Bleak House — Page 1
In Chancery
In Cancelleria
London. Michaelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln's Inn Hall.
Londra. Il trimestre di San Michele appena concluso, e il Lord Cancelliere seduto nella Lincoln's Inn Hall.
Implacable November weather.
Tempo di novembre implacabile.
As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill.
Tanto fango nelle strade come se le acque si fossero appena ritirate dalla superficie della terra, e non sarebbe meraviglioso incontrare un Megalosauro, lungo una quarantina di piedi, che si dondola come una lucertola elefantina su per Holborn Hill.
Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots, making a soft black drizzle, with flakes of soot in it as big as full-grown snowflakes—gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun.
Fumo che scende dai comignoli, formando una leggera pioggerellina nera, con fiocchi di fuliggine grandi quanto fiocchi di neve maturi—in lutto, si potrebbe immaginare, per la morte del sole.
Dogs, undistinguishable in mire.
Cani, indistinguibili nel fango.
Horses, scarcely better; splashed to their very blinkers.
Cavalli, appena meglio; schizzati fino ai paraocchi.
Foot passengers, jostling one another's umbrellas in a general infection of ill temper, and losing their foot-hold at street-corners, where tens of thousands of other foot passengers have been slipping and sliding since the day broke (if this day ever broke), adding new deposits to the crust upon crust of mud, sticking at those points tenaciously to the pavement, and accumulating at compound interest.
Pedoni, che si urtano gli ombrelli l'un l'altro in una generale contagione di cattivo umore, e perdono la presa agli angoli delle strade, dove decine di migliaia di altri pedoni hanno scivolato e slittato dall'alba del giorno (se questo giorno è mai sorto), aggiungendo nuovi depositi alla crosta su crosta di fango, che si attacca tenacemente al selciato in quei punti, e si accumula a interesse composto.
Fog everywhere.
Nebbia ovunque.
Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city.
Nebbia lungo il fiume a monte, dove scorre tra isolotti verdi e prati; nebbia lungo il fiume a valle, dove rotola contaminata tra le file di imbarcazioni e gli inquinamenti rivieraschi di una grande (e sporca) città.
Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights.
Nebbia sulle paludi dell'Essex, nebbia sulle alture del Kent.
Fog creeping into the cabooses of collier-brigs; fog lying out on the yards and hovering in the rigging of great ships; fog drooping on the gunwales of barges and small boats.
Nebbia che si insinua nelle cucine dei brigantini carbonieri; nebbia distesa sui pennoni e che aleggia nel sartiame delle grandi navi; nebbia che pende sui bordi delle chiatte e delle piccole imbarcazioni.
Vocabulary
- Cancelleria
- Chancellery; office of a legal or government chancellor
- Londra
- London; capital city of England
- trimestre
- Quarter; a period of three months
- appena
- Just; barely; having only recently occurred
- concluso
- Concluded; finished; brought to an end
- Cancelliere
- Chancellor; high-ranking legal or government official
- seduto
- Seated; in a sitting position
- Tempo
- Weather; also time or tempo
- novembre
- November; the eleventh month of the year
- implacabile
- Implacable; relentless; impossible to appease or stop
- Tanto
- So much; a lot; used for emphasis
- fango
- Mud; thick wet earth on the ground
- strade
- Streets; roads used for travel or traffic
- acque
- Waters; plural of acqua, referring to bodies of water
- fossero
- Were; subjunctive past of 'essere'
- ritirate
- Withdrawn; pulled back; retreated from a position
- superficie
- Surface; the outer layer or top of something
- terra
- Earth; land; ground beneath one's feet
- sarebbe
- Would be; conditional form of 'essere'
- meraviglioso
- Wonderful; marvelous; inspiring great admiration
- incontrare
- To meet; to encounter someone or something
- lungo
- Long; also along; describing extended length
- quarantina
- About forty; an approximate quantity of forty
- piedi
- Feet; plural of piede, unit of measurement or body part
- dondola
- Sways; rocks; moves back and forth steadily
- lucertola
- Lizard; a small reptile with a long tail
- elefantina
- Elephant-like; resembling or characteristic of an elephant
- Fumo
- Smoke; gaseous product of combustion
- scende
- Descends; comes down; falls from above
- comignoli
- Chimney pots; tops of chimneys on rooftops
- formando
- Forming; creating; in the process of making something
- leggera
- Light; slight; not heavy or intense
- pioggerellina
- Light drizzle; very fine gentle rainfall
- nera
- Black; dark in color
- fiocchi
- Flakes; small soft pieces falling through the air
- fuliggine
- Soot; black powdery residue from burning material
- grandi
- Large; big; great in size or importance
- quanto
- As much as; how much; used for comparison
- neve
- Snow; frozen precipitation falling from clouds
- maturi
- Mature; ripe; fully developed
- lutto
- Mourning; grief; state of sorrow after a death
- potrebbe
- Could; might; conditional form of 'potere'
- immaginare
- To imagine; to picture something in one's mind
- morte
- Death; the end of life
- sole
- Sun; the star at the center of our solar system
- Cani
- Dogs; plural of cane, domestic canine animals
- indistinguibili
- Indistinguishable; impossible to tell apart from surroundings
- Cavalli
- Horses; plural of cavallo, large domesticated animals
- meglio
- Better; more favorable in comparison
- schizzati
- Splattered; speckled; covered with splashes of mud
- fino
- Up to; until; as far as a point
- paraocchi
- Blinders; leather flaps preventing horses from seeing sideways
- Pedoni
- Pedestrians; people traveling on foot
- urtano
- Bump into; collide with; knock against someone
- ombrelli
- Umbrellas; devices for protection against rain
- generale
- General; widespread; affecting many people or things
- contagione
- Contagion; spreading of disease or mood among people
- cattivo
- Bad; poor; unpleasant in quality or character
- umore
- Mood; humor; emotional state of a person
- perdono
- Lose; forfeit; to no longer have a grip
- presa
- Grip; hold; the act of holding firmly
- angoli
- Corners; angles; points where two lines meet
- dove
- Where; in which place or location
- decine
- Tens; groups of ten; dozens of something
- migliaia
- Thousands; large numbers in the thousands
- altri
- Others; other people or things besides those mentioned
- pedoni
- Pedestrians; people walking on foot in public
- scivolato
- Slipped; slid unexpectedly on a slippery surface
- slittato
- Skidded; slid uncontrollably on a slippery surface
- dall'alba
- Since dawn; from the early morning hours
- giorno
- Day; a 24-hour period or daytime hours
- questo
- This; demonstrative pronoun referring to something nearby
- mai
- Never; ever; used in negations or questions
- sorto
- Risen; past participle of 'sorgere', to rise
- aggiungendo
- Adding; contributing more to an existing accumulation
- nuovi
- New; recent; not previously existing or known
- depositi
- Deposits; accumulated layers of material left behind
- crosta
- Crust; hardened outer layer on a surface
- attacca
- Sticks; clings; adheres tenaciously to a surface
- tenacemente
- Tenaciously; stubbornly; with strong persistent grip
- selciato
- Cobblestones; paved stone surface of a road
- punti
- Points; spots; specific locations or places
- accumula
- Accumulates; builds up; gathers in increasing amounts
- interesse
- Interest; financial gain or curiosity toward something
- composto
- Compound; composite; made up of multiple elements
- Nebbia
- Fog; thick mist reducing visibility outdoors
- ovunque
- Everywhere; in all places without exception
- fiume
- River; large natural stream of flowing water
- monte
- Mountain; upstream; uphill direction of a river
- scorre
- Flows; runs; moves steadily like water in a river
- tra
- Between; among; preposition indicating position amid things
- isolotti
- Small islets; tiny islands within a body of water
- verdi
- Green; having the color of grass or leaves
- prati
- Meadows; grassy open fields in the countryside
- nebbia
- Fog; dense mist obscuring visibility in open areas
- valle
- Valley; low area of land between hills or mountains
- rotola
- Rolls; moves by rotating; tumbles along a surface
- contaminata
- Contaminated; polluted; made impure by harmful substances
- file
- Rows; lines; series of things arranged sequentially
- imbarcazioni
- Vessels; boats; watercraft of various sizes
- inquinamenti
- Pollutions; forms of contamination in the environment
- rivieraschi
- Riverside; relating to the banks or shores of a river
- grande
- Great; large; significant in size or importance
- sporca
- Dirty; filthy; soiled or stained with grime
- città
- City; large urban settlement with many inhabitants
- paludi
- Marshes; swamps; wetlands with muddy waterlogged ground
- alture
- Heights; elevated hills or high ground areas
- insinua
- Creeps into; infiltrates; slips through small openings
- cucine
- Kitchens; rooms where food is prepared and cooked
- brigantini
- Brigantines; small two-masted sailing vessels
- carbonieri
- Coal ships; vessels used to transport coal cargo
- distesa
- Spread out; stretched; extended across a wide area
- pennoni
- Yardarms; horizontal poles on a ship's mast
- aleggia
- Hovers; floats; lingers in the air around something
- sartiame
- Rigging; system of ropes supporting a ship's masts
- navi
- Ships; large watercraft for sea or river travel
- pende
- Hangs; droops; is suspended from above
- bordi
- Edges; rims; borders of an object or vessel
- chiatte
- Barges; flat-bottomed boats for transporting cargo
- piccole
- Small; little; of limited size or extent
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