Little Women — Page 7
Her father called her 'Little Miss Tranquility', and the name suited her excellently, for she seemed to live in a happy world of her own, only venturing out to meet the few whom she trusted and loved.
Suo padre la chiamava 'Piccola Signorina Tranquillità', e il nome le si addiceva perfettamente, poiché sembrava vivere in un mondo felice tutto suo, avventurandosi fuori solo per incontrare i pochi di cui si fidava e che amava.
Amy, though the youngest, was a most important person, in her own opinion at least.
Amy, benché fosse la più giovane, era una persona di grandissima importanza, almeno secondo la sua opinione.
A regular snow maiden, with blue eyes, and yellow hair curling on her shoulders, pale and slender, and always carrying herself like a young lady mindful of her manners.
Una vera fanciulla di neve, con occhi azzurri e capelli biondi che ricadevano a ricci sulle spalle, pallida e snella, e sempre portandosi con il contegno di una giovane signora attenta alle buone maniere.
What the characters of the four sisters were we will leave to be found out.
Quale fosse il carattere delle quattro sorelle lo lasceremo scoprire al lettore.
The clock struck six and, having swept up the hearth, Beth put a pair of slippers down to warm.
L'orologio batté le sei e, dopo aver spazzato il focolare, Beth mise un paio di pantofole a scaldare.
Somehow the sight of the old shoes had a good effect upon the girls, for Mother was coming, and everyone brightened to welcome her.
In qualche modo la vista delle vecchie scarpe ebbe un buon effetto sulle ragazze, poiché la Mamma stava arrivando, e tutte si animarono per accoglierla.
Meg stopped lecturing, and lighted the lamp, Amy got out of the easy chair without being asked, and Jo forgot how tired she was as she sat up to hold the slippers nearer to the blaze.
Meg smise di fare la predica e accese la lampada, Amy si alzò dalla poltrona senza che nessuno glielo chiedesse, e Jo dimenticò quanto fosse stanca mentre si raddrizzava per avvicinare le pantofole alla fiamma.
"They are quite worn out. Marmee must have a new pair."
«Sono del tutto consumate. La Mamma deve avere un nuovo paio.»
"I thought I'd get her some with my dollar," said Beth.
«Pensavo di comprarne un paio con il mio dollaro», disse Beth.
"No, I shall!" cried Amy.
«No, lo farò io!» esclamò Amy.
"I'm the oldest," began Meg, but Jo cut in with a decided, "I'm the man of the family now Papa is away, and I shall provide the slippers, for he told me to take special care of Mother while he was gone.
«Sono la più grande», cominciò Meg, ma Jo la interruppe con decisione: «Sono io l'uomo di famiglia ora che Papà è via, e sarò io a procurare le pantofole, poiché mi ha detto di prendermi cura speciale della Mamma mentre era assente.
Vocabulary
- Suo
- His, her, or its (possessive pronoun, third person)
- padre
- Father; male parent
- la
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- chiamava
- Was calling or used to call someone
- Piccola
- Little, small (feminine adjective)
- Signorina
- Miss; young unmarried woman
- Tranquillità
- Tranquility; state of peace and calm
- nome
- Name; word used to identify a person
- le
- To her; indirect object pronoun (feminine)
- si
- Reflexive pronoun; herself, himself, itself
- addiceva
- Suited or befitted someone perfectly
- perfettamente
- Perfectly; in a completely suitable manner
- poiché
- Since, because; introduces a causal clause
- sembrava
- Seemed; gave the impression of something
- vivere
- To live; to be alive or exist
- mondo
- World; the earth or a personal realm
- felice
- Happy; experiencing or expressing joy
- tutto
- All, everything, whole (adjective/pronoun)
- suo
- Her own, his own (possessive adjective)
- avventurandosi
- Venturing out; daring to go somewhere
- fuori
- Outside, out; beyond an enclosed space
- solo
- Only, alone; exclusively or by oneself
- incontrare
- To meet; to encounter someone in person
- pochi
- Few; a small number of people
- cui
- Whom, which (relative pronoun)
- fidava
- Trusted; had confidence in someone
- amava
- Loved; felt deep affection for someone
- benché
- Although, even though (concessive conjunction)
- fosse
- Was (imperfect subjunctive of essere)
- più
- More; comparative adverb of degree
- giovane
- Young; of little age or early years
- era
- Was (third person singular imperfect of essere)
- persona
- Person; an individual human being
- grandissima
- Very great, of the utmost (superlative of grande)
- importanza
- Importance; quality of being significant
- almeno
- At least; no less than a certain amount
- secondo
- According to; in the opinion of someone
- sua
- Her, his (feminine possessive adjective)
- opinione
- Opinion; personal view or judgment
- vera
- True, real, genuine (feminine adjective)
- fanciulla
- Girl, young maiden; literary term for girl
- neve
- Snow; frozen precipitation, white and cold
- occhi
- Eyes; organs of sight (plural of occhio)
- azzurri
- Blue (sky blue, plural masculine adjective)
- capelli
- Hair; strands growing on the head
- biondi
- Blonde, fair-haired (masculine plural adjective)
- ricadevano
- Fell back down; cascaded downward loosely
- ricci
- Curls; ringlets of hair (plural noun)
- sulle
- On the (su + le, preposition + article)
- spalle
- Shoulders; upper body joints (plural noun)
- pallida
- Pale; having light or wan complexion
- snella
- Slender, slim; having a thin graceful figure
- sempre
- Always; at all times, continuously
- portandosi
- Carrying herself; conducting oneself with bearing
- contegno
- Composure, dignified bearing, self-restraint
- signora
- Lady, madam; a refined or mature woman
- attenta
- Attentive, careful; paying close attention
- alle
- To the (a + le, preposition + article)
- buone
- Good (feminine plural adjective)
- maniere
- Manners; polite social behavior and customs
- Quale
- Which, what kind of (interrogative/relative adjective)
- carattere
- Character, personality; distinctive personal traits
- delle
- Of the (di + le, preposition + article)
- quattro
- Four (cardinal number)
- sorelle
- Sisters; female siblings (plural of sorella)
- lo
- Him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
- lasceremo
- We will leave, let (future of lasciare)
- scoprire
- To discover; to find out or uncover something
- al
- To the (a + il, preposition + article)
- lettore
- Reader; person who reads a text
- orologio
- Clock, watch; device for measuring time
- batté
- Struck, chimed (past tense of battere)
- sei
- Six (cardinal number)
- dopo
- After, afterwards (preposition/adverb of time)
- aver
- To have (infinitive, auxiliary in compound tenses)
- spazzato
- Swept; cleaned by brushing away dust
- focolare
- Hearth; fireplace at the center of home
- mise
- Put, placed (past tense of mettere)
- paio
- Pair; two matching items together
- pantofole
- Slippers; soft indoor shoes for comfort
- scaldare
- To warm, to heat something up
- qualche
- Some, a few (indefinite adjective)
- modo
- Way, manner; a method or means
- vista
- Sight, view; also past participle of vedere
- vecchie
- Old, worn (feminine plural adjective)
- scarpe
- Shoes; footwear (plural of scarpa)
- ebbe
- Had (past tense of avere, third person)
- buon
- Good (elided masculine adjective before noun)
- effetto
- Effect; result or impact of something
- ragazze
- Girls; young women (plural of ragazza)
- Mamma
- Mom, mother; affectionate term for mother
- stava
- Was (progressive imperfect of stare)
- arrivando
- Arriving; in the process of getting there
- tutte
- All of them (feminine plural pronoun/adjective)
- animarono
- Enlivened themselves; became lively and cheerful
- accoglierla
- To welcome her; to receive warmly on arrival
- smise
- Stopped, ceased (past tense of smettere)
- fare
- To do, to make (basic verb of action)
- predica
- Lecture, sermon; moralizing speech to others
- accese
- Lit, turned on (past tense of accendere)
- lampada
- Lamp; light-producing household fixture
- alzò
- Rose, got up (past tense of alzarsi)
- dalla
- From the (da + la, preposition + article)
- poltrona
- Armchair; comfortable padded chair with armrests
- senza
- Without (preposition expressing absence)
- nessuno
- Nobody, no one (negative indefinite pronoun)
- glielo
- It to him/her (combined indirect + direct pronoun)
- chiedesse
- Asked (imperfect subjunctive of chiedere)
- dimenticò
- Forgot; failed to remember something
- quanto
- How much, how (interrogative/relative adverb)
- stanca
- Tired, weary (feminine adjective)
- mentre
- While, whereas (temporal/concessive conjunction)
- raddrizzava
- Was straightening; setting something upright again
- avvicinare
- To approach, to bring closer to something
- alla
- To the (a + la, preposition + article)
- fiamma
- Flame; burning fire or blaze
- Sono
- I am / they are (present tense of essere)
- del
- Of the (di + il, partitive preposition + article)
- consumate
- Worn out, consumed (feminine plural adjective)
- deve
- Must, has to (third person of dovere)
- avere
- To have; basic verb of possession
- nuovo
- New; not used before, recently made
- Pensavo
- I was thinking; past continuous of pensare
- comprarne
- To buy some of them; to purchase a pair
- mio
- My (masculine singular possessive adjective)
- dollaro
- Dollar; unit of currency
- disse
- Said (past tense of dire)
- farò
- I will do/make (future tense of fare)
- esclamò
- Exclaimed; said something with strong emotion
- grande
- Great, big, large (adjective)
- cominciò
- Began, started (past tense of cominciare)
- interruppe
- Interrupted, broke off (past tense of interrompere)
- decisione
- Decision; resolution reached after consideration
- uomo
- Man; adult male person
- famiglia
- Family; group of related people living together
- ora
- Now; at the present moment
- Papà
- Dad, father; affectionate term for father
- è
- Is (third person singular present of essere)
- via
- Away; absent, gone from a place
- sarò
- I will be (future tense of essere)
- procurare
- To provide, to procure; obtain something needed
- mi
- Me, myself (first person reflexive/object pronoun)
- ha
- Has (third person singular present of avere)
- detto
- Said, told (past participle of dire)
- prendermi
- To take care of me; to take me on
- cura
- Care; attention and protection given to someone
- speciale
- Special; out of the ordinary, particular
- della
- Of the (di + la, preposition + article)
- assente
- Absent; not present, away from a place
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