A Tale of Two Cities — Page 1
The Mail
A Mala-Posta
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 a estrada de Dover que se estendia, numa sexta-feira à noite, no final de novembro, diante da primeira das pessoas com quem esta história tem negócios.
The Dover road lay, as to him, beyond the Dover mail, as it lumbered up Shooter's Hill.
A estrada de Dover se estendia, no que dizia respeito a ele, além da mala-posta de Dover, enquanto ela subia pesadamente a Colina de Shooter.
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.
Ele subia a colina pelo lamaçal ao lado da mala-posta, como faziam os demais passageiros; não porque tivessem o menor gosto por exercício a pé, nas circunstâncias, mas porque a colina, e os arreios, e a lama, e a mala-posta, eram todos tão pesados, que os cavalos já tinham parado três vezes, além de uma vez terem puxado a carruagem através da estrada, com a intenção amotinada de levá-la de volta 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.
Rédeas e chicote e cocheiro e guarda, no entanto, em conjunto, haviam lido aquele artigo de guerra que proibia um propósito que, de outro modo, era fortemente favorável ao argumento de que alguns animais brutos são dotados de Razão; e a parelha havia capitulado e retornado ao seu dever.
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.
Com cabeças abatidas e caudas trêmulas, eles abriram caminho pela lama espessa, debatendo-se e tropeçando de vez em quando, como se estivessem se despedaçando nas juntas maiores.
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 o cocheiro os deixava descansar e os trazia a uma parada, com um cauteloso "Wo-ho! so-ho-então!", o cavalo dianteiro mais próximo sacudia violentamente a cabeça e tudo o que havia nela — como um cavalo extraordinariamente enfático, negando que a carruagem pudesse subir a colina.
Vocabulary
- Mala-Posta
- Historical mail coach used for transporting letters and passengers
- Era
- Past tense of 'ser'; it was, he/she was
- estrada
- Road or highway for travel
- estendia
- Imperfect tense of 'estender'; stretched or extended
- numa
- Contraction of 'em uma' meaning 'in a'
- sexta-feira
- The sixth day of the week; Friday
- noite
- The period of darkness after sunset; night
- final
- The end or conclusion of something
- novembro
- The eleventh month of the year; November
- diante
- In front of or before something
- primeira
- Feminine form of 'first'; the foremost one
- pessoas
- Human beings or individuals; people
- esta
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'this' (feminine)
- história
- A narrative account of events; story or history
- negócios
- Commercial dealings or affairs; business
- dizia
- Imperfect tense of 'dizer'; was saying or said
- respeito
- Regard or concern; respect or relation to something
- além
- Beyond or furthermore; on the other side
- mala-posta
- Historical mail coach for transporting post and passengers
- enquanto
- Conjunction meaning 'while' or 'as long as'
- subia
- Imperfect tense of 'subir'; was climbing or going up
- pesadamente
- In a heavy manner; heavily or laboriously
- Colina
- A small hill or elevated area of land
- colina
- A small hill or gentle elevation of terrain
- lamaçal
- A muddy swampy area; a bog or muddy terrain
- lado
- The side of something or someone; beside
- faziam
- Imperfect tense of 'fazer'; were doing or making
- demais
- The rest or the others; too much or remaining
- passageiros
- People traveling in a vehicle; passengers
- tivessem
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'ter'; had (subjunctive mood)
- menor
- Smaller or least; the slightest or minor
- gosto
- Preference or taste for something; liking
- exercício
- Physical or mental activity done for training; exercise
- pé
- The foot; also used in 'a pé' meaning on foot
- circunstâncias
- Conditions or factors surrounding a situation; circumstances
- arreios
- Straps and fittings used to control a horse; harness
- lama
- Wet, sticky earth or soil; mud
- todos
- All or everyone; every one of a group
- tão
- Adverb meaning 'so' or 'as' in comparisons
- pesados
- Plural of 'pesado'; heavy or burdensome things
- cavalos
- Plural of 'cavalo'; horses used for work or transport
- já
- Adverb meaning 'already' or 'now'
- tinham
- Pluperfect auxiliary of 'ter'; had (they/you plural)
- parado
- Past participle of 'parar'; stopped or halted
- três
- The number three
- vezes
- Plural of 'vez'; times or occasions
- vez
- A single occurrence or instance; time or turn
- terem
- Infinitive of 'ter' in third person plural; to have
- puxado
- Past participle of 'puxar'; pulled or dragged
- carruagem
- A horse-drawn wheeled vehicle; carriage or coach
- através
- Preposition meaning 'through' or 'across'
- intenção
- A plan or aim to do something; intention
- amotinada
- In a state of mutiny or rebellion; mutinous
- levá-la
- Infinitive 'levar' with pronoun; to take or carry it
- volta
- A return or turn back; back to a place
- Rédeas
- Straps used to guide and control a horse; reins
- chicote
- A flexible instrument for striking; whip
- cocheiro
- Person who drives a horse-drawn vehicle; coachman
- guarda
- A person who watches or protects; guard
- entanto
- Used in 'no entanto' meaning 'however' or 'nevertheless'
- conjunto
- A group acting together; set or ensemble
- haviam
- Pluperfect auxiliary of 'haver'; had (they/you plural)
- lido
- Past participle of 'ler'; read (something)
- aquele
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'that' (masculine, distant)
- artigo
- A piece of written work; article or clause
- guerra
- Armed conflict between nations or groups; war
- proibia
- Imperfect of 'proibir'; was prohibiting or forbidding
- propósito
- An aim or goal; purpose or intention
- outro
- Another or other; a different one
- modo
- A way or manner of doing something; mode
- era
- Imperfect of 'ser'; was or used to be
- fortemente
- In a strong manner; strongly or firmly
- favorável
- Expressing approval or support; favorable
- argumento
- A reason or point made in debate; argument
- alguns
- Masculine plural of 'algum'; some or a few
- animais
- Plural of 'animal'; living creatures other than humans
- brutos
- Plural of 'bruto'; brutal, rough, or irrational beings
- dotados
- Past participle of 'dotar'; endowed or gifted with
- Razão
- The faculty of rational thought; reason or logic
- parelha
- A matched pair of horses pulling a vehicle
- havia
- Imperfect of 'haver'; there was or had
- capitulado
- Past participle of 'capitular'; surrendered or yielded
- retornado
- Past participle of 'retornar'; returned or come back
- seu
- Possessive pronoun meaning 'his', 'her', 'its', or 'your'
- dever
- An obligation or responsibility; duty or must
- cabeças
- Plural of 'cabeça'; heads of animals or people
- abatidas
- Plural of 'abatido'; downcast, drooping, or dejected
- caudas
- Plural of 'cauda'; tails of animals
- trêmulas
- Plural of 'trêmulo'; trembling or quivering
- abriram
- Preterite of 'abrir'; they opened or made way
- caminho
- A path or route from one place to another
- espessa
- Feminine of 'espesso'; thick or dense in consistency
- debatendo-se
- Gerund of 'debater-se'; struggling or fighting against
- tropeçando
- Gerund of 'tropeçar'; stumbling or tripping repeatedly
- quando
- Conjunction meaning 'when' indicating time
- estivessem
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'estar'; were (subjunctive mood)
- despedaçando
- Gerund of 'despedaçar'; breaking apart or shattering
- juntas
- Joints connecting parts; or together (feminine plural)
- maiores
- Comparative plural of 'grande'; larger or greater ones
- Cada
- Distributive determiner meaning 'each' or 'every'
- deixava
- Imperfect of 'deixar'; allowed, let, or left something
- descansar
- Infinitive meaning 'to rest' or take a break
- trazia
- Imperfect of 'trazer'; was bringing or carrying
- parada
- A stop or halt; a pause in movement
- cauteloso
- Acting with care to avoid danger; cautious or wary
- cavalo
- A large domesticated mammal used for riding; horse
- dianteiro
- Relating to the front position; foremost or leading
- próximo
- Near in space or time; next or closest
- sacudia
- Imperfect of 'sacudir'; was shaking or jerking
- violentamente
- In a violent or forceful manner; violently
- cabeça
- The upper part of the body containing the brain; head
- tudo
- Everything or all things without exception
- nela
- Contraction of 'em ela' meaning 'in her' or 'in it'
- extraordinariamente
- In an extraordinary manner; remarkably or exceptionally
- enfático
- Expressed with strong emphasis; emphatic or forceful
- negando
- Gerund of 'negar'; denying or refusing something
- pudesse
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'poder'; could (subjunctive mood)
- subir
- Infinitive meaning to go up, climb, or ascend
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →