A Tale of Two Cities — Page 9
In the meantime, his son, whose head was garnished with tenderer spikes, and whose young eyes stood close by one another, as his father's did, kept the required watch upon his mother.
Nel frattempo, suo figlio, la cui testa era ornata di punte più tenere, e i cui giovani occhi erano vicini l'uno all'altro, come quelli di suo padre, teneva il dovuto controllo su sua madre.
He greatly disturbed that poor woman at intervals, by darting out of his sleeping closet, where he made his toilet, with a suppressed cry of "You are going to flop, mother. --Halloa, father!" and, after raising this fictitious alarm, darting in again with an undutiful grin.
Disturbava molto quella povera donna a intervalli, balzando fuori dal suo stanzino da letto, dove si preparava, con un grido soffocato di «Stai per cedere, mamma. --Ehi, papà!» e, dopo aver lanciato questo falso allarme, rientrando di nuovo con un sorriso irrispettoso.
Mr. Cruncher's temper was not at all improved when he came to his breakfast.
L'umore del signor Cruncher non era affatto migliorato quando si presentò a fare colazione.
He resented Mrs. Cruncher's saying grace with particular animosity.
Egli mal sopportava con particolare animosità il fatto che la signora Cruncher recitasse il benedicite.
"Now, Aggerawayter! What are you up to? At it again?"
«Allora, Rompisc...! Che cosa stai facendo? Ancora con questa storia?»
His wife explained that she had merely "asked a blessing."
Sua moglie spiegò che aveva semplicemente «chiesto una benedizione».
"Don't do it!" said Mr. Crunches looking about, as if he rather expected to see the loaf disappear under the efficacy of his wife's petitions.
«Non farlo!» disse il signor Cruncher guardandosi intorno, come se si aspettasse di vedere il pane sparire grazie all'efficacia delle preghiere di sua moglie.
"I ain't a going to be blest out of house and home.
«Non ho intenzione di lasciarmi benedire fino a perdere casa e focolare.
I won't have my wittles blest off my table.
Non voglio che il mio cibo venga benedetto via dalla mia tavola.
Keep still!"
Stai ferma!»
Exceedingly red-eyed and grim, as if he had been up all night at a party which had taken anything but a convivial turn, Jerry Cruncher worried his breakfast rather than ate it, growling over it like any four-footed inmate of a menagerie.
Con gli occhi straordinariamente rossi e un'aria torva, come se fosse rimasto sveglio tutta la notte a una festa che aveva preso tutt'altro che una piega conviviale, Jerry Cruncher tormentava la sua colazione più che mangiarla, ringhiandoci sopra come qualsiasi quadrupede ospite di una serraglio.
Towards nine o'clock he smoothed his ruffled aspect, and, presenting as respectable and business-like an exterior as he could overlay his natural self with, issued forth to the occupation of the day.
Verso le nove si compose nell'aspetto scompigliato e, presentando un'apparenza quanto più rispettabile e professionale potesse sovrapporre al suo sé naturale, uscì a svolgere le occupazioni della giornata.
Vocabulary
- Nel
- In the, within the (contraction of in + il)
- frattempo
- Meanwhile, in the meantime, during that time
- suo
- His, her, its, your (formal possessive adjective)
- figlio
- Son, male child or offspring
- la
- The (feminine singular article or pronoun)
- cui
- Whose, whom, which (relative pronoun)
- testa
- Head, top part of the body
- era
- Was (imperfect tense of essere)
- di
- Of, from, made of (preposition)
- punte
- Points, tips, spikes, pointed projections
- più
- More, most (comparative and superlative)
- tenere
- Tender, soft, delicate, gentle, affectionate
- giovani
- Young, youthful (plural adjective or noun)
- occhi
- Eyes, organs of sight (plural of occhio)
- erano
- Were (imperfect tense of essere)
- vicini
- Near, close, adjacent to each other
- uno
- One, a single item or person
- all
- To the (contraction of a + il)
- altro
- Other, another, different one or thing
- come
- Like, as, how, in the manner of
- quelli
- Those, those ones (plural demonstrative)
- padre
- Father, male parent, paternal figure
- teneva
- Held, kept, maintained (imperfect of tenere)
- il
- The (masculine singular article)
- dovuto
- Proper, due, required, necessary control
- controllo
- Control, supervision, checking, regulation
- su
- On, upon, over, above (preposition)
- sua
- His, her, its (feminine singular possessive)
- madre
- Mother, female parent, maternal figure
- Disturbava
- Disturbed, troubled, bothered (imperfect tense)
- molto
- Very, much, greatly, a large amount
- quella
- That, that one (feminine singular demonstrative)
- povera
- Poor, unfortunate, miserable, pitiful
- donna
- Woman, female person, lady
- intervalli
- Intervals, spaces between, gaps in time
- fuori
- Out, outside, away from inside
- dal
- From the (contraction of da + il)
- da
- From, by, at, since (preposition)
- letto
- Bed, place for sleeping or resting
- dove
- Where, in which place, at which location
- si
- Oneself, himself, herself (reflexive pronoun)
- preparava
- Prepared, was getting ready (imperfect)
- con
- With, accompanied by, together with
- un
- A, an (masculine singular indefinite article)
- grido
- Cry, shout, scream, loud vocal sound
- Stai
- You are (informal present of stare)
- per
- For, in order to, during time period
- cedere
- To yield, give in, surrender, concede
- mamma
- Mom, mother, female parent (informal)
- Ehi
- Hey, an interjection to get attention
- papà
- Dad, father, male parent (informal)
- dopo
- After, following in time or sequence
- aver
- To have (infinitive, usually avere)
- lanciato
- Thrown, launched, cast, hurled projectile
- questo
- This, this one (masculine singular demonstrative)
- falso
- False, fake, not genuine or true
- allarme
- Alarm, warning signal, false warning cry
- nuovo
- New, recent, fresh, modern, novel
- sorriso
- Smile, facial expression of amusement
- umore
- Mood, temperament, spirits, emotional state
- del
- Of the (contraction of di + il)
- signor
- Mister, sir, man (title of respect)
- non
- Not, negative particle in Italian
- affatto
- At all, not at all, in the least
- migliorato
- Improved, made better, enhanced condition
- quando
- When, at which time, as soon as
- presentò
- Presented, offered, appeared (past tense)
- fare
- To do, to make, to have (eat)
- colazione
- Breakfast, morning meal (Italian meal)
- Egli
- He, that man, the subject person
- mal
- Badly, poorly, ill (adverb prefix)
- sopportava
- Tolerated, endured, put up with (imperfect)
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