Anna Karenina — Page 2
She was contented and happy in her children; I never interfered with her in anything; I let her manage the children and the house just as she liked.
Era contenta e felice con i suoi figli; non mi sono mai intromesso in nulla; la lasciavo gestire i bambini e la casa come più le piaceva.
It's true it's bad _her_ having been a governess in our house.
È vero che è stato un male che _lei_ fosse stata una governante in casa nostra.
That's bad!
È una brutta cosa!
There's something common, vulgar, in flirting with one's governess.
C'è qualcosa di ordinario, di volgare, nel civettare con la propria governante.
But what a governess!" (He vividly recalled the roguish black eyes of Mlle. Roland and her smile.)
Ma che governante!" (Ricordò vividamente gli occhi neri e maliziosi della signorina Roland e il suo sorriso.)
"But after all, while she was in the house, I kept myself in hand.
"Ma in fondo, finché era in casa, mi sono tenuto a freno.
And the worst of it all is that she's already ... it seems as if ill-luck would have it so!
E il peggio di tutto è che lei è già ... sembra proprio che la malasorte voglia così!
Oh, oh! But what, what is to be done?"
Oh, oh! Ma cosa, cosa si deve fare?"
There was no solution, but that universal solution which life gives to all questions, even the most complex and insoluble.
Non c'era soluzione, se non quella soluzione universale che la vita offre a tutte le domande, anche le più complesse e insolubili.
That answer is: one must live in the needs of the day—that is, forget oneself.
Quella risposta è: bisogna vivere nelle necessità del giorno — ovvero, dimenticare se stessi.
To forget himself in sleep was impossible now, at least till nighttime; he could not go back now to the music sung by the decanter-women; so he must forget himself in the dream of daily life.
Dimenticarsi nel sonno era impossibile ora, almeno fino alla notte; non poteva tornare adesso alla musica cantata dalle donne delle caraffe; doveva quindi dimenticarsi nel sogno della vita quotidiana.
"Then we shall see," Stepan Arkadyevitch said to himself, and getting up he put on a gray dressing-gown lined with blue silk, tied the tassels in a knot, and, drawing a deep breath of air into his broad, bare chest, he walked to the window with his usual confident step, turning out his feet that carried his full frame so easily.
«Vedremo allora,» disse tra sé Stepan Arkad'evič, e alzandosi indossò una vestaglia grigia foderata di seta blu, annodò i fiocchi, e, aspirando un profondo respiro d'aria nel suo ampio petto nudo, si avvicinò alla finestra con il suo solito passo sicuro, volgendo i piedi verso l'esterno mentre reggevano così agevolmente la sua corporatura robusta.
Vocabulary
- Era
- Third person singular imperfect of 'essere' (to be)
- contenta
- Happy, satisfied, pleased (feminine adjective)
- e
- Conjunction meaning 'and'
- felice
- Happy, joyful, content (adjective)
- con
- Preposition meaning 'with'
- i
- Masculine plural definite article 'the'
- suoi
- Possessive adjective meaning 'his/her own' (plural)
- figli
- Children, sons; plural of 'figlio'
- non
- Negation word meaning 'not'
- mi
- Reflexive/object pronoun meaning 'myself' or 'me'
- sono
- First person plural or singular of 'essere' (to be)
- mai
- Adverb meaning 'never' or 'ever'
- intromesso
- Interfered, meddled, intruded (past participle)
- in
- Preposition meaning 'in' or 'into'
- nulla
- Nothing, anything (negative pronoun)
- la
- Feminine singular definite article or direct object pronoun 'her'
- lasciavo
- I used to let, allow, leave (imperfect tense)
- gestire
- To manage, handle, run (infinitive verb)
- bambini
- Children, kids; plural of 'bambino'
- casa
- House, home (feminine noun)
- come
- As, how, like (conjunction/adverb)
- più
- More, most; adverb of degree
- le
- Feminine plural article or indirect object pronoun 'to her'
- piaceva
- It pleased, she liked (imperfect of 'piacere')
- È
- Third person singular present of 'essere' (to be)
- vero
- True, real, genuine (adjective)
- che
- That, which, who (conjunction/relative pronoun)
- stato
- Been; past participle of 'essere'
- un
- Masculine indefinite article meaning 'a' or 'an'
- male
- Evil, harm, bad thing (noun/adjective)
- _lei_
- She, her; third person singular feminine pronoun
- fosse
- Were (imperfect subjunctive of 'essere')
- stata
- Been (past participle of 'essere', feminine)
- una
- Feminine indefinite article meaning 'a' or 'an'
- governante
- Governess, housekeeper (feminine noun)
- nostra
- Our (feminine possessive adjective)
- brutta
- Ugly, bad, unpleasant (feminine adjective)
- cosa
- Thing, matter, object (feminine noun)
- C'
- Contraction of 'ci' before vowel, meaning 'there'
- qualcosa
- Something, anything (indefinite pronoun)
- di
- Preposition meaning 'of', 'from', or 'about'
- ordinario
- Ordinary, common, vulgar (adjective)
- volgare
- Vulgar, coarse, crude (adjective)
- nel
- Contraction of 'in' + 'il' meaning 'in the'
- civettare
- To flirt, to coquette (infinitive verb)
- propria
- Own, one's own (feminine possessive adjective)
- Ma
- But, however (conjunction)
- Ricordò
- He/she remembered (third person singular past tense)
- vividamente
- Vividly, clearly, brightly (adverb)
- gli
- Masculine plural definite article or indirect object pronoun
- occhi
- Eyes; plural of 'occhio'
- neri
- Black (masculine plural adjective)
- maliziosi
- Mischievous, sly, malicious (masculine plural adjective)
- della
- Contraction of 'di' + 'la' meaning 'of the'
- signorina
- Miss, young woman (feminine noun)
- il
- Masculine singular definite article meaning 'the'
- suo
- His, her, its (masculine possessive adjective)
- sorriso
- Smile (masculine noun)
- fondo
- Bottom, depth, background (masculine noun)
- finché
- As long as, until (conjunction)
- era
- Was, were (third person singular imperfect)
- tenuto
- Held, kept, maintained (past participle)
- a
- Preposition meaning 'at', 'to', or 'in'
- freno
- Brake, restraint, check (masculine noun)
- peggio
- Worse, worst (comparative adverb/adjective)
- tutto
- All, everything, whole (pronoun/adjective)
- già
- Already, yet, formerly (adverb)
- sembra
- It seems, appears (third person singular present)
- proprio
- Really, exactly, just (adverb/adjective)
- malasorte
- Bad luck, misfortune (feminine compound noun)
- voglia
- Desire, wish; also present subjunctive of 'volere'
- così
- So, thus, in this way (adverb)
- si
- Reflexive pronoun or impersonal subject 'one'
- deve
- Must, has to (third person singular of 'dovere')
- fare
- To do, to make (infinitive verb)
- Non
- Negation particle meaning 'not'
- c'
- Contraction of 'ci' before vowel, 'there'
- soluzione
- Solution, answer, resolution (feminine noun)
- se
- If, whether (conjunction)
- quella
- That (feminine demonstrative adjective/pronoun)
- universale
- Universal, general, applicable to all (adjective)
- vita
- Life (feminine noun)
- offre
- Offers, provides (third person singular present)
- tutte
- All, every (feminine plural adjective/pronoun)
- domande
- Questions, requests; plural of 'domanda'
- anche
- Also, too, even (adverb/conjunction)
- complesse
- Complex, complicated (feminine plural adjective)
- insolubili
- Unsolvable, insoluble (plural adjective)
- Quella
- That (feminine demonstrative pronoun/adjective)
- risposta
- Answer, reply, response (feminine noun)
- bisogna
- It is necessary, one must (impersonal verb)
- vivere
- To live (infinitive verb)
- nelle
- Contraction of 'in' + 'le' meaning 'in the'
- necessità
- Necessity, need, requirement (feminine noun)
- del
- Contraction of 'di' + 'il' meaning 'of the'
- giorno
- Day (masculine noun)
- ovvero
- That is, or rather, in other words (conjunction)
- dimenticare
- To forget (infinitive verb)
- stessi
- Ourselves, themselves; reflexive pronoun (plural)
- Dimenticarsi
- To forget oneself, lose oneself (reflexive infinitive)
- sonno
- Sleep, drowsiness (masculine noun)
- impossibile
- Impossible, not feasible (adjective)
- ora
- Now, hour (adverb/feminine noun)
- almeno
- At least, at the minimum (adverb)
- fino
- Until, up to, as far as (preposition)
- alla
- Contraction of 'a' + 'la' meaning 'to the'
- notte
- Night (feminine noun)
- poteva
- Could, was able to (imperfect of 'potere')
- tornare
- To return, go back (infinitive verb)
- adesso
- Now, at this moment (adverb)
- musica
- Music (feminine noun)
- cantata
- Sung; also a musical composition (past participle/noun)
- dalle
- Contraction of 'da' + 'le' meaning 'from the' (feminine plural)
- donne
- Women; plural of 'donna'
- delle
- Contraction of 'di' + 'le' meaning 'of the' (feminine plural)
- doveva
- Had to, was supposed to (imperfect of 'dovere')
- quindi
- Therefore, so, then (conjunction/adverb)
- dimenticarsi
- To forget oneself, put aside (reflexive infinitive)
- sogno
- Dream (masculine noun)
- quotidiana
- Daily, everyday (feminine adjective)
- Vedremo
- We will see (first person plural future of 'vedere')
- allora
- Then, at that time, so (adverb/conjunction)
- disse
- Said, told (third person singular past of 'dire')
- tra
- Between, among, within (preposition)
- sé
- Himself, herself, oneself (reflexive pronoun)
- alzandosi
- Getting up, rising (reflexive gerund of 'alzarsi')
- indossò
- Put on, wore (third person singular past of 'indossare')
- vestaglia
- Dressing gown, bathrobe (feminine noun)
- grigia
- Grey (feminine adjective)
- foderata
- Lined, padded inside (past participle, feminine)
- seta
- Silk (feminine noun)
- blu
- Blue (invariable adjective)
- annodò
- Tied, knotted (third person singular past of 'annodare')
- fiocchi
- Bows, tassels, flakes; plural of 'fiocco'
- aspirando
- Inhaling, breathing in (gerund of 'aspirare')
- profondo
- Deep, profound (adjective)
- respiro
- Breath, breathing (masculine noun)
- d'
- Contraction of 'di' before vowel meaning 'of'
- aria
- Air, atmosphere, tune (feminine noun)
- ampio
- Wide, broad, ample (adjective)
- petto
- Chest, breast (masculine noun)
- nudo
- Bare, naked, nude (adjective)
- avvicinò
- Approached, drew near (third person singular past)
- finestra
- Window (feminine noun)
- solito
- Usual, habitual, customary (adjective)
- passo
- Step, pace, stride (masculine noun)
- sicuro
- Sure, safe, confident (adjective)
- volgendo
- Turning, directing (gerund of 'volgere')
- piedi
- Feet; plural of 'piede'
- verso
- Toward, towards (preposition)
- l'
- Contraction of 'la' or 'lo' before vowel
- esterno
- Outside, exterior, external (masculine noun/adjective)
- mentre
- While, whereas, as (conjunction)
- reggevano
- Supported, held up (imperfect of 'reggere', third plural)
- agevolmente
- Easily, effortlessly, smoothly (adverb)
- sua
- His, her, its (feminine possessive adjective)
- corporatura
- Build, physique, body frame (feminine noun)
- robusta
- Robust, sturdy, strong (feminine adjective)
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →