Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus — Page 15
In the morning, however, as soon as it was light, I went upon deck and found all the sailors busy on one side of the vessel, apparently talking to someone in the sea.
La mattina, tuttavia, non appena fu giorno, salii sul ponte e trovai tutti i marinai indaffarati su un lato della nave, apparentemente a parlare con qualcuno in mare.
It was, in fact, a sledge, like that we had seen before, which had drifted towards us in the night on a large fragment of ice.
Era, in effetti, una slitta, simile a quella che avevamo visto in precedenza, che si era avvicinata a noi durante la notte su un grande frammento di ghiaccio.
Only one dog remained alive; but there was a human being within it whom the sailors were persuading to enter the vessel.
Solo un cane era rimasto vivo; ma vi era al suo interno un essere umano che i marinai stavano cercando di persuadere a salire a bordo della nave.
He was not, as the other traveller seemed to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but a European.
Non era, come sembrava essere l'altro viaggiatore, un selvaggio abitante di qualche isola inesplorata, bensì un Europeo.
When I appeared on deck the master said, "Here is our captain, and he will not allow you to perish on the open sea."
Quando apparvi sul ponte il comandante disse: «Ecco il nostro capitano, ed egli non permetterà che voi periate in mare aperto».
On perceiving me, the stranger addressed me in English, although with a foreign accent.
Vedendomi, lo straniero si rivolse a me in inglese, sebbene con un accento straniero.
"Before I come on board your vessel," said he, "will you have the kindness to inform me whither you are bound?"
«Prima di salire a bordo della vostra nave», disse, «avreste la gentilezza di informarmi verso dove siete diretti?»
You may conceive my astonishment on hearing such a question addressed to me from a man on the brink of destruction and to whom I should have supposed that my vessel would have been a resource which he would not have exchanged for the most precious wealth the earth can afford.
Si può immaginare il mio stupore nell'udire una tale domanda rivoltami da un uomo sull'orlo della rovina e al quale avrei supposto che la mia nave sarebbe stata una risorsa che egli non avrebbe scambiato per la ricchezza più preziosa che la terra possa offrire.
I replied, however, that we were on a voyage of discovery towards the northern pole.
Risposi, tuttavia, che eravamo in viaggio di esplorazione verso il polo nord.
Upon hearing this he appeared satisfied and consented to come on board.
All'udire ciò sembrò soddisfatto e acconsentì a salire a bordo.
Good God!
Santo Cielo!
Vocabulary
- mattina
- Morning, the early part of the day
- tuttavia
- However, nevertheless, yet
- appena
- As soon as, just, barely
- fu
- Was, third person singular past of essere
- salii
- I climbed, went up (past tense of salire)
- ponte
- Deck of a ship; also means bridge
- trovai
- I found, discovered (past tense of trovare)
- marinai
- Sailors, seamen aboard a ship
- indaffarati
- Busy, occupied, engaged in activity
- lato
- Side, one side of an object or ship
- nave
- Ship, large seafaring vessel
- apparentemente
- Apparently, seemingly, on the surface
- qualcuno
- Someone, somebody, an unspecified person
- effetti
- In fact, indeed; effects (in expressions like 'in effetti')
- slitta
- Sled, sledge used for travel on snow
- simile
- Similar, alike, resembling something else
- precedenza
- Previously, priority; in precedenza means before
- avvicinata
- Approached, drawn near (past participle of avvicinarsi)
- durante
- During, throughout a period of time
- frammento
- Fragment, piece, broken-off portion of something
- ghiaccio
- Ice, frozen water
- rimasto
- Remained, stayed (past participle of rimanere)
- vivo
- Alive, living, not dead
- vi
- There, you (pronoun/adverb depending on context)
- interno
- Inside, interior, inner part of something
- umano
- Human, relating to or characteristic of people
- stavano
- They were (imperfect of stare, used with gerund)
- persuadere
- To persuade, convince someone to do something
- salire
- To climb, go up, board (a vessel)
- bordo
- Board; a bordo means aboard a ship
- sembrava
- Seemed, appeared (imperfect of sembrare)
- viaggiatore
- Traveler, one who travels or journeys
- selvaggio
- Wild, savage, uncivilized person or creature
- abitante
- Inhabitant, resident, dweller of a place
- qualche
- Some, any, a few (indefinite adjective)
- isola
- Island, land mass surrounded by water
- inesplorata
- Unexplored, not yet discovered or examined
- bensì
- But rather, on the contrary, instead
- Europeo
- European, a person from Europe
- apparvi
- I appeared, showed up (past tense of apparire)
- comandante
- Commander, captain, officer in charge
- Ecco
- Here is, here are, behold
- capitano
- Captain, leader of a ship or group
- egli
- He, third person masculine singular subject pronoun
- permetterà
- Will allow, will permit (future of permettere)
- periate
- You perish, die (subjunctive of perire)
- aperto
- Open; all'aperto means outdoors, in the open
- Vedendomi
- Seeing me, upon seeing me (gerund with pronoun)
- straniero
- Stranger, foreigner, person from another place
- rivolse
- Addressed, turned to (past tense of rivolgere)
- sebbene
- Although, even though, even if (conjunction)
- accento
- Accent, manner of pronunciation, stress
- avreste
- You would have (conditional of avere)
- gentilezza
- Kindness, courtesy, politeness toward others
- informarmi
- To inform me, to let me know
- verso
- Toward, in the direction of
- diretti
- Headed, directed toward a destination
- immaginare
- To imagine, picture, conceive in the mind
- stupore
- Astonishment, amazement, state of being stunned
- udire
- To hear, to perceive sounds (formal register)
- tale
- Such, such a, of that kind
- rivoltami
- Addressed to me, directed at me (past participle)
- orlo
- Edge, brink, rim of something
- rovina
- Ruin, destruction, downfall, collapse
- avrei
- I would have (first person conditional of avere)
- supposto
- Supposed, assumed (past participle of supporre)
- sarebbe
- Would be (third person conditional of essere)
- risorsa
- Resource, asset, means available to someone
- avrebbe
- He/she would have (conditional of avere)
- scambiato
- Exchanged, traded, swapped (past participle of scambiare)
- ricchezza
- Wealth, richness, abundance of material goods
- preziosa
- Precious, valuable, highly prized
- possa
- Can, may (subjunctive of potere)
- offrire
- To offer, to provide, to present something
- Risposi
- I replied, answered (past tense of rispondere)
- eravamo
- We were (imperfect of essere)
- esplorazione
- Exploration, act of exploring unknown territory
- polo
- Pole, as in geographic North or South Pole
- ciò
- This, that, it (demonstrative pronoun)
- sembrò
- Seemed, appeared (past tense of sembrare)
- soddisfatto
- Satisfied, content, pleased with something
- acconsentì
- Agreed, consented (past tense of acconsentire)
- Santo
- Saint, holy; Santo Cielo means Good Heavens
- Cielo
- Sky, heaven; used in exclamations of surprise
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