The Adventures of Roderick Random — Page 2
The attentive sage, after some deliberation, assured my parents, that their firstborn would be a great traveller; that he would undergo many dangers and difficulties, and at last return to his native land, where he would flourish in happiness and reputation.
Il saggio attento, dopo qualche deliberazione, assicurò i miei genitori che il loro primogenito sarebbe stato un grande viaggiatore; che avrebbe affrontato molti pericoli e difficoltà, e alla fine sarebbe tornato nella sua terra natia, dove sarebbe prosperato in felicità e reputazione.
How truly this was foretold will appear in the sequel.
Quanto veridicamente ciò fu predetto apparirà nel seguito.
It was not long before some officious person informed my grandfather of certain familiarities that passed between his son and housekeeper which alarmed him so much that, a few days after, he told my father it was high time for him to think of settling;
Non passò molto tempo prima che qualche persona invadente informasse mio nonno di certe confidenze intercorse tra suo figlio e la governante, il che lo allarmò a tal punto che, pochi giorni dopo, disse a mio padre che era ormai giunto il momento di pensare a sistemarsi;
and that he had provided a match for him, to which he could in justice have no objections.
e che aveva trovato per lui un partito al quale, in tutta giustizia, non poteva avere obiezioni.
My father, finding it would be impossible to conceal his situation much longer, frankly owned what he had done;
Mio padre, trovando che sarebbe stato impossibile nascondere la sua situazione ancora a lungo, ammise francamente ciò che aveva fatto;
and excused himself for not having asked the consent of his father, by saying, he knew it would have been to no purpose;
e si scusò per non aver chiesto il consenso di suo padre, dicendo che sapeva che sarebbe stato inutile;
and that, had his inclination been known, my grandfather might have taken such measures as would have effectually put the gratification of it out of his power:
e che, se la sua inclinazione fosse stata nota, mio nonno avrebbe potuto prendere tali misure da rendere di fatto impossibile la sua soddisfazione:
he added, that no exceptions could be taken to his wife's virtue, birth, beauty, and good sense, and as for fortune, it was beneath his care.
aggiunse che non si poteva trovare nulla da obiettare riguardo alla virtù, alla nascita, alla bellezza e al buon senso di sua moglie, e quanto alla fortuna, era al di sotto delle sue preoccupazioni.
The old gentleman, who kept all his passions, except one, in excellent order, heard him to an end with great temper, and then calmly asked, how he proposed to maintain himself and spouse?
Il vecchio gentiluomo, che teneva tutte le sue passioni, tranne una, in eccellente ordine, lo ascoltò fino in fondo con grande calma, e poi chiese serenamente come intendesse mantenere se stesso e la sposa.
Vocabulary
- saggio
- Wise person; an essay or wise individual
- attento
- Careful, attentive, paying close attention
- dopo
- After, following a period of time
- qualche
- Some, a few, an indefinite small quantity
- deliberazione
- Deliberation, careful consideration before making a decision
- assicurò
- Assured, guaranteed, promised with confidence to someone
- miei
- My, possessive adjective for plural nouns
- genitori
- Parents, one's mother and father
- loro
- Their, belonging to them; also means 'they'
- primogenito
- Firstborn child, the eldest son or daughter
- sarebbe
- Would be; conditional form of 'essere'
- stato
- Been; past participle of 'essere', to be
- grande
- Great, large, important, remarkable
- viaggiatore
- Traveler, one who travels frequently or extensively
- avrebbe
- Would have; conditional of 'avere'
- affrontato
- Faced, confronted, dealt with difficult situations
- molti
- Many, a large number of things or people
- pericoli
- Dangers, perils, hazardous situations
- difficoltà
- Difficulties, challenges, hardships encountered
- fine
- End, conclusion of a period or story
- tornato
- Returned, come back to a place
- sua
- His, her, its; feminine singular possessive adjective
- terra
- Land, earth, homeland, native ground
- natia
- Native, of one's birth, pertaining to birthplace
- dove
- Where; relative adverb indicating place
- prosperato
- Prospered, thrived, flourished successfully
- felicità
- Happiness, joy, state of being content
- reputazione
- Reputation, regard others hold for a person
- Quanto
- How much, how accurately, to what extent
- veridicamente
- Truthfully, accurately, in a true manner
- ciò
- This, that; demonstrative pronoun referring to something
- fu
- Was; third person singular past tense of 'essere'
- predetto
- Foretold, predicted, said beforehand
- apparirà
- Will appear, will become evident in future
- seguito
- What follows, continuation, sequel of a story
- passò
- Passed, elapsed; third person singular past tense
- molto
- Much, a lot, a great deal of time
- tempo
- Time, period, weather
- prima
- Before, earlier, prior to an event
- persona
- Person, individual human being
- invadente
- Intrusive, meddlesome, interfering in others' affairs
- informasse
- Would inform, notify; imperfect subjunctive of 'informare'
- mio
- My; masculine singular possessive adjective
- nonno
- Grandfather, paternal or maternal grandparent
- certe
- Certain, particular, some specific things
- confidenze
- Confidences, intimate secrets shared between people
- intercorse
- Occurred between, took place between two parties
- tra
- Between, among; preposition indicating relationship or space
- suo
- His, her; masculine singular possessive adjective
- figlio
- Son, male child of a parent
- governante
- Governess, housekeeper, caretaker in a household
- lo
- Him, it; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- allarmò
- Alarmed, worried, caused fear or concern
- tal
- Such, to such a degree; shortened form of 'tale'
- punto
- Point, degree, extent; also means 'dot'
- pochi
- Few, not many, a small number
- giorni
- Days, units of time equal to 24 hours
- disse
- Said, told; third person singular past tense of 'dire'
- padre
- Father, male parent
- era
- Was; third person singular imperfect of 'essere'
- ormai
- By now, already, at this point
- giunto
- Arrived, reached; past participle of 'giungere'
- momento
- Moment, the right time for something
- pensare
- To think, to consider, to reflect on something
- sistemarsi
- To settle down, to establish oneself in life
- aveva
- Had; third person singular imperfect of 'avere'
- trovato
- Found, discovered; past participle of 'trovare'
- lui
- Him, he; third person masculine singular pronoun
- partito
- Match for marriage; also means 'party' or 'left'
- quale
- Which, who; relative or interrogative pronoun
- tutta
- All, entire; feminine singular form of 'tutto'
- giustizia
- Justice, fairness, rightness in judgment
- poteva
- Could, was able to; imperfect of 'potere'
- avere
- To have; one of the two main auxiliary verbs
- obiezioni
- Objections, disagreements, protests against something
- Mio
- My; masculine singular possessive adjective
- trovando
- Finding; gerund of 'trovare'
- impossibile
- Impossible, not able to be done
- nascondere
- To hide, to conceal something from others
- situazione
- Situation, circumstances, state of affairs
- ancora
- Still, yet, again; common Italian adverb
- lungo
- Long, lengthy; also means 'along'
- ammise
- Admitted, confessed; past tense of 'ammettere'
- francamente
- Frankly, honestly, openly and directly
- fatto
- Fact, deed; also past participle of 'fare'
- si
- Reflexive pronoun; oneself, himself, herself
- scusò
- Apologized, excused oneself; past tense of 'scusarsi'
- aver
- To have; shortened infinitive used before past participle
- chiesto
- Asked, requested; past participle of 'chiedere'
- consenso
- Consent, agreement, approval from another person
- dicendo
- Saying; gerund of 'dire', while saying
- sapeva
- Knew; third person singular imperfect of 'sapere'
- inutile
- Useless, pointless, serving no purpose
- se
- If; conditional conjunction; also reflexive pronoun
- inclinazione
- Inclination, tendency, affection toward someone
- fosse
- Were; imperfect subjunctive of 'essere'
- stata
- Been; feminine past participle of 'essere'
- nota
- Known, noted; also a note or musical note
- potuto
- Been able to; past participle of 'potere'
- prendere
- To take, to grab, to adopt measures
- tali
- Such, of that kind; plural of 'tale'
- misure
- Measures, steps, actions taken to achieve something
- rendere
- To make, to render, to cause something to be
- soddisfazione
- Satisfaction, fulfillment, contentment with an outcome
- aggiunse
- Added, said additionally; past tense of 'aggiungere'
- trovare
- To find, to discover, to locate something
- nulla
- Nothing, not anything at all
- obiettare
- To object, to raise an objection against something
- riguardo
- Regard, respect, consideration toward something
- virtù
- Virtue, moral excellence, good character quality
- nascita
- Birth, origin, the act of being born
- bellezza
- Beauty, physical attractiveness, loveliness
- buon
- Good; masculine singular adjective before a noun
- senso
- Sense, meaning, direction, sensibility
- moglie
- Wife, a married woman, one's spouse
- quanto
- As for, as regards, how much
- fortuna
- Fortune, luck, wealth, fate
- sotto
- Under, below, beneath; preposition of position
- sue
- His, her; feminine plural possessive adjective
- preoccupazioni
- Worries, concerns, anxieties about something
- vecchio
- Old man, elderly person; also adjective meaning old
- gentiluomo
- Gentleman, a man of good breeding and manners
- teneva
- Kept, held; imperfect of 'tenere'
- tutte
- All; feminine plural form of 'tutto'
- passioni
- Passions, strong emotions or enthusiasms
- tranne
- Except, apart from, excluding something
- eccellente
- Excellent, outstanding, of very high quality
- ordine
- Order, arrangement, command, organized state
- ascoltò
- Listened; third person singular past tense of 'ascoltare'
- fino
- Until, up to, as far as
- fondo
- Bottom, end, depth, fund
- calma
- Calm, composure, tranquility of mind
- poi
- Then, afterwards, subsequently
- chiese
- Asked, inquired; past tense of 'chiedere'
- serenamente
- Serenely, calmly, in a peaceful manner
- come
- How, as, like; interrogative or comparative word
- intendesse
- Intended, meant; imperfect subjunctive of 'intendere'
- mantenere
- To maintain, to support financially, to keep
- stesso
- Himself, same; reflexive intensifier or adjective
- sposa
- Bride, wife, female spouse
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