Pride and Prejudice — Page 11
Indeed, fantastic as it may seem, I should put Miss Austen as near to Swift in some ways, as I have put her to Addison in others.
In effetti, per quanto possa sembrare fantastico, porrei la signorina Austen tanto vicina a Swift per certi versi, quanto l'ho posta ad Addison per altri.
This Swiftian quality appears in the present novel as it appears nowhere else in the character of the immortal, the ineffable Mr. Collins.
Questa qualità swiftiana appare nel presente romanzo come non appare in nessun altro luogo nel personaggio dell'immortale, dell'ineffabile signor Collins.
Mr. Collins is really great; far greater than anything Addison ever did, almost great enough for Fielding or for Swift himself.
Il signor Collins è davvero grande; di gran lunga più grande di qualsiasi cosa Addison abbia mai fatto, quasi abbastanza grande per Fielding o per lo stesso Swift.
It has been said that no one ever was like him.
È stato detto che nessuno è mai stato come lui.
But in the first place, he was like him; he is there--alive, imperishable, more real than hundreds of prime ministers and archbishops, of "metals, semi-metals, and distinguished philosophers."
Ma in primo luogo, lui era come lui; è lì — vivo, imperituro, più reale di centinaia di primi ministri e arcivescovi, di «metalli, semi-metalli e distinti filosofi».
In the second place, it is rash, I think, to conclude that an actual Mr. Collins was impossible or non-existent at the end of the eighteenth century.
In secondo luogo, è avventato, credo, concludere che un vero signor Collins fosse impossibile o inesistente alla fine del diciottesimo secolo.
It is very interesting that we possess, in this same gallery, what may be called a spoiled first draught, or an unsuccessful study of him, in John Dashwood.
È molto interessante che noi possediamo, in questa stessa galleria, quello che potrebbe essere chiamato una prima stesura guastata, o uno studio non riuscito di lui, in John Dashwood.
The formality, the under-breeding, the meanness, are there; but the portrait is only half alive, and is felt to be even a little unnatural.
La formalità, la mancanza di buona educazione, la meschinità, sono presenti; ma il ritratto è solo a metà vivo, e si percepisce come persino un po' innaturale.
Mr. Collins is perfectly natural, and perfectly alive.
Il signor Collins è perfettamente naturale, e perfettamente vivo.
In fact, for all the "miniature," there is something gigantic in the way in which a certain side, and more than one, of humanity, and especially eighteenth-century humanity, its Philistinism, its well-meaning but hide-bound morality, its formal pettiness, its grovelling respect for rank, its materialism, its selfishness, receives exhibition.
In effetti, nonostante tutta la «miniatura», c'è qualcosa di gigantesco nel modo in cui un certo lato, e più di uno, dell'umanità, e specialmente dell'umanità del diciottesimo secolo, il suo filistinismo, la sua moralità ben intenzionata ma ristretta, la sua meschina formalità, il suo strisciante rispetto per il rango, il suo materialismo, il suo egoismo, viene messo in mostra.
Vocabulary
- In
- Preposition indicating location or inclusion
- effetti
- Effects; in fact, actually (used in 'in effetti')
- per
- Preposition meaning for, by, or through
- quanto
- How much; as much as; insofar as
- possa
- May, can (subjunctive of potere)
- sembrare
- To seem, to appear to be something
- fantastico
- Fantastic, wonderful, extraordinary, imaginative
- porrei
- I would place or put (conditional of porre)
- la
- Definite article feminine singular; her, it
- signorina
- Miss; young unmarried woman, polite title
- tanto
- So much, so many, a lot, equally
- vicina
- Close, near, neighboring (feminine adjective)
- a
- Preposition meaning to, at, in
- certi
- Certain, some, particular (masculine plural)
- versi
- Verses; aspects, respects, ways of considering
- l'
- Elided definite article or object pronoun
- ho
- I have (first person singular of avere)
- posta
- Placed, put (past participle of porre)
- ad
- Preposition 'a' before vowels, meaning to, at
- altri
- Others, other people, other things
- Questa
- This (feminine demonstrative pronoun/adjective)
- qualità
- Quality, characteristic, attribute, feature
- appare
- Appears, seems, is visible (third person singular)
- nel
- In the (preposition + masculine article)
- presente
- Present, current; the present (time or work)
- romanzo
- Novel, work of fiction, romance narrative
- come
- As, like, how (conjunction or adverb)
- non
- Not, negation word in Italian sentences
- in
- In, inside, within (preposition of location)
- nessun
- No, none, not any (masculine singular adjective)
- altro
- Other, another, else, different
- luogo
- Place, location, spot, setting
- personaggio
- Character, figure, personage in a story
- dell'
- Of the (preposition di + elided article)
- immortale
- Immortal, eternal, never to be forgotten
- ineffabile
- Ineffable, indescribable, beyond words expression
- signor
- Mr., Mister; polite title for a man
- Il
- The (masculine definite article singular)
- è
- Is (third person singular of essere)
- davvero
- Really, truly, indeed, genuinely
- grande
- Great, large, big, important, grand
- di
- Of, from, by (very common preposition)
- gran
- Great, grand (apocopated form of grande)
- lunga
- Long (feminine); 'di gran lunga' means by far
- più
- More, most, plus (comparative marker)
- qualsiasi
- Any, whatever, whichever, any kind of
- cosa
- Thing, object, matter, what
- abbia
- Has, have (subjunctive of avere)
- mai
- Ever, never (with negation), at any time
- fatto
- Done, made (past participle of fare)
- quasi
- Almost, nearly, just about
- abbastanza
- Enough, sufficiently, fairly, quite
- o
- Or (conjunction connecting alternatives)
- lo
- Him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
- stesso
- Same, himself, itself (emphatic or adjective)
- È
- Is (third person singular of essere)
- stato
- Been, state (past participle of essere)
- detto
- Said, told (past participle of dire)
- che
- That, which, who, what (conjunction/pronoun)
- nessuno
- Nobody, no one, none, not anyone
- lui
- He, him (third person masculine pronoun)
- Ma
- But, however (coordinating conjunction)
- primo
- First, earliest, primary (ordinal adjective)
- era
- Was (third person singular imperfect of essere)
- lì
- There, in that place (adverb of place)
- vivo
- Alive, living, vivid, lively
- imperituro
- Imperishable, everlasting, enduring forever
- reale
- Real, actual, true; royal (adjective)
- centinaia
- Hundreds (plural noun, hundreds of things)
- primi
- First, foremost (masculine plural ordinal)
- ministri
- Ministers, government officials, prime ministers
- e
- And (coordinating conjunction)
- arcivescovi
- Archbishops (plural of arcivescovo)
- metalli
- Metals (plural of metallo)
- semi
- Semi, half; seeds (depends on context)
- distinti
- Distinguished, distinct, refined (masculine plural)
- filosofi
- Philosophers (plural of filosofo)
- secondo
- Second; according to (ordinal or preposition)
- avventato
- Rash, reckless, hasty, impulsive (adjective)
- credo
- I believe, I think (first person of credere)
- concludere
- To conclude, to determine, to deduce
- un
- A, an (masculine indefinite article)
- vero
- True, real, genuine (adjective)
- fosse
- Was, were (imperfect subjunctive of essere)
- impossibile
- Impossible, unable to exist or happen
- inesistente
- Nonexistent, not existing, absent
- alla
- At the, to the (a + la combined)
- fine
- End, finish; fine, delicate (noun/adjective)
- del
- Of the (preposition di + masculine article)
- diciottesimo
- Eighteenth (ordinal number adjective)
- secolo
- Century, age, a hundred years
- molto
- Very, much, a lot, greatly
- interessante
- Interesting, engaging, worth noticing
- noi
- We, us (first person plural pronoun)
- possediamo
- We possess, we have, we own
- questa
- This (feminine demonstrative adjective/pronoun)
- stessa
- Same, herself (feminine emphatic adjective)
- galleria
- Gallery, corridor, tunnel, arcade
- quello
- That, that one (masculine demonstrative pronoun)
- potrebbe
- Could, might (conditional of potere)
- essere
- To be (infinitive of essential verb)
- chiamato
- Called, named (past participle of chiamare)
- una
- A, an (feminine indefinite article)
- prima
- First, before, earlier (feminine ordinal/adverb)
- stesura
- Draft, version, writing of a text
- guastata
- Spoiled, ruined, damaged (feminine past participle)
- uno
- A, one (masculine indefinite article/number)
- studio
- Study, sketch, office, practice
- riuscito
- Successful, accomplished, turned out well
- La
- The (feminine definite article singular)
- formalità
- Formality, ceremony, rigid social convention
- mancanza
- Lack, absence, shortage of something
- buona
- Good (feminine adjective, positive quality)
- educazione
- Education, upbringing, good manners
- meschinità
- Pettiness, meanness, small-mindedness, stinginess
- sono
- Are (third person plural or first person singular of essere)
- presenti
- Present, existing, here, in attendance
- ma
- But, however (coordinating conjunction)
- il
- The (masculine definite article singular)
- ritratto
- Portrait, painting, depiction of a person
- solo
- Only, alone, just, single
- metà
- Half, middle, midpoint
- si
- Oneself, reflexive pronoun; yes (in other contexts)
- percepisce
- One perceives, notices, senses (third person singular)
- persino
- Even, even as far as, go so far as
- po'
- A bit, a little, somewhat (apocopated)
- innaturale
- Unnatural, forced, artificial, abnormal
- perfettamente
- Perfectly, entirely, completely, flawlessly
- naturale
- Natural, normal, innate, unaffected
- nonostante
- Despite, notwithstanding, in spite of
- tutta
- All, entire, whole (feminine singular)
- miniatura
- Miniature, small-scale representation or portrait
- c'
- There is/are (elided form of ci)
- qualcosa
- Something, anything, some thing
- gigantesco
- Gigantic, enormous, colossal, huge
- modo
- Way, manner, method, style
- cui
- Whom, which, whose (relative pronoun)
- certo
- Certain, sure, a certain (adjective/adverb)
- lato
- Side, aspect, flank of something
- umanità
- Humanity, human nature, mankind, humankind
- specialmente
- Especially, particularly, above all
- suo
- His, her, its, one's (possessive adjective)
- sua
- His, her, its (feminine possessive adjective)
- moralità
- Morality, moral sense, ethics, virtue
- ben
- Well (apocopated form of bene)
- intenzionata
- Well-intentioned, meaning well (feminine adjective)
- ristretta
- Narrow, restricted, limited (feminine adjective)
- meschina
- Petty, mean, stingy, miserable (feminine adjective)
- strisciante
- Creeping, crawling, groveling, sycophantic
- rispetto
- Respect, regard; with respect to, regarding
- rango
- Rank, social standing, status, position
- materialismo
- Materialism, focus on material wealth and goods
- egoismo
- Selfishness, egotism, self-interest
- viene
- Comes, is (third person singular of venire)
- messo
- Put, placed (past participle of mettere)
- mostra
- Show, exhibition; shows (verb and noun)
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