Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus — Page 3
They made many signs which I did not comprehend, but I saw that her presence diffused gladness through the cottage, dispelling their sorrow as the sun dissipates the morning mists.
Hicieron muchas señas que yo no comprendí, pero vi que su presencia difundía alegría por la cabaña, disipando su tristeza como el sol disipa las brumas matinales.
Felix seemed peculiarly happy and with smiles of delight welcomed his Arabian.
Félix parecía particularmente feliz y con sonrisas de deleite dio la bienvenida a su árabe.
Agatha, the ever-gentle Agatha, kissed the hands of the lovely stranger, and pointing to her brother, made signs which appeared to me to mean that he had been sorrowful until she came.
Agatha, la siempre dulce Agatha, besó las manos de la encantadora forastera, y señalando a su hermano, hizo señas que a mí me parecieron indicar que él había estado triste hasta que ella llegó.
Some hours passed thus, while they, by their countenances, expressed joy, the cause of which I did not comprehend.
Así pasaron algunas horas, durante las cuales ellos, por sus semblantes, expresaron alegría, cuya causa yo no comprendía.
Presently I found, by the frequent recurrence of some sound which the stranger repeated after them, that she was endeavouring to learn their language; and the idea instantly occurred to me that I should make use of the same instructions to the same end.
Pronto descubrí, por la frecuente repetición de algunos sonidos que la forastera repetía tras ellos, que ella se esforzaba por aprender su idioma; y la idea se me ocurrió al instante de que yo debería aprovechar las mismas enseñanzas con el mismo fin.
The stranger learned about twenty words at the first lesson; most of them, indeed, were those which I had before understood, but I profited by the others.
La forastera aprendió unas veinte palabras en la primera lección; la mayoría de ellas, en efecto, eran las que yo ya había comprendido antes, pero me beneficié de las demás.
"As night came on, Agatha and the Arabian retired early.
«Al llegar la noche, Agatha y la árabe se retiraron temprano.
When they separated Felix kissed the hand of the stranger and said, 'Good night sweet Safie.'
Cuando se separaron, Félix besó la mano de la forastera y dijo: 'Buenas noches, dulce Safie.'
He sat up much longer, conversing with his father, and by the frequent repetition of her name I conjectured that their lovely guest was the subject of their conversation.
Él permaneció despierto mucho más tiempo, conversando con su padre, y por la frecuente repetición de su nombre conjeturé que su encantadora huésped era el tema de su conversación.
I ardently desired to understand them, and bent every faculty towards that purpose, but found it utterly impossible.
Deseaba ardientemente comprenderlos, y concentré todas mis facultades hacia ese propósito, pero lo encontré completamente imposible.
Vocabulary
- Hicieron
- They did or made something; past tense of hacer
- muchas
- Many; feminine plural form of mucho
- señas
- Signs, gestures, or signals made to communicate
- que
- That, which, or who; common conjunction and pronoun
- yo
- I; first-person singular subject pronoun
- no
- No, not; negation word
- comprendí
- I understood; past tense of comprender
- pero
- But; conjunction showing contrast between ideas
- vi
- I saw; past tense of ver
- su
- His, her, its, or their; possessive adjective
- presencia
- Presence; the state of being in a place
- difundía
- Was spreading or diffusing; imperfect tense of difundir
- alegría
- Joy, happiness; a feeling of great pleasure
- por
- Through, by, for; common preposition with multiple uses
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- cabaña
- Cabin or hut; a small simple dwelling
- disipando
- Dissipating or dispersing; present participle of disipar
- tristeza
- Sadness or sorrow; the state of feeling unhappy
- como
- Like, as; conjunction or adverb for comparison
- el
- The; masculine singular definite article
- sol
- Sun; the star at the center of the solar system
- disipa
- Dissipates or disperses; third person singular of disipar
- las
- The; feminine plural definite article
- brumas
- Mists or fogs; light atmospheric moisture reducing visibility
- matinales
- Morning; adjective describing things related to mornings
- parecía
- Seemed or appeared; imperfect tense of parecer
- particularmente
- Particularly or especially; adverb emphasizing a specific degree
- feliz
- Happy; adjective describing a state of happiness
- y
- And; conjunction joining words or clauses
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or manner
- sonrisas
- Smiles; plural of sonrisa, expression of happiness
- de
- Of, from; very common preposition with multiple uses
- deleite
- Delight or pleasure; a feeling of great enjoyment
- dio
- Gave; past tense of dar, to give
- bienvenida
- Welcome; greeting given to someone upon arrival
- a
- To, at; common preposition indicating direction or recipient
- árabe
- Arab or Arabic; relating to Arabic people or language
- siempre
- Always; adverb indicating something happens at all times
- dulce
- Sweet or gentle; adjective describing pleasant qualities
- besó
- Kissed; past tense of besar, to kiss
- manos
- Hands; plural of mano, the end of the arm
- encantadora
- Charming or enchanting; feminine adjective describing great appeal
- forastera
- Stranger or outsider; a female person from elsewhere
- señalando
- Pointing or indicating; present participle of señalar
- hermano
- Brother; a male sibling
- hizo
- Did or made; past tense of hacer
- mí
- Me; first-person singular stressed pronoun after prepositions
- me
- Me; first-person singular object pronoun
- parecieron
- Seemed; past tense plural of parecer
- indicar
- To indicate or show; infinitive verb meaning to point out
- él
- He; third-person masculine singular subject pronoun
- había
- Had; imperfect tense of haber used in compound tenses
- estado
- Been; past participle of estar, to be
- triste
- Sad; adjective describing unhappiness or low spirits
- hasta
- Until, up to; preposition indicating a limit or endpoint
- ella
- She; third-person feminine singular subject pronoun
- llegó
- Arrived; past tense of llegar, to arrive
- Así
- Thus, so, like this; adverb indicating manner or result
- pasaron
- Passed; past tense of pasar referring to time going by
- algunas
- Some; feminine plural indefinite adjective or pronoun
- horas
- Hours; plural of hora, unit of time
- durante
- During; preposition indicating time something occurs within
- cuales
- Which; plural relative pronoun used after prepositions
- ellos
- They; third-person masculine plural subject pronoun
- sus
- Their, his, her; plural possessive adjective
- semblantes
- Faces or countenances; expressions visible on someone's face
- expresaron
- Expressed; past tense of expresar, to show or convey
- cuya
- Whose; feminine relative possessive adjective
- causa
- Cause or reason; something that produces an effect
- comprendía
- Understood; imperfect tense of comprender
- Pronto
- Soon; adverb indicating something will happen quickly
- descubrí
- I discovered; past tense of descubrir, to discover
- frecuente
- Frequent; adjective describing something happening often
- repetición
- Repetition; the act of doing or saying something again
- algunos
- Some; masculine plural indefinite adjective or pronoun
- sonidos
- Sounds; plural of sonido, auditory sensations
- repetía
- Repeated; imperfect tense of repetir, to repeat
- tras
- After, behind; preposition indicating sequence or position
- se
- Reflexive pronoun; herself, himself, itself, themselves
- esforzaba
- Was trying hard; imperfect of esforzarse, to make effort
- aprender
- To learn; infinitive verb meaning to acquire knowledge
- idioma
- Language; a system of communication used by a community
- idea
- Idea; a thought or plan formed in the mind
- ocurrió
- Occurred or came to mind; past tense of ocurrir
- al
- To the; contraction of a and el
- instante
- Instant or moment; a very brief period of time
- debería
- Should; conditional tense of deber expressing obligation
- aprovechar
- To take advantage of or make good use of
- mismas
- Same; feminine plural adjective emphasizing identity or sameness
- enseñanzas
- Teachings or lessons; knowledge passed from teacher to learner
- mismo
- Same; masculine adjective indicating identity or sameness
- fin
- End or purpose; conclusion or goal of something
- La
- She or the; feminine definite article or pronoun
- aprendió
- Learned; past tense of aprender, to learn
- unas
- Some, about; feminine plural indefinite article
- veinte
- Twenty; the number 20
- palabras
- Words; plural of palabra, units of language
- en
- In, at, on; common preposition indicating location or time
- primera
- First; feminine ordinal number indicating initial position
- lección
- Lesson; a unit of instruction or learning
- mayoría
- Majority; more than half of a total group
- efecto
- Effect; a result produced by a cause
- eran
- Were; imperfect tense of ser, to be
- ya
- Already, now; adverb indicating something has occurred
- comprendido
- Understood; past participle of comprender
- antes
- Before, previously; adverb indicating earlier time
- beneficié
- I benefited; past tense of beneficiarse, to benefit
- demás
- The rest, others; referring to remaining people or things
- Al
- Upon, to the; contraction used before infinitives
- llegar
- To arrive; infinitive verb meaning to reach a place
- noche
- Night; the period of darkness between sunset and sunrise
- retiraron
- Retired or withdrew; past tense of retirarse, to withdraw
- temprano
- Early; adverb indicating something happens before the usual time
- Cuando
- When; conjunction or adverb indicating time
- separaron
- Separated; past tense of separar, to part from each other
- mano
- Hand; the part of the body at the end of the arm
- dijo
- Said; past tense of decir, to say or tell
- Buenas
- Good; feminine plural adjective used in greetings
- noches
- Nights; plural of noche, used in good-night greeting
- Él
- He; third-person masculine singular subject pronoun
- permaneció
- Remained or stayed; past tense of permanecer
- despierto
- Awake; adjective describing the state of not sleeping
- mucho
- Much, a lot; adverb or adjective indicating large quantity
- más
- More; comparative adverb indicating greater degree
- tiempo
- Time or weather; duration or atmospheric conditions
- conversando
- Conversing or talking; present participle of conversar
- padre
- Father; a male parent
- nombre
- Name; a word used to identify a person or thing
- conjeturé
- I conjectured; past tense of conjeturar, to guess
- huésped
- Guest or host; a person received or welcomed somewhere
- era
- Was; imperfect tense of ser, to be
- tema
- Theme or topic; subject being discussed or explored
- conversación
- Conversation; spoken exchange between two or more people
- Deseaba
- Desired or wished; imperfect tense of desear, to want
- ardientemente
- Ardently or eagerly; adverb expressing intense desire
- comprenderlos
- To understand them; infinitive comprender with object pronoun
- concentré
- I concentrated; past tense of concentrar, to focus
- todas
- All; feminine plural adjective indicating the entire group
- mis
- My; first-person plural possessive adjective
- facultades
- Faculties or abilities; mental or physical capacities
- hacia
- Toward; preposition indicating direction or orientation
- ese
- That; masculine singular demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- propósito
- Purpose or goal; an intended aim or objective
- lo
- It, him; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- encontré
- I found; past tense of encontrar, to find
- completamente
- Completely; adverb meaning in a total or absolute manner
- imposible
- Impossible; adjective describing something that cannot be done
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