Heart of Darkness — Page 10

English → It Full Text Level 9/10

"I don't want to bother you much with what happened to me personally,"

«Non voglio tediarvi troppo con quello che mi è capitato personalmente,»

he began, showing in this remark the weakness of many tellers of tales

cominciò, rivelando in questa osservazione la debolezza di molti narratori di storie

who seem so often unaware of what their audience would like best to

che sembrano così spesso ignari di ciò che il loro pubblico vorrebbe sentire di più;

hear; "yet to understand the effect of it on me you ought to know how I

«eppure per capire l'effetto che ebbe su di me dovreste sapere come arrivai laggiù,

got out there, what I saw, how I went up that river to the place where

cosa vidi, come risalii quel fiume fino al luogo dove

I first met the poor chap.

incontrai per la prima volta il povero diavolo.

It was the farthest point of navigation and

Era il punto più lontano della navigazione e

the culminating point of my experience.

il punto culminante della mia esperienza.

It seemed somehow to throw a

Sembrava in qualche modo gettare una

kind of light on everything about me—and into my thoughts.

sorta di luce su tutto ciò che mi circondava—e nei miei pensieri.

It was

Era

sombre enough, too—and pitiful—not extraordinary in any way—not very

abbastanza cupa, anche—e pietosa—non straordinaria in alcun modo—non molto

clear either.

chiara nemmeno.

No, not very clear.

No, non molto chiara.

And yet it seemed to throw a kind of

Eppure sembrava gettare una sorta di

light.

luce.

"I had then, as you remember, just returned to London after a lot of

«Avevo allora, come ricorderete, appena fatto ritorno a Londra dopo tanto

Indian Ocean, Pacific, China Seas—a regular dose of the East—six years

Oceano Indiano, Pacifico, Mari della Cina—una bella dose d'Oriente—sei anni

or so, and I was loafing about, hindering you fellows in your work and

più o meno, e me ne andavo a spasso, ostacolando voi ragazzi nel vostro lavoro e

invading your homes, just as though I had got a heavenly mission to

invadendo le vostre case, proprio come se avessi ricevuto una missione celeste di

civilize you.

civilizzarvi.

It was very fine for a time, but after a bit I did get

Fu molto bello per un po', ma dopo un certo tempo mi stancai

tired of resting.

di riposare.

Then I began to look for a ship—I should think the

Poi cominciai a cercare una nave—che doveva essere il

hardest work on earth.

lavoro più difficile del mondo.

But the ships wouldn't even look at me.

Ma le navi non si degnarono nemmeno di guardarmi.

And I

E mi

got tired of that game, too.

stancai anche di quel gioco.

"Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps.

«Ora, quando ero un ragazzino avevo una passione per le carte geografiche.

Vocabulary

voglio: First person singular of 'volere'; I want.
tediarvi: To bore or weary you all with something.
troppo: Too much; excessively.
quello: Demonstrative pronoun or adjective meaning 'that'.
capitato: Past participle of 'capitare'; happened or occurred.
personalmente: Personally; in a personal or individual manner.
cominciò: Third person singular past of 'cominciare'; he/she began.
rivelando: Gerund of 'rivelare'; revealing or disclosing something.
osservazione: Observation; a remark or comment about something.
debolezza: Weakness; lack of strength or resolve.
molti: Many; a large number of people or things.
narratori: Narrators; people who tell or recount stories.
storie: Stories; accounts or narratives of events.
sembrano: Third person plural of 'sembrare'; they seem or appear.
così: So; in this way or to such a degree.
spesso: Often; frequently occurring.
ignari: Unaware; ignorant of something important.
ciò: That; referring to something previously mentioned.
pubblico: Audience or public; people attending or listening.
vorrebbe: Conditional of 'volere'; he/she/it would want.
sentire: To hear or feel; to perceive through senses.
più: More; to a greater degree or extent.
eppure: Yet; nevertheless; used to introduce a contrast.
capire: To understand; to grasp the meaning of something.
effetto: Effect; result or impact produced by something.
ebbe: Third person singular past of 'avere'; he/she had.
dovreste: Conditional of 'dovere'; you all should or ought to.
sapere: To know; to have knowledge or information about.
arrivai: First person singular past of 'arrivare'; I arrived.
laggiù: Down there; referring to a distant lower place.
vidi: First person singular past of 'vedere'; I saw.
risalii: First person singular past of 'risalire'; I went back up.
fiume: River; a large natural flowing body of water.
fino: Until or up to; indicating a limit or endpoint.
luogo: Place; a specific location or spot.
dove: Where; indicating a place or location.
incontrai: First person singular past of 'incontrare'; I met.
prima: First; before all others in order or time.
volta: Time; an instance or occurrence of an event.
povero: Poor; lacking resources or evoking pity.
diavolo: Devil; also used colloquially for a poor fellow.
punto: Point; a specific moment, place, or dot.
lontano: Far; distant in space or time.
navigazione: Navigation; the act of traveling or steering a vessel.
culminante: Culminating; reaching the highest or decisive point.
esperienza: Experience; knowledge or skill gained through events.
Sembrava: Third person singular imperfect of 'sembrare'; it seemed.
qualche: Some; an unspecified number or amount.
modo: Way; a manner or method of doing something.
gettare: To throw or cast; to project something forcefully.
sorta: Sort or kind; a type or variety of something.
luce: Light; illumination or brightness.
tutto: Everything; all or the whole of something.
circondava: Imperfect of 'circondare'; it surrounded or encircled.
pensieri: Thoughts; ideas or reflections in the mind.
abbastanza: Enough; fairly or sufficiently.
cupa: Gloomy; dark, somber, or depressing in character.
anche: Also; in addition to something else.
pietosa: Pitiful; arousing pity or compassion.
straordinaria: Extraordinary; remarkable or unusual.
alcun: Any; used in negative contexts to mean 'no' or 'any'.
molto: Very; to a great degree or extent.
chiara: Clear; bright or easily understood.
nemmeno: Not even; used to strengthen a negation.
Eppure: Yet; nevertheless; introducing a contrasting statement.
sembrava: Imperfect of 'sembrare'; it seemed or appeared.
Avevo: First person singular imperfect of 'avere'; I had.
allora: Then; at that time or in that case.
ricorderete: Future of 'ricordare'; you all will remember.
appena: Just; barely; only a moment or amount ago.
fatto: Done; past participle of 'fare'; also 'fact'.
ritorno: Return; the act of coming back to a place.
dopo: After; following in time or order.
tanto: So much; a great deal of time or quantity.
Oceano: Ocean; a vast body of saltwater.
Mari: Seas; plural of 'mare', large bodies of water.
bella: Beautiful; attractive or pleasing to the senses.
dose: Dose; a measured amount or portion of something.
Oriente: East; the Orient or Eastern part of the world.
sei: Six; the cardinal number six.
anni: Years; plural of 'anno'.
meno: Less; fewer; to a smaller degree.
ne: Of it/them; partitive pronoun referring to something mentioned.
andavo: First person singular imperfect of 'andare'; I was going.
spasso: Fun; amusement; 'andare a spasso' means to wander.
ostacolando: Gerund of 'ostacolare'; obstructing or hindering someone.
ragazzi: Guys; boys; young men or a group of people.
vostro: Your; possessive adjective for second person plural.
lavoro: Work; a job or task performed regularly.
invadendo: Gerund of 'invadere'; invading or intruding into.
vostre: Your; possessive adjective for second person plural (feminine).
case: Houses; homes or dwellings.
proprio: Just; exactly; own; emphasizes a statement.
se: If; conditional conjunction introducing a hypothesis.
avessi: Subjunctive imperfect of 'avere'; if I had.
ricevuto: Past participle of 'ricevere'; received.
missione: Mission; an important task or assignment given to someone.
celeste: Heavenly; relating to the sky or divine realm.
civilizzarvi: To civilize you all; to bring civilization to a group.
Fu: Third person singular past of 'essere'; it was.
bello: Beautiful; fine; nice or pleasant.
po': A little; a small amount or degree.
certo: Certain; sure; definitely or of course.
tempo: Time; also weather; a period or duration.
stancai: First person singular past of 'stancarsi'; I grew tired.
riposare: To rest; to relax or recover from tiredness.
Poi: Then; afterwards; indicating a following event.
cominciai: First person singular past of 'cominciare'; I began.
cercare: To look for; to search for something or someone.
nave: Ship; a large vessel for traveling on water.
doveva: Imperfect of 'dovere'; it should or was supposed to.
essere: To be; the infinitive of the verb 'to be'.
difficile: Difficult; hard to do or understand.
mondo: World; the earth or all of humanity.
navi: Ships; plural of 'nave'; sea vessels.
degnarono: Past of 'degnarsi'; they deigned or condescended to.
guardarmi: To look at me; infinitive with reflexive pronoun.
gioco: Game or play; also used idiomatically for a situation.
Ora: Now; at this moment in time.
quando: When; at the time that something occurs.
ero: First person singular imperfect of 'essere'; I was.
ragazzino: Little boy; a young or small child (diminutive).
avevo: First person singular imperfect of 'avere'; I had.
passione: Passion; a strong enthusiasm or love for something.
carte: Maps or cards; pieces of paper with information.
geografiche: Geographical; relating to geography or maps.

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