Heart of Darkness — Page 9
It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind—as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness.
Era apenas roubo com violência, assassinato agravado em grande escala, e homens indo à luta às cegas—como é muito adequado para aqueles que enfrentam uma escuridão.
The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.
A conquista da terra, que na maioria das vezes significa tomá-la daqueles que têm uma compleição diferente ou narizes ligeiramente mais achatados do que os nossos, não é uma coisa bonita quando se olha para ela de perto demais.
What redeems it is the idea only.
O que a redime é apenas a ideia.
An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea—something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to...."
Uma ideia por trás disso; não uma pretensão sentimental, mas uma ideia; e uma crença desinteressada na ideia—algo que se pode erguer, e diante do qual se pode prostrar, e ao qual se pode oferecer um sacrifício...."
He broke off.
Ele parou de falar.
Flames glided in the river, small green flames, red flames, white flames, pursuing, overtaking, joining, crossing each other—then separating slowly or hastily.
Chamas deslizavam pelo rio, pequenas chamas verdes, chamas vermelhas, chamas brancas, perseguindo-se, ultrapassando-se, unindo-se, cruzando-se umas com as outras—depois se separando lentamente ou apressadamente.
The traffic of the great city went on in the deepening night upon the sleepless river.
O tráfego da grande cidade continuava na noite que se aprofundava sobre o rio insone.
We looked on, waiting patiently—there was nothing else to do till the end of the flood; but it was only after a long silence, when he said, in a hesitating voice, "I suppose you fellows remember I did once turn fresh-water sailor for a bit," that we knew we were fated, before the ebb began to run, to hear about one of Marlow's inconclusive experiences.
Ficamos a observar, esperando pacientemente—não havia mais nada a fazer até o fim da enchente; mas foi apenas após um longo silêncio, quando ele disse, com voz hesitante, "Suponho que vocês se lembram de que certa vez me tornei um marinheiro de água doce por um tempo", que soubemos que estávamos fadados, antes que a maré vazante começasse a correr, a ouvir falar de uma das experiências inconclusivas de Marlow.
Vocabulary
- Era
- Past tense of 'to be'; it was/there was
- apenas
- Only, just, merely
- roubo
- Theft, robbery, act of stealing
- com
- With, together with
- violência
- Violence, use of physical force harmfully
- assassinato
- Murder, intentional killing of a person
- agravado
- Aggravated, made worse or more serious
- em
- In, at, on (preposition of location/time)
- grande
- Large, big, great in size or importance
- escala
- Scale, extent, level of magnitude
- e
- And, connecting words or clauses
- homens
- Men, plural of man (homem)
- indo
- Going, present participle of ir (to go)
- à
- To the (contraction of a + a, feminine)
- luta
- Fight, struggle, combat, battle
- às
- To the (contraction of a + as, feminine plural)
- cegas
- Blind (feminine plural); às cegas means blindly
- como
- As, like, how (conjunction/adverb)
- é
- Is, third person singular present of ser
- muito
- Very, much, a lot, greatly
- adequado
- Adequate, suitable, appropriate for a purpose
- para
- For, to, in order to (preposition/conjunction)
- aqueles
- Those (masculine plural demonstrative pronoun)
- que
- That, which, who (relative pronoun/conjunction)
- enfrentam
- Face, confront, deal with a challenge
- uma
- A, an (indefinite article, feminine singular)
- escuridão
- Darkness, absence of light, obscurity
- A
- The (definite article, feminine singular)
- conquista
- Conquest, act of taking over by force
- da
- Of the (contraction of de + a, feminine)
- terra
- Land, earth, ground, territory
- na
- In the (contraction of em + a, feminine)
- maioria
- Majority, most, greater part of something
- das
- Of the (contraction of de + as, feminine plural)
- vezes
- Times, occasions; às vezes means sometimes
- significa
- Means, signifies, indicates a particular meaning
- tomá-la
- To take it (infinitive with clitic pronoun)
- daqueles
- From those (contraction of de + aqueles)
- têm
- Have, third person plural present of ter
- compleição
- Complexion, physical build or bodily constitution
- diferente
- Different, distinct, not the same
- ou
- Or, alternatively (disjunctive conjunction)
- narizes
- Noses, plural of nariz
- ligeiramente
- Slightly, a little, in a minor degree
- mais
- More, most, additional amount or degree
- achatados
- Flattened, squashed, pressed down
- do
- Of the (contraction of de + o, masculine)
- os
- The (definite article, masculine plural)
- nossos
- Our, ours (masculine plural possessive)
- não
- No, not (negation particle)
- coisa
- Thing, object, matter, affair
- bonita
- Pretty, beautiful, attractive (feminine singular)
- quando
- When, at the time that (conjunction)
- se
- Reflexive pronoun; oneself, itself, themselves
- olha
- Looks at, watches, observes carefully
- ela
- She, it (third person feminine pronoun)
- de
- Of, from, by (common preposition)
- perto
- Near, close, nearby in distance
- demais
- Too much, excessively, more than necessary
- O
- The (definite article, masculine singular)
- a
- The (definite article, feminine singular)
- redime
- Redeems, saves, makes up for something bad
- ideia
- Idea, thought, concept, notion
- Uma
- A, one (indefinite article, feminine singular)
- por
- By, through, for, per (preposition)
- trás
- Behind, back; por trás means behind/underlying
- disso
- Of that, from that (contraction of de + isso)
- pretensão
- Pretension, claim, unfounded aspiration
- sentimental
- Sentimental, overly emotional, driven by feelings
- mas
- But, however (adversative conjunction)
- crença
- Belief, faith, conviction in something
- desinteressada
- Disinterested, unselfish, without personal gain
- algo
- Something, anything (indefinite pronoun)
- pode
- Can, is able to (third person singular poder)
- erguer
- To raise, lift up, erect something
- diante
- In front of, before, facing something
- qual
- Which, what (relative/interrogative pronoun)
- prostrar
- To prostrate, bow down in submission
- ao
- To the (contraction of a + o, masculine)
- oferecer
- To offer, present, give something to someone
- um
- A, an, one (indefinite article, masculine)
- sacrifício
- Sacrifice, giving up something valuable
- Ele
- He, him (third person masculine pronoun)
- parou
- Stopped, ceased doing something (past tense)
- falar
- To speak, to talk, to say something
- Chamas
- Flames, fires, burning light and heat
- deslizavam
- Were sliding, gliding smoothly along a surface
- pelo
- Along the, by the (contraction of por + o)
- rio
- River, large natural flowing body of water
- pequenas
- Small, little (feminine plural adjective)
- chamas
- Flames, burning streaks of fire and light
- verdes
- Green (plural adjective, color)
- vermelhas
- Red (feminine plural adjective, color)
- brancas
- White (feminine plural adjective, color)
- perseguindo-se
- Chasing each other, pursuing one another
- ultrapassando-se
- Overtaking each other, passing one another
- unindo-se
- Joining together, merging with each other
- cruzando-se
- Crossing each other, intersecting one another
- umas
- Some, ones (feminine plural indefinite pronoun)
- as
- The (definite article, feminine plural)
- outras
- Others, the other ones (feminine plural)
- depois
- After, then, afterwards, later
- separando
- Separating, dividing apart from each other
- lentamente
- Slowly, at a slow pace or speed
- apressadamente
- Hurriedly, hastily, in a rushed manner
- tráfego
- Traffic, flow of vehicles or movement
- cidade
- City, town, urban area
- continuava
- Continued, kept going (imperfect past tense)
- noite
- Night, nighttime, hours of darkness
- aprofundava
- Deepened, grew deeper, intensified over time
- sobre
- Over, above, about, on top of
- o
- The (definite article, masculine singular)
- insone
- Sleepless, insomniac, unable to sleep
- Ficamos
- We stayed, we remained (past tense ficar)
- observar
- To observe, watch, look at attentively
- esperando
- Waiting, hoping, expecting something to happen
- pacientemente
- Patiently, with patience and calm endurance
- havia
- There was/were, had (imperfect of haver)
- nada
- Nothing, not anything, no thing
- fazer
- To do, to make, to perform an action
- até
- Until, up to, even (preposition/conjunction)
- fim
- End, conclusion, final point of something
- enchente
- Flood, rising tide, overflow of water
- foi
- Was, went (third person singular past of ser/ir)
- após
- After, following in time or order
- longo
- Long, lengthy, extended in time or space
- silêncio
- Silence, quiet, absence of sound
- ele
- He, him (third person masculine pronoun)
- disse
- Said, spoke (past tense of dizer)
- voz
- Voice, sound produced by speaking or singing
- hesitante
- Hesitant, uncertain, wavering in speech or action
- Suponho
- I suppose, I assume, I presume something
- vocês
- You all, second person plural pronoun (Brazil)
- lembram
- Remember, recall (third person plural lembrar)
- certa
- Certain, a certain, particular (feminine adjective)
- vez
- Time, occasion, instance of something happening
- me
- Me, myself (first person singular object pronoun)
- tornei
- I became, I turned into (past tense tornar)
- marinheiro
- Sailor, seaman, person who works on ships
- água
- Water, liquid essential for life
- doce
- Sweet; água doce means fresh water
- tempo
- Time, weather, period, duration
- soubemos
- We found out, we learned (past tense saber)
- estávamos
- We were (imperfect past tense of estar)
- fadados
- Fated, destined, condemned by fate
- antes
- Before, previously, earlier in time
- maré
- Tide, rise and fall of sea level
- vazante
- Ebb tide, receding tide going out
- começasse
- Would begin, started (subjunctive of começar)
- correr
- To run, to flow, to move quickly
- ouvir
- To hear, to listen to something
- experiências
- Experiences, experiments, personal encounters
- inconclusivas
- Inconclusive, without a clear or definite result
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