appendix-d-第3章

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mess　as　being　manly　and　masculine；　the　humiliating　second

thought　will　quickly　remind　him　that　in　this　respect

he　is　no　better　off　than　any　woman　or　cow　in　the　land。　



In　the　German　it　is　true　that　by　some　oversight　of　the　inventor

of　the　language；　a　Woman　is　a　female；　but　a　Wife　（Weib）

is　notwhich　is　unfortunate。　　A　Wife；　here；　has　no　sex；

she　is　neuter；　so；　according　to　the　grammar；　a　fish

is　HE；　his　scales　are　SHE；　but　a　fishwife　is　neither。　

To　describe　a　wife　as　sexless　may　be　called　under…description；

that　is　bad　enough；　but　over…description　is　surely　worse。　

A　German　speaks　of　an　Englishman　as　the　ENGLA〃NDER；　to　change

the　sex；　he　adds　INN；　and　that　stands　for　Englishwoman

ENGLA〃NDERINN。　That　seems　descriptive　enough；　but　still

it　is　not　exact　enough　for　a　German；　so　he　precedes　the

word　with　that　article　which　indicates　that　the　creature

to　follow　is　feminine；　and　writes　it　down　thus：　〃die

Engla〃nderinn；〃which　means　〃the　she…Englishwoman。〃

I　consider　that　that　person　is　over…described。



Well；　after　the　student　has　learned　the　sex　of　a　great

number　of　nouns；　he　is　still　in　a　difficulty；　because　he

finds　it　impossible　to　persuade　his　tongue　to　refer

to　things　as　〃he〃　and　〃she；〃　and　〃him〃　and　〃her；〃　which

it　has　been　always　accustomed　to　refer　to　it　as　〃it。〃

When　he　even　frames　a　German　sentence　in　his　mind；

with　the　hims　and　hers　in　the　right　places；　and　then　works

up　his　courage　to　the　utterance…point；　it　is　no　use

the　moment　he　begins　to　speak　his　tongue　files　the　track

and　all　those　labored　males　and　females　come　out　as　〃its。〃

And　even　when　he　is　reading　German　to　himself；　he　always

calls　those　things　〃it；〃　where　as　he　ought　to　read　in　this　way：



TALE　OF　THE　FISHWIFE　AND　ITS　SAD　FATE　＇2＇



2。　　I　capitalize　the　nouns；　in　the　German　（and

　　　　ancient　English）　fashion。　



It　is　a　bleak　Day。　　Hear　the　Rain；　how　he　pours；　and　the　Hail；

how　he　rattles；　and　see　the　Snow；　how　he　drifts　along；

and　of　the　Mud；　how　deep　he　is！　Ah　the　poor　Fishwife；

it　is　stuck　fast　in　the　Mire；　it　has　dropped　its　Basket

of　Fishes；　and　its　Hands　have　been　cut　by　the　Scales

as　it　seized　some　of　the　falling　Creatures；　and　one　Scale

has　even　got　into　its　Eye。　　and　it　cannot　get　her　out。　

It　opens　its　Mouth　to　cry　for　Help；　but　if　any　Sound　comes

out　of　him；　alas　he　is　drowned　by　the　raging　of　the　Storm。　

And　now　a　Tomcat　has　got　one　of　the　Fishes　and　she

will　surely　escape　with　him。　　No；　she　bites　off　a　Fin；

she　holds　her　in　her　Mouthwill　she　swallow　her？　No；

the　Fishwife's　brave　Mother…dog　deserts　his　Puppies　and

rescues　the　Finwhich　he　eats；　himself；　as　his　Reward。　

O；　horror；　the　Lightning　has　struck　the　Fish…basket；

he　sets　him　on　Fire；　see　the　Flame；　how　she　licks　the

doomed　Utensil　with　her　red　and　angry　Tongue；　now　she

attacks　the　helpless　Fishwife's　Footshe　burns　him　up；

all　but　the　big　Toe；　and　even　SHE　is　partly　consumed；

and　still　she　spreads；　still　she　waves　her　fiery　Tongues；

she　attacks　the　Fishwife's　Leg　and　destroys　IT；　she　attacks

its　Hand　and　destroys　HER　also；　she　attacks　the　Fishwife's　Leg

and　destroys　HER　also；　she　attacks　its　Body　and　consumes　HIM；

she　wreathes　herself　about　its　Heart　and　IT　is　consumed；

next　about　its　Breast；　and　in　a　Moment　SHE　is　a　Cinder；

now　she　reaches　its　NeckHe　goes；　now　its　Chin

IT　goes；　now　its　NoseSHE　goes。　　In　another　Moment；

except　Help　come；　the　Fishwife　will　be　no　more。　

Time　pressesis　there　none　to　succor　and　save？　Yes！　Joy；

joy；　with　flying　Feet　the　she…Englishwoman　comes！　But　alas；

the　generous　she…Female　is　too　late：　where　now　is

the　fated　Fishwife？　It　has　ceased　from　its　Sufferings；

it　has　gone　to　a　better　Land；　all　that　is　left　of　it

for　its　loved　Ones　to　lament　over；　is　this　poor　smoldering

Ash…heap。　Ah；　woeful；　woeful　Ash…heap！　Let　us　take　him

up　tenderly；　reverently；　upon　the　lowly　Shovel；　and　bear

him　to　his　long　Rest；　with　the　Prayer　that　when　he　rises

again　it　will　be　a　Realm　where　he　will　have　one　good　square

responsible　Sex；　and　have　it　all　to　himself；　instead　of

having　a　mangy　lot　of　assorted　Sexes　scattered　all　over　him

in　Spots。　



…



There；　now；　the　reader　can　see　for　himself　that　this　pronoun

business　is　a　very　awkward　thing　for　the　unaccustomed　tongue。　

I　suppose　that　in　all　languages　the　similarities　of　look

and　sound　between　words　which　have　no　similarity　in　meaning

are　a　fruitful　source　of　perplexity　to　the　foreigner。　

It　is　so　in　our　tongue；　and　it　is　notably　the　case　in

the　German。　　Now　there　is　that　troublesome　word　VERMA〃HLT：

to　me　it　has　so　close　a　resemblanceeither　real　or

fanciedto　three　or　four　other　words；　that　I　never　know

whether　it　means　despised；　painted；　suspected；　or　married；

until　I　look　in　the　dictionary；　and　then　I　find　it　means

the　latter。　　There　are　lots　of　such　words　and　they　are

a　great　torment。　　To　increase　the　difficulty　there　are

words　which　SEEM　to　resemble　each　other；　and　yet　do　not；

but　they　make　just　as　much　trouble　as　if　they　did。　

For　instance；　there　is　the　word　VERMIETHEN　（to　let；

to　lease；　to　hire）；　and　the　word　VERHEIRATHEN　（another　way

of　saying　to　marry）。　I　heard　of　an　Englishman　who　knocked

at　a　man's　door　in　Heidelberg　and　proposed；　in　the　best

German　he　could　command；　to　〃verheirathen〃　that　house。　

Then　there　are　some　words　which　mean　one　thing　when　you

emphasize　the　first　syllable；　but　mean　something　very

different　if　you　throw　the　emphasis　on　the　last　syllable。　

For　instance；　there　is　a　word　which　means　a　runaway；

or　the　act　of　glancing　through　a　book；　according　to　the

placing　of　the　emphasis；　and　another　word　which　signifies

to　ASSOCIATE　with　a　man；　or　to　AVOID　him；　according　to

where　you　put　the　emphasisand　you　can　generally　depend

on　putting　it　in　the　wrong　place　and　getting　into　trouble。　



There　are　some　exceedingly　useful　words　in　this　language。　

SCHLAG；　for　example；　and　ZUG。　　There　are　three…quarters

of　a　column　of　SCHLAGS　in　the　dictonary；　and　a　column

and　a　half　of　ZUGS。　　The　word　SCHLAG　means　Blow；　Stroke；

Dash；　Hit；　Shock；　Clap；　Slap；　Time；　Bar；　Coin；　Stamp；　Kind；

Sort；　Manner；　Way；　Apoplexy；　Wood…cutting；　Enclosure；

Field；　Forest…clearing。　This　is　its　simple　and　EXACT

meaningthat　is　to　say；　its　restricted；　its　fettered　meaning；

but　there　are　ways　by　which　you　can　set　it　free；

so　that　it　can　soar　away；　as　on　the　wings　of　the　morning；

and　never　be　at　rest。　　You　can　hang　any　word　you　please

to　its　tail；　and　make　it　mean　anything　you　want　to。　

You　can　begin　with　SCHLAG…ADER；　which　means　artery；

and　you　can　hang　on　the　whole　dictionary；　word　by　word；

clear　through　the　alphabet　to　SCHLAG…WASSER；　which　means

bilge…waterand　including　SCHLAG…MUTTER；　which　means

mother…in…law。



Just　the　same　with　ZUG。　　Strictly　speaking；　ZUG　means　Pull；

Tug；　Draught；　Procession；　March；　Progress；　Flight；　Direction；

Expedition；　Train；　Caravan；　Passage；　Stroke；　Touch；　Line；

Flourish；　Trait　of　Character；　Feature；　Lineament；　Chess…move；

Organ…stop；　Team；　Whiff；　Bias；　Drawer；　Propensity；　Inhalation；

Disposition：　but　that　thing　which　it　does　NOT　meanwhen

all　its　legitimate　pennants　have　been　hung　on；　has　not　been

discovered　yet。　



One　cannot　overestimate　the　usefulness　of　SCHLAG　and　ZUG。　

Armed　just　with　these　two；　and　the　word　ALSO；　what　cannot

the　foreigner　on　German　soil　accomplish？　The　German　word

ALSO　is　the　equivalent　of　the　English　phrase　〃You　know；〃

and　does　not　mean　anything　at　allin　TALK；　though　it

sometimes　does　in　print。　　Every　time　a　German　opens　his

mouth　an　ALSO　falls　out；　and　every　time　he　shuts　it　he　bites

one　in　two　that　was　trying　to　GET　out。　



Now；　the　foreigner；　equipped　with　these　three　noble　words；

is　master　of　the　situation。　　Let　him　talk　right　along；

fearlessly；　let　him　pour　his　indifferent　German　forth；

and　when　he　lacks　for　a　word；　let　him　heave　a　SCHLAG　into

the　vacuum；　all　the　chances　are　that　it　fits　it　like　a　plug；

but　if　it　doesn't　let　him　promptly　heave　a　ZUG　after　it；

the　two　tog