Heart of Darkness — Page 11
I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration.
Me pasaba horas mirando América del Sur, o África, o Australia, y me perdía en todas las glorias de la exploración.
At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, 'When I grow up I will go there.'
En aquel tiempo había muchos espacios en blanco en la tierra, y cuando veía uno que parecía particularmente atractivo en un mapa (pero todos lo parecen) ponía el dedo sobre él y decía: 'Cuando sea mayor iré allí.'
The North Pole was one of these places, I remember.
El Polo Norte era uno de esos lugares, lo recuerdo.
Well, I haven't been there yet, and shall not try now.
Pues bien, todavía no he estado allí, y ya no lo intentaré.
The glamour's off.
El encanto se ha ido.
Other places were scattered about the hemispheres.
Otros lugares estaban esparcidos por los hemisferios.
I have been in some of them, and... well, we won't talk about that.
He estado en algunos de ellos, y... bueno, no hablaremos de eso.
But there was one yet—the biggest, the most blank, so to speak—that I had a hankering after.
Pero había uno todavía —el más grande, el más en blanco, por así decirlo— que me tenía lleno de anhelo.
"True, by this time it was not a blank space any more.
«Cierto, para entonces ya no era un espacio en blanco.
It had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names.
Desde mi niñez se había llenado de ríos, lagos y nombres.
It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery—a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over.
Había dejado de ser un espacio en blanco de delicioso misterio —una mancha blanca sobre la que un niño podía soñar gloriosamente.
It had become a place of darkness.
Se había convertido en un lugar de oscuridad.
But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land.
Pero había en él un río en especial, un río enormemente grande, que se podía ver en el mapa, semejante a una inmensa serpiente desenroscada, con la cabeza en el mar, el cuerpo en reposo curvándose a lo lejos sobre un vasto país, y la cola perdida en las profundidades de la tierra.
Vocabulary
- pasaba
- Past imperfect of pasar; 'used to spend' time
- horas
- Hours; units of time
- mirando
- Gerund of mirar; looking at or watching something
- Sur
- South; cardinal direction
- perdía
- Past imperfect of perderse; used to lose oneself or get lost
- glorias
- Glories; moments of great splendor or fame
- exploración
- Exploration; the act of exploring unknown territories
- aquel
- That; demonstrative adjective indicating something distant
- tiempo
- Time or weather; general temporal reference
- había
- There was/were; past imperfect of haber
- espacios
- Spaces; open or blank areas on a surface
- blanco
- White or blank; describing color or empty space
- tierra
- Land or earth; ground or territory
- veía
- Past imperfect of ver; used to see or was seeing
- parecía
- Past imperfect of parecer; seemed or appeared to be
- particularmente
- Particularly; especially or in a specific manner
- atractivo
- Attractive; appealing or interesting in appearance
- mapa
- Map; visual representation of geographic areas
- parecen
- Present tense of parecer; they seem or appear
- ponía
- Past imperfect of poner; used to place or put something
- dedo
- Finger; digit on the hand
- sobre
- On or over; preposition indicating position above
- decía
- Past imperfect of decir; used to say or was saying
- sea
- Present subjunctive of ser; be (subjunctive mood)
- mayor
- Older or greater; comparative adjective of grande
- iré
- Future tense of ir; I will go
- allí
- There; adverb indicating a distant location
- Polo
- Pole; geographic extremity of the Earth
- Norte
- North; cardinal direction
- era
- Past imperfect of ser; was (permanent characteristic)
- esos
- Those; masculine plural demonstrative adjective
- lugares
- Places; specific locations or sites
- recuerdo
- I remember; or a memory or souvenir
- Pues
- Well or so; discourse marker or causal conjunction
- todavía
- Still or yet; adverb indicating continuation
- estado
- Past participle of estar; been (in a place or state)
- ya
- Already or now; adverb of time
- intentaré
- Future tense of intentar; I will try or attempt
- encanto
- Charm or enchantment; appeal or magical attraction
- ido
- Past participle of ir; gone
- estaban
- Past imperfect of estar; they were (in a state or place)
- esparcidos
- Scattered; spread out across an area
- hemisferios
- Hemispheres; halves of the Earth or a sphere
- algunos
- Some; indefinite pronoun indicating a few
- hablaremos
- Future tense of hablar; we will talk or speak
- así
- Thus, so, or like this; adverb of manner
- decirlo
- To say it; infinitive decir with pronoun attached
- tenía
- Past imperfect of tener; had or used to have
- lleno
- Full; filled completely with something
- anhelo
- Longing or yearning; deep desire for something
- Cierto
- Certain or true; adjective meaning sure or specific
- entonces
- Then; adverb indicating time or logical consequence
- espacio
- Space; open area or outer space
- Desde
- Since or from; preposition indicating starting point
- niñez
- Childhood; the period of being a child
- llenado
- Past participle of llenar; filled or filled up
- ríos
- Rivers; large natural flowing bodies of water
- lagos
- Lakes; large inland bodies of standing water
- nombres
- Names; words used to identify people or places
- Había
- There was/were; past imperfect of haber
- dejado
- Past participle of dejar; left or stopped doing something
- ser
- To be; infinitive of the permanent-state verb
- delicioso
- Delicious or delightful; very pleasing or enjoyable
- misterio
- Mystery; something unknown or unexplained
- mancha
- Stain or spot; a mark or blotch on a surface
- blanca
- White; feminine form of blanco
- niño
- Child or boy; a young male person
- podía
- Past imperfect of poder; could or was able to
- soñar
- To dream; to have dreams or fantasize
- gloriosamente
- Gloriously; in a magnificent or splendid manner
- convertido
- Past participle of convertir; turned into or become
- lugar
- Place; a specific location or site
- oscuridad
- Darkness; absence of light or obscurity
- río
- River; a large natural stream of flowing water
- especial
- Special; distinct or out of the ordinary
- enormemente
- Enormously; to a very great or huge degree
- ver
- To see; basic infinitive for the act of seeing
- semejante
- Similar or such; resembling or of that kind
- inmensa
- Immense; extremely large or vast in size
- serpiente
- Snake or serpent; a long reptile without legs
- desenroscada
- Uncoiled; unwound from a coiled or spiral position
- cabeza
- Head; the upper part of a person's body
- mar
- Sea; a large body of salt water
- cuerpo
- Body; the physical structure of a person or animal
- reposo
- Rest or repose; a state of calm or stillness
- curvándose
- Curving; bending or winding in a curved shape
- lejos
- Far; at a great distance away
- vasto
- Vast; immense or very wide in extent
- país
- Country; a nation or sovereign territory
- cola
- Tail; the rear appendage of an animal
- perdida
- Lost; feminine past participle of perder
- profundidades
- Depths; the deepest or most remote parts
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