A Tale of Two Cities — Page 7
You've got a dutiful mother, you have, my son.
Hai una madre premurosa, sì che ce l'hai, figlio mio.
You've got a religious mother, you have, my boy: going and flopping herself down, and praying that the bread-and-butter may be snatched out of the mouth of her only child."
Hai una madre pia, sì che ce l'hai, ragazzo mio: che va a buttarsi in ginocchio a pregare che il pane e il burro vengano strappati di bocca al suo unico figlio."
Master Cruncher (who was in his shirt) took this very ill, and, turning to his mother, strongly deprecated any praying away of his personal board.
Il giovane Cruncher (che era in camicia) la prese molto a male, e, rivolgendosi alla madre, protestò energicamente contro qualsiasi preghiera che mettesse a rischio il suo vitto personale.
"And what do you suppose, you conceited female," said Mr. Cruncher, with unconscious inconsistency, "that the worth of _your_ prayers may be?
«E quanto credi tu, vanitosa donnetta,» disse il signor Cruncher, con inconsapevole contraddizione, «che valgano le _tue_ preghiere?
Name the price that you put _your_ prayers at!"
Dimmi tu il prezzo che dai alle _tue_ preghiere!»
"They only come from the heart, Jerry. They are worth no more than that."
«Vengono solo dal cuore, Jerry. Non valgono più di tanto.»
"Worth no more than that," repeated Mr. Cruncher.
«Non valgono più di tanto,» ripeté il signor Cruncher.
"They ain't worth much, then.
«Allora non valgono granché.
Whether or no, I won't be prayed agin, I tell you.
In ogni caso, non voglio essere ostacolato dalle preghiere, ve lo dico io.
I can't afford it.
Non me lo posso permettere.
I'm not a going to be made unlucky by _your_ sneaking.
Non ho intenzione di lasciarmi rovinare la fortuna dalle _tue_ macchinazioni subdole.
If you must go flopping yourself down, flop in favour of your husband and child, and not in opposition to 'em.
Se proprio devi buttarti in ginocchio, fallo in favore di tuo marito e di tuo figlio, e non contro di loro.
If I had had any but a unnat'ral wife, and this poor boy had had any but a unnat'ral mother, I might have made some money last week instead of being counter-prayed and countermined and religiously circumwented into the worst of luck.
Se avessi avuto una moglie diversa da questa snaturata, e se questo povero ragazzo avesse avuto una madre diversa da questa snaturata, avrei potuto guadagnare qualcosa la settimana scorsa invece di essere contrastato dalle preghiere e sabotato e aggirato per vie religiose fino alla peggiore delle fortune.
B-u-u-ust me!" said Mr.
M-a-a-aledizione!» disse il signor
Vocabulary
- Hai
- You have (second person singular of avere)
- una
- A, an (feminine indefinite article)
- madre
- Mother, a female parent
- premurosa
- Caring, attentive, considerate (feminine adjective)
- sì
- Yes, an affirmative response
- che
- That, which, who (conjunction or pronoun)
- ce
- There, here (clitic pronoun particle)
- l'
- The (elided definite article before vowel)
- hai
- You have (second person singular of avere)
- figlio
- Son, a male child
- mio
- My, mine (masculine possessive adjective)
- pia
- Pious, devoutly religious (feminine adjective)
- ragazzo
- Boy, young man, youth
- va
- Goes, he/she/it goes (present tense)
- a
- To, at (preposition indicating direction or location)
- buttarsi
- To throw oneself, to fling oneself down
- in
- In, into (preposition of place or state)
- ginocchio
- Knee, the joint of the leg
- pregare
- To pray, to beg or implore someone
- il
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- pane
- Bread, a staple baked food
- e
- And (conjunction linking words or clauses)
- burro
- Butter, a dairy fat spread
- vengano
- May they come (third person plural subjunctive)
- strappati
- Torn away, snatched (past participle, masculine plural)
- di
- Of, from (very common Italian preposition)
- bocca
- Mouth, the oral cavity of a person
- al
- To the (contraction of a and il)
- suo
- His, her, its (possessive adjective)
- unico
- Only, unique, sole (masculine adjective)
- Il
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- giovane
- Young, a youth or young person
- era
- Was, he/she/it was (imperfect tense)
- camicia
- Shirt, a garment worn on the upper body
- la
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- prese
- Took, received (third person singular past tense)
- molto
- Very, much, a lot (adverb of degree)
- male
- Badly, poorly; evil or harm
- rivolgendosi
- Turning to, addressing oneself to someone
- alla
- To the (contraction of a and la)
- protestò
- Protested, objected strongly (third person past tense)
- energicamente
- Energetically, forcefully, with great vigor
- contro
- Against, in opposition to something
- qualsiasi
- Any, whatever, whichever (indefinite adjective)
- preghiera
- Prayer, a religious supplication or plea
- mettesse
- Might put, would place (imperfect subjunctive)
- rischio
- Risk, danger, a hazardous situation
- vitto
- Food, sustenance, daily nourishment
- personale
- Personal, individual; staff or personnel
- E
- And (conjunction linking words or clauses)
- quanto
- How much, how many (interrogative adjective)
- credi
- You believe, you think (second person singular)
- tu
- You (second person singular pronoun)
- vanitosa
- Vain, conceited, self-absorbed (feminine adjective)
- donnetta
- Little woman, insignificant woman (diminutive noun)
- disse
- Said, told (third person singular past tense)
- signor
- Mister, sir (title used before a surname)
- con
- With (preposition indicating accompaniment or means)
- inconsapevole
- Unaware, unconscious, not knowing something
- contraddizione
- Contradiction, inconsistency between two statements
- valgano
- May they be worth (third person plural subjunctive)
- le
- The (feminine plural article); to her (pronoun)
- _tue_
- Your (feminine plural possessive, italicized for emphasis)
- preghiere
- Prayers, religious supplications (feminine plural)
- Dimmi
- Tell me (imperative form of dire with mi)
- prezzo
- Price, cost, the value of something
- dai
- You give; come on (informal exclamation)
- alle
- To the (contraction of a and le)
- Vengono
- They come (third person plural present tense)
- solo
- Only, alone, just (adverb or adjective)
- dal
- From the (contraction of da and il)
- cuore
- Heart, the organ; seat of emotions
- Non
- Not (negation word used before verbs)
- valgono
- They are worth (third person plural present)
- più
- More, anymore, no longer (adverb)
- tanto
- So much, that much, a lot
- ripeté
- Repeated, said again (third person past tense)
- Allora
- Then, so, well then (discourse connector)
- non
- Not (negation particle before verbs)
- granché
- Much, particularly good (used in negation)
- In
- In, into (preposition of place or state)
- ogni
- Every, each (invariable adjective)
- caso
- Case, situation; in any case
- voglio
- I want (first person singular of volere)
- essere
- To be (infinitive of the verb essere)
- ostacolato
- Hindered, obstructed (past participle of ostacolare)
- dalle
- By the, from the (contraction da and le)
- ve
- To you (plural indirect object clitic pronoun)
- lo
- Him, it (masculine singular direct object pronoun)
- dico
- I say, I tell (first person singular present)
- io
- I, the first person singular pronoun
- me
- Me (stressed form of the pronoun mi)
- posso
- I can, I am able (first person present)
- permettere
- To permit, to allow, to afford something
- ho
- I have (first person singular of avere)
- intenzione
- Intention, plan, purpose of doing something
- lasciarmi
- To let myself, to allow myself (reflexive)
- rovinare
- To ruin, to destroy, to spoil something
- fortuna
- Fortune, luck, wealth or good fate
- macchinazioni
- Machinations, schemes, devious plotting
- subdole
- Devious, sneaky, underhanded (feminine plural)
- Se
- If (conditional conjunction introducing hypothesis)
- proprio
- Really, indeed; one's own (adjective/adverb)
- devi
- You must, you have to (second person singular)
- buttarti
- To throw yourself, to fling yourself down
- fallo
- Do it (imperative of fare with lo attached)
- favore
- Favor, benefit; please (per favore)
- tuo
- Your, yours (masculine singular possessive adjective)
- marito
- Husband, a married male partner
- loro
- They, them, their (third person plural pronoun)
- avessi
- Had (first person imperfect subjunctive of avere)
- avuto
- Had (past participle of avere)
- moglie
- Wife, a female spouse or partner
- diversa
- Different, unlike, varied (feminine adjective)
- da
- From, by, since (versatile Italian preposition)
- questa
- This (feminine singular demonstrative adjective/pronoun)
- snaturata
- Unnatural, heartless, cruel (feminine adjective)
- se
- If (conditional conjunction); himself/herself (reflexive)
- questo
- This (masculine singular demonstrative adjective/pronoun)
- povero
- Poor, wretched, unfortunate (masculine adjective)
- avesse
- Had (third person imperfect subjunctive of avere)
- avrei
- I would have (first person conditional of avere)
- potuto
- Been able (past participle of potere)
- guadagnare
- To earn, to gain, to make money
- qualcosa
- Something, anything (indefinite pronoun)
- settimana
- Week, a period of seven days
- scorsa
- Last, past (feminine adjective, as in last week)
- invece
- Instead, on the contrary, rather
- contrastato
- Opposed, contrasted, hindered (past participle)
- sabotato
- Sabotaged, undermined deliberately (past participle)
- aggirato
- Circumvented, gone around (past participle)
- per
- For, through, by (common Italian preposition)
- vie
- Ways, means, paths (feminine plural noun)
- religiose
- Religious, devout (feminine plural adjective)
- fino
- Until, up to, as far as (preposition)
- peggiore
- Worse, worst (comparative/superlative adjective)
- delle
- Of the (contraction of di and le)
- fortune
- Fortunes, fates (feminine plural of fortuna)
- M-a-a-aledizione
- D-a-a-amn, curse (emphatic spelled-out expletive)
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