Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World — Page 5
I find likewise that your printer has been so careless as to confound the times, and mistake the dates, of my several voyages and returns; neither assigning the true year, nor the true month, nor day of the month: and I hear the original manuscript is all destroyed since the publication of my book; neither have I any copy left: however, I have sent you some corrections, which you may insert, if ever there should be a second edition: and yet I cannot stand to them; but shall leave that matter to my judicious and candid readers to adjust it as they please.
Encuentro asimismo que su impresor ha sido tan descuidado como para confundir los tiempos, y equivocar las fechas, de mis diversos viajes y regresos; sin asignar el año verdadero, ni el mes verdadero, ni el día del mes: y tengo entendido que el manuscrito original fue destruido por completo tras la publicación de mi libro; tampoco me queda ninguna copia: sin embargo, le he enviado algunas correcciones, que podrá insertar, si alguna vez hubiera una segunda edición: y con todo, no puedo responder por ellas; sino que dejaré ese asunto a mis juiciosos e imparciales lectores para que lo ajusten como les parezca.
I hear some of our sea _Yahoos_ find fault with my sea-language, as not proper in many parts, nor now in use.
Tengo entendido que algunos de nuestros _Yahoos_ de mar encuentran defectos en mi lenguaje marinero, por no ser apropiado en muchas partes, ni estar ya en uso.
I cannot help it.
No puedo evitarlo.
In my first voyages, while I was young, I was instructed by the oldest mariners, and learned to speak as they did.
En mis primeros viajes, cuando era joven, fui instruido por los marineros más antiguos, y aprendí a hablar como ellos.
But I have since found that the sea _Yahoos_ are apt, like the land ones, to become new-fangled in their words, which the latter change every year; insomuch, as I remember upon each return to my own country their old dialect was so altered, that I could hardly understand the new.
Pero desde entonces he descubierto que los _Yahoos_ de mar son propensos, como los de tierra, a encapricharse con palabras nuevas, las cuales estos últimos cambian cada año; tanto es así, que recuerdo que en cada regreso a mi propio país su antiguo dialecto estaba tan alterado, que apenas podía entender el nuevo.
And I observe, when any _Yahoo_ comes from London out of curiosity to visit me at my house, we neither of us are able to deliver our conceptions in a manner intelligible to the other.
Y observo que, cuando algún _Yahoo_ viene de Londres por curiosidad a visitarme a mi casa, ninguno de los dos somos capaces de expresar nuestras ideas de una manera inteligible para el otro.
Vocabulary
- Encuentro
- I find or encounter something; a meeting
- asimismo
- Likewise; also; in the same way
- que
- That; which; a common conjunction or relative pronoun
- su
- His, her, its, or their; possessive pronoun
- impresor
- Printer; person who prints books or documents
- ha
- Has; third-person singular present of haber
- sido
- Been; past participle of ser
- tan
- So; as; used to intensify adjectives or adverbs
- descuidado
- Careless; negligent; not paying proper attention
- como
- As; like; how; a common comparison word
- para
- For; in order to; a common preposition
- confundir
- To confuse; to mix up; to mistake one for another
- los
- The; masculine plural definite article
- tiempos
- Times; periods; also means weather or tenses
- y
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- equivocar
- To mistake; to get something wrong; to err
- las
- The; feminine plural definite article
- fechas
- Dates; specific days on the calendar
- de
- Of; from; a very common Spanish preposition
- mis
- My; first-person plural possessive adjective
- diversos
- Various; diverse; several different ones
- viajes
- Trips; journeys; travels to different places
- regresos
- Returns; acts of coming back to a place
- sin
- Without; lacking something; a common preposition
- asignar
- To assign; to designate; to allot something specific
- el
- The; masculine singular definite article
- año
- Year; a twelve-month period of time
- verdadero
- True; real; genuine; not false or invented
- ni
- Nor; neither; used in negative constructions
- mes
- Month; one of twelve divisions of the year
- día
- Day; a 24-hour period of time
- tengo
- I have; first-person singular present of tener
- entendido
- Understood; past participle of entender
- manuscrito
- Manuscript; handwritten or original written document
- original
- Original; first or earliest version of something
- fue
- Was; went; third-person singular preterite of ser/ir
- destruido
- Destroyed; completely ruined or eliminated
- por
- By; for; through; a very common preposition
- completo
- Complete; entire; fully done or whole
- tras
- After; behind; following something in time
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- publicación
- Publication; act of publishing a book or text
- libro
- Book; a written or printed literary work
- tampoco
- Neither; not either; also not; negative addition
- me
- Me; myself; first-person singular object pronoun
- queda
- Remains; stays; third-person singular of quedar
- ninguna
- No; none; not any; feminine negative adjective
- copia
- Copy; a duplicate of a document or text
- embargo
- Sin embargo means however; nevertheless; despite this
- le
- To him/her/you; indirect object pronoun
- he
- I have; first-person singular present of haber
- enviado
- Sent; past participle of enviar
- algunas
- Some; a few; feminine plural indefinite adjective
- correcciones
- Corrections; fixes to errors in a text
- podrá
- Will be able to; future tense of poder
- insertar
- To insert; to add something into a text
- si
- If; whether; conditional conjunction
- alguna
- Some; any; feminine singular indefinite adjective
- vez
- Time; occasion; instance of something happening
- hubiera
- There were; past subjunctive of haber
- una
- A; one; feminine indefinite article
- segunda
- Second; ordinal number following first
- edición
- Edition; a version or printing of a book
- con
- With; accompanied by; a common preposition
- todo
- All; everything; con todo means nevertheless
- no
- No; not; basic negation word
- puedo
- I can; I am able to; from poder
- responder
- To respond; to answer; to reply to something
- ellas
- They; them; third-person feminine plural pronoun
- sino
- But rather; but instead; used after negation
- dejaré
- I will leave; I will let; future of dejar
- ese
- That; demonstrative adjective pointing to something nearby
- asunto
- Matter; issue; subject; affair to be dealt with
- a
- To; at; a very common Spanish preposition
- juiciosos
- Judicious; wise; showing good judgment and sense
- e
- And; variant of y used before i- or hi- sounds
- imparciales
- Impartial; unbiased; fair and not taking sides
- lectores
- Readers; people who read books or texts
- lo
- It; him; neuter or masculine object pronoun
- ajusten
- Adjust; fix; subjunctive of ajustar, to settle
- les
- To them; indirect object pronoun, plural
- parezca
- Seems; appears; present subjunctive of parecer
- Tengo
- I have; first-person singular present of tener
- algunos
- Some; a few; masculine plural indefinite adjective
- nuestros
- Our; first-person plural masculine possessive adjective
- mar
- Sea; ocean; large body of salt water
- encuentran
- Find; encounter; third-person plural of encontrar
- defectos
- Defects; flaws; faults found in something
- en
- In; at; on; a very common Spanish preposition
- lenguaje
- Language; manner of speaking; style of expression
- marinero
- Sailor; seaman; person who works on a ship
- ser
- To be; fundamental Spanish verb of existence or identity
- apropiado
- Appropriate; suitable; fitting for the context
- muchas
- Many; a lot of; feminine plural of mucho
- partes
- Parts; sections; portions of a larger whole
- estar
- To be; used for states, conditions, locations
- ya
- Already; now; no longer; common time adverb
- uso
- Use; usage; common practice or habit
- No
- No; not; negation word
- evitarlo
- To avoid it; infinitive evitar plus object pronoun
- En
- In; at; preposition indicating location or time
- primeros
- First; earliest; masculine plural ordinal adjective
- cuando
- When; at the time that; temporal conjunction
- era
- Was; used to be; imperfect tense of ser
- joven
- Young; youth; a person of young age
- fui
- I was; I went; preterite of ser or ir
- instruido
- Instructed; taught; educated by someone
- marineros
- Sailors; seamen; people who work on ships
- más
- More; most; comparative adverb or adjective
- antiguos
- Old; ancient; former; longtime veterans
- aprendí
- I learned; preterite first-person of aprender
- hablar
- To speak; to talk; basic communication verb
- ellos
- They; them; masculine third-person plural pronoun
- Pero
- But; however; coordinating conjunction showing contrast
- desde
- Since; from; indicating starting point in time
- entonces
- Then; at that time; therefore; temporal adverb
- descubierto
- Discovered; found out; past participle of descubrir
- son
- Are; third-person plural present of ser
- propensos
- Prone; inclined; tending toward a certain behavior
- tierra
- Land; earth; ground; as opposed to sea
- encapricharse
- To become infatuated with; to take a fancy to
- palabras
- Words; units of language and vocabulary
- nuevas
- New; recent; feminine plural adjective
- cuales
- Which; that; relative pronoun used after prepositions
- estos
- These; masculine plural demonstrative adjective
- últimos
- Last; latest; most recent; masculine plural adjective
- cambian
- Change; alter; third-person plural of cambiar
- cada
- Each; every; used before nouns or time expressions
- tanto
- So much; so often; to such a degree
- es
- Is; third-person singular present of ser
- así
- So; thus; in this way; like that
- recuerdo
- I remember; also a souvenir or memory
- regreso
- Return; the act of coming back home
- propio
- Own; one's own; proper; belonging to oneself
- país
- Country; nation; one's homeland
- antiguo
- Old; ancient; former; something from the past
- dialecto
- Dialect; regional variety of a language
- estaba
- Was; used to be; imperfect tense of estar
- alterado
- Altered; changed; modified from its original form
- apenas
- Barely; hardly; scarcely; just barely possible
- podía
- Could; was able to; imperfect of poder
- entender
- To understand; to comprehend; to make sense of
- nuevo
- New; recent; not old or familiar
- Y
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- observo
- I observe; I notice; first-person of observar
- algún
- Some; any; masculine singular indefinite adjective
- viene
- Comes; arrives; third-person singular of venir
- curiosidad
- Curiosity; desire to learn or know something
- visitarme
- To visit me; infinitive visitar with object pronoun
- casa
- House; home; place where one lives
- ninguno
- Neither; none; not one of two or more
- dos
- Two; the number 2
- somos
- We are; first-person plural present of ser
- capaces
- Capable; able; having the ability to do something
- expresar
- To express; to communicate ideas or feelings
- nuestras
- Our; first-person plural feminine possessive adjective
- ideas
- Ideas; thoughts; concepts in the mind
- manera
- Manner; way; method of doing something
- inteligible
- Intelligible; understandable; able to be comprehended
- otro
- Other; another; a different one
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