October 10, 2009

I haven't updated this thing for awhile. Oh well; I've still found some stuff to read. Additionally, I've been playing Legend of Dragoon in German, without having beaten it in English previously, so I got most of the storyline in German. I'm also doing the same with Majora's Mask. I have also read Bewährung der Herzen, and learned some words like taub, stumm, Taubstumme, and Sprosse--additionally, I have an idea of what Rippelsamthosen is, even though all the German speaking people I've talked to haven't seen it.

The following is a summary of Die sieben Raben, a story from Grimms Märchen.

There was a man who had seven sons, and he had always wanted to have a daughter. He eventually had one, and sent his sons to fetch water. They were eager to see their new sister (If I read this correctly), and accidentally fell into the well. Their father got impatient waiting for them, and thought they forgot about the water over some game, and wished they were ravens--his wish came true.
Apparently, his daughter grew more and more beautiful, but her parents never told her about her brothers; they didn't want to. She found out somehow, probably from other people, and her parents finally revealed the truth. They said it wasn't her fault. She wanted to find her brothers, so she set off with a stool for when she got tired, bread for when she got hungry, and water for when she got thirsty. They also gave her a ring (possibly to remember them).
She went to the end of the world and to the sun; it was too hot and scary. She went to the moon; it was too cold, evil and cruel. She went to the stars, which sat on her stool and were nice and friendly; they told her her brothers were in Glasberg and gave her some sort of object (possibly a key) so that she could go there. She wrapped it in a cloth. When she got there, she lost it, and (If I'm reading this correctly) cut off her small finger and stuck it in the gate. She met a small dwarf there, who said her brothers were away, and to wait for them to come back. As they waited for them to come back, the dwarf laid out seven plates and goblets of food; she ate a bit from every plate and drank a bit from every goblet, and then she put her ring in the last goblet.
The seven ravens came back and found someone had eaten their food. When they found the ring and realized it was their sister, they wished they were human again. They went home happily.

Now I don't actually know if Raben is a raven, but it does say "blickte auf und sah sieben kohlenschwarze Raben auf und davon fliegen." for "...he looked up and saw seven coal black ravens (up) and flew." This at least indicates that Raben, whatever they are, can fly. "Auf einmal hörte es in der Luft ein Geschwirr und ein Geweh, da sprach das Zwerglein »jetzt kommen die Herren Raben heim geflogen«" which means "On hearing a whir and a cry in the air at once, the dwarf spoke 'The ravens are flying home now.'" (I don't actually know about "Geschwirr" or "Geweh"; I can just guess, but "geflogen" does mean they flew, and they were heard from the air, so it must at least be a bird, if it isn't a raven.

Here is another listening exercise. I took the song, Los from Rammstein and decided to find all the words in it that contained the suffix, -los, which is the equivalent of using the suffix -less in English.

Wir waren namenlos,
und ohne Lieder,
richt wortlos,
waren wir nie wieder,
etwas sanglos,
sind wir immer noch,
dafür nicht klanglos,
Man hört uns doch,
nach einen Winch dos,
Gingen sturmlos,
einfach beispiellos,
es würdet Zeit,
Los,
Sie waren sprachlos,
So sehr schockieren,
sehr ratlos,
Was zwar passiert,
etwas fassungslos,
und garantiert,
verstrecklichlos,
Das wurd setziert,
Sie sagten grundlos,
Schaden um die Noten,
So schamlos,
Das gehört verboten,
Es ist geistlos,
Was sie da probieren,
zu geschmacklos,
wie sie nur sitzieren,
Es ist hoffnungslos,
sinnlos,
hilflos,
sie sind Gott,
los,
Wir waren namenlos,
Wir haben eine Namen,
waren wortlos,
Die Worter kamen,
etwas sanglos,
sind wir immer noch,
Dafür wir klanglos,
Das hört man doch,
Die sind nicht fielerlos,
zu etwas haltlos,
Wir werden lautlos,
und schneelos,

Wir waren namenlos,
und ohne Lieder,
richt wortlos,
waren wir nie wieder,
etwas sanglos,
sind wir immer noch,
dafür nicht klanglos,
Man hört uns doch,
nach einen Winch dos,
Gingen sturmlos,
einfach beispiellos,
Für die Zeit los,

Wir waren los,
Wir waren los.

Again, there are some words I'm not entirely familiar with, or didn't hear properly.

namenlos - nameless
wortlos - wordless (additionally, this may be mistaken for wertlos, which sounds similar, for worthless.)
sanglos - songless
klanglos - without sound
sturmlos - without turmoil
beispiellos - without example
sprachlos - speechless
fassungslos - (I don't entirely know, although I would guess "incomprehensible")
verstrecklichlos - effortless, perhaps?
grundlos - without reason
schamlos - shameless
geistlos - spiritless
geschmacklos - tasteless
hoffnungslos - hopeless
sinnlos - without reason/rationality
hilflos - helpless
fielerlos - without mistake (this might also be fehlerlos, but it sounded more like "fielerlos")
haltlos - unstoppable
lautlos - without sound
schneelos - without snow

I should also say now that "los" is also an interjection meaning "go".