Dracula — Page 2
Having had some time at my disposal when in London, I had visited the British Museum, and made search among the books and maps in the library regarding Transylvania; it had struck me that some foreknowledge of the country could hardly fail to have some importance in dealing with a nobleman of that country.
Avendo avuto del tempo libero a mia disposizione quando ero a Londra, avevo visitato il British Museum e avevo effettuato ricerche tra i libri e le mappe della biblioteca riguardanti la Transilvania; mi era sembrato che una certa conoscenza preliminare del paese non potesse fare a meno di avere una certa importanza nel trattare con un nobile di quel paese.
I find that the district he named is in the extreme east of the country, just on the borders of three states, Transylvania, Moldavia and Bukovina, in the midst of the Carpathian mountains; one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe.
Trovo che il distretto da lui nominato si trova nell'estremo est del paese, proprio al confine tra tre stati, la Transilvania, la Moldavia e la Bucovina, in mezzo alle montagne dei Carpazi; una delle porzioni più selvagge e meno conosciute d'Europa.
I was not able to light on any map or work giving the exact locality of the Castle Dracula, as there are no maps of this country as yet to compare with our own Ordnance Survey maps; but I found that Bistritz, the post town named by Count Dracula, is a fairly well-known place.
Non sono riuscito a trovare alcuna mappa o opera che riportasse l'esatta ubicazione del Castello Dracula, poiché non esistono ancora mappe di questo paese paragonabili alle nostre mappe dell'Ordnance Survey; ma ho scoperto che Bistritz, la città postale nominata dal Conte Dracula, è un luogo abbastanza conosciuto.
I shall enter here some of my notes, as they may refresh my memory when I talk over my travels with Mina.
Inserirò qui alcune delle mie note, poiché potrebbero rinfrescarmi la memoria quando parlerò dei miei viaggi con Mina.
In the population of Transylvania there are four distinct nationalities: Saxons in the South, and mixed with them the Wallachs, who are the descendants of the Dacians; Magyars in the West, and Szekelys in the East and North.
Nella popolazione della Transilvania vi sono quattro nazionalità distinte: i Sassoni nel Sud, e mescolati a loro i Valacchi, che sono i discendenti dei Daci; i Magiari nell'Ovest, e gli Szekely nell'Est e nel Nord.
I am going among the latter, who claim to be descended from Attila and the Huns.
Mi recherò tra questi ultimi, che affermano di discendere da Attila e dagli Unni.
This may be so, for when the Magyars conquered the country in the eleventh century they found the Huns settled in it.
Questo potrebbe essere vero, poiché quando i Magiari conquistarono il paese nell'undicesimo secolo vi trovarono gli Unni già insediati.
Vocabulary
- Avendo
- Having (gerund of avere, indicates simultaneous action)
- avuto
- Had (past participle of avere)
- del
- Of the (masculine singular contraction)
- tempo
- Time or weather
- libero
- Free, available, unoccupied
- a
- At, to, in (preposition)
- mia
- My (feminine singular possessive adjective)
- disposizione
- Disposal, arrangement, availability
- quando
- When (conjunction or adverb)
- ero
- I was (imperfect of essere)
- avevo
- I had (first person imperfect of avere)
- visitato
- Visited (past participle of visitare)
- il
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- e
- And (conjunction)
- effettuato
- Carried out, performed, conducted
- ricerche
- Research, investigations, searches
- tra
- Among, between, within (preposition)
- i
- The (masculine plural definite article)
- libri
- Books (plural of libro)
- le
- The (feminine plural definite article)
- mappe
- Maps (plural of mappa)
- della
- Of the (feminine singular contraction)
- biblioteca
- Library, place housing books and resources
- riguardanti
- Regarding, concerning, relating to
- la
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- mi
- Me, myself (reflexive or indirect object pronoun)
- era
- Was (third person imperfect of essere)
- sembrato
- Seemed, appeared (past participle of sembrare)
- che
- That, which, who (conjunction or pronoun)
- una
- A, one (feminine singular indefinite article)
- certa
- A certain, some (feminine singular adjective)
- conoscenza
- Knowledge, acquaintance, familiarity with something
- preliminare
- Preliminary, introductory, preparatory
- paese
- Country, village, place, nation
- non
- Not (negation adverb)
- potesse
- Could (imperfect subjunctive of potere)
- fare
- To do, to make (infinitive verb)
- meno
- Less, fewer (comparative adverb)
- di
- Of, from, by (preposition)
- avere
- To have (infinitive verb, also auxiliary)
- importanza
- Importance, significance, relevance
- nel
- In the (masculine singular contraction)
- trattare
- To deal with, treat, handle, negotiate
- con
- With (preposition)
- un
- A, one (masculine singular indefinite article)
- nobile
- Nobleman, noble, aristocrat
- quel
- That (masculine singular demonstrative adjective)
- Trovo
- I find (first person present of trovare)
- distretto
- District, administrative region or area
- da
- From, by, since (preposition)
- lui
- He, him (third person masculine pronoun)
- nominato
- Named, mentioned, appointed (past participle)
- si
- Reflexive pronoun, oneself, itself
- trova
- Finds, is located (third person present of trovare)
- nell
- In the (contraction before apostrophe)
- estremo
- Extreme, utmost, far end
- est
- East (cardinal direction)
- proprio
- Exactly, right, own, very (adverb or adjective)
- al
- To the, at the (masculine singular contraction)
- confine
- Border, boundary, frontier
- tre
- Three (cardinal number)
- stati
- States, countries (plural of stato)
- in
- In, into (preposition)
- mezzo
- Middle, half, midst, center
- alle
- To the, at the (feminine plural contraction)
- montagne
- Mountains (plural of montagna)
- dei
- Of the (masculine plural contraction)
- delle
- Of the (feminine plural contraction)
- porzioni
- Portions, sections, parts
- più
- More, most (comparative or superlative adverb)
- selvagge
- Wild, untamed, savage (feminine plural adjective)
- conosciute
- Known, recognized (feminine plural past participle)
- d
- Of (elided form of di before vowel)
- Non
- Not (negation adverb)
- sono
- I am / they are (present of essere)
- riuscito
- Managed, succeeded (past participle of riuscire)
- trovare
- To find, to locate, to discover
- alcuna
- Any, some (feminine singular indefinite adjective)
- mappa
- Map (singular noun)
- o
- Or (disjunctive conjunction)
- opera
- Work, publication, piece of writing
- riportasse
- Would report, showed (imperfect subjunctive of riportare)
- l
- The (elided article before vowel)
- esatta
- Exact, precise (feminine singular adjective)
- ubicazione
- Location, position, exact placement of something
- Castello
- Castle, fortress, fortified building
- poiché
- Because, since, given that (conjunction)
- esistono
- They exist (third person plural present of esistere)
- ancora
- Still, yet, again (adverb)
- questo
- This (masculine singular demonstrative pronoun or adjective)
- paragonabili
- Comparable, similar in quality or nature
- nostre
- Our (feminine plural possessive adjective)
- dell
- Of the (contraction before apostrophe)
- ma
- But (adversative conjunction)
- ho
- I have (first person present of avere)
- scoperto
- Discovered, found out (past participle of scoprire)
- città
- City, town (invariable noun)
- postale
- Postal, related to mail or post office
- dal
- By the, from the (masculine singular contraction)
- Conte
- Count, nobleman of aristocratic rank
- è
- Is (third person singular present of essere)
- luogo
- Place, location, site
- abbastanza
- Quite, enough, fairly (adverb of degree)
- conosciuto
- Known, well-known (past participle of conoscere)
- Inserirò
- I will insert, include (future of inserire)
- qui
- Here (adverb of place)
- alcune
- Some, a few (feminine plural adjective or pronoun)
- mie
- My (feminine plural possessive adjective)
- note
- Notes, written records, brief observations
- potrebbero
- They could, might (conditional of potere)
- rinfrescarmi
- To refresh me, to remind me (reflexive infinitive)
- memoria
- Memory, recollection, remembrance
- parlerò
- I will speak, talk (future of parlare)
- miei
- My (masculine plural possessive adjective)
- viaggi
- Trips, journeys, travels (plural of viaggio)
- Nella
- In the (feminine singular contraction)
- popolazione
- Population, inhabitants of a place
- vi
- There, here, you (adverb or pronoun)
- quattro
- Four (cardinal number)
- nazionalità
- Nationalities, national identities (invariable noun)
- distinte
- Distinct, separate (feminine plural adjective)
- Sud
- South (cardinal direction)
- mescolati
- Mixed, blended together (past participle of mescolare)
- loro
- Their, them, they (pronoun or possessive)
- discendenti
- Descendants, people descended from ancestors
- Ovest
- West (cardinal direction)
- gli
- The (masculine plural definite article)
- Est
- East (cardinal direction)
- Nord
- North (cardinal direction)
- Mi
- Me, myself (first person reflexive pronoun)
- recherò
- I will go, I will address (future of recarsi)
- questi
- These (masculine plural demonstrative pronoun)
- ultimi
- Last, latter, most recent (masculine plural adjective)
- affermano
- They claim, assert (third person plural present of affermare)
- discendere
- To descend, to be descended from
- dagli
- From the, by the (masculine plural contraction)
- Questo
- This (masculine singular demonstrative pronoun)
- potrebbe
- It could, might (conditional of potere)
- essere
- To be (infinitive, also auxiliary verb)
- vero
- True, real, genuine (adjective)
- conquistarono
- They conquered (third person plural past of conquistare)
- undicesimo
- Eleventh (ordinal number)
- secolo
- Century, hundred years
- trovarono
- They found (third person plural past of trovare)
- già
- Already, previously (adverb of time)
- insediati
- Settled, established, already living there
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