Little Women — Page 4
Jo immediately sat up, put her hands in her pockets, and began to whistle.
Jo se sentó de inmediato, metió las manos en los bolsillos y comenzó a silbar.
"Don't, Jo. It's so boyish!"
«¡No lo hagas, Jo. Es tan de chico!»
"That's why I do it."
«Por eso lo hago.»
"I detest rude, unladylike girls!"
«¡Detesto a las chicas maleducadas y poco femeninas!»
"I hate affected, niminy-piminy chits!"
«¡Odio a las chiquillas afectadas y remilgadas!»
"Birds in their little nests agree," sang Beth, the peacemaker, with such a funny face that both sharp voices softened to a laugh, and the "pecking" ended for that time.
«Los pajaritos en sus niditos se llevan bien», cantó Beth, la pacificadora, con una cara tan graciosa que ambas voces afiladas se suavizaron en una carcajada, y el «picoteo» terminó por esa vez.
"Really, girls, you are both to be blamed," said Meg, beginning to lecture in her elder-sisterly fashion.
«De verdad, chicas, las dos tienen su parte de culpa», dijo Meg, comenzando a sermonear a la manera de una hermana mayor.
"You are old enough to leave off boyish tricks, and to behave better, Josephine.
«Ya tienes edad suficiente para dejar los juegos de chico y comportarte mejor, Josephine.
It didn't matter so much when you were a little girl, but now you are so tall, and turn up your hair, you should remember that you are a young lady."
No importaba tanto cuando eras una niña pequeña, pero ahora que eres tan alta y te recogés el pelo, deberías recordar que eres una señorita.»
"I'm not! And if turning up my hair makes me one, I'll wear it in two tails till I'm twenty," cried Jo, pulling off her net, and shaking down a chestnut mane.
«¡No lo soy! Y si recogerme el pelo me convierte en una, lo llevaré en dos trenzas hasta que tenga veinte años», exclamó Jo, quitándose la redecilla y sacudiendo su melena castaña.
"I hate to think I've got to grow up, and be Miss March, and wear long gowns, and look as prim as a China Aster!
«¡Odio pensar que tengo que crecer, y ser la señorita March, y usar vestidos largos, y parecer tan estirada como una aster china!
It's bad enough to be a girl, anyway, when I like boy's games and work and manners!
¡Ya es bastante malo ser chica, de todos modos, cuando me gustan los juegos, el trabajo y los modales de los chicos!
I can't get over my disappointment in not being a boy.
No puedo superar mi desilusión por no haber nacido chico.
And it's worse than ever now, for I'm dying to go and fight with Papa.
Y ahora es peor que nunca, porque me muero de ganas de ir a luchar junto a Papá.
And I can only stay home and knit, like a poky old woman!
¡Y yo solo puedo quedarme en casa a tejer, como una viejita aburrida!
Vocabulary
- se
- Reflexive pronoun used with reflexive verbs
- sentó
- Sat down; past tense of sentarse
- de
- Of, from; common preposition indicating origin or possession
- inmediato
- Immediate, instant; happening without delay
- metió
- Put or inserted something into a place
- las
- Feminine plural definite article meaning the
- manos
- Hands; the body parts at the end of arms
- en
- In, on, at; preposition indicating location or position
- los
- Masculine plural definite article meaning the
- bolsillos
- Pockets; small pouches sewn into clothing
- y
- And; conjunction connecting words or clauses
- comenzó
- Began, started; past tense of comenzar
- a
- To, at; preposition indicating direction or purpose
- silbar
- To whistle; to make a high-pitched sound with lips
- No
- No, not; negation word
- lo
- It, him; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- hagas
- Do it; subjunctive form of hacer meaning to do
- Es
- Is; third person singular present tense of ser
- tan
- So, such, as; adverb intensifying adjectives or adverbs
- chico
- Boy, small; young male or adjective meaning little
- Por
- For, because of; preposition indicating reason or cause
- eso
- That; neuter demonstrative pronoun referring to something mentioned
- hago
- I do, I make; first person present of hacer
- Detesto
- I detest, hate strongly; first person of detestar
- chicas
- Girls; young females, plural of chica
- maleducadas
- Rude, ill-mannered; lacking good manners or education
- poco
- Little, few, not much; indicating small quantity
- femeninas
- Feminine; having qualities traditionally associated with women
- Odio
- I hate; strong dislike, first person of odiar
- chiquillas
- Little girls; diminutive plural referring to young females
- afectadas
- Affected, pretentious; behaving in an unnatural artificial way
- remilgadas
- Prudish, overly fussy; excessively proper or squeamish girls
- Los
- The; masculine plural definite article
- pajaritos
- Little birds; diminutive plural of pájaro
- sus
- Their, his, her; third person possessive adjective
- niditos
- Little nests; diminutive of nidos, small bird nests
- llevan
- They carry, they keep; third person plural of llevar
- bien
- Well, good; adverb indicating something done correctly
- cantó
- Sang; third person singular past tense of cantar
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- pacificadora
- Peacemaker; a person who calms conflicts between others
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or manner
- una
- A, one; feminine singular indefinite article
- cara
- Face; the front part of a person's head
- graciosa
- Funny, charming; amusing or graceful in appearance
- que
- That, which, who; relative pronoun or conjunction
- ambas
- Both; referring to two things or people together
- voces
- Voices; sounds produced by speaking or singing
- afiladas
- Sharp, shrill; cutting or piercing in tone or manner
- suavizaron
- Softened, smoothed; became gentler or less harsh
- carcajada
- Loud laugh, burst of laughter; hearty unrestrained laughter
- el
- The; masculine singular definite article
- picoteo
- Bickering, pecking; minor quarreling or nagging between people
- terminó
- Ended, finished; past tense of terminar
- por
- For, by, through; preposition of cause or duration
- esa
- That; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- vez
- Time, occasion; instance of something happening
- De
- Of, from; preposition indicating origin or possession
- verdad
- Truth, truly; reality or sincerity of a statement
- dos
- Two; the number two
- tienen
- They have; third person plural present of tener
- su
- His, her, their; third person singular possessive adjective
- parte
- Part, share; a portion of something larger
- culpa
- Fault, blame, guilt; responsibility for something negative
- dijo
- Said; third person singular past tense of decir
- comenzando
- Beginning, starting; gerund form of comenzar
- sermonear
- To lecture, to sermonize; to moralize at someone
- manera
- Way, manner; the style or method of doing something
- hermana
- Sister; a female sibling
- mayor
- Older, greater; comparative adjective for age or size
- Ya
- Already, now; adverb indicating something has occurred
- tienes
- You have; second person singular present of tener
- edad
- Age; the number of years a person has lived
- suficiente
- Enough, sufficient; an adequate amount of something
- para
- For, in order to; preposition indicating purpose or destination
- dejar
- To leave, to stop; to abandon or cease an action
- juegos
- Games, plays; recreational activities or amusements
- comportarte
- To behave yourself; reflexive infinitive of comportarse
- mejor
- Better, best; comparative of bueno indicating improvement
- importaba
- Mattered, was important; imperfect past of importar
- tanto
- So much, as much; indicating a large or equal degree
- cuando
- When; temporal conjunction or adverb
- eras
- You were; second person singular imperfect of ser
- niña
- Girl, child; young female or little girl
- pequeña
- Small, little; adjective describing small size
- pero
- But; conjunction indicating contrast or exception
- ahora
- Now; adverb indicating the present moment
- eres
- You are; second person singular present of ser
- alta
- Tall, high; adjective describing above-average height
- te
- You; second person singular reflexive or object pronoun
- recogés
- You put up, collect; voseo form of recoger
- pelo
- Hair; strands growing on the human head
- deberías
- You should; conditional form of deber indicating obligation
- recordar
- To remember, to recall; to bring something to mind
- señorita
- Miss, young lady; polite title for an unmarried woman
- soy
- I am; first person singular present tense of ser
- Y
- And; conjunction connecting words, phrases, or clauses
- si
- If; conditional conjunction introducing a hypothetical clause
- recogerme
- To put up my hair; reflexive infinitive of recoger
- me
- Me; first person singular reflexive or object pronoun
- convierte
- Turns into, converts; third person of convertir
- llevaré
- I will wear, carry; future tense of llevar
- trenzas
- Braids, plaits; strands of hair woven together
- hasta
- Until, up to; preposition indicating a limit or endpoint
- tenga
- Have; subjunctive form of tener indicating desire or condition
- veinte
- Twenty; the number twenty
- años
- Years; units of time equal to twelve months
- exclamó
- Exclaimed; said loudly with strong emotion, past tense
- quitándose
- Taking off, removing from oneself; reflexive gerund of quitar
- redecilla
- Hairnet; small net worn to keep hair in place
- sacudiendo
- Shaking; gerund of sacudir, moving something back and forth
- melena
- Mane, long loose hair; thick flowing hair on head
- castaña
- Chestnut, brown; referring to a warm brown hair color
- pensar
- To think; to use the mind to consider something
- tengo
- I have; first person singular present tense of tener
- crecer
- To grow, to grow up; to increase in size or age
- ser
- To be; fundamental verb indicating permanent qualities or identity
- usar
- To use, to wear; to make use of something
- vestidos
- Dresses; women's garments covering the body
- largos
- Long; adjective describing extended length
- parecer
- To seem, to appear; to give an impression of something
- estirada
- Stiff, stuck-up; overly formal or snobbish in manner
- como
- Like, as; conjunction or preposition for comparison
- china
- Chinese; from China, used as a descriptor here
- es
- Is; third person singular present tense of ser
- bastante
- Quite, enough, rather; indicating a sufficient degree
- malo
- Bad, evil; negative quality or undesirable characteristic
- chica
- Girl; a young female person
- todos
- All, everyone; referring to every person or thing
- modos
- Ways, modes; manners or methods of doing things
- gustan
- Are liked, please; third person plural of gustar
- trabajo
- Work, job; labor or employment activity
- modales
- Manners; polite behavior and social etiquette
- chicos
- Boys, guys; young males or informal group reference
- puedo
- I can; first person singular present of poder
- superar
- To overcome, surpass; to get over a difficulty
- mi
- My; first person singular possessive adjective
- desilusión
- Disappointment, disillusionment; feeling let down by reality
- no
- No, not; basic negation word in Spanish
- haber
- To have; auxiliary verb used in perfect tenses
- nacido
- Born; past participle of nacer, to be born
- peor
- Worse, worst; comparative adjective for malo
- nunca
- Never; adverb indicating something does not happen
- porque
- Because; conjunction explaining the reason for something
- muero
- I die; first person singular present of morir
- ganas
- Desire, urge; strong wish to do something
- ir
- To go; fundamental verb of movement or travel
- luchar
- To fight, to struggle; to engage in battle or conflict
- junto
- Together, alongside; near or accompanying someone
- Papá
- Dad, father; informal term for one's male parent
- yo
- I; first person singular subject pronoun
- solo
- Only, alone; just one, or without company
- quedarme
- To stay, remain; reflexive infinitive of quedarse
- casa
- House, home; a building where people live
- tejer
- To knit, to weave; to create fabric with needles or loom
- viejita
- Little old woman; affectionate diminutive of vieja
- aburrida
- Bored, boring; lacking interest or excitement
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