Alice's Adventures in Wonderland — Page 1
The Lobster Quadrille
La Contradanza de la Langosta
The Mock Turtle sighed deeply, and drew the back of one flapper across his eyes.
La Tortuga Artificial suspiró profundamente y pasó el dorso de una aleta por sus ojos.
He looked at Alice, and tried to speak, but for a minute or two sobs choked his voice.
Miró a Alicia e intentó hablar, pero durante uno o dos minutos los sollozos ahogaron su voz.
"Same as if he had a bone in his throat," said the Gryphon: and it set to work shaking him and punching him in the back.
"Como si tuviera un hueso en la garganta", dijo el Grifo: y se puso a sacudirlo y golpearlo en la espalda.
At last the Mock Turtle recovered his voice, and, with tears running down his cheeks, he went on again:—
Al fin la Tortuga Artificial recuperó su voz, y, con lágrimas corriéndole por las mejillas, continuó de nuevo:—
"You may not have lived much under the sea—" ("I haven't," said Alice)—"and perhaps you were never even introduced to a lobster—" (Alice began to say "I once tasted—" but checked herself hastily, and said "No, never") "—so you can have no idea what a delightful thing a Lobster Quadrille is!"
"Puede que no hayas vivido mucho bajo el mar—" ("No he vivido", dijo Alicia)—"y quizás nunca te hayan presentado a una langosta—" (Alicia comenzó a decir "Una vez probé—" pero se contuvo apresuradamente, y dijo "No, nunca") "—así que no puedes tener idea de qué cosa tan encantadora es una Contradanza de Langosta!"
"No, indeed," said Alice.
"No, en efecto", dijo Alicia.
"What sort of a dance is it?"
"¿Qué clase de baile es?"
"Why," said the Gryphon, "you first form into a line along the sea-shore—"
"Bueno", dijo el Grifo, "primero se forma una línea a lo largo de la orilla del mar—"
"Two lines!" cried the Mock Turtle.
"¡Dos líneas!" exclamó la Tortuga Artificial.
"Seals, turtles, salmon, and so on; then, when you've cleared all the jelly-fish out of the way—"
"Focas, tortugas, salmones, y demás; luego, cuando hayas quitado todas las medusas del camino—"
"_That_ generally takes some time," interrupted the Gryphon.
"_Eso_ generalmente lleva algún tiempo", interrumpió el Grifo.
"—you advance twice—"
"—avanzas dos veces—"
"Each with a lobster as a partner!" cried the Gryphon.
"¡Cada uno con una langosta como pareja!" exclamó el Grifo.
"Of course," the Mock Turtle said: "advance twice, set to partners—"
"Por supuesto", dijo la Tortuga Artificial: "avanzar dos veces, colocarse frente a las parejas—"
"—change lobsters, and retire in same order," continued the Gryphon.
"—cambiar de langosta, y retirarse en el mismo orden", continuó el Grifo.
"Then, you know," the Mock Turtle went on, "you throw the—"
"Entonces, ya sabes", continuó la Tortuga Artificial, "lanzas la—"
"The lobsters!" shouted the Gryphon, with a bound into the air.
"¡Las langostas!" gritó el Grifo, dando un salto en el aire.
Vocabulary
- La
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- de
- Of, from (preposition indicating possession or origin)
- la
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- Langosta
- Lobster (marine crustacean)
- Tortuga
- Turtle, tortoise (shelled reptile)
- Artificial
- Artificial, fake, not natural
- suspiró
- Sighed (past tense of suspirar)
- profundamente
- Deeply, profoundly (adverb indicating depth or intensity)
- y
- And (conjunction connecting words or phrases)
- pasó
- Passed, went by (past tense of pasar)
- el
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- una
- A, an, one (feminine singular indefinite article)
- por
- By, for, through (preposition with multiple meanings)
- sus
- His, her, their, its (possessive adjective, plural)
- ojos
- Eyes (plural of ojo)
- Miró
- Looked at, watched (past tense of mirar)
- a
- To, at (preposition indicating direction or object)
- e
- And (variant of y before words starting with i)
- intentó
- Tried, attempted (past tense of intentar)
- hablar
- To speak, to talk
- pero
- But, however (conjunction showing contrast)
- durante
- During, for (preposition indicating duration of time)
- uno
- One (masculine number)
- o
- Or (conjunction presenting alternatives)
- dos
- Two (number)
- minutos
- Minutes (units of time)
- los
- The (masculine plural definite article)
- ahogaron
- Drowned, choked, stifled (past tense of ahogar)
- su
- His, her, their, its (possessive adjective, singular)
- voz
- Voice
- Como
- Like, as, how (comparative word or adverb)
- si
- If, whether (conditional conjunction)
- tuviera
- Had, were to have (imperfect subjunctive of tener)
- un
- A, an, one (masculine singular indefinite article)
- hueso
- Bone
- en
- In, on, at (preposition indicating location)
- garganta
- Throat
- dijo
- Said, told (past tense of decir)
- se
- Himself, herself, themselves (reflexive pronoun); one, people
- puso
- Put, placed; became (past tense of poner)
- sacudirlo
- To shake him/it (infinitive sacudir plus pronoun)
- golpearlo
- To hit him/it (infinitive golpear plus pronoun)
- espalda
- Back (of body)
- Al
- To the, at the (contraction of a+el)
- fin
- End, finish
- recuperó
- Recovered, regained (past tense of recuperar)
- con
- With (preposition indicating accompaniment or means)
- lágrimas
- Tears (from crying)
- las
- The (feminine plural definite article)
- mejillas
- Cheeks (plural of mejilla)
- continuó
- Continued (past tense of continuar)
- nuevo
- New; again (de nuevo means again)
- Puede
- Can, may, might (present tense of poder)
- que
- That, which, who (relative pronoun or conjunction)
- no
- No, not (negation adverb)
- hayas
- You have (present subjunctive of haber)
- vivido
- Lived (past participle of vivir)
- mucho
- Much, a lot, very (adverb or adjective)
- bajo
- Under, below, beneath (preposition); low, short
- mar
- Sea, ocean
- No
- No, not (negation)
- he
- I have (present tense of haber)
- quizás
- Perhaps, maybe, possibly
- nunca
- Never, ever (negative adverb of time)
- te
- You, to you (informal object pronoun)
- hayan
- They/you have (present subjunctive of haber)
- presentado
- Introduced, presented (past participle of presentar)
- langosta
- Lobster (marine crustacean)
- comenzó
- Began, started (past tense of comenzar)
- decir
- To say, to tell
- Una
- A, an, one (feminine singular indefinite article)
- vez
- Time, occasion; once
- probé
- I tried, I tasted (past tense of probar)
- contuvo
- Contained, restrained, held back (past tense contener)
- apresuradamente
- Hastily, hurriedly, quickly
- así
- Thus, so, like this (adverb)
- puedes
- You can, you are able (present tense poder)
- tener
- To have, to possess
- idea
- Idea, notion, concept
- qué
- What, which (interrogative or exclamatory pronoun)
- cosa
- Thing, matter, object
- tan
- So, as, such (adverb of degree)
- encantadora
- Charming, delightful, lovely (feminine adjective)
- es
- Is (third person singular of ser/estar)
- efecto
- Effect, result, consequence
- Qué
- What, which (interrogative or exclamatory pronoun)
- clase
- Class, type, kind
- baile
- Dance, ball (social event)
- Bueno
- Good, well, okay (adjective or interjection)
- primero
- First, firstly (adjective or adverb)
- forma
- Form, shape; forms (verb formar)
- línea
- Line, row
- lo
- It, him (masculine direct object pronoun)
- largo
- Long, lengthy (adjective); length (a lo largo)
- orilla
- Shore, bank, edge
- del
- Of the, from the (contraction of de+el)
- Dos
- Two (number)
- líneas
- Lines, rows (plural of línea)
- exclamó
- Exclaimed, cried out (past tense of exclamar)
- tortugas
- Turtles, tortoises (plural of tortuga)
- demás
- Others, rest, remaining
- luego
- Then, later, afterwards
- cuando
- When (conjunction or adverb of time)
- quitado
- Removed, taken away (past participle of quitar)
- todas
- All, every (feminine plural adjective)
- camino
- Path, road, way
- _Eso_
- That (neuter demonstrative pronoun)
- generalmente
- Generally, usually, typically
- lleva
- Takes, carries; wears (present tense of llevar)
- algún
- Some, any (masculine singular adjective, apocope alguno)
- tiempo
- Time; weather
- interrumpió
- Interrupted (past tense of interrumpir)
- —avanzas
- You advance, you move forward (present tense avanzar)
- veces
- Times, occasions (plural of vez)
- Cada
- Each, every (adjective)
- como
- Like, as, how; I eat (verb comer)
- pareja
- Pair, couple, partner
- Por
- By, for, through, per (preposition)
- supuesto
- Of course, naturally; supposed (por supuesto phrase)
- avanzar
- To advance, to move forward
- colocarse
- To place oneself, to position oneself
- frente
- Front, forehead; in front of (frente a)
- parejas
- Pairs, couples, partners (plural of pareja)
- —cambiar
- To change, to exchange
- retirarse
- To withdraw, to retire, to leave
- mismo
- Same, self, very (adjective or pronoun)
- orden
- Order, command, arrangement
- Entonces
- Then, so, at that time
- ya
- Already, now, yet (adverb of time)
- sabes
- You know (present tense of saber)
- lanzas
- You throw, you launch (present tense lanzar)
- la—
- The, her, it (feminine direct object pronoun)
- Las
- The, them (feminine plural article or pronoun)
- langostas
- Lobsters (plural of langosta)
- gritó
- Shouted, yelled, screamed (past tense of gritar)
- dando
- Giving (gerund of dar)
- salto
- Jump, leap; I jump (verb saltar)
- aire
- Air, atmosphere
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