Great Expectations — Page 7
"I wish I was a frog. Or a eel!"
"Vorrei essere una rana. O un'anguilla!"
At the same time, he hugged his shuddering body in both his arms,—clasping himself, as if to hold himself together,—and limped towards the low church wall.
Allo stesso tempo, strinse il suo corpo tremante tra entrambe le braccia,—abbracciando se stesso, come per tenersi insieme,—e si avviò zoppicando verso il basso muro della chiesa.
As I saw him go, picking his way among the nettles, and among the brambles that bound the green mounds, he looked in my young eyes as if he were eluding the hands of the dead people, stretching up cautiously out of their graves, to get a twist upon his ankle and pull him in.
Mentre lo guardavo andare, facendosi strada tra le ortiche e tra i rovi che cingevano i tumuli verdi, ai miei giovani occhi sembrava che stesse eludendo le mani dei morti, che si tendevano cautamente fuori dalle loro tombe per afferrargli la caviglia e trascinarlo dentro.
When he came to the low church wall, he got over it, like a man whose legs were numbed and stiff, and then turned round to look for me.
Quando arrivò al basso muro della chiesa, lo scavalcò come un uomo le cui gambe fossero intorpidite e rigide, e poi si girò a cercarmi.
When I saw him turning, I set my face towards home, and made the best use of my legs.
Quando lo vidi voltarsi, puntai il viso verso casa e feci del mio meglio con le gambe.
But presently I looked over my shoulder, and saw him going on again towards the river, still hugging himself in both arms, and picking his way with his sore feet among the great stones dropped into the marshes here and there, for stepping-places when the rains were heavy or the tide was in.
Ma poco dopo mi voltai a guardare oltre la spalla, e lo vidi avanzare di nuovo verso il fiume, ancora stringendosi in entrambe le braccia, e facendosi strada con i suoi piedi doloranti tra i grandi massi disseminati qua e là nelle paludi, come punti d'appoggio quando le piogge erano intense o la marea era alta.
The marshes were just a long black horizontal line then, as I stopped to look after him; and the river was just another horizontal line, not nearly so broad nor yet so black; and the sky was just a row of long angry red lines and dense black lines intermixed.
Le paludi erano allora soltanto una lunga linea orizzontale nera, mentre mi fermavo a seguirlo con lo sguardo; e il fiume era solo un'altra linea orizzontale, non altrettanto larga né altrettanto nera; e il cielo era solo una fila di lunghe linee rosse infuriate e dense linee nere frammiste.
Vocabulary
- Vorrei
- I would like; conditional form of volere.
- essere
- To be; fundamental auxiliary and main verb.
- una
- A, an; feminine singular indefinite article.
- rana
- Frog; amphibious creature with jumping ability.
- un
- A, an; masculine singular indefinite article.
- anguilla
- Eel; long fish-like aquatic animal.
- Allo
- To the; contraction of 'a' and 'lo'.
- stesso
- Same, self; indicates identity or emphasis.
- tempo
- Time; period or duration of events.
- strinse
- He/she squeezed; past tense of stringere.
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article.
- suo
- His, her, its; third person possessive adjective.
- corpo
- Body; physical form of a person.
- tremante
- Trembling, shaking; present participle of tremare.
- tra
- Between, among; preposition indicating spatial relationship.
- entrambe
- Both; feminine plural form of ambo.
- le
- The; feminine plural definite article.
- braccia
- Arms; plural of braccio, limbs from shoulder.
- abbracciando
- Embracing; present participle of abbracciare.
- se
- Himself, herself, themselves; reflexive pronoun.
- come
- As, like; conjunction or preposition.
- per
- For, to; preposition indicating purpose.
- tenersi
- To hold oneself; reflexive verb meaning to grasp.
- insieme
- Together; adverb indicating collective action.
- si
- Himself, herself; reflexive pronoun particle.
- avviò
- He/she set off; past tense of avviare.
- zoppicando
- Limping; present participle of zoppicare.
- verso
- Towards, near; preposition indicating direction.
- basso
- Low, base; adjective indicating lesser height.
- muro
- Wall; structure made of stone or brick.
- della
- Of the; contraction of 'di' and 'la'.
- chiesa
- Church; building for religious Christian worship.
- Mentre
- While, as; conjunction indicating simultaneous action.
- lo
- Him; masculine singular direct object pronoun.
- guardavo
- I was watching; imperfect tense of guardare.
- andare
- To go; fundamental verb of motion.
- facendosi
- Making oneself; reflexive gerund of fare.
- strada
- Road, street; way or path for travel.
- che
- That, which; relative pronoun.
- cingevano
- They encircled; imperfect tense of cingere.
- verdi
- Green; adjective describing the color green.
- ai
- To the; contraction of 'a' and 'i'.
- miei
- My; first person plural possessive adjective.
- giovani
- Young; adjective indicating youth or newness.
- occhi
- Eyes; plural of occhio, organs of sight.
- sembrava
- It seemed; imperfect tense of sembrare.
- stesse
- Was; imperfect subjunctive of essere.
- eludendo
- Evading; present participle of eludere.
- mani
- Hands; plural of mano, appendages for grasping.
- dei
- Of the; contraction of 'di' and 'i'.
- morti
- Dead; plural of morto, deceased persons.
- tendevano
- They extended; imperfect tense of tendere.
- cautamente
- Cautiously, carefully; adverb of cauto.
- fuori
- Outside, out; adverb indicating external location.
- dalle
- From the; contraction of 'da' and 'le'.
- loro
- Their; third person plural possessive adjective.
- tombe
- Tombs; plural of tomba, burial places.
- afferrargli
- To grab him; infinitive with indirect object.
- caviglia
- Ankle; joint connecting foot and leg.
- trascinarlo
- To drag him; infinitive with direct object.
- dentro
- Inside, within; adverb indicating interior location.
- Quando
- When; adverb or conjunction indicating time.
- arrivò
- He/she arrived; past tense of arrivare.
- al
- To the; contraction of 'a' and 'lo'.
- uomo
- Man; adult male human being.
- cui
- Whose, whom; relative pronoun in oblique cases.
- gambe
- Legs; plural of gamba, lower limbs.
- fossero
- Were; imperfect subjunctive of essere.
- rigide
- Stiff, rigid; feminine adjective indicating lack of flexibility.
- poi
- Then, afterwards; adverb indicating sequence.
- girò
- He/she turned; past tense of girare.
- cercarmi
- To look for me; infinitive with object pronoun.
- vidi
- I saw; past tense of vedere.
- voltarsi
- To turn around; reflexive verb of voltare.
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