%%
%% The LaTeX Companion, 3ed
%%
%% Example 4-3-16 on page I-344 in "paracol --- Several text streams aligned".
%%
%% Copyright (C) 2022 Frank Mittelbach
%%
%% It may be distributed and/or modified under the conditions
%% of the LaTeX Project Public License, either version 1.3c
%% of this license or (at your option) any later version.
%%
%% See https://www.latex-project.org/lppl.txt for details.
%%

\documentclass{tlc3exa}
\pagestyle{empty}
\setcounter{page}{6}
\setlength\textwidth{159.0pt}

  % We have to repeat the columncolor setting after colorspace  and the stopcolor was loaded
  % in the book version. We therefore need this slightly odd repeat here:

  \AtBeginDocument{\columncolor{blue}[0]}

%StartShownPreambleCommands
\usepackage{xcolor,paracol} \columncolor{blue}[0]
\DeclareDocumentEnvironment{displayparacol}{mO{}}
        {\begin{paracol}{#1}[\addvspace{\topsep}#2]}
        {\end{paracol}\addvspace{\topsep}}
%StopShownPreambleCommands

\begin{document}
\noindent Some more typesetting terms \ldots
\begin{displayparacol}{2}
\begin{leftcolumn}  body text     \end{leftcolumn}
\begin{rightcolumn} Mengentext    \end{rightcolumn}
\begin{leftcolumn*} em-dash       \end{leftcolumn*}
\begin{rightcolumn} Geviertstrich \end{rightcolumn}
\end{displayparacol}
\noindent \ldots{} this time only English and German.
\end{document}