Bleak House — Page 4
Well may the court be dim, with wasting candles here and there; well may the fog hang heavy in it, as if it would never get out; well may the stained-glass windows lose their colour and admit no light of day into the place; well may the uninitiated from the streets, who peep in through the glass panes in the door, be deterred from entrance by its owlish aspect and by the drawl, languidly echoing to the roof from the padded dais where the Lord High Chancellor looks into the lantern that has no light in it and where the attendant wigs are all stuck in a fog-bank!
Bien puede estar el tribunal en penumbra, con velas que se consumen aquí y allá; bien puede pesar la niebla en él, como si nunca fuera a disiparse; bien pueden las vidrieras perder su color y no dejar entrar la luz del día en el lugar; bien pueden los profanos de la calle, que espían a través de los cristales de la puerta, verse disuadidos de entrar por su aspecto de búho y por el arrastre monótono de las voces, que resuenan lánguidamente hasta el techo desde el estrado acolchado donde el Lord Alto Canciller mira la linterna que no tiene luz y donde las pelucas de los asistentes están todas sumidas en un banco de niebla.
This is the Court of Chancery, which has its decaying houses and its blighted lands in every shire, which has its worn-out lunatic in every madhouse and its dead in every churchyard, which has its ruined suitor with his slipshod heels and threadbare dress borrowing and begging through the round of every man's acquaintance, which gives to monied might the means abundantly of wearying out the right, which so exhausts finances, patience, courage, hope, so overthrows the brain and breaks the heart, that there is not an honourable man among its practitioners who would not give—who does not often give—the warning, "Suffer any wrong that can be done you rather than come here!
Este es el Tribunal de Cancillería, que tiene sus casas en ruinas y sus tierras marchitas en cada condado, que tiene su lunático agotado en cada manicomio y sus muertos en cada cementerio, que tiene a su litigante arruinado con sus tacones desgastados y su ropa raída pidiendo prestado y mendigando en el círculo de conocidos de cada hombre, que otorga a los poderosos del dinero los medios abundantes para agotar al que tiene razón, que consume de tal modo las finanzas, la paciencia, el valor y la esperanza, que trastorna la mente y rompe el corazón, de suerte que no hay un hombre honrado entre sus practicantes que no daría —que no da a menudo— la advertencia: «¡Sufre cualquier agravio que te puedan hacer antes que venir aquí!
Vocabulary
- Bien
- Well; in a good manner or to a satisfactory degree.
- puede
- Can or is able to; third person singular of poder.
- estar
- To be; to exist or be located in a place.
- el
- The; masculine singular definite article.
- tribunal
- Court; a place where justice is administered.
- en
- In; preposition indicating location or position.
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or association.
- velas
- Candles; wax lights used for illumination.
- que
- That; relative pronoun or conjunction.
- se
- Reflexive pronoun; used with reflexive verbs.
- consumen
- Consume or are consumed; third person plural of consumir.
- aquí
- Here; in this place or location.
- allá
- There; in that place or location.
- pesar
- Weight; or to weigh; heaviness or burden.
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article.
- niebla
- Fog; thick cloud or mist near ground.
- él
- He; masculine singular personal pronoun.
- como
- Like or as; preposition indicating similarity.
- si
- If; conditional conjunction.
- nunca
- Never; at no time; negation of always.
- fuera
- Were; conditional form of ser or estar.
- pueden
- Can or are able to; third person plural of poder.
- las
- The; feminine plural definite article.
- perder
- To lose; to no longer have or possess.
- su
- His, her, its, their; possessive adjective.
- color
- Color; visual property of objects perceived by light.
- no
- No or not; negation particle.
- dejar
- To leave or allow; to permit or abandon.
- entrar
- To enter or come in; to go into.
- luz
- Light; electromagnetic radiation visible to human eye.
- del
- Of the; contraction of de and el.
- día
- Day; twenty-four hour period or daytime.
- lugar
- Place or location; a particular area or spot.
- los
- The; masculine plural definite article.
- de
- Of or from; preposition indicating possession or origin.
- calle
- Street; public road or thoroughfare in a city.
- espían
- Spy or observe; third person plural of espiar.
- través
- Through or across; by way of or by means.
- cristales
- Crystals or glass panes; transparent glass pieces.
- puerta
- Door; entrance or exit of a room or building.
- verse
- To be seen or appear; reflexive form of ver.
- por
- By or for; preposition indicating agent or cause.
- aspecto
- Aspect or appearance; way something looks or seems.
- búho
- Owl; nocturnal bird of prey with large eyes.
- monótono
- Monotonous; lacking variation or dull in sound.
- voces
- Voices or cries; sounds produced by speaking.
- hasta
- Until or up to; preposition indicating extent.
- techo
- Ceiling or roof; upper interior surface of room.
- desde
- From; preposition indicating starting point or origin.
- donde
- Where; relative adverb indicating location.
- Lord
- Lord; English title of nobility or authority.
- Alto
- High or tall; of great height or elevation.
- mira
- Looks or watches; third person singular of mirar.
- linterna
- Lantern; portable light source with protective frame.
- tiene
- Has or possesses; third person singular of tener.
- pelucas
- Wigs; hairpieces worn for style or disguise.
- asistentes
- Assistants or attendants; people who help or support.
- están
- Are; third person plural of estar.
- todas
- All; every one without exception (feminine plural).
- un
- A or one; masculine singular indefinite article.
- banco
- Bench or bank; long seat or financial institution.
- Este
- This; demonstrative adjective or pronoun.
- es
- Is; third person singular of ser.
- Tribunal
- Court; place where justice is administered.
- sus
- His, her, its, their; possessive adjective plural.
- casas
- Houses; buildings where people live or dwell.
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