Notre-Dame de Paris — Page 14
It had been arranged for the purpose, early in the morning; its rich slabs of marble, all scratched by the heels of law clerks, supported a cage of carpenter's work of considerable height, the upper surface of which, within view of the whole hall, was to serve as the theatre, and whose interior, masked by tapestries, was to take the place of dressing-rooms for the personages of the piece.
Era stato allestito a tale scopo, sin dal mattino presto; le sue ricche lastre di marmo, tutte graffiate dai tacchi dei chierici di legge, sostenevano una struttura di carpenteria di considerevole altezza, la cui superficie superiore, visibile da tutta la sala, doveva fungere da palcoscenico, e il cui interno, celato da arazzi, doveva fare le veci dei camerini per i personaggi della rappresentazione.
A ladder, naively placed on the outside, was to serve as means of communication between the dressing-room and the stage, and lend its rude rungs to entrances as well as to exits.
Una scala, ingenuamente collocata all'esterno, doveva servire da mezzo di comunicazione tra il camerino e il palcoscenico, e prestare i suoi rozzi pioli tanto alle entrate quanto alle uscite.
There was no personage, however unexpected, no sudden change, no theatrical effect, which was not obliged to mount that ladder.
Non vi era personaggio, per quanto inatteso, nessun cambiamento improvviso, nessun effetto teatrale, che non fosse costretto a salire quella scala.
Innocent and venerable infancy of art and contrivances!
Innocente e venerabile infanzia dell'arte e degli artifici!
Four of the bailiff of the palace's sergeants, perfunctory guardians of all the pleasures of the people, on days of festival as well as on days of execution, stood at the four corners of the marble table.
Quattro sergenti del baiulo del palazzo, negligenti custodi di tutti i piaceri del popolo, nei giorni di festa come nei giorni di esecuzione, erano posti ai quattro angoli del tavolo di marmo.
The piece was only to begin with the twelfth stroke of the great palace clock sounding midday.
La rappresentazione doveva cominciare soltanto al dodicesimo rintocco del grande orologio del palazzo che batteva mezzogiorno.
It was very late, no doubt, for a theatrical representation, but they had been obliged to fix the hour to suit the convenience of the ambassadors.
Era molto tardi, senza dubbio, per una rappresentazione teatrale, ma si era stati costretti a fissare quell'ora per adattarsi alle esigenze degli ambasciatori.
Now, this whole multitude had been waiting since morning.
Ora, tutta questa moltitudine aspettava sin dal mattino.
Vocabulary
- Era
- Third person singular imperfect of 'essere' (to be)
- stato
- Past participle of 'essere'; also means 'state'
- allestito
- Set up, arranged, prepared for an event
- tale
- Such, this particular, of that kind
- scopo
- Purpose, goal, aim of an action
- sin
- Since, from (archaic/poetic form of 'fin')
- dal
- Contraction of 'da' and 'il' meaning 'from the'
- mattino
- Morning, the early part of the day
- presto
- Early, soon, quickly
- sue
- His/her/its (feminine plural possessive)
- ricche
- Rich, abundant, elaborate (feminine plural)
- lastre
- Slabs, flat plates of stone or marble
- marmo
- Marble, a hard decorative stone
- tutte
- All, every (feminine plural form)
- graffiate
- Scratched, scraped, marked with lines
- dai
- Contraction of 'da' and 'i' meaning 'by the'
- tacchi
- Heels of shoes or boots
- dei
- Contraction of 'di' and 'i' meaning 'of the'
- chierici
- Clergymen, clerics, members of the clergy
- legge
- Law; or third person singular 'reads'
- sostenevano
- They were supporting, holding up a structure
- struttura
- Structure, framework, construction of something
- carpenteria
- Carpentry, woodwork, timber framework construction
- considerevole
- Considerable, significant, notably large in size
- altezza
- Height, elevation, tallness of a structure
- cui
- Whose, which (relative pronoun in Italian)
- superficie
- Surface, upper face or area of something
- superiore
- Upper, higher, superior in position
- visibile
- Visible, able to be seen by everyone
- da
- Preposition meaning 'from,' 'by,' or 'since'
- tutta
- All, entire, the whole (feminine singular)
- sala
- Hall, large room for gatherings or events
- doveva
- Had to, was supposed to, must (imperfect)
- fungere
- To serve as, to function as something
- palcoscenico
- Stage, the performance platform in a theater
- interno
- Interior, inside space of a structure
- celato
- Hidden, concealed from view
- arazzi
- Tapestries, decorative woven wall hangings
- fare
- To do, to make, to perform an action
- veci
- Role, function; 'fare le veci' means to substitute
- camerini
- Dressing rooms, small backstage rooms for performers
- personaggi
- Characters, figures in a performance or story
- della
- Contraction of 'di' and 'la' meaning 'of the'
- rappresentazione
- Performance, theatrical representation or show
- scala
- Staircase, ladder, or musical scale
- ingenuamente
- Naively, simply, without sophistication or guile
- collocata
- Placed, positioned, located in a spot
- esterno
- Exterior, outside of a building or structure
- servire
- To serve, to be used as, to function for
- mezzo
- Means, middle, half; a way of doing something
- comunicazione
- Communication, connection, means of passage
- tra
- Between, among (preposition in Italian)
- camerino
- Small dressing room, backstage changing space
- prestare
- To lend, to offer, to provide for use
- suoi
- His/her/its (masculine plural possessive adjective)
- rozzi
- Rough, crude, coarse (masculine plural adjective)
- pioli
- Rungs of a ladder, wooden steps
- tanto
- Both, so much, as much (correlative conjunction)
- entrate
- Entrances, entries onto a stage or space
- quanto
- As much as, how much (correlative with 'tanto')
- uscite
- Exits, departures from a stage or space
- vi
- There, here (adverbial pronoun in Italian)
- era
- There was, existed (imperfect of 'essere')
- personaggio
- Character, figure, person in a performance
- inatteso
- Unexpected, unanticipated, surprising
- nessun
- No, none, not any (masculine adjective)
- cambiamento
- Change, alteration, transformation of something
- improvviso
- Sudden, unexpected, happening without warning
- effetto
- Effect, result, theatrical or visual impact
- teatrale
- Theatrical, relating to theater or performance
- fosse
- Were (imperfect subjunctive of 'essere')
- costretto
- Forced, compelled, obliged to do something
- salire
- To climb, to go up, to ascend
- quella
- That (feminine singular demonstrative adjective)
- Innocente
- Innocent, pure, naive, without guile
- venerabile
- Venerable, worthy of deep respect and reverence
- infanzia
- Infancy, childhood, early stage of development
- arte
- Art, skill, craft or artistic expression
- artifici
- Tricks, artifices, theatrical devices or contrivances
- Quattro
- Four (the number 4)
- sergenti
- Sergeants, officers of low military rank
- palazzo
- Palace, large official building or mansion
- negligenti
- Negligent, careless, inattentive to duties
- custodi
- Custodians, guards, keepers watching over something
- tutti
- All, everyone (masculine plural form)
- piaceri
- Pleasures, delights, enjoyable activities
- popolo
- People, populace, common folk of a place
- nei
- Contraction of 'in' and 'i' meaning 'in the'
- giorni
- Days (plural of 'giorno')
- festa
- Festival, holiday, celebration, festive day
- come
- As, like, how (conjunction or adverb)
- esecuzione
- Execution, performance, carrying out of a task
- erano
- They were (imperfect of 'essere', third plural)
- posti
- Placed, positioned; also means 'seats' or 'places'
- quattro
- Four, the number 4
- angoli
- Corners, angles of a room or table
- tavolo
- Table, a flat surface on legs
- cominciare
- To begin, to start an activity or event
- soltanto
- Only, merely, just (restrictive adverb)
- dodicesimo
- Twelfth, the ordinal number 12th
- rintocco
- Toll, stroke, chime of a bell
- grande
- Large, great, big in size or importance
- orologio
- Clock, watch, timepiece
- batteva
- Was striking, beating, chiming (imperfect tense)
- mezzogiorno
- Noon, midday, twelve o'clock in the day
- molto
- Very, much, a lot (adverb of degree)
- tardi
- Late, at a late hour
- senza
- Without, lacking (preposition in Italian)
- dubbio
- Doubt, uncertainty, lack of certainty
- ma
- But, however (adversative conjunction)
- si
- Reflexive pronoun 'oneself'; also 'yes' informally
- stati
- Been, past participle plural of 'essere'
- costretti
- Forced, compelled (past participle plural)
- fissare
- To fix, to set, to establish firmly
- quell'
- That (elided demonstrative adjective before vowel)
- ora
- Hour, time; also 'now' as an adverb
- adattarsi
- To adapt oneself, to adjust to circumstances
- esigenze
- Needs, demands, requirements of someone
- ambasciatori
- Ambassadors, diplomatic representatives of a country
- Ora
- Now, at this moment (temporal adverb)
- questa
- This (feminine singular demonstrative adjective)
- moltitudine
- Multitude, crowd, large number of people
- aspettava
- Was waiting, was expecting (imperfect tense)
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