Section 76 A Funeral Dance1
Drums were beating2, horns blowing3, and4 people were seen all running in one direction. The cause was a funeral dance. I joined5 the crowd, and soon found myself in6 the midst of the entertainment7. The dancers were most (höchst) grotesquely8 got up9. About a dozen huge ostrich feathers adorned their helmets. Leopard or black and white monkey-skins10 were suspended11 from their shoulders, and a leather, tied (S. 7, N. 3, A) round the waist, covered a large iron bell which was strapped12 upon the loins of each dancer; this they rang13 to the time of the dance. A large crowd got up in14 this style15 created16 an indescribable hubbub, heightened17 by the blowing of18 horns and the beating of seven nogaras19 of various notes20. Every dancer wore21 an antelope’s horn22 suspended round the neck, which he blew occasionally in23 the height of his excitement.—Sir S. Baker, the Albert N’yanza.
Notes
1 Ein Tanz zur Leichenfeier.
2 were beating = were being beaten. See S. 2, N. 1. To beat a drum, eine Trommel rühren.
3 horns (were) blowing = horns resounded (ertönen).
4 Say ’and one saw all (alles) people run in (nach) one direction.
5 sich an´schließen, which requires the dat.
6 in the midst, inmitten, which requires the gen.
7 entertainment = festivity.
8 grotesk.
9 ‘to get up’, here aus´staffieren.
10 ‘skin’, here Fell, n., of which form a compound expression with the pl. of the nouns ‘leopard’ and ‘monkey’, as explained in S. 71, N. 2.
11 were suspended = hung; from = von... herab.
12 to be strapped, mit einem Riemen befestigt sein; ‘upon’ here an.
13 schellen; to — dance, während des Tanzens zum Takte.
14 auf.
15 style = manner.
16 created = made.
17 Say ‘which was (Passive) still heightened’, according to S. 7, N. 3, B.
18 Use the gen. of the def. art.
[19] ‘nogaras’—which use in its unaltered form in German—are a kind of drum.
20 notes = sounds.
21 wore... suspended = had... hanging; ‘round’, here an.
22 To render ‘antelope’s horn’ form a compound noun of the pl. of the noun ‘antelope’ and the singl. of the noun ‘horn’. Comp. S. 36, N. 7, A, B, and C, and mark further:
A. Although the first component of Compound Nouns is generally in the singular, some require the plural; as—Kinderstube, f., nursery; Bildergallerie, f., picture-gallery.
B, 1. The first component takes sometimes one of the genitive inflections s, es, n, en, or ens, according to the declension it belongs to; as—Königsmantel, m., royal mantel; Tageslicht, n., day-light; Heldenmut, m., heroism; Friedensliebe, f., love of peace.
2. We find, however, the terminations s or es used as a connecting link between the two components for the mere sake of euphony, even in cases where the first component is a feminine noun; this is more especially the case when the first component is in itself a compound expression, when it has one of the derivative suffixes heit, ing, ling, keit, schaft, tum, ung, or when it is a noun of foreign origin terminating in ion, at, and ät; as—Geburtstag, m., birthday; Hochzeitsgeschenk, n., wedding present; Weisheitslehre, f., philosophy; Religionsduldung, f., toleration; Universitätsgericht, n., university court.
C. In a few compound nouns we find one of the euphonic terminations e, er, and l used as a connecting link between the two components; as—Tagewerk, n., day’s work; Aschermittwoch, m., Ash-Wednesday; Heidelbeere, bilberry.
D, 1. When the first component consists of the stem of a verb, it is often joined to the second component without a connecting link; as—Schreibbuch, n., copy-book.
2. Sometimes a euphonic e is used as a connection link; as—Zeigefinger, m., forefinger; Haltepunkt, m., place of stopping.
23 in — excitement = in the highest excitement.