A Tale of Two Cities — Page 1
The Mail
El Correo
It was the Dover road that lay, on a Friday night late in November, before the first of the persons with whom this history has business.
Era el camino de Dover el que se extendía, en una noche de viernes a finales de noviembre, ante la primera de las personas con las que esta historia tiene que ver.
The Dover road lay, as to him, beyond the Dover mail, as it lumbered up Shooter's Hill.
El camino de Dover se extendía, en lo que a él respectaba, más allá del correo de Dover, mientras este ascendía pesadamente por Shooter's Hill.
He walked up hill in the mire by the side of the mail, as the rest of the passengers did; not because they had the least relish for walking exercise, under the circumstances, but because the hill, and the harness, and the mud, and the mail, were all so heavy, that the horses had three times already come to a stop, besides once drawing the coach across the road, with the mutinous intent of taking it back to Blackheath.
Subió la cuesta a pie por el barro junto al carruaje del correo, como hicieron los demás pasajeros; no porque tuvieran el menor gusto por caminar, dadas las circunstancias, sino porque la cuesta, y los arneses, y el barro, y el correo, eran todos tan pesados, que los caballos ya se habían detenido tres veces, además de haber arrastrado el coche una vez a través del camino, con la intención amotinada de llevarlo de vuelta a Blackheath.
Reins and whip and coachman and guard, however, in combination, had read that article of war which forbade a purpose otherwise strongly in favour of the argument, that some brute animals are endued with Reason; and the team had capitulated and returned to their duty.
Las riendas y el látigo y el cochero y el guardia, sin embargo, en combinación, habían leído aquel artículo de guerra que prohibía un propósito que de otro modo estaría firmemente a favor del argumento de que algunos animales brutos están dotados de Razón; y el tiro había capitulado y regresado a su deber.
With drooping heads and tremulous tails, they mashed their way through the thick mud, floundering and stumbling between whiles, as if they were falling to pieces at the larger joints.
Con las cabezas caídas y las colas temblorosas, abrían su camino a través del espeso barro, chapoteando y tropezando de vez en cuando, como si se estuvieran deshaciendo por las articulaciones más grandes.
As often as the driver rested them and brought them to a stand, with a wary "Wo-ho! so-ho-then!" the near leader violently shook his head and everything upon it--like an unusually emphatic horse, denying that the coach could be got up the hill.
Cada vez que el conductor los dejaba descansar y los detenía, con un cauteloso «¡Wo-ho! ¡so-ho-entonces!», el caballo delantero más cercano sacudía violentamente la cabeza y todo lo que había sobre ella, como un caballo de énfasis inusual, negando que el coche pudiera subir la cuesta.
Vocabulary
- Correo
- Mail, post, or courier service.
- Era
- Past tense 'was/were'; also means era or epoch.
- camino
- Road, path, or way to a destination.
- extendía
- Stretched out or extended across a distance.
- noche
- Night; the period of darkness after sunset.
- viernes
- Friday; the fifth day of the work week.
- finales
- End or final part of a period or event.
- noviembre
- November; the eleventh month of the year.
- ante
- Preposition meaning 'before' or 'in front of'.
- primera
- First; feminine form of the ordinal number one.
- personas
- People; individual human beings or persons.
- historia
- Story, history, or narrative account of events.
- tiene
- Third-person singular present tense of 'tener,' to have.
- ver
- To see or to have to do with something.
- respectaba
- Respected; showed regard or deference toward someone.
- allá
- Over there; indicating a distant location or beyond.
- correo
- Mail, post, or postal courier service.
- mientras
- While; conjunction indicating simultaneous actions occurring.
- ascendía
- Was ascending or climbing upward with effort.
- pesadamente
- Heavily; in a laborious, slow, or burdensome manner.
- Subió
- Climbed or went up; past tense of subir.
- cuesta
- Slope or hill; an inclined surface on terrain.
- pie
- Foot; the body part used for walking.
- barro
- Mud; wet, sticky earth mixed with water.
- junto
- Together with or next to; alongside something else.
- carruaje
- Carriage; a horse-drawn vehicle for transporting passengers.
- hicieron
- They did or made; past tense of hacer.
- demás
- The others; remaining people or things in a group.
- pasajeros
- Passengers; people traveling in a vehicle or transport.
- tuvieran
- They had; past subjunctive of tener, to have.
- menor
- Less, lesser, or smaller; comparative adjective of pequeño.
- gusto
- Pleasure, taste, or liking for something enjoyable.
- caminar
- To walk; to move on foot from place to place.
- dadas
- Given; feminine plural past participle of dar.
- circunstancias
- Circumstances; conditions or facts surrounding a situation.
- sino
- But rather; used to contrast a negative with positive.
- arneses
- Harnesses; straps and equipment fitted on draft horses.
- pesados
- Heavy; having great weight or being burdensome.
- caballos
- Horses; large domesticated animals used for riding or pulling.
- detenido
- Stopped or halted; past participle of detener.
- veces
- Times; occasions or instances something happens repeatedly.
- además
- Furthermore, besides, or in addition to something else.
- arrastrado
- Dragged or pulled; past participle of arrastrar.
- coche
- Coach or car; a vehicle for passenger transportation.
- vez
- Time or instance; one occurrence of an event.
- través
- Through or across; used in 'a través de'.
- intención
- Intention or purpose; a plan to do something.
- amotinada
- Mutinous or rebellious; rising up against authority defiantly.
- llevarlo
- To take or carry it; infinitive with direct object pronoun.
- vuelta
- Return or turn; going back to a starting point.
- riendas
- Reins; straps used to control and guide horses.
- látigo
- Whip; a flexible tool used to urge horses.
- cochero
- Coachman or driver who operates a horse-drawn carriage.
- guardia
- Guard; a person protecting or watching over something.
- embargo
- Used in 'sin embargo,' meaning nevertheless or however.
- combinación
- Combination; a union or mixture of several elements.
- leído
- Read; past participle of leer, to read something.
- aquel
- That (over there); demonstrative adjective for distant nouns.
- artículo
- Article; a clause, item, or written piece on topic.
- guerra
- War; armed conflict between nations or groups.
- prohibía
- Prohibited or forbade; past tense of prohibir.
- propósito
- Purpose or intention; a goal one aims to achieve.
- modo
- Way, manner, or mode of doing something.
- estaría
- Would be; conditional tense of estar, to be.
- firmemente
- Firmly; in a resolute, steady, or determined manner.
- favor
- Favor; support for or approval of an idea.
- argumento
- Argument or reasoning; a point made to support position.
- algunos
- Some; an unspecified number of people or things.
- animales
- Animals; living creatures other than human beings.
- brutos
- Brutes; rough, brutish, or irrational creatures or people.
- dotados
- Gifted or endowed; having been granted natural abilities.
- Razón
- Reason; the capacity for rational thought or logic.
- tiro
- Team of draft animals pulling a vehicle or carriage.
- capitulado
- Capitulated; surrendered or yielded after resistance or struggle.
- regresado
- Returned; past participle of regresar, to go back.
- deber
- Duty or obligation; what one is required to do.
- cabezas
- Heads; the uppermost part of an animal or person.
- caídas
- Fallen or drooping; hanging downward in dejection.
- colas
- Tails; the rear appendage of an animal.
- temblorosas
- Trembling or shaking; quivering from cold, fear, or exhaustion.
- abrían
- They opened; past imperfect tense of abrir, to open.
- espeso
- Thick or dense; not thin, referring to mud or fog.
- chapoteando
- Splashing or sloshing; moving through water or mud noisily.
- tropezando
- Stumbling or tripping; losing footing while moving forward.
- estuvieran
- Were; past subjunctive of estar, expressing hypothetical state.
- deshaciendo
- Undoing or falling apart; coming apart at the joints.
- articulaciones
- Joints; the points where bones or parts connect together.
- conductor
- Driver or conductor; the person operating a vehicle.
- dejaba
- Let or allowed; past imperfect tense of dejar.
- descansar
- To rest; to stop and recover from exertion.
- detenía
- Stopped or halted; past imperfect of detener.
- cauteloso
- Cautious; careful and wary to avoid danger or mistakes.
- caballo
- Horse; a large domesticated animal used for riding.
- delantero
- Front or lead; positioned at the front of something.
- cercano
- Nearby or close; situated at a short distance away.
- sacudía
- Shook or jerked; past imperfect of sacudir.
- violentamente
- Violently; in a forceful, aggressive, or intense manner.
- cabeza
- Head; the uppermost part of a body.
- énfasis
- Emphasis; special stress or importance placed on something.
- inusual
- Unusual; not common, ordinary, or expected in context.
- negando
- Denying or refusing; shaking the head in disagreement.
- pudiera
- Could; past subjunctive of poder, expressing possibility.
- subir
- To go up, climb, or ascend to a higher place.
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