A Room with a View — Page 12
It was a real catastrophe, not a mere episode, that evening of hers at Venice, when she had found in her bedroom something that is one worse than a flea, though one better than something else.
Fue una verdadera catástrofe, no un mero episodio, aquella noche suya en Venecia, cuando había encontrado en su dormitorio algo que es un grado peor que una pulga, aunque un grado mejor que otra cosa.
"But here you are as safe as in England. Signora Bertolini is so English."
«Pero aquí está usted tan segura como en Inglaterra. La Signora Bertolini es muy inglesa.»
"Yet our rooms smell," said poor Lucy. "We dread going to bed."
«Sin embargo, nuestras habitaciones huelen mal», dijo la pobre Lucy. «Nos da miedo ir a la cama.»
"Ah, then you look into the court." She sighed. "If only Mr. Emerson was more tactful! We were so sorry for you at dinner."
«Ah, entonces da usted al patio.» Suspiró. «¡Si tan solo el señor Emerson tuviera más tacto! Lo sentimos tanto por usted en la cena.»
"I think he was meaning to be kind."
«Creo que pretendía ser amable.»
"Undoubtedly he was," said Miss Bartlett.
«Sin duda lo era», dijo la señorita Bartlett.
"Mr. Beebe has just been scolding me for my suspicious nature. Of course, I was holding back on my cousin's account."
«El señor Beebe acaba de regañarme por mi naturaleza desconfiada. Por supuesto, yo me estaba conteniendo por consideración a mi prima.»
"Of course," said the little old lady; and they murmured that one could not be too careful with a young girl.
«Por supuesto», dijo la ancianita; y murmuraron que nunca se podía ser demasiado cuidadoso con una chica joven.
Lucy tried to look demure, but could not help feeling a great fool.
Lucy intentó parecer recatada, pero no pudo evitar sentirse una gran tonta.
No one was careful with her at home; or, at all events, she had not noticed it.
Nadie andaba con tanto cuidado con ella en casa; o, en todo caso, ella no lo había notado.
"About old Mr. Emerson—I hardly know. No, he is not tactful; yet, have you ever noticed that there are people who do things which are most indelicate, and yet at the same time—beautiful?"
«En cuanto al viejo señor Emerson, apenas lo sé. No, no tiene tacto; y sin embargo, ¿ha notado usted alguna vez que hay personas que hacen cosas de lo más indecorosas y, sin embargo, al mismo tiempo... ¿hermosas?»
"Beautiful?" said Miss Bartlett, puzzled at the word. "Are not beauty and delicacy the same?"
«¿Hermosas?», dijo la señorita Bartlett, desconcertada ante la palabra. «¿Acaso no son lo mismo la belleza y la delicadeza?»
"So one would have thought," said the other helplessly. "But things are so difficult, I sometimes think.
«Eso es lo que uno habría pensado», dijo la otra, impotente. «Pero las cosas son tan difíciles, a veces pienso.
Vocabulary
- Fue
- Third person singular preterite of 'ser/ir': was or went
- verdadera
- True, real, genuine (feminine adjective)
- catástrofe
- Catastrophe, disaster, terrible event
- mero
- Mere, simple, nothing more than
- episodio
- Episode, incident, particular event or occurrence
- aquella
- That (demonstrative adjective, feminine, distant)
- suya
- Hers, his, yours (possessive pronoun, feminine)
- había
- Imperfect of 'haber': had (auxiliary verb)
- encontrado
- Past participle of 'encontrar': found, encountered
- dormitorio
- Bedroom, room used primarily for sleeping
- algo
- Something, somewhat, an unspecified thing
- grado
- Degree, grade, level of intensity or rank
- peor
- Worse, worst (comparative/superlative of 'malo')
- pulga
- Flea, small blood-sucking insect parasite
- aunque
- Although, even though, even if (concessive conjunction)
- mejor
- Better, best (comparative/superlative of 'bueno')
- usted
- Formal second person singular pronoun: you
- tan
- So, as (adverb of degree before adjectives/adverbs)
- segura
- Safe, secure, certain (feminine adjective)
- inglesa
- English (feminine adjective), a woman from England
- Sin
- Preposition meaning without, lacking something
- embargo
- Used in 'sin embargo': nevertheless, however
- nuestras
- Our (feminine plural possessive adjective)
- habitaciones
- Rooms, especially bedrooms in a house or hotel
- huelen
- They smell (third person plural of 'oler')
- mal
- Bad, badly, poorly (adjective or adverb)
- dijo
- Said (third person singular preterite of 'decir')
- pobre
- Poor, unfortunate, lacking money or pitiful
- Nos
- Us, ourselves (first person plural object pronoun)
- da
- Gives, causes (third person singular of 'dar')
- miedo
- Fear, fright, feeling of being afraid
- ir
- To go (infinitive of common irregular verb)
- cama
- Bed, furniture used for sleeping
- entonces
- Then, at that time, in that case
- patio
- Courtyard, inner outdoor space of a building
- Suspiró
- Sighed (third person singular preterite of 'suspirar')
- solo
- Only, just, alone (adverb or adjective)
- señor
- Mr., sir, gentleman (title of respect for men)
- tuviera
- Had (imperfect subjunctive of 'tener')
- tacto
- Tact, social sensitivity, sense of touch
- Lo
- It, him (masculine direct object pronoun)
- sentimos
- We feel, we regret (first person plural of 'sentir')
- tanto
- So much, so many, as much
- cena
- Dinner, supper, the evening meal
- Creo
- I believe, I think (first person of 'creer')
- pretendía
- Was trying, intended to (imperfect of 'pretender')
- ser
- To be (infinitive of fundamental verb of identity)
- amable
- Kind, friendly, pleasant in manner
- duda
- Doubt, uncertainty about something
- era
- Was (third person singular imperfect of 'ser')
- señorita
- Miss, young unmarried woman (title of respect)
- acaba
- Just finished, ends (third person singular of 'acabar')
- regañarme
- To scold me, to reprimand me
- naturaleza
- Nature, natural character, inherent disposition
- desconfiada
- Distrustful, suspicious, lacking trust in others
- supuesto
- Supposed; 'por supuesto' means of course, certainly
- estaba
- Was (first/third person imperfect of 'estar')
- conteniendo
- Holding back, containing, restraining oneself
- consideración
- Consideration, thoughtfulness, regard for others
- prima
- Female cousin, first female relative of same generation
- ancianita
- Little old lady, diminutive of 'anciana'
- murmuraron
- They murmured, whispered (preterite of 'murmurar')
- nunca
- Never, not ever (negative adverb of time)
- podía
- Could, was able to (imperfect of 'poder')
- demasiado
- Too much, excessively, more than necessary
- cuidadoso
- Careful, cautious, thorough in attention
- chica
- Girl, young woman, informal term
- joven
- Young (adjective); young person (noun)
- intentó
- Tried, attempted (third person singular preterite of 'intentar')
- parecer
- To seem, to appear, to look like
- recatada
- Modest, demure, reserved in behavior (feminine)
- pudo
- Could, was able to (third person preterite of 'poder')
- evitar
- To avoid, to prevent something from happening
- sentirse
- To feel (reflexive infinitive of 'sentir')
- gran
- Great, big (adjective before noun, shortened form)
- tonta
- Foolish, silly, stupid (feminine adjective/noun)
- Nadie
- Nobody, no one (indefinite negative pronoun)
- andaba
- Was walking, went around (imperfect of 'andar')
- cuidado
- Care, caution, careful attention to something
- todo
- All, everything, every (adjective/pronoun)
- caso
- Case, instance, matter, situation
- notado
- Noticed, noted (past participle of 'notar')
- cuanto
- As much as; 'en cuanto' means as soon as
- viejo
- Old man, old (adjective/noun, masculine)
- apenas
- Barely, scarcely, hardly at all
- sé
- I know (first person singular present of 'saber')
- tiene
- Has, have (third person singular of 'tener')
- sin
- Without (preposition indicating absence)
- alguna
- Some, any (feminine indefinite adjective/pronoun)
- vez
- Time, instance, occasion ('a veces' means sometimes)
- hay
- There is, there are (impersonal form of 'haber')
- hacen
- They do, they make (third person plural of 'hacer')
- indecorosas
- Indecorous, improper, lacking decency or decorum
- mismo
- Same, very, itself (emphatic adjective/pronoun)
- tiempo
- Time, weather, period (common masculine noun)
- hermosas
- Beautiful, lovely (feminine plural adjective)
- Hermosas
- Beautiful, lovely (feminine plural adjective)
- desconcertada
- Puzzled, confused, disconcerted (feminine past participle)
- ante
- Before, in front of, faced with (preposition)
- palabra
- Word, term, spoken expression
- Acaso
- Perhaps, maybe, possibly (adverb of uncertainty)
- belleza
- Beauty, the quality of being beautiful
- delicadeza
- Delicacy, sensitivity, fineness of feeling
- Eso
- That (neuter demonstrative pronoun)
- habría
- Would have (conditional of 'haber', auxiliary)
- pensado
- Thought (past participle of 'pensar')
- impotente
- Powerless, helpless, unable to act effectively
- difíciles
- Difficult, hard, challenging (plural adjective)
- veces
- Times, occasions (plural of 'vez')
- pienso
- I think, I believe (first person of 'pensar')
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