Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus — Page 6
He asked me several questions concerning my progress in the different branches of science appertaining to natural philosophy.
Me hizo varias preguntas sobre mi progreso en las diferentes ramas de la ciencia relacionadas con la filosofía natural.
I replied carelessly, and partly in contempt, mentioned the names of my alchemists as the principal authors I had studied.
Respondí con indiferencia, y en parte con desdén, mencioné los nombres de mis alquimistas como los principales autores que había estudiado.
The professor stared.
El profesor me miró fijamente.
"Have you," he said, "really spent your time in studying such nonsense?"
«¿Ha pasado usted», dijo, «realmente su tiempo estudiando semejantes tonterías?»
I replied in the affirmative.
Respondí afirmativamente.
"Every minute," continued M. Krempe with warmth, "every instant that you have wasted on those books is utterly and entirely lost.
«Cada minuto», continuó el señor Krempe con vehemencia, «cada instante que ha desperdiciado en esos libros está total y completamente perdido.
You have burdened your memory with exploded systems and useless names.
Ha cargado su memoria con sistemas desacreditados y nombres inútiles.
Good God! In what desert land have you lived, where no one was kind enough to inform you that these fancies which you have so greedily imbibed are a thousand years old and as musty as they are ancient?
¡Dios mío! ¿En qué tierra yerma ha vivido usted, donde nadie tuvo la amabilidad de informarle que estas fantasías que ha absorbido con tanta avidez tienen mil años de antigüedad y son tan rancias como antiguas?
I little expected, in this enlightened and scientific age, to find a disciple of Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus.
Poco esperaba yo, en esta época ilustrada y científica, encontrar a un discípulo de Alberto Magno y Paracelso.
My dear sir, you must begin your studies entirely anew."
Querido señor, debe usted comenzar sus estudios completamente desde el principio.»
So saying, he stepped aside and wrote down a list of several books treating of natural philosophy which he desired me to procure, and dismissed me after mentioning that in the beginning of the following week he intended to commence a course of lectures upon natural philosophy in its general relations, and that M. Waldman, a fellow professor, would lecture upon chemistry the alternate days that he omitted.
Dicho esto, se apartó y anotó una lista de varios libros sobre filosofía natural que me pidió que consiguiera, y me despidió tras mencionar que a principios de la semana siguiente tenía la intención de iniciar un curso de conferencias sobre filosofía natural en sus relaciones generales, y que el señor Waldman, un colega profesor, daría clases de química los días alternos en que él no lo hiciera.
Vocabulary
- hizo
- Third person singular past tense of 'hacer', meaning 'made' or 'did'.
- varias
- Feminine plural adjective meaning 'several' or 'various'.
- preguntas
- Noun meaning 'questions'; also verb form of 'preguntar'.
- sobre
- Preposition meaning 'about', 'on', or 'over'.
- progreso
- Noun meaning 'progress' or 'advancement'.
- diferentes
- Adjective meaning 'different' or 'various'.
- ramas
- Noun meaning 'branches', as in branches of a field.
- ciencia
- Noun meaning 'science' or 'knowledge'.
- relacionadas
- Adjective meaning 'related' or 'connected', feminine plural.
- filosofía
- Noun meaning 'philosophy', the study of fundamental questions.
- natural
- Adjective meaning 'natural', relating to nature.
- Respondí
- First person singular past tense of 'responder', meaning 'I answered'.
- indiferencia
- Noun meaning 'indifference', lack of interest or concern.
- parte
- Noun meaning 'part' or 'portion'; also 'side'.
- desdén
- Noun meaning 'disdain' or 'contempt'.
- mencioné
- First person singular past tense of 'mencionar', meaning 'I mentioned'.
- nombres
- Noun meaning 'names'.
- alquimistas
- Noun meaning 'alchemists', practitioners of alchemy.
- principales
- Adjective meaning 'main', 'principal', or 'primary'.
- autores
- Noun meaning 'authors' or 'writers'.
- había
- Imperfect form of 'haber', used to form past perfect tense.
- estudiado
- Past participle of 'estudiar', meaning 'studied'.
- profesor
- Noun meaning 'professor' or 'teacher'.
- miró
- Third person singular past tense of 'mirar', meaning 'looked at'.
- fijamente
- Adverb meaning 'fixedly' or 'intently'.
- pasado
- Past participle of 'pasar', meaning 'passed' or 'spent'.
- usted
- Formal second person singular pronoun meaning 'you'.
- dijo
- Third person singular past tense of 'decir', meaning 'said'.
- realmente
- Adverb meaning 'really' or 'truly'.
- tiempo
- Noun meaning 'time' or 'weather'.
- estudiando
- Gerund of 'estudiar', meaning 'studying'.
- semejantes
- Adjective meaning 'such', 'similar', or 'like'.
- tonterías
- Noun meaning 'nonsense', 'foolishness', or 'silly things'.
- afirmativamente
- Adverb meaning 'affirmatively' or 'in the affirmative'.
- Cada
- Adjective meaning 'each' or 'every'.
- minuto
- Noun meaning 'minute', a unit of time.
- continuó
- Third person singular past tense of 'continuar', meaning 'continued'.
- señor
- Noun meaning 'mister', 'sir', or 'gentleman'.
- vehemencia
- Noun meaning 'vehemence', intense forcefulness or passion.
- instante
- Noun meaning 'instant' or 'moment'.
- desperdiciado
- Past participle of 'desperdiciar', meaning 'wasted'.
- esos
- Demonstrative adjective meaning 'those'.
- libros
- Noun meaning 'books'.
- total
- Adjective or adverb meaning 'total' or 'completely'.
- completamente
- Adverb meaning 'completely' or 'entirely'.
- perdido
- Past participle of 'perder', meaning 'lost' or 'wasted'.
- cargado
- Adjective meaning 'loaded', 'charged', or 'burdened'.
- memoria
- Noun meaning 'memory' or 'remembrance'.
- sistemas
- Noun meaning 'systems' or 'frameworks'.
- desacreditados
- Adjective meaning 'discredited' or 'disproven', masculine plural.
- inútiles
- Adjective meaning 'useless' or 'futile'.
- Dios
- Noun meaning 'God'.
- mío
- Possessive pronoun meaning 'mine' or 'my'.
- tierra
- Noun meaning 'land', 'earth', or 'ground'.
- yerma
- Adjective meaning 'barren', 'desolate', or 'uncultivated'.
- vivido
- Past participle of 'vivir', meaning 'lived'.
- donde
- Relative adverb meaning 'where'.
- nadie
- Indefinite pronoun meaning 'nobody' or 'no one'.
- tuvo
- Third person singular past tense of 'tener', meaning 'had'.
- amabilidad
- Noun meaning 'kindness' or 'friendliness'.
- informarle
- Infinitive 'informar' plus pronoun; meaning 'to inform him/you'.
- estas
- Demonstrative adjective meaning 'these', feminine plural.
- fantasías
- Noun meaning 'fantasies' or 'fanciful ideas'.
- absorbido
- Past participle of 'absorber', meaning 'absorbed' or 'engrossed'.
- tanta
- Adjective meaning 'so much' or 'such a lot of'.
- avidez
- Noun meaning 'avidity', eagerness, or greediness.
- mil
- Numeral meaning 'one thousand'.
- años
- Noun meaning 'years'.
- antigüedad
- Noun meaning 'antiquity', 'age', or 'seniority'.
- tan
- Adverb meaning 'so' or 'as', used in comparisons.
- rancias
- Adjective meaning 'rancid', 'stale', or 'outdated', feminine plural.
- antiguas
- Adjective meaning 'old', 'ancient', or 'former', feminine plural.
- Poco
- Adjective or adverb meaning 'little', 'few', or 'not much'.
- esperaba
- First/third person singular imperfect of 'esperar', meaning 'expected' or 'hoped'.
- esta
- Demonstrative adjective meaning 'this', feminine singular.
- época
- Noun meaning 'era', 'epoch', or 'period of time'.
- ilustrada
- Adjective meaning 'enlightened' or 'educated', feminine singular.
- científica
- Adjective meaning 'scientific', feminine singular.
- encontrar
- Verb infinitive meaning 'to find' or 'to encounter'.
- discípulo
- Noun meaning 'disciple', 'follower', or 'student'.
- Querido
- Adjective or noun meaning 'dear' or 'beloved'.
- debe
- Third person singular present of 'deber', meaning 'must' or 'should'.
- comenzar
- Verb infinitive meaning 'to begin' or 'to start'.
- estudios
- Noun meaning 'studies' or 'coursework'.
- desde
- Preposition meaning 'from' or 'since'.
- principio
- Noun meaning 'beginning', 'principle', or 'start'.
- Dicho
- Past participle of 'decir', meaning 'said'; used in 'dicho esto' (having said this).
- esto
- Neuter demonstrative pronoun meaning 'this'.
- apartó
- Third person singular past tense of 'apartar', meaning 'moved away' or 'stepped aside'.
- anotó
- Third person singular past tense of 'anotar', meaning 'noted down' or 'jotted'.
- lista
- Noun meaning 'list'.
- varios
- Adjective meaning 'several' or 'various', masculine plural.
- pidió
- Third person singular past tense of 'pedir', meaning 'asked for' or 'requested'.
- consiguiera
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'conseguir', meaning 'to obtain' or 'to get'.
- despidió
- Third person singular past tense of 'despedir', meaning 'dismissed' or 'said goodbye'.
- tras
- Preposition meaning 'after' or 'behind'.
- mencionar
- Verb infinitive meaning 'to mention'.
- principios
- Noun meaning 'principles', 'beginnings', or 'fundamentals'.
- semana
- Noun meaning 'week'.
- siguiente
- Adjective meaning 'following' or 'next'.
- tenía
- First/third person singular imperfect of 'tener', meaning 'had' or 'used to have'.
- intención
- Noun meaning 'intention' or 'purpose'.
- iniciar
- Verb infinitive meaning 'to initiate' or 'to begin'.
- curso
- Noun meaning 'course' or 'class'.
- conferencias
- Noun meaning 'lectures' or 'conferences'.
- relaciones
- Noun meaning 'relations', 'relationships', or 'connections'.
- generales
- Adjective meaning 'general', 'broad', or 'overall', plural.
- colega
- Noun meaning 'colleague' or 'fellow professional'.
- daría
- Conditional tense of 'dar', meaning 'would give'.
- clases
- Noun meaning 'classes' or 'lessons'.
- química
- Noun meaning 'chemistry'.
- días
- Noun meaning 'days'.
- alternos
- Adjective meaning 'alternate' or 'alternating', masculine plural.
- hiciera
- Imperfect subjunctive of 'hacer', meaning 'would do' or 'might do'.
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