Alice's Adventures in Wonderland — Page 1
A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale
Una carrera electoral y una historia larga
They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the bank—the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur clinging close to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and uncomfortable.
Era realmente un grupo de aspecto extraño el que se reunió en la orilla—los pájaros con las plumas empapadas, los animales con el pelaje pegado al cuerpo, y todos chorreando agua, malhumorados e incómodos.
The first question of course was, how to get dry again: they had a consultation about this, and after a few minutes it seemed quite natural to Alice to find herself talking familiarly with them, as if she had known them all her life.
La primera pregunta, por supuesto, era cómo secarse de nuevo: deliberaron sobre esto, y después de unos minutos le pareció bastante natural a Alicia encontrarse hablando familiarmente con ellos, como si los hubiera conocido toda su vida.
Indeed, she had quite a long argument with the Lory, who at last turned sulky, and would only say, "I am older than you, and must know better;" and this Alice would not allow without knowing how old it was, and, as the Lory positively refused to tell its age, there was no more to be said.
De hecho, tuvo una discusión bastante larga con el Loro, quien finalmente se puso de mal humor y solo decía: "Soy mayor que tú y debo saber más;" y esto Alicia no lo aceptaba sin saber qué edad tenía, y como el Loro se negaba rotundamente a decir su edad, no había nada más que decir.
At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them, called out, "Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! _I'll_ soon make you dry enough!" They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse in the middle.
Por fin el Ratón, que parecía ser una persona de autoridad entre ellos, gritó: "¡Siéntense todos y escúchenme! ¡Yo los secaré enseguida!" Todos se sentaron inmediatamente, formando un gran círculo, con el Ratón en el centro.
Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.
Alicia mantuvo sus ojos ansiosamente fijos en él, pues estaba segura de que pescaría un fuerte resfriado si no se secaba muy pronto.
"Ahem!" said the Mouse with an important air, "are you all ready? This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please!
"¡Ejem!" dijo el Ratón con aire importante, "¿están todos listos? Esto es lo más seco que conozco. ¡Silencio todos, por favor!
Vocabulary
- Una
- A, an (feminine singular indefinite article)
- carrera
- Race, career, competition, running course
- electoral
- Electoral, relating to elections or voting
- y
- And (conjunction connecting words or phrases)
- una
- A, an (feminine singular indefinite article)
- historia
- Story, history, tale, narrative
- larga
- Long, lengthy (feminine adjective)
- Era
- Was, used to be (imperfect tense of ser)
- realmente
- Really, actually, truly, in reality
- un
- A, an (masculine singular indefinite article)
- grupo
- Group, set, collection of people or things
- de
- Of, from (preposition indicating possession or origin)
- aspecto
- Aspect, appearance, look, feature
- extraño
- Strange, odd, weird, foreign, unusual
- el
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- que
- That, which, who (relative pronoun or conjunction)
- se
- Reflexive pronoun; oneself, himself, herself, themselves
- reunió
- Gathered, met, assembled (preterite of reunirse)
- en
- In, on, at (preposition indicating location)
- la
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- orilla
- Shore, bank, edge, riverside
- los
- The (masculine plural definite article)
- pájaros
- Birds (plural of pájaro)
- con
- With (preposition indicating accompaniment or means)
- las
- The (feminine plural definite article)
- plumas
- Feathers, plumes, pens
- empapadas
- Soaked, drenched, saturated (feminine plural adjective)
- animales
- Animals (plural noun)
- pelaje
- Fur, coat, animal hair
- pegado
- Stuck, glued, attached, pressed against
- al
- To the (contraction of a + el)
- cuerpo
- Body, torso, physical form
- todos
- All, everyone, everybody (masculine plural)
- chorreando
- Dripping, gushing, streaming (gerund of chorrear)
- agua
- Water (noun)
- malhumorados
- Bad-tempered, grumpy, moody, ill-humored
- e
- And (used before words starting with i or hi)
- incómodos
- Uncomfortable, uneasy, awkward (masculine plural adjective)
- La
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- primera
- First (feminine ordinal adjective)
- pregunta
- Question, inquiry, query
- por
- By, for, through, because of (preposition)
- supuesto
- Of course, supposed, assumed
- era
- Was, used to be (imperfect of ser)
- cómo
- How, in what way (interrogative adverb)
- secarse
- To dry oneself, get dry (reflexive verb)
- nuevo
- New, novel, recent (masculine adjective)
- deliberaron
- They deliberated, considered, discussed (preterite of deliberar)
- sobre
- About, on, over, concerning (preposition)
- esto
- This (neuter demonstrative pronoun)
- después
- After, afterwards, later, then
- unos
- Some, a few, about (masculine plural)
- minutos
- Minutes (plural of minuto)
- le
- To him, to her, to you (indirect object pronoun)
- pareció
- Seemed, appeared (preterite of parecer)
- bastante
- Quite, enough, rather, fairly, sufficient
- natural
- Natural, normal, innate, unprocessed
- a
- To, at (preposition indicating direction or location)
- encontrarse
- To find oneself, meet, encounter (reflexive verb)
- hablando
- Speaking, talking (gerund of hablar)
- familiarmente
- Familiarly, informally, in a familiar manner
- ellos
- They, them (masculine plural pronoun)
- como
- Like, as, how (conjunction or adverb)
- si
- If, whether (conjunction for conditionals)
- hubiera
- Had, would have (imperfect subjunctive of haber)
- conocido
- Known, met, acquainted (past participle of conocer)
- toda
- All, entire, whole (feminine singular adjective)
- su
- His, her, its, your, their (possessive adjective)
- vida
- Life, existence, lifetime
- De
- Of, from (preposition)
- hecho
- Fact, deed, done, made
- tuvo
- Had, got (preterite of tener)
- discusión
- Discussion, argument, debate, dispute
- Loro
- Parrot, lory (bird)
- quien
- Who, whom (relative pronoun for people)
- finalmente
- Finally, eventually, at last, ultimately
- puso
- Put, placed, set (preterite of poner)
- mal
- Bad, badly, wrong, ill, poorly
- humor
- Mood, humor, temper, disposition
- solo
- Only, alone, just, solely
- decía
- Said, used to say (imperfect of decir)
- Soy
- I am (first person singular of ser)
- mayor
- Older, greater, larger, bigger, elder
- tú
- You (informal singular subject pronoun)
- debo
- I must, I should, I owe (first person deber)
- saber
- To know, know how to (verb)
- más
- More, most, plus (adverb or adjective)
- no
- No, not (negation adverb)
- lo
- It, him (masculine direct object pronoun)
- aceptaba
- Accepted, agreed, admitted (imperfect of aceptar)
- sin
- Without (preposition indicating absence or lack)
- qué
- What, which (interrogative pronoun or adjective)
- edad
- Age, era, period of life
- tenía
- Had, was (imperfect of tener)
- negaba
- Denied, refused, rejected (imperfect of negar)
- rotundamente
- Flatly, categorically, absolutely, emphatically, roundly
- decir
- To say, tell, speak (infinitive verb)
- había
- There was, there were, had (imperfect of haber)
- nada
- Nothing, anything (indefinite pronoun)
- Por
- By, for, through (preposition)
- fin
- End, finish, purpose, goal
- Ratón
- Mouse, rat (rodent animal)
- parecía
- Seemed, appeared, looked like (imperfect of parecer)
- ser
- To be (infinitive verb for identity/characteristics)
- persona
- Person, individual, human being
- autoridad
- Authority, power, expert, official
- entre
- Between, among, amid (preposition)
- gritó
- Shouted, yelled, screamed (preterite of gritar)
- ¡Siéntense
- Sit down (plural formal imperative of sentarse)
- escúchenme
- Listen to me (plural imperative of escuchar)
- ¡Yo
- I (first person singular subject pronoun, emphatic)
- secaré
- I will dry (future tense of secar)
- enseguida
- Right away, immediately, at once, straightaway
- Todos
- Everyone, all, everybody (masculine plural)
- sentaron
- Sat down (preterite of sentarse)
- inmediatamente
- Immediately, right away, instantly, at once
- formando
- Forming, creating, shaping (gerund of formar)
- gran
- Great, big, large (shortened form of grande)
- círculo
- Circle, ring, loop, round shape
- centro
- Center, middle, core, downtown
- mantuvo
- Kept, maintained, held (preterite of mantener)
- sus
- His, her, its, your, their (plural possessive)
- ojos
- Eyes (plural of ojo)
- ansiosamente
- Anxiously, eagerly, nervously, with anxiety
- fijos
- Fixed, set, steady, attached (masculine plural adjective)
- él
- He, him (masculine singular subject pronoun)
- pues
- Well, since, because, then, for
- estaba
- Was, was being (imperfect of estar)
- segura
- Sure, certain, safe, secure (feminine adjective)
- pescaría
- Would catch (conditional of pescar)
- fuerte
- Strong, loud, hard, severe, intense
- resfriado
- Cold, chill (illness; also past participle)
- secaba
- Dried, was drying (imperfect of secar)
- muy
- Very, quite, really, much (adverb intensifier)
- pronto
- Soon, quickly, early, promptly
- dijo
- Said, told (preterite of decir)
- aire
- Air, appearance, manner, look
- importante
- Important, significant, major, considerable
- ¿están
- Are you, are they (plural estar question)
- listos
- Ready, prepared, clever, smart (masculine plural)
- Esto
- This (neuter demonstrative pronoun)
- es
- Is (third person singular of ser)
- seco
- Dry, dried, arid (masculine adjective)
- conozco
- I know (first person singular of conocer)
- ¡Silencio
- Silence, quiet (interjection or noun)
- favor
- Favor, please, kindness, service
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