Coniston — Volume 01 — Page 14
As far as rum was concerned, he was a creature after Aunt Lucy's own heart, for he never touched it: true, gaunt Deacon Ira Perkins, tithing-man, had once chided him for breaking the Sabbath--shooting at a fox.
Per quanto riguardava il rum, era una creatura secondo il cuore della zia Lucy, poiché non lo toccava mai: è vero che il magro diacono Ira Perkins, esattore delle decime, lo aveva una volta rimproverato per aver violato il Sabato--sparando a una volpe.
To return to the book.
Per tornare al libro.
As long as he lived, Jethro looked back to the joy of the monumental task of mastering its contents.
Per tutto il tempo che visse, Jethro ripensò con gioia all'immenso compito di padroneggiarne il contenuto.
In his mind, Napoleon became a rough Yankee general; of the cities, villages, and fortress he formed as accurate a picture as a resident of Venice from Marco Polo's account of Tartary.
Nella sua mente, Napoleone divenne un rude generale yankee; delle città, dei villaggi e delle fortezze si formò un'immagine tanto accurata quanto quella che un abitante di Venezia potrebbe trarre dal racconto di Marco Polo sulla Tartaria.
Jethro had learned to read, after a fashion, to write, add, multiply, and divide.
Jethro aveva imparato a leggere, in un certo senso, a scrivere, addizionare, moltiplicare e dividere.
He knew that George Washington and certain barefooted companions had forced a proud Britain to her knees, and much of the warring in the book took color from Captain Timothy Prescott's stories of General Stark and his campaigns, heard at Jonah Winch's store.
Sapeva che George Washington e certi compagni scalzi avevano costretto una fiera Britannia a inginocchiarsi, e gran parte delle guerre descritte nel libro prendevano colore dai racconti del capitano Timothy Prescott sul generale Stark e le sue campagne, ascoltati nel negozio di Jonah Winch.
What Paris looked like, or Berlin, or the Hospice of St. Bernard--though imaged by a winter Coniston--troubled Jethro not at all; the thing that stuck in his mind was that Napoleon--for a considerable time, at least--compelled men to do his bidding.
Come apparisse Parigi, o Berlino, o l'Ospizio del San Bernardo--benché immaginato attraverso una Coniston invernale--non turbava affatto Jethro; la cosa che gli rimase impressa nella mente fu che Napoleone--per un tempo considerevole, almeno--costrinse gli uomini a fare la sua volontà.
Constitutions crumble before the Strong.
Le costituzioni crollano di fronte ai Forti.
Not that Jethro philosophized about constitutions.
Non che Jethro filosofasse sulle costituzioni.
Existing conditions presented themselves, and it occurred to him that there were crevices in the town system, and ways into power through the crevices for men clever enough to find them.
Le condizioni esistenti si presentarono da sole, e gli venne in mente che vi erano crepe nel sistema municipale, e vie verso il potere attraverso quelle crepe per gli uomini abbastanza astuti da trovarle.
Vocabulary
- Per
- Preposition meaning 'for,' 'by,' or 'through'
- quanto
- As much as; how much; regarding
- riguardava
- Concerned, regarded, related to something
- rum
- Rum, an alcoholic spirit distilled from sugarcane
- era
- Was; third person singular imperfect of 'essere'
- creatura
- Creature, being, or living entity
- secondo
- According to; second; following in order
- cuore
- Heart, the organ or center of emotion
- zia
- Aunt, a parent's sister or female relative
- poiché
- Since, because, given that; causal conjunction
- toccava
- Touched; imperfect tense of 'toccare'
- mai
- Never; ever; used in negative or question contexts
- vero
- True, real, genuine; it is true that
- magro
- Thin, lean, slim; describing a slender person
- diacono
- Deacon, a minor church official or ordained minister
- esattore
- Tax collector, one who collects official dues
- decime
- Tithes, a tenth portion paid as church tax
- volta
- Time, occasion; once; a single instance of something
- rimproverato
- Reprimanded, scolded, reproached for wrongdoing
- violato
- Violated, broken, transgressed a rule or law
- Sabato
- Sabbath, Saturday; the day of religious rest
- sparando
- Shooting, firing; gerund of 'sparare'
- volpe
- Fox, a cunning wild canine animal
- tornare
- To return, to go back to a place or topic
- libro
- Book, a written or printed literary work
- tutto
- All, every, the whole; entire amount or duration
- tempo
- Time; weather; period or duration of something
- visse
- Lived; third person singular past historic of 'vivere'
- ripensò
- Thought back on, reconsidered, reflected upon
- gioia
- Joy, happiness, delight; a positive emotion
- immenso
- Immense, vast, enormous in size or scope
- compito
- Task, assignment, duty to be completed
- padroneggiarne
- To master it; to achieve full command of it
- contenuto
- Content, contents; what is contained within something
- mente
- Mind, intellect; the faculty of thought and reason
- divenne
- Became; third person singular past historic of 'diventare'
- rude
- Rough, rude, harsh, unrefined in manner or style
- generale
- General; military commander; or general in meaning
- città
- City, town; an urban settlement or municipality
- villaggi
- Villages, small rural settlements or communities
- fortezze
- Fortresses, strongholds, fortified military structures
- formò
- Formed, took shape; past historic of 'formare'
- immagine
- Image, picture, mental or visual representation
- tanto
- So much, so many; as much; a lot
- accurata
- Accurate, precise, detailed, careful in execution
- abitante
- Inhabitant, resident, a person who lives somewhere
- potrebbe
- Could, might; conditional of 'potere'
- trarre
- To draw, to derive, to extract from something
- racconto
- Story, tale, short narrative account
- imparato
- Learned, studied; past participle of 'imparare'
- leggere
- To read; the infinitive of the verb 'leggere'
- certo
- Certain, a certain; definite or particular
- senso
- Sense, meaning, direction; a way of understanding something
- scrivere
- To write; infinitive of the verb 'scrivere'
- addizionare
- To add up, to perform addition in arithmetic
- moltiplicare
- To multiply; to perform multiplication in arithmetic
- dividere
- To divide; to split or perform division
- Sapeva
- Knew; third person singular imperfect of 'sapere'
- certi
- Certain ones, some; plural of 'certo'
- compagni
- Companions, comrades, fellow members of a group
- scalzi
- Barefoot, without shoes; plural of 'scalzo'
- costretto
- Forced, compelled; past participle of 'costringere'
- fiera
- Proud, fierce; fair or market; proud female noun
- inginocchiarsi
- To kneel down; reflexive infinitive of kneeling
- gran
- Great, grand; shortened form of 'grande'
- parte
- Part, portion, share; a section of a whole
- guerre
- Wars, armed conflicts between nations or groups
- descritte
- Described; feminine plural past participle of 'descrivere'
- prendevano
- Were taking on; imperfect plural of 'prendere'
- colore
- Color, hue; also character or vividness of something
- racconti
- Stories, tales; plural of 'racconto'
- capitano
- Captain, commander of a ship or military unit
- campagne
- Campaigns, military expeditions; countryside regions
- ascoltati
- Listened to, heard; past participle of 'ascoltare'
- negozio
- Shop, store; a place where goods are sold
- Come
- How, like, as; used in comparisons or questions
- apparisse
- Might appear; imperfect subjunctive of 'apparire'
- Ospizio
- Hospice, refuge, charitable shelter for travelers
- benché
- Although, even though; concessive subjunctive conjunction
- immaginato
- Imagined, pictured mentally; past participle of 'immaginare'
- attraverso
- Through, across; preposition indicating passage through space
- invernale
- Wintry, of winter; adjective relating to winter season
- turbava
- Troubled, disturbed; imperfect of 'turbare'
- affatto
- At all; not at all; used to strengthen negation
- cosa
- Thing, object, matter; a generic noun for anything
- rimase
- Remained, stayed; past historic of 'rimanere'
- impressa
- Impressed, imprinted; fixed firmly in mind or surface
- fu
- Was; third person singular past historic of 'essere'
- considerevole
- Considerable, significant, noteworthy in size or importance
- almeno
- At least; indicating a minimum condition or quantity
- costrinse
- Forced, compelled; past historic of 'costringere'
- uomini
- Men; plural of 'uomo,' adult male humans
- fare
- To do, to make; one of the most common Italian verbs
- volontà
- Will, willpower, desire, determination to act
- costituzioni
- Constitutions, foundational legal documents of nations
- crollano
- Collapse, crumble; third person plural of 'crollare'
- fronte
- Front, forehead; facing; in front of something
- Forti
- Strong ones; plural of 'forte'; the strong people
- filosofasse
- Philosophized; imperfect subjunctive of 'filosofare'
- condizioni
- Conditions, circumstances, states of affairs
- esistenti
- Existing, current; plural adjective from 'esistere'
- presentarono
- Presented themselves, appeared; past historic of 'presentare'
- sole
- Sun; alone, by itself; on its own
- venne
- Came; third person singular past historic of 'venire'
- vi
- There, here; also second person plural pronoun
- crepe
- Cracks, fissures; splits in a structure or system
- sistema
- System, organized structure or method of operation
- municipale
- Municipal, relating to a city or local government
- vie
- Ways, roads, streets; paths or routes
- verso
- Toward, towards; in the direction of something
- potere
- Power; also the verb 'to be able to'
- quelle
- Those; feminine plural demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- abbastanza
- Enough, sufficiently, fairly; adequate in degree
- astuti
- Clever, shrewd, cunning; plural of 'astuto'
- trovarle
- To find them; infinitive with feminine plural clitic
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