German composition

Section 20 On the Choice of Books⁠1

In literature (S. 3, N. 2) I am fond⁠2 of confining myself to the best company, which consists chiefly of old acquaintances⁠3 with whom I am desirous of becoming more intimate, and I suspect⁠4 that, nine⁠5 times out of ten, it is more profitable⁠6, if not more agreeable, to read an old book over again, than⁠7 to read a new one for the first time.—Lord Dudley.

Notes

1 ‘of books’, here der Lektüre.

2 A. The verbs ‘to be fond of’ and ‘to like’ are often rendered by the auxiliary verb of mood ‘mögen’, either with or without the adverb ‘gerne’ or ‘gern’ (willingly), which is used to intensify its signification; as—
I am very fond of the German language. Ich mag die deutsche Sprache sehr gern.
Are you fond of walking? Mögen Sie gerne spazieren gehen?
I don’t like this child. Ich mag dies Kind nicht.
B. But the adverb gerne or gern in itself denotes liking and fondness, and is therefore the general translation of the verbs ‘to be fond of’ or ‘to like’ when used with the infinitive of other verbs; as—
I like to dance. Ich tanze gern.
We are fond of confining ourselves to a few old books. Wir beschränken uns gern auf einige wenige alte Bücher.
Construe the above clause accord. to the last example given.

3 acquaintances = friends; I am desirous of becoming = I wish to become (App. § 19). The insertion of the adverb ‘noch’ before the comparative will greatly improve the rendering of this clause.

4 to suspect = to believe.

5 ‘nine times out of ten’ may be briefly rendered by the adverbial expression meistenteils, which place immediately after the subject of the subordinate clause.

6 profitable, nützlich; ‘if — agreeable’, say ‘if not even (gar) more agreeable’; ‘over again’, here noch einmal.

7 ‘than — time’, say ‘than to occupy oneself (sich beschäftigen) with a new one’. This periphrase is necessary to avoid a monotonous repetition in German.