Anna Karenina — Page 4
Most unpleasant of all was the first minute when, on coming, happy and good-humored, from the theater, with a huge pear in his hand for his wife, he had not found his wife in the drawing-room, to his surprise had not found her in the study either, and saw her at last in her bedroom with the unlucky letter that revealed everything in her hand.
Lo más desagradable de todo fue el primer momento cuando, al llegar, feliz y de buen humor, del teatro, con una enorme pera en la mano para su esposa, no encontró a su esposa en el salón, y para su sorpresa tampoco la encontró en el estudio, y la vio por fin en su dormitorio con la fatídica carta que lo revelaba todo en su mano.
She, his Dolly, forever fussing and worrying over household details, and limited in her ideas, as he considered, was sitting perfectly still with the letter in her hand, looking at him with an expression of horror, despair, and indignation.
Ella, su Dolly, siempre agitada y preocupada por los detalles del hogar, y limitada en sus ideas, según él consideraba, estaba sentada completamente inmóvil con la carta en la mano, mirándole con una expresión de horror, desesperación e indignación.
"What's this? this?" she asked, pointing to the letter.
«¿Qué es esto? ¿esto?», preguntó ella, señalando la carta.
And at this recollection, Stepan Arkadyevitch, as is so often the case, was not so much annoyed at the fact itself as at the way in which he had met his wife's words.
Y ante este recuerdo, Stepán Arkádyevich, como suele ocurrir tan a menudo, no estaba tan molesto por el hecho en sí como por la manera en que había respondido a las palabras de su esposa.
There happened to him at that instant what does happen to people when they are unexpectedly caught in something very disgraceful.
Le ocurrió en aquel instante lo que les ocurre a las personas cuando son sorprendidas inesperadamente en algo muy vergonzoso.
He did not succeed in adapting his face to the position in which he was placed towards his wife by the discovery of his fault.
No logró adaptar su rostro a la situación en la que lo había colocado ante su esposa el descubrimiento de su falta.
Instead of being hurt, denying, defending himself, begging forgiveness, instead of remaining indifferent even—anything would have been better than what he did do—his face utterly involuntarily (reflex spinal action, reflected Stepan Arkadyevitch, who was fond of physiology)—utterly involuntarily assumed its habitual, good-humored, and therefore idiotic smile.
En lugar de mostrarse herido, negar, defenderse, pedir perdón, en lugar de permanecer incluso indiferente —cualquier cosa habría sido mejor que lo que hizo—, su rostro, de manera completamente involuntaria (acción refleja de la médula espinal, reflexionó Stepán Arkádyevich, que era aficionado a la fisiología), de manera completamente involuntaria adoptó su habitual sonrisa de buen humor y, por tanto, idiota.
This idiotic smile he could not forgive himself.
Esta sonrisa idiota no podía perdonársela a sí mismo.
Vocabulary
- Lo
- Neuter pronoun used to nominalize or refer to something
- más
- More; used for comparisons or emphasis
- desagradable
- Unpleasant, disagreeable, or offensive to the senses
- de
- Of, from; common preposition indicating origin or possession
- todo
- All, everything, the whole of something
- fue
- Was or went; past tense of ser or ir
- el
- The; masculine singular definite article
- primer
- First; ordinal number before a masculine noun
- momento
- Moment, a brief point or period in time
- cuando
- When; conjunction or adverb indicating time
- al
- Contraction of a + el meaning to the
- llegar
- To arrive, to reach a destination
- feliz
- Happy, joyful, in a cheerful state
- y
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- buen
- Good; shortened form of bueno before nouns
- humor
- Mood, humor; one's emotional state or temper
- del
- Of the; contraction of de + el
- teatro
- Theater, a place for dramatic performances
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- una
- A, an; feminine singular indefinite article
- enorme
- Enormous, very large in size or degree
- pera
- Pear; a sweet, teardrop-shaped fruit
- en
- In, on, at; preposition of location or time
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- mano
- Hand; the body part at the end of the arm
- para
- For, in order to; preposition of purpose or destination
- su
- His, her, its, their; possessive adjective
- esposa
- Wife; a married woman in relation to her husband
- no
- No, not; basic negation word
- encontró
- Found, encountered; past tense of encontrar
- a
- To, at; preposition of direction or personal object marker
- salón
- Living room, salon, or main reception room
- sorpresa
- Surprise; an unexpected event or feeling
- tampoco
- Neither, nor, not either; negative adverb
- estudio
- Study, office; a room used for work or reading
- vio
- Saw; third-person singular preterite of ver
- por
- By, through, for; preposition of cause or means
- fin
- End; conclusion, or finally in por fin
- dormitorio
- Bedroom; the room where one sleeps
- fatídica
- Fateful, ominous; bringing fate or doom
- carta
- Letter; a written message sent to someone
- que
- That, which, who; relative pronoun or conjunction
- lo
- It, him; direct object pronoun for masculine or neuter
- revelaba
- Revealed, was revealing; imperfect of revelar
- Ella
- She; third-person singular feminine subject pronoun
- siempre
- Always; at all times without exception
- agitada
- Agitated, flustered, stirred up or restless
- preocupada
- Worried, concerned, preoccupied with something
- los
- The; masculine plural definite article
- detalles
- Details; small particular facts or elements
- hogar
- Home, hearth; one's domestic dwelling and family life
- limitada
- Limited, restricted; narrow in scope or capacity
- sus
- His, her, their; plural possessive adjective
- ideas
- Ideas; thoughts, concepts, or mental impressions
- según
- According to; as stated or judged by someone
- él
- He; third-person singular masculine subject pronoun
- consideraba
- Considered, used to consider; imperfect of considerar
- estaba
- Was; imperfect tense of estar indicating state
- sentada
- Seated, sitting; past participle of sentar used adjectively
- completamente
- Completely, entirely, in a total manner
- inmóvil
- Motionless, still, not moving at all
- mirándole
- Looking at him; present participle of mirar with pronoun
- expresión
- Expression; look on a face or verbal utterance
- horror
- Horror; intense fear, shock, or disgust
- desesperación
- Desperation, despair; a state of hopelessness
- e
- And; variant of y used before i or hi sounds
- indignación
- Indignation; anger aroused by unfair or offensive behavior
- Qué
- What; interrogative pronoun asking for information
- es
- Is; third-person singular present of ser
- esto
- This; neuter demonstrative pronoun for nearby thing
- preguntó
- Asked, questioned; preterite of preguntar
- ella
- She; third-person singular feminine subject pronoun
- señalando
- Pointing at, indicating; present participle of señalar
- Y
- And; coordinating conjunction joining clauses
- ante
- Before, in front of; preposition of position or situation
- este
- This; masculine singular demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- recuerdo
- Memory, recollection; a remembered past experience
- como
- As, like, how; conjunction or adverb of comparison
- suele
- Usually does; present tense of soler indicating habit
- ocurrir
- To occur, to happen; to take place
- tan
- So, as; adverb used in comparisons or intensification
- menudo
- Often; a menudo means frequently or repeatedly
- molesto
- Bothered, annoyed, uncomfortable about something
- hecho
- Fact, deed; also past participle of hacer
- sí
- Yes; affirmative reply, or reflexive pronoun himself
- manera
- Manner, way; the how or mode of doing something
- había
- Had; imperfect of haber used in past perfect tenses
- respondido
- Responded, replied; past participle of responder
- palabras
- Words; units of spoken or written language
- Le
- To him, to her; indirect object pronoun
- ocurrió
- Occurred to, happened; preterite of ocurrir
- aquel
- That; masculine demonstrative adjective for distant thing
- instante
- Instant, moment; a very brief period of time
- les
- To them; third-person plural indirect object pronoun
- ocurre
- Occurs, happens; third-person singular present of ocurrir
- personas
- People, persons; human beings or individuals
- son
- Are; third-person plural present of ser
- sorprendidas
- Surprised, caught off guard; feminine plural past participle
- inesperadamente
- Unexpectedly, without warning or anticipation
- algo
- Something; an indefinite pronoun referring to a thing
- muy
- Very; intensifying adverb before adjectives or adverbs
- vergonzoso
- Shameful, embarrassing; causing shame or dishonor
- No
- No, not; negation word at sentence level
- logró
- Managed to, succeeded in; preterite of lograr
- adaptar
- To adapt, to adjust something to a new situation
- rostro
- Face; a literary or formal word for the human face
- situación
- Situation; a set of circumstances at a given moment
- colocado
- Placed, put; past participle of colocar
- descubrimiento
- Discovery; the act of finding something previously unknown
- falta
- Fault, lack, mistake; an error or deficiency
- En
- In, on; preposition indicating location or condition
- lugar
- Place; location, or instead of in en lugar de
- mostrarse
- To show oneself, to appear; reflexive form of mostrar
- herido
- Wounded, hurt; past participle of herir
- negar
- To deny, to refuse; to say something is not true
- defenderse
- To defend oneself; to protect or justify one's actions
- pedir
- To ask for, to request something from someone
- perdón
- Pardon, forgiveness; an apology or request for forgiveness
- permanecer
- To remain, to stay; to continue in a state or place
- incluso
- Even, including; adverb adding emphasis or inclusion
- indiferente
- Indifferent, unconcerned; showing no interest or feeling
- cualquier
- Any; indefinite adjective meaning whichever or any at all
- cosa
- Thing; a general word for any object or matter
- habría
- Would have; conditional of haber used in conditionals
- sido
- Been; past participle of ser used in compound tenses
- mejor
- Better, best; comparative or superlative of bueno
- hizo
- Did, made; preterite of hacer
- involuntaria
- Involuntary; done without conscious intention or control
- acción
- Action; something done or a deed performed
- refleja
- Reflex; automatic, instinctive response or reaction
- médula
- Marrow or medulla; core tissue of bone or brain stem
- espinal
- Spinal; relating to the spine or vertebral column
- reflexionó
- Reflected, pondered; preterite of reflexionar
- era
- Was; imperfect tense of ser indicating past state
- aficionado
- Enthusiast, fan; someone fond of a subject or activity
- fisiología
- Physiology; the science of bodily functions and processes
- adoptó
- Adopted, took on; preterite of adoptar
- habitual
- Habitual, usual; done regularly as a habit
- sonrisa
- Smile; a facial expression showing happiness or amusement
- tanto
- So much, as much; adverb or adjective of degree
- idiota
- Idiotic, foolish; the smile of a fool or idiot
- Esta
- This; feminine singular demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- podía
- Could, was able to; imperfect of poder
- perdonársela
- Forgive him for it; infinitive of perdonar with pronouns
- mismo
- Himself, same; reflexive intensifier or adjective of sameness
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →