The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete — Page 7
To one whose idea of Smollett's genius is formed entirely by Random and Pickle and Humphry Clinker, Ferdinand Count Fathom will offer many surprises.
Para quien tenga una idea del genio de Smollett formada enteramente por Random, Pickle y Humphry Clinker, Ferdinand Count Fathom ofrecerá muchas sorpresas.
The first of these is the comparative lifelessness of the book.
La primera de ellas es la relativa falta de vida del libro.
True, here again are action and incident galore, but generally unaccompanied by that rough Georgian hurly-burly, common in Smollett, which is so interesting to contemplate from a comfortable distance, and which goes so far towards making his fiction seem real.
Es cierto que aquí abundan de nuevo la acción y los incidentes, pero por lo general sin ese rudo bullicio georgiano, tan común en Smollett, que resulta tan interesante contemplar desde una distancia cómoda y que contribuye en gran medida a hacer que su ficción parezca real.
Nor are the characters, for the most part, life-like enough to be interesting.
Tampoco los personajes son, en su mayor parte, lo suficientemente verosímiles como para resultar interesantes.
There is an apparent exception, to be sure, in the hero's mother, already mentioned, the hardened camp-follower, whom we confidently expect to become vitalised after the savage fashion of Smollett's characters.
Hay una aparente excepción, sin duda, en la madre del héroe, ya mencionada, la endurecida seguidora del campamento, de quien esperamos con confianza que cobre vida a la manera salvaje de los personajes de Smollett.
But, alas! we have no chance to learn the lady's style of conversation, for the few words that come from her lips are but partially characteristic; we have only too little chance to learn her manners and customs.
Pero, ¡ay!, no tenemos oportunidad de conocer el estilo de conversación de la dama, pues las pocas palabras que salen de sus labios son solo parcialmente características; tenemos demasiado pocas ocasiones de conocer sus modales y costumbres.
In the fourth chapter, while she is making sure with her dagger that all those on the field of battle whom she wishes to rifle are really dead, an officer of the hussars, who has been watching her lucrative progress, unfeelingly puts a brace of bullets into the lady's brain, just as she raises her hand to smite him to the heart.
En el cuarto capítulo, mientras ella se asegura con su daga de que todos aquellos en el campo de batalla a quienes desea saquear estén realmente muertos, un oficial de los húsares, que ha estado observando su lucrativo avance, sin ningún escrúpulo le mete un par de balas en la cabeza a la dama, justo cuando ella levanta la mano para golpearle en el corazón.
Perhaps it is as well that she is thus removed before our disappointment at the non-fulfilment of her promise becomes poignant.
Quizás sea mejor que ella sea eliminada de este modo antes de que nuestra decepción por el incumplimiento de su promesa se vuelva lacerante.
Vocabulary
- para
- for; in order to
- quien
- who; whom; whoever
- tenga
- has; may have (subjunctive of tener)
- una
- a; one (feminine)
- idea
- idea; thought; notion
- del
- of the; from the (contraction)
- genio
- genius; talent; character
- de
- of; from; about
- formada
- formed; shaped; composed (past participle)
- enteramente
- entirely; completely; wholly
- por
- by; for; through; per
- ofrecerá
- will offer; will present (future tense)
- muchas
- many; numerous (feminine plural)
- sorpresas
- surprises; unexpected things
- La
- the (feminine singular)
- primera
- first (feminine singular)
- ellas
- they; them (feminine plural)
- es
- is (third person singular present)
- la
- the (feminine singular); her; it
- relativa
- relative; comparative; proportional
- falta
- lack; absence; shortage
- vida
- life; living; livelihood
- libro
- book; volume; register
- Es
- is; exists (present indicative)
- cierto
- certain; sure; true; correct
- que
- that; which; what; than
- aquí
- here; in this place
- abundan
- abound; are abundant; exist in plenty
- nuevo
- new; novel; fresh
- acción
- action; plot; movement; deed
- los
- the (masculine plural)
- incidentes
- incidents; events; occurrences
- pero
- but; yet; however
- lo
- the (neuter); it; him
- general
- general; overall; common
- sin
- without; lacking
- ese
- that; that one (masculine)
- rudo
- rude; rough; crude; coarse
- bullicio
- tumult; noise; bustle; commotion
- tan
- so; as; such; too
- común
- common; usual; ordinary
- en
- in; on; at; into
- resulta
- turns out; proves; results
- interesante
- interesting; engaging; noteworthy
- contemplar
- to contemplate; to observe; to view
- desde
- from; since; starting from
- distancia
- distance; space; separation
- cómoda
- comfortable; convenient; suitable
- contribuye
- contributes; helps; aids (present tense)
- gran
- great; large; grand
- medida
- measure; dimension; extent; degree
- hacer
- to make; to do; to create
- su
- his; her; its; your (formal)
- ficción
- fiction; made-up story; narrative
- parezca
- seems; appears (subjunctive of parecer)
- real
- real; actual; royal; genuine
- Tampoco
- neither; nor; not either
- personajes
- characters; persons; figures
- son
- are (third person plural present)
- mayor
- greater; larger; main; major
- parte
- part; portion; side; role
- suficientemente
- sufficiently; adequately; enough
- verosímiles
- plausible; believable; credible; realistic
- como
- as; like; how; since
- resultar
- to result; to turn out; to prove
- interesantes
- interesting; engaging; noteworthy (plural)
- Hay
- there is; there are; exists
- aparente
- apparent; seeming; obvious; evident
- excepción
- exception; exclusion; special case
- duda
- doubt; uncertainty; question
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