Pride and Prejudice — Page 10

English → Spanish Preface Level 7/10

Miss Austen, too, drew back when the white frost touched her shoes; but I think she would have made a pretty good journey even in a black one.

La señorita Austen también se echó atrás cuando la escarcha blanca tocó sus zapatos; pero creo que habría hecho un viaje bastante bueno incluso en una negra.

For if her knowledge was not very extended, she knew two things which only genius knows.

Pues si su conocimiento no era muy extenso, sabía dos cosas que solo el genio conoce.

The one was humanity, and the other was art.

La una era la humanidad, y la otra era el arte.

On the first head she could not make a mistake; her men, though limited, are true, and her women are, in the old sense, "absolute."

En lo primero no podía equivocarse; sus hombres, aunque limitados, son verídicos, y sus mujeres son, en el antiguo sentido, «absolutas».

As to art, if she has never tried idealism, her realism is real to a degree which makes the false realism of our own day look merely dead-alive.

En cuanto al arte, si nunca intentó el idealismo, su realismo es real hasta un grado que hace que el falso realismo de nuestros días parezca simplemente muerto en vida.

Take almost any Frenchman, except the late M. de Maupassant, and watch him laboriously piling up strokes in the hope of giving a complete impression.

Tome casi a cualquier escritor francés, excepto al difunto M. de Maupassant, y obsérvelo acumulando laboriosamente trazos con la esperanza de dar una impresión completa.

You get none; you are lucky if, discarding two-thirds of what he gives, you can shape a real impression out of the rest.

No se obtiene ninguna; tiene suerte si, descartando dos tercios de lo que ofrece, puede formar una impresión real con el resto.

But with Miss Austen the myriad, trivial, unforced strokes build up the picture like magic.

Pero con la señorita Austen los innumerables, triviales y espontáneos trazos construyen el cuadro como por arte de magia.

Nothing is false; nothing is superfluous.

Nada es falso; nada es superfluo.

When (to take the present book only) Mr. Collins changed his mind from Jane to Elizabeth "while Mrs. Bennet was stirring the fire" (and we know how Mrs. Bennet would have stirred the fire), when Mr. Darcy "brought his coffee-cup back himself," the touch in each case is like that of Swift--"taller by the breadth of my nail"--which impressed the half-reluctant Thackeray with just and outspoken admiration.

Cuando (por ceñirnos al libro presente) el señor Collins cambió de opinión respecto a Jane y se decantó por Elizabeth «mientras la señora Bennet atizaba el fuego» (y sabemos cómo la señora Bennet habría atizado el fuego), cuando el señor Darcy «volvió a dejar él mismo su taza de café», el toque en cada caso es como el de Swift —«más alto por el ancho de mi uña»— que impresionó al medio reticente Thackeray con una admiración justa y franca.

Vocabulary

señorita: Young woman or unmarried woman; Miss.
también: Also, too, as well.
se: Reflexive pronoun used with reflexive verbs.
echó: Past tense of echar; threw, cast, or pulled back.
atrás: Behind, back, backwards.
cuando: When, at the time that.
escarcha: Frost; frozen dew crystals on surfaces.
blanca: White; feminine form of blanco.
tocó: Past tense of tocar; touched or reached.
sus: Possessive adjective meaning 'his', 'her', or 'their'.
zapatos: Shoes; footwear worn on the feet.
pero: But; conjunction indicating contrast or exception.
creo: I believe, I think; first person of creer.
que: That, which, who; common conjunction or relative pronoun.
habría: Conditional form of haber; would have.
hecho: Past participle of hacer; done or made.
viaje: Trip, journey, travel.
bastante: Quite, enough, fairly, rather.
bueno: Good; of positive quality or value.
incluso: Even, including; used to emphasize addition.
negra: Black; feminine form of negro.
Pues: Well, then, since; used as filler or conjunction.
si: If; conditional conjunction.
su: His, her, their, your; possessive adjective.
conocimiento: Knowledge, understanding, awareness of something.
era: Was; past imperfect tense of ser.
muy: Very; adverb intensifying adjectives or adverbs.
extenso: Extensive, broad, wide in scope or range.
sabía: Knew; past imperfect of saber, to know.
dos: Two; the number 2.
cosas: Things; plural of cosa.
solo: Only, alone, just; solitary.
genio: Genius; person of exceptional intellectual ability.
conoce: Knows, is acquainted with; third person of conocer.
humanidad: Humanity; humankind or the quality of being human.
otra: Another, other; feminine form of otro.
arte: Art; creative expression in various forms.
lo: It, the; neuter article or object pronoun.
primero: First; ordinal number indicating first position.
podía: Could, was able to; past imperfect of poder.
equivocarse: To be mistaken, to make an error.
hombres: Men; plural of hombre.
aunque: Although, even though, even if.
limitados: Limited, restricted; plural of limitado.
son: Are; third person plural of ser.
verídicos: Truthful, veracious; expressing truth accurately.
mujeres: Women; plural of mujer.
antiguo: Old, ancient, former; of earlier times.
sentido: Sense, meaning, direction; felt or perceived meaning.
absolutas: Absolute; complete, unrestricted; feminine plural form.
cuanto: As much as, how much; in phrases like en cuanto.
al: Contraction of a + el meaning 'to the'.
nunca: Never; at no time.
intentó: Tried, attempted; past tense of intentar.
idealismo: Idealism; belief in or pursuit of ideals.
realismo: Realism; artistic or literary representation of reality.
real: Real, actual, genuine, true.
hasta: Until, up to, even; preposition or adverb.
grado: Degree, grade, level of something.
hace: Makes, does; third person singular of hacer.
falso: False, fake, untrue.
nuestros: Our; masculine plural possessive adjective.
días: Days; plural of día.
parezca: May seem, appear; subjunctive of parecer.
simplemente: Simply, merely, just, plainly.
muerto: Dead; past participle of morir.
vida: Life; the state of being alive.
Tome: Take; imperative form of tomar.
casi: Almost, nearly, approximately.
cualquier: Any, whichever; indefinite adjective before noun.
escritor: Writer, author; person who writes professionally.
francés: French; relating to France or its language.
excepto: Except, excluding, apart from.
difunto: Deceased, late; referring to someone who has died.
obsérvelo: Observe him/it; imperative with object pronoun attached.
acumulando: Accumulating, piling up; gerund of acumular.
laboriosamente: Laboriously, painstakingly, with great effort.
trazos: Strokes, lines, traces; marks made in drawing or writing.
esperanza: Hope; feeling of expectation for something desired.
dar: To give; basic Spanish verb.
impresión: Impression; effect produced on the mind or senses.
completa: Complete, whole, entire; feminine of completo.
obtiene: Obtains, gets, achieves; third person of obtener.
ninguna: None, not any; feminine of ninguno.
tiene: Has, possesses; third person singular of tener.
suerte: Luck, fortune, chance.
descartando: Discarding, setting aside; gerund of descartar.
tercios: Thirds; plural of tercio, one-third of something.
ofrece: Offers, provides; third person of ofrecer.
puede: Can, is able to; third person of poder.
formar: To form, to shape, to build.
resto: Rest, remainder, the remaining part.
Pero: But; conjunction indicating contrast.
innumerables: Innumerable, countless, too many to count.
triviales: Trivial, minor, unimportant; plural of trivial.
espontáneos: Spontaneous, unplanned, natural; masculine plural.
construyen: Build, construct; third person plural of construir.
cuadro: Picture, painting, scene, tableau.
como: As, like, how; conjunction or adverb.
por: By, for, through; common Spanish preposition.
magia: Magic; supernatural power or enchantment.
Nada: Nothing, not anything; absence of something.
nada: Nothing; used again for emphasis or repetition.
superfluo: Superfluous, unnecessary, excessive, redundant.
Cuando: When; conjunction introducing a time clause.
ceñirnos: To confine ourselves, to stick to; reflexive infinitive.
libro: Book; written or printed work of pages.
presente: Present, current; also a noun meaning 'the present'.
señor: Mister, sir, gentleman; title of respect for men.
cambió: Changed; past tense of cambiar.
opinión: Opinion, view, belief about something.
respecto: Respect, regard; used in phrases like con respecto a.
decantó: Leaned toward, favored; past tense of decantar.
mientras: While, whereas, as long as.
señora: Madam, Mrs., woman; title of respect for women.
atizaba: Was stoking, poking; past imperfect of atizar.
fuego: Fire; flames or combustion.
sabemos: We know; first person plural of saber.
cómo: How; interrogative or exclamatory adverb.
atizado: Stoked, poked; past participle of atizar.
volvió: Returned, went back; past tense of volver.
dejar: To leave, to let, to allow.
mismo: Same, himself, itself; used for emphasis.
taza: Cup; small vessel for drinking beverages.
café: Coffee; popular hot beverage.
toque: Touch, stroke; light contact or detail.
cada: Each, every; distributive adjective.
caso: Case, instance, situation, example.
más: More, most; comparative adverb.
alto: Tall, high; of great height or elevation.
ancho: Wide, broad; having great width.
mi: My; first person singular possessive adjective.
uña: Fingernail or toenail; hard covering of finger tip.
impresionó: Impressed; past tense of impresionar.
medio: Half, middle, medium; intermediate level.
reticente: Reticent, reluctant, reserved; hesitant to speak.
admiración: Admiration; feeling of wonder and respect.
justa: Fair, just, rightful; feminine of justo.
franca: Frank, open, candid; feminine of franco.

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