Notre-Dame de Paris — Page 7
The waves of this crowd, augmented incessantly, dashed against the angles of the houses which projected here and there, like so many promontories, into the irregular basin of the place.
Le ondate di questa folla, ingrossate incessantemente, si infrangevano contro gli angoli delle case che sporgevano qua e là, come altrettanti promontori, nell'irregolare bacino della piazza.
In the centre of the lofty Gothic[1] façade of the palace, the grand staircase, incessantly ascended and descended by a double current, which, after parting on the intermediate landing-place, flowed in broad waves along its lateral slopes,—the grand staircase, I say, trickled incessantly into the place, like a cascade into a lake.
Al centro dell'alta facciata gotica del palazzo, il grande scalone, incessantemente percorso su e giù da una doppia corrente che, dopo essersi divisa sul pianerottolo intermedio, scorreva in ampie ondate lungo i suoi fianchi laterali,—il grande scalone, dico, sgocciolava incessantemente nella piazza, come una cascata in un lago.
The cries, the laughter, the trampling of those thousands of feet, produced a great noise and a great clamor.
Le grida, le risa, il calpestio di quelle migliaia di piedi producevano un gran rumore e un gran clamore.
From time to time, this noise and clamor redoubled; the current which drove the crowd towards the grand staircase flowed backwards, became troubled, formed whirlpools.
Di tanto in tanto, questo rumore e questo clamore raddoppiavano; la corrente che spingeva la folla verso il grande scalone refluiva, si agitava, formava vortici.
This was produced by the buffet of an archer, or the horse of one of the provost's sergeants, which kicked to restore order; an admirable tradition which the provostship has bequeathed to the constablery, the constablery to the _maréchaussée_, the _maréchaussée_ to our _gendarmeri_ of Paris.
Ciò era provocato dal colpo di un arciere, o dal cavallo di uno dei sergenti del prevosto, che scalciava per ristabilire l'ordine; un'ammirevole tradizione che la previdenza ha trasmesso alla connestableria, la connestableria alla _maréchaussée_, la _maréchaussée_ alla nostra _gendarmeria_ di Parigi.
Thousands of good, calm, _bourgeois_ faces thronged the windows, the doors, the dormer windows, the roofs, gazing at the palace, gazing at the populace, and asking nothing more; for many Parisians content themselves with the spectacle of the spectators, and a wall behind which something is going on becomes at once, for us, a very curious thing indeed.
Migliaia di facce buone, calme, borghesi affollavano le finestre, le porte, i lucernari, i tetti, fissando il palazzo, fissando la folla, e non chiedendo altro; poiché molti parigini si accontentano dello spettacolo degli spettatori, e un muro dietro il quale accade qualcosa diventa subito, per noi, una cosa molto curiosa davvero.
Vocabulary
- ondate
- Waves, surges of a crowd or water
- folla
- A crowd or large group of people
- ingrossate
- Swelled, enlarged, grown in size or number
- incessantemente
- Without stopping; continuously, unceasingly
- infrangevano
- Were breaking, crashing against something solid
- angoli
- Corners or angles of a building or shape
- sporgevano
- Were protruding, jutting out from a surface
- altrettanti
- Just as many; an equal number of things
- promontori
- Promontories; headlands jutting into the sea
- irregolare
- Irregular, uneven, not following a regular pattern
- bacino
- Basin; a bowl-shaped area or enclosed space
- facciata
- The facade or front face of a building
- gotica
- Gothic; relating to medieval Gothic architectural style
- scalone
- A large, grand staircase in a building
- percorso
- Traveled along; a route or path taken
- doppia
- Double, twofold; feminine singular form of doppio
- corrente
- Current, flow; a stream of moving people or water
- divisa
- Divided, split into two or more parts
- pianerottolo
- A landing between flights of stairs
- intermedio
- Intermediate, middle; situated between two points
- scorreva
- Was flowing, streaming, running along smoothly
- ampie
- Wide, broad, ample; feminine plural of ampio
- fianchi
- Sides, flanks of a body or structure
- laterali
- Lateral, side; positioned on the sides
- sgocciolava
- Was dripping, trickling down drop by drop
- cascata
- A waterfall or cascade of water falling down
- grida
- Shouts, cries; loud exclamations from people
- risa
- Laughter; the sound of people laughing
- calpestio
- Trampling sound; noise of many feet walking
- migliaia
- Thousands; large uncountable quantities of something
- producevano
- Were producing, generating, creating a result
- rumore
- Noise, sound; a loud or disruptive sound
- clamore
- Clamor, uproar; loud confused noise of a crowd
- raddoppiavano
- Were doubling, increasing twofold in intensity
- spingeva
- Was pushing, shoving in a direction
- refluiva
- Was flowing back, ebbing, returning the other way
- agitava
- Was agitating, stirring up, shaking restlessly
- vortici
- Whirlpools, vortices; swirling circular movements
- Ciò
- This, that; neuter demonstrative pronoun referring back
- provocato
- Provoked, caused, triggered by something or someone
- colpo
- A blow, strike, or hit against something
- arciere
- An archer; a person who shoots arrows
- sergenti
- Sergeants; military or police officers of rank
- prevosto
- A provost; an administrative or ecclesiastical official
- scalciava
- Was kicking, lashing out with legs or hooves
- ristabilire
- To reestablish, restore order or a previous state
- ammirevole
- Admirable; deserving praise or high regard
- tradizione
- Tradition; a custom passed down through generations
- previdenza
- Foresight, prudence; planning ahead for future needs
- trasmesso
- Transmitted, passed on, handed down to others
- connestableria
- The constabulary; medieval law enforcement institution
- maréchaussée
- Historical French mounted police force; gendarmerie predecessor
- gendarmeria
- Gendarmerie; a military-style national police force
- Migliaia
- Thousands; very large numbers of people or things
- facce
- Faces; the front parts of people's heads
- calme
- Calm, serene; feminine plural of calmo
- borghesi
- Bourgeois, middle-class citizens or townspeople
- affollavano
- Were crowding, filling up a place with people
- lucernari
- Skylights or dormer windows in a roof
- tetti
- Roofs; the top coverings of buildings
- fissando
- Staring at, gazing fixedly at something
- poiché
- Because, since; conjunction giving a reason
- parigini
- Parisians; inhabitants or natives of Paris
- accontentano
- Are satisfied with, content themselves with something
- spettacolo
- A spectacle or show; an impressive visual event
- spettatori
- Spectators, viewers; people watching an event
- dietro
- Behind, at the back of something
- accade
- Happens, occurs; third person singular of accadere
- subito
- Immediately, at once; without any delay
- curiosa
- Curious, strange, interesting; feminine form of curioso
- davvero
- Really, truly; used to emphasize a statement
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →