Kleider machen Leute: VIa

Now for the sixth sentence, which comprises the entire second paragraph:

Solcher Habitus war ihm zum Bedürfnis geworden, ohne daß er etwas Schlimmes oder Betrügerisches dabei im Schilde führte; vielmehr war er zufrieden, wenn man ihn nur gewähren und im stillen seine Arbeit verrichten ließ; aber lieber wäre er verhungert, als daß er sich von seinem Radmantel und von seiner polnischen Pelzmütze getrennt hätte, die er ebefalls mit großem Anstand zu tragen wußte.

Seven clauses by my count. So starting with the first clause:

Solcher Habitus war ihm zum Bedürfnis geworden

which translates into English roughly as 'Such a appearance had become a necessity for him'. The verb 'to become' can be approximated in two ways as I understand it. Either a verb with the meaning 'to become something' is created by adding the prefix whaka- to the something — which works for adjectives, nouns and intransitive verbs — or the verb whakamahia 'to cause' is used with kia followed by the transitive verb. The verb hiahia has the meaning 'to need' and is transitive. So if we phrase it as 'he was caused to need such an appearance' then it breaks down as follows:

Subject: he = ia
Verb: caused to need = kua whakamahia kia hiahia [kua is the verbal particle for perfect aspect]
Object: such an appearance = āhua pērā [pērā = like that]

So, the sentence becomes:

Kua whakamahia ia kia hiahia ki āhua pērā

The second clause is a bit more complicated as it starts with a negation 'ohne daß' [without that]. So I'll start with the positive expression: 'er führte etwas Schlimmes oder Betrügerisches dabei im Schilde'. This translates roughly as 'he intended something wicked or deceitful by that', which I'm going to transform into 'his intention by that was wicked or deceitful'.

Noun: intention = whakaaro
Stative verb: wicked = kino
Adjective: deceitful = nuka

So, 'his intention by that was wicked' becomes:

I kino tōna whakaaro i taua āhua

And 'his intention by that was deceitful' becomes:

He nuka tōna whakaaro ki taua āhua

These now need to be negated. So:

Kāore tōna whakaaro i kino i taua āhua

and:

Kāore tōna whakaaro i te nuka ki taua āhua

Using ahakoa [although/despite] to link it to the previous sentence:

Kua whakamahia ia kia hiahia ki āhua pērā, ahakoa kāore tōna whakaaro i kino i taua āhua, ā, ahakoa kāore tōna whakaaro i te nuka ki taua āhua.

The rest can wait for the next post. Any thoughts?