Crime and Punishment — Page 2
After eight months' imprisonment he was with twenty-one others taken out to the Semyonovsky Square to be shot.
Dopo otto mesi di prigionia fu condotto con altri ventuno nella piazza Semyonovsky per essere fucilato.
Writing to his brother Mihail, Dostoevsky says: "They snapped words over our heads, and they made us put on the white shirts worn by persons condemned to death.
Scrivendo al fratello Mihail, Dostoevskij dice: «Ci lessero qualcosa sopra la testa e ci fecero indossare le camicie bianche portate dalle persone condannate a morte.
Thereupon we were bound in threes to stakes, to suffer execution.
Dopodiché fummo legati a tre a tre ai pali, per subire l'esecuzione.
Being the third in the row, I concluded I had only a few minutes of life before me.
Essendo il terzo della fila, conclusi che mi restavano solo pochi minuti di vita.
I thought of you and your dear ones and I contrived to kiss Plestcheiev and Dourov, who were next to me, and to bid them farewell.
Pensai a te e ai tuoi cari e riuscii a baciare Plestcheiev e Dourov, che mi erano accanto, e a congedarmi da loro.
Suddenly the troops beat a tattoo, we were unbound, brought back upon the scaffold, and informed that his Majesty had spared us our lives."
All'improvviso le truppe batterono un rullo di tamburi, fummo slegati, ricondotti sul patibolo e informati che Sua Maestà ci aveva risparmiato la vita.»
The sentence was commuted to hard labour.
La sentenza fu commutata in lavori forzati.
One of the prisoners, Grigoryev, went mad as soon as he was untied, and never regained his sanity.
Uno dei prigionieri, Grigoryev, impazzì non appena fu slegato e non riacquistò mai la ragione.
The intense suffering of this experience left a lasting stamp on Dostoevsky's mind.
La sofferenza intensa di questa esperienza lasciò un'impronta duratura nella mente di Dostoevskij.
Though his religious temper led him in the end to accept every suffering with resignation and to regard it as a blessing in his own case, he constantly recurs to the subject in his writings.
Sebbene il suo temperamento religioso lo portasse alla fine ad accettare ogni sofferenza con rassegnazione e a considerarla come una benedizione nel suo caso, egli ritorna costantemente sull'argomento nei suoi scritti.
He describes the awful agony of the condemned man and insists on the cruelty of inflicting such torture.
Descrive la terribile agonia del condannato e insiste sulla crudeltà dell'infliggere una tale tortura.
Then followed four years of penal servitude, spent in the company of common criminals in Siberia, where he began the "Dead House," and some years of service in a disciplinary battalion.
Seguirono poi quattro anni di servitù penale, trascorsi in compagnia di criminali comuni in Siberia, dove iniziò la «Casa dei morti», e alcuni anni di servizio in un battaglione disciplinare.
Vocabulary
- Dopo
- DAH-poh — After, following a point in time
- otto
- OT-toh — The number eight
- mesi
- MEH-zee — Plural of month; months
- di
- dee — Of, from; common preposition
- prigionia
- pree-joh-NEE-ah — State of being imprisoned; captivity
- fu
- foo — Was; third-person singular past of essere
- condotto
- kon-DOT-toh — Led, conducted, brought somewhere
- con
- kon — With; preposition indicating accompaniment
- altri
- AL-tree — Others, other people
- ventuno
- ven-TOO-noh — The number twenty-one
- nella
- NEL-lah — In the; contraction of in + la
- piazza
- PYAT-tsah — Public square or plaza in a town
- per
- pehr — For, in order to; common preposition
- essere
- ES-seh-reh — To be; fundamental Italian auxiliary verb
- fucilato
- foo-chee-LAH-toh — Shot by firing squad; executed by shooting
- Scrivendo
- skree-VEN-doh — Writing; gerund of scrivere
- al
- ahl — To the; contraction of a + il
- fratello
- frah-TEL-loh — Brother; male sibling
- dice
- DEE-cheh — Says; third-person singular of dire
- Ci
- chee — Us, to us; reflexive or indirect pronoun
- lessero
- LES-seh-roh — They read aloud; third-person plural past of leggere
- qualcosa
- kwahl-KOH-zah — Something; an unspecified thing
- sopra
- SOH-prah — Above, over; spatial preposition
- testa
- TES-tah — Head; the upper part of the body
- fecero
- FEH-cheh-roh — They made, they caused; past tense of fare
- indossare
- in-dos-SAH-reh — To wear, to put on clothing
- camicie
- kah-MEE-cheh — Shirts; plural of camicia
- bianche
- BYAN-keh — White; feminine plural adjective
- portate
- por-TAH-teh — Brought, carried; past participle of portare
- persone
- pehr-SOH-neh — People, persons; plural of persona
- condannate
- kon-dan-NAH-teh — Condemned, sentenced; adjective describing guilty persons
- morte
- MOR-teh — Death; end of life
- Dopodiché
- doh-poh-dee-KEH — After which, thereafter; transitional adverb
- fummo
- FOOM-moh — We were; first-person plural past of essere
- legati
- leh-GAH-tee — Tied, bound; past participle of legare
- tre
- treh — The number three
- pali
- PAH-lee — Posts, poles; plural of palo
- subire
- soo-BEE-reh — To undergo, to suffer something imposed
- esecuzione
- eh-zeh-koo-TSYOH-neh — Execution; carrying out a death sentence
- Essendo
- es-SEN-doh — Being; gerund of essere
- terzo
- TEHR-tsoh — Third; ordinal number
- fila
- FEE-lah — Row, line, queue of people
- conclusi
- kon-KLOO-zee — I concluded, I deduced; past tense of concludere
- restavano
- res-TAH-vah-noh — Remained, were left; imperfect of restare
- pochi
- POH-kee — Few, not many; masculine plural adjective
- minuti
- mee-NOO-tee — Minutes; plural of minuto
- vita
- VEE-tah — Life; existence of a living being
- Pensai
- pen-SAH-ee — I thought; first-person singular past of pensare
- cari
- KAH-ree — Dear ones, loved ones; plural of caro
- riuscii
- ryoo-SHEE — I managed, I succeeded; past of riuscire
- baciare
- bah-CHAH-reh — To kiss; to press lips to someone
- accanto
- ak-KAN-toh — Beside, next to; spatial adverb
- congedarmi
- kon-jeh-DAR-mee — To take leave of, say goodbye to someone
- loro
- LOH-roh — Them, their; third-person plural pronoun
- improvviso
- im-prov-VEE-zoh — Sudden; all'improvviso means suddenly
- truppe
- TROOP-peh — Troops, soldiers; military forces
- batterono
- bat-TEH-roh-noh — They beat, they struck; past of battere
- rullo
- ROOL-loh — Roll, drumroll; cylindrical rolling sound
- tamburi
- tam-BOO-ree — Drums; plural of tamburo
- slegati
- zleh-GAH-tee — Untied, unbound; past participle of slegare
- ricondotti
- ree-kon-DOT-tee — Led back, brought back; past participle
- patibolo
- pah-TEE-boh-loh — Scaffold, gallows; platform for executions
- informati
- in-for-MAH-tee — Informed, notified; past participle of informare
- Sua
- SOO-ah — His, her; third-person singular possessive adjective
- Maestà
- mah-es-TAH — Majesty; royal title of honor
- aveva
- ah-VEH-vah — Had; third-person singular imperfect of avere
- risparmiato
- rees-par-MYAH-toh — Spared, saved; past participle of risparmiare
- sentenza
- sen-TEN-tsah — Sentence, verdict; legal judicial ruling
- commutata
- kom-moo-TAH-tah — Commuted, changed; said of a reduced sentence
- lavori
- lah-VOH-ree — Works, labors; plural of lavoro
- forzati
- for-TSAH-tee — Forced; lavori forzati means hard labor
- Uno
- OO-noh — One; indefinite article or number
- prigionieri
- pree-joh-NYEH-ree — Prisoners; plural of prigioniero
- impazzì
- im-pat-TSEE — Went mad, lost sanity; past of impazzire
- appena
- ap-PEH-nah — As soon as, just; temporal conjunction
- slegato
- zleh-GAH-toh — Untied; past participle of slegare
- riacquistò
- ryak-kwees-TOH — Regained, recovered; past of riacquistare
- mai
- mah-ee — Never, ever; temporal adverb
- ragione
- rah-JOH-neh — Reason, sanity; faculty of rational thought
- sofferenza
- sof-feh-REN-tsah — Suffering, pain; state of enduring hardship
- intensa
- in-TEN-sah — Intense, strong; feminine singular adjective
- questa
- KWES-tah — This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- esperienza
- es-peh-RYEN-tsah — Experience; something personally lived through
- lasciò
- lah-SHOH — Left, left behind; past of lasciare
- impronta
- im-PRON-tah — Mark, imprint; lasting trace left behind
- duratura
- doo-rah-TOO-rah — Lasting, enduring; feminine adjective of duration
- mente
- MEN-teh — Mind; the thinking and reasoning faculty
- Sebbene
- seb-BEH-neh — Although, even though; concessive conjunction
- suo
- SOO-oh — His, her, its; possessive adjective
- temperamento
- tem-peh-rah-MEN-toh — Temperament, disposition; natural character traits
- religioso
- reh-lee-JOH-zoh — Religious; pertaining to faith and spirituality
- portasse
- por-TAS-seh — Led, brought; imperfect subjunctive of portare
- fine
- FEE-neh — End; conclusion of something
- accettare
- ah-chet-TAH-reh — To accept, to receive willingly
- rassegnazione
- ras-seh-nyah-TSYOH-neh — Resignation, acceptance of fate; yielding attitude
- considerarla
- kon-see-deh-RAR-lah — To consider it; infinitive plus object pronoun
- benedizione
- beh-neh-dee-TSYOH-neh — Blessing; a divine or sacred favor granted
- caso
- KAH-zoh — Case, instance; a particular situation or event
- egli
- EH-lyee — He; third-person singular masculine subject pronoun
- ritorna
- ree-TOR-nah — Returns, comes back; present tense of ritornare
- costantemente
- kos-tan-teh-MEN-teh — Constantly, repeatedly; adverb of frequency
- argomento
- ar-goh-MEN-toh — Topic, subject; theme under discussion
- scritti
- SKRIT-tee — Writings; plural of scritto, written works
- Descrive
- des-KREE-veh — Describes; third-person singular of descrivere
- terribile
- tehr-REE-bee-leh — Terrible, dreadful; extremely bad or frightening
- agonia
- ah-goh-NEE-ah — Agony, death throes; extreme suffering
- condannato
- kon-dan-NAH-toh — Condemned person; one sentenced to death
- insiste
- in-SEES-teh — Insists; third-person singular of insistere
- sulla
- SOOL-lah — On the; contraction of su + la
- crudeltà
- kroo-del-TAH — Cruelty; quality of causing pain deliberately
- infliggere
- in-FLEEJ-jeh-reh — To inflict; to impose suffering on someone
- tale
- TAH-leh — Such, this kind of; demonstrative adjective
- tortura
- tor-TOO-rah — Torture; deliberate infliction of severe pain
- Seguirono
- seh-GWEE-roh-noh — Followed; third-person plural past of seguire
- poi
- poy — Then, afterwards; temporal adverb
- quattro
- KWAT-troh — The number four
- anni
- AN-nee — Years; plural of anno
- servitù
- ser-vee-TOO — Servitude, bondage; condition of forced labor
- penale
- peh-NAH-leh — Penal, relating to criminal punishment
- trascorsi
- tras-KOR-see — Spent, passed; past participle of trascorrere
- compagnia
- kom-pah-NYEE-ah — Company, companionship; group of people together
- criminali
- kree-mee-NAH-lee — Criminals; people who commit crimes
- comuni
- koh-MOO-nee — Common, ordinary; plural adjective of comune
- dove
- DOH-veh — Where; interrogative or relative adverb of place
- iniziò
- ee-nee-TSYOH — Began, started; third-person singular past of iniziare
- Casa
- KAH-zah — House, home; also title of Dostoevsky's novel
- morti
- MOR-tee — Dead, deaths; plural of morto
- alcuni
- al-KOO-nee — Some, a few; indefinite plural adjective
- servizio
- ser-VEE-tsyoh — Service, duty; work performed for others
- battaglione
- bat-tah-LYOH-neh — Battalion; large military unit of soldiers
- disciplinare
- dees-chee-plee-NAH-reh — Disciplinary; relating to punishment and control
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