Piccolissima — Page 10
Piccolissima, from her education, resembled the flies a little too much to boast of her perseverance.
Piccolissima, per la sua educazione, assomigliava un po' troppo alle mosche per vantarsi della sua perseveranza.
So she gave up her project.
Così rinunciò al suo progetto.
While bending her small head over these eyes, she distinguished, at the bottom of these crystals, a moving dark spot, and thousands of little Piccolissimas, one after the other, smiled upon her from these little mirrors.
Mentre chinava la sua piccola testa su questi occhi, distinse, in fondo a questi cristalli, una macchia scura in movimento, e migliaia di piccole Piccolissime, una dopo l'altra, le sorrisero da questi piccoli specchi.
O, wonderful! these thousands of crystal groups on each side of the head were not all; a triangle of three diamonds crowned the forehead of the fly.
Oh, meraviglioso! queste migliaia di gruppi di cristalli su ciascun lato della testa non erano tutto; un triangolo di tre diamanti coronava la fronte della mosca.
Piccolissima did not know the name they give to these small eyes, nor that a writer on the subject had said, that the diadem of the fly outshines that of queens, but she could not refrain from saying aloud, "O, my little friend, pray tell me what you do with so many eyes?"
Piccolissima non conosceva il nome che danno a questi piccoli occhi, né che uno scrittore sull'argomento aveva detto che il diadema della mosca supera in splendore quello delle regine, ma non poté trattenersi dal dire ad alta voce: «Oh, mia piccola amica, ti prego, dimmi cosa fai con tanti occhi?»
"What do I do with them, indeed! why, I look," answered the fly, a little vexed at being disturbed in his repast.
«Cosa ci faccio, davvero! ma, guardo,» rispose la mosca, un po' seccata di essere disturbata nel suo pasto.
"Are there not fingers, nails, pins, pincers, jaws, claws, beaks, which menace me on every side?
«Non ci sono forse dita, unghie, spilli, pinze, mascelle, artigli, becchi, che mi minacciano da ogni parte?
Do I not want eyes to see at a distance, and eyes to see near?
Non ho forse bisogno di occhi per vedere da lontano e di occhi per vedere da vicino?
And do you not know that my head is better put on than yours, which cannot turn to all points of the compass?"
E non sapete che la mia testa è meglio sistemata della vostra, che non può girarsi in tutte le direzioni?»
"What! can you look behind you without turning your head?"
«Come! potete guardare dietro di voi senza girare la testa?»
Vocabulary
- piccolissima
- Very tiny, extremely small in size or dimension
- per
- For, by, through; indicates purpose or agent
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- sua
- His, her, its; third person singular possessive
- educazione
- Education, upbringing, or manners and courtesy
- assomigliava
- Resembled, looked like; third person singular past
- un
- A, an; masculine singular indefinite article
- po
- A little, a bit; short for 'poco'
- troppo
- Too much, excessively; adverb of quantity
- alle
- To the; feminine plural of 'a' with article
- mosche
- Flies; plural of mosca, small insects
- vantarsi
- To boast, brag; reflexive verb of pride
- della
- Of the; feminine singular 'di' with article
- perseveranza
- Perseverance, persistence in effort and determination
- così
- So, thus, in this way; conjunction
- rinunciò
- Renounced, gave up; third person singular past
- al
- To the; masculine singular 'a' with article
- suo
- His, her, its; third person singular possessive
- progetto
- Project, plan, scheme, or design
- mentre
- While, during; temporal conjunction
- chinava
- Bent down, leaned; third person singular past
- piccola
- Small, little; feminine singular adjective
- testa
- Head; anatomical part of the body
- su
- On, upon, above; preposition
- questi
- These; masculine plural demonstrative pronoun
- occhi
- Eyes; plural of occhio, organs of sight
- distinse
- Distinguished, made out; third person singular past
- in
- In, into; preposition indicating location or direction
- fondo
- Bottom, depth, background; foundation or base
- cristalli
- Crystals; plural of cristallo, transparent minerals
- una
- A, an; feminine singular indefinite article
- macchia
- Spot, stain, mark; blemish or blot
- scura
- Dark, dusky; feminine singular adjective
- movimento
- Movement, motion, activity; state of moving
- migliaia
- Thousands; plural of migliaia, large quantity
- di
- Of, from; preposition indicating possession or origin
- piccole
- Small; feminine plural of piccolo adjective
- piccolissime
- Tiny, very small; feminine plural superlative form
- dopo
- After, afterwards; preposition or adverb temporal
- altra
- Other, another; feminine singular adjective
- le
- The; feminine plural definite article or pronoun
- sorrisero
- Smiled; third person plural past tense
- da
- From, by; preposition indicating origin or agent
- specchi
- Mirrors; plural of specchio, reflective surfaces
- meraviglioso
- Marvelous, wonderful, amazing; expressing great admiration
- gruppi
- Groups; plural of gruppo, collections or sets
- ciascun
- Each, every; singular distributive pronoun or adjective
- lato
- Side; lateral part or aspect of object
- erano
- Were; third person plural past of essere
- tutto
- Everything, all; total or whole quantity
- triangolo
- Triangle; geometric shape with three angles
- tre
- Three; cardinal number 3 in Italian
- diamanti
- Diamonds; plural of diamante, precious gemstones
- coronava
- Crowned; third person singular past of coronare
- fronte
- Front, forehead; facial area above eyebrows
- mosca
- Fly; insect with wings, common pest
- conosceva
- Knew; third person singular imperfect past tense
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article
- nome
- Name; word identifying a person or thing
- che
- That, which, who; relative or subordinate conjunction
- danno
- Give; third person plural present of dare
- né
- Neither, nor; negative conjunction linking alternatives
- uno
- One; masculine singular number or indefinite pronoun
- scrittore
- Writer; person who writes or authors texts
- sull
- On the; contraction of 'su' and 'il'
- argomento
- Topic, subject, argument; theme of discussion
- aveva
- Had; third person singular imperfect past tense
- detto
- Said, told; past participle of dire
- diadema
- Diadem, tiara; crown or ornamental headpiece
- supera
- Surpasses, exceeds; third person singular present
- splendore
- Splendor, brilliance, radiance; great beauty or glory
- quello
- That; masculine singular demonstrative pronoun
- regine
- Queens; plural of regina, female sovereigns
- ma
- But; conjunction expressing contrast or opposition
- poté
- Could, was able; third person singular past
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