Section 129. Goethe’s Daily Life at Weimar. I

Passing through an ante-chamber, where, in cupboards, stand his mineralogical collections, we enter (App. § 14) the study, a low-roofed, narrow room (Gemach, n.), somewhat dark (S. 128, N. 11), for it is (S. 2, N. 1) lighted only through two tiny windows, and⁠ furnished with a simplicity quite touching to behold.

In the centre⁠ stands a plain oval table of unpolished oak⁠. No arm-chair is to be seen, no sofa, nothing which (S. 3, N. 7) speaks⁠ of comfort. A plain hard chair has⁠ beside it the basket in which he used⁠ to place his handkerchief. Against⁠ the wall, on the right, is a⁠ long pear-tree table, with book-shelves, on which stand lexicons and manuals. Here hangs a pincushion, venerable in⁠ dust, with the visiting-cards, and other trifles which⁠ death had made sacred. Here⁠ also a medallion of Napoleon, with this⁠ circumscription: “Scilicet⁠ immenso superest ex nomine multum.” On the side-wall again, a book-case, with some works of poets. On the wall to the left is a long desk of soft wood, at⁠ which he was wont⁠ to write. A sheet of paper with notes of⁠ contemporary history is fastened near⁠ the door, and behind⁠ this door tables⁠ of music and geology.

and — behold = and is (ist) furnished with an almost (fast) touching simplicity.

middle.

Eichenholz, n.; the oak = oak-tree, is rendered by Eiche, f., or Eichbaum, m.

speaks = points to; to point to a thing, auf etwas deuten.

has beside it = stands beside.

used to place, zu legen pflegte. ‘To use’, when employed transitively, is generally rendered by brauchen, gebrauchen, benutzen, an´wenden, and verbrauchen, whilst intransitively it is rendered by pflegen or gewohnt sein, in the sense of ‘to be accustomed to’, ‘to be in the habit of’, ‘to be wont to do’.

Against = on; on (or to) the right, rechts; on (or to) the left, links.

ein langer Tisch von Birnbaumholz.

in dust = through its age.

which — sacred, die durch den Tod geheiligt sind.

Insert ‘is’ or ‘hangs’.

this = the.

Scilicet — multum, Little honour is derived from a great name.

at, an.

über die (or aus der) Tagesgeschichte.

in der Nähe der Thür; to fasten, an´heften.

an; supply ‘hang’ after ‘door’.

musikalische und geologische Tabellen.