German CorrespondenceHeinrich Schliemann (1822 - 1890) Edited by Eugene R. Moutoux |
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| Son of a poor German pastor, Heinrich Schliemann became, successively, grocer’s apprentice in Germany, cabin boy aboard a ship bound for Venezuela, bookkeeper in Amsterdam, owner of his own wholesale business in St. Petersburg (Leningrad), and archaeologist in Asia Minor and Greece. The considerable wealth that he acquired in business allowed him, from the mid 1860’s on, to devote himself entirely to the pursuit of his life’s dream, the discovery of the ruins of ancient Troy. He brought to this task a knowledge of numerous foreign languages (among them, both ancient and modern Greek) as well as an intimate acquaintance with the works of Homer, to whose poetic descriptions Schliemann ascribed historical certitude and precision. Such was his good fortune that he discovered not only ancient Troy but made other significant archaeological finds as well. Schliemann unearthed at Troy, and especially at Mycenae, immense treasures of gold and of other precious metals and stones. In the following letter he announces the discovery of the Trojan wall and describes the excavation procedures and difficulties. | |||
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| A.
Answer in German.
1. Welche Nachricht sollte jedes deutsches Herz mit Jubel erfüllen? 2. Wie ist die trojanische Mauer erbaut? 3. Ist die Mauer überall gleich breit? 4. Was läßt die zunehmende Breite an der Ostseite der Mauer vermuten? 5. Wieviele Arbeiter standen Schliemann zur Verfügung? In welchem Gesundheitszustand befinden sie sich? 6. Was ist die Tiefe und Breite der Ausgrabung? 7. Warum ist es besonders schwer, die letzten fünf bis acht Meter auszugraben? 8. Wer kann sich am ehesten ein Bild von den Schwierigkeiten des Ausgrabens machen? 9. Hoffte Schliemann noch in deisem Jahr fertig zu sein? 10. Worauf stieß man bei der Grabung des Kanals? 11. Was plant er, nächsten März zu erforschen? 12. Glaubt Schliemann, schon etwas Bedeutendes gefunden zu haben? Was? |
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| B.
Degrees of adjectives and adverbs: Fill in the blanks as indicated.
Translate the sentences.
1. Rom ist nicht ____________ (as old as) Troja, aber _________ (older than) Köln.2. Von diesen drei Städten ist Troja __________ (the oldest). 3. Da die trojanische Mauer geneigt hinuntergeht, muß sie unten __________ (wider) sein als oben. 4. Sogar oben ist die Mauer ____________ (as wide as) manches Zimmer.5. Wo dürfte die Mauer oben ___________ (widest) sein? 6. Seit dem 1. April ist die Zahl der Arbeiter __________ (larger) geworden. 7. ____________ (Most of the) Arbeiter erkranken an einem giftigen Fieber.8. Bei so einer Ausgrabung sind die Schwierigkeiten __________ (more frightful), als Sie sich denken können.9. ___________ (The deeper) man gräbt, ___________ (the harder) werden die Schichten.10. Die riesigen Steinblöcke sind wohl ____________ (the hardest). 11. Da Schliemann noch nicht alles bloßgelegt hat, wird er __________ (longer) arbeiten müssen. 12. Die Töpferarbeit, die Schliemann fand, ist _____________ (as fantastic as) möglich. Glauben Sie, daß sie _____________ (more fantastic than) die Töpferarbeit der alten Ägypter ist? |
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| C.
Unreal conditional sentences: Fill in the blanks as indicated. Translate
the sentences.
1. Wenn Homer die trojanische Mauer nicht __________ ________ (had ... admired), ________ er ihren Bau nicht Neptun und Apollo ____________ (would ... have ascribed).2. Wenn Schliemann die zunehmende Breite an der Ostseite nicht __________ ________ (had ... noticed), ________ er nicht __________ (would ... have surmised), daß in ganz geringer Entfernung das Tor sei.3. ________ Schliemann seine Ausgrabungen früher __________ ________ (Would ... have been able to complete), wenn er noch mehr Arbeiter __________ ________ (had had), oder wenn nicht alle krank __________ ________ (had become)?4. Wenn wir Archaeologie __________ (were studying), ________ wir uns besser __________ ________ (would be able ... to imagine), wie schwer die Ausgrabung Trojas war.5. ________Sie eine alte Mauer __________ (Would ... excavate), wenn Sie __________ (knew), wo eine ________ (were)? |
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| D.
Express in German.
1. In his letter to Karl Plato, Heinrich Schliemann reports news that should fill many hearts with joy.2. Schliemann believed that he had struck the Trojan Wall at a depth of ten meters. 3. If Homer had not admired this wall, he would not have attributed its construction to the gods. 4. The exterior side of the wall runs down at an angle of ca. seventy-five degrees, while the interior side is vertical. 5. The wall is between three-and-a-half and four meters wide and is so tall that, although Schliemann's workers have dug to a depth of fifteen meters, they still haven't reached the foundation. 6. Because the wall's width increases on the east side, Schliemann thinks that he will find there the gate that led from the city to the Acropolis. 7. Although all of his men are becoming sick with a fever, Schliemann wants to continue working in order to expose more of the wall in an easterly direction. 8. Schliemann began witrh a hundred workers on April 1; for a month now he has had one hundred and fifty men. 9. It is impossible for Schliemann to describe the difficulties of making such a deep and wide excavation. 10. When he saw that he could not possibly finish the gigantic work in that year, he settled for digging a 30-meter long canal through the entire mountain. 11. He began digging from the north side and from the south side at the same time and expected to be finished in eleven days.12. In a few weeks Schliemann will send Plato a small photo of the wall. 13. He plans to return in March in order to continue the excavation. 14. Up till now he has found thousands of objects that will open a new world for archaeology. |
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| Suggestioon for oral practice: Some of Schliemann's workers come to him with the request that work be halted for now because of the poor health of the workers. Schliemann denies the request and states his reason(s). | |||
| Return to German Letters, title page. | |||