Day 33: The Night Train Is Cancelled
At the travel centre in Munich's main station, Jule (A), a seventeen-year-old on her way to her exchange family in Vienna, turns to Fabian (B), a young clerk with an oddly ceremonious way of talking, because her night train is shown as cancelled.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a German word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native German, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Entschuldigung, bei meinem Nachtzug nach Wien steht „fällt aus“. Das ist doch hoffentlich ein Fehler?
Excuse me, it says 'cancelled' next to my night train to Vienna. That has to be a mistake, surely?
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B
Mitnichten. Das Unwetter hat kurz hinter München Bäume ins Gleis geworfen, und Ihr Zug ward ersatzlos gestrichen.
Alas, no. The storm has brought trees down onto the line just outside Munich, and your train hath been struck from the timetable, with no replacement.
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A
Ward gestrichen? Sie klingen wie mein Deutschbuch, Kapitel Sturm und Drang, und meine Gastfamilie holt mich morgen früh ab!
'Hath been struck'? You sound like my German textbook, the Sturm und Drang chapter, and my host family are picking me up first thing tomorrow!
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B
Sturm und Drang hatten wir heute reichlich: Sie sind die Achtzigste, die nach Wien will. Doch es stünde schlecht um meine Ehre, ließe ich Sie stranden.
We've had plenty of Sturm und Drang today: you're the eightieth person bound for Vienna. But my honour would be in a sorry state, were I to leave you stranded.
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A
Echt lieb, aber ein Hotel ist nicht drin, und mit siebzehn darf ich eh nirgends allein einchecken.
That's really sweet, but I can't stretch to a hotel, and at seventeen I'm not allowed to check in anywhere on my own anyway.
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B
Ein Hotel hülfe Ihnen ohnehin wenig, Sie wollen ja zum Frühstück in Wien sein. Gedulden Sie sich kurz, ich befrage das Orakel.
A hotel would avail you little anyway, since you wish to be in Vienna for breakfast. Bear with me a moment while I consult the oracle.
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A
Mal ehrlich: Reden Sie immer so, oder ist das eine neue Schulung der Bahn für Krisenkommunikation?
Seriously, though: do you always talk like this, or is it some new Deutsche Bahn training course in crisis communication?
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B
Meine eigene Erfindung: Seit ich wie ein Hofmarschall rede, schreit mich keiner mehr an, dafür sind die Leute zu verwirrt.
My own invention: since I started talking like a lord chamberlain, nobody shouts at me any more; people are too confused for that.
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A
Bringt mich Ihr Orakel bis zum Frühstück nach Wien? Dann dürfen Sie meinetwegen in Versen reden.
Will your oracle get me to Vienna by breakfast? Then you can talk in verse for all I care.
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B
Um eins per Bus nach Salzburg, dort umsteigen um vier, zum Frühstück sind Sie in Wien, das schwör ich Ihnen hier.
At one, a bus to Salzburg; at four, you change trains there; by breakfast you'll be in Vienna, and that I solemnly swear.
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