Piccolissima — Page 4
Simple themselves, every thing appeared simple to them.
Semplici essi stessi, ogni cosa appariva loro semplice.
Mrs. Mignonette was at first a little disconcerted at finding that a drawer of baby linen which she had taken so much pains to make was of no use, and that one of the stockings which she had knit was big enough for her child to get into.
La signora Mignonette fu dapprima un po' sconcertata nello scoprire che un cassetto di biancheria per neonati che aveva fatto tanta fatica a preparare non serviva a nulla, e che uno dei calzini che aveva lavorato a maglia era abbastanza grande da contenere il suo bambino.
But, when she was convinced that the baby could do just as well without stockings, and that the cushions of thistle down were sufficient to keep it warm, she was no longer troubled, and she said to her neighbors, who were eager to see her little wonder, "It is very natural that the little one should be so very delicate; from the first we called it Piccolissima; then, neither Mr. Tom Thumb nor I are very large; and I am told that our ancestors were still more delicately formed; what then is more natural than that this little one should be such a wee wee thing?"
Ma quando fu convinta che il bambino poteva stare benissimo senza calzini, e che i cuscini di lanugine di cardo erano sufficienti a tenerlo al caldo, non fu più turbata, e disse alle sue vicine, che erano ansiose di vedere la sua piccola meraviglia: «È del tutto naturale che la piccina sia così tanto delicata; fin dall'inizio l'abbiamo chiamata Piccolissima; del resto, né il signor Pollicino né io siamo molto grandi; e mi è stato detto che i nostri antenati erano formati in modo ancora più delicato; cosa c'è dunque di più naturale che questa piccina sia una cosina così minuscola?»
The tranquillity of Mrs. Tom Thumb had this good effect; it appeased the curiosity of the neighbors.
La tranquillità della signora Pollicino ebbe questo buon effetto; placò la curiosità delle vicine.
At last, like her, they came to the conclusion "that it was very natural that the child was smaller than the mother." and all went on as usual around our heroine, while she was quietly rocked by the passing hours, and was amused with the sound of the silver clock bell.
Alla fine, come lei, giunsero alla conclusione «che era del tutto naturale che la bambina fosse più piccola della madre», e tutto continuò come di consueto attorno alla nostra eroina, mentre essa veniva dolcemente cullata dalle ore che passavano, e si divertiva con il suono della campanella dell'orologio d'argento.
Vocabulary
- Semplici
- Simple, plain, or uncomplicated things or people
- essi
- They; third-person plural pronoun
- stessi
- Same; themselves; reflexive emphatic pronoun
- ogni
- Every, each; used before singular nouns
- cosa
- Thing; object or matter being referred to
- appariva
- Appeared, seemed; imperfect tense of apparire
- loro
- They, them, their; third-person plural pronoun
- semplice
- Simple, plain, easy, uncomplicated
- La
- The; feminine singular definite article
- signora
- Mrs., lady, woman; polite form of address
- fu
- Was; third-person singular past tense of essere
- dapprima
- At first, initially, in the beginning
- un
- A, an; masculine singular indefinite article
- po'
- A little, a bit; shortened form of poco
- sconcertata
- Disconcerted, flustered, taken aback, confused
- nello
- In the; contraction of in and lo
- scoprire
- To discover, to find out, to uncover
- che
- That, which, who; conjunction or relative pronoun
- cassetto
- Drawer; sliding compartment in furniture
- di
- Of, from; very common Italian preposition
- biancheria
- Linen, underwear, clothing items, laundry
- per
- For, through, by; common Italian preposition
- neonati
- Newborns, newborn babies, infants
- aveva
- Had; third-person singular imperfect of avere
- fatto
- Done, made; past participle of fare
- tanta
- So much, such a lot of; feminine singular
- fatica
- Effort, fatigue, hard work, toil
- a
- To, at; very common Italian preposition
- preparare
- To prepare, to get ready, to make ready
- non
- Not; basic Italian negation adverb
- serviva
- Was needed, served, was useful; imperfect of servire
- nulla
- Nothing, anything; used in negative sentences
- e
- And; basic Italian coordinating conjunction
- uno
- One, a; masculine singular numeral or article
- dei
- Of the, some; contraction of di and i
- calzini
- Socks; plural of calzino
- lavorato
- Worked, knitted, crafted; past participle of lavorare
- maglia
- Knitting, mesh, stitch; also means sweater
- era
- Was; third-person singular imperfect of essere
- abbastanza
- Enough, quite, fairly, sufficiently
- grande
- Big, large, great, tall
- da
- From, by, since; common Italian preposition
- contenere
- To contain, to hold, to include
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article
- suo
- His, her, its; masculine singular possessive adjective
- bambino
- Child, baby, little boy
- Ma
- But; basic Italian adversative conjunction
- quando
- When; conjunction or interrogative adverb
- convinta
- Convinced, persuaded; feminine past participle
- poteva
- Could, was able to; imperfect of potere
- stare
- To stay, to be, to stand, to remain
- benissimo
- Very well, perfectly fine, extremely well
- senza
- Without; common Italian preposition
- i
- The; masculine plural definite article
- cuscini
- Cushions, pillows; plural of cuscino
- lanugine
- Down, fluff, soft fine fibers or fuzz
- cardo
- Thistle; prickly plant used here as bedding
- erano
- Were; third-person plural imperfect of essere
- sufficienti
- Sufficient, enough, adequate; plural adjective
- tenerlo
- To keep him, to hold him; infinitive with pronoun
- al
- At the, to the; contraction of a and il
- caldo
- Warm, heat, warmth
- più
- More, most; comparative or superlative adverb
- turbata
- Troubled, disturbed, upset; feminine past participle
- disse
- Said, told; third-person singular passato remoto of dire
- alle
- To the; contraction of a and le (feminine plural)
- sue
- Her, his; feminine plural possessive adjective
- vicine
- Neighbors; feminine plural of vicina
- ansiose
- Anxious, eager, worried; feminine plural adjective
- vedere
- To see, to look at, to observe
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- piccola
- Little, small; feminine singular adjective
- meraviglia
- Wonder, marvel, amazement, something wonderful
- del
- Of the; contraction of di and il
- tutto
- All, everything, completely, whole
- naturale
- Natural, normal, expected, of nature
- piccina
- Tiny girl, little one; affectionate feminine diminutive
- sia
- Is, be; subjunctive form of essere
- così
- So, thus, like this, in this way
- tanto
- So much, so many, very; adverb or adjective
- delicata
- Delicate, fragile, gentle; feminine singular adjective
- fin
- Since, from; shortened form of fino
- dall'inizio
- From the beginning, from the start
- l'abbiamo
- We have her/it; contraction of la abbiamo
- chiamata
- Called, named; feminine past participle of chiamare
- Piccolissima
- Tiniest; superlative of piccola, a character's name
- resto
- Rest, remainder; the rest of something
- né
- Neither, nor; negative correlative conjunction
- signor
- Mr., Mister; polite masculine title
- io
- I; first-person singular personal pronoun
- siamo
- We are; first-person plural present of essere
- molto
- Very, much, a lot; common Italian adverb
- grandi
- Big, large, great; masculine/feminine plural adjective
- mi
- Me, to me; first-person singular object pronoun
- è
- Is; third-person singular present of essere
- stato
- Been, state; past participle of essere
- detto
- Said, told; past participle of dire
- nostri
- Our; masculine plural possessive adjective
- antenati
- Ancestors, forebears; plural of antenato
- formati
- Formed, built, shaped; masculine plural past participle
- in
- In, into, at; very common Italian preposition
- modo
- Way, manner, method
- ancora
- Still, yet, again, even more
- delicato
- Delicate, fragile, gentle; masculine singular adjective
- c'è
- There is; contraction of ci and è
- dunque
- Therefore, so, thus; logical connective adverb
- questa
- This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- una
- A, an, one; feminine singular indefinite article
- cosina
- Little thing; affectionate diminutive of cosa
- minuscola
- Tiny, minuscule, very small; feminine adjective
- tranquillità
- Tranquility, calmness, peacefulness, serenity
- della
- Of the; contraction of di and la
- ebbe
- Had; third-person singular passato remoto of avere
- questo
- This; masculine singular demonstrative adjective
- buon
- Good; shortened masculine form of buono
- effetto
- Effect, result, impression
- placò
- Calmed, appeased, soothed; passato remoto of placare
- curiosità
- Curiosity; interest in knowing or learning something
- delle
- Of the, some; contraction of di and le
- Alla
- At the, to the; contraction of a and la
- fine
- End, conclusion; also means fine or thin
- come
- How, like, as; conjunction or adverb
- lei
- She, her; third-person singular feminine pronoun
- giunsero
- They arrived, reached; passato remoto of giungere
- alla
- To the, at the; contraction of a and la
- conclusione
- Conclusion, end result, final decision
- bambina
- Little girl, baby girl, female child
- fosse
- Was, were; imperfect subjunctive of essere
- madre
- Mother, mom; female parent
- continuò
- Continued, went on; passato remoto of continuare
- consueto
- Usual, customary, habitual; as per normal routine
- attorno
- Around, surrounding; spatial adverb or preposition
- nostra
- Our; feminine singular possessive adjective
- eroina
- Heroine; female protagonist of a story
- mentre
- While, whereas; temporal subordinating conjunction
- essa
- She, it; third-person singular feminine pronoun
- veniva
- Was coming, was being; imperfect of venire
- dolcemente
- Gently, softly, sweetly; adverb from dolce
- cullata
- Rocked, cradled; feminine past participle of cullare
- dalle
- By the, from the; contraction of da and le
- ore
- Hours; plural of ora
- passavano
- Were passing, went by; imperfect of passare
- si
- Himself, herself, themselves; reflexive pronoun
- divertiva
- Was enjoying, was amusing herself; imperfect of divertirsi
- con
- With; very common Italian preposition
- suono
- Sound, tone, ring; a noise produced by something
- campanella
- Little bell; diminutive of campana
- dell'orologio
- Of the clock, of the watch
- d'argento
- Of silver, silver-made; made of silver material
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