstand
jotted down - (jot down) fix notieren, hinwerfen, schnell hinschreiben
lingo - Fachsprache; Jargon
waste - Abfall; verschwenden
THE FLOWER GIRL. Don't you be so saucy. You ain't heard what I come for yet. [To Mrs. Pearce, who is waiting at the door for further instruction] Did you tell him I come in a taxi?
Saucy - soßenartig; keck, kess, frech, schamlos, gewagt
MRS. PEARCE. Nonsense, girl! what do you think a gentleman like Mr. Higgins cares what you came in?
nonsense - Blödsinn, Nonsens
THE FLOWER GIRL. Oh, we are proud! He ain't above giving lessons, not him: I heard him say so. Well, I ain't come here to ask for any compliment; and if my money's not good enough I can go elsewhere.
proud - stolz, prahlerisch
compliment - Kompliment, Lob, Anerkennung, Achtungsbezeugung
elsewhere - anderswo
HIGGINS. Good enough for what?
THE FLOWER GIRL. Good enough for ye"oo. Now you know, don't you? I'm come to have lessons, I am. And to pay for em too: make no mistake.
HIGGINS [stupent] WELL!!! [Recovering his breath with a gasp] What do you expect me to say to you?
stupent - stupide
recovering - wiederfinden, sich erholen, beikommen
breath - Atmen, Atmung, Atemzug, Atem, Atempause
gasp - keuchen; japsen, prusten, Atemzug, Luftholen
THE FLOWER GIRL. Well, if you was a gentleman, you might ask me to sit down, I think. Don't I tell you I'm bringing you business?
HIGGINS. Pickering: shall we ask this baggage to sit down or shall we throw her out of the window?
baggage - Gepäck, Reisegepäck
THE FLOWER GIRL [running away in terror to the piano, where she turns at bay] Ah"ah"ah"ow"ow"ow"oo! [Wounded and whimpering] I won't be called a baggage when I've offered to pay like any lady.
terror - Schrecken, Grauen, schreckliche Furcht, Terror
bay - Erker, Bucht, Gestell, Bellen
whimpering - (whimper) winseln, wimmern; (whimper); Wimmern, Gewimmer
Motionless, the two men stare at her from the other side of the room, amazed.
motionless - unbeweglich, reglos, bewegungslos
stare - starren, anstarren
PICKERING [gently] What is it you want, my girl?
gently - sanft
THE FLOWER GIRL. I want to be a lady in a flower shop stead of selling at the corner of Tottenham Court Road. But they won't take me unless I can talk more genteel. He said he could teach me. Well, here I am ready to pay him"not asking any favor"and he treats me as if I was dirt.
stead - Stelle
Unless - wenn nicht, es sei denn
genteel - vornehm; höflich
treats - Leckereien; behandeln, bewirten, einladen, heilen, kurieren
MRS. PEARCE. How can you be such a foolish ignorant girl as to think you could afford to pay Mr. Higgins?
foolish - dumm, närrisch, töricht
ignorant - unwissend; ignorant
THE FLOWER GIRL. Why shouldn't I? I know what lessons cost as well as you do; and I'm ready to pay.
shouldn - sollte
I'm ready - IHF ich habe fertig (coll.)
HIGGINS. How much?
THE FLOWER GIRL [coming back to him, triumphant] Now you're talking! I thought you'd come off it when you saw a chance of getting back a bit of what you chucked at me last night. [Confidentially] You'd had a drop in, hadn't you?
triumphant - triumphieren
chucked - weggeschmissen; Spannfutter, Ansaugvorrichtung; erbrechen
confidentially - vertraulich
HIGGINS [peremptorily] Sit down.
peremptorily - peremptorisch
THE FLOWER GIRL. Oh, if you're going to make a compliment of it"
HIGGINS [thundering at her] Sit down.
thundering - donnernd; (thunder); Donner; Donnern
MRS. PEARCE [severely] Sit down, girl. Do as you're told. [She places the stray chair near the hearthrug between Higgins and Pickering, and stands behind it waiting for the girl to sit down].
severely - ernsthaft
THE FLOWER GIRL. Ah"ah"ah"ow"ow"oo! [She stands, half rebellious, half bewildered].
rebellious - rebellisch
bewildered - verwirrt; verwirren, durcheinanderbringen
PICKERING [very courteous] Won't you sit down?
courteous - höflich
LIZA [coyly] Don't mind if I do. [She sits down. Pickering returns to the hearthrug].
coyly - schüchterne
HIGGINS. What's your name?
What's your name? - Wie heißt du?
THE FLOWER GIRL. Liza Doolittle.
HIGGINS [declaiming gravely] Eliza, Elizabeth, Betsy and Bess, They went to the woods to get a bird's nes':
declaiming - deklamieren; deklamatierend
gravely - ernsthaft; ernst, ernstlich, schwerlich
Elizabeth - Elisabeth
nes - NO Nordost(en)
PICKERING. They found a nest with four eggs in it:
nest - Nest
HIGGINS. They took one apiece, and left three in it.
apiece - jedes einzelne, je Stück, pro Stück
They laugh heartily at their own wit.
wit - Witz; nämlich, und zwar
LIZA. Oh, don't be silly.
MRS. PEARCE. You mustn't speak to the gentleman like that.
mustn - darf nicht
LIZA. Well, why won't he speak sensible to me?
sensible - wahrnehmbar; spürbar; der Empfindung fähig; gewahr; vernünftig
HIGGINS. Come back to business. How much do you propose to pay me for the lessons?
propose - vorschlagen; einen Heiratsantrag machen; beabsichtigen
LIZA. Oh, I know what's right. A lady friend of mine gets French lessons for eighteenpence an hour from a real French gentleman. Well, you wouldn't have the face to ask me the same for teaching me my own language as you would for French; so I won't give more than a shilling. Take it or leave it.
French - Französisch
eighteenpence - achtzehn Pence
shilling - Schilling
HIGGINS [walking up and down the room, rattling his keys and his cash in his pockets] You know, Pickering, if you consider a shilling, not as a simple shilling, but as a percentage of this girl's income, it works out as fully equivalent to sixty or seventy guineas from a millionaire.
percentage - Prozentsatz, Hundertsatz, Vomhundertsatz
income - Einkommen
fully - vollständig; völlig
equivalent - gleichwertig, entsprechend, äquivalent, Entsprechung, Äquivalent
guineas - Guinea
millionaire - Millionär, Millionärin
PICKERING. How so?
HIGGINS. Figure it out. A millionaire has about 150 pounds a day. She earns about half-a-crown.
LIZA [haughtily] Who told you I only"
HIGGINS [continuing] She offers me two-fifths of her day's income for a lesson. Two-fifths of a millionaire's income for a day would be somewhere about 60 pounds. It's handsome. By George, it's enormous! it's the biggest offer I ever had.
offers - Angebote; offerieren, anbieten, bieten, zeigen; Antrag, Offerte
handsome - gut aussehend; hübsch, stattlich, gutaussehend, ansehnlich
LIZA [rising, terrified] Sixty pounds! What are you talking about? I never offered you sixty pounds. Where would I get"
HIGGINS. Hold your tongue.
LIZA [weeping] But I ain't got sixty pounds. Oh"
weeping - weinen; .; (weep) weinen
MRS. PEARCE. don't cry, you silly girl. Sit down. Nobody is going to touch your money.
don't cry - weine nicht
HIGGINS. Somebody is going to touch you, with a broomstick, if you don't stop snivelling. Sit down.
broomstick - Besenstiel; (fliegender) Besenstiel
snivelling - wehleidig; (snivel); tief einatmen; schniefen
LIZA [obeying slowly] Ah"ah"ah"ow"oo"o! One would think you was my father.
obeying - gehorchen, befolgen
HIGGINS. If I decide to teach you, I'll be worse than two fathers to you. Here [he offers her his silk handkerchief]!
handkerchief - Taschentuch
LIZA. What's this for?
HIGGINS. To wipe your eyes. To wipe any part of your face that feels moist. Remember: that's your handkerchief; and that's your sleeve. Don't mistake the one for the other if you wish to become a lady in a shop.
wipe - löschen, abstreifen, abwischen, aufreiben, wischen
moist - feucht
sleeve - Ärmel; Hülse, Schutzhülle, Tülle, Köcher
Liza, utterly bewildered, stares helplessly at him.
utterly - völlig
helplessly - hilflose
MRS. PEARCE. It's no use talking to her like that, Mr. Higgins: she doesn't understand you. Besides, you're quite wrong: she doesn't do it that way at all [she takes the handkerchief].
It's no use - Es nützt nichts., Es bringt nichts.
LIZA [snatching it] Here! You give me that handkerchief. He give it to me, not to you.
snatching - Schnappen; klauen, stehlen, Reißen
PICKERING [laughing] He did. I think it must be regarded as her property, Mrs. Pearce.
property - Eigentum, Besitz, Anwesen, Grundbesitz, Grundstück, Eigenschaft
MRS. PEARCE [resigning herself] Serve you right, Mr. Higgins.
resigning - Rücktritt; aufgeben, resignieren, abdanken, verzichten (auf)
PICKERING. Higgins: I'm interested. What about the ambassador's garden party? I'll say you're the greatest teacher alive if you make that good. I'll bet you all the expenses of the experiment you can't do it. And I'll pay for the lessons.
bet - Wetteinsatz, wetten, Wette; riskieren
expenses - Ausgaben; Ausgabe, Aufwand, Verlust
LIZA. Oh, you are real good. Thank you, Captain.
HIGGINS [tempted, looking at her] It's almost irresistible. She's so deliciously low"so horribly dirty"
tempted - in Versuchung; in Versuchung führen, versuchen, locken
irresistible - unwiderstehlich
deliciously - köstlich
horribly - furchtbar; fürchterlich
LIZA [protesting extremely] Ah"ah"ah"ah"ow"ow"oooo!!! I ain't dirty: I washed my face and hands afore I come, I did.
afore - vor
PICKERING. You're certainly not going to turn her head with flattery, Higgins.
flattery - Schmeicheleien; Schmeichelei, Schöntuerei
MRS. PEARCE [uneasy] Oh, don't say that, sir: there's more ways than one of turning a girl's head; and nobody can do it better than Mr. Higgins, though he may not always mean it. I do hope, sir, you won't encourage him to do anything foolish.
uneasy - Unbehagen; besorgt, unangenehm, unsicher
encourage - ermutigen, ermuntern, empfehlen
HIGGINS [becoming excited as the idea grows on him] What is life but a series of inspired follies? The difficulty is to find them to do. Never lose a chance: it doesn't come every day. I shall make a duchess of this draggletailed guttersnipe.
inspired - inspiriert; inspirieren, inspirieren, beatmen, einhauchen
follies - Verrücktheiten; Torheit, Narrheit, Dummheit, Tollheit, Aberwitz
difficulty - Schwierigkeiten; Schwierigkeit
draggletailed - mit Drachenschwanz
guttersnipe - Dachdeckerin; Straßenjunge, Gassenkind
LIZA [strongly deprecating this view of her] Ah"ah"ah"ow"ow"oo!
strongly - stark
HIGGINS [carried away] Yes: in six months"in three if she has a good ear and a quick tongue"I'll take her anywhere and pass her off as anything. We'll start today: now! this moment! Take her away and clean her, Mrs. Pearce. Monkey Brand, if it won't come off any other way. Is there a good fire in the kitchen?
brand - Brandzeichen, Brandmal, Zuchtbrand, Marke, Label
MRS. PEARCE [protesting]. Yes; but"
HIGGINS [storming on] Take all her clothes off and burn them. Ring up Whiteley or somebody for new ones. Wrap her up in brown paper till they come.
ring - Ring, Kreis
wrap - einhüllen, einwickeln, wickeln, einpacken, hüllen
LIZA. You're no gentleman, you're not, to talk of such things. I'm a good girl, I am; and I know what the like of you are, I do.
HIGGINS. We want none of your Lisson Grove prudery here, young woman. You've got to learn to behave like a duchess. Take her away, Mrs. Pearce. If she gives you any trouble wallop her.
prudery - Prüderie
wallop - einschlagen; verprügeln
LIZA [springing up and running between Pickering and Mrs. Pearce for protection] No! I'll call the police, I will.
protection - Schutz
MRS. PEARCE. But I've no place to put her.
HIGGINS. Put her in the dustbin.
dustbin - Abfalleimer, Mülltonne
LIZA. Ah"ah"ah"ow"ow"oo!
PICKERING. Oh come, Higgins! be reasonable.
be reasonable - mit sich reden lassen
MRS. PEARCE [resolutely] You must be reasonable, Mr. Higgins: really you must. You can't walk over everybody like this.
resolutely - Entschlossenheit
Higgins, thus scolded, subsides. The hurricane is succeeded by a zephyr of amiable surprise.
thus - also; auf diese Weise, so, demnach, folglich, dieses
scolded - gescholten; Beißzange, Xanthippe, beschimpfen, schelten, tadeln
subsides - nachlässt; einsinken, abklingen, nachlassen, abschwellen
hurricane - Orkan, Wirbelsturm
zephyr - Zephir
HIGGINS [with professional exquisiteness of modulation] I walk over everybody! My dear Mrs. Pearce, my dear Pickering, I never had the slightest intention of walking over anyone. All I propose is that we should be kind to this poor girl. We must help her to prepare and fit herself for her new station in life. If I did not express myself clearly it was because I did not wish to hurt her delicacy, or yours.
exquisiteness - Exquisitheit; Vorzüglichkeit
modulation - Modulation
slightest - das Geringste; geringfügig, leicht, gering, unbedeutend, wenig
intention - Absicht
delicacy - Feinheit, Zartheit, Delikatesse, Leckerbissen, Köstlichkeit
Liza, reassured, steals back to her chair.
MRS. PEARCE [to Pickering] Well, did you ever hear anything like that, sir?
PICKERING [laughing heartily] Never, Mrs. Pearce: never.
HIGGINS [patiently] What's the matter?
patiently - geduldig
MRS. PEARCE. Well, the matter is, sir, that you can't take a girl up like that as if you were picking up a pebble on the beach.
pebble - Stein, Steinchen, Kiesel, Kieselstein
HIGGINS. Why not?
MRS. PEARCE. Why not! But you don't know anything about her. What about her parents? She may be married.
LIZA. Garn!
HIGGINS. There! As the girl very properly says, Garn! Married indeed! Don't you know that a woman of that class looks a worn out drudge of fifty a year after she's married.
properly - ordnungsgemäß, ordentlich, richtig, vernünftig
drudge - Hiwi
LIZA. Who'd marry me?
HIGGINS [suddenly resorting to the most thrillingly beautiful low tones in his best elocutionary style] By George, Eliza, the streets will be strewn with the bodies of men shooting themselves for your sake before I've done with you.
resorting - Zuflucht nehmen; umsortieren; Badeort (Seebad)
thrillingly - aufregend; erregende
tones - Töne; Farbton, Klang, Umgangston, Ton
elocutionary - rednerisch
strewn - verstreut; bestreuen, streuen, gestreut
shooting - Schießen, Schießerei; (shoot); Schießen, Schießerei
sake - (for your sake) deinetwegen, euretwegen, Ihretwegen, dir zuliebe
MRS. PEARCE. Nonsense, sir. You mustn't talk like that to her.
LIZA [rising and squaring herself determinedly] I'm going away. He's off his chump, he is. I don't want no balmies teaching me.
determinedly - entschlossen
chump - Trottel; Klotz, Dummkopf
HIGGINS [wounded in his tenderest point by her insensibility to his elocution] Oh, indeed! I'm mad, am I? Very well, Mrs. Pearce: you needn't order the new clothes for her. Throw her out.
tenderest - am zartesten; empfindlich, Ausschreibung, Angebot
insensibility - Unempfindlichkeit; Gefühllosigkeit
elocution - Rhetorik; Sprechtechnik, q
needn - brauchen nicht
LIZA [whimpering] Nah"ow. You got no right to touch me.
MRS. PEARCE. You see now what comes of being saucy. [Indicating the door] This way, please.
indicating - anzeigend; anzeigen, anweisen, andeuten, anzeigen, andeuten
LIZA [almost in tears] I didn't want no clothes. I wouldn't have taken them [she throws away the handkerchief]. I can buy my own clothes.
throws away - verscherzt
HIGGINS [deftly retrieving the handkerchief and intercepting her on her reluctant way to the door] You're an ungrateful wicked girl. This is my return for offering to take you out of the gutter and dress you beautifully and make a lady of you.
deftly - Geschickt; gewandt, flink
retrieving - abrufen; wiederherstellend; (retrieve); zurückholen
intercepting - abzufangen; abfangen, abfangen, Achsenabschnitt
reluctant - zögernd
ungrateful - undankbar
wicked - verrucht; böse; (wick) verrucht; böse
offering - Angebot, Anerbieten, Opfer, Opfergabe; (offer); Angebot
beautifully - schön
MRS. PEARCE. Stop, Mr. Higgins. I won't allow it. It's you that are wicked. Go home to your parents, girl; and tell them to take better care of you.
LIZA. I ain't got no parents. They told me I was big enough to earn my own living and turned me out.
MRS. PEARCE. Where's your mother?
LIZA. I ain't got no mother. Her that turned me out was my sixth stepmother. But I done without them. And I'm a good girl, I am.
sixth - sechste; Sechster; Sechstel; Sexte
stepmother - Stiefmutter
done without - entbehrte
HIGGINS. Very well, then, what on earth is all this fuss about? The girl doesn't belong to anybody"is no use to anybody but me. [He goes to Mrs. Pearce and begins coaxing]. You can adopt her, Mrs. Pearce: I'm sure a daughter would be a great amusement to you. Now don't make any more fuss. Take her downstairs; and"
fuss - Aufregung; Lärm, Wirbel, Aufstand, Gehabe
coaxing - schmeicheln, gut zureden; Koaxialkabel
adopt - adoptieren; annehmen, übernehmen
amusement - Belustigung; Amüsement
MRS. PEARCE. But what's to become of her? Is she to be paid anything? Do be sensible, sir.
HIGGINS. Oh, pay her whatever is necessary: put it down in the housekeeping book. [Impatiently] What on earth will she want with money? She'll have her food and her clothes. She'll only drink if you give her money.
housekeeping - Hauswirtschaft; Haushaltung, Hausarbeit
impatiently - Ungeduldig
LIZA [turning on him] Oh you are a brute. It's a lie: nobody ever saw the sign of liquor on me. [She goes back to her chair and plants herself there defiantly].
brute - Tier, brutaler Kerl, brutal, Vieh
liquor - Schnaps; Spirituose
defiantly - trotzige, trotz
PICKERING [in good-humored remonstrance] Does it occur to you, Higgins, that the girl has some feelings?
remonstrance - Vorwürfe; Protest, Einspruch, Beschwerde
occur - auftreten; passieren, vorkommen, stattfinden, einfallen
HIGGINS [looking critically at her] Oh no, I don't think so. Not any feelings that we need bother about. [Cheerily] Have you, Eliza?
critically - kritisch
I don't think so - Ich glaube nicht.
cheerily - fröhlich; froh
LIZA. I got my feelings same as anyone else.
HIGGINS [to Pickering, reflectively] You see the difficulty?
reflectively - nachdenklich
PICKERING. Eh? What difficulty?
eh - oder
HIGGINS. To get her to talk grammar. The mere pronunciation is easy enough.
Grammar - Grammatik, Sprachlehre, Grammatiktheorie
mere - einfach; nur, schier, bloß
LIZA. I don't want to talk grammar. I want to talk like a lady.
MRS. PEARCE. Will you please keep to the point, Mr. Higgins. I want to know on what terms the girl is to be here. Is she to have any wages? And what is to become of her when you've finished your teaching? You must Look ahead a little.
wages - Löhne; führen
Look ahead - vorausschauen, nach vorne schauen, voraussehen;Sieh dich vor!
HIGGINS [impatiently] What's to become of her if I leave her in the gutter? Tell me that, Mrs. Pearce.
MRS. PEARCE. That's her own business, not yours, Mr. Higgins.
HIGGINS. Well, when I've done with her, we can throw her back into the gutter; and then it will be her own business again; so that's all right.
LIZA. Oh, you've no feeling heart in you: you don't care for nothing but yourself [she rises and takes the floor resolutely]. Here! I've had enough of this. I'm going [making for the door]. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, you ought.
takes the floor - (take the floor) das Wort ergreifen
HIGGINS [snatching a chocolate cream from the piano, his eyes suddenly beginning to twinkle with mischief] Have some chocolates, Eliza.
Twinkle - funkeln; zwinkern
LIZA [halting, tempted] How do I know what might be in them? I've heard of girls being drugged by the like of you.
halting - anhaltend, zögerlich; (halt) anhaltend, zögerlich
Higgins whips out his penknife; cuts a chocolate in two; puts one half into his mouth and bolts it; and offers her the other half.
whips - Peitsche, Knute, Zagel, peitschen, auspeitschen, anpeitschen
penknife - Taschenmesser, Sackmesser
bolts - Riegel, Ballen, Blitz, Bolzen; durchgehen (Pferd), sausen
HIGGINS. Pledge of good faith, Eliza. I eat one half you eat the other.
pledge - zusichern, versprechen, geloben, zusagen, verpfänden, Gelöbnis
Faith - Glaube; Vertrauen
[Liza opens her mouth to retort: he pops the half chocolate into it]. You shall have boxes of them, barrels of them, every day. You shall live on them. Eh?
retort - Retorte; erwidern (scharf)
barrels - Fässer; Fass
LIZA [who has disposed of the chocolate after being nearly choked by it] I wouldn't have ate it, only I'm too ladylike to take it out of my mouth.
disposed of - (dispose of) verfügen über
choked - gewürgt; erwürgen, erdrosseln, ersticken, überwältigen
ladylike - damenhaft
HIGGINS. Listen, Eliza. I think you said you came in a taxi.
LIZA. Well, what if I did? I've as good a right to take a taxi as anyone else.
HIGGINS. You have, Eliza; and in future you shall have as many taxis as you want. You shall go up and down and round the town in a taxi every day. Think of that, Eliza.
MRS. PEARCE. Mr. Higgins: you're tempting the girl. It's not right. She should think of the future.
tempting - verführerisch, verlockend
HIGGINS. At her age! Nonsense! Time enough to think of the future when you haven't any future to think of. No, Eliza: do as this lady does: think of other people's futures; but never think of your own. Think of chocolates, and taxis, and gold, and diamonds.
Diamonds - Diamanten; Stern, Diamant
LIZA. No: I don't want no gold and no diamonds. I'm a good girl, I am. [She sits down again, with an attempt at dignity].
dignity - Würde; Förmlichkeit; Amt
HIGGINS. You shall remain so, Eliza, under the care of Mrs. Pearce. And you shall marry an officer in the Guards, with a beautiful moustache: the son of a marquis, who will disinherit him for marrying you, but will relent when he sees your beauty and goodness"
remain - Überrest (2); Überreste (3); sterbliche Überreste (3); bleiben
guards - Wächter, Parierstange, Schutz, schützen, bewachen
moustache - Schnurrbart, Oberlippenbart, Schnauzbart, Schnauzer
disinherit - enterben
relent - einlenken; nachgeben; (relend) einlenken; nachgeben
beauty - Schönheit; Schöner, Schöne, Prachtstück
goodness - Güte, Gütigkeit
PICKERING. Excuse me, Higgins; but I really must interfere. Mrs. Pearce is quite right. If this girl is to put herself in your hands for six months for an experiment in teaching, she must understand thoroughly what she's doing.
thoroughly - gründlich, vollkommen, total, durch und durch
HIGGINS. How can she? She's incapable of understanding anything. Besides, do any of us understand what we are doing? If we did, would we ever do it?
incapable - nicht fähig; unfähig
PICKERING. Very clever, Higgins; but not sound sense. [To Eliza] Miss Doolittle"
LIZA [overwhelmed] Ah"ah"ow"oo!
HIGGINS. There! That's all you get out of Eliza. Ah"ah"ow"oo! No use explaining. As a military man you ought to know that. Give her her orders: that's what she wants. Eliza: you are to live here for the next six months, learning how to speak beautifully, like a lady in a florist's shop. If you're good and do whatever you're told, you shall sleep in a proper bedroom, and have lots to eat, and money to buy chocolates and take rides in taxis. If you're naughty and idle you will sleep in the back kitchen among the black beetles, and be walloped by Mrs. Pearce with a broomstick. At the end of six months you shall go to Buckingham Palace in a carriage, beautifully dressed. If the King finds out you're not a lady, you will be taken by the police to the Tower of London, where your head will be cut off as a warning to other presumptuous flower girls. If you are not found out, you shall have a present of seven-and-sixpence to start life with as a lady in a shop.
florist - Blumenhändler, Florist, Floristin
naughty - unanständig; ungezogen, unartig, ungehorsam, dreist
idle - träge, nicht in Betrieb, faul, nutzlos, untätig; faulenzen
beetles - Stampfer (allg.), Käfer; flitzen
walloped - verprügelt; verprügeln
carriage - Kutsche; Gang, Haltung, Wagen, Frachtgeld, Fracht, Fuhrlohn
warning - Warnung, Mahnung, Achtung; (warn); warnen, mahnen
presumptuous - anmaßend
If you refuse this offer you will be a most ungrateful and wicked girl; and the angels will weep for you. [To Pickering] Now are you satisfied, Pickering? [To Mrs. Pearce] Can I put it more plainly and fairly, Mrs. Pearce?
refuse - Müll; abweisen, verweigern, abschlagen, ablehnen
most ungrateful - undankbarste
angels - Engeln; Engel
weep - weinen
satisfied - befriedigen, zufriedenstellen
plainly - klar und deutlich; klar
fairly - gerecht
MRS. PEARCE [patiently] I think you'd better let me speak to the girl properly in private. I don't know that I can take charge of her or consent to the arrangement at all. Of course I know you don't mean her any harm; but when you get what you call interested in people's accents, you never think or care what may happen to them or you. Come with me, Eliza.
private - privat; privat
consent - zustimmen, einwilligen, Zustimmung, Konsens, Einverständnis
HIGGINS. That's all right. Thank you, Mrs. Pearce. Bundle her off to the bath-room.
bundle - Bündel
LIZA [rising reluctantly and suspiciously] You're a great bully, you are. I won't stay here if I don't like. I won't let nobody wallop me. I never asked to go to Bucknam Palace, I didn't. I was never in trouble with the police, not me. I'm a good girl"
bully - Raufbold ;jdn. unter Druck setzen;einschüchtern, schikanieren, nötigen
MRS. PEARCE. Don't answer back, girl. You don't understand the gentleman. Come with me. [She leads the way to the door, and holds it open for Eliza].
leads - führt; führen, anführen
LIZA [as she goes out] Well, what I say is right. I won't go near the king, not if I'm going to have my head cut off. If I'd known what I was letting myself in for, I wouldn't have come here. I always been a good girl; and I never offered to say a word to him; and I don't owe him nothing; and I don't care; and I won't be put upon; and I have my feelings the same as anyone else"
Mrs. Pearce shuts the door; and Eliza's plaints are no longer audible. Pickering comes from the hearth to the chair and sits astride it with his arms on the back.
plaints - Beschwerden; Klage, Klageschrift
audible - hörbar
astride - rittlings
PICKERING. Excuse the straight question, Higgins. Are you a man of good character where women are concerned?
concerned - besorgt; Sorge, Anliegen
HIGGINS [moodily] Have you ever met a man of good character where women are concerned?
moodily - launisch, launische
PICKERING. Yes: very frequently.
frequently - häufig
HIGGINS [dogmatically, lifting himself on his hands to the level of the piano, and sitting on it with a bounce] Well, I haven't. I find that the moment I let a woman make friends with me, she becomes jealous, exacting, suspicious, and a damned nuisance.
dogmatically - dogmatisch
bounce - abprallen; hüpfen, auf und ab hüpfen, platzen, Bounce
make friends - anfreunden
jealous - eifersüchtig; eifrig, eifernd, neidisch
suspicious - verdächtig; misstrauisch, argwöhnisch
damned - verdammt, verflucht; (damn); verdammen, verfluchen, ächten
nuisance - Ärgernis, Ärger, Quälgeist, Belästigung
I find that the moment I let myself make friends with a woman, I become selfish and tyrannical. Women upset everything. When you let them into your life, you find that the woman is driving at one thing and you're driving at another.
tyrannical - tyrannisch
PICKERING. At what, for example?
HIGGINS [coming off the piano restlessly] Oh, Lord knows! I suppose the woman wants to live her own life; and the man wants to live his; and each tries to drag the other on to the wrong track. One wants to go north and the other south; and the result is that both have to go east, though they both hate the east wind. [He sits down on the bench at the keyboard]. So here I am, a confirmed old bachelor, and likely to remain so.
restlessly - rastlose
Lord - Gebieter; Herr; herrschen
drag - Planierschleppe; nachschleppen, schleppen, ziehen
wind - aufspulen, rollen, blasen, aufwickeln, abspulen
confirmed - bestätigt; bestätigen, bestätigen, bekräftigen
bachelor - Junggeselle; Bachelor
PICKERING [rising and standing over him gravely] Come, Higgins! You know what I mean. If I'm to be in this business I shall feel responsible for that girl. I hope it's understood that no advantage is to be taken of her position.
responsible - verantwortlich; vernünftig; verantwortungsvoll; zuverlässig
HIGGINS. What! That thing! Sacred, I assure you. [Rising to explain] You see, she'll be a pupil; and teaching would be impossible unless pupils were sacred. I've taught scores of American millionairesses how to speak English: the best looking women in the world. I'm seasoned. They might as well be blocks of wood. I might as well be a block of wood. It's"
sacred - heilig
assure - sichern; versichern
pupil - Schülerin; Schulkind, Pupille, Schüler
millionairesses - Millionärinnen; Millionärin
best looking - ansehnlichst
blocks - Blöcke; Kloben, Block, Klotz, Trakt; absperren, blockieren
Mrs. Pearce opens the door. She has Eliza's hat in her hand. Pickering retires to the easy-chair at the hearth and sits down.
HIGGINS [eagerly] Well, Mrs. Pearce: is it all right?
MRS. PEARCE [at the door] I just wish to trouble you with a word, if I may, Mr. Higgins.
HIGGINS. Yes, certainly. Come in. [She comes forward]. Don't burn that, Mrs. Pearce. I'll keep it as a curiosity. [He takes the hat].
curiosity - Neugier, Neugierde, Kuriosität, Kuriosum
MRS. PEARCE. Handle it carefully, sir, please. I had to promise her not to burn it; but I had better put it in the oven for a while.
handle - handhaben; Henkel, Hantel, Griff, Türklinke; abarbeiten
HIGGINS [putting it down hastily on the piano] Oh! thank you. Well, what have you to say to me?
PICKERING. Am I in the way?
MRS. PEARCE. Not at all, sir. Mr. Higgins: will you please be very particular what you say before the girl?
HIGGINS [sternly] Of course. I'm always particular about what I say. Why do you say this to me?
sternly - ernsthaft, streng
MRS. PEARCE [unmoved] No, sir: you're not at all particular when you've mislaid anything or when you get a little impatient. Now It doesn't matter before me: I'm used to it. But you really must not swear before the girl.
unmoved - ungerührt, unbewegt
mislaid - verlegt; verlegen
impatient - ungeduldig
It doesn't matter - Es macht nichts. Das ut nichts. Das schadet ja gar nichts.
swear - schwören
HIGGINS [indignantly] I swear! [Most emphatically] I never swear. I detest the habit. What the devil do you mean?
indignantly - entrüstet
emphatically - mit Nachdruck
detest - verabscheuen
MRS. PEARCE [stolidly] That's what I mean, sir. You swear a great deal too much. I don't mind your damning and blasting, and what the devil and where the devil and who the devil"
stolidly - beharrlich; sturen
I don't mind - Meinetwegen!
damning - verdammen, verfluchen, ächten, verschreien, verteufeln
blasting - Sprengen; Ăśbersteuerung
HIGGINS. Really! Mrs. Pearce: this language from your lips!
lips - Lippen; Lippe, Auslauf, Überlauf, Schnaupe, Ansatz
MRS. PEARCE [not to be put off]"but there is a certain word I must ask you not to use. The girl has just used it herself because the bath was too hot. It begins with the same letter as bath. She knows no better: she learnt it at her mother's knee. But she must not hear it from your lips.
HIGGINS [loftily] I cannot charge myself with having ever uttered it, Mrs. Pearce. [She looks at him steadfastly. He adds, hiding an uneasy conscience with a judicial air] Except perhaps in a moment of extreme and justifiable excitement.
loftily - hochmütig; erhabene, hoch
uttered - geäußert; äußerst
steadfastly - unerschütterlich; unbeweglich
conscience - Gewissen
judicial - juristisch; gerichtlich, Justiz
justifiable - vertretbar
excitement - Aufregung, Begeisterung, Spannung, Erregung
MRS. PEARCE. Only this morning, sir, you applied it to your boots, to the butter, and to the brown bread.
brown bread - Schwarzbrot
HIGGINS. Oh, that! Mere alliteration, Mrs. Pearce, natural to a poet.
alliteration - Alliteration
MRS. PEARCE. Well, sir, whatever you choose to call it, I beg you not to let the girl hear you repeat it.
HIGGINS. Oh, very well, very well. Is that all?
MRS. PEARCE. No, sir. We shall have to be very particular with this girl as to personal cleanliness.
cleanliness - Sauberkeit, Reinlichkeit
HIGGINS. Certainly. Quite right. Most important.
MRS. PEARCE. I mean not to be slovenly about her dress or untidy in leaving things about.
slovenly - schluderig, nachlässig, schlampig
untidy - unordentlich
HIGGINS [going to her solemnly] Just so. I intended to call your attention to that [He passes on to Pickering, who is enjoying the conversation immensely]. It is these little things that matter, Pickering. Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves is as true of personal habits as of money. [He comes to anchor on the hearthrug, with the air of a man in an unassailable position].
intended - beabsichtigt; gedacht; (intend); beabsichtigen, vorhaben
passes on - (pass on) weitersagen, weitergeben
immensely - immens
anchor - Anker
unassailable - unanfechtbar
MRS. PEARCE. Yes, sir. Then might I ask you not to come down to breakfast in your dressing-gown, or at any rate not to use it as a napkin to the extent you do, sir. And if you would be so good as not to eat everything off the same plate, and to remember not to put the porridge saucepan out of your hand on the clean tablecloth, it would be a better example to the girl.
dressing-gown - (dressing-gown) Morgenrock , Schlafrock , Morgenmantel ;Bademantel (Morgenmantel)
napkin - Serviette, Mundtuch
porridge - Brei
saucepan - Kochtopf, Kasserolle
tablecloth - Tischdecke, Tischtuch
You know you nearly choked yourself with a fishbone in the jam only last week.
fishbone - Gräte, Fischgräte
HIGGINS [routed from the hearthrug and drifting back to the piano] I may do these things sometimes in absence of mind; but surely I don't do them habitually. [Angrily] By the way: my dressing-gown smells most damnably of benzine.
drifting - treiben lassen; Drift, driften, treiben, irren, ziellos ziehen
absence of mind - Geistesabwesenheit
surely - bestimmt, sicherlich
habitually - gewohnheitsmäßig
gown - Gewand; Umhang, Umwurf, Überwurf, Kleid, Abendkleid, Robe
damnably - verdammenswert; abscheulich
benzine - Benzin
MRS. PEARCE. No doubt it does, Mr. Higgins. But if you will wipe your fingers"
HIGGINS [yelling] Oh very well, very well: I'll wipe them in my hair in future.
yelling - (yell) kreischen, schreien; (yell) (yell) kreischen, schreien
MRS. PEARCE. I hope you're not offended, Mr. Higgins.
offended - beleidigt; beleidigen, beleidigen, de
HIGGINS [shocked at finding himself thought capable of an unamiable sentiment] Not at all, not at all. You're quite right, Mrs. Pearce: I shall be particularly careful before the girl. Is that all?
unamiable - unliebenswürdig
sentiment - Gefühlen; Gefühl
particularly - besonders
MRS. PEARCE. No, sir. Might she use some of those Japanese dresses you brought from abroad? I really can't put her back into her old things.
Japanese - japanisch; Japaner (Japanerin; Japanese ); Japanisch
from abroad - aus dem Ausland
HIGGINS. Certainly. Anything you like. Is that all?
MRS. PEARCE. Thank you, sir. That's all. [She goes out].
HIGGINS. You know, Pickering, that woman has the most extraordinary ideas about me. Here I am, a shy, diffident sort of man. I've never been able to feel really grown-up and tremendous, like other chaps. And yet she's firmly persuaded that I'm an arbitrary overbearing bossing kind of person. I can't account for it.
extraordinary - außerordentlich, außergewöhnlich
Shy - schüchtern, scheu, verlegen
diffident - zurückhaltend
tremendous - ungeheuerlich
chaps - Bursche, Riss (in der Haut)
persuaded - überredet; überreden, gewinnen, verführen, bestechen
arbitrary - willkürlich, nach Ermessen, in freiem Ermessen
account - Rechnung, Bericht, Rechnung, Konto
Mrs. Pearce returns.
MRS. PEARCE. If you please, sir, the trouble's beginning already. There's a dustman downstairs, Alfred Doolittle, wants to see you. He says you have his daughter here.
dustman - Müllmann; Müllfahrer
PICKERING [rising] Phew! I say! [He retreats to the hearthrug].
HIGGINS [promptly] Send the blackguard up.
blackguard - Schurke
MRS. PEARCE. Oh, very well, sir. [She goes out].
PICKERING. He may not be a blackguard, Higgins.
HIGGINS. Nonsense. Of course he's a blackguard.
PICKERING. Whether he is or not, I'm afraid we shall have some trouble with him.
I'm afraid - leider, ich bedaure, ich fürchte
HIGGINS [confidently] Oh no: I think not. If there's any trouble he shall have it with me, not I with him. And we are sure to get something interesting out of him.
confidently - zuversichtlich
PICKERING. About the girl?
HIGGINS. No. I mean his dialect.
PICKERING. Oh!
MRS. PEARCE [at the door] Doolittle, sir. [She admits Doolittle and retires].
admits - einlassen, zulassen, zugeben, eingestehen, erlauben, einweisen
Alfred Doolittle is an elderly but vigorous dustman, clad in the costume of his profession, including a hat with a back brim covering his neck and shoulders. He has well marked and rather interesting features, and seems equally free from fear and conscience. He has a remarkably expressive voice, the result of a habit of giving vent to his feelings without reserve. His present pose is that of wounded honor and stern resolution.
vigorous - kräftig, stark, energisch, lebhaft
costume - Kostüm, Tracht, kostümieren
brim - Krempe; übersprudeln; Rand
equally - gleichermaßen, gleichmäßig
remarkably - bemerkenswert
expressive - ausdrucksvoll, ausdrucksstark
vent - Entlüftung; entlüften
reserve - Reservieren, Bedenken, Vorbehalt, Reserviertheit, Reserve
pose - Pose; aufwerfen, posieren, posen
honor - Ehre; ehren
stern - ernst, Heck
resolution - Entschlossenheit, Standfestigkeit, Vorsatz, Auflösung
DOOLITTLE [at the door, uncertain which of the two gentlemen is his man] Professor Higgins?
uncertain - unsicher
HIGGINS. Here. Good morning. Sit down.
DOOLITTLE. Morning, Governor. [He sits down magisterially] I come about a very serious matter, Governor.
governor - Gouverneur, Gouverneurin, Regler
magisterially - magisteriell
HIGGINS [to Pickering] Brought up in Hounslow. Mother Welsh, I should think. [Doolittle opens his mouth, amazed. Higgins continues] What do you want, Doolittle?
Welsh - walisisch, walisisch, Walisisch
DOOLITTLE [menacingly] I want my daughter: that's what I want. See?
menacingly - bedrohlich
HIGGINS. Of course you do. You're her father, aren't you? You don't suppose anyone else wants her, do you? I'm glad to see you have some spark of family feeling left. She's upstairs. Take her away at once.
spark - Funken; Funke; aufkeimen lassen, entfachen
DOOLITTLE [rising, fearfully taken aback] What!
fearfully - furchtsam, ängstlich
aback - abgelehnt; rückwärts
HIGGINS. Take her away. Do you suppose I'm going to keep your daughter for you?
DOOLITTLE [remonstrating] Now, now, look here, Governor. Is this reasonable? Is it fair to take advantage of a man like this? The girl belongs to me. You got her. Where do I come in? [He sits down again].
remonstrating - protestieren, missbilligen, einwenden, remonstrieren
look here - hersehen
HIGGINS. Your daughter had the audacity to come to my house and ask me to teach her how to speak properly so that she could get a place in a flower-shop. This gentleman and my housekeeper have been here all the time. [Bullying him] How dare you come here and attempt to blackmail me? You sent her here on purpose.
audacity - Kühnheit, Verwegenheit, Frechheit, Wagemut
blackmail - Erpressung; erpressen
DOOLITTLE [protesting] No, Governor.
HIGGINS. You must have. How else could you possibly know that she is here?
Possibly - vielleicht, eventuell, möglicherweise, negated: unmöglich
DOOLITTLE. Don't take a man up like that, Governor.
HIGGINS. The police shall take you up. This is a plant"a plot to extort money by threats. I shall telephone for the police [he goes resolutely to the telephone and opens the directory].
plot - Handlung, Plot, Ausdruck, Komplott, planen, ausarbeiten
extort - erpressen, erzwingen
threats - Bedrohungen; drohen; Bedrohung, Drohung
DOOLITTLE. Have I asked you for a brass farthing? I leave it to the gentleman here: have I said a word about money?
brass - Messingschild
farthing - Groschen, Heller, Pfifferling, Pfennig
HIGGINS [throwing the book aside and marching down on Doolittle with a poser] What else did you come for?
aside - beiseite, zur Seite
poser - Angeber; knifflige Frage, harte Nuss, Fragender, Frager
DOOLITTLE [sweetly] Well, what would a man come for? Be human, governor.
sweetly - süß
HIGGINS [disarmed] Alfred: did you put her up to it?
disarmed - entwaffnet; entwaffnen, entwaffnen
DOOLITTLE. So help me, Governor, I never did. I take my Bible oath I ain't seen the girl these two months past.
HIGGINS. Then how did you know she was here?
DOOLITTLE ["most musical, most melancholy"] I'll tell you, Governor, if you'll only let me get a word in. I'm willing to tell you. I'm wanting to tell you. I'm waiting to tell you.
most musical - musikalischste
HIGGINS. Pickering: this chap has a certain natural gift of rhetoric. Observe the rhythm of his native woodnotes wild. "I'm willing to tell you: I'm wanting to tell you: I'm waiting to tell you." Sentimental rhetoric! That's the Welsh strain in him. It also accounts for his mendacity and dishonesty.
chap - Kerl; Bursche, Riss (in der Haut)
rhetoric - Redekunst, Rhetorik
observe - beobachten; beachten, halten, bemerken
rhythm - Rhythmus
accounts - Konten; Rechnung, Bericht, Rechnung, Konto
dishonesty - Unehrlichkeit
PICKERING. Oh, PLEASE, Higgins: I'm west country myself. [To Doolittle] How did you know the girl was here if you didn't send her?
DOOLITTLE. It was like this, Governor. The girl took a boy in the taxi to give him a jaunt. Son of her landlady, he is. He hung about on the chance of her giving him another ride home. Well, she sent him back for her luggage when she heard you was willing for her to stop here. I met the boy at the corner of Long Acre and Endell Street.
jaunt - Ausflugsfahrt; Ausflug, Vergnügungsfahrt, Spritztour
landlady - Vermieterin, Hauswirtin
hung about - herumgedrückt
luggage - Gepäck, Gepäckstück, Reisegepäck, etaphorical
Acre - Morgen, Acker, Joch, Joch Landes
HIGGINS. public house. Yes?
public house - Schankwirtschaft
DOOLITTLE. The poor man's club, Governor: why shouldn't I?
poor man - Armer
PICKERING. Do let him tell his story, Higgins.
DOOLITTLE. He told me what was up. And I ask you, what was my feelings and my duty as a father? I says to the boy, "You bring me the luggage," I says"
Duty - Die Pflicht; Pflicht; Schicht, Arbeitszeit, Zoll, Einfuhrsteuer
PICKERING. Why didn't you go for it yourself?
DOOLITTLE. Landlady wouldn't have trusted me with it, Governor. She's that kind of woman: you know. I had to give the boy a penny afore he trusted me with it, the little swine. I brought it to her just to oblige you like, and make myself agreeable. That's all.
trusted - vertrauenswürdig; Vertrauen
swine - ein Schwein; Schwein
oblige - verpflichten; einen Gefallen tun
agreeable - angenehm; verträglich, liebenswürdig, gefällig
HIGGINS. How much luggage?
DOOLITTLE. musical instrument, Governor. A few pictures, a trifle of jewelry, and a bird-cage. She said she didn't want no clothes. What was I to think from that, Governor? I ask you as a parent what was I to think?
musical instrument - Musikinstrument
trifle - eine Lappalie; Trifle; Kleinigkeit, ein bisschen, ein wenig
jewelry - Juwelierwaren, Schmuck
cage - Käfig
HIGGINS. So you came to rescue her from worse than death, eh?
rescue - retten; Rettung
DOOLITTLE [appreciatively: relieved at being understood] Just so, Governor. that's right.
appreciatively - anerkennend
relieved - Erleichtert; erleichtern, lindern, entlasten, ablösen
that's right - Das stimmt. Ganz recht.
PICKERING. But why did you bring her luggage if you intended to take her away?
DOOLITTLE. Have I said a word about taking her away? Have I now?
HIGGINS [determinedly] You're going to take her away, double quick. [He crosses to the hearth and rings the bell].
double quick - Laufschritt
rings - Ringe; Ring, Kreis
DOOLITTLE [rising] No, Governor. Don't say that. I'm not the man to stand in my girl's light. Here's a career opening for her, as you might say; and"
Mrs. Pearce opens the door and awaits orders.
awaits - erwartet; erwarten, harren, warten
HIGGINS. Mrs. Pearce: this is Eliza's father. He has come to take her away. Give her to him. [He goes back to the piano, with an air of washing his hands of the whole affair].
affair - Angelegenheit; Scharmützel; Ding; Beziehung, Affäre
DOOLITTLE. No. This is a misunderstanding. Listen here"
misunderstanding - Missverständnis; (misunderstand); missverstehen
MRS. PEARCE. He can't take her away, Mr. Higgins: how can he? You told me to burn her clothes.
DOOLITTLE. That's right. I can't carry the girl through the streets like a blooming monkey, can I? I put it to you.
HIGGINS. You have put it to me that you want your daughter. Take your daughter. If she has no clothes go out and buy her some.
DOOLITTLE [desperate] Where's the clothes she come in? Did I burn them or did your missus here?
MRS. PEARCE. I am the housekeeper, if you please. I have sent for some clothes for your girl. When they come you can take her away. You can wait in the kitchen. This way, please.
Doolittle, much troubled, accompanies her to the door; then hesitates; finally turns confidentially to Higgins.
accompanies - begleitet; begleiten, begleiten, begleiten, begleiten, geleiten
hesitates - zögert; zögern, zögern, stammeln
DOOLITTLE. Listen here, Governor. You and me is men of the world, ain't we?
HIGGINS. Oh! Men of the world, are we? You'd better go, Mrs. Pearce.
MRS. PEARCE. I think so, indeed, sir. [She goes, with dignity].
PICKERING. The floor is yours, Mr. Doolittle.
DOOLITTLE [to Pickering] I thank you, Governor. [To Higgins, who takes refuge on the piano bench, a little overwhelmed by the proximity of his visitor; for Doolittle has a professional flavor of dust about him]. Well, the truth is, I've taken a sort of fancy to you, Governor; and if you want the girl, I'm not so set on having her back home again but what I might be open to an arrangement. Regarded in the light of a young woman, she's a fine handsome girl. As a daughter she's not worth her keep; and so I tell you straight. All I ask is my rights as a father; and you're the last Man alive to expect me to let her go for nothing; for I can see you're one of the straight sort, Governor.
refuge - Zuflucht; Herberge
flavor - Geschmacksrichtung; Geschmack; Geschmacksstoff
truth - Wahrheit, Treue
fancy - schick; extravagant, originell
worth - wert
Man alive - Menschenskind!
Well, what's a five pound note to you? And what's Eliza to me? [He returns to his chair and sits down judicially].
judicially - gerichtlich
PICKERING. I think you ought to know, Doolittle, that Mr. Higgins's intentions are entirely honorable.
intentions - Absichten; Absicht
honorable - ehrenhaft; ehrbar
DOOLITTLE. Course they are, Governor. If I thought they wasn't, I'd ask fifty.
HIGGINS [revolted] Do you mean to say, you callous rascal, that you would sell your daughter for 50 pounds?
revolted - rebelliert; revoltieren, Revolte
callous - gefühllos, verhärtet, abgestumpft, herzlos, schwielig
rascal - Schlingel; Gauner, Strolch, Bösewicht, Schurke, Bengel
DOOLITTLE. Not in a general way I wouldn't; but to oblige a gentleman like you I'd do a good deal, I do assure you.
PICKERING. Have you no morals, man?
morals - moralisch, moralisch, sittlich, moralisch, moralisch, Moral
DOOLITTLE [unabashed] Can't afford them, Governor. Neither could you if you was as poor as me. Not that I mean any harm, you know. But if Liza is going to have a bit out of this, why not me too?
unabashed - ungeniert
HIGGINS [troubled] I don't know what to do, Pickering. There can be no question that as a matter of morals it's a positive crime to give this chap a farthing. And yet I feel a sort of rough justice in his claim.
rough - rau, grob, Rough
claim - Anspruch; Rechtstitel, Behauptung, Mutung, beanspruchen
DOOLITTLE. That's it, Governor. That's all I say. A father's heart, as it were.
PICKERING. Well, I know the feeling; but really it seems hardly right"
DOOLITTLE. Don't say that, Governor. Don't look at it that way. What am I, Governors both? I ask you, what am I? I'm one of the undeserving poor: that's what I am. Think of what that means to a man. It means that he's up agen middle class morality all the time. If there's anything going, and I put in for a bit of it, it's always the same story: "You're undeserving; so you can't have it." But my needs is as great as the most deserving widow's that ever got money out of six different charities in one week for the death of the same husband. I don't need less than a deserving man: I need more. I don't eat less hearty than him; and I drink a lot more. I want a bit of amusement, cause I'm a thinking man. I want cheerfulness and a song and a band when I feel low.
governors - Gouverneure; Gouverneur, Gouverneurin, Regler
deserving - verdient; (deserve); verdienen
morality - Moral, Moralität
widow - Witwe; Hurenkind
hearty - herzlich, herzhaft, deftig
cheerfulness - Fröhlichkeit, Frohsinn, Freundlichkeit
feel low - niedergeschlagen sein
Well, they charge me just the same for everything as they charge the deserving. What is middle class morality? Just an excuse for never giving me anything. Therefore, I ask you, as two gentlemen, not to play that game on me. I'm playing straight with you. I ain't pretending to be deserving. I'm undeserving; and I mean to go on being undeserving. I like it; and that's the truth. Will you take advantage of a man's nature to do him out of the price of his own daughter what he's brought up and fed and clothed by the sweat of his brow until she's growed big enough to be interesting to you two gentlemen? Is five pounds unreasonable? I put it to you; and I leave it to you.
pretending - vorgeben, prätendieren, vortäuschen, so tun, als ob, tun
sweat - schwitzen; Schweiß
brow - Stirn; Braue, Augenbraue
growed - wuchs
unreasonable - unvernünftig, kompromisslos, nicht nachvollziehbar, unklug
HIGGINS [rising, and going over to Pickering] Pickering: if we were to take this man in hand for three months, he could choose between a seat in the Cabinet and a popular pulpit in Wales.
pulpit - Kanzel; i ot or just slightly raised
Wales - Wales
PICKERING. What do you say to that, Doolittle?
DOOLITTLE. Not me, Governor, thank you kindly. I've heard all the preachers and all the prime ministers"for I'm a thinking man and game for politics or religion or social reform same as all the other amusements"and I tell you it's a dog's life anyway you look at it. Undeserving poverty is my line. Taking one station in society with another, it's"it's"well, it's the only one that has any ginger in it, to my taste.
preachers - Prediger
prime - wichtigste
ministers - Ministerinnen und Minister; Gesandter, Pastor, Minister
politics - Politik; diplomatisch
religion - Religion
Reform - Reform; reformieren
amusements - Vergnügungen; Amüsement
poverty - Armut
ginger - mit Ingwer würzen; Ingwer
HIGGINS. I suppose we must give him a fiver.
PICKERING. He'll make a bad use of it, I'm afraid.
DOOLITTLE. Not me, Governor, so help me I won't. Don't you be afraid that I'll save it and spare it and live idle on it. There won't be a penny of it left by Monday: I'll have to go to work same as if I'd never had it. It won't pauperize me, you bet.
spare - überflüssig, frei, sparsam, Ersatz; sparsam umgehen
pauperize - verarmt; arm machen
Just one good spree for myself and the missus, giving pleasure to ourselves and employment to others, and satisfaction to you to think it's not been throwed away. You couldn't spend it better.
spree - Amoklauf; Spaß, Vergnügen, Gelage, Trinkgelage
pleasure - Vergnügen; Freude, Spaß, Wollust
satisfaction - Befriedigung; Zufriedenheit; Satisfaktion, Genugtuung
throwed - geworfen
HIGGINS [taking out his pocket book and coming between Doolittle and the piano] This is irresistible. Let's give him ten. [He offers two notes to the dustman].
pocket book - Taschenbuch
DOOLITTLE. No, Governor. She wouldn't have the heart to spend ten; and perhaps I shouldn't neither. Ten pounds is a lot of money: it makes a man feel prudent like; and then goodbye to happiness. You give me what I ask you, Governor: not a penny more, and not a penny less.
Prudent - umsichtig, vorsichtig
Happiness - Glücklich sein; Glück, Glücklichkeit, Fröhlichkeit
PICKERING. Why don't you marry that missus of yours? I rather draw the line at encouraging that sort of immorality.
encouraging - ermutigend; ermutigen, ermuntern, empfehlen
immorality - Unmoral; Immoralität, Sittenlosigkeit, Unsittlichkeit
DOOLITTLE. Tell her so, Governor: tell her so. I'm willing. It's me that suffers by it. I've no hold on her. I got to be agreeable to her. I got to give her presents. I got to buy her clothes something sinful. I'm a slave to that woman, Governor, just because I'm not her lawful husband. And she knows it too. Catch her marrying me!
It's me - Ich bin's.
suffers - leidet; leiden, leiden, erleiden
sinful - sündig, sündhaft, frevelhaft
slave - Sklave, Sklavin, Sexsklave
lawful - rechtmäßig; gesetzlich, legal, rechtsmäßig
Take my advice, Governor: marry Eliza while she's young and don't know no better. If you don't you'll be sorry for it after. If you do, she'll be sorry for it after; but better you than her, because you're a man, and she's only a woman and don't know how to be happy anyhow.
anyhow - irgendwie
HIGGINS. Pickering: if we listen to this man another minute, we shall have no convictions left. [To Doolittle] Five pounds I think you said.
convictions - Überzeugungen; Überzeugung, Verurteilung
DOOLITTLE. Thank you kindly, Governor.
HIGGINS. You're sure you won't take ten?
DOOLITTLE. Not now. Another time, Governor.
HIGGINS [handing him a five-pound note] Here you are.
DOOLITTLE. Thank you, Governor. Good morning.
[He hurries to the door, anxious to get away with his booty. When he opens it he is confronted with a dainty and exquisitely clean young Japanese lady in a simple blue cotton kimono printed cunningly with small white jasmine blossoms. Mrs. Pearce is with her. He gets out of her way deferentially and apologizes]. beg pardon, miss.
anxious - ängstlich, besorgt
booty - Beute
confronted - konfrontiert; konfrontieren, entgegentreten, Sache
dainty - Delikatesse; fein, zart, zierlich
exquisitely - exquisit
cotton - Baumwolle
kimono - Kimono
cunningly - schlau
jasmine - Jasmin, Jasminum
blossoms - blüht; Blüte, Blüte, Blütezeit, blühen, erblühen, blühen
deferentially - ehrerbietig
apologizes - sich entschuldigt; entschuldigen
beg pardon - Entschuldigen Sie! Wie bitte?
THE JAPANESE LADY. Garn! Don't you know your own daughter?
DOOLITTLE {exclaiming Bly me! it's Eliza!
HIGGINS {simul- What's that! This!
PICKERING {taneously By Jove!
LIZA. Don't I look silly?
HIGGINS. Silly?
MRS. PEARCE [at the door] Now, Mr. Higgins, please don't say anything to make the girl conceited about herself.
conceited - Eingebildet; Eingebung, Einbildung, Konzept
HIGGINS [conscientiously] Oh! Quite right, Mrs. Pearce. [To Eliza] Yes: damned silly.
conscientiously - Gewissenhaft
MRS. PEARCE. Please, sir.
HIGGINS [correcting himself] I mean extremely silly.
LIZA. I should look all right with my hat on. [She takes up her hat; puts it on; and walks across the room to the fireplace with a fashionable air].
fashionable - modisch, fashionable
HIGGINS. A new fashion, by George! And it ought to look horrible!
horrible - schrecklich, abscheulich, fies, makaber
DOOLITTLE [with fatherly pride] Well, I never thought she'd clean up as good looking as that, Governor. She's a credit to me, ain't she?
fatherly - väterlich
pride - Hochmut; Stolz, Trotz, Dünkel, Machtbewusstsein, Rudel
LIZA. I tell you, it's easy to clean up here. Hot and cold water on tap, just as much as you like, there is. Woolly towels, there is; and a towel horse so hot, it burns your fingers. Soft brushes to scrub yourself, and a wooden bowl of soap smelling like primroses. Now I know why ladies is so clean. Washing's a treat for them. Wish they saw what it is for the like of me!
tap - Wasserhahn; Schlacke abstechen
woolly - wollig
scrub - Unterholz, Gestrüpp; auswaschen, scheuern, schrubben
primroses - Schlüsselblumen; Primel, Primel, Primel
treat - behandeln; bewirten, einladen, heilen, kurieren
HIGGINS. I'm glad the bath-room met with your approval.
approval - Genehmigung, Billigung, Erlaubnis, Zustimmung
LIZA. It didn't: not all of it; and I don't care who hears me say it. Mrs. Pearce knows.
HIGGINS. What was wrong, Mrs. Pearce?
MRS. PEARCE [blandly] Oh, nothing, sir. It doesn't matter.
blandly - freundlich; höflich, sanft
LIZA. I had a good mind to break it. I didn't know which way to look. But I hung a towel over it, I did.
hung - aufgehängt; hängen
HIGGINS. Over what?
MRS. PEARCE. Over the looking-glass, sir.
HIGGINS. Doolittle: you have brought your daughter up too strictly.
strictly - strenges, grundsätzlich, pingelig
DOOLITTLE. Me! I never brought her up at all, except to give her a lick of a strap now and again. Don't put it on me, Governor. She ain't accustomed to it, you see: that's all. But she'll soon pick up your free-and-easy ways.
lick - schlecken, lecken; flitzen
strap - Gurt; Riemen; Streichriemen; Achselklappe, Schulterklappe
accustomed - Gewöhnt; gewöhnen, gewöhnen
LIZA. I'm a good girl, I am; and I won't pick up no free and easy ways.
HIGGINS. Eliza: if you say again that you're a good girl, your father shall take you home.
LIZA. Not him. You don't know my father. All he come here for was to touch you for some money to get drunk on.
get drunk - sich betrinken, sich berauschen
DOOLITTLE. Well, what else would I want money for? To put into the plate in church, I suppose. [She puts out her tongue at him. He is so incensed by this that Pickering presently finds it necessary to step between them]. Don't you give me None of your lip; and don't let me hear you giving this gentleman any of it neither, or you'll hear from me about it. See?
puts out - verstimmt
incensed - verärgert; Weihrauch, Räuchwerk
None of your lip - Keine Unverschämtheiten!
HIGGINS. Have you any further advice to give her before you go, Doolittle? Your blessing, for instance.
blessing - Segen, Segnung, Segnen, Segnen; (bless); Segen, Segnung, Segnen
DOOLITTLE. No, Governor: I ain't such a mug as to put up my children to all I know myself. Hard enough to hold them in without that. If you want Eliza's mind improved, Governor, you do it yourself with a strap. So long, gentlemen. [He turns to go].
mug - Becher, Visage, Krug
HIGGINS [impressively] Stop. You'll come regularly to see your daughter. It's your duty, you know. My brother is a clergyman; and he could help you in your talks with her.
impressively - eindrucksvoll
You'll come - Sie kommen doch, oder?
regularly - regulär; regelmäßig
clergyman - Pfarrer, Pastor, Kleriker, Geistlicher
DOOLITTLE [evasively] Certainly. I'll come, Governor. Not just this week, because I have a job at a distance. But later on you may depend on me. Afternoon, gentlemen. Afternoon, ma'am. [He takes off his hat to Mrs. Pearce, who disdains the salutation and goes out. He winks at Higgins, thinking him probably a fellow sufferer from Mrs. Pearce's difficult disposition, and follows her].
evasively - ausweichend
disdains - verschmäht; Verachtung, Geringschätzung (disrespect)
salutation - Begrüßung; Titel
winks - zwinkert; zwinkern, blinzeln, funkeln, zuzwinkern
fellow sufferer - Schicksalsgefährte , Leidensgenosse
disposition - Neigung, Gesinnung, Hang, Veranlagung, Einteilung
LIZA. Don't you believe the old liar. He'd as soon you set a bull-dog on him as a clergyman. You won't see him again in a hurry.
Bull - Bulle, Stier
hurry - Eile; beeilen
HIGGINS. I don't want to, Eliza. Do you?
LIZA. Not me. I don't want never to see him again, I don't. He's a disgrace to me, he is, collecting dust, instead of working at his trade.
disgrace - Ungnade, Schande, Schmach
trade - handeln (mit), eintauschen, schachern mit etwas;Handel , Handwerk , Geschäft , Trade;gewerblich {adj};eintauschen (für)
PICKERING. What is his trade, Eliza?
trade - Handel, Kommerz, Geschäft, Tausch, Facharbeiter, Handwerk
LIZA. Talking money out of other people's pockets into his own. His proper trade's a navvy; and he works at it sometimes too"for exercise"and earns good money at it. Ain't you going to call me Miss Doolittle any more?
navvy - Hilfsarbeiter
PICKERING. I beg your pardon, Miss Doolittle. It was a slip of the tongue.
slip - Ausrutscher; Versprecher; Rutschen (geradeaus); Lapsus
LIZA. Oh, I don't mind; only it sounded so genteel. I should just like to take a taxi to the corner of Tottenham Court Road and get out there and tell it to wait for me, just to put the girls in their place a bit. I wouldn't speak to them, you know.
PICKERING. Better wait til we get you something really fashionable.
HIGGINS. Besides, you shouldn't cut your old friends now that you have risen in the world. That's what we call snobbery.
snobbery - Snobismus
LIZA. You don't call the like of them my friends now, I should hope. They've took it out of me often enough with their ridicule when they had the chance; and now I mean to get a bit of my own back. But if I'm to have fashionable clothes, I'll wait. I should like to have some.
ridicule - lächerlich machen; verhöhnen, verspotten; Spott
Mrs. Pearce says you're going to give me some to wear in bed at night different to what I wear in the daytime; but it do seem a waste of money when you could get something to show. Besides, I never could fancy changing into cold things on a winter night.
daytime - tagsüber; heller Tag, Tageszeit
MRS. PEARCE [coming back] Now, Eliza. The new things have come for you to try on.
try on - anprobieren
LIZA. Ah"ow"oo"ooh! [She rushes out].
MRS. PEARCE [following her] Oh, don't rush about like that, girl [She shuts the door behind her].
rush about - abhetzen
HIGGINS. Pickering: we have taken on a stiff job.
stiff - steif, starr, Steifer, Zechpreller, prellen, abspeisen
PICKERING [with conviction] Higgins: we have.
conviction - Überzeugung; Verurteilung
It is Mrs. Higgins's at-home day. Nobody has yet arrived. Her drawing-room, in a flat on Chelsea embankment, has three windows looking on the river; and the ceiling is not so lofty as it would be in an older house of the same pretension. The windows are open, giving access to a balcony with flowers in pots.
Embankment - Böschung, Bahndamm, Dammschüttung, Eindeichung
ceiling - Zimmerdecke; Zimmerdecke; (ceil) Zimmerdecke; Zimmerdecke
lofty - erhaben; hoch
pretension - Anspruch, Ăśberheblichkeit, Anmaßung
access - Zutritt, Zugang, Einsicht, Zugriff; zugreifen
balcony - Balkon
pots - Töpfe; Blumentopf
If you stand with your face to the windows, you have the fireplace on your left and the door in the right-hand wall close to the corner nearest the windows.
Mrs. Higgins was brought up on Morris and Burne Jones; and her room, which is very unlike her son's room in Wimpole Street, is not crowded with furniture and little tables and nicknacks. In the middle of the room there is a big ottoman; and this, with the carpet, the Morris wall-papers, and the Morris chintz window curtains and brocade covers of the ottoman and its cushions, supply all the ornament, and are much too handsome to be hidden by odds and ends of useless things.
unlike - im Gegensatz zu; ungleichartig, anders, ungleich
ottoman - Ottomane, Canapé, Couch, Polsterhocker, Sitzkissen
chintz - Chintz
curtains - Vorhänge; Vorhang, Vorhang
brocade - Brokat, Brokatstoff, Seidenbrokat
cushions - Kissen
ornament - Verzierung; musikalische Verzierung
odds - Quoten; einzeln, seltsam, merkwürdig, komisch, ungerade
useless - nutzlos, unnützlich, wertlos
A few good oil-paintings from the exhibitions in the Grosvenor Gallery thirty years ago (the Burne Jones, not the Whistler side of them) are on the walls. The only landscape is a Cecil Lawson on the scale of a Rubens. There is a portrait of Mrs. Higgins as she was when she defied fashion in her youth in one of the beautiful Rossettian costumes which, when caricatured by people who did not understand, led to the absurdities of popular estheticism in the eighteen-seventies.
exhibitions - Ausstellungen; Ausstellung, Ausstellung
landscape - Landschaft; Querformat
scale - Maßstab; Skala, Kesselsteine, Schuppe; ersteigen, erklettern
defied - herausgefordert; herausfordern, die Stirn bieten, herausfordern
youth - Jugend, Jugendlichkeit, Jugendzeit, Jugendlicher, Jugendliche
costumes - Kostüme; Kostüm
caricatured - karikiert; Karikatur, Karikatur, Zerrbild
absurdities - Absurditäten; Absurdität, Absurdität
estheticism - Ästhetik
In the corner diagonally opposite the door Mrs. Higgins, now over sixty and long past taking the trouble to dress out of the fashion, sits writing at an elegantly simple writing-table with a bell button within reach of her hand. There is a Chippendale chair further back in the room between her and the window nearest her side.
diagonally - diagonal
elegantly - elegant
At the other side of the room, further forward, is an Elizabethan chair roughly carved in the taste of Inigo Jones. On the same side a piano in a decorated case. The corner between the fireplace and the window is occupied by a divan cushioned in Morris chintz.
Elizabethan - Elisabethanisch
carved - geschnitzt; schneiden, tranchieren, zerlegen, schnitzen
decorated - dekoriert; ausschmücken, dekorieren, renovieren, qualifier
divan - Diwan
cushioned - gepolstert; Kissen
It is between four and five in the afternoon.
The door is opened violently; and Higgins enters with his hat on.
MRS. HIGGINS [dismayed] Henry [scolding him]! What are you doing here to-day? It is my at home day: you promised not to come. [As he bends to kiss her, she takes his hat off, and presents it to him].
dismayed - konsterniert; Furcht, Ohnmacht
scolding - ausschimpfend, zankend, scheltend; (scold); Beißzange
bends - biegt; beugen, biegen, biegen, durchbiegen, beugen, Kurve
kiss - küssen
HIGGINS. Oh bother! [He throws the hat down on the table].
MRS. HIGGINS. Go home at once.
HIGGINS [kissing her] I know, mother. I came on purpose.
kissing - küssen
MRS. HIGGINS. But you mustn't. I'm serious, Henry. You offend all my friends: they stop coming whenever they meet you.
offend - beleidigen, checkverletzen, ergern
whenever - wann auch immer
HIGGINS. Nonsense! I know I have no small talk; but people don't mind. [He sits on the settee].
settee - Sofabett; Sitzbank, Sofa
MRS. HIGGINS. Oh! don't they? Small talk indeed! What about your large talk? Really, dear, you mustn't stay.
HIGGINS. I must. I've a job for you. A phonetic job.
MRS. HIGGINS. No use, dear. I'm sorry; but I can't get round your vowels; and though I like to get pretty postcards in your patent shorthand, I always have to read the copies in ordinary writing you so thoughtfully send me.
thoughtfully - nachdenklich, aufmerksam
HIGGINS. Well, this isn't a phonetic job.
MRS. HIGGINS. You said it was.
HIGGINS. Not your part of it. I've picked up a girl.
MRS. HIGGINS. Does that mean that some girl has picked you up?
HIGGINS. Not at all. I don't mean a love affair.
MRS. HIGGINS. What a pity!
pity - Mitleid; schade; bemitleiden, Mitleid haben mit
HIGGINS. Why?
MRS. HIGGINS. Well, you never fall in love with anyone under forty-five. When will you discover that there are some rather nice-looking young women about?
HIGGINS. Oh, I can't be bothered with young women. My idea of a loveable woman is something as like you as possible. I shall never get into the way of seriously liking young women: some habits lie too deep to be changed. [Rising abruptly and walking about, jingling his money and his keys in his trouser pockets] Besides, they're all idiots.
bothered - belästigt; stören, verdammt, Mist
loveable - liebenswert
abruptly - abrupt, plötzlich, unerwartet, abgerissen, abschüssig
jingling - Klirren; Jingle
Idiots - Idioten; Idiot, Idiotin, Narr, Närrin
MRS. HIGGINS. Do you know what you would do if you really loved me, Henry?
HIGGINS. Oh bother! What? Marry, I suppose?
MRS. HIGGINS. No. Stop fidgeting and take your hands out of your pockets. [With a gesture of despair, he obeys and sits down again]. That's a good boy. Now tell me about the girl.
fidgeting - Zappelnd; zappeln, herumzappeln, Zappelphilipp
hands out - (hand out) austeilen
gesture - Geste, Gebärde, gestikulieren, erman: (jemandem etwas) bedeuten
despair - verzweifeln; Verzweiflung
obeys - gehorcht; gehorchen, befolgen
HIGGINS. She's coming to see you.
MRS. HIGGINS. I don't remember asking her.
HIGGINS. You didn't. I asked her. If you'd known her you wouldn't have asked her.
MRS. HIGGINS. Indeed! Why?
HIGGINS. Well, it's like this. She's a common flower girl. I picked her off the kerbstone.
MRS. HIGGINS. And invited her to my at-home!
HIGGINS [rising and coming to her to coax her] Oh, that'll be all right. I've taught her to speak properly; and she has strict orders as to her behavior. She's to keep to two subjects: the weather and everybody's health"Fine day and How do you do, you know"and not to let herself go on things in general. That will be safe.
coax - schmeicheln, gut zureden; Koaxialkabel
strict - streng
behavior - Verhalten, Benehmen, Betragen, Verhaltensweise
MRS. HIGGINS. Safe! To talk about our health! about our insides! perhaps about our outsides! How could you be so silly, Henry?
HIGGINS [impatiently] Well, she must talk about something. [He controls himself and sits down again]. Oh, she'll be all right: don't you fuss. Pickering is in it with me. I've a sort of bet on that I'll pass her off as a duchess in six months. I started on her some months ago; and she's getting on like a house on fire.
I shall win my bet. She has a quick ear; and she's been easier to teach than my middle-class pupils because she's had to learn a complete new language. She talks English almost as you talk French.
MRS. HIGGINS. That's satisfactory, at all events.
satisfactory - befriedigend, zufriedenstellend
HIGGINS. Well, it is and it isn't.
MRS. HIGGINS. What does that mean?
HIGGINS. You see, I've got her pronunciation all right; but you have to consider not only how a girl pronounces, but what she pronounces; and that's where"
They are interrupted by the parlor-maid, announcing guests.
interrupted - unterbrochen; unterbrechen
parlor - Saloon; Wohnzimmer, Salon, Empfangszimmer, Sprechzimmer
announcing - ankündigen, verkünden, bekanntgeben, verkündigen, verlauten
THE PARLOR-MAID. Mrs. and Miss Eynsford Hill. [She withdraws].
withdraws - zurückzieht; annullieren, entziehen, abziehen, ausscheiden
HIGGINS. Oh Lord! [He rises; snatches his hat from the table; and makes for the door; but before he reaches it his mother introduces him].
snatches - Fetzen; klauen, stehlen, Reißen
Mrs. and Miss Eynsford Hill are the mother and daughter who sheltered from the rain in Covent Garden. The mother is well bred, quiet, and has the habitual anxiety of straitened means. The daughter has acquired a gay air of being very much at home in society: the bravado of genteel poverty.
sheltered - beschützt; Zuflucht, Obdach
bred - gezüchtet; (breed) Zucht, Art, Rasse, Sorte; (breed); aufziehen
habitual - gewohnheitsmäßig; gewohnt; gewöhnlich, habituell
anxiety - Ängste; Besorgnis, Angst, Sorge
straitened - verengt; beschränken
gay - vergnügt, schwul, homosexuell, lustig, heiter
bravado - Angeberei, Draufgängertum, Gehabe, theatralisches Getue
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [to Mrs. Higgins] How do you do? [They shake hands].
MISS EYNSFORD HILL. How d'you do? [She shakes].
MRS. HIGGINS [introducing] My son Henry.
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL. Your celebrated son! I have so longed to meet you, Professor Higgins.
HIGGINS [glumly, making no movement in her direction] Delighted. [He backs against the piano and bows brusquely].
glumly - verdrießliche, mürrisch
delighted - erfreut; Freude, Entzückung, Wohlgefallen
bows - Bücklinge, Bögen; (bow) Bücklinge, Bögen
Miss EYNSFORD HILL [going to him with confident familiarity] How do you do?
confident - selbstbewusst; zuversichtlich, sicher
familiarity - Vertrautheit
HIGGINS [staring at her] I've seen you before somewhere. I haven't the ghost of a notion where; but I've heard your voice. [Drearily] It doesn't matter. You'd better sit down.
ghost - Gespenst, Geist, Phantom, Spuk
notion - Ahnung, Ansicht, Auffassung, Begriff
drearily - eintönig; trostlose
MRS. HIGGINS. I'm sorry to say that my celebrated son has no manners. You mustn't mind him.
I'm sorry to say - Leider muss ich sagen
MISS EYNSFORD HILL [gaily] I don't. [She sits in the Elizabethan chair].
gaily - fröhlich; unbekümmert
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [a little bewildered] Not at all. [She sits on the ottoman between her daughter and Mrs. Higgins, who has turned her chair away from the writing-table].
HIGGINS. Oh, have I been rude? I didn't mean to be. [He goes to the central window, through which, with his back to the company, he contemplates the river and the flowers in Battersea Park on the opposite bank as if they were a frozen dessert.]
contemplates - nachdenkt; nachsinnen
frozen - eingefroren; frieren
The parlor-maid returns, ushering in Pickering.
ushering - Platzanweiser, Gerichtsdiener, zuweisen, anweisen, führen
THE PARLOR-MAID. Colonel Pickering [She withdraws].
PICKERING. How do you do, Mrs. Higgins?
MRS. HIGGINS. So glad you've come. Do you know Mrs. Eynsford Hill"Miss Eynsford Hill? [Exchange of bows. The Colonel brings the Chippendale chair a little forward between Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Higgins, and sits down].
Exchange - austauschen, umtauschen, tauschen
PICKERING. Has Henry told you what we've come for?
HIGGINS [over his shoulder] We were interrupted: damn it!
damn - Verdammt!;tadeln, verurteilen, verdammen, verfluchen
MRS. HIGGINS. Oh Henry, Henry, really!
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [half rising] Are we in the way?
MRS. HIGGINS [rising and making her sit down again] No, no. You couldn't have come more fortunately: we want you to meet a friend of ours.
HIGGINS [turning hopefully] Yes, by George! We want two or three people. You'll do as well as anybody else.
The parlor-maid returns, ushering Freddy.
THE PARLOR-MAID. Mr. Eynsford Hill.
HIGGINS [almost audibly, past endurance] God of Heaven! another of them.
audibly - hörbar, vernehmlich
endurance - Ausdauer
FREDDY [shaking hands with Mrs. Higgins] Ahdedo?
MRS. HIGGINS. Very good of you to come. [Introducing] Colonel Pickering.
FREDDY [bowing] Ahdedo?
bowing - Verbeugung; (bow) sich vorbeugen; (bow) Verbeugung; (bow) sich vorbeugen
MRS. HIGGINS. I don't think you know my son, Professor Higgins.
FREDDY [going to Higgins] Ahdedo?
HIGGINS [looking at him much as if he were a pickpocket] I'll take my oath I've met you before somewhere. Where was it?
pickpocket - Taschendieb, Taschendiebin
FREDDY. I don't think so.
HIGGINS [resignedly] It don't matter, anyhow. Sit down. He shakes Freddy's hand, and almost slings him on the ottoman with his face to the windows; then comes round to the other side of it.
resignedly - Resigniert
slings - Schleudern; Armschlinge
HIGGINS. Well, here we are, anyhow! [He sits down on the ottoman next Mrs. Eynsford Hill, on her left.] And now, what the devil are we going to talk about until Eliza comes?
MRS. HIGGINS. Henry: you are the life and soul of the Royal Society's soirees; but really you're rather trying on more commonplace occasions.
Royal - königlich; Royal; Royalsegel
soirees - Soiree
trying on - anprobierend
commonplace - alltäglich, banal, gang und gäbe, gewöhnlich, Gemeinplatz
occasions - Anlässe; Gelegenheit, Gelegenheit, Anlass
HIGGINS. Am I? Very sorry. [Beaming suddenly] I suppose I am, you know. [Uproariously] Ha, ha!
beaming - Beamen; strahlend
MISS EYNSFORD HILL [who considers Higgins quite eligible matrimonially] I sympathize. I haven't any small talk. If people would only be frank and say what they really think!
eligible - förderfähig; berechtigt, infrage kommend, geeignet, zulässig
matrimonially - in der Ehe
sympathize - mitfühlen
HIGGINS [relapsing into gloom] Lord forbid!
relapsing - einen Rückfall; zurückfallen, sich verschlimmern
gloom - Finsternis; Düsternis, Dunkelheit, Trübnis, Schwermut
forbid - verbieten, untersagen, verweigern, vorenthalten
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [taking up her daughter's cue] But why?
cue - Stichwort; Aufruf, Billardstock, Billardqueue
HIGGINS. What they think they ought to think is bad enough, Lord knows; but what they really think would break up the whole show. Do you suppose it would be really agreeable if I were to come out now with what I really think?
MISS EYNSFORD HILL [gaily] Is it so very cynical?
cynical - zynisch
HIGGINS. Cynical! Who the dickens said it was cynical? I mean it wouldn't be decent.
decent - anständig, sittsam, (ganz) anständig
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [seriously] Oh! I'm sure you don't mean that, Mr. Higgins.
HIGGINS. You see, we're all savages, more or less. We're supposed to be civilized and cultured"to know all about poetry and philosophy and art and science, and so on; but how many of us know even the meanings of these names? [To Miss Hill] What do you know of poetry? [To Mrs. Hill] What do you know of science? [Indicating Freddy] What does he know of art or science or anything else? What the devil do you imagine I know of philosophy?
savages - wild, wild, wüst, unbebaut, unbändig, rasend, wütend, roh
civilized - zivilisiert; zivilisieren
poetry - Dichtkunst, Poesie, checkDichtung, checkDichtkunst
Philosophy - Philosophie
meanings - Bedeutungen; Bedeutung, Sinn
MRS. HIGGINS [warningly] Or of manners, Henry?
warningly - warnend
THE PARLOR-MAID [opening the door] Miss Doolittle. [She withdraws].
HIGGINS [rising hastily and running to Mrs. Higgins] Here she is, mother. [He stands on tiptoe and makes signs over his mother's head to Eliza to indicate to her which lady is her hostess].
on tiptoe - auf Zehenspitzen
signs over - überschreibt
indicate - anzeigen, anweisen, andeuten, auf etwas deuten, blinken
hostess - Gastgeberin, Wirtin, Stewardess, Flugbegleiterin, Hostess
Eliza, who is exquisitely dressed, produces an impression of such remarkable distinction and beauty as she enters that they all rise, quite flustered. Guided by Higgins's signals, she comes to Mrs. Higgins with studied grace.
impression - Abdruck; Eindruck, Impression, Werbeeinblendung
flustered - verwirrt; verwirren, überrumpeln, Durcheinander
signals - Signale; Signal
grace - Tischgebet; Anmut, Grazie, Aufschub, Fristverlängerung
LIZA [speaking with pedantic correctness of pronunciation and great beauty of tone] How do you do, Mrs. Higgins? [She gasps slightly in making sure of the H in Higgins, but is quite successful]. Mr. Higgins told me I might come.
pedantic - pedantisch
correctness - Richtigkeit, Korrektheit
tone - Farbton, Klang, Umgangston, Ton
gasps - keucht; keuchen, japsen, prusten, keuchen, Atemzug, Luftholen
slightly - ein wenig, leicht
MRS. HIGGINS [cordially] Quite right: I'm very glad indeed to see you.
cordially - herzlich
PICKERING. How do you do, Miss Doolittle?
LIZA [shaking hands with him] Colonel Pickering, is it not?
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL. I feel sure we have met before, Miss Doolittle. I remember your eyes.
LIZA. How do you do? [She sits down on the ottoman gracefully in the place just left vacant by Higgins].
gracefully - anmutig
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [introducing] My daughter Clara.
LIZA. How do you do?
CLARA [impulsively] How do you do? [She sits down on the ottoman beside Eliza, devouring her with her eyes].
impulsively - impulsiv
devouring - verschlingen, fressen, schlingen, herunterschlingen, zerstören
FREDDY [coming to their side of the ottoman] I've certainly had the pleasure.
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [introducing] My son Freddy.
LIZA. How do you do?
Freddy bows and sits down in the Elizabethan chair, infatuated.
infatuated - vernarrt; betören
HIGGINS [suddenly] By George, yes: it all comes back to me! [They stare at him]. Covent Garden! [Lamentably] What a damned thing!
lamentably - bedauerlicherweise
MRS. HIGGINS. Henry, please! [He is about to sit on the edge of the table]. Don't sit on my writing-table: you'll break it.
edge - Rand; Seite, Kante, Vorsprung, Klinge, Schneide, schieben
HIGGINS [sulkily] Sorry.
sulkily - schmollend; beleidigt, eingeschnappt, mürrisch
He goes to the divan, stumbling into the fender and over the fire-irons on his way; extricating himself with muttered imprecations; and finishing his disastrous journey by throwing himself so impatiently on the divan that he almost breaks it. Mrs. Higgins looks at him, but controls herself and says nothing.
stumbling - Stolpern
Fender - Kotflügel; Schutzblech; Fender
irons - Bügeleisen; eisern, eisern, bügeln, in Eisen legen
extricating - befreien
muttered - gemurmelt; murmeln
imprecations - Verwünschungen; Verwünschung, Fluch
disastrous - katastrophal
A long and painful pause ensues.
painful - schmerzhaft
pause - Eine Pause; pausieren, innehalten, Pause
ensues - folgt; folgen, ansetzen, erfolgen, nachfolgen, resultieren
MRS. HIGGINS [at last, conversationally] Will it rain, do you think?
conversationally - im Gespräch
LIZA. The shallow depression in the west of these islands is likely to move slowly in an easterly direction. There are no indications of any great change in the barometrical situation.
depression - Senke; Depression, Abschwung
easterly - östlich
barometrical - barometrisch
FREDDY. Ha! ha! how awfully funny!
awfully - furchtbar, entsetzlich
LIZA. What is wrong with that, young man? I bet I got it right.
FREDDY. Killing!
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL. I'm sure I hope it won't turn cold. There's so much influenza about. It runs right through our whole family regularly every spring.
influenza - Grippe, Influenza
LIZA [darkly] My aunt died of influenza: so they said.
darkly - düster; dunkle, dunkel
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [clicks her tongue sympathetically]!!!
clicks - Klicks; Klick; anklicken, zuschnappen, klicken
sympathetically - wohlwollend
LIZA [in the same tragic tone] But it's my belief they done the old woman in.
tragic - tragisch
belief - Glauben; Glaube
MRS. HIGGINS [puzzled] Done her in?
puzzled - verwirrt; Rätsel
LIZA. Y-e-e-e-es, Lord love you! Why should she die of influenza? She come through diphtheria right enough the year before. I saw her with my own eyes. Fairly blue with it, she was. They all thought she was dead; but my father he kept ladling gin down her throat til she came to so sudden that she bit the bowl off the spoon.
diphtheria - Diphtherie
ladling - schöpfend; (ladle); Kelle, Suppenkelle, Schöpfkelle
gin - Gin, Wacholderbranntwein
throat - Kehle, Rachen, Hals, Flaschenhals
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [startled] Dear me!
startled - erschrocken; aufschrecken, scheuen, erschrecken
Dear me - Ach du liebe Zeit!, Du liebe Zeit!
LIZA [piling up the indictment] What call would a woman with that strength in her have to die of influenza? What become of her new straw hat that should have come to me? Somebody pinched it; and what I say is, them as pinched it done her in.
piling - Stapeln; Spundwand; (pile) Stapeln; Spundwand
indictment - Anklage; Anklageschrift; Beschuldigung
strength - Stärke, Kraft, Festigkeit, Mumm
straw hat - Strohhut
pinched - eingeklemmt; kneifen
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL. What does doing her in mean?
HIGGINS [hastily] Oh, that's the new small talk. To do a person in means to kill them.
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [to Eliza, horrified] You surely don't believe that your aunt was killed?
horrified - entsetzt; entsetzen, erschrecken, schockieren
LIZA. Do I not! Them she lived with would have killed her for a hat-pin, let alone a hat.
pin - Zapfen, Bolzen, Schraubendrehereinsatz; feststecken, anheften
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL. But it can't have been right for your father to pour spirits down her throat like that. It might have killed her.
pour - schütten, einschenken, gießen
spirits - Geister; Geist, Seele, Geist, Stimmung, Schnaps, qualifier
LIZA. Not her. Gin was mother's milk to her. Besides, he'd poured so much down his own throat that he knew the good of it.
poured - geschüttet; schütten, einschenken, gießen
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL. Do you mean that he drank?
LIZA. Drank! My word! Something chronic.
chronic - chronisch; langanhaltend, andauernd, fortwährend, Langzeit-
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL. How dreadful for you!
LIZA. Not a bit. It never did him no harm what I could see. But then he did not keep it up regular. [Cheerfully] On the burst, as you might say, from time to time. And always more agreeable when he had a drop in. When he was out of work, my mother used to give him fourpence and tell him to go out and not come back until he'd drunk himself cheerful and loving-like. There's lots of women has to make their husbands drunk to make them fit to live with.
cheerfully - fröhlich, vergnügt, heiter
burst - geplatzt; platzen, zerplatzen, bersten, sprengen, Bersten
fourpence - vier Pence
[Now quite at her ease] You see, it's like this. If a man has a bit of a conscience, it always takes him when he's sober; and then it makes him low-spirited. A drop of booze just takes that off and makes him happy. [To Freddy, who is in convulsions of suppressed laughter] Here! what are you sniggering at?
ease - Leichtigkeit, Mühelosigkeit, Behaglichkeit, Bequemlichkeit
sober - nüchtern, besonnen, ernst, gedeckt, ernüchtern, ausnüchtern
spirited - temperamentvoll; Geist, Seele, Geist, Stimmung, Schnaps
booze - Schnaps, Fusel, Alkohol, Alkoholisches
convulsions - Krämpfe; Konvulsion, Krampf
suppressed - unterdrückt; unterdrücken, unterdrücken, unterdrücken
sniggering - kichernd; (snigger) kichernd
FREDDY. The new small talk. You do it so awfully well.
LIZA. If I was doing it proper, what was you laughing at? [To Higgins] Have I said anything I oughtn't?
oughtn - sollte
MRS. HIGGINS [interposing] Not at all, Miss Doolittle.
interposing - Zwischenrufe; zwischenschalten, dazwischenstellen
LIZA. Well, that's a mercy, anyhow. [Expansively] What I always say is"
mercy - Barmherzigkeit, Erbarmen, Gnade, Mitleid
expansively - expansiv
HIGGINS [rising and looking at his watch] Ahem!
Ahem - Hm; Ahem
LIZA [looking round at him; taking the hint; and rising] Well: I must go. [They all rise. Freddy goes to the door]. So pleased to have met you. Good-bye. [She shakes hands with Mrs. Higgins].
hint - Hinweis, Tipp, Wink, Fingerzeig
Good-bye - (Good-bye) Auf Wiedersehen!;adieu, leb wohl, ade, lebewohl, ciao
MRS. HIGGINS. Good-bye.
LIZA. Good-bye, Colonel Pickering.
PICKERING. Good-bye, Miss Doolittle. [They shake hands].
LIZA [nodding to the others] Good-bye, all.
nodding - schlafend, nickend; (nod); nicken; einnicken; Kopfnicken
FREDDY [opening the door for her] Are you walking across the Park, Miss Doolittle? If so"
LIZA. Walk! Not bloody likely. [Sensation]. I am going in a taxi. [She goes out].
bloody - blutig, blutbefleckt
sensation - Gefühl, Empfindung, Sensation
Pickering gasps and sits down. Freddy goes out on the balcony to catch another glimpse of Eliza.
Glimpse - Ein Blick; Blick; Aufblitzen, Aufleuchten, Schimmer, entdecken
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [suffering from shock] Well, I really can't get used to the new ways.
suffering - leidend; Leiden; (suffer); leiden; erleiden
shock - Schock, Betroffenheit, Empörung, Schlag, Stoß
CLARA [throwing herself discontentedly into the Elizabethan chair]. Oh, it's all right, mamma, quite right. People will think we never go anywhere or see anybody if you are so old-fashioned.
discontentedly - unzufrieden
old-fashioned - (old-fashioned) altmodisch
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL. I daresay I am very old-fashioned; but I do hope you won't begin using that expression, Clara. I have got accustomed to hear you talking about men as rotters, and calling everything filthy and beastly; though I do think it horrible and unladylike. But this last is really too much. Don't you think so, Colonel Pickering?
filthy - dreckig, verdreckt, versifft, schmutzig, widerlich
beastly - bestialisch; garstig
PICKERING. Don't ask me. I've been away in India for several years; and manners have changed so much that I sometimes don't know whether I'm at a respectable dinner-table or in a ship's forecastle.
Don't ask - Frag lieber nicht!
forecastle - Vorschiff, Bugkastell
CLARA. It's all a matter of habit. There's no right or wrong in it. Nobody means anything by it. And it's so quaint, and gives such a smart emphasis to things that are not in themselves very witty. I find the new small talk delightful and quite innocent.
quaint - malerisch; wunderlich, originell, anheimelnd
smart - klug; pfiffig, pfiffig, fesch, elegant, listig
emphasis - Nachdruck, Eindringlichkeit, Emphase, Schwerpunkt
witty - witzig, geistreich, originell
delightful - reizvoll, entzückend, angenehm
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [rising] Well, after that, I think it's time for us to go.
Pickering and Higgins rise.
CLARA [rising] Oh yes: we have three at homes to go to still. Good-bye, Mrs. Higgins. Good-bye, Colonel Pickering. Good-bye, Professor Higgins.
HIGGINS [coming grimly at her from the divan, and accompanying her to the door] Good-bye. Be sure you try on that small talk at the three at-homes. Don't be nervous about it. Pitch it in strong.
grimly - grimmig
accompanying - begleiten, begleiten, begleiten, begleiten, geleiten, beiliegen
pitch - werfen, festsetzen, errichten; Tonhöhe, Tonlage, Pech
CLARA [all smiles] I will. Good-bye. Such nonsense, all this early Victorian prudery!
Victorian - Viktorianisch
HIGGINS [tempting her] Such damned nonsense!
CLARA. Such bloody nonsense!
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [convulsively] Clara!
convulsively - krampfhafte
CLARA. Ha! ha! [She goes out radiant, conscious of being thoroughly up to date, and is heard descending the stairs in a stream of silvery laughter].
radiant - strahlend; Radiant
conscious - bei Bewusstsein, wach, aufmerksam
descending - absteigend; absteigen, niedergehen, herunterkommen, herabsteigen
stream - Bach; Strom; Datenstrom; strömen; streamen
silvery - silbrig, silberig, silberhell, silbern
FREDDY [to the heavens at large] Well, I ask you [He gives it up, and comes to Mrs. Higgins]. Good-bye.
MRS. HIGGINS [shaking hands] Good-bye. Would you like to meet Miss Doolittle again?
FREDDY [eagerly] Yes, I should, most awfully.
MRS. HIGGINS. Well, you know my days.
FREDDY. Yes. Thanks awfully. Good-bye. [He goes out].
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL. Good-bye, Mr. Higgins.
HIGGINS. Good-bye. Good-bye.
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [to Pickering] It's no use. I shall never be able to bring myself to use that word.
PICKERING. Don't. It's not compulsory, you know. You'll get on quite well without it.
compulsory - obligatorisch, pflichtmäßig, gesetzlich, verpflichtend
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL. Only, Clara is so down on me if I am not positively reeking with the latest slang. Good-bye.
positively - positiv
reeking - stinken; Gestank, Rauch
slang - Jargon, Slang, saloppe Umgangssprache
PICKERING. Good-bye [They shake hands].
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL [to Mrs. Higgins] You mustn't mind Clara. [Pickering, catching from her lowered tone that this is not meant for him to hear, discreetly joins Higgins at the window]. We're so poor! and she gets so few parties, poor child! She doesn't quite know. [Mrs. Higgins, seeing that her eyes are moist, takes her hand sympathetically and goes with her to the door]. But the boy is nice. Don't you think so?
lowered - gesenkt; niedriger, niedrigerer
discreetly - klug, diskrete
MRS. HIGGINS. Oh, quite nice. I shall always be delighted to see him.
MRS. EYNSFORD HILL. Thank you, dear. Good-bye. [She goes out].
HIGGINS [eagerly] Well? Is Eliza presentable [he swoops on his mother and drags her to the ottoman, where she sits down in Eliza's place with her son on her left]?
swoops - herabschießen, herabstürzen, stürzen, Sturzflug
drags - schleppt; Planierschleppe; nachschleppen, schleppen, ziehen
Pickering returns to his chair on her right.
MRS. HIGGINS. You silly boy, of course she's not presentable. She's a triumph of your art and of her dressmaker's; but if you suppose for a moment that she doesn't give herself away in every sentence she utters, you must be perfectly cracked about her.
dressmaker - Damenschneiderin; Schneiderin
cracked - geknackt; Riss, Knall, Aufbruch, Bresche; aufbrechen, knallen
PICKERING. But don't you think something might be done? I mean something to eliminate the sanguinary element from her conversation.
eliminate - eliminieren, zerstören:, umbringen, beseitigen
sanguinary - blutig
element - Element; Bauelement
MRS. HIGGINS. Not as long as she is in Henry's hands.
HIGGINS [aggrieved] Do you mean that my language is improper?
aggrieved - geschädigt; kränken, verletzen
improper - unangemessen
MRS. HIGGINS. No, dearest: it would be quite proper"say on a canal barge; but it would not be proper for her at a garden party.
Canal - Kanal, Gang
Barge - Lastkahn, Schleppkahn
be proper for - sich eignen für
HIGGINS [deeply injured] Well I must say"
deeply - tief; zutiefst
injured - verletzt; verletzen, verletzen
PICKERING [interrupting him] Come, Higgins: you must learn to know yourself. I haven't heard such language as yours since we used to review the volunteers in Hyde Park twenty years ago.
interrupting - unterbrechen
volunteers - Freiwilliger, Freiwillige, Ehrenamtlicher, Ehrenamtliche
HIGGINS [sulkily] Oh, well, if you say so, I suppose I don't always talk like a bishop.
bishop - Läufer (Schach), Bischof
MRS. HIGGINS [quieting Henry with a touch] Colonel Pickering: will you tell me what is the exact state of things in Wimpole Street?
PICKERING [cheerfully: as if this completely changed the subject] Well, I have come to live there with Henry. We work together at my Indian Dialects; and we think it more convenient"
more convenient - genehmere
MRS. HIGGINS. Quite so. I know all about that: it's an excellent arrangement. But where does this girl live?
HIGGINS. With us, of course. Where would she live?
MRS. HIGGINS. But on what terms? Is she a servant? If not, what is she?
servant - Diener, Dienerin, Lakai, Kammerdiener
PICKERING [slowly] I think I know what you mean, Mrs. Higgins.
HIGGINS. Well, dash me if I do! I've had to work at the girl every day for months to get her to her present pitch. Besides, she's useful. She knows where my things are, and remembers my appointments and so forth.
Dash - Bindestrich, Gedankenstrich, Querstrich, Spurt, Sprint
appointments - Termine; Ernennung, Berufung, Termin, Verabredung
forth - weiter; heraus, hervor
MRS. HIGGINS. How does your housekeeper get on with her?
HIGGINS. Mrs. Pearce? Oh, she's jolly glad to get so much taken off her hands; for before Eliza came, she had to have to find things and remind me of my appointments. But she's got some silly bee in her bonnet about Eliza. She keeps saying "You don't think, sir": doesn't she, Pick?
jolly - fröhlich; vergnügt, lustig
remind - erinnern, in Erinnerung bringen
bee - Wettbewerb, Biene
bonnet - Haube; Motorhaube
PICKERING. Yes: that's the formula. "You don't think, sir." That's the end of every conversation about Eliza.
formula - Formel; Rezept; Rezeptur, Zusammensetzung, Bestandteile
HIGGINS. As if I ever stop thinking about the girl and her confounded vowels and consonants. I'm worn out, thinking about her, and watching her lips and her teeth and her tongue, not to mention her soul, which is the quaintest of the lot.
confounded - verwirrt; verwirren, verschlimmern, verschlechtern, besiegen
quaintest - am kuriosesten; wunderlich, originell, anheimelnd
MRS. HIGGINS. You certainly are a pretty pair of babies, playing with your live doll.
doll - Puppe
HIGGINS. Playing! The hardest job I ever tackled: make no mistake about that, mother. But you have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human being and change her into a quite different human being by creating a new speech for her. It's filling up the deepest gulf that separates class from class and soul from soul.
tackled - in Angriff genommen; Angel, Tackling
frightfully - furchtbar; schrecklich, schreckliche
filling up - auffüllend
Gulf - Golf, Meerbusen
PICKERING [drawing his chair closer to Mrs. Higgins and bending over to her eagerly] Yes: it's enormously interesting. I assure you, Mrs. Higgins, we take Eliza very seriously. Every week"every day almost"there is some new change. [Closer again] We keep records of every stage"dozens of gramophone disks and photographs"
bending - beugend, biegend; (bend); beugen; biegen, durchbiegen, Kurve
enormously - enorm
dozens - Dutzende; Dutzend
gramophone - Grammophon
disks - Disketten; Scheibe, Kreisscheibe, Kreisfläche, Scheibe
HIGGINS [assailing her at the other ear] Yes, by George: it's the most absorbing experiment I ever tackled. She regularly fills our lives up; doesn't she, Pick?
assailing - angreifen; anstürmend; (assail); angreifen
absorbing - absorbieren, aufnehen
PICKERING. We're always talking Eliza.
HIGGINS. Teaching Eliza.
PICKERING. Dressing Eliza.
MRS. HIGGINS. What!
HIGGINS. Inventing new Elizas.
Higgins and Pickering, speaking together:
HIGGINS. You know, she has the most extraordinary quickness of ear:
quickness - Schnelligkeit
PICKERING. I assure you, my dear Mrs. Higgins, that girl
HIGGINS. just like a parrot. I've tried her with every
PICKERING. is a genius. She can play the piano quite beautifully
HIGGINS. possible sort of sound that a human being can make"
PICKERING. We have taken her to classical concerts and to music
HIGGINS. Continental dialects, African dialects, Hottentot
Continental - kontinental
Hottentot - Hottentotten; Hottentotte, Hottentottin, Hottentottisch
PICKERING. halls; and it's all the same to her: she plays everything
HIGGINS. clicks, things it took me years to get hold of; and
PICKERING. she hears right off when she comes home, whether it's
HIGGINS. she picks them up like a shot, right away, as if she had
shot - Schuss; (to shoot up) aufschießen
PICKERING. Beethoven and Brahms or Lehar and Lionel Morickton;
Beethoven - Beethoven
HIGGINS. been at it all her life.
PICKERING. though six months ago, she'd never as much as touched a piano.
MRS. HIGGINS [putting her fingers in her ears, as they are by this time shouting one another down with an intolerable noise] Sh"sh"sh"sh! [They stop].
PICKERING. I beg your pardon. [He draws his chair back apologetically].
apologetically - apologetisch
HIGGINS. Sorry. When Pickering starts shouting nobody can get a word in edgeways.
edgeways - vorwärts
MRS. HIGGINS. Be quiet, Henry. Colonel Pickering: don't you realize that when Eliza walked into Wimpole Street, something walked in with her?
PICKERING. Her father did. But Henry soon got rid of him.
rid - loswerden; befreien
MRS. HIGGINS. It would have been more to the point if her mother had. But as her mother didn't something else did.
PICKERING. But what?
MRS. HIGGINS [unconsciously dating herself by the word] A problem.
unconsciously - unbewusst
PICKERING. Oh, I see. The problem of how to pass her off as a lady.
HIGGINS. I'll solve that problem. I've half solved it already.
MRS. HIGGINS. No, you two infinitely stupid male creatures: the problem of what is to be done with her afterwards.
infinitely - unendlich
creatures - Kreaturen; Wesen
HIGGINS. I don't see anything in that. She can go her own way, with all the advantages I have given her.
MRS. HIGGINS. The advantages of that poor woman who was here just now! The manners and habits that disqualify a fine lady from earning her own living without giving her a fine lady's income! Is that what you mean?
poor woman - Arme
disqualify - disqualifizieren
PICKERING [indulgently, being rather bored] Oh, that will be all right, Mrs. Higgins. [He rises to go].
indulgently - Nachsichtig
HIGGINS [rising also] We'll find her some light employment.
PICKERING. She's happy enough. Don't you worry about her. Good-bye. [He shakes hands as if he were consoling a frightened child, and makes for the door].
consoling - trösten (mit), vertrösten; Bedienungsfeld, Gerät, Tastatur
frightened - verängstigt; Angst machen, erschrecken, schrecken, beängstigen
HIGGINS. Anyhow, there's no good bothering now. The thing's done. Good-bye, mother. [He kisses her, and follows Pickering].
bothering - stören, verdammt, Mist
kisses - küssen
PICKERING [turning for a final consolation] There are plenty of openings. We'll do what's right. Good-bye.
consolation - Trost; Trostpreis
plenty - viel; Fülle, Überfluss
openings - Eröffnungen; Erschließung; aufklappend, Ă–ffnung, Eröffnung
HIGGINS [to Pickering as they go out together] Let's take her to the Shakespear exhibition at Earls Court.
exhibition - Ausstellung
earls - Grafen; Graf
PICKERING. Yes: let's. Her remarks will be delicious.
HIGGINS. She'll mimic all the people for us when we get home.
mimic - nachahmen, nachäffen
PICKERING. Ripping. [Both are heard laughing as they go downstairs].
ripping - zerreißen; Riss; reißen, der Länge nach auftrennen
MRS. HIGGINS [rises with an impatient bounce, and returns to her work at the writing-table. She sweeps a litter of disarranged papers out of her way; snatches a sheet of paper from her stationery case; and tries resolutely to write. At the third line she gives it up; flings down her pen; grips the table angrily and exclaims] Oh, men! men!! men!!!
sweeps - fegen, kehren, fegen, rauschen, auf den Kopf stellen, fegen
litter - Sänfte, Trage, Bahre, Wurf, Streu, Stroh, Abfall; (lit); Sänfte
disarranged - durcheinander; verwirren
Stationery - Papierware, Büromaterial, Briefpapier
flings - Seitensprünge; Affäre (Liebesaffäre)
grips - Griffe; packen, fassen; Griffigkeit, Heft (von Säge, Feile)
exclaims - ausruft; ausrufen
The Wimpole Street laboratory. Midnight. Nobody in the room. The clock on the mantelpiece strikes twelve. The fire is not alight: it is a summer night.
alight - aussteigen; landen
Presently Higgins and Pickering are heard on the stairs.
HIGGINS [calling down to Pickering] I say, Pick: lock up, will you. I shan't be going out again.
lock up - einsperren, einlochen (einsperren), versperren
PICKERING. Right. Can Mrs. Pearce go to bed? We don't want anything more, do we?
HIGGINS. Lord, no!
Eliza opens the door and is seen on the lighted landing in opera cloak, brilliant evening dress, and diamonds, with fan, flowers, and all accessories. She comes to the hearth, and switches on the electric lights there. She is tired: her pallor contrasts strongly with her dark eyes and hair; and her expression is almost tragic. She takes off her cloak; puts her fan and flowers on the piano; and sits down on the bench, brooding and silent. Higgins, in evening dress, with overcoat and hat, comes in, carrying a smoking jacket which he has picked up downstairs.
opera - Oper; (opus) Oper
cloak - Umhang, Pelerine, Deckmantel, verhüllen
accessories - Zubehörsatz, zusätzlich, Zusatz
switches on - (switch on) andrehen, anschalten, einschalten
pallor - Blässe
contrasts - Kontraste; Kontrast, Kontrast, Gegensatz, Kontrast, Unterschied
silent - still
He takes off the hat and overcoat; throws them carelessly on the newspaper stand; disposes of his coat in the same way; puts on the smoking jacket; and throws himself wearily into the easy-chair at the hearth. Pickering, similarly attired, comes in. He also takes off his hat and overcoat, and is about to throw them on Higgins's when he hesitates.
carelessly - unachtsam
disposes - entsorgt; beseitigen, entsorgen, ordnen
wearily - müde
similarly - in ähnlicher Weise
Attired - Angezogen; Anzug, Aufzug, Kleidung, Tracht, anziehen, bekleiden
PICKERING. I say: Mrs. Pearce will row if we leave these things lying about in the drawing-room.
HIGGINS. Oh, chuck them over the bannisters into the hall. She'll find them there in the morning and put them away all right. She'll think we were drunk.
chuck - Spannfutter, Ansaugvorrichtung; erbrechen, einspannen
PICKERING. We are, slightly. Are there any letters?
HIGGINS. I didn't look. [Pickering takes the overcoats and hats and goes down stairs. Higgins begins half singing half yawning an air from La Fanciulla del Golden West. Suddenly he stops and exclaims] I wonder where the devil my slippers are!
overcoats - Mäntel; Mantel
yawning - gähnt; (yawn) gähnen; (yawn); gähnen; Gähnen
la - US-Bundesstaat
Del - Entf
Golden - golden, goldgelb
slippers - Hausschuhe; Hausschuh, Latschen, Pantoffel, Patschen, Puschen
Eliza looks at him darkly; then leaves the room.
Higgins yawns again, and resumes his song. Pickering returns, with the contents of the letter-box in his hand.
yawns - gähnt; gähnen, Gähnen
Contents - Inhalt; (to be content with) sich mit etwas begnügen
letter-box - (letter-box) Briefkasten
PICKERING. Only circulars, and this coroneted billet-doux for you. [He throws the circulars into the fender, and posts himself on the hearthrug, with his back to the grate].
circulars - Rundschreiben; Kreis
coroneted - gekrönt
billet - (Stahl-) Knüppel
grate - Gitter, Feuerrost, Rost; (Käse) reiben, rastern, vergittern
HIGGINS [glancing at the billet-doux] Money-lender. [He throws the letter after the circulars].
glancing - blickend; (glance); blicken; Blick, Streifblick, Glanz
lender - Darlehensgeber, Verleiher
Eliza returns with a pair of large down-at-heel slippers. She places them on the carpet before Higgins, and sits as before without a word.
down-at-heel - (down-at-heel) verwahrlost
HIGGINS [yawning again] Oh Lord! What an evening! What a crew! What a silly tomfoollery! [He raises his shoe to unlace it, and catches sight of the slippers. He stops unlacing and looks at them as if they had appeared there of their own accord]. Oh! they're there, are they?
crew - Mannschaft, Crew
unlace - aufschnüren
sight - Sehenswürdigkeit, Gesicht, Visier, erblicken, anvisieren
unlacing - aufschnüren
accord - Vereinbarung; Übereinstimmung, Einvernehmen, Übereinkommen
PICKERING [stretching himself] Well, I feel a bit tired. It's been a long day. The garden party, a dinner party, and the opera! Rather too much of a good thing. But you've won your bet, Higgins. Eliza did the trick, and something to spare, eh?
stretching - strecken, dehnen, langziehen, dehnen
trick - List, Falle, Finte, Trick, Trick
HIGGINS [fervently] Thank God it's over!
fervently - inbrünstig; leidenschaftlich, feurig, heiß
Eliza flinches violently; but they take no notice of her; and she recovers herself and sits stonily as before.
flinches - zuckt; zurückweichen
recovers - erholt sich; wiederfinden, sich erholen, beikommen
stonily - steinig
PICKERING. Were you nervous at the garden party? I was. Eliza didn't seem a bit nervous.
HIGGINS. Oh, she wasn't nervous. I knew she'd be all right. No, it's the strain of putting the job through all these months that has told on me. It was interesting enough at first, while we were at the phonetics; but after that I got deadly sick of it. If I hadn't backed myself to do it I should have chucked the whole thing up two months ago. It was a silly notion: the whole thing has been a bore.
deadly - tödlich
PICKERING. Oh come! the garden party was frightfully exciting. My heart began beating like anything.
HIGGINS. Yes, for the first three minutes. But when I saw we were going to win hands down, I felt like a bear in a cage, hanging about doing nothing. The dinner was worse: sitting gorging there for over an hour, with nobody but a damned fool of a fashionable woman to talk to! I tell you, Pickering, never again for me. No more artificial duchesses. The whole thing has been simple purgatory.
hanging about - herumdrückend
gorging - Schlucht, Kehle; ich/er/sie fräße, fressen, ich/er/sie fraß
fool - dumme Gans, Dummkopf, Narr, Närrin
more artificial - künstlichere
duchesses - Herzoginnen; Herzogin, Herzogin
Purgatory - Fegefeuer; Purgatorium
PICKERING. You've never been broken in properly to the social routine. [Strolling over to the piano] I rather enjoy dipping into it occasionally myself: it makes me feel young again. Anyhow, it was a great success: an immense success.
broken in - eingebrochen
strolling - spazieren; schlendernd, umherziehend; (stroll); Spaziergang
dipping into - eintauchend
Occasionally - gelegentlich
immense - immens
I was quite frightened once or twice because Eliza was doing it so well. You see, lots of the real people can't do it at all: they're such fools that they think style comes by nature to people in their position; and so they never learn. There's always something professional about doing a thing superlatively well.
superlatively - überragend
HIGGINS. Yes: that's what drives me mad: the silly people don't know their own silly business. [Rising] However, it's over and done with; and now I can go to bed at last without dreading tomorrow.
dreading - schaudern, grauen, gruseln, grausen
Eliza's beauty becomes murderous.
murderous - mörderisch
PICKERING. I think I shall turn in too. Still, it's been a great occasion: a triumph for you. Good-night. [He goes].
Occasion - Gelegenheit; Anlass
HIGGINS [following him] Good-night. [Over his shoulder, at the door] Put out the lights, Eliza; and tell Mrs. Pearce not to make coffee for me in the morning: I'll take tea. [He goes out].
make coffee - Kaffee machen, Kaffee kochen
Eliza tries to control herself and feel indifferent as she rises and walks across to the hearth to switch off the lights. By the time she gets there she is on the point of screaming. She sits down in Higgins's chair and holds on hard to the arms. Finally she gives way and flings herself furiously on the floor raging.
indifferent - gleichgültig
switch off - abschalten, ausschalten, abdrehen, abstellen
screaming - Schrei, schreien
holds on - (hold on) warten (am Telefon)
gives way - weichst
furiously - wütend, heftig
raging - wütend; Wut, Zorn, Raserei, Rage, wüten, rasen, toben, toben
HIGGINS [in despairing wrath outside] What the devil have I done with my slippers? [He appears at the door].
despairing - verzweifelt; verzweifeln, Verzweiflung
LIZA [snatching up the slippers, and hurling them at him one after the other with all her force] There are your slippers. And there. Take your slippers; and may you never have a day's luck with them!
hurling - schleudernd; (hurl); schleudern
force - Kraft; zwingen, forcieren, erzwingen; Stärke, Macht, Einfluss
HIGGINS [astounded] What on earth"! [He comes to her]. What's the matter? Get up. [He pulls her up]. Anything wrong?
astounded - verblüfft; verblüffen, überraschen
LIZA [breathless] Nothing wrong"with YOU. I've won your bet for you, haven't I? That's enough for you. I don't matter, I suppose.
breathless - atemlos
HIGGINS. YOU won my bet! You! Presumptuous insect! I won it. What did you throw those slippers at me for?
LIZA. Because I wanted to smash your face. I'd like to kill you, you selfish brute. Why didn't you leave me where you picked me out of"in the gutter? You thank God It's all over, and that now you can throw me back again there, do you? [She crisps her fingers, frantically].
smash - Krachen; Wucht; zerschellen, zerschmettern, zertrümmern
It's all over - Es ist zu Ende.
Crisps - Chips; spröde, knackig, knusprig, forsch
HIGGINS [looking at her in cool wonder] The creature IS nervous, after all.
LIZA [gives a suffocated scream of fury, and instinctively darts her nails at his face]!!
suffocated - erstickt; ersticken, ersticken, würgen, ersticken
scream - Schrei; schreien
fury - Wut; Furie
instinctively - instinktiv; unwillkürlich
darts - Pfeil, Satz
HIGGINS [catching her wrists] Ah! would you? Claws in, you cat. How dare you show your temper to me? Sit down and be quiet. [He throws her roughly into the easy-chair].
wrists - Handgelenke; Handgelenk
claws - Krallen; zerkratzen; Kralle, Fang (Vogelkralle), Klaue
temper - Gereiztheit, Laune, Temperament, Anlassen, Ausheizen
LIZA [crushed by superior strength and weight] What's to become of me? What's to become of me?
crushed - erdrückt; Schwarm, zerdrücken
superior - überlegen, höher, höherstehend, übergeordnet, Vorgesetzter
HIGGINS. How the devil do I know what's to become of you? What does it matter what becomes of you?
LIZA. You don't care. I know you don't care. You wouldn't care if I was dead. I'm nothing to you"not so much as them slippers.
HIGGINS [thundering] THOSE slippers.
LIZA [with bitter submission] Those slippers. I didn't think it made any difference now.
Bitter - herb, rau, bitter
submission - Unterbreitung, Unterwerfung
A pause. Eliza hopeless and crushed. Higgins a little uneasy.
hopeless - hoffnungslos
HIGGINS [in his loftiest manner] Why have you begun going on like this? May I ask whether you complain of your treatment here?
loftiest - am höchsten; hoch, qualifier
treatment - Behandeln, Behandlung, Umgang
LIZA. No.
HIGGINS. Has anybody behaved badly to you? Colonel Pickering? Mrs. Pearce? Any of the servants?
servants - Diener, Dienerin, Lakai, Kammerdiener, Zofe, Bediensteter
LIZA. No.
HIGGINS. I presume you don't pretend that I have treated you badly.
presume - annehmen, mutmaßen, vermuten
pretend - vorgeben, prätendieren, vortäuschen, so tun, als ob
treated - behandelt; behandeln, bewirten, einladen, heilen, kurieren
LIZA. No.
HIGGINS. I am glad to hear it. [He moderates his tone]. Perhaps you're tired after the strain of the day. Will you have a glass of champagne? [He moves towards the door].
moderates - moderat, mäßig, gemäßigt, mittelmäßig, mäßig, moderat
champagne - Champagner; Champagne
LIZA. No. [Recollecting her manners] Thank you.
recollecting - Erinnern Sie sich; sich erinnern an
HIGGINS [good-humored again] This has been coming on you for some days. I suppose it was natural for you to be anxious about the garden party. But that's all over now. [He pats her kindly on the shoulder. She writhes]. There's nothing more to worry about.
be anxious - besorgt sein
pats - Pat
writhes - sich windet; winden, krümmen
LIZA. No. Nothing more for you to worry about. [She suddenly rises and gets away from him by going to the piano bench, where she sits and hides her face]. Oh God! I wish I was dead.
gets away - (get away) wegkommen, davonkommen
HIGGINS [staring after her in sincere surprise] Why? in heaven's name, why? [Reasonably, going to her] Listen to me, Eliza. All this irritation is purely subjective.
sincere - aufrichtig
reasonably - vernünftig
irritation - Ärger, Irritation, Verärgerung
purely - rein, bloß
subjective - subjektiv
LIZA. I don't understand. I'm too ignorant.
I don't understand - Ich verstehe nicht.
HIGGINS. It's only imagination. low spirits and nothing else. Nobody's hurting you. Nothing's wrong. You go to bed like a good girl and sleep it off. Have a little cry and say your prayers: that will make you comfortable.
imagination - Phantasie; Vorstellungskraft, Imagination, Einbildungskraft
low spirits - Niedergeschlagenheit
prayers - Gebete; (the Lord's Prayer) Paternoster
LIZA. I heard YOUR prayers. "Thank God it's all over!"
HIGGINS [impatiently] Well, don't you thank God it's all over? Now you are free and can do what you like.
LIZA [pulling herself together in desperation] What am I fit for? What have you left me fit for? Where am I to go? What am I to do? What's to become of me?
HIGGINS [enlightened, but not at all impressed] Oh, that's what's worrying you, is it? [He thrusts his hands into his pockets, and walks about in his usual manner, rattling the contents of his pockets, as if condescending to a trivial subject out of pure kindness]. I shouldn't bother about it if I were you. I should imagine you won't have much difficulty in settling yourself, somewhere or other, though I hadn't quite realized that you were going away. [She looks quickly at him: he does not look at her, but examines the dessert stand on the piano and decides that he will eat an apple]. You might marry, you know.
enlightened - aufgeklärt; aufklären
thrusts - Schübe; Stoß, Stoß, Stich, Vorstoß, Schub, Schubkraft, Druck
condescending to - geruhend
trivial - unbedeutend, bedeutungslos, belanglos, geringfügig, trivial
pure - bloß, rein
kindness - Freundlichkeit; Liebenswürdigkeit
settling - sich niederlassen; (settle) sich beruhigen, sich legen
examines - prüft; untersuchen, untersuchen, untersuchen, prüfen, befragen
[He bites a large piece out of the apple, and munches it noisily]. You see, Eliza, all men are not confirmed old bachelors like me and the Colonel. Most men are the marrying sort (poor devils!); and you're not bad-looking; it's quite a pleasure to look at you sometimes"not now, of course, because you're crying and looking as ugly as the very devil; but when you're all right and quite yourself, you're what I should call attractive. That is, to the people in the marrying line, you understand. You go to bed and have a good nice rest; and then get up and look at yourself in the glass; and you won't feel so cheap.
bites - beißt; beißen, beißen, beißen, beißen, Biss, Biss, Stich, Bissen
munches - mampfen, geräuschvoll kauen, fressen, futtern, schmausen
noisily - geräuschvoll
bachelors - Junggesellen; Junggeselle, Bachelor, Bachelor
devils - Teufeln; Teufel, Satan, Teufel, Teufel, Teufel, Teufelin
ugly - hässlich
Eliza again looks at him, speechless, and does not stir.
speechless - sprachlos, fassungslos, stumm
stir - erschüttern, bewegen, sich rühren, verrühren; Aufregung
The look is quite lost on him: he eats his apple with a dreamy expression of happiness, as it is quite a good one.
dreamy - verträumt, traumhaft, zum Träumen
HIGGINS [a genial afterthought occurring to him] I daresay my mother could find some chap or other who would do very well"
afterthought - ein nachträglicher Einfall; nachträglicher Einfall
occurring - auftritt; passieren, vorkommen, stattfinden, vorkommen
LIZA. We were above that at the corner of Tottenham Court Road.
HIGGINS [waking up] What do you mean?
LIZA. I sold flowers. I didn't sell myself. Now you've made a lady of me I'm not fit to sell anything else. I wish you'd left me where you found me.
HIGGINS [slinging the core of the apple decisively into the grate] Tosh, Eliza. Don't you insult human relations by dragging all this cant about buying and selling into it. You needn't marry the fellow if you don't like him.
slinging - schleudern; Armschlinge
core - Reaktorkern (Kerntechnik); Kernstück, Mark, Mittelstück, Kern
decisively - Entscheidend
tosh - Quatsch, dummes Zeug
insult - beleidigen; Beleidigung, Kränkung, Verletzung
cant - nicht; kippen, verkanten
fellow - Stipendiat, Typ, Kerl, Bursche; Gefährte, Kerl
LIZA. What else am I to do?
HIGGINS. Oh, lots of things. What about your old idea of a florist's shop? Pickering could set you up in one: he's lots of money. [Chuckling] He'll have to pay for all those togs you have been wearing today; and that, with the hire of the jewellery, will make a big hole in two hundred pounds. Why, six months ago you would have thought it the millennium to have a flower shop of your own. Come! you'll be all right.
togs - Klamotten; anziehen
hire - einstellen; leihen, Entgelt, anstellen, mieten; dingen
millennium - Jahrtausends; Jahrtausend, Millennium
I must clear off to bed: I'm devilish sleepy. By the way, I came down for something: I forget what it was.
clear off - abdampfen (Person)
devilish - teuflisch
sleepy - schläfrig; verschlafen
LIZA. Your slippers.
HIGGINS. Oh yes, of course. You shied them at me. [He picks them up, and is going out when she rises and speaks to him].
shied - gescheut; schüchtern, scheu, scheu, schüchtern, verlegen
LIZA. Before you go, sir"
HIGGINS [dropping the slippers in his surprise at her calling him sir] Eh?
LIZA. Do my clothes belong to me or to Colonel Pickering?
HIGGINS [coming back into the room as if her question were the very climax of unreason] What the devil use would they be to Pickering?
climax - Höhepunkt, Orgasmus
unreason - unvernünftig; Unvernunft; Torheit
LIZA. He might want them for the next girl you pick up to experiment on.
HIGGINS [shocked and hurt] Is THAT the way you feel towards us?
LIZA. I don't want to hear anything more about that. All I want to know is whether anything belongs to me. My own clothes were burnt.
HIGGINS. But what does it matter? Why need you start bothering about that in the middle of the night?
LIZA. I want to know what I may take away with me. I don't want to be accused of stealing.
accused - beschuldigt; beschuldigen, anklagen
HIGGINS [now deeply wounded] Stealing! You shouldn't have said that, Eliza. That shows a want of feeling.
LIZA. I'm sorry. I'm only a common ignorant girl; and in my station I have to be careful. There can't be any feelings between the like of you and the like of me. Please will you tell me what belongs to me and what doesn't?
HIGGINS [very sulky] You may take the whole damned houseful if you like. Except the jewels. They're hired. Will that satisfy you? [He turns on his heel and is about to go in extreme dudgeon].
sulky - mürrisch; schmollend, verdrossen, Sulky
houseful - volles Haus
jewels - Juwelen; Edelstein, Juwel
hired - angestellt; leihen, Entgelt, anstellen, mieten; dingen
satisfy - befriedigen, zufriedenstellen
heel - Hinterende des Hobels, Ferse, Absatz; flitzen; Brotkanten
dudgeon - Ungeduld; Groll
LIZA [drinking in his emotion like nectar, and nagging him to provoke a further supply] Stop, please. [She takes off her jewels]. Will you take these to your room and keep them safe? I don't want to run the risk of their being missing.
nectar - Nektar
nagging - nörgeln, keifen; Gaul, Nervensäge
provoke - provozieren, aufreizen, aufwühlen, aufhetzen
Risk - Risiko; riskieren; wagen
HIGGINS [furious] Hand them over. [She puts them into his hands]. If these belonged to me instead of to the jeweler, I'd ram them down your ungrateful throat. [He perfunctorily thrusts them into his pockets, unconsciously decorating himself with the protruding ends of the chains].
furious - wütend, erbost, furios
jeweler - Juwelier, Juwelierin
ram - RAM
perfunctorily - oberflächlich
decorating - dekorieren; ausschmückend, schmückend; (decorate); ausschmücken
protruding - herausragen, hervorragen, herausstehen, vorstehen, vorkragen
chains - Kette, Kette, Kette, Kette, anketten, ketten
LIZA [taking a ring off] This ring isn't the jeweler's: it's the one you bought me in Brighton. I don't want it now. [Higgins dashes the ring violently into the fireplace, and turns on her so threateningly that she crouches over the piano with her hands over her face, and exclaims] Don't you hit me.
threateningly - bedrohlich
crouches - hockt; sich ducken (vor), kriechen; kauern, hocken
HIGGINS. Hit you! You infamous creature, how dare you accuse me of such a thing? It is you who have hit me. You have wounded me to the heart.
infamous - berüchtigt
accuse - beschuldigen, anklagen
LIZA [thrilling with hidden joy] I'm glad. I've got a little of my own back, anyhow.
thrilling - aufregend; Nervenkitzel; erregen, erschauern, durchdringen
joy - Wonne (Freude, Vergnügen); Freude (über)
HIGGINS [with dignity, in his finest professional style] You have caused me to lose my temper: a thing that has hardly ever happened to me before. I prefer to say nothing more tonight. I am going to bed.
LIZA [pertly] You'd better leave a note for Mrs. Pearce about the coffee; for she won't be told by me.
pertly - vorlaut, keck
she won't - sie wird nicht
HIGGINS [formally] Damn Mrs. Pearce; and damn the coffee; and damn you; and damn my own folly in having lavished MY hard-earned knowledge and the treasure of my regard and intimacy on a heartless guttersnipe. [He goes out with impressive decorum, and spoils it by slamming the door savagely].
formally - förmlich; ausdrücklich, formell
Damn - verdammen, verfluchen, ächten, verschreien, verteufeln
folly - Wahnsinn; Torheit, Narrheit, Dummheit, Tollheit
lavished - freigiebig, verschwenderisch, überreich, üppig, verschleudern
treasure - Schatz; schätzen
regard - schätzen, betrachten, berücksichtigen, achten; Aufmerksamkeit
intimacy - Intimität
heartless - herzlos
decorum - Anstand, Etikette, Schicklichkeit, Anständigkeit
spoils - plündern, ruinieren, verderben, kaputtmachen, verwöhnen
slamming - zuknallend, zuschlagend; (slam) zuknallend, zuschlagend
Eliza smiles for the first time; expresses her feelings by a wild pantomime in which an imitation of Higgins's exit is confused with her own triumph; and finally goes down on her knees on the hearthrug to look for the ring.
pantomime - Pantomime; pantomimisieren
imitation - Imitation, Nachahmung, Kopie, Imitat
exit - aussteigen, Ausgang; Abgang, Ausgang, Ausstieg, Ende
confused - verwirrt; verwirren, konfundieren, verwechseln, vermischen
Mrs. Higgins's drawing-room. She is at her writing-table as before. The parlor-maid comes in.
THE PARLOR-MAID [at the door] Mr. Henry, mam, is downstairs with Colonel Pickering.
Mam - Mama; Mam
MRS. HIGGINS. Well, show them up.
THE PARLOR-MAID. They're using the telephone, mam. Telephoning to the police, I think.
MRS. HIGGINS. What!
THE PARLOR-MAID [coming further in and lowering her voice] Mr. Henry's in a state, mam. I thought I'd better tell you.
lowering - Senken; Abbau (von Kosten)
MRS. HIGGINS. If you had told me that Mr. Henry was not in a state it would have been more surprising. Tell them to come up when they've finished with the police. I suppose he's lost something.
THE PARLOR-MAID. Yes, maam [going].
maam - Madam
MRS. HIGGINS. go upstairs and tell Miss Doolittle that Mr. Henry and the Colonel are here. Ask her not to come down till I send for her.
go upstairs - die Treppe hinaufgehen
send for - kommen lassen, herbeirufen, holen lassen
THE PARLOR-MAID. Yes, mam.
Higgins bursts in. He is, as the parlor-maid has said, in a state.
bursts in - (burst in) hereingeplatzt
HIGGINS. Look here, mother: here's a confounded thing!
MRS. HIGGINS. Yes, dear. Good-morning. [He checks his impatience and kisses her, whilst the parlor-maid goes out]. What is it?
Impatience - Ungeduld
whilst - während
HIGGINS. Eliza's bolted.
bolted - verriegelt; Riegel, Ballen, Blitz, Bolzen; durchgehen (Pferd)
MRS. HIGGINS [calmly continuing her writing] You must have frightened her.
calmly - ruhig
HIGGINS. Frightened her! nonsense! She was left last night, as usual, to turn out the lights and all that; and instead of going to bed she changed her clothes and went right off: her bed wasn't slept in. She came in a cab for her things before seven this morning; and that fool Mrs. Pearce let her have them without telling me a word about it. What am I to do?
MRS. HIGGINS. Do without, I'm afraid, Henry. The girl has a perfect right to leave if she chooses.
HIGGINS [wandering distractedly across the room] But I can't find anything. I don't know what appointments I've got. I'm" [Pickering comes in. Mrs. Higgins puts down her pen and turns away from the writing-table].
wandering - wandernd; (wander) irren, wandern
distractedly - ablenkend
puts down - (put down) abgestellt
PICKERING [shaking hands] Good-morning, Mrs. Higgins. Has Henry told you? [He sits down on the ottoman].
HIGGINS. What does that ass of an inspector say? Have you offered a reward?
ass - Arsch, Esel, Dummkopf
inspector - Inspektor, Inspektorin
Reward - Belohnung, Lohn
MRS. HIGGINS [rising in indignant amazement] You don't mean to say you have set the police after Eliza?
indignant - entrüstet
amazement - Erstaunen; Staunen, Verwunderung
HIGGINS. Of course. What are the police for? What else could we do? [He sits in the Elizabethan chair].
PICKERING. The inspector made a lot of difficulties. I really think he suspected us of some improper purpose.
difficulties - Schwierigkeiten; Schwierigkeit
suspected - verdächtigt; vermuten, misstrauen, verdächtigen
MRS. HIGGINS. Well, of course he did. What right have you to go to the police and give the girl's name as if she were a thief, or a lost umbrella, or something? Really! [She sits down again, deeply vexed].
girl's name - Mädchenname (Vorname), weiblicher Vorname
vexed - verärgert; ärgern, verärgern, reizen, irritieren, beunruhigen
HIGGINS. But we want to find her.
PICKERING. We can't let her go like this, you know, Mrs. Higgins. What were we to do?
MRS. HIGGINS. You have no more sense, either of you, than two children. Why"
The parlor-maid comes in and breaks off the conversation.
THE PARLOR-MAID. Mr. Henry: a gentleman wants to see you very particular. He's been sent on from Wimpole Street.
sent on - nachgeschickt
HIGGINS. Oh, bother! I can't see anyone now. Who is it?
THE PARLOR-MAID. A Mr. Doolittle, Sir.
PICKERING. Doolittle! Do you mean the dustman?
THE PARLOR-MAID. Dustman! Oh no, sir: a gentleman.
HIGGINS [springing up excitedly] By George, Pick, it's some relative of hers that she's gone to. Somebody we know nothing about. [To the parlor-maid] Send him up, quick.
excitedly - aufgeregt
relative - vergleichsweise, relativ, Verwandter, Blutsverwandter, Verwandte
THE PARLOR-MAID. Yes, Sir. [She goes].
HIGGINS [eagerly, going to his mother] Genteel relatives! now we shall hear something. [He sits down in the Chippendale chair].
relatives - vergleichsweise, relativ, Verwandter, Blutsverwandter
MRS. HIGGINS. Do you know any of her people?
PICKERING. Only her father: the fellow we told you about.
THE PARLOR-MAID [announcing] Mr. Doolittle. [She withdraws].
Doolittle enters. He is brilliantly dressed in a new fashionable frock-coat, with white waistcoat and grey trousers. A flower in his buttonhole, a dazzling silk hat, and patent leather shoes complete the effect. He is too concerned with the business he has come on to notice Mrs. Higgins. He walks straight to Higgins, and accosts him with vehement reproach.
brilliantly - glänzend, brillant
frock - Kleid, Kutte
waistcoat - Weste
buttonhole - Knopfloch
dazzling - schillernd; blendend, grell, umwerfend, betörend
patent leather - Lackleder
accosts - anrempelt; ansprechen
reproach - Vorwürfe; Vorwurf; Schande; vorwerfen
DOOLITTLE [indicating his own person] See here! Do you see this? You done this.
HIGGINS. Done what, man?
DOOLITTLE. This, I tell you. Look at it. Look at this hat. Look at this coat.
PICKERING. Has Eliza been buying you clothes?
DOOLITTLE. Eliza! not she. Not half. Why would she buy me clothes?
MRS. HIGGINS. Good-morning, Mr. Doolittle. Won't you sit down?
DOOLITTLE [taken aback as he becomes conscious that he has forgotten his hostess] Asking your pardon, ma'am. [He approaches her and shakes her proffered hand]. Thank you. [He sits down on the ottoman, on Pickering's right]. I am that full of what has happened to me that I can't think of anything else.
approaches - Ansätze; sich nähern, nahekommen, ähnlich sein
proffered - angeboten; anbieten
HIGGINS. What the dickens has happened to you?
DOOLITTLE. I shouldn't mind if it had only happened to me: anything might happen to anybody and nobody to blame but Providence, as you might say. But this is something that you done to me: yes, you, Henry Higgins.
Providence - Vorsehung, Providence
HIGGINS. Have you found Eliza? That's the point.
DOOLITTLE. Have you lost her?
HIGGINS. Yes.
DOOLITTLE. You have all the luck, you have. I ain't found her; but she'll find me quick enough now after what you done to me.
MRS. HIGGINS. But what has my son done to you, Mr. Doolittle?
DOOLITTLE. Done to me! Ruined me. Destroyed my happiness. Tied me up and delivered me into the hands of middle class morality.
ruined - ruiniert; Ruine, Ruin, Ruin, ruinieren, auf die Knie zwingen
delivered - geliefert; erlösen, befreien, gebären, liefern, abliefern
HIGGINS [rising intolerantly and standing over Doolittle] You're raving. You're drunk. You're mad. I gave you five pounds. After that I had two conversations with you, at half-a-crown an hour. I've never seen you since.
intolerantly - intolerant
raving - (rave) wüten, toben, rasen; (rave) (rave) wüten, toben, rasen
DOOLITTLE. Oh! Drunk! am I? Mad! am I? Tell me this. Did you or did you not write a letter to an old blighter in America that was giving five millions to found Moral Reform Societies all over the world, and that wanted you to invent a universal language for him?
blighter - Verderber; Nichtsnutz, Tunichtgut, Taugenichts
moral - moralisch, sittlich, Moral
HIGGINS. What! Ezra D. Wannafeller! He's dead. [He sits down again carelessly].
DOOLITTLE. Yes: he's dead; and I'm done for. Now did you or did you not write a letter to him to say that the most original moralist at present in England, to the best of your knowledge, was Alfred Doolittle, a common dustman.
most original - originalste
moralist - Moralist, Moralistin
HIGGINS. Oh, after your last visit I remember making some silly joke of the kind.
DOOLITTLE. Ah! you may well call it a silly joke. It put the lid on me right enough. Just give him the chance he wanted to show that Americans is not like us: that they recognize and respect merit in every class of life, however humble.
lid - Deckel
merit - Verdienst
humble - bescheiden; demütig, ergeben
Them words is in his blooming will, in which, Henry Higgins, thanks to your silly joking, he leaves me a share in his Pre-digested Cheese Trust worth three thousand a year on condition that I lecture for his Wannafeller Moral Reform World League as often as they ask me up to six times a year.
pre - vor..
digested - verdaut; digerieren, verdauen; Ăśbersicht
trust - Vertrauen, Hoffnung, Trust, anschreiben
on condition - unter der Auflage
League - Liga, Spielklasse, Bund
HIGGINS. The devil he does! Whew! [Brightening suddenly] What a lark!
Whew - puh
brightening - Aufhellung; aufhellen, schönen, aufhellen, aufhellen
lark - Lerche
PICKERING. A safe thing for you, Doolittle. They won't ask you twice.
DOOLITTLE. It ain't the lecturing I mind. I'll lecture them blue in the face, I will, and not turn a hair. It's making a gentleman of me that I object to. Who asked him to make a gentleman of me? I was happy. I was free. I touched pretty nigh everybody for money when I wanted it, same as I touched you, Henry Higgins. Now I am worrited; tied neck and heels; and everybody touches me for money. It's a fine thing for you, says my solicitor. Is it? says I. You mean it's a good thing for you, I says. When I was a poor man and had a solicitor once when they found a pram in the dust cart, he got me off, and got shut of me and got me shut of him as quick as he could. Same with the doctors: used to shove me out of the hospital before I could hardly stand on my legs, and nothing to pay. Now they finds out that I'm not a healthy man and can't live unless they looks after me twice a day.
nigh - naht; nahe, nah bei, beinahe, nahezu
heels - Absätze; Hinterende des Hobels, Ferse
solicitor - Anwältin; Solicitor, checkRechtsanwalt
pram - Babywagen, Kinderwagen
cart - Pferdewagen, Wagen, Karren
shove - schieben
looks after - betreut
In the house I'm not let do a hand's turn for myself: somebody else must do it and touch me for it. A year ago I hadn't a relative in the world except two or three that wouldn't speak to me. Now I've fifty, and not a decent week's wages among the lot of them. I have to live for others and not for myself: that's middle class morality. You talk of losing Eliza. Don't you be anxious: I bet she's on my doorstep by this: she that could support herself easy by selling flowers if I wasn't respectable. And the next one to touch me will be you, Henry Higgins. I'll have to learn to speak middle class language from you, instead of speaking proper English. That's where you'll come in; and I daresay that's what you done it for.
doorstep - Eingangsstufe, Türschwelle
MRS. HIGGINS. But, my Dear Mr. Doolittle, you need not suffer all this if you are really in earnest. Nobody can force you to accept this bequest. You can repudiate it. Isn't that so, Colonel Pickering?
Dear Mr - Sehr geehrter Herr ...
bequest - vererben; Nachlass, Legat, Erbe, Vermächtnis
repudiate - ablehnen; verleugnen (sb./sth.); abstreiten, zurückweisen
PICKERING. I believe so.
DOOLITTLE [softening his manner in deference to her sex] That's the tragedy of it, ma'am. It's easy to say chuck it; but I haven't the nerve. Which one of us has? We're all intimidated. Intimidated, ma'am: that's what we are. What is there for me if I chuck it but the workhouse in my old age? I have to dye my hair already to keep my job as a dustman. If I was one of the deserving poor, and had put by a bit, I could chuck it; but then why should I, acause the deserving poor might as well be millionaires for all the happiness they ever has. They don't know what happiness is. But I, as one of the undeserving poor, have nothing between me and the pauper's uniform but this here blasted three thousand a year that shoves me into the middle class.
softening - Erweichung; weich werdend, aufweichend; (soften); aufweichen
deference - Ehrerbietung, Respekt, Achtung
sex - Alter, Geschlecht, Wohnort?, Geschlecht
tragedy - Tragödie
nerve - Frechheit; Nerv
intimidated - eingeschüchtert; einschüchtern
workhouse - Arbeitshaus
dye - Farbstoff; färben (Haar, Stoff)
acause - denn
pauper - verarmt; Bettelknabe, Armer, Unterstützungsempfänger
blasted - gesprengt; schlagen, vernichten
shoves - schiebt; schieben
(Excuse the expression, ma'am: you'd use it yourself if you had my provocation). They've got you every way you turn: it's a choice between the Skilly of the workhouse and the Char Bydis of the middle class; and I haven't the nerve for the workhouse. Intimidated: that's what I am. Broke. bought up. Happier men than me will call for my dust, and touch me for their tip; and I'll look on helpless, and envy them. And that's what your son has brought me to. [He is overcome by emotion].
provocation - Provokation
char - Zeichen; verkohlen; Saibling
bought up - aufgekauft
envy - Neid; beneiden
overcome - überwunden; überwinden
MRS. HIGGINS. Well, I'm very glad you're not going to do anything foolish, Mr. Doolittle. For this solves the problem of Eliza's future. You can provide for her now.
DOOLITTLE [with melancholy resignation] Yes, ma'am; I'm expected to provide for everyone now, out of three thousand a year.
resignation - Rücktritt, Niederlegung, Kündigung, Rücktrittserklärung
HIGGINS [jumping up] Nonsense! he can't provide for her. He shan't provide for her. She doesn't belong to him. I paid him five pounds for her. Doolittle: either you're an honest man or a rogue.
rogue - Schurke; Lümmel, Strolch, Vagabund, Landstreicher, checkSchelm
DOOLITTLE [tolerantly] A little of both, Henry, like the rest of us: a little of both.
tolerantly - tolerant
HIGGINS. Well, you took that money for the girl; and you have no right to take her as well.
MRS. HIGGINS. Henry: don't be absurd. If you really want to know where Eliza is, she is upstairs.
absurd - absurd
HIGGINS [amazed] Upstairs!!! Then I shall jolly soon fetch her downstairs. [He makes resolutely for the door].
fetch - holen, einfangen, abrufen, apportieren
MRS. HIGGINS [rising and following him] Be quiet, Henry. Sit down.
HIGGINS. I"
MRS. HIGGINS. Sit down, dear; and listen to me.
HIGGINS. Oh very well, very well, very well. [He throws himself ungraciously on the ottoman, with his face towards the windows]. But I think you might have told me this half an hour ago.
ungraciously - ungnädig
MRS. HIGGINS. Eliza came to me this morning. She passed the night partly walking about in a rage, partly trying to throw herself into the river and being afraid to, and partly in the Carlton Hotel. She told me of the brutal way you two treated her.
passed the night - nächtigte
partly - teilweise, zum Teil
rage - Wut, Zorn, Raserei, Rage, wüten
brutal - brutal
HIGGINS [bounding up again] What!
bounding - Begrenzung; Sprung
PICKERING [rising also] My dear Mrs. Higgins, she's been telling you stories. We didn't treat her brutally. We hardly said a word to her; and we parted on particularly good terms. [Turning on Higgins]. Higgins: did you bully her after I went to bed?
brutally - brutal
Bully - Rabauke, Bully, Tyrann, Schikaneur, einschüchtern
HIGGINS. Just the other way about. She threw my slippers in my face. She behaved in the most outrageous way. I never gave her the slightest provocation. The slippers came bang into my face the moment I entered the room"before I had uttered a word. And used perfectly awful language.
bang - Peng; Schlag, Knall; knallen (derb koitieren), schlagen
PICKERING [astonished] But why? What did we do to her?
astonished - erstaunt; erstaunen
MRS. HIGGINS. I think I know pretty well what you did. The girl is naturally rather affectionate, I think. Isn't she, Mr. Doolittle?
naturally - natürlich
affectionate - zärtlich
DOOLITTLE. Very tender-hearted, ma'am. takes after me.
tender - zärtlich; empfindlich, Ausschreibung, Angebot, zart; andienen
takes after - (take after) geraten nach
MRS. HIGGINS. Just so. She had become attached to you both. She worked very hard for you, Henry! I don't think you quite realize what anything in the nature of brain work means to a girl like that. Well, it seems that when the great day of trial came, and she did this wonderful thing for you without making a single mistake, you two sat there and never said a word to her, but talked together of how glad you were that it was all over and how you had been bored with the whole thing.
attached - befestigt; Aktentasche, Attache, Aktenkoffer
brain work - Geistesarbeit
trial - Erprobung, Prozess, Versuch, Probe
bored with - überdrüssig
And then you were surprised because she threw your slippers at you! I should have thrown the fire-irons at you.
HIGGINS. We said nothing except that we were tired and wanted to go to bed. Did we, Pick?
PICKERING [shrugging his shoulders] That was all.
shrugging - Schulterzucken
MRS. HIGGINS [ironically] Quite sure?
ironically - ironisch
PICKERING. Absolutely. Really, that was all.
absolutely - absolut, durchaus, total, unbedingt
MRS. HIGGINS. You didn't thank her, or pet her, or admire her, or tell her how splendid she'd been.
admire - bewundern, verehren, hochschätzen
splendid - glänzend; prächtig; hervorragend
HIGGINS [impatiently] But she knew all about that. We didn't make speeches to her, if that's what you mean.
PICKERING [conscience stricken] Perhaps we were a little inconsiderate. Is she very angry?
stricken - angeschlagen; ergriffen, heimgesucht, betroffen
inconsiderate - rücksichtslos
MRS. HIGGINS [returning to her place at the writing-table] Well, I'm afraid she won't go back to Wimpole Street, especially now that Mr. Doolittle is able to keep up the position you have thrust on her; but she says she is quite willing to meet you on friendly terms and to let bygones be bygones.
thrust - Stoß, Stich, Vorstoß, Schub, Schubkraft
bygones - Schwamm drüber; vergangen
HIGGINS [furious] Is she, by George? Ho!
MRS. HIGGINS. If you promise to Behave yourself, Henry, I'll ask her to come down. If not, go home; for you have taken up quite enough of my time.
Behave yourself - Seien Sie anständig!, Benehmen Sie sich!
HIGGINS. Oh, all right. Very well. Pick: you behave yourself. Let us put on our best Sunday manners for this creature that we picked out of the mud. [He flings himself sulkily into the Elizabethan chair].
mud - Schmutz, Schlamm; Rollenspiel im Internet
DOOLITTLE [remonstrating] Now, now, Henry Higgins! have some consideration for my feelings as a middle class man.
consideration - Berücksichtigung; Erwägung, Überlegung, Rücksicht, Vergütung
MRS. HIGGINS. Remember your promise, Henry. [She presses the bell-button on the writing-table]. Mr. Doolittle: will you be so good as to step out on the balcony for a moment. I don't want Eliza to have the shock of your news until she has made it up with these two gentlemen. Would you mind?
presses - Pressen; (pre) vor..
DOOLITTLE. As you wish, lady. Anything to help Henry to keep her off my hands. [He disappears through the window].
The parlor-maid answers the bell. Pickering sits down in Doolittle's place.
MRS. HIGGINS. Ask Miss Doolittle to come down, please.
THE PARLOR-MAID. Yes, mam. [She goes out].
MRS. HIGGINS. Now, Henry: be good.
HIGGINS. I am behaving myself perfectly.
PICKERING. He is doing his best, Mrs. Higgins.
A pause. Higgins throws back his head; stretches out his legs; and begins to whistle.
stretches - dehnt sich; strecken, dehnen, langziehen, dehnen
MRS. HIGGINS. Henry, dearest, you don't look at all nice in that attitude.
attitude - Haltung; Einstellung, Attitüde, Orientierung, Ausrichtung
HIGGINS [pulling himself together] I was not trying to look nice, mother.
MRS. HIGGINS. It doesn't matter, dear. I only wanted to make you speak.
HIGGINS. Why?
MRS. HIGGINS. Because you can't speak and whistle at the same time.
Higgins groans. Another very trying pause.
groans - stöhnt; Stöhnen
HIGGINS [springing up, out of patience] Where the devil is that girl? Are we to wait here all day?
Eliza enters, sunny, self-possessed, and giving a staggeringly convincing exhibition of ease of manner. She carries a little work-basket, and is very much at home. Pickering is too much taken aback to rise.
sunny - sonnig, heiter
self - Selbst
possessed - besessen; besitzen, besitzen
staggeringly - umwerfend
convincing - überzeugend; überzeugen
taken aback - verblüfft, sprachlos, erstaunt, bestürzt
LIZA. How do you do, Professor Higgins? Are you quite well?
HIGGINS [choking] Am I" [He can say no more].
choking - erwürgen, erdrosseln, ersticken, überwältigen
LIZA. But of course you are: you are never ill. So glad to see you again, Colonel Pickering. [He rises hastily; and they shake hands]. Quite chilly this morning, isn't it? [She sits down on his left. He sits beside her].
chilly - frostig, kalt, kühl
isn't it? - gell, gelle, gelt?
HIGGINS. Don't you dare try this game on me. I taught it to you; and it doesn't take me in. Get up and come home; and don't be a fool.
Don't you dare - Unterstehen Sie sich!
Eliza takes a piece of needlework from her basket, and begins to stitch at it, without taking the least notice of this outburst.
needlework - Handarbeit
stitch - Stich (Näh-), Stich (Schmerz); nähen, absteppen
outburst - hervorbrechen; Ausbruch
MRS. HIGGINS. Very nicely put, indeed, Henry. No woman could resist such an invitation.
nicely - nett; gut
resist - widerstehen, erwehren;gegen etw. bestehen
HIGGINS. You let her alone, mother. Let her speak for herself. You will jolly soon see whether she has an idea that I haven't put into her head or a word that I haven't put into her mouth. I tell you I have created this thing out of the squashed cabbage leaves of Covent Garden; and now she pretends to play the fine lady with me.
squashed - zerquetscht; zerquetschen
cabbage - stehlen; Kraut, kohl, Kohl, Kohlkopf
pretends - so tut als ob; vorgeben, prätendieren, vortäuschen, so tun
MRS. HIGGINS [placidly] Yes, dear; but you'll sit down, won't you?
placidly - sanften, friedlichen, sanft
Higgins sits down again, savagely.
LIZA [to Pickering, taking no apparent notice of Higgins, and working away deftly] Will you drop me altogether now that the experiment is over, Colonel Pickering?
apparent - offensichtlich; offenbar
altogether - ganz und gar, ohne Ausnahme, ausnahmslos, insgesamt
PICKERING. Oh don't. You mustn't think of it as an experiment. It shocks me, somehow.
shocks - Schocks; Schock, Betroffenheit, Empörung, Schlag, Stoß
somehow - irgendwie
LIZA. Oh, I'm only a squashed cabbage leaf.
leaf - Blatt, Laubblatt, Platte
PICKERING [impulsively] No.
LIZA [continuing quietly]"but I owe so much to you that I should be very unhappy if you forgot me.
PICKERING. It's very kind of you to say so, Miss Doolittle.
LIZA. It's not because you paid for my dresses. I know you are generous to everybody with money. But it was from you that I learnt really nice manners; and that is what makes one a lady, isn't it? You see it was so very difficult for me with the example of Professor Higgins always before me.
generous - großzügig, generös
I was brought up to be just like him, unable to control myself, and using bad language on the slightest provocation. And I should never have known that ladies and gentlemen didn't behave like that if you hadn't been there.
unable - unfähig, untauglich
HIGGINS. Well!!
PICKERING. Oh, that's only his way, you know. He doesn't mean it.
LIZA. Oh, I didn't mean it either, when I was a flower girl. It was only my way. But you see I did it; and that's what makes the difference after all.
PICKERING. No doubt. Still, he taught you to speak; and I couldn't have done that, you know.
LIZA [trivially] Of course: that is his profession.
trivially - trivial; unbedeutend
HIGGINS. Damnation!
LIZA [continuing] It was just like learning to dance in the fashionable way: there was nothing more than that in it. But do you know what began my real education?
PICKERING. What?
LIZA [stopping her work for a moment] Your calling me Miss Doolittle that day when I first came to Wimpole Street. That was the beginning of self-respect for me. [She resumes her stitching]. And there were a hundred little things you never noticed, because they came naturally to you. Things about standing up and taking off your hat and opening doors"
stitching - absteppend, nähend; (stitch) absteppend, nähend
PICKERING. Oh, that was nothing.
LIZA. Yes: things that showed you thought and felt about me as if I were something better than a scullery-maid; though of course I know you would have been just the same to a scullery-maid if she had been let in the drawing-room. You never took off your boots in the dining room when I was there.
scullery - Abwaschraum; Spülküche, Spülkammer
let in - hereinlassen;eingelassen
dining - Essen; Lärm, Getöse; dröhnen
PICKERING. You mustn't mind that. Higgins takes off his boots all over the place.
LIZA. I know. I am not blaming him. It is his way, isn't it? But it made such a difference to me that you didn't do it. You see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pick up (the dressing and the proper way of speaking, and so on), the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she's treated.
blaming - Schuldzuweisungen; jemadem die Schuld zuweisen
truly - wirklich, wahrhaft, ehrlich, echt
apart - auseinander; getrennt; beiseite; entzwei, in Stücke
I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me as a flower girl, and always will; but I know I can be a lady to you, because you always treat me as a lady, and always will.
MRS. HIGGINS. Please don't grind your teeth, Henry.
grind - schleifen; radieren (Reifen), ich/er/sie schliff ab; Plackerei
PICKERING. Well, this is really very nice of you, Miss Doolittle.
LIZA. I should like you to call me Eliza, now, if you would.
PICKERING. Thank you. Eliza, of course.
LIZA. And I should like Professor Higgins to call me Miss Doolittle.
HIGGINS. I'll see you damned first.
MRS. HIGGINS. Henry! Henry!
PICKERING [laughing] Why don't you slang back at him? Don't stand it. It would do him a lot of good.
LIZA. I can't. I could have done it once; but now I can't go back to it. Last night, when I was wandering about, a girl spoke to me; and I tried to get back into the old way with her; but it was no use. You told me, you know, that when a child is brought to a foreign country, it picks up the language in a few weeks, and forgets its own.
Well, I am a child in your country. I have forgotten my own language, and can speak nothing but yours. That's the real break-off with the corner of Tottenham Court Road. Leaving Wimpole Street finishes it.
break-off - (break-off) (Therapie) absetzen, aufhören, abbrechen
PICKERING [much alarmed] Oh! but you're coming back to Wimpole Street, aren't you? You'll forgive Higgins?
alarmed - beunruhigt; Alarm, Alarm, Alarmsignal
forgive - vergeben, verzeihen, entschuldigen
HIGGINS [rising] Forgive! Will she, by George! Let her go. Let her find out how she can get on without us. She will relapse into the gutter in three weeks without me at her elbow.
relapse - zurückfallen; sich verschlimmern, sich verschlechtern, Rückfall
elbow - Ellbogen; Rohrbogen; Ellbogenstoß; ellbögeln
Doolittle appears at the centre window. With a look of dignified reproach at Higgins, he comes slowly and silently to his daughter, who, with her back to the window, is unconscious of his approach.
dignified - würdevoll; ehren
silently - leise; schweigend, still
unconscious - bewusstlos; spontan, unbewusst, unterbewusst, Unbewusstes
approach - sich nähern, nahekommen, ähnlich sein
PICKERING. He's incorrigible, Eliza. You won't relapse, will you?
incorrigible - unverbesserbar; unverbesserlich
LIZA. No: Not now. Never again. I have learnt my lesson. I don't believe I could utter one of the old sounds if I tried. [Doolittle touches her on her left shoulder. She drops her work, losing her self-possession utterly at the spectacle of her father's splendor] A"a"a"a"a"ah"ow"ooh!
utter - Äußerlich; äußerst
spectacle - Spektakel, Schauspiel
splendor - Pracht
HIGGINS [with a crow of triumph] Aha! Just so. A"a"a"a"ahowooh! A"a"a"a"ahowooh! A"a"a"a"ahowooh! Victory! Victory! [He throws himself on the divan, folding his arms, and spraddling arrogantly].
crow - Krähe
Aha - aha
victory - Sieg
folding - Klapp-; Falten, Klappen; (fold); Klapp-; Falten, Klappen
arrogantly - arrogant
DOOLITTLE. Can you blame the girl? Don't look at me like that, Eliza. It ain't my fault. I've come into money.
LIZA. You must have touched a millionaire this time, dad.
DOOLITTLE. I have. But I'm dressed something special today. I'm going to St. George's, Hanover Square. Your stepmother is going to marry me.
Hanover - Hannover
LIZA [angrily] You're going to let yourself down to marry that low common woman!
PICKERING [quietly] He ought to, Eliza. [To Doolittle] Why has she changed her mind?
DOOLITTLE [sadly] Intimidated, Governor. Intimidated. Middle class morality claims its victim. Won't you put on your hat, Liza, and come and see me turned off?
claims - Ansprüche; Anspruch, Rechtstitel, Anspruch, Behauptung
victim - Opfer
LIZA. If the Colonel says I must, I"I'll [almost sobbing] I'll demean myself. And get insulted for my pains, like enough.
sobbing - Schluchzen; (sob); Huso
demean - erniedrigen
DOOLITTLE. Don't be afraid: she never comes to words with anyone now, poor woman! respectability has broke all the spirit out of her.
respectability - Respektabilität; Achtbarkeit
spirit - Geist, Seele, Stimmung, Schnaps
PICKERING [squeezing Eliza's elbow gently] Be kind to them, Eliza. Make the best of it.
squeezing - abquetschend, quetschend; (squeeze); drücken, klemmen, pressen
LIZA [forcing a little smile for him through her vexation] Oh well, just to show there's no ill feeling. I'll be back in a moment. [She goes out].
forcing - zwingen, forcieren, erzwingen; Stärke, Macht, Einfluss, Gewalt
vexation - Verärgerung; Ärger, Störung, Irritation, Ärgernis
DOOLITTLE [sitting down beside Pickering] I feel uncommon nervous about the ceremony, Colonel. I wish you'd come and see me through it.
ceremony - Zeremonie, feierliche Handlung, Ritual, Feier
PICKERING. But you've been through it before, man. You were married to Eliza's mother.
DOOLITTLE. Who told you that, Colonel?
PICKERING. Well, nobody told me. But I concluded naturally"
concluded - abgeschlossen; beenden, schließen, zu Ende führen, abschließen
DOOLITTLE. No: that ain't the natural way, Colonel: it's only the middle class way. My way was always the undeserving way. But don't say nothing to Eliza. She don't know: I always had a delicacy about telling her.
PICKERING. Quite right. We'll leave it so, if you don't mind.
DOOLITTLE. And you'll come to the church, Colonel, and put me through straight?
PICKERING. With pleasure. As far as a bachelor can.
MRS. HIGGINS. May I come, Mr. Doolittle? I should be very sorry to miss your wedding.
DOOLITTLE. I should indeed be honored by your condescension, ma'am; and my poor old woman would take it as a tremenjous compliment. She's been very low, thinking of the happy days that are no more.
honored - geehrt; Ehre, Ehre, ehren, ehren
condescension - Herablassung, Kondeszendenz
MRS. HIGGINS [rising] I'll order the carriage and get ready. [The men rise, except Higgins]. I shan't be more than fifteen minutes. [As she goes to the door Eliza comes in, hatted and buttoning her gloves]. I'm going to the church to see your father married, Eliza. You had better come in the brougham with me. Colonel Pickering can go on with the bridegroom.
gloves - Handschuhe; Handschuh
brougham - Kutsche
bridegroom - Bräutigam
Mrs. Higgins goes out. Eliza comes to the middle of the room between the centre window and the ottoman. Pickering joins her.
DOOLITTLE. Bridegroom! What a word! It makes a man realize his position, somehow. [He takes up his hat and goes towards the door].
PICKERING. Before I go, Eliza, do forgive him and come back to us.
LIZA. I don't think papa would allow me. Would you, dad?
papa - der Papa
DOOLITTLE [sad but magnanimous] They played you off very cunning, Eliza, them two sportsmen. If it had been only one of them, you could have nailed him. But you see, there was two; and one of them chaperoned the other, as you might say. [To Pickering] It was artful of you, Colonel; but I bear no malice: I should have done the same myself.
magnanimous - großmütig
cunning - gerissen; schlau, clever, süß, niedlich
sportsmen - Sportlern; Sportler, Athlet
nailed - festgenagelt; nageln (derb. koitieren); annageln, Nagel, nageln
chaperoned - Anstandswauwau; Anstandsdame, Chaperon
artful - kunstvoll; geschickt, trickreich
I been the victim of one woman after another all my life; and I don't grudge you two getting the better of Eliza. I shan't interfere. It's time for us to go, Colonel. So long, Henry. See you in St. George's, Eliza. [He goes out].
grudge - Groll, Neid, missgönnen
PICKERING [coaxing] Do stay with us, Eliza. [He follows Doolittle].
Eliza goes out on the balcony to avoid being alone with Higgins. He rises and joins her there. She immediately comes back into the room and makes for the door; but he goes along the balcony quickly and gets his back to the door before she reaches it.
HIGGINS. Well, Eliza, you've had a bit of your own back, as you call it. Have you had enough? and are you going to be reasonable? Or do you want any more?
LIZA. You want me back only to pick up your slippers and put up with your tempers and fetch and carry for you.
tempers - Temperamente; Gereiztheit, Laune, Temperament
fetch and carry - Handlanger sein
HIGGINS. I haven't said I wanted you back at all.
LIZA. Oh, indeed. Then what are we talking about?
HIGGINS. About you, not about me. If you come back I shall treat you just as I have always treated you. I can't change my nature; and I don't intend to change my manners. My manners are exactly the same as Colonel Pickering's.
intend - beabsichtigen, vorhaben, intendieren
LIZA. That's not true. He treats a flower girl as if she was a duchess.
HIGGINS. And I treat a duchess as if she was a flower girl.
LIZA. I see. [She turns away composedly, and sits on the ottoman, facing the window]. The same to everybody.
composedly - Gelassenheit
HIGGINS. Just so.
LIZA. Like father.
HIGGINS [grinning, a little taken down] Without accepting the comparison at all points, Eliza, it's quite true that your father is not a snob, and that he will be quite at home in any station of life to which his eccentric destiny may call him.
grinning - (to grin) grinsen, strahlen
comparison - Vergleich, Komparation, Vergleichen, Vergleichung
snob - Snob, Wichtigtuer, Schnösel, Schickimicki
eccentric - exzentrisch, elliptisch, eiernd, außermittig, schrullig
destiny - das Schicksal; Los, Geschick, Schicksal
[Seriously] The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another.
souls - Seelen; Inbrunst, Seele, Gefühl, Herz
carriages - Kutschen; Kutsche, Gang, Haltung, Wagen, Frachtgeld
LIZA. Amen. You are a born preacher.
Amen - amen
preacher - Prediger
HIGGINS [irritated] The question is not whether I treat you rudely, but whether you ever heard me treat anyone else better.
irritated - gereizt; reizen, irritieren, ärgern
LIZA [with sudden sincerity] I don't care how you treat me. I don't mind your swearing at me. I don't mind a black eye: I've had one before this. But [standing up and facing him] I won't be passed over.
sincerity - Aufrichtigkeit, Ehrlichkeit
swearing - schwörend, Fluchen; (swear) schwörend, Fluchen
HIGGINS. Then get out of my way; for I won't stop for you. You talk about me as if I were a motor bus.
LIZA. So you are a motor bus: all bounce and go, and no consideration for anyone. But I can do without you: don't think I can't.
HIGGINS. I know you can. I told you you could.
LIZA [wounded, getting away from him to the other side of the ottoman with her face to the hearth] I know you did, you brute. You wanted to get rid of me.
HIGGINS. Liar.
LIZA. Thank you. [She sits down with dignity].
HIGGINS. You never asked yourself, I suppose, whether I could do without YOU.
LIZA [earnestly] Don't you try to get round me. You'll HAVE to do without me.
earnestly - ernsthaft
HIGGINS [arrogant] I can do without anybody. I have my own soul: my own spark of divine fire. But [with sudden humility] I shall miss you, Eliza. [He sits down near her on the ottoman]. I have learnt something from your idiotic notions: I confess that humbly and gratefully. And I have grown accustomed to your voice and appearance. I like them, rather.
humility - Bescheidenheit, Demut
idiotic - idiotisch, blöd
notions - Vorstellungen; Ahnung, Ansicht, Auffassung, Begriff, Denkbild
confess - gestehen, bekennen, verraten, beichten
humbly - demütig
gratefully - dankbar
LIZA. Well, you have both of them on your gramophone and in your book of photographs. When you feel lonely without me, you can turn the machine on. It's got no feelings to hurt.
lonely - einsam, alleinig, abgeschieden, öde
HIGGINS. I can't turn your soul on. Leave me those feelings; and you can take away the voice and the face. They are not you.
LIZA. Oh, you ARE a devil. You can twist the heart in a girl as easy as some could twist her arms to hurt her. Mrs. Pearce warned me. Time and again she has wanted to leave you; and you always got round her at the last minute. And you don't care a bit for her. And you don't care a bit for me.
twist - Zwirn; Biegung; Wendung; Twist; verziehen, drehen, wickeln
warned - gewarnt; warnen, mahnen, warnen
HIGGINS. I care for life, for humanity; and you are a part of it that has come my way and been built into my house. What more can you or anyone ask?
humanity - die Menschheit; Menschheit; Humanität, Menschlichkeit
LIZA. I won't care for anybody that doesn't care for me.
HIGGINS. Commercial principles, Eliza. Like [reproducing her Covent Garden pronunciation with professional exactness] s'yollin voylets [selling violets], isn't it?
principles - Grundsätze; Grundsatz, Prinzip
exactness - Genauigkeit, Exaktheit
violets - Violett, Veilchen
LIZA. Don't sneer at me. It's mean to sneer at me.
sneer - spotten; Spott; grinsen, spötteln
HIGGINS. I have never sneered in my life. Sneering doesn't become either the human face or the human soul. I am expressing my righteous contempt for Commercialism. I don't and won't trade in affection. You call me a brute because you couldn't buy a claim on me by fetching my slippers and finding my spectacles. You were a fool: I think a woman fetching a man's slippers is a disgusting sight: did I ever fetch YOUR slippers? I think a good deal more of you for throwing them in my face.
sneered - spöttisch; Spott; grinsen, spötteln
sneering - spöttisch; höhnisch, grinsend
human soul - Menschenseele
righteous - Rechtschaffenheit; rechtschaffen; gerecht, gerechtfertigt
commercialism - Kommerzialisierung; Handelsgeist
affection - Zuneigung; Rührung
fetching - abholen; holen, einfangen, abrufen, apportieren
spectacles - Brillen; Spektakel
No use slaving for me and then saying you want to be cared for: who cares for a slave? If you come back, come back for the sake of good fellowship; for you'll get nothing else. You've had a thousand times as much out of me as I have out of you; and if you dare to set up your little dog's tricks of fetching and carrying slippers against my creation of a Duchess Eliza, I'll slam the door in your silly face.
slaving - Sklavenarbeit; Sklave, t+Sklavin, Sklave, t+Sklavin, Sklave
fellowship - Gemeinschaft, Kameradschaft
tricks - List, Falle, Finte, Trick, Trick, Kunststück
creation - Erfindung, Werk, Kreation, Schöpfung
LIZA. What did you do it for if you didn't care for me?
HIGGINS [heartily] Why, because it was my job.
LIZA. You never thought of the trouble it would make for me.
HIGGINS. Would the world ever have been made if its maker had been afraid of making trouble? Making life means making trouble. There's only one way of escaping trouble; and that's killing things. Cowards, you notice, are always shrieking to have troublesome people killed.
Maker - Schöpfer; Macher, Hersteller, Fabrikant
escaping - fliehen; entgehen, entgehen, ausweichen, davonkommen, Flucht
cowards - Feiglinge; Feigling, qualifier
shrieking - schreien; kreischend; (shriek); Kreischen
LIZA. I'm no preacher: I don't notice things like that. I notice that you don't notice me.
HIGGINS [jumping up and walking about intolerantly] Eliza: you're an idiot. I waste the treasures of my Miltonic mind by spreading them before you. Once for all, understand that I go my way and do my work without caring twopence what happens to either of us. I am not intimidated, like your father and your stepmother. So you can come back or go to the devil: which you please.
idiot - Idiot, Idiotin, Narr, Närrin
treasures - Schatz, Schatz, Schatz, schätzen
spreading - Ausbreitung; Verteilen, Verteilung, Verbreiten
Twopence - zwei Pence
LIZA. What am I to come back for?
HIGGINS [bouncing up on his knees on the ottoman and leaning over it to her] For the fun of it. that's why I took you on.
bouncing - Springen; abprallen, hüpfen, auf und ab hüpfen, platzen, hüpfen
leaning - (to lean) sich an etwas lehnen
that's why - darum, deshalb, deswegen
LIZA [with averted face] And you may throw me out tomorrow if I don't do everything you want me to?
averted - abgewehrt; abwenden, abwenden, verhindern
HIGGINS. Yes; and you may walk out tomorrow if I don't do everything YOU want me to.
LIZA. And live with my stepmother?
HIGGINS. Yes, or sell flowers.
LIZA. Oh! if I only COULD go back to my flower basket! I should be independent of both you and father and all the world! Why did you take my independence from me? Why did I give it up? I'm a slave now, for all my fine clothes.
Independence - Unabhängigkeit, checkSelbständigkeit
HIGGINS. Not a bit. I'll adopt you as my daughter and settle money on you if you like. Or would you rather marry Pickering?
settle - regeln; abklären
LIZA [looking fiercely round at him] I wouldn't marry YOU if you asked me; and you're nearer my age than what he is.
fiercely - heftig, wütend
HIGGINS [gently] Than he is: not "than what he is."
LIZA [losing her temper and rising] I'll talk as I like. You're not my teacher now.
HIGGINS [reflectively] I don't suppose Pickering would, though. He's as confirmed an old bachelor as I am.
LIZA. That's not what I want; and don't you think it. I've always had chaps enough wanting me that way. Freddy Hill writes to me twice and three times a day, sheets and sheets.
HIGGINS [disagreeably surprised] Damn his impudence! [He recoils and finds himself sitting on his heels].
disagreeably - unangenehm
impudence - Unverfrorenheit; Flegelei, Frechheit, Unverschämtheit
recoils - zurückspringt; Rückstoß, zurückschrecken, zurückschlagen
LIZA. He has a right to if he likes, poor lad. And he does love me.
lad - Junge, Knabe, Bube, Bursche, junger Mann, Stallbursche
HIGGINS [getting off the ottoman] You have no right to encourage him.
LIZA. Every girl has a right to be loved.
HIGGINS. What! By fools like that?
LIZA. Freddy's not a fool. And if he's weak and poor and wants me, may be he'd make me happier than my betters that bully me and don't want me.
HIGGINS. Can he MAKE anything of you? That's the point.
LIZA. Perhaps I could make something of him. But I never thought of us making anything of one another; and you never think of anything else. I only want to be natural.
HIGGINS. In short, you want me to be as infatuated about you as Freddy? Is that it?
LIZA. No I don't. That's not the sort of feeling I want from you. And don't you be too sure of yourself or of me. I could have been a bad girl if I'd liked. I've seen more of some things than you, for all your learning. Girls like me can drag gentlemen down to make love to them easy enough. And they wish each other dead the next minute.
HIGGINS. Of course they do. Then what in thunder are we quarrelling about?
thunder - Donner; Donnern
quarrelling - (quarell) sich streiten
LIZA [much troubled] I want a little kindness. I know I'm a common ignorant girl, and you a book-learned gentleman; but I'm not dirt under your feet. What I done [correcting herself] what I did was not for the dresses and the taxis: I did it because we were pleasant together and I come"came"to care for you; not to want you to make love to me, and not forgetting the difference between us, but more friendly like.
HIGGINS. Well, of course. That's just how I feel. And how Pickering feels. Eliza: you're a fool.
LIZA. That's not a proper answer to give me [she sinks on the chair at the writing-table in tears].
sinks - Spülen; sinken, senken, senken, versenken, Spüle, Spülbecken
HIGGINS. It's all you'll get until you stop being a common idiot. If you're going to be a lady, you'll have to give up feeling neglected if the men you know don't spend half their time snivelling over you and the other half giving you black eyes. If you can't stand the coldness of my sort of life, and the strain of it, go back to the gutter. Work til you are more a brute than a human being; and then cuddle and squabble and drink til you fall asleep. Oh, it's a fine life, the life of the gutter. It's real: it's warm: it's violent: you can feel it through the thickest skin: you can taste it and smell it without any training or any work.
neglected - vernachlässigt; vernachlässigen, verabsäumen, versäumen
coldness - Kälte
cuddle - Kuscheln; knuddeln
squabble - zanken; Rangelei, Gerangel, Disput, sich
violent - heftig, gewaltig, brutal, gewalttätig, gewaltbereit, grell
Not like Science and Literature and Classical Music and Philosophy and Art. You find me cold, unfeeling, selfish, don't you? Very well: be off with you to the sort of people you like. Marry some sentimental hog or other with lots of money, and a thick pair of lips to kiss you with and a thick pair of boots to kick you with. If you can't appreciate what you've got, you'd better get what you can appreciate.
unfeeling - gefühllos
hog - Schwein
kick - treten, (Pferd) ausschlagen; Stoß
appreciate - zu schätzen wissen, würdigen, verstehen, begreifen
LIZA [desperate] Oh, you are a cruel tyrant. I can't talk to you: you turn everything against me: I'm always in the wrong. But you know very well all the time that you're nothing but a bully. You know I can't go back to the gutter, as you call it, and that I have no real friends in the world but you and the Colonel. You know well I couldn't bear to live with a low common man after you two; and it's wicked and cruel of you to insult me by pretending I could. You think I must go back to Wimpole Street because I have nowhere else to go but father's.
cruel - schrecklich; grausam (gegen)
tyrant - Tyrann, Tyrannin, checkTyrannin
But don't you be too sure that you have me under your feet to be trampled on and talked down. I'll marry Freddy, I will, as soon as he's able to support me.
trampled - zertrampelt; trampeln, zertrampeln, herumtrampeln
HIGGINS [sitting down beside her] Rubbish! you shall marry an ambassador. You shall marry the Governor-General of India or the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, or somebody who wants a deputy-queen. I'm not going to have my masterpiece thrown away on Freddy.
lieutenant - Leutnant, Leutnantin, Gehilfe, Stellvertreter
Ireland - Irland
deputy - Stellvertreter, Stellvertreterin, Deputierter
masterpiece - Meisterstück, Meisterwerk
LIZA. You think I like you to say that. But I haven't forgot what you said a minute ago; and I won't be coaxed round as if I was a baby or a puppy. If I can't have kindness, I'll have independence.
coaxed - beschwatzt; schmeicheln, gut zureden; Koaxialkabel
puppy - Welpe, Hündchen, Hundewelpe, junger Hund
HIGGINS. Independence? That's middle class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.
blasphemy - Blasphemie, Gotteslästerung
dependent - abhängig, angewiesen, Unterhaltsempfänger
LIZA [rising determinedly] I'll let you see whether I'm dependent on you. If you can preach, I can teach. I'll go and be a teacher.
preach - predigen, verkündigen
HIGGINS. What'll you teach, in heaven's name?
LIZA. What you taught me. I'll teach phonetics.
HIGGINS. Ha! Ha! Ha!
LIZA. I'll offer myself as an assistant to Professor Nepean.
HIGGINS [rising in a fury] What! That impostor! that humbug! that toadying ignoramus! Teach him my methods! my discoveries! You take one step in his direction and I'll wring your neck. [He lays hands on her]. Do you hear?
impostor - Hochstapler, Betrüger
humbug - Humbug, Unsinn, Betrug, Schwindel, Gauner, Halunke
toadying - Kriecherei; Speichellecker, Kriecher, Schleimer
ignoramus - Ignorant
wring - abbringen, erzwingen
lays - liegt; richten (Tisch)
LIZA [defiantly non-resistant] Wring away. What do I care? I knew you'd strike me some day. [He lets her go, stamping with rage at having forgotten himself, and recoils so hastily that he stumbles back into his seat on the ottoman]. Aha! Now I know how to deal with you. What a fool I was not to think of it before! You can't take away the knowledge you gave me. You said I had a finer ear than you. And I can be civil and kind to people, which is more than you can. Aha! That's done you, Henry Higgins, it has.
non - nicht..
resistant - widerstandsfähig; Widerstandskämpfer; resistent
strike - streichen; schlagen; prägen; streiken; scheinen; die Fahne streichen; Strike; Streik; Schlag
stumbles - stolpert; Stolpern
civil - zivil, bürgerlich, zivilisiert
Now I don't care that [snapping her fingers] for your bullying and your big talk. I'll advertize it in the papers that your duchess is only a flower girl that you taught, and that she'll teach anybody to be a duchess just the same in six months for a thousand guineas. Oh, when I think of myself crawling under your feet and being trampled on and called names, when all the time I had only to lift up my finger to be as good as you, I could just kick myself.
Snapping - schnappend, knipsend, Ermittlung; (snap); Knacken, Knallen
advertize - werben (du wirbst, er wirbt), ich/er/sie warb
crawling - (crawl) krabbeln, kriechen; (crawl) (crawl) krabbeln, kriechen
HIGGINS [wondering at her] You damned impudent slut, you! But it's better than snivelling; better than fetching slippers and finding spectacles, isn't it? [Rising] By George, Eliza, I said I'd make a woman of you; and I have. I like you like this.
wondering - und fragen sich; (wonder) sich wundern (über)
impudent - unverschämt
slut - Schlampe, Luder, Flittchen, Schlonz
LIZA. Yes: you turn round and make up to me now that I'm not afraid of you, and can do without you.
turn round - umlenken, wenden, umbiegen
HIGGINS. Of course I do, you little fool. Five minutes ago you were like a millstone round my neck. Now you're a tower of strength: a consort battleship. You and I and Pickering will be three old bachelors together instead of only two men and a silly girl.
millstone - Mühlstein; Klotz am Bein
Consort - Gefährte; Gemahl, Gemahlin
battleship - Schlachtschiff . ''Schlachtschiff'' is used for dreadnought battleships; ''Linienschiff'' is used for pre-dreadnought battleships.; Schiffe versenken
Mrs. Higgins returns, dressed for the wedding. Eliza instantly becomes cool and elegant.
MRS. HIGGINS. The carriage is waiting, Eliza. Are you ready?
LIZA. Quite. Is the Professor coming?
MRS. HIGGINS. Certainly not. He can't behave himself in church. He makes remarks out loud all the time on the clergyman's pronunciation.
LIZA. Then I shall not see you again, Professor. Good bye. [She goes to the door].
MRS. HIGGINS [coming to Higgins] Good-bye, dear.
HIGGINS. Good-bye, mother. [He is about to kiss her, when he recollects something]. Oh, by the way, Eliza, order a ham and a Stilton cheese, will you? And buy me a pair of reindeer gloves, number eights, and a tie to match that new suit of mine, at Eale & Binman's. You can choose the color. [His cheerful, careless, vigorous voice shows that he is incorrigible].
recollects - erinnert sich; sich erinnern an
Ham - Schinken
reindeer - Rentiere; Ren, Rentier
cheerful - fröhlich, vergnügt, freundlich
LIZA [disdainfully] Buy them yourself. [She sweeps out].
disdainfully - verächtlich
MRS. HIGGINS. I'm afraid you've spoiled that girl, Henry. But never mind, dear: I'll buy you the tie and gloves.
spoiled - verwöhnt; plündern, ruinieren, verderben, kaputtmachen
HIGGINS [sunnily] Oh, Don't bother. She'll buy em all right enough. Good-bye.
sunnily - sonnig
Don't bother - Bemühe dich nicht!, Lass doch!
They kiss. Mrs. Higgins runs out. Higgins, left alone, rattles his cash in his pocket; chuckles; and disports himself in a highly self-satisfied manner.
rattles - klappert; klappern, rasseln, erschüteln, knattern
chuckles - gluckst; leises Lachen, Glucksen, glucken (Henne); glucksen
highly - am Höchsten, hoch
The rest of the story need not be shown in action, and indeed, would hardly need telling if our imaginations were not so enfeebled by their lazy dependence on the ready-makes and reach-me-downs of the ragshop in which Romance keeps its stock of "happy endings" to misfit all stories. Now, the history of Eliza Doolittle, though called a romance because of the transfiguration it records seems exceedingly improbable, is common enough. Such transfigurations have been achieved by hundreds of resolutely ambitious young women since Nell Gwynne set them the example by playing queens and fascinating kings in the theatre in which she began by selling oranges.
imaginations - Phantasien; Vorstellungskraft, Imagination, Einbildungskraft
enfeebled - entkräftet; schwächen
dependence - Abhängigkeit
ragshop - Lumpensammler
romance - Romantik; Liebesgeschichte; qual
stock - in Bausch und Bogen, Aktien, Inventar
endings - Endungen; endend, Endung, Ende, Beendigung
misfit - Nichtangepasster, Nichtangepasste, Sonderling, Aussenseiter
exceedingly - übermäßig; überaus, äußerst, außerordentlich, ungemein
improbable - unwahrscheinlich
transfigurations - Verklärungen; Umgestaltung
ambitious - ehrgeizig
fascinating - faszinierend; faszinieren, faszinieren, faszinieren, bezaubern
Nevertheless, people in all directions have assumed, for no other reason than that she became the heroine of a romance, that she must have married the hero of it. This is unbearable, not only because her little drama, if acted on such a thoughtless assumption, must be spoiled, but because the true sequel is patent to anyone with a sense of human nature in general, and of feminine instinct in particular.
assumed - angenommen; annehmen, voraussetzen, vermuten, unterstellen
heroine - Heldin, Heroine
unbearable - unerträglich
acted on - eingewirkt
thoughtless - gedankenlos; rücksichtslos
assumption - Vermutung; Übernahme; Annahme; Himmelfahrt
feminine - feminin, weiblich
instinct - Instinkt
Eliza, in telling Higgins she would not marry him if he asked her, was not coquetting: she was announcing a well-considered decision. When a bachelor interests, and dominates, and teaches, and becomes important to a spinster, as Higgins with Eliza, she always, if she has character enough to be capable of it, considers very seriously indeed whether she will play for becoming that bachelor's wife, especially if he is so little interested in marriage that a determined and devoted woman might capture him if she set herself resolutely to do it. Her decision will depend a good deal on whether she is really free to choose; and that, again, will depend on her age and income. If she is at the end of her youth, and has no security for her livelihood, she will marry him because she must marry anybody who will provide for her.
coquetting - kokettieren; Kokette, Schäkerin
dominates - dominiert; herrschen (über), emporragen (über); beherrschen
spinster - alte Jungfer, Junggesellin, unverheiratete Frau
marriage - Ehe, Heirat, Hochzeit, Eheschließung
determined - bestimmt; bestimmen, eingrenzen, festlegen
devoted - hingebungsvoll; widmen
capture - erfassen; Fang, Festnahme, Gefangennahme, Erfassung
Security - Sicherheit, Schutz, Sicherheitsdienst, Wertpapier
livelihood - Lebensunterhalt, Lebensgrundlage, Auskommen, Existenzgrundlage
But at Eliza's age a good-looking girl does not feel that pressure; she feels free to pick and choose. She is therefore guided by her instinct in the matter. Eliza's instinct tells her not to marry Higgins. It does not tell her to give him up. It is not in the slightest doubt as to his remaining one of the strongest personal interests in her life. It would be very sorely strained if there was another woman likely to supplant her with him. But as she feels sure of him on that last point, she has no doubt at all as to her course, and would not have any, even if the difference of twenty years in age, which seems so great to youth, did not exist between them.
remaining - Überrest (2), de
sorely - schwer; schlimm
strained - angespannt; Spannung, starke Inanspruchnahme, Zug; anstrengen
supplant - verdrängen, ersetzen, ausstechen
As our own instincts are not appealed to by her conclusion, let us see whether we cannot discover some reason in it. When Higgins excused his indifference to young women on the ground that they had an irresistible rival in his mother, he gave the clue to his inveterate old-bachelordom. The case is uncommon only to the extent that remarkable mothers are uncommon. If an imaginative boy has a sufficiently rich mother who has intelligence, personal grace, dignity of character without harshness, and a cultivated sense of the best art of her time to enable her to make her house beautiful, she sets a standard for him against which very few women can struggle, besides effecting for him a disengagement of his affections, his sense of beauty, and his idealism from his specifically sexual impulses. This makes him a standing puzzle to the huge number of uncultivated people who have been brought up in tasteless homes by commonplace or disagreeable parents, and to whom, consequently, literature, painting, sculpture, music, and affectionate personal relations come as modes of sex if they come at all.
instincts - Instinkte; Instinkt
appealed - appelliert; Revision, Wirkung, Anziehungskraft; reizen, zusagen
conclusion - Schluss, Ende, Abschluss, Ergebnis, Schlussfolgerung
excused - entschuldigt; entschuldigen, verzeihen, sich entschuldigen
indifference - Gleichgültigkeit
rival - Rivalen; Gegner, Rivale, Konkurrent, Gegnerin
clue - Anhaltspunkt, Hinweis, Faden, Indiz, informieren, unterrichten
inveterate - unverbesserlich
bachelordom - Junggesellendasein
imaginative - einfallsreich
sufficiently - ausreichend; hinreichend, genügend, zureichende
intelligence - Intelligenz, Klugheit, intelligentes Leben
harshness - Strenge; Härte, Rauheit
enable - berechtigen, befähigen, ermöglichen, anordnen, aktivieren
sets - Seth
Standard - üblich, standardmäßig, Standard, Banner, Standarte
Struggle - Kämpfen; Kampf, Gefecht, sich durchbeißen, sich schwer tun
disengagement - Rückzug; Entlobung
affections - Zuneigung, Rührung, Zuneigung
idealism - Idealismus; Idealisierung
sexual - sexuell
impulses - Impulsen; Impuls, Triebkraft, Drang, innerer Antrieb, Kraftstoß
huge number - Vielzahl
uncultivated - unkultiviert
tasteless - geschmacklos
disagreeable - unangenehm, unsympathisch
consequently - folglich
sculpture - Bildhauerkunst, Skulptur
modes - Modi; Betriebsart, Betrieb, Modus, Art
The word passion means nothing else to them; and that Higgins could have a passion for phonetics and idealize his mother instead of Eliza, would seem to them absurd and unnatural. Nevertheless, when we look round and see that hardly anyone is too ugly or disagreeable to find a wife or a husband if he or she wants one, whilst many old maids and bachelors are above the average in quality and culture, we cannot help suspecting that the disentanglement of sex from the associations with which it is so commonly confused, a disentanglement which persons of genius achieve by sheer intellectual analysis, is sometimes produced or aided by parental fascination.
passion - Leidenschaft, Passion
idealize - idealisieren
unnatural - unnatürlich
look round - umschauen
maids - Dienstmädchen; Mädchen
suspecting - vermuten, misstrauen, verdächtigen, einen Verdacht haben
disentanglement - Entwirrung, Entflechtung, Befreiung
associations - Vereinigungen; Assoziation, Verknüpfung, Zuordnung, Vereinigung
commonly - allgemein; gewöhnlich
intellectual - intellektuell; Intellektueller, Intellektuelle
analysis - Analyse; Analysis
aided - unterstützt; Hilfsmittel, Hilfe, Mithilfe; helfen, beispringen
parental - elterlich
fascination - Faszination
Now, though Eliza was incapable of thus explaining to herself Higgins's formidable powers of resistance to the charm that prostrated Freddy at the first glance, she was instinctively aware that she could never obtain a complete grip of him, or come between him and his mother (the first necessity of the married woman). To put it shortly, she knew that for some mysterious reason he had not the makings of a married man in him, according to her conception of a husband as one to whom she would be his nearest and fondest and warmest interest. Even had there been no mother-rival, she would still have refused to accept an interest in herself that was secondary to philosophic interests.
formidable - Beeindruckend; respekteinflößend, furchteinflößend
resistance - Widerstand
charm - Talisman; Charme, Zauberformel, Lieblichkeit; bezaubern
prostrated - niedergeworfen; niedergestreckt, niederwerfen, erniedrigen
glance - blicken; Blick, Streifblick, Glanz, Steinkohle
obtain - erlangen, erhalten, bestehen
grip - packen, fassen; Griffigkeit, Heft (von Säge, Feile)
necessity - Notwendigkeit, Nezessität, Not, Bedürfnis
shortly - in Kürze; bald
mysterious - geheimnisvoll; mysteriös; rätselhaft
makings - Anfertigungen; anfertigend, machend, Herstellung
conception - Empfängnis; Vorstellung, Konzeption
fondest - am liebsten; (to be fond of sb/sth) jemanden/etwas gerne mögen
refused - abgelehnt; Müll; abweisen, verweigern, abschlagen, ablehnen
secondary - sekundär; Armschwinge
philosophic - philosophisch
Had Mrs. Higgins died, there would still have been Milton and the Universal Alphabet. Landor's remark that to those who have the greatest power of loving, love is a secondary affair, would not have recommended Landor to Eliza. Put that along with her resentment of Higgins's domineering superiority, and her mistrust of his coaxing cleverness in getting round her and evading her wrath when he had gone too far with his impetuous bullying, and you will see that Eliza's instinct had good grounds for warning her not to marry her Pygmalion.
remark - bemerken; Anmerkung, Bemerkung
resentment - Ressentiments; Ressentiment, Abneigung, Missgunst, Ärger
domineering - herrschsüchtig; tyrannisieren
superiority - Überlegenheit
cleverness - Klugheit; Pfiffigkeit, Gewandtheit, Raffinesse
evading - ausweichen, meiden, sich entziehen
And now, whom did Eliza marry? For if Higgins was a predestinate old bachelor, she was most certainly not a predestinate old maid. Well, that can be told very shortly to those who have not guessed it from the indications she has herself given them.
predestinate - prädestinieren; vorherbestimmen
old maid - alte Jungfer
Almost immediately after Eliza is stung into proclaiming her considered determination not to marry Higgins, she mentions the fact that young Mr. Frederick Eynsford Hill is pouring out his love for her daily through the post. Now Freddy is young, practically twenty years younger than Higgins: he is a gentleman (or, as Eliza would qualify him, a toff), and speaks like one; he is nicely dressed, is treated by the Colonel as an equal, loves her unaffectedly, and is not her master, nor ever likely to dominate her in spite of his advantage of social standing. Eliza has no use for the foolish romantic tradition that all women love to be mastered, if not actually bullied and beaten. "When you go to women," says Nietzsche, "take your whip with you." Sensible despots have never confined that precaution to women: they have taken their whips with them when they have dealt with men, and been slavishly idealized by the men over whom they have flourished the whip much more than by women. No doubt there are slavish women as well as slavish men; and women, like men, admire those that are stronger than themselves. But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person's thumb are two different things.
stung - gestochen; Stachel, brennender Schmerz
proclaiming - verkünden, verkündigen, erklären
pouring out - ausgießend
practically - praktisch
qualify - qualifizieren; qualifizieren
Equal - Gleichberechtigt; gleich; gleichen; Gleichgestellter
unaffectedly - unbeeinflusst
dominate - herrschen (über), emporragen (über); beherrschen, dominieren
social standing - (sozialer) Stand
romantic - romantisch; Romantiker, Romantikerin
mastered - gemeistert; Haupt.., Grund, Meister, führend
bullied - schikaniert; Rabauke, Bully, Tyrann, Schikaneur, einschüchtern
whip - Peitsche, Knute, Zagel, peitschen, auspeitschen
despots - Despoten; Despot, Despotin
confined - eingesperrt; beschränken, Begrenzung
precaution - Vorsorge; Vorsichtsmaßnahme
slavishly - sklavische
idealized - idealisiert; idealisieren, idealisieren
flourished - floriert; gedeihen, blühen, spriessen, grünen
thumb - Daumen; durchblättern
The weak may not be admired and hero-worshipped; but they are by no means disliked or shunned; and they never seem to have the least difficulty in marrying people who are too good for them. They may fail in emergencies; but life is not one long emergency: it is mostly a string of situations for which no exceptional strength is needed, and with which even rather weak people can cope if they have a stronger partner to help them out. Accordingly, it is a truth everywhere in evidence that strong people, masculine or feminine, not only do not marry stronger people, but do not show any preference for them in selecting their friends. When a lion meets another with a louder roar "the first lion thinks the last a bore." The man or woman who feels strong enough for two, seeks for every other quality in a partner than strength.
admired - bewundert; bewundern, verehren, hochschätzen
worshipped - verehrt; Verehrung, Anbetung, Gottesdienst, Verehrung, Anbetung
disliked - nicht mochte; Unbehagen
shunned - gemieden; aus dem Weg gehen, ausweichen, meiden, scheuen
emergencies - Notfälle; Notfall, Notlage, Notstand, Notdienst, Notaufnahme
emergency - Notfall, Notlage, Notstand, Notdienst, Notaufnahme
string - Schnur; Zeichenkette, String, Saite, auffädeln, einfädeln
exceptional - außergewöhnlich
cope - bewältigen
accordingly - dementsprechend; logischerweise
masculine - männlich, maskulin, Maskulinum; maskulines Genus
preference - Präferenz, Bevorzugung, Vorliebe; Einstellung
selecting - auswählen
roar - brüllen; Tosen; Brüllen; Aufheulen
seeks - sucht; suchen
The converse is also true. Weak people want to marry strong people who do not frighten them too much; and this often leads them to make the mistake we describe metaphorically as "biting off more than they can chew.
converse - Umkehrung, umgekehrt, Gegenteil
frighten - Angst machen, erschrecken, beängstigen
metaphorically - metaphorisch
biting off - abbeißend
chew - kauen
They want too much for too little; and when the bargain is unreasonable beyond all bearing, the union becomes impossible: it ends in the weaker party being either discarded or borne as a cross, which is worse. People who are not only weak, but silly or obtuse as well, are often in these difficulties.
bargain - Angebot; Vereinbarung, Abmachung, Schnäppchen, Anschaffung
Union - Vereinigung, Union, Verein, Verband
discarded - entsorgt; verwerfen, abwerfen, ablegen
obtuse - stumpf; begriffsstutzig, beschränkt, schwerfällig, unterdrückt
This being the state of human affairs, what is Eliza fairly sure to do when she is placed between Freddy and Higgins? Will she look forward to a lifetime of fetching Higgins's slippers or to a lifetime of Freddy fetching hers? There can be no doubt about the answer.
Unless Freddy is biologically repulsive to her, and Higgins biologically attractive to a degree that overwhelms all her other instincts, she will, if she marries either of them, marry Freddy.
biologically - biologisch
repulsive - abstoßend
And that is just what Eliza did.
Complications ensued; but they were economic, not romantic. Freddy had no money and no occupation. His mother's jointure, a last relic of the opulence of Largelady Park, had enabled her to struggle along in Earlscourt with an air of gentility, but not to procure any serious secondary education for her children, much less give the boy a profession. A clerkship at thirty shillings a week was beneath Freddy's dignity, and extremely distasteful to him besides.
complications - Komplikationen; Komplikation, Komplikation, Komplikation
ensued - folgten; folgen, ansetzen, erfolgen, nachfolgen, resultieren
economic - wirtschaftlich; ökonomisch, Wirtschaft
occupation - Beschäftigung, Beruf, Besatzung; Besetzung; q
relic - Relikt; Reliquie
opulence - Opulenz; Reichtum, Wohlstand
gentility - Vornehmheit; vornehme Herkunft, vornehme Lebensart
procure - beschaffen, erwerben, besorgen, aufbringen
secondary education - Oberschulbildung , höhere Schulbildung
clerkship - Referendariat
shillings - Schillinge; Schilling, alte britische Münze im Wert von 5 Pence
beneath - unter
distasteful - geschmacklos
His prospects consisted of a hope that if he kept up appearances somebody would do something for him. The something appeared vaguely to his imagination as a private secretaryship or a sinecure of some sort. To his mother it perhaps appeared as a marriage to some lady of means who could not resist her boy's niceness. Fancy her feelings when he married a flower girl who had become declassee under extraordinary circumstances which were now notorious!
prospects - Perspektiven; Sicht, Perspektive, Aussicht, Erwartung, Chance
consisted - bestand; zusammensetzend, besteht aus; bestehen (aus)
vaguely - undeutlich
secretaryship - Sekretariat
sinecure - Sinekure
resist - widerstreben; widerstehen; widerstreiten; zuwider sein; Deckmittel
niceness - Nettigkeit
declassee - deklassieren
circumstances - Umstände; Umstand, Umstand
notorious - notorisch
It is true that Eliza's situation did not seem wholly ineligible. Her father, though formerly a dustman, and now fantastically disclassed, had become extremely popular in the smartest society by a social talent which triumphed over every prejudice and every disadvantage. Rejected by the middle class, which he loathed, he had shot up at once into the highest circles by his wit, his dustmanship (which he carried like a banner), and his Nietzschean transcendence of good and evil. At intimate ducal dinners he sat on the right hand of the Duchess; and in country houses he smoked in the pantry and was made much of by the butler when he was not feeding in the dining-room and being consulted by cabinet ministers.
ineligible - nicht förderfähig; untauglich
Formerly - früher, ehemals
fantastically - fantastisch
disclassed - offengelegt
smartest - am klügsten; pfiffig, pfiffig, fesch, elegant, listig
talent - Talent, Begabung
triumphed - triumphiert; Sieg, Erfolg
prejudice - Vorurteile; Vorurteil, Voreingenommenheit, vorgefasste Meinung
disadvantage - Nachteil
rejected - abgelehnt; verwerfen, ablehnen, zurückweisen
loathed - verabscheut; verabscheuen, ablehnen, hassen
dustmanship - Staubwischen
banner - Banner, Fahne, Spruchbanner
Nietzschean - Nietzscheanisch; nietzschesch
transcendence - Transzendenz
evil - böse; Sünde, übel, üblen, Ăśbel
intimate - vertraut, innig, intim, vorsichtig andeuten
ducal - herzoglich
pantry - Speisekammer, Vorratskammer
dining - Essen; speisen
consulted - konsultiert; Rat halten, beraten, beratschlagen, beraten
But he found it almost as hard to do all this on four thousand a year as Mrs. Eynsford Hill to live in Earlscourt on an income so pitiably smaller that I have not the heart to disclose its exact figure. He absolutely refused to add the last straw to his burden by contributing to Eliza's support.
pitiably - bedauernswerte, kläglich
disclose - offenlegen; enthüllen; veröffentlichen, bekanntgeben
burden - Belastung; Refrain, Last, Möller (Hüttenwesen); belasten
contributing - einen Beitrag leisten; beisteuern, beitragen
Thus Freddy and Eliza, now Mr. and Mrs. Eynsford Hill, would have spent a penniless honeymoon but for a wedding present of 500 pounds from the Colonel to Eliza. It lasted a long time because Freddy did not know how to spend money, never having had any to spend, and Eliza, socially trained by a pair of old bachelors, wore her clothes as long as they held together and looked pretty, without the least regard to their being many months out of fashion.
penniless - mittellos, ohne Geld, ohne einen Pfennig
honeymoon - Flitterwochen; Hochzeitsreise, flittern
socially - gesellschaftliche
held together - zusammengehalten
Still, 500 pounds will not last two young people for ever; and they both knew, and Eliza felt as well, that they must shift for themselves in the end. She could quarter herself on Wimpole Street because it had come to be her home; but she was quite aware that she ought not to quarter Freddy there, and that it would not be good for his character if she did.
shift - Schicht; Verschiebung, Verlagerung, Verstellung, Gangschaltung
Not that the Wimpole Street bachelors objected. When she consulted them, Higgins declined to be bothered about her housing problem when that solution was so simple. Eliza's desire to have Freddy in the house with her seemed of no more importance than if she had wanted an extra piece of bedroom furniture. Pleas as to Freddy's character, and the moral obligation on him to earn his own living, were lost on Higgins. He denied that Freddy had any character, and declared that if he tried to do any useful work some competent person would have the trouble of undoing it: a procedure involving a net loss to the community, and great unhappiness to Freddy himself, who was obviously intended by Nature for such light work as amusing Eliza, which, Higgins declared, was a much more useful and honorable occupation than working in the city.
declined - abgelehnt; Sinken
desire - begehren; Begehren, Wunsch
pleas - Bitten; Einsprüche, Verteidigungsreden; (plea); Ersuchen
obligation - Verpflichtung, Pflicht
denied - verweigert; leugnen, bestreiten, dementieren
declared - erklärt; bekanntmachen, bekanntgeben, deklarieren, ausrufen
competent - zuständig
undoing - Verderben; Annullieren
procedure - Verfahren, Verfahrensweise, [medizinischer] Eingriff, Prozess
net loss - Barverlust
unhappiness - unglücklich; Traurigkeit, Unglück
amusing - amüsant; amüsieren, vergnügen, belustigen, erheitern
When Eliza referred again to her project of teaching phonetics, Higgins abated not a jot of his violent opposition to it. He said she was not within ten years of being qualified to meddle with his pet subject; and as it was evident that the Colonel agreed with him, she felt she could not go against them in this grave matter, and that she had no right, without Higgins's consent, to exploit the knowledge he had given her; for his knowledge seemed to her as much his private property as his watch: Eliza was no communist. Besides, she was superstitiously devoted to them both, more entirely and frankly after her marriage than before it.
abated - nachgelassen; vermindern, verzehren (Rauch), verringern
not a jot - nicht ein bisschen
opposition - Opposition
qualified - qualifiziert; qualifizieren, qualifizieren, qualifizieren
pet subject - Lieblingsthema
evident - offensichtlich; offenkundig
grave - Grab; feierlich, Gruft, massiv, würdig, ernst
exploit - Heldentat; Exploit; ausnutzen, ausbeuten
communist - kommunistisch; Kommunist, Kommunistin
superstitiously - abergläubisch
frankly - offen gesagt; ehrlich gesagt, um ehrlich zu sein
It was the Colonel who finally solved the problem, which had cost him much perplexed cogitation. He one day asked Eliza, rather shyly, whether she had quite given up her notion of keeping a flower shop. She replied that she had thought of it, but had put it out of her head, because the Colonel had said, that day at Mrs. Higgins's, that it would never do.
cogitation - Nachdenken; Denkfähigkeit
shyly - schüchtern
The Colonel confessed that when he said that, he had not quite recovered from the dazzling impression of the day before. They broke the matter to Higgins that evening. The sole comment vouchsafed by him very nearly led to a serious quarrel with Eliza. It was to the effect that she would have in Freddy an ideal errand boy.
confessed - gestanden; gestehen, bekennen, verraten, beichten
recovered - erholt; wiederfinden, sich erholen, beikommen
sole - Seezunge, Sohle, einzig
vouchsafed - verbürgt; gewähren
quarrel - sich streiten, zanken
errand - Besorgungen; Besorgung, Auftrag
This difficulty was removed by an event highly unexpected by Freddy's mother. Clara, in the course of her incursions into those artistic circles which were the highest within her reach, discovered that her conversational qualifications were expected to include a grounding in the novels of Mr. H.
unexpected - unerwartet
incursions - Einbrüche; Einfall, Eindringen
artistic - künstlerisch, gestalterisch, kunstvoll
conversational - Gesprächig
qualifications - Qualifikationen; Qualifizierung, Zertifikat
. Wells. She borrowed them in various directions so energetically that she swallowed them all within two months. The result was a conversion of a kind quite common today. A modern Acts of the Apostles would fill fifty whole Bibles if anyone were capable of writing it.
various - verschiedene
energetically - energetisch
swallowed - verschluckt; schlucken, verschlingen, anbeißen, einstecken
conversion - Bekehrung; Umwandlung
apostles - Apostel
Bibles - Bibeln; Bibel
Poor Clara, who appeared to Higgins and his mother as a disagreeable and ridiculous person, and to her own mother as in some inexplicable way a social failure, had never seen herself in either light; for, though to some extent ridiculed and mimicked in West Kensington like everybody else there, she was accepted as a rational and normal"or shall we say inevitable?"sort of human being. At worst they called her The Pusher; but to them no more than to herself had it ever occurred that she was pushing the air, and pushing it in a wrong direction. Still, she was not happy. She was growing desperate. Her one asset, the fact that her mother was what the Epsom greengrocer called a carriage lady had no exchange value, apparently. It had prevented her from getting educated, because the only education she could have afforded was education with the Earlscourt green grocer's daughter. It had led her to seek the society of her mother's class; and that class simply would not have her, because she was much poorer than the greengrocer, and, far from being able to afford a maid, could not afford even a housemaid, and had to scrape along at home with an illiberally treated general servant.
ridiculous - lächerlich
inexplicable - unerklärlich
ridiculed - lächerlich gemacht; verhöhnen, verspotten; Spott
mimicked - nachgeahmt; nachahmen, nachäffen
rational - vernünftig
inevitable - unvermeidlich, unabwendbar, zwangsläufig
Pusher - Drücker; Schieber, Rauschgifthändler
occurred - aufgetreten; passieren, vorkommen, stattfinden, vorkommen
asset - Aktiva, Vermögenswert, Anlage, Gut
greengrocer - Gemüsehändler, Gemüsehändlerin, Obst- und Gemüsehändler
exchange value - Umrechnungswert
apparently - offensichtlich, offenbar, scheinbar, anscheinend
educated - Gebildet; ausbilden, erziehen
afforded - gewährt wird; leisten
housemaid - Hausmädchen
scrape - abkratzen, schaben, scharren
illiberally - illiberal
Under such circumstances nothing could give her an air of being a genuine product of Largelady Park. And yet its tradition made her regard a marriage with anyone within her reach as an unbearable humiliation. Commercial people and professional people in a small way were odious to her. She ran after painters and novelists; but she did not charm them; and her bold attempts to pick up and practise artistic and literary talk irritated them. She was, in short, an utter failure, an ignorant, incompetent, pretentious, unwelcome, penniless, useless little snob; and though she did not admit these disqualifications (for nobody ever faces unpleasant truths of this kind until the possibility of a way out dawns on them) she felt their effects too keenly to be satisfied with her position.
humiliation - Demütigung, Erniedrigung
odious - abscheulich, scheußlich, abstoßend, widerlich
novelists - Romanautoren; Romanautor, Romanautorin, Romanschreiber
bold - kräftig, kühn, klar, keck, heftig, deutlich, fett
attempts - versuchen, Versuch, Bestreben
literary - literarisch
incompetent - inkompetent, unfähig
pretentious - prätentiös
unwelcome - unerwünscht
admit - einlassen, zulassen, zugeben, eingestehen, erlauben, einweisen
disqualifications - Disqualifikationen; Disqualifikation
unpleasant - unangenehm
truths - Wahrheiten; Wahrheit, Wahrheit, Wahrheit, Treue, Wahrheit
dawns - dämmert; dämmern, Morgendämmerung, Dämmerung, Morgengrauen
keenly - scharfsinnig; scharfe
Clara had a startling eyeopener when, on being suddenly wakened to enthusiasm by a girl of her own age who dazzled her and produced in her a gushing desire to take her for a model, and gain her friendship, she discovered that this exquisite apparition had graduated from the gutter in a few months'time. It shook her so violently, that when Mr. H. G. Wells lifted her on the point of his puissant pen, and placed her at the angle of view from which the life she was leading and the society to which she clung appeared in its true relation to real human needs and worthy social structure, he effected a conversion and a conviction of sin comparable to the most sensational feats of General Booth or Gypsy Smith. Clara's snobbery went bang. Life suddenly began to move with her. Without knowing how or why, she began to make friends and enemies. Some of the acquaintances to whom she had been a tedious or indifferent or ridiculous affliction, dropped her: others became cordial. To her amazement she found that some "quite nice" people were saturated with Wells, and that this accessibility to ideas was the secret of their niceness. People she had thought deeply religious, and had tried to conciliate on that tack with disastrous results, suddenly took an interest in her, and revealed a hostility to conventional religion which she had never conceived possible except among the most desperate characters.
startling - verblüffend; überraschend, alarmierend, erschreckend
eyeopener - Augenöffner
dazzled - geblendet; blenden, verblüffen, faszinieren, bezaubern, betören
gushing - überschwänglich; Schwall, Flut, strömen, herausquellen
gain - Gewinn, Zunahme, Verstärkung; erwerben, gewinnen, erlangen
friendship - Freundschaft
exquisite - exquisit, köstlich, auserlesen
apparition - Erscheinung
graduated - graduiert; Absolvent, Absolventin, Absolvent, Absolventin
puissant - kräftig, mächtig
angle of view - Bildwinkel
relation - Beziehung; Relation; Verwandter, Verwandte, Verwandtschaft
worthy - würdig
sin - Sünde, sündigen; eine Sünde begehen
comparable - vergleichbar; qual
most sensational - aufsehenerregendste
feats - Kunststücke; Kunststück
booth - Stand, Messestand, Bude, Zelle, Nische
gypsy - Zigeuner, Zigeunerin
Smith - Schmidt, Schmied
enemies - Feinde; Feind, Feindin, Gegner, Gegnerin, feindlich
acquaintances - Bekanntschaft, Umgang, Bekannter, Bekannte
tedious - ermüdend, langweilig, langwierig, lästig
affliction - Bedrängnis; Leiden, Behinderung
cordial - herzlich; Sirup; Likör
saturated - gesättigt; sättigen, sättigen
accessibility - Zugänglichkeit, Barrierefreiheit, Erreichbarkeit
religious - religiös, gläubig, Ordensmitglied, Ordensleute
conciliate - beschwichtigen
tack - Stift; heften, kreuzen; anheften (schweißen)
revealed - aufgedeckt; enthüllen, offenbaren
hostility - Feindseligkeit, Feindschaft
conceived - erdacht; konzipieren, erdenken, ersinnen, empfangen, verstehen
They made her read Galsworthy; and Galsworthy exposed the vanity of Largelady Park and finished her. It exasperated her to think that the dungeon in which she had languished for so many unhappy years had been unlocked all the time, and that the impulses she had so carefully struggled with and stifled for the sake of keeping well with society, were precisely those by which alone she could have come into any sort of sincere human contact. In the radiance of these discoveries, and the tumult of their reaction, she made a fool of herself as freely and conspicuously as when she so rashly adopted Eliza's expletive in Mrs. Higgins's drawing-room; for the new-born Wellsian had to find her bearings almost as ridiculously as a baby; but nobody hates a baby for its ineptitudes, or thinks the worse of it for trying to eat the matches; and Clara lost no friends by her follies. They laughed at her to her face this time; and she had to defend herself and fight it out as best she could.
exasperated - verärgert; verärgern, aufbringen, auf die Palme bringen
dungeon - Verlies, Kerker, Donjon
languished - geschmachtet; ermatten, erschlaffen, siechen, schmachten
unlocked - freigeschaltet; aufschließen, entriegeln, entsperren (screen
struggled - gekämpft; Kampf, Gefecht
stifled - erstickt; ersticken
precisely - genau; präzise
contact - Kontakt, Berührung, Verbindung, Kontaktlinse, berühren
radiance - Ausstrahlung; Glanz
tumult - Aufruhr; Tumult, Krach, Lärm, lautes Stimmengewirr
freely - frei
conspicuously - auffallend
rashly - voreilig; vorschnell
adopted - angenommen; adoptieren, annehmen, übernehmen
expletive - Schimpfwort; Füllwort; Expletivum, Expletiv
new-born - (new-born) neugeboren
bearings - tragend, Manieren, Lager (Maschinenbau)
ridiculously - lächerlich
ineptitudes - Ungeschicklichkeiten; Unfähigkeit
defend - verteidigen
When Freddy paid a visit to Earlscourt (which he never did when he could possibly help it) to make the desolating announcement that he and his Eliza were thinking of blackening the Largelady scutcheon by opening a shop, he found the little household already convulsed by a prior announcement from Clara that she also was going to work in an old furniture shop in Dover Street, which had been started by a fellow Wellsian. This appointment Clara owed, after all, to her old social accomplishment of Push. She had made up her mind that, cost what it might, she would see Mr. Wells in the flesh; and she had achieved her end at a garden party. She had better luck than so rash an enterprise deserved. Mr. Wells came up to her expectations.
desolating - Verwüstung; verlassen, verlassen
announcement - Ankündigung; Bekanntmachung, Mitteilung
blackening - Schwärzung; schwärzend; (blacken); schwärzen
household - Haushalt
convulsed - verkrampft; erschüttern
Prior - früher, Vorrang
Dover - Dover
appointment - Ernennung, Berufung, Termin, Verabredung
owed - geschuldet; schulden, schuldig sein, schulden, schuldig sein
accomplishment - Ausführung; Fertigkeit, Errungenschaft, Fähigkeit, Leistung
flesh - Fleisch; Haut, Leib, Fruchtfleisch, Fleischfarbe, zunehmen
rash - Hautausschlag, voreilig, Ausschlag
enterprise - Unternehmen; Unterfangen, Vorhaben, Unternehmungsgeist
deserved - Verdient; verdienen
expectations - Erwartungen; Erwartung, Erwartung
Age had not withered him, nor could custom stale his infinite variety in half an hour. His pleasant neatness and compactness, his small hands and feet, his teeming ready brain, his unaffected accessibility, and a certain fine apprehensiveness which stamped him as susceptible from his topmost hair to his tipmost toe, proved irresistible. Clara talked of nothing else for weeks and weeks afterwards. And as she happened to talk to the lady of the furniture shop, and that lady also desired above all things to know Mr. Wells and sell pretty things to him, she offered Clara a job on the chance of achieving that end through her.
withered - verwelkt; welken, verblühen, verdorren
custom - Brauch, Gewohnheit, Sitte, Usus, Zoll, maßgeschneidert
stale - fad, abgestanden, altbacken
infinite - unendlich, endlos, unzählige
neatness - Ordentlichkeit; Nettigkeit, Reinlichkeit
compactness - Kompaktheit
teeming - wimmelt; wimmeln
unaffected - unbeeinflusst; ungekünstelt, unberührt
apprehensiveness - Besorgniserregend; Besorgnis
susceptible - anfällig, beeindruckbar, empfänglich, empfindlich
topmost - ganz oben; oberst
toe - Zeh, Zehe, Spur, Vorspur (5)
proved - er/sie hat/hatte bewiesen, beweisen, erhärten
And so it came about that Eliza's luck held, and the expected opposition to the flower shop melted away. The shop is in the arcade of a railway station not very far from the Victoria and Albert Museum; and if you live in that neighborhood you may go there any day and buy a buttonhole from Eliza.
melted away - zerrann
Arcade - Arkade; Laube; Spielhalle, Spielothek
railway station - Bahnhof , Eisenbahnstation
Victoria - Viktoria, Victoria, Victoria, Viktoriasee
Albert - Albert, Edlerbrecht
neighborhood - Nachbarschaft, Umgebung, Kiez, Viertel
Now here is a last opportunity for romance. Would you not like to be assured that the shop was an immense success, thanks to Eliza's charms and her early business experience in Covent Garden? Alas! the truth is the truth: the shop did not pay for a long time, simply because Eliza and her Freddy did not know how to keep it. True, Eliza had not to begin at the very beginning: she knew the names and prices of the cheaper flowers; and her elation was unbounded when she found that Freddy, like all youths educated at cheap, pretentious, and thoroughly inefficient schools, knew a little Latin. It was very little, but enough to make him appear to her a Porson or Bentley, and to put him at his ease with botanical nomenclature. Unfortunately he knew nothing else; and Eliza, though she could count money up to eighteen shillings or so, and had acquired a certain familiarity with the language of Milton from her struggles to qualify herself for winning Higgins's bet, could not write out a bill without utterly disgracing the establishment.
assured - gesichert; beteuerte, versicherte, versichert
charms - Reize; Talisman; Charme, Zauberformel, Lieblichkeit; bezaubern
Alas - leider [Gottes]; (ala) leider [Gottes]
elation - Euphorie, Hochgefühl, Begeisterung, Jubelstimmung
unbounded - unbegrenzt
youths - Jugend, Jugendlichkeit, Jugend, Jugendzeit, Jugendlicher
inefficient - ineffizient
Latin - lateinisch, Latein
Botanical - botanisch
nomenclature - Nomenklatur
write out - herausschreiben, ausfertigen, ausgeben
disgracing - entehrend; Ungnade, Schande, Schande, Schmach, Schande, Schmach
establishment - Einrichtung; Verankerung (von Rechten), Feststellung
Freddy's power of stating in Latin that Balbus built a wall and that Gaul was divided into three parts did not carry with it the slightest knowledge of accounts or business: Colonel Pickering had to explain to him what a cheque book and a bank account meant. And the pair were by no means easily teachable. Freddy backed up Eliza in her obstinate refusal to believe that they could save money by engaging a bookkeeper with some knowledge of the business. How, they argued, could you possibly save money by going to extra expense when you already could not make both ends meet? But the Colonel, after making the ends meet over and over again, at last gently insisted; and Eliza, humbled to the dust by having to beg from him so often, and stung by the uproarious derision of Higgins, to whom the notion of Freddy succeeding at anything was a joke that never palled, grasped the fact that business, like phonetics, has to be learned.
Gaul - Gallien; Gallier, Gallierin
divided - geteilt; aufteilen, teilen, einteilen, teilen, dividieren
cheque - Scheck
teachable - lehrbar, gelehrig
obstinate - hartnäckig, starrköpfig, stur, widerspenstig, widerborstig
refusal - Ablehnung, Weigerung, Verweigerung
engaging - engagieren; beschäftigen, anstellen, angreifen, anlegen
bookkeeper - Buchhalter, Buchhalterin
expense - Kosten; Ausgabe, Aufwand, Verlust
insisted - darauf bestanden; auf , bestehen
humbled - gedemütigt; demütig, ergeben
uproarious - Aufruhr
Derision - Hohn, Spott, Verhöhnung, Verspottung
palled - verblasst; Kumpel, Kamerad
grasped - begriffen; greifen, erfassen, begreifen, verstehen, erfassen
On the piteous spectacle of the pair spending their evenings in shorthand schools and polytechnic classes, learning bookkeeping and typewriting with incipient junior clerks, male and female, from the elementary schools, let me not dwell. There were even classes at the London School of Economics, and a humble personal appeal to the director of that institution to recommend a course bearing on the flower business. He, being a humorist, explained to them the method of the celebrated Dickensian essay on Chinese Metaphysics by the gentleman who read an article on China and an article on Metaphysics and combined the information. He suggested that they should combine the London School with Kew Gardens. Eliza, to whom the procedure of the Dickensian gentleman seemed perfectly correct (as in fact it was) and not in the least funny (which was only her ignorance) took his advice with entire gravity. But the effort that cost her the deepest humiliation was a request to Higgins, whose pet artistic fancy, next to Milton's verse, was calligraphy, and who himself wrote a most beautiful Italian hand, that he would teach her to write.
piteous - Mitleid erregend, erbärmlich, herzzerreißend
Polytechnic - Polytechnische Hochschule; polytechnisch; Fachhochschule
bookkeeping - Buchhaltung
typewriting - Schreibmaschinenschreiben; abtippen
incipient - anfangend
junior - jünger
clerks - Büroangestellte, Angestellte, Buchhalter, Bürokaufmann
elementary - elementar
dwell - leben, verbleiben, wohnen, verweilen
Economics - ökonomisch, Wirtschaft
appeal - Berufung; Revision, Wirkung, Anziehungskraft; reizen, zusagen
Institution - Institution
humorist - Humorist, Humoristin
Dickensian - Dickensianisch
combined - kombiniert; kombinieren, verbinden, vereinen
ignorance - Unwissenheit, Unwissen, Nichtwissen
entire - vollständig; ganz, gesamt
gravity - Bedenklichkeit, Ernst, Erdanziehung, Gravitation, Schwerkraft
effort - Anstrengung, Aufwand
verse - Strophe
calligraphy - Kalligraphie, Schönschreibkunst, Schönschreiben, Schönschrift
He declared that she was congenitally incapable of forming a single letter worthy of the least of Milton's words; but she persisted; and again he suddenly threw himself into the task of teaching her with a combination of stormy intensity, concentrated patience, and occasional bursts of interesting disquisition on the beauty and nobility, the august mission and destiny, of human handwriting. Eliza ended by acquiring an extremely uncommercial script which was a positive extension of her personal beauty, and spending three times as much on stationery as anyone else because certain qualities and shapes of paper became indispensable to her. She could not even address an envelope in the usual way because it made the margins all wrong.
congenitally - erblich bedingt
persisted - fortbestehen; beharren
combination - Kombinieren; Kombination, Kombinierte, Kombinat, Vereinigung
intensity - Intensität
concentrated - konzentriert; konzentrieren, sich konzentrieren, konzentrieren
occasional - gelegentlich, okkasionell
bursts - Ausbrüche; platzen, zerplatzen, bersten, sprengen, Bersten
disquisition - Abhandlung
nobility - Adel, Aristokratie, Nobilität, Adeligkeit, Blaublütigkeit
mission - Auftrag; Mission
acquiring - Anwerben; erwerben, erwerben, akquirieren
uncommercial - unkommerziell
script - Skript, Skriptum, Handschrift, Urschrift, Original, Drehbuch
extension - Ausdehnung, Erweiterung, Bedeutungserweiterung, Verlängerung
indispensable - unverzichtbar; ausnahmlos, grundsätzlich, unabdingbar
envelope - Umschlag; verhüllen; Kuvert, Versandtasche, Hüllenkurve
margins - Margen; Seitenrand, Gewinnspanne, Gewinnmarge, Marge, Einschuss
Their commercial school days were a period of disgrace and despair for the young couple. They seemed to be learning nothing about flower shops. At last they gave it up as hopeless, and shook the dust of the shorthand schools, and the polytechnics, and the London School of Economics from their feet for ever. Besides, the business was in some mysterious way beginning to take care of itself. They had somehow forgotten their objections to employing other people. They came to the conclusion that their own way was the best, and that they had really a remarkable talent for business. The Colonel, who had been compelled for some years to keep a sufficient sum on current account at his bankers to make up their deficits, found that the provision was unnecessary: the young people were prospering.
commercial school - Handelsschule
school days - Schulzeit
polytechnics - Fachhochschulen; polytechnisch; Fachhochschule
objections - Einwände; Beanstandung, Einwand, Widerspruch, Einspruch
compelled - gezwungen; zwingen, zwingen, nötigen, zwingen
sufficient - genügend, ausreichend, hinreichend
sum - Betrag, Summe, Geldbetrag
current account - Girokonto , Girokonto
bankers - Banker; Bankhalter, Bankier, Bankkaufmann
deficits - Defizite; Defizit
unnecessary - nicht notwendig, unnötig
prospering - gedeihen, prosperieren, florieren
It is true that there was not quite fair play between them and their competitors in trade. Their week-ends in the country cost them nothing, and saved them the price of their Sunday dinners; for the motor car was the Colonel's; and he and Higgins paid the hotel bills. Mr. F. Hill, florist and greengrocer (they soon discovered that there was money in asparagus; and asparagus led to other vegetables), had an air which stamped the business as classy; and in private life he was still Frederick Eynsford Hill, Esquire. Not that there was any swank about him: nobody but Eliza knew that he had been christened Frederick Challoner. Eliza herself swanked like anything.
fair play - ehrliches Spiel
competitors - Konkurrenten; Konkurrent, Konkurrentin, Wettkämpfer
motor car - Personenwagen , Pkw, PKW Personenkraftwagen
asparagus - Spargel
classy - stilvoll; nobel
Esquire - Wohlgeboren
christened - getauft; taufen, taufen
swanked - angezapft; protzig
That is all. That is how it has turned out. It is astonishing how much Eliza still manages to meddle in the housekeeping at Wimpole Street in spite of the shop and her own family. And it is notable that though she never nags her husband, and frankly loves the Colonel as if she were his favorite daughter, she has never got out of the habit of nagging Higgins that was established on the fatal night when she won his bet for him. She snaps his head off on the faintest provocation, or on none. He no longer dares to tease her by assuming an abysmal inferiority of Freddy's mind to his own. He storms and bullies and derides; but she stands up to him so ruthlessly that the Colonel has to ask her from time to time to be kinder to Higgins; and it is the only request of his that brings a mulish expression into her face. Nothing but some emergency or calamity great enough to break down all likes and dislikes, and throw them both back on their common humanity"and may they be spared any such trial!"will ever alter this. She knows that Higgins does not need her, just as her father did not need her. The very scrupulousness with which he told her that day that he had become used to having her there, and dependent on her for all sorts of little services, and that he should miss her if she went away (it would never have occurred to Freddy or the Colonel to say anything of the sort) deepens her inner certainty that she is "no more to him than them slippers", yet she has a sense, too, that his indifference is deeper than the infatuation of commoner souls. She is immensely interested in him. She has even secret mischievous moments in which she wishes she could get him alone, on a desert island, away from all ties and with nobody else in the world to consider, and just drag him off his pedestal and see him making love like any common man.
astonishing - Erstaunlich; erstaunen
notable - bemerkenswert
Nags - Gäule; nörgeln, keifen; Gaul, Nervensäge
favorite - Favorit, Liebling; favorisieren
established - etabliert; feststellen, etablieren, eröffnen, gründen
fatal - verhängnisvoll, fatal, tödlich
snaps - schnappt; Knacken
faintest - am schwächsten; leise, schwach, undeutlich, ohnmächtig werden
dares - wagt; sich getrauen, wagen, jemanden herausfordern
tease - erman:; kämmen, hecheln, necken, hänseln, aufziehen
assuming - annehmend, angenommen; (assume); annehmen, voraussetzen
abysmal - abgründig, abgrundtief, erbärmlich, jämmerlich, unterirdisch
inferiority - Unterlegenheit; Minderwertigkeit
bullies - Tyrannen; Rabauke, Bully, Tyrann, Schikaneur, einschüchtern
derides - spottet; verhöhnen, verlachen, verspotten, lustig machen über
ruthlessly - ruchlos, rücksichtslos, unbarmherzig, unerbittlich
mulish - stur, störrisch
calamity - Verhängnis; Unheil, Kalamität
dislikes - Abneigungen; Unbehagen
be spared - von etw. verschont bleiben
scrupulousness - Skrupellosigkeit; Bedenken
deepens - vertieft; aushölen, vertiefen, zunehmen, vergrößern, vergrößern
certainty - Gewissheit
infatuation - Vernarrtheit, besinnungslose Verliebtheit, Betörung
mischievous - boshaft
pedestal - Sockel, Podest, Piedestal, Postament
We all have private imaginations of that sort. But when it comes to business, to the life that she really leads as distinguished from the life of dreams and fancies, she likes Freddy and she likes the Colonel; and she does not like Higgins and Mr. Doolittle. Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion: his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable.
distinguished - ausgezeichnet; unterscheiden, erkennen, auszeichnen
fancies - Lust; extravagant, originell
godlike - gottgleich, göttlich