What the Dickens!
An
Unknown Destination – A Dickensian Tale!
I
discovered the following anecdote whilst reading Charles Dickens's
Nicholas Nickleby, and it impressed me.
Nicholas
Nickleby whilst
on his way from London to Yorkshire was involved in an accident. The
coach
upon which he was travelling overturned and Nicholas Nickleby, being
an outside
passenger,
was thrown into a snow
drift.
He and all the other passengers survived
to tell the tale,
and, whilst waiting in an inn for a new coach to arrive told each
other stories. And, one of the passengers told the following tale.
Once
upon-a-time,
there was a
German Baron, Baron Koeldwethout and he was a very happy man. He
spent most of his time hunting, getting drunk, and generally having
lots of good fun. But, one day, he started getting
fed up
with, which was, in reality, a very boring
existence. And so, to cut a long story short, he got married.
But,
12 years later with
a miserable never happy domineering wife and almost 13 noisy
uncontrollable little barons and baronesses to keep and to feed, he
discovered that he was sorely
missing his former life of revelry
and drunkenness.
Things
were bad,
and, to
add to it all,
his money was spent. And, the only way out, he believed, was the
bringing
about
of a premature
end
to his life! And so, there he was with a final pipe and a final
bottle of wine, and his knife to kill himself with. But, he was not
alone. For, there in the corner- waiting for him - was the genius
of suicide!
It
turned out,
that the genius
of suicide
was a somewhat miserable
apparition
in a hurry. There were, after-all,
many others waiting for him, too, and the next on the list was a
young man who had too much money! Upon hearing this, the Baron burst
into laughter. How could someone kill himself because of too much
money? Totally absurd! And then the baron started thinking!
Was
- where he was about
to be going better than where he was now? The genius of suicide was,
without
any doubt at all,
not a very happy being. And, if he wasn't happy, what was everyone
else like? The Baron changed his mind, and, after getting his life
back in order and becoming happy once again died many years later.
And,
what about Nicholas
Nickleby? He resumed his journey and became an assistant at the
school which belonged to the notorious alcoholic and child hater Mr
Newman Noggs. And, Nicholas
Nickleby
did not live happily ever after! But, to find out why, you will have
to read the book! Nicholas
Nickleby by Charles Dickens.
Vocabulary
and Phrases -
after-all
– nach dem
boring
– langweilig
bringing
about – verwirklichen
coach
– Kutsche
genius
– Geist
get
fed up – genügt davon haben
miserable
apparition
– erbärmliche Geist
Once
upon a time - es war einmal
premature
– vorzeitig
revelry
- Feiern
snow
drift – Schneewirrung
sorely
– sehr stark
suicide
– Selbstmord
whilst/while
– während
it
turned out
– it happened (es hat sich so herausgestellt)
outside
passenger
- a passenger travelling on the outside of a coach – usually next
to the driver. It was cheap and very cold in winter and Nicholas
Nickleby was very poor!
Survived
to tell the tale
– lived to talk about it. (survive - überleben)
without
any doubt
– without question (ohne Zweifel)
