Dracula — Page 11
I shall never forget the last glimpse which I had of the inn-yard and its crowd of picturesque figures, all crossing themselves, as they stood round the wide archway, with its background of rich foliage of oleander and orange trees in green tubs clustered in the centre of the yard.
Nunca olvidaré el último vistazo que tuve del patio de la posada y su multitud de figuras pintorescas, todos santiguándose, mientras estaban de pie alrededor del amplio arco, con su fondo de rico follaje de adelfas y naranjos en tinas verdes agrupadas en el centro del patio.
Then our driver, whose wide linen drawers covered the whole front of the box-seat--"gotza" they call them--cracked his big whip over his four small horses, which ran abreast, and we set off on our journey.
Luego nuestro conductor, cuyos anchos calzones de lino cubrían todo el frente del asiento del pescante —«gotza» los llaman— hizo chasquear su gran látigo sobre sus cuatro pequeños caballos, que corrían en paralelo, y partimos en nuestro viaje.
I soon lost sight and recollection of ghostly fears in the beauty of the scene as we drove along, although had I known the language, or rather languages, which my fellow-passengers were speaking, I might not have been able to throw them off so easily.
Pronto perdí de vista y el recuerdo de los temores fantasmales en la belleza del paisaje mientras avanzábamos, aunque de haber conocido el idioma, o más bien los idiomas, que mis compañeros de viaje hablaban, quizás no hubiera podido deshacerme de ellos tan fácilmente.
Before us lay a green sloping land full of forests and woods, with here and there steep hills, crowned with clumps of trees or with farmhouses, the blank gable end to the road.
Ante nosotros se extendía una tierra verde e inclinada llena de bosques y arboledas, con colinas empinadas aquí y allá, coronadas con grupos de árboles o con casas de labranza, con el extremo liso del hastial dando a la carretera.
There was everywhere a bewildering mass of fruit blossom--apple, plum, pear, cherry; and as we drove by I could see the green grass under the trees spangled with the fallen petals.
Por todas partes había una desconcertante profusión de flores frutales —manzano, ciruelo, peral, cerezo—; y mientras pasábamos, podía ver la hierba verde bajo los árboles salpicada con los pétalos caídos.
In and out amongst these green hills of what they call here the "Mittel Land" ran the road, losing itself as it swept round the grassy curve, or was shut out by the straggling ends of pine woods, which here and there ran down the hillsides like tongues of flame.
Serpenteando entre estas colinas verdes de lo que aquí llaman la «Mittel Land» discurría el camino, perdiéndose al rodear la curva cubierta de hierba, o quedando oculto por los dispersos extremos de los pinares, que aquí y allá descendían por las laderas como lenguas de fuego.
Vocabulary
- Nunca
- Never; used to express absolute negation of frequency
- olvidaré
- I will forget; future tense of olvidar
- el
- The; masculine singular definite article
- último
- Last, final; referring to the most recent or final one
- vistazo
- A quick glance or brief look at something
- que
- That, which; common conjunction or relative pronoun
- tuve
- I had; preterite first-person form of tener
- del
- Of the; contraction of de and el
- patio
- Courtyard or inner yard of a building
- de
- Of, from; very common Spanish preposition
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- posada
- Inn or guesthouse providing lodging and food
- y
- And; basic coordinating conjunction in Spanish
- su
- His, her, its, their; third-person possessive adjective
- multitud
- Crowd or multitude of people gathered together
- figuras
- Figures or forms; people seen as visual shapes
- pintorescas
- Picturesque, colorful, visually charming or quaint
- todos
- All, everyone; refers to an entire group
- santiguándose
- Crossing oneself; making the sign of the cross
- mientras
- While, meanwhile; conjunction indicating simultaneous actions
- estaban
- They were; imperfect tense of estar
- pie
- Foot; also used in phrase en pie meaning standing
- alrededor
- Around, surrounding; indicates position encircling something
- amplio
- Wide, broad, spacious; describing large physical space
- arco
- Arch; curved architectural structure over an opening
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or inclusion
- fondo
- Background, backdrop, or depth behind something
- rico
- Rich, lush, abundant; describing great fullness or quality
- follaje
- Foliage; collective term for leaves of plants or trees
- naranjos
- Orange trees; citrus trees bearing oranges
- en
- In, on, at; common Spanish locative preposition
- verdes
- Green; plural adjective describing color of plants
- agrupadas
- Grouped, clustered together in an arrangement
- centro
- Center, middle; central point of a space or group
- Luego
- Then, afterward; indicates sequence in time
- nuestro
- Our; first-person plural possessive adjective
- conductor
- Driver or conductor; person who drives a vehicle
- cuyos
- Whose; relative possessive pronoun in Spanish
- anchos
- Wide, broad; plural adjective describing width
- lino
- Linen; natural fabric woven from flax plant fibers
- cubrían
- They covered; imperfect tense of cubrir
- todo
- All, everything, the whole; complete totality
- frente
- Front; the forward-facing part of something
- asiento
- Seat; place designated for sitting in a vehicle
- llaman
- They call; third-person plural present of llamar
- hizo
- He/she did or made; preterite of hacer
- gran
- Great, large; adjective indicating size or importance
- sobre
- Over, above, on top of; common Spanish preposition
- sus
- His, her, their; plural third-person possessive adjective
- cuatro
- Four; the cardinal number four
- pequeños
- Small, little; plural adjective describing small size
- caballos
- Horses; large domesticated animals used for transport
- corrían
- They ran; imperfect tense of correr
- paralelo
- Parallel; side by side at equal distance
- partimos
- We departed; preterite first-person plural of partir
- viaje
- Journey, trip, travel; movement from one place to another
- Pronto
- Soon, quickly; indicating something happening in short time
- perdí
- I lost; preterite first-person singular of perder
- vista
- Sight, view, vision; ability to see or what is seen
- recuerdo
- Memory, recollection; something remembered from the past
- temores
- Fears, worries; plural of temor meaning fear or dread
- belleza
- Beauty; quality of being visually or aesthetically pleasing
- paisaje
- Landscape, scenery; the natural environment viewed visually
- avanzábamos
- We were advancing; imperfect of avanzar meaning to move forward
- aunque
- Although, even though; concessive conjunction in Spanish
- haber
- To have; auxiliary verb used in compound tenses
- conocido
- Known; past participle of conocer, to know or be familiar with
- idioma
- Language; a system of communication used by a community
- idiomas
- Languages; plural referring to multiple language systems
- mis
- My; first-person plural possessive adjective in Spanish
- compañeros
- Companions, fellow travelers; people sharing an experience
- hablaban
- They were speaking; imperfect tense of hablar
- quizás
- Perhaps, maybe; expresses uncertainty or possibility
- no
- No, not; basic Spanish negation word
- hubiera
- Had; imperfect subjunctive of haber used in conditionals
- podido
- Been able to; past participle of poder
- deshacerme
- To rid myself of; get free from something or someone
- ellos
- They, them; third-person plural personal pronoun
- tan
- So, as; used in comparisons or to intensify adjectives
- fácilmente
- Easily; adverb indicating something done without difficulty
- Ante
- Before, in front of; preposition indicating facing something
- nosotros
- We, us; first-person plural subject pronoun
- se
- Reflexive pronoun; used with reflexive or passive verbs
- extendía
- Extended, stretched out; imperfect of extender
- una
- A, an; feminine singular indefinite article
- tierra
- Land, earth, ground; the physical landscape or soil
- verde
- Green; color associated with nature, plants, and life
- inclinada
- Inclined, sloped, tilted; describing angled terrain
- llena
- Full of, filled with; adjective indicating abundance
- bosques
- Forests, woods; areas densely covered with trees
- colinas
- Hills; rounded elevated landforms smaller than mountains
- empinadas
- Steep; describing sharp or abrupt inclines in terrain
- aquí
- Here; adverb indicating nearness to the speaker
- allá
- Over there; adverb indicating a distant location
- coronadas
- Crowned, topped; having something placed at the summit
- grupos
- Groups; collections of people, animals, or objects together
- árboles
- Trees; large perennial woody plants with trunks
- casas
- Houses; residential buildings where people live
- extremo
- End, extreme point; far edge or tip of something
- liso
- Smooth, flat; surface without bumps or ornamentation
- dando
- Facing, giving; gerund of dar, here meaning facing toward
- carretera
- Road, highway; paved route used for vehicle travel
- Por
- By, through, for; versatile Spanish preposition
- todas
- All; feminine plural form of todo
- partes
- Parts, places; areas or sections of a whole space
- había
- There was/were; imperfect of haber used impersonally
- desconcertante
- Disconcerting, bewildering; causing confusion or surprise
- flores
- Flowers; colorful blooms produced by flowering plants
- frutales
- Fruit trees; trees cultivated for their edible fruit
- manzano
- Apple tree; tree that produces apples
- cerezo
- Cherry tree; tree producing small round red cherries
- pasábamos
- We passed by; imperfect tense of pasar
- podía
- Could, was able to; imperfect of poder
- ver
- To see; basic infinitive verb for visual perception
- hierba
- Grass, herb; low green plant covering ground surfaces
- bajo
- Below, under; preposition or adjective indicating low position
- pétalos
- Petals; thin colorful parts that form a flower's bloom
- caídos
- Fallen; past participle of caer, dropped to the ground
- Serpenteando
- Winding, snaking; moving in a sinuous curving path
- entre
- Between, among; preposition indicating position amid things
- estas
- These; feminine plural demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- lo
- It, him; neuter or masculine direct object pronoun
- camino
- Path, road, way; route used for walking or travel
- perdiéndose
- Disappearing, getting lost; reflexive gerund of perder
- al
- To the; contraction of a and el
- rodear
- To go around, to surround; encircling or curving around something
- curva
- Curve, bend; a turn or curved section of a road
- cubierta
- Covered; past participle of cubrir meaning to cover
- quedando
- Remaining, becoming; gerund of quedar
- oculto
- Hidden, concealed; not visible or out of sight
- por
- By, through, because of; common Spanish preposition
- dispersos
- Scattered, dispersed; spread out irregularly over an area
- extremos
- Edges, ends, extremities; outermost parts of something
- descendían
- They descended; imperfect of descender, going downward
- las
- The; feminine plural definite article
- laderas
- Hillsides, slopes; the inclined sides of a hill or mountain
- como
- Like, as; used for comparisons in Spanish
- lenguas
- Tongues or languages; here used metaphorically for fire shapes
- fuego
- Fire; combustion producing heat, light, and flames
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