Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus — Page 21
Having conquered the violence of his feelings, he appeared to despise himself for being the slave of passion; and quelling the dark tyranny of despair, he led me again to converse concerning myself personally.
Habiendo conquistado la violencia de sus sentimientos, parecía despreciarse a sí mismo por ser esclavo de la pasión; y sofocando la oscura tiranía de la desesperación, me llevó de nuevo a conversar acerca de mí mismo personalmente.
He asked me the history of my earlier years.
Me preguntó la historia de mis primeros años.
The tale was quickly told, but it awakened various trains of reflection.
El relato fue contado rápidamente, pero despertó diversas corrientes de reflexión.
I spoke of my desire of finding a friend, of my thirst for a more intimate sympathy with a fellow mind than had ever fallen to my lot, and expressed my conviction that a man could boast of little happiness who did not enjoy this blessing.
Hablé de mi deseo de encontrar un amigo, de mi sed de una simpatía más íntima con una mente afín de la que jamás había tenido la suerte de disfrutar, y expresé mi convicción de que un hombre podría presumir de poca felicidad si no gozaba de esta bendición.
"I agree with you," replied the stranger; "we are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves—such a friend ought to be—do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures.
«Estoy de acuerdo con usted», respondió el desconocido; «somos criaturas sin forma, apenas a medias hechas, si alguien más sabio, mejor, más querido que nosotros mismos —como debería ser tal amigo— no presta su ayuda para perfeccionar nuestras débiles y defectuosas naturalezas.
I once had a friend, the most noble of human creatures, and am entitled, therefore, to judge respecting friendship.
En otro tiempo tuve un amigo, el más noble de los seres humanos, y estoy autorizado, por tanto, a juzgar en lo que respecta a la amistad.
You have hope, and the world before you, and have no cause for despair.
Usted tiene esperanza, y el mundo ante usted, y no tiene motivo para la desesperación.
But I—I have lost everything and cannot begin life anew."
Pero yo —yo he perdido todo y no puedo comenzar la vida de nuevo».
As he said this his countenance became expressive of a calm, settled grief that touched me to the heart.
Al decir esto, su semblante se tornó expresivo de un dolor tranquilo y profundo que me llegó al corazón.
But he was silent and presently retired to his cabin.
Pero guardó silencio y poco después se retiró a su camarote.
Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature.
Aunque quebrantado en su espíritu como está, nadie puede sentir más profundamente que él las bellezas de la naturaleza.
Vocabulary
- Habiendo
- Having (auxiliary verb indicating completed action)
- conquistado
- Conquered, overcome, or mastered something completely
- violencia
- Violence; intense force or aggression
- sentimientos
- Feelings, emotions, or emotional states
- parecía
- Seemed, appeared to be (imperfect tense)
- despreciarse
- To despise oneself, hold oneself in contempt
- sí
- Himself, herself, itself (reflexive pronoun)
- mismo
- Same, himself (emphatic or reflexive intensifier)
- ser
- To be (permanent states, identity, existence)
- esclavo
- Slave; person completely controlled by another
- pasión
- Passion; intense emotion or strong desire
- sofocando
- Suppressing, smothering, or stifling something
- oscura
- Dark, obscure, gloomy (feminine adjective)
- tiranía
- Tyranny; cruel and oppressive domination or power
- desesperación
- Despair; complete loss of hope or comfort
- llevó
- Led, took, carried (preterite of llevar)
- nuevo
- New; again (used in phrase de nuevo)
- conversar
- To converse, to have a conversation with someone
- acerca
- About, regarding (used with de)
- mí
- Me (stressed pronoun used after prepositions)
- personalmente
- Personally, in a personal or individual manner
- preguntó
- Asked, questioned (preterite of preguntar)
- historia
- History, story, or account of past events
- primeros
- First (masculine plural ordinal adjective)
- años
- Years (plural noun referring to units of time)
- relato
- Account, tale, narrative of events
- fue
- Was, went (preterite of ser or ir)
- contado
- Told, narrated (past participle of contar)
- rápidamente
- Quickly, rapidly, in a fast manner
- despertó
- Awakened, stirred, aroused (preterite of despertar)
- diversas
- Various, diverse, several (feminine plural adjective)
- corrientes
- Currents, streams, trends of thought or feeling
- reflexión
- Reflection, thoughtful consideration of something
- Hablé
- I spoke, I talked (preterite of hablar)
- deseo
- Desire, wish, longing for something
- encontrar
- To find, to encounter someone or something
- amigo
- Friend (masculine noun for a male friend)
- sed
- Thirst; intense craving or longing for something
- simpatía
- Sympathy, affinity, warm liking for someone
- íntima
- Intimate, close, deeply personal (feminine adjective)
- mente
- Mind, intellect, mental faculty
- afín
- Kindred, akin, similar in nature or interests
- jamás
- Never, ever (emphatic negative temporal adverb)
- había
- Had (imperfect of haber, auxiliary verb)
- tenido
- Had, held (past participle of tener)
- suerte
- Luck, fortune, chance in life
- disfrutar
- To enjoy, to take pleasure in something
- expresé
- I expressed, I conveyed (preterite of expresar)
- convicción
- Conviction, firm belief or strong opinion
- hombre
- Man, human being (masculine noun)
- podría
- Could, would be able to (conditional of poder)
- presumir
- To boast, presume, or claim something proudly
- poca
- Little, few (feminine singular adjective of quantity)
- felicidad
- Happiness, joy, state of being content
- si
- If (conditional conjunction introducing conditions)
- gozaba
- Enjoyed, relished (imperfect tense of gozar)
- bendición
- Blessing, divine favor, something greatly valued
- Estoy
- I am (present tense of estar)
- acuerdo
- Agreement; estar de acuerdo means to agree
- usted
- You (formal singular second person pronoun)
- respondió
- Responded, replied (preterite of responder)
- desconocido
- Stranger, unknown person, someone unfamiliar
- somos
- We are (first person plural present of ser)
- criaturas
- Creatures, beings (feminine plural noun)
- sin
- Without (preposition indicating absence or lack)
- forma
- Form, shape, manner, way of being
- apenas
- Barely, scarcely, hardly (limiting adverb)
- medias
- Half, partial (feminine plural); halfway made
- hechas
- Made, done (feminine plural past participle of hacer)
- alguien
- Someone, somebody (indefinite pronoun)
- sabio
- Wise man, sage; possessing great wisdom
- mejor
- Better, best (comparative adjective or adverb)
- querido
- Dear, beloved, cherished (adjective or noun)
- nosotros
- We, us (first person plural pronoun)
- mismos
- Ourselves, themselves (masculine plural intensifier)
- debería
- Should, ought to (conditional of deber)
- tal
- Such, such a (adjective expressing degree)
- presta
- Lends, offers, provides (third person of prestar)
- ayuda
- Help, assistance, aid provided to someone
- perfeccionar
- To perfect, to improve something to ideal state
- nuestras
- Our (feminine plural first person possessive adjective)
- débiles
- Weak, feeble (masculine or feminine plural adjective)
- defectuosas
- Defective, flawed, faulty (feminine plural adjective)
- naturalezas
- Natures, inherent characters or essential qualities
- otro
- Other, another (masculine singular indefinite adjective)
- tiempo
- Time, weather, period (masculine noun)
- tuve
- I had (preterite of tener)
- noble
- Noble, honorable, of high moral character
- seres
- Beings, creatures, living entities
- humanos
- Humans, human beings (masculine plural noun/adjective)
- estoy
- I am (first person present of estar)
- autorizado
- Authorized, qualified, entitled to do something
- tanto
- So much, as much (adverb of degree or quantity)
- juzgar
- To judge, to evaluate or assess someone
- respecta
- Concerns, pertains to (from respetar/respectar)
- amistad
- Friendship, close bond between two people
- Usted
- You (formal second person singular pronoun)
- tiene
- Has, have (third person present of tener)
- esperanza
- Hope, expectation of something good coming
- mundo
- World, earth, society at large
- ante
- Before, in front of (preposition of position)
- motivo
- Motive, reason, cause for action or feeling
- he
- I have (auxiliary verb, present perfect)
- perdido
- Lost (past participle of perder)
- todo
- Everything, all (indefinite pronoun or adjective)
- puedo
- I can, I am able to (present of poder)
- comenzar
- To begin, to start something new
- vida
- Life, existence, way of living
- Al
- Upon, when (contraction of a + el)
- decir
- To say, to tell, to express in words
- esto
- This (neuter demonstrative pronoun)
- semblante
- Countenance, facial expression, appearance of face
- tornó
- Turned, became (preterite of tornar/tornarse)
- expresivo
- Expressive, showing feeling clearly (adjective)
- dolor
- Pain, sorrow, grief, or physical ache
- tranquilo
- Calm, tranquil, quiet, peaceful (adjective)
- profundo
- Deep, profound, intense (adjective)
- llegó
- Arrived, reached (preterite of llegar)
- corazón
- Heart (physical organ or seat of emotion)
- guardó
- Kept, maintained, fell into (preterite of guardar)
- silencio
- Silence, quietness, absence of sound
- poco
- Little, a bit, shortly (adjective or adverb)
- después
- After, afterwards, later (temporal adverb)
- retiró
- Withdrew, retired, went away (preterite of retirarse)
- camarote
- Cabin, berth on a ship or vessel
- Aunque
- Although, even though (concessive conjunction)
- quebrantado
- Broken, weakened, worn down (past participle)
- espíritu
- Spirit, soul, inner essence of a person
- está
- Is (third person singular present of estar)
- nadie
- Nobody, no one (negative indefinite pronoun)
- puede
- Can, is able to (third person present of poder)
- sentir
- To feel, to sense, to perceive emotionally
- profundamente
- Deeply, profoundly (adverb modifying verbs or adjectives)
- bellezas
- Beauties, beautiful things or qualities
- naturaleza
- Nature, the natural world and its phenomena
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