Day 77: The Freezer Died at Noon
On the hottest day of the summer, Roland Kessler (A), the owner of an ice-cream parlour in Lindau, is busy behind his counter when Ben (B), a ten-year-old regular, comes in with his saved-up coins.
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
Tut mir leid, Ben, heute nicht. Infolge eines Kompressorschadens sind Theke und Kühltruhe um zwölf ausgefallen, und bei 36 Grad schmilzt mir die Saison weg.
Sorry, Ben, not today. Following a compressor failure, the counter and the freezer both packed up at twelve, and at 36 degrees my whole season is melting away.
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B
Oh nein, ich hab extra mein ganzes Kleingeld gespart! Haben Sie denn keinen Techniker angerufen?
Oh no, I saved up all my change specially! Haven't you called a repairman?
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A
Doch, aber der Kältetechniker kommt frühestens morgen: Angesichts der Hitze streiken in halb Lindau die Kühlgeräte. Bis dahin ist Pistazie eine Suppe.
I have, but the refrigeration engineer can't come till tomorrow at the earliest: in view of the heat, fridges and freezers are on strike in half of Lindau. By then the pistachio will be soup.
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B
Und wenn Sie aus der Suppe einfach Milchshakes machen? Die müssen doch sowieso flüssig sein, und bei der Hitze wollen alle was zu trinken.
What if you just turn the soup into milkshakes? They're meant to be runny anyway, and in this heat everyone wants something to drink.
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A
Moment mal. Man nehme geschmolzenes Eis, kalte Milch und einen Mixer, und aus der Katastrophe wird ein Tagesangebot. Es lebe der Milchshake!
Hang on. Take melted ice cream, cold milk and a blender, and the disaster becomes today's special. Long live the milkshake!
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B
Aber Sie brauchen ein Schild, sonst merkt das keiner. Soll ich es schreiben? Ich hab in Kunst eine Eins.
But you need a sign, or nobody will notice. Shall I write it? I've got top marks in art.
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A
Gern, schreib: „Infolge eines technischen Defekts wird heute kein Eis verkauft, es sei denn, man trinkt es.“
Go ahead, write: 'Owing to a technical fault, no ice cream will be sold today, unless you drink it.'
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B
Das klingt wie eine Durchsage bei der Bahn, Herr Kessler. Ich schreib lieber: „Hitzefrei fürs Eis! Heute gibt's alle Sorten zum Trinken.“
That sounds like a Deutsche Bahn announcement, Mr Kessler. I'd rather write: 'The ice cream's got the day off for the heat! All flavours to drink today.'
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A
Hitzefrei fürs Eis, herrlich. Hiermit ernenne ich dich zum offiziellen Krisenberater, Honorar zahlbar in Eis, sobald die Truhe wieder läuft.
A heat day off for the ice cream, wonderful. I hereby appoint you official crisis adviser, fee payable in ice cream as soon as the freezer's working again.
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B
Dann will ich das schriftlich: eine Kugel pro Tag bis zum Ende der Sommerferien. Und den ersten Milchshake als Vorschuss, bitte.
Then I want it in writing: one scoop a day till the end of the summer holidays. And the first milkshake as an advance, please.
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