Piccolissima — Page 9
One of the flies--it was the elder--having fixed upon the little prodigy one of the thousand faces of his brown, sparkling eyes, surrounded with golden eyelashes, he then placed, one by one, his little black feet upon the stick of sugar candy, stretched forth his trunk, and began to suck with eagerness.
Una de las moscas --era la mayor-- habiendo fijado sobre el pequeño prodigio una de las mil facetas de sus ojos pardos y centelleantes, rodeados de pestañas doradas, colocó entonces, una por una, sus pequeñas patas negras sobre el palito de azúcar cande, extendió su trompa y comenzó a chupar con avidez.
Piccolissima had now time enough to contemplate a being whose organs she thought were like her own in their weakness.
Piccolissima tuvo entonces tiempo suficiente para contemplar a un ser cuyos órganos le parecían semejantes a los suyos en su fragilidad.
She found pleasure in examining the extraordinary form of its almost cylindrical body, divided into three parts, and a head wider than it was long, an irregular globe surmounted by two horns, or antennae, as they are called.
Encontró placer en examinar la extraordinaria forma de su cuerpo casi cilíndrico, dividido en tres partes, y una cabeza más ancha que larga, un globo irregular coronado por dos cuernos, o antenas, como se las llama.
The eyes most excited her curiosity.
Los ojos fueron lo que más excitó su curiosidad.
She attempted to count their numerous little faces, so regular, so finely cut into hexagons, more polished, more brilliant than diamonds.
Intentó contar sus numerosas pequeñas facetas, tan regulares, tan finamente talladas en hexágonos, más pulidas, más brillantes que los diamantes.
When Piccolissima had counted one hundred, she drew from a very small box, which was a family treasure, some minikin pins, and stuck one of them into the cushion on which she was seated, intending thus to mark every hundred that she counted; but she had not counted thus half a thousand, before she found that breath and knowledge failed her; in truth, she did not know enough of arithmetic to count the eyes of a fly.
Cuando Piccolissima había contado cien, sacó de una cajita muy pequeña, que era un tesoro familiar, algunos alfileres diminutos, y clavó uno de ellos en el cojín sobre el que estaba sentada, con la intención de marcar así cada centena que contara; pero no había contado así ni la mitad de mil, cuando descubrió que le faltaban tanto el aliento como los conocimientos; en verdad, no sabía suficiente aritmética para contar los ojos de una mosca.
In the very first group which she undertook to count, that on the right side of the fly, she had not counted a sixteenth part.
En el primer grupo que se propuso contar, el del lado derecho de la mosca, no había contado ni la decimosexta parte.
Vocabulary
- moscas
- Plural of mosca; flies, the common flying insect
- mayor
- Adjective meaning largest, greatest, or oldest
- habiendo
- Gerund of haber; 'having' as auxiliary verb
- fijado
- Past participle of fijar; fixed or focused attention on
- prodigio
- Noun meaning prodigy, wonder, or marvelous thing
- facetas
- Plural noun meaning facets or small polished surfaces
- pardos
- Adjective meaning dull brown or grayish-brown in color
- centelleantes
- Adjective meaning sparkling, glittering, or twinkling
- rodeados
- Past participle of rodear; surrounded or encircled by something
- pestañas
- Plural noun meaning eyelashes
- doradas
- Adjective meaning golden or gold-colored
- colocó
- Preterite of colocar; placed or positioned something somewhere
- patas
- Plural noun meaning legs or paws of an animal
- palito
- Diminutive of palo; a small stick or little rod
- azúcar
- Noun meaning sugar, the sweet crystalline substance
- cande
- Adjective meaning candy or rock sugar, crystallized form
- extendió
- Preterite of extender; extended or stretched something out
- trompa
- Noun meaning snout, trunk, or proboscis of an insect
- chupar
- Infinitive meaning to suck or to absorb liquid
- avidez
- Noun meaning avidity, eagerness, or greediness
- suficiente
- Adjective meaning sufficient, enough, or adequate
- contemplar
- Infinitive meaning to contemplate or observe carefully
- cuyos
- Relative possessive pronoun meaning 'whose' (masculine plural)
- órganos
- Plural noun meaning organs or body parts
- parecían
- Imperfect of parecer; seemed or appeared to be
- semejantes
- Adjective meaning similar or resembling something else
- suyos
- Possessive pronoun meaning 'hers,' 'his,' or 'its own'
- fragilidad
- Noun meaning fragility or delicateness of structure
- placer
- Noun meaning pleasure or enjoyment
- examinar
- Infinitive meaning to examine or inspect closely
- extraordinaria
- Adjective meaning extraordinary or remarkable in nature
- cilíndrico
- Adjective meaning cylindrical or having a cylinder shape
- dividido
- Past participle of dividir; divided or split into parts
- ancha
- Feminine adjective meaning wide or broad
- globo
- Noun meaning globe, ball, or spherical shape
- irregular
- Adjective meaning irregular or uneven in shape or pattern
- coronado
- Past participle of coronar; crowned or topped with something
- cuernos
- Plural noun meaning horns or antler-like projections
- antenas
- Plural noun meaning antennae on an insect's head
- excitó
- Preterite of excitar; excited, stimulated, or aroused interest
- curiosidad
- Noun meaning curiosity or inquisitive interest
- Intentó
- Preterite of intentar; tried or attempted to do something
- numerosas
- Feminine plural adjective meaning numerous or many
- regulares
- Plural adjective meaning regular, uniform, or consistent
- finamente
- Adverb meaning finely, delicately, or with great precision
- talladas
- Past participle of tallar; carved or cut with precision
- hexágonos
- Plural noun meaning hexagons, six-sided geometric shapes
- pulidas
- Feminine plural adjective meaning polished or smoothed
- brillantes
- Plural adjective meaning brilliant, shiny, or sparkling
- diamantes
- Plural noun meaning diamonds, precious gemstones
- sacó
- Preterite of sacar; took out or removed something
- cajita
- Diminutive of caja; a small box or little case
- tesoro
- Noun meaning treasure or something precious and valued
- familiar
- Adjective meaning familiar or belonging to the family
- alfileres
- Plural noun meaning pins, small sharp fastening needles
- diminutos
- Plural adjective meaning tiny or very small in size
- clavó
- Preterite of clavar; stuck in or nailed something firmly
- cojín
- Noun meaning cushion or small decorative pillow
- intención
- Noun meaning intention or purpose behind an action
- marcar
- Infinitive meaning to mark or indicate something
- centena
- Noun meaning a hundred, a group of one hundred
- contara
- Imperfect subjunctive of contar; would count or might count
- mitad
- Noun meaning half or the middle part of something
- descubrió
- Preterite of descubrir; discovered or found out something
- faltaban
- Imperfect of faltar; were lacking or missing
- aliento
- Noun meaning breath or encouragement
- conocimientos
- Plural noun meaning knowledge or understanding of a subject
- aritmética
- Noun meaning arithmetic or basic mathematics
- mosca
- Noun meaning fly, the common winged insect
- propuso
- Preterite of proponer; proposed or suggested something
- decimosexta
- Feminine ordinal adjective meaning sixteenth
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