Dracula — Page 4
All day long we seemed to dawdle through a country which was full of beauty of every kind.
Per tutto il giorno sembrò che vagabondassimo attraverso una regione che era piena di bellezze di ogni tipo.
Sometimes we saw little towns or castles on the top of steep hills such as we see in old missals; sometimes we ran by rivers and streams which seemed from the wide stony margin on each side of them to be subject to great floods.
A volte vedevamo piccole città o castelli in cima a colline ripide come quelli che si vedono negli antichi messali; a volte costeggiavamo fiumi e ruscelli che sembravano, dai larghi margini sassosi su ciascun lato, essere soggetti a grandi inondazioni.
It takes a lot of water, and running strong, to sweep the outside edge of a river clear.
Ci vuole molta acqua, e che scorra con forza, per spazzare via il bordo esterno di un fiume.
At every station there were groups of people, sometimes crowds, and in all sorts of attire.
Ad ogni stazione c'erano gruppi di persone, a volte vere e proprie folle, con abiti di ogni genere.
Some of them were just like the peasants at home or those I saw coming through France and Germany, with short jackets and round hats and home-made trousers; but others were very picturesque.
Alcuni di loro erano proprio come i contadini di casa nostra o quelli che avevo visto attraversando la Francia e la Germania, con giacchette corte, cappelli tondi e pantaloni fatti in casa; ma altri erano molto pittoreschi.
The women looked pretty, except when you got near them, but they were very clumsy about the waist.
Le donne sembravano graziose, tranne quando ci si avvicinava, ma erano molto goffe in vita.
They had all full white sleeves of some kind or other, and most of them had big belts with a lot of strips of something fluttering from them like the dresses in a ballet, but of course there were petticoats under them.
Avevano tutte maniche bianche ampie di qualche tipo, e la maggior parte di loro portava grandi cinture con molte strisce di qualcosa che svolazzavano come i costumi di un balletto, ma naturalmente sotto c'erano le sottogonne.
The strangest figures we saw were the Slovaks, who were more barbarian than the rest, with their big cow-boy hats, great baggy dirty-white trousers, white linen shirts, and enormous heavy leather belts, nearly a foot wide, all studded over with brass nails.
Le figure più strane che vedemmo furono gli Slovacchi, che erano più barbari degli altri, con i loro grandi cappelli da cow-boy, ampi pantaloni di un bianco sporco, camicie di lino bianco ed enormi pesanti cinture di cuoio, larghe quasi un piede, tutte tempestiate di chiodi di ottone.
Vocabulary
- Per
- Preposition meaning 'for' or 'through' in Italian
- tutto
- Meaning 'all' or 'everything' in Italian
- giorno
- The word for 'day' in Italian
- sembrò
- Past tense of 'sembrare,' meaning 'it seemed'
- vagabondassimo
- Subjunctive past of 'vagabondare,' meaning 'we wandered'
- attraverso
- Preposition meaning 'through' or 'across'
- regione
- A geographical or administrative area; 'region'
- era
- Imperfect tense of 'essere,' meaning 'it was'
- piena
- Adjective meaning 'full' for feminine nouns
- bellezze
- Plural of 'bellezza,' meaning 'beauties' or 'beautiful things'
- ogni
- Adjective meaning 'every' or 'each'
- tipo
- Noun meaning 'type,' 'kind,' or 'sort'
- volte
- Plural of 'volta'; 'a volte' means 'sometimes'
- vedevamo
- Imperfect tense of 'vedere,' meaning 'we were seeing'
- piccole
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'small' or 'little'
- città
- Noun meaning 'city' or 'town'
- castelli
- Plural of 'castello,' meaning 'castles' or 'fortresses'
- cima
- Noun meaning 'top,' 'peak,' or 'summit'
- colline
- Plural of 'collina,' meaning 'hills'
- ripide
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'steep'
- quelli
- Demonstrative pronoun meaning 'those' (masculine plural)
- vedono
- Third person plural of 'vedere,' meaning 'they see'
- negli
- Contraction of 'in' and 'gli,' meaning 'in the' (masculine plural)
- antichi
- Plural adjective meaning 'ancient' or 'old'
- costeggiavamo
- Imperfect of 'costeggiare,' meaning 'we were skirting or following'
- fiumi
- Plural of 'fiume,' meaning 'rivers'
- ruscelli
- Plural of 'ruscello,' meaning 'streams' or 'brooks'
- sembravano
- Imperfect of 'sembrare,' meaning 'they seemed'
- dai
- Contraction of 'da' and 'i,' meaning 'from the' (masculine plural)
- larghi
- Masculine plural adjective meaning 'wide' or 'broad'
- margini
- Plural of 'margine,' meaning 'margins,' 'edges,' or 'banks'
- sassosi
- Adjective meaning 'stony' or 'rocky' (masculine plural)
- ciascun
- Adjective meaning 'each' or 'every' (before a noun)
- lato
- Noun meaning 'side' or 'flank'
- essere
- Infinitive of the verb 'to be'
- soggetti
- Adjective meaning 'subject to' or 'prone to'
- grandi
- Plural adjective meaning 'large,' 'great,' or 'big'
- inondazioni
- Plural of 'inondazione,' meaning 'floods' or 'inundations'
- vuole
- Third person singular of 'volere,' meaning 'it takes' or 'one needs'
- molta
- Feminine adjective meaning 'much' or 'a lot of'
- acqua
- Noun meaning 'water'
- scorra
- Subjunctive of 'scorrere,' meaning 'that flows' or 'runs'
- forza
- Noun meaning 'force,' 'strength,' or 'power'
- spazzare
- Infinitive meaning 'to sweep' or 'to sweep away'
- via
- Adverb meaning 'away'; also a noun for 'street'
- bordo
- Noun meaning 'edge,' 'border,' or 'rim'
- esterno
- Adjective or noun meaning 'external,' 'outer,' or 'outside'
- fiume
- Noun meaning 'river'
- stazione
- Noun meaning 'station,' typically a train station
- c'erano
- Contraction of 'ci erano,' meaning 'there were'
- gruppi
- Plural of 'gruppo,' meaning 'groups'
- persone
- Plural of 'persona,' meaning 'people' or 'persons'
- vere
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'true,' 'real,' or 'genuine'
- proprie
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'proper,' 'own,' or 'real'
- folle
- Plural of 'folla,' meaning 'crowds' or 'throngs'
- abiti
- Plural of 'abito,' meaning 'clothes,' 'garments,' or 'suits'
- genere
- Noun meaning 'kind,' 'type,' or 'gender'
- Alcuni
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'some' or 'a few'
- loro
- Personal pronoun meaning 'they,' 'them,' or 'their'
- erano
- Imperfect of 'essere,' meaning 'they were'
- proprio
- Adverb or adjective meaning 'exactly,' 'really,' or 'one's own'
- contadini
- Plural of 'contadino,' meaning 'farmers' or 'peasants'
- casa
- Noun meaning 'house' or 'home'
- nostra
- Feminine possessive adjective meaning 'our'
- avevo
- First person singular imperfect of 'avere,' meaning 'I had'
- visto
- Past participle of 'vedere,' meaning 'seen'
- attraversando
- Gerund of 'attraversare,' meaning 'crossing' or 'passing through'
- Francia
- The Italian name for 'France'
- Germania
- The Italian name for 'Germany'
- giacchette
- Plural of 'giacchetta,' meaning 'short jackets'
- corte
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'short'; also noun for 'court'
- cappelli
- Plural of 'cappello,' meaning 'hats'
- tondi
- Masculine plural adjective meaning 'round'
- pantaloni
- Plural noun meaning 'trousers' or 'pants'
- fatti
- Past participle of 'fare,' meaning 'made' or 'done'
- altri
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'others' or 'other people'
- molto
- Adverb or adjective meaning 'very,' 'much,' or 'a lot'
- pittoreschi
- Masculine plural adjective meaning 'picturesque' or 'colorful'
- donne
- Plural of 'donna,' meaning 'women'
- graziose
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'graceful,' 'pretty,' or 'charming'
- tranne
- Preposition meaning 'except,' 'apart from,' or 'unless'
- quando
- Conjunction or adverb meaning 'when'
- avvicinava
- Imperfect of 'avvicinarsi,' meaning 'was approaching' or 'getting close'
- goffe
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'clumsy' or 'awkward'
- vita
- Noun meaning 'life' or 'waist'
- Avevano
- Imperfect of 'avere,' meaning 'they had'
- tutte
- Feminine plural pronoun meaning 'all' or 'all of them'
- maniche
- Plural of 'manica,' meaning 'sleeves'
- bianche
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'white'
- ampie
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'wide,' 'ample,' or 'full'
- qualche
- Indefinite adjective meaning 'some,' 'a few,' or 'any'
- maggior
- Short form of 'maggiore,' meaning 'greater' or 'most'
- parte
- Noun meaning 'part,' 'share,' or 'side'
- portava
- Imperfect of 'portare,' meaning 'she/he was wearing or carrying'
- cinture
- Plural of 'cintura,' meaning 'belts' or 'waistbands'
- molte
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'many' or 'a lot of'
- strisce
- Plural of 'striscia,' meaning 'stripes' or 'strips'
- qualcosa
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'something'
- svolazzavano
- Imperfect of 'svolazzare,' meaning 'they fluttered' or 'flapped about'
- costumi
- Plural of 'costume,' meaning 'costumes,' 'customs,' or 'outfits'
- balletto
- Noun meaning 'ballet'
- naturalmente
- Adverb meaning 'naturally' or 'of course'
- sotto
- Preposition meaning 'under,' 'below,' or 'beneath'
- figure
- Plural of 'figura,' meaning 'figures' or 'shapes'
- strane
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'strange' or 'odd'
- vedemmo
- Simple past of 'vedere,' meaning 'we saw'
- furono
- Simple past of 'essere,' meaning 'they were'
- barbari
- Plural noun or adjective meaning 'barbarians' or 'barbaric'
- degli
- Contraction of 'di' and 'gli,' meaning 'of the' (masculine plural)
- ampi
- Masculine plural adjective meaning 'wide,' 'ample,' or 'broad'
- bianco
- Adjective meaning 'white'
- sporco
- Adjective meaning 'dirty' or 'unclean'
- camicie
- Plural of 'camicia,' meaning 'shirts'
- lino
- Noun meaning 'linen,' a natural fabric material
- enormi
- Plural adjective meaning 'enormous' or 'huge'
- pesanti
- Plural adjective meaning 'heavy'
- cuoio
- Noun meaning 'leather'
- larghe
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'wide' or 'broad'
- quasi
- Adverb meaning 'almost,' 'nearly,' or 'practically'
- piede
- Noun meaning 'foot'
- chiodi
- Plural of 'chiodo,' meaning 'nails' (metal fasteners)
- ottone
- Noun meaning 'brass,' a yellow metallic alloy
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →