Bleak House — Page 2
The Close of Esther's Narrative
La conclusione della narrativa di Esther
PREFACE
PREFAZIONE
A Chancery judge once had the kindness to inform me, as one of a company of some hundred and fifty men and women not labouring under any suspicions of lunacy, that the Court of Chancery, though the shining subject of much popular prejudice (at which point I thought the judge's eye had a cast in my direction), was almost immaculate.
Un giudice della Cancelleria ebbe un giorno la bontà di informarmi, in quanto membro di un gruppo di circa centocinquanta uomini e donne non affetti da alcun sospetto di pazzia, che il Tribunale della Cancelleria, sebbene fosse il luminoso oggetto di molti pregiudizi popolari (a quel punto mi parve che l'occhio del giudice si volgesse nella mia direzione), era quasi immacolato.
There had been, he admitted, a trivial blemish or so in its rate of progress, but this was exaggerated and had been entirely owing to the "parsimony of the public," which guilty public, it appeared, had been until lately bent in the most determined manner on by no means enlarging the number of Chancery judges appointed—I believe by Richard the Second, but any other king will do as well.
Vi era stato, ammise, qualche insignificante difetto nel suo ritmo di progresso, ma ciò era esagerato ed era stato interamente dovuto alla «parsimonia del pubblico», il quale pubblico colpevole, a quanto pareva, si era fino a poco tempo prima ostinato nel modo più determinato a non aumentare affatto il numero dei giudici della Cancelleria nominati — credo da Riccardo Secondo, ma andrà bene anche qualsiasi altro re.
This seemed to me too profound a joke to be inserted in the body of this book or I should have restored it to Conversation Kenge or to Mr. Vholes, with one or other of whom I think it must have originated.
Questa mi sembrò una battuta troppo profonda per essere inserita nel corpo di questo libro, altrimenti avrei dovuto restituirla a Conversation Kenge o al signor Vholes, con uno dei quali penso che debba avere avuto origine.
In such mouths I might have coupled it with an apt quotation from one of Shakespeare's sonnets:
In simili bocche avrei potuto abbinarla a una citazione appropriata da uno dei sonetti di Shakespeare:
"My nature is subdued To what it works in, like the dyer's hand: Pity me, then, and wish I were renewed!
«La mia natura è assoggettata a ciò in cui opera, come la mano del tintore: Abbi pietà di me, dunque, e desidera che io fossi rinnovato!
Vocabulary
- conclusione
- Conclusion, final outcome or ending of something
- narrativa
- Narrative, fiction, or storytelling genre
- PREFAZIONE
- Preface or foreword of a book
- giudice
- Judge, a person who presides in court
- Cancelleria
- Chancery, a court of equity or chancellery office
- ebbe
- Past tense of 'avere': he/she had
- giorno
- Day, a unit of time from dawn to dusk
- bontà
- Kindness, goodness, or benevolence toward others
- informarmi
- To inform me, to give me information
- quanto
- As, how much, in the capacity of
- membro
- Member, a person belonging to a group
- gruppo
- Group, a collection of people or things
- circa
- About, approximately, roughly a given number
- centocinquanta
- One hundred and fifty, a numerical quantity
- uomini
- Men, plural of 'uomo' meaning man
- donne
- Women, plural of 'donna' meaning woman
- affetti
- Affected by, suffering from a condition
- alcun
- Any, no (used in negative contexts before noun)
- sospetto
- Suspicion; also suspect as an adjective
- pazzia
- Madness, craziness, or mental insanity
- Tribunale
- Court of law, tribunal where cases are judged
- sebbene
- Although, even though, a concessive conjunction
- fosse
- Subjunctive imperfect of 'essere': were, was
- luminoso
- Bright, luminous, full of light or brilliance
- oggetto
- Object, subject matter, or target of something
- molti
- Many, a large number of people or things
- pregiudizi
- Prejudices, biases, or unfair preconceived opinions
- popolari
- Popular, common among ordinary people
- quel
- That (masculine singular demonstrative adjective)
- punto
- Point, moment, or dot in space or time
- parve
- It seemed, past tense of 'parere'
- occhio
- Eye, the organ of sight in the face
- volgesse
- Subjunctive imperfect of 'volgere': to turn toward
- direzione
- Direction, the course toward which something faces
- quasi
- Almost, nearly, practically but not completely
- immacolato
- Immaculate, spotless, perfectly clean or unblemished
- Vi
- There, or you (formal/plural pronoun or adverb)
- stato
- Been, past participle of 'essere'; also state/nation
- ammise
- He/she admitted, past tense of 'ammettere'
- qualche
- Some, a few, an unspecified small amount
- insignificante
- Insignificant, trivial, of little importance or value
- difetto
- Defect, flaw, or shortcoming in something
- ritmo
- Rhythm, pace, or rate of progress
- progresso
- Progress, advancement or improvement over time
- ciò
- That, this — a demonstrative pronoun for things
- esagerato
- Exaggerated, overstated beyond the actual truth
- interamente
- Entirely, completely, wholly without exception
- dovuto
- Due to, owed, attributable to a cause
- parsimonia
- Parsimony, extreme frugality or stinginess with resources
- pubblico
- Public, the people in general; also audience
- quale
- Which, who — a relative or interrogative pronoun
- colpevole
- Guilty, culpable, responsible for a wrongdoing
- pareva
- It seemed, imperfect tense of 'parere'
- fino
- Until, up to a point in time or space
- poco
- Little, a small amount of something
- tempo
- Time, weather, or tempo in music
- prima
- Before, earlier, or first in time or order
- ostinato
- Stubborn, obstinate, persistently unyielding in attitude
- modo
- Way, manner, or method of doing something
- più
- More, most — comparative and superlative adverb
- determinato
- Determined, resolute, firmly decided about something
- aumentare
- To increase, to raise the number or amount
- affatto
- At all, not at all — used for emphasis
- numero
- Number, quantity, or numerical figure
- giudici
- Judges, plural of 'giudice', legal authorities
- nominati
- Appointed, nominated, designated to an official role
- credo
- I believe, I think — first person present indicative
- Secondo
- Second (ordinal number), or according to
- andrà
- Will go, future tense of 'andare'
- bene
- Well, fine, good — common adverb of manner
- anche
- Also, too, even — additive conjunction or adverb
- qualsiasi
- Any, whatever, whichever — indefinite adjective
- altro
- Other, another, different — indefinite adjective
- re
- King, a male monarch ruling a kingdom
- sembrò
- It seemed, past tense of 'sembrare'
- battuta
- Joke, quip, or witty remark in conversation
- troppo
- Too, too much — indicates an excessive degree
- profonda
- Deep, profound, either literally or figuratively
- essere
- To be — fundamental Italian infinitive verb
- inserita
- Inserted, included, placed within something larger
- corpo
- Body, or main body/text of a document
- libro
- Book, a written or printed literary work
- altrimenti
- Otherwise, or else, in a different circumstance
- avrei
- I would have, conditional tense of 'avere'
- restituirla
- To return it, to give it back to someone
- signor
- Mister, a title of respect for a man
- quali
- Which, who — plural relative/interrogative pronoun
- penso
- I think, first person singular of 'pensare'
- debba
- Must, should — subjunctive of 'dovere'
- avere
- To have — fundamental Italian auxiliary verb
- avuto
- Had, past participle of 'avere'
- origine
- Origin, source, or beginning of something
- simili
- Similar, such, like — adjective indicating resemblance
- bocche
- Mouths, plural of 'bocca', the oral opening
- potuto
- Been able to, past participle of 'potere'
- abbinarla
- To pair it, to match or couple it together
- citazione
- Quotation, citation from a text or authority
- appropriata
- Appropriate, suitable, fitting for the context
- sonetti
- Sonnets, plural of 'sonetto', a 14-line poem
- natura
- Nature, the natural world or innate character
- assoggettata
- Subjected, subdued, made subject to something
- cui
- Whose, whom, which — relative pronoun
- opera
- Work, labor, or artistic/operatic production
- come
- Like, as, how — comparison or manner adverb
- mano
- Hand, the body part at the end of the arm
- tintore
- Dyer, one who dyes fabric or cloth
- Abbi
- Have (imperative of 'avere'): 'have mercy'
- pietà
- Pity, mercy, compassion for someone suffering
- dunque
- Therefore, so, then — a logical conclusion marker
- desidera
- Desires, wishes, wants — third person singular
- fossi
- Were (subjunctive imperfect of 'essere'): if I were
- rinnovato
- Renewed, restored, made new again
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