Anne of Green Gables — Page 9
There's never anybody to be had but those stupid, half-grown little French boys; and as soon as you do get one broke into your ways and taught something he's up and off to the lobster canneries or the States.
Nunca hay nadie disponible excepto esos estúpidos muchachitos franceses a medio crecer; y en cuanto logras que uno se adapte a tus costumbres y aprenda algo, se larga a las conserveras de langosta o a los Estados Unidos.
At first Matthew suggested getting a Home boy.
Al principio Matthew sugirió traer un chico de los hospicios.
But I said 'no' flat to that.
Pero yo me negué rotundamente.
'They may be all right--I'm not saying they're not--but no London street Arabs for me,' I said.
«Puede que estén bien —no digo que no— pero a mí no me vengan con pilluelos callejeros de Londres», dije.
'Give me a native born at least.
«Dennme al menos uno nacido aquí.
There'll be a risk, no matter who we get.
Habrá riesgo con cualquiera que traigamos.
But I'll feel easier in my mind and sleep sounder at nights if we get a born Canadian.'
Pero estaré más tranquila y dormiré mejor por las noches si traemos a un canadiense de nacimiento.»
So in the end we decided to ask Mrs. Spencer to pick us out one when she went over to get her little girl.
Así que al final decidimos pedirle a la señora Spencer que nos eligiera uno cuando fuera a recoger a su niña.
We heard last week she was going, so we sent her word by Richard Spencer's folks at Carmody to bring us a smart, likely boy of about ten or eleven.
La semana pasada nos enteramos de que iba a ir, así que le mandamos recado a través de la familia de Richard Spencer en Carmody para que nos trajera un muchacho listo y prometedor de unos diez u once años.
We decided that would be the best age--old enough to be of some use in doing chores right off and young enough to be trained up proper.
Decidimos que esa sería la mejor edad: lo bastante mayor para ser de utilidad en las tareas del hogar desde el principio, y lo bastante joven para ser educado correctamente.
We mean to give him a good home and schooling.
Tenemos la intención de darle un buen hogar y educación.
We had a telegram from Mrs. Alexander Spencer today--the mail-man brought it from the station--saying they were coming on the five-thirty train tonight.
Hoy recibimos un telegrama de la señora Alexander Spencer —el cartero lo trajo desde la estación— diciendo que llegarían en el tren de las cinco y media esta noche.
So Matthew went to Bright River to meet him.
Así que Matthew fue a Bright River a recibirlo.
Mrs. Spencer will drop him off there.
La señora Spencer lo dejará allí.
Of course she goes on to White Sands station herself."
Ella, por supuesto, continúa hasta la estación de White Sands.»
Mrs.
La señora
Vocabulary
- Nunca
- Never; at no time or occasion
- hay
- There is/are; expresses existence of something
- nadie
- Nobody; no person at all
- disponible
- Available; ready or accessible for use
- excepto
- Except; excluding a particular person or thing
- esos
- Those; demonstrative pronoun referring to distant things
- estúpidos
- Stupid; lacking intelligence or good judgment
- muchachitos
- Little boys; diminutive of boys or young males
- franceses
- French people; nationals or citizens of France
- medio
- Half; middle; halfway through something
- crecer
- To grow; to increase in size or maturity
- cuanto
- As soon as; how much; in relation to quantity
- logras
- You manage; you succeed in achieving something
- adapte
- Adapts; adjusts to new conditions or environment
- costumbres
- Customs; habits or traditional practices of a group
- aprenda
- Learns; acquires knowledge or a skill
- algo
- Something; an unspecified thing or amount
- larga
- Long; of great length or duration
- langosta
- Lobster; large marine crustacean used as food
- Estados
- States; political subdivisions of a country
- Unidos
- United; joined together as one entity
- principio
- Beginning; the start or first part of something
- sugirió
- Suggested; proposed an idea or course of action
- traer
- To bring; to carry something to a place
- chico
- Boy; a young male person
- negué
- Refused; declined to agree or comply firmly
- rotundamente
- Flatly; absolutely and emphatically refusing something
- Puede
- May; can; expresses possibility or permission
- estén
- They are; subjunctive of estar for third person plural
- bien
- Well; good; in a satisfactory or correct manner
- digo
- I say; I mean; first-person present of decir
- vengan
- Come; subjunctive or imperative of venir plural
- callejeros
- Street; roaming the streets without a home
- dije
- I said; first-person singular past tense of decir
- menos
- Less; fewer; at least when used with al menos
- nacido
- Born; having come into existence through birth
- aquí
- Here; in this place or location
- Habrá
- There will be; future tense of haber
- riesgo
- Risk; possibility of harm or negative outcome
- cualquiera
- Whatever; whichever; any one of several options
- traigamos
- We bring; first-person plural subjunctive of traer
- estaré
- I will be; first-person future tense of estar
- tranquila
- Calm; peaceful; free from worry or anxiety
- dormiré
- I will sleep; first-person future tense of dormir
- mejor
- Better; of a higher quality or more satisfactory
- noches
- Nights; the dark periods between sunset and sunrise
- si
- If; conjunction introducing a conditional clause
- traemos
- We bring; first-person plural present of traer
- canadiense
- Canadian; relating to or from Canada
- nacimiento
- Birth; the event of being born
- Así
- Thus; so; in this way or manner
- final
- End; final; the last part of something
- decidimos
- We decided; first-person plural past tense of decidir
- pedirle
- To ask her/him; to request something from someone
- señora
- Mrs.; madam; respectful address for a woman
- eligiera
- Would choose; past subjunctive of elegir
- cuando
- When; at the time that something happens
- fuera
- Would go; past subjunctive of ir
- recoger
- To pick up; to collect someone or something
- niña
- Girl; a young female child
- semana
- Week; a period of seven consecutive days
- pasada
- Last; past; referring to the previous period
- enteramos
- We found out; we learned about something
- iba
- Was going; imperfect tense of ir indicating intention
- ir
- To go; basic verb of movement or travel
- así
- So; thus; in this way
- mandamos
- We sent; we ordered; first-person plural past of mandar
- recado
- Message; a short communication sent to someone
- través
- Through; across; via a means or intermediary
- familia
- Family; a group of related people living together
- trajera
- Would bring; past subjunctive of traer
- muchacho
- Boy; a young male; a lad
- listo
- Smart; ready; clever and capable
- prometedor
- Promising; showing signs of future success
- diez
- Ten; the number 10
- once
- Eleven; the number 11
- años
- Years; units of time equal to twelve months
- Decidimos
- We decided; resolved to take a specific course
- sería
- Would be; conditional tense of ser
- edad
- Age; the length of time someone has lived
- bastante
- Enough; quite; sufficiently large or adequate
- mayor
- Older; greater; larger in size or importance
- ser
- To be; fundamental verb expressing permanent identity
- utilidad
- Usefulness; the quality of being practical or helpful
- tareas
- Tasks; chores; duties or assignments to be done
- hogar
- Home; household; the place where one lives
- desde
- Since; from; indicating a starting point in time
- joven
- Young; youth; a person of young age
- educado
- Educated; well-mannered; raised with proper instruction
- correctamente
- Correctly; properly; in an accurate or appropriate manner
- Tenemos
- We have; first-person plural present of tener
- intención
- Intention; a plan or aim to do something
- darle
- To give him/her; infinitive of dar with pronoun
- buen
- Good; shortened form of bueno before masculine nouns
- educación
- Education; the process of learning and being taught
- Hoy
- Today; on this current day
- recibimos
- We received; first-person plural past of recibir
- cartero
- Postman; mail carrier who delivers letters
- trajo
- Brought; third-person singular preterite of traer
- estación
- Station; a stopping place for trains or buses
- diciendo
- Saying; present participle of decir
- llegarían
- They would arrive; conditional tense of llegar
- tren
- Train; a vehicle running on rails carrying passengers
- cinco
- Five; the number 5
- media
- Half; half past the hour in time expressions
- noche
- Night; the period of darkness after sunset
- fue
- Went; was; third-person singular preterite of ir/ser
- recibirlo
- To receive him; infinitive of recibir with pronoun
- dejará
- Will leave; third-person singular future of dejar
- allí
- There; in that place over there
- supuesto
- Supposed; assumed; taken for granted
- continúa
- Continues; goes on without stopping
- hasta
- Until; up to; as far as a point
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →