Notre-Dame de Paris — Page 1
cover
cubierta
NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS
NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS
Also known as:
También conocida como:
_THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME_
_EL JOROBADO DE NOTRE DAME_
By Victor Hugo
Por Victor Hugo
Translated by Isabel F. Hapgood
Traducido por Isabel F. Hapgood
PREFACE.
PREFACIO.
A few years ago, while visiting or, rather, rummaging about Notre-Dame, the author of this book found, in an obscure nook of one of the towers, the following word, engraved by hand upon the wall:—
Hace algunos años, mientras visitaba o, mejor dicho, husmeaba por Notre-Dame, el autor de este libro encontró, en un oscuro rincón de una de las torres, la siguiente palabra, grabada a mano en la pared:—
ἈΝÁΓΚΗ.
ἈΝÁΓΚΗ.
These Greek capitals, black with age, and quite deeply graven in the stone, with I know not what signs peculiar to Gothic caligraphy imprinted upon their forms and upon their attitudes, as though with the purpose of revealing that it had been a hand of the Middle Ages which had inscribed them there, and especially the fatal and melancholy meaning contained in them, struck the author deeply.
Estas letras mayúsculas griegas, ennegrecidas por el tiempo y bastante profundamente grabadas en la piedra, con no sé qué signos peculiares de la caligrafía gótica impresos en sus formas y en sus actitudes, como si tuvieran el propósito de revelar que había sido una mano de la Edad Media la que las había inscrito allí, y especialmente el significado fatal y melancólico que contenían, impresionaron profundamente al autor.
He questioned himself; he sought to divine who could have been that soul in torment which had not been willing to quit this world without leaving this stigma of crime or unhappiness upon the brow of the ancient church.
Se interrogó a sí mismo; trató de adivinar quién podría haber sido aquella alma atormentada que no había querido abandonar este mundo sin dejar este estigma de crimen o de desdicha sobre el frontispicio de la antigua iglesia.
Afterwards, the wall was whitewashed or scraped down, I know not which, and the inscription disappeared.
Después, la pared fue encalada o raspada, no sé cuál de las dos cosas, y la inscripción desapareció.
For it is thus that people have been in the habit of proceeding with the marvellous churches of the Middle Ages for the last two hundred years.
Pues así es como la gente ha tenido la costumbre de proceder con las maravillosas iglesias de la Edad Media durante los últimos doscientos años.
Mutilations come to them from every quarter, from within as well as from without.
Las mutilaciones les llegan de todas partes, tanto desde dentro como desde fuera.
The priest whitewashes them, the archdeacon scrapes them down; then the populace arrives and demolishes them.
El sacerdote las encala, el arcediano las raspa; luego llega el populacho y las demuele.
Vocabulary
- cubierta
- Cover or deck of a book or ship
- DE
- Preposition meaning 'of' or 'from'
- También
- Also; in addition to something else mentioned
- conocida
- Known or recognized by a name or title
- como
- As; like; used for comparison or equivalence
- EL
- Masculine definite article meaning 'the'
- JOROBADO
- Hunchback; person with a spinal deformity
- Por
- By; for; through; preposition with multiple uses
- Traducido
- Translated from one language into another
- por
- By; for; preposition indicating agent or cause
- PREFACIO
- Preface; introductory section of a book
- Hace
- Ago; makes; used to express time elapsed
- algunos
- Some; a few; referring to an unspecified quantity
- años
- Years; units of time equal to twelve months
- mientras
- While; during the time that something happens
- visitaba
- Was visiting; imperfect tense of 'visitar'
- o
- Or; conjunction presenting an alternative option
- mejor
- Better; superior in quality or degree
- dicho
- Said; past participle of 'decir,' to say
- husmeando
- Snooping; nosily exploring or investigating something
- el
- The; masculine singular definite article
- autor
- Author; person who writes a literary work
- de
- Of; from; preposition indicating origin or belonging
- este
- This; masculine demonstrative adjective nearby object
- libro
- Book; a written or printed literary work
- encontró
- Found; discovered something in a particular place
- en
- In; at; on; preposition indicating location
- un
- A; an; masculine indefinite article
- oscuro
- Dark; obscure; lacking light or clarity
- rincón
- Corner; a secluded or hidden nook
- una
- A; an; feminine indefinite article
- las
- The; feminine plural definite article
- torres
- Towers; tall vertical structures of a building
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- siguiente
- Following; next in order or sequence
- palabra
- Word; a unit of written or spoken language
- grabada
- Engraved; carved or etched into a surface
- a
- To; at; preposition indicating direction or location
- mano
- Hand; the body part at the end of the arm
- pared
- Wall; a vertical structure dividing or enclosing space
- Estas
- These; feminine plural demonstrative adjective
- letras
- Letters; characters of an alphabet or writing system
- mayúsculas
- Capital letters; uppercase characters in writing
- griegas
- Greek; feminine plural adjective referring to Greece
- ennegrecidas
- Blackened; darkened by age, smoke, or time
- tiempo
- Time; also weather; a general temporal concept
- y
- And; coordinating conjunction joining words or clauses
- bastante
- Quite; enough; rather; indicating a notable degree
- profundamente
- Deeply; profoundly; to a great or intense degree
- grabadas
- Engraved; etched deeply into a hard surface
- piedra
- Stone; rock; a hard natural mineral material
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- no
- No; not; negation particle in Spanish
- sé
- I know; first person singular of 'saber'
- qué
- What; interrogative or exclamatory pronoun
- signos
- Signs; marks or symbols conveying meaning
- peculiares
- Peculiar; strange or distinctive in character
- caligrafía
- Calligraphy; the art of beautiful handwriting
- gótica
- Gothic; relating to medieval Gothic style
- impresos
- Printed; stamped or imprinted onto a surface
- sus
- Their; his; her; possessive adjective third person
- formas
- Forms; shapes or outlines of something visible
- actitudes
- Attitudes; postures or manners of expression
- si
- If; conjunction introducing a conditional clause
- tuvieran
- Had; imperfect subjunctive of 'tener,' to have
- propósito
- Purpose; intention behind an action or object
- revelar
- To reveal; to disclose or make something known
- que
- That; which; conjunction or relative pronoun
- había
- There had been; past imperfect of 'haber'
- sido
- Been; past participle of 'ser,' to be
- Edad
- Age; era; period of historical time
- Media
- Middle; as in Edad Media, the Middle Ages
- inscrito
- Inscribed; written or engraved on a surface
- allí
- There; in or at that place
- especialmente
- Especially; particularly; to a notable degree
- significado
- Meaning; the sense or definition of a word
- fatal
- Fatal; fateful; relating to doom or destiny
- melancólico
- Melancholic; feeling or expressing deep sadness
- contenían
- Contained; held within; imperfect tense of 'contener'
- impresionaron
- Impressed; made a strong impression on someone
- al
- To the; contraction of 'a' and 'el'
- Se
- Himself; herself; reflexive pronoun third person
- interrogó
- Questioned; interrogated himself or another person
- sí
- Himself; herself; reflexive pronoun after preposition
- mismo
- Himself; same; used for emphasis or reflexivity
- trató
- Tried; attempted; preterite of 'tratar'
- adivinar
- To guess; to figure out or divine something
- quién
- Who; interrogative pronoun referring to a person
- podría
- Could; conditional tense of 'poder,' to be able
- haber
- To have; auxiliary verb used in compound tenses
- aquella
- That; feminine demonstrative adjective for distant object
- alma
- Soul; the spiritual or inner essence of a person
- atormentada
- Tormented; suffering great pain or anguish
- querido
- Wanted; dear; past participle of 'querer'
- abandonar
- To abandon; to leave behind permanently
- mundo
- World; the earth or human society in general
- sin
- Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- dejar
- To leave; to allow; to let something remain
- estigma
- Stigma; mark of disgrace or social disapproval
- crimen
- Crime; a serious illegal or immoral act
- desdicha
- Misfortune; unhappiness; a state of great sorrow
- sobre
- On; over; above; preposition indicating position
- frontispicio
- Frontispiece; the façade or front of a building
- antigua
- Ancient; old; existing since a long time ago
- iglesia
- Church; a Christian place of worship
- Después
- Afterward; later; following in time or order
- fue
- Was; went; preterite of 'ser' or 'ir'
- encalada
- Whitewashed; covered with a coat of lime paint
- raspada
- Scraped; removed by scraping a surface
- cuál
- Which; what; interrogative pronoun for selection
- dos
- Two; the number 2
- cosas
- Things; objects or matters of any kind
- inscripción
- Inscription; words carved or written on a surface
- desapareció
- Disappeared; ceased to be visible or present
- Pues
- Well; then; so; discourse marker in conversation
- así
- Thus; like this; in this way or manner
- es
- Is; third person singular present of 'ser'
- gente
- People; a group of human beings in general
- ha
- Has; third person singular of 'haber'
- tenido
- Had; past participle of 'tener,' to have
- costumbre
- Custom; habit; a usual practice or tradition
- proceder
- To proceed; to act or behave in a certain way
- maravillosas
- Marvelous; wonderful; extraordinarily impressive or beautiful
- iglesias
- Churches; Christian places of worship
- durante
- During; throughout the course of a time period
- los
- The; masculine plural definite article
- últimos
- Last; most recent; final in a sequence
- doscientos
- Two hundred; the number 200
- Las
- The; feminine plural definite article
- mutilaciones
- Mutilations; acts of severe damage or disfigurement
- les
- To them; indirect object pronoun third person plural
- llegan
- Arrive; come; third person plural of 'llegar'
- todas
- All; every; feminine plural form of 'todo'
- partes
- Parts; places; sections or locations
- tanto
- So much; as much; indicating a great degree
- desde
- From; since; preposition indicating starting point
- dentro
- Inside; within; in the interior of something
- fuera
- Outside; beyond; exterior of a place or thing
- El
- The; masculine singular definite article
- sacerdote
- Priest; a religious minister or clergyman
- encala
- Whitewashes; applies lime coating to a surface
- arcediano
- Archdeacon; a high-ranking church official
- raspa
- Scrapes; removes material from a surface by scraping
- luego
- Then; later; afterward in a sequence of events
- llega
- Arrives; comes; third person singular of 'llegar'
- populacho
- Rabble; the common mob or unruly crowd
- demuele
- Demolishes; tears down or destroys a structure
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