Cranford — Page 4
"
"
"You must keep thinking about the time, my dear, and not allow yourself to forget it in conversation."
"Debes seguir pensando en la hora, querida mía, y no permitirte olvidarla en la conversación."
As everybody had this rule in their minds, whether they received or paid a call, of course no absorbing subject was ever spoken about.
Como todo el mundo tenía esta regla en mente, ya fuera que recibieran o hicieran una visita, por supuesto nunca se hablaba de ningún tema absorbente.
We kept ourselves to short sentences of small talk, and were punctual to our time.
Nos limitábamos a frases cortas de conversación trivial, y éramos puntuales con nuestro tiempo.
I imagine that a few of the gentlefolks of Cranford were poor, and had some difficulty in making both ends meet; but they were like the Spartans, and concealed their smart under a smiling face.
Me imagino que algunas de las personas distinguidas de Cranford eran pobres, y tenían cierta dificultad para llegar a fin de mes; pero eran como los espartanos, y ocultaban su sufrimiento tras una cara sonriente.
We none of us spoke of money, because that subject savoured of commerce and trade, and though some might be poor, we were all aristocratic.
Ninguno de nosotros hablaba de dinero, porque ese tema olía a comercio y negocios, y aunque algunos podían ser pobres, todos éramos aristócratas.
The Cranfordians had that kindly _esprit de corps_ which made them overlook all deficiencies in success when some among them tried to conceal their poverty.
Los cranfordianos tenían ese amable _esprit de corps_ que les hacía pasar por alto todas las carencias en el éxito cuando alguno de ellos intentaba ocultar su pobreza.
Vocabulary
- Debes
- You must; second person singular of deber
- seguir
- To continue or keep doing something
- pensando
- Thinking; present participle of pensar
- hora
- Hour or time of day
- querida
- Dear or beloved; affectionate feminine address
- permitirte
- To allow yourself; reflexive form of permitir
- olvidarla
- To forget it; infinitive with feminine object pronoun
- conversación
- A spoken exchange between two or more people
- todo
- All, every, or entire
- mundo
- World; used in todo el mundo meaning everyone
- tenía
- Had; imperfect tense of tener
- regla
- Rule or regulation to be followed
- mente
- Mind; the seat of thought and consciousness
- fuera
- Were; imperfect subjunctive of ser or ir
- recibieran
- They received; imperfect subjunctive of recibir
- hicieran
- They did or made; imperfect subjunctive of hacer
- visita
- A visit or social call to someone
- nunca
- Never; at no time whatsoever
- hablaba
- Was speaking; imperfect tense of hablar
- ningún
- No, not any; negative adjective before masculine noun
- tema
- Topic or subject of conversation
- absorbente
- Absorbing or engrossing; captivating one's full attention
- limitábamos
- We limited ourselves; imperfect reflexive of limitar
- frases
- Phrases or short sentences
- cortas
- Short in length; feminine plural of corto
- trivial
- Trivial or unimportant; of little significance
- éramos
- We were; imperfect tense of ser
- puntuales
- Punctual; arriving or acting exactly on time
- imagino
- I imagine; first person singular of imaginar
- personas
- People or individuals
- distinguidas
- Distinguished or refined; of notable social standing
- pobres
- Poor; lacking sufficient money or resources
- cierta
- Certain or some; indefinite feminine adjective
- dificultad
- Difficulty or hardship encountered in a situation
- llegar
- To arrive or reach a destination
- fin
- End or finish; used in fin de mes
- mes
- Month; one of twelve calendar periods
- ocultaban
- They hid or concealed; imperfect tense of ocultar
- sufrimiento
- Suffering or pain endured over time
- cara
- Face; the front part of one's head
- sonriente
- Smiling; showing a cheerful facial expression
- ninguno
- None or not one; negative pronoun
- dinero
- Money; currency used for transactions
- olía
- Smelled of; imperfect tense of oler
- comercio
- Commerce or trade; buying and selling goods
- negocios
- Business or commercial dealings
- aristócratas
- Aristocrats; members of the noble upper class
- amable
- Kind or friendly in manner toward others
- pasar
- To pass over or overlook something
- alto
- High; used in pasar por alto meaning to overlook
- carencias
- Shortcomings or lacks; things one is without
- éxito
- Success; a favorable or desired outcome
- intentaba
- Was trying; imperfect tense of intentar
- ocultar
- To hide or conceal something from others
- pobreza
- Poverty; the state of being very poor
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