Piccolissima — Page 14
It seems that the fly, being only able to take up liquids through his trunk, wetted and dissolved the sugar that he might suck it up.
Sembra che la mosca, potendo prendere solo liquidi attraverso la sua proboscide, abbia bagnato e disciolto lo zucchero per poterlo succhiare.
It was a pleasant thing to see his lips swell out, and press, handle, and knead, as it were, the amber surface of the sugar in order to make it melt sooner, and enable him to draw it up faster.
Era una cosa piacevole vedere le sue labbra gonfiarsi, e premere, maneggiare e impastare, per così dire, la superficie ambrata dello zucchero al fine di farlo sciogliere prima, e permettergli di aspirarlo più velocemente.
After having examined all these proceedings for some time, with great amusement, the little apprentice naturalist cried out, "Well, my little guest has a remarkable talent for eating barley sugar."
Dopo aver osservato tutti questi procedimenti per un po' di tempo, con grande divertimento, il piccolo naturalista apprendista esclamò: «Ebbene, il mio piccolo ospite ha un talento straordinario per mangiare lo zucchero d'orzo».
The other fly, timid, wet, and with his wings folded, so that he seemed naked, remained behind upon the frame of the window.
L'altra mosca, timida, bagnata e con le ali piegate, così da sembrare nuda, rimase indietro sul telaio della finestra.
"Come, poor little wet chicken as thou art," cried the elder fly; "thou wast complaining just now of having found in life only discomfort and cold; dost thou not see these rays of the sun? dost thou not perceive the perfume of this delicious food?"
«Vieni, povero pulcino bagnato che sei», gridò la mosca più anziana; «ti lamentavi poco fa di aver trovato nella vita solo disagio e freddo; non vedi questi raggi di sole? non percepisci il profumo di questo delizioso cibo?»
The young, inexperienced fly was disposed to take Piccolissima, the dictionary, and the barley sugar for a chain of mountains.
La giovane mosca inesperta era disposta a scambiare Piccolissima, il dizionario e lo zucchero d'orzo per una catena di montagne.
However, when the little girl turned her gentle, child-like face towards him, the insect felt the pleasant warmth of her breath; it reanimated him, and gave him courage, and with one bound he flew upon the arm of Piccolissima.
Tuttavia, quando la bambina volse verso di lui il suo dolce viso infantile, l'insetto sentì il piacevole calore del suo respiro; lo rianimò e gli diede coraggio, e con un solo balzo volò sul braccio di Piccolissima.
With a sudden familiarity he murmured in a low voice, "Art thou, perhaps, an elder sister of mine? Thou warmest me.
Con una subitanea familiarità mormorò a bassa voce: «Sei forse una mia sorella maggiore? Tu mi riscaldi.
Vocabulary
- Sembra
- Seems, appears to be the case
- che
- That, which; introducing a subordinate clause
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- mosca
- Fly; common insect with wings
- potendo
- Being able to, having the ability to do
- prendere
- To take, grab, or consume something
- solo
- Only, alone; exclusively or just
- liquidi
- Liquids; substances that flow and take container shape
- attraverso
- Through, across; passing from one side to other
- sua
- Her, his, its; third-person singular possessive adjective
- abbia
- Has, have; third-person singular subjunctive of avere
- bagnato
- Wet, soaked; covered or saturated with liquid
- disciolto
- Dissolved, melted; liquefied or dispersed in liquid
- lo
- It, him; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- zucchero
- Sugar; sweet crystalline substance used in cooking
- per
- For, in order to; expressing purpose or destination
- poterlo
- To be able to do it; can plus pronoun
- succhiare
- To suck, to draw liquid through suction
- Era
- Was; third-person singular imperfect tense of essere
- una
- A, one; feminine singular indefinite article
- cosa
- Thing, object; anything concrete or abstract
- piacevole
- Pleasant, agreeable; causing enjoyment or satisfaction
- vedere
- To see, to view; to perceive with eyes
- le
- The; feminine plural definite article or pronoun
- sue
- Her, his, its; feminine plural possessive adjective
- labbra
- Lips; edges of the mouth, plural of labbro
- gonfiarsi
- To swell, to puff up; to expand in size
- premere
- To press, to push; to apply pressure to something
- maneggiare
- To handle, to manipulate; to work with hands
- impastare
- To knead, to mix; to blend into a mass
- così
- Thus, so, in this way; expressing manner
- dire
- To say, to speak; to express in words
- superficie
- Surface, outer layer; the boundary of an object
- dello
- Of the; contraction of di plus lo
- al
- To the; contraction of a plus il
- fine
- End, purpose; conclusion or objective of something
- di
- Of, from; expressing possession or origin
- farlo
- To make it, to do it; infinitive plus pronoun
- sciogliere
- To dissolve, to melt; to cause to liquefy
- prima
- Before, first; preceding in time or order
- permettergli
- To allow him to; to enable or permit
- aspirarlo
- To aspirate it, to inhale; to suck in
- più
- More, plus; indicating greater quantity or degree
- velocemente
- Quickly, rapidly; at high speed or velocity
- Dopo
- After, following; subsequent in time to something
- aver
- To have; infinitive form of avere
- osservato
- Observed, watched; past participle of osservare
- tutti
- All, everyone; every person or thing included
- questi
- These, this one; plural demonstrative pronoun
- procedimenti
- Procedures, processes; methods or sequences of steps
- un
- A, one; masculine singular indefinite article
- po
- A little, a bit; small amount of something
- tempo
- Time, weather; duration or atmospheric conditions
- con
- With, together with; indicating accompaniment or means
- grande
- Great, large, big; of considerable size or extent
- divertimento
- Entertainment, amusement; pleasure or enjoyment activity
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article
- piccolo
- Small, little; of reduced size or quantity
- apprendista
- Apprentice; person learning a trade or skill
- esclamò
- Exclaimed, cried out; past tense of esclamare
- Ebbene
- Well then, so; expressing surprise or transition
- mio
- My, mine; first-person singular possessive adjective
- ospite
- Guest, host; person visiting or receiving visitors
- ha
- Has, have; third-person singular present of avere
- talento
- Talent, gift; natural skill or exceptional ability
- straordinario
- Extraordinary, remarkable; very unusual or exceptional
- mangiare
- To eat, to consume food; to take nourishment
- altra
- Other, another; feminine singular of altro
- timida
- Shy, timid; lacking courage or confidence
- ali
- Wings; appendages used by insects and birds
- piegate
- Folded, bent; past participle of piegare
- da
- From, by; indicating origin or agent
- sembrare
- To seem, to appear; to give impression of being
- nuda
- Naked, bare; without clothing or covering
- rimase
- Remained, stayed; past tense of rimanere
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