German composition

Section 9 A Good Rule⁠1

A French minister, who was alike⁠2 remarkable⁠3 for his⁠4 despatch of business and his constant⁠5 attendance at places of public amusement, being⁠6 asked how he contrived to combine both objects, replied: “Simply⁠7 by never postponing till to-morrow what should be done⁠8 to-day.”—S. Smiles.

Notes

1 Lebensregel, f.

2 ‘alike... and’, sowohl... wie auch.

3 to be remarkable for something, sich durch etwas aus´zeichnen.

4 his — business, schnelle Erledigung seiner Amtsgeschäfte.

5 constant — amusement, regelmäßiger Besuch öffentlicher Vergnügungsorte. The prep. durch, which requires the acc., must be repeated at the beginning of this clause.

6 ‘being — replied’; this sentence requires an entirely different construction in German, say ‘answered upon the question, how (App. § 16) he made it possible to combine both (neuter sing.)’. To combine, vereinigen. The verb ‘to make’ must be placed in the Present Subjunctive, since the clause contains an indirect question. Read carefully App. §§ 28 and 30.

7 Simply — to-morrow, Einfach dadurch, daß ich nie auf morgen verschiebe.

8 ‘to do’, here erledigen. See S. 2, N. 1, and place the verbs in the order pointed out in S. 7, N. 7.