The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete — Page 4
While Tom was eating his supper, and stealing sugar as opportunity offered, Aunt Polly asked him questions that were full of guile, and very deep—for she wanted to trap him into damaging revealments.
Mentre Tom stava mangiando la sua cena, e rubando lo zucchero ogni volta che se ne presentava l'occasione, zia Polly gli faceva domande piene di astuzia e molto insidiose—perché voleva farlo cadere in rivelazioni compromettenti.
Like many other simple-hearted souls, it was her pet vanity to believe she was endowed with a talent for dark and mysterious diplomacy, and she loved to contemplate her most transparent devices as marvels of low cunning.
Come molte altre anime ingenue, era sua grande vanità credere di essere dotata di un talento per la diplomazia oscura e misteriosa, e amava contemplare i suoi stratagemmi più trasparenti come meraviglie di bassa astuzia.
Said she:
Disse lei:
"Tom, it was middling warm in school, warn't it?"
«Tom, faceva abbastanza caldo a scuola, no?»
"Yes'm."
«Sì, signora.»
"Powerful warm, warn't it?"
«Molto caldo, vero?»
"Yes'm."
«Sì, signora.»
"Didn't you want to go in a-swimming, Tom?"
«Non ti veniva voglia di andare a fare il bagno, Tom?»
A bit of a scare shot through Tom—a touch of uncomfortable suspicion.
Un brivido di paura attraversò Tom—un accenno di spiacevole sospetto.
He searched Aunt Polly's face, but it told him nothing.
Scrutò il viso di zia Polly, ma non vi lesse nulla.
So he said:
Così disse:
"No'm—well, not very much."
«No, signora—beh, non molto.»
The old lady reached out her hand and felt Tom's shirt, and said:
La vecchia signora allungò la mano e toccò la camicia di Tom, e disse:
"But you ain't too warm now, though."
«Ma ora non hai troppo caldo, però.»
And it flattered her to reflect that she had discovered that the shirt was dry without anybody knowing that that was what she had in her mind.
E la lusingava pensare di aver scoperto che la camicia era asciutta senza che nessuno sapesse che era quello che aveva in mente.
But in spite of her, Tom knew where the wind lay, now.
Ma nonostante lei, Tom sapeva ormai da che parte tirava il vento.
So he forestalled what might be the next move:
Così anticipò quella che avrebbe potuto essere la mossa successiva:
"Some of us pumped on our heads—mine's damp yet. See?"
«Alcuni di noi si sono versati l'acqua della pompa in testa—la mia è ancora bagnata. Vede?»
Aunt Polly was vexed to think she had overlooked that bit of circumstantial evidence, and missed a trick.
Zia Polly era seccata al pensiero di aver trascurato quel piccolo indizio indiretto, e di aver mancato l'occasione.
Vocabulary
- Mentre
- While; during the time that something else occurs
- stava
- He/she was (imperfect of stare, auxiliary)
- mangiando
- Eating; gerund of mangiare
- sua
- His/her (possessive adjective, feminine singular)
- cena
- Dinner; the evening meal
- rubando
- Stealing; gerund of rubare
- zucchero
- Sugar; sweet granular food substance
- ogni
- Every; each occurrence without exception
- volta
- Time; occasion or instance of something happening
- se
- If; conditional conjunction
- ne
- Of it/them; partitive pronoun replacing a noun
- presentava
- Was presenting/arising; imperfect of presentarsi
- occasione
- Occasion; opportunity or suitable moment
- zia
- Aunt; female relative, parent's sister
- gli
- To him; indirect object pronoun masculine
- faceva
- Was making/doing; imperfect of fare
- domande
- Questions; inquiries posed to someone
- piene
- Full (feminine plural); loaded with something
- astuzia
- Cunning; clever shrewdness or craftiness
- molto
- Very; much, a lot
- insidiose
- Insidious; treacherously clever or cunningly deceptive
- perché
- Because/why; causal conjunction or question word
- voleva
- Wanted; imperfect of volere
- farlo
- To make him; infinitive fare plus object pronoun lo
- cadere
- To fall; to drop into a trap or error
- rivelazioni
- Revelations; disclosures of hidden or secret information
- compromettenti
- Compromising; incriminating or potentially damaging admissions
- Come
- Like/as; comparative conjunction or adverb
- molte
- Many (feminine plural); a large number
- altre
- Other (feminine plural); additional different ones
- anime
- Souls; spirits or persons considered inwardly
- ingenue
- Naive (feminine plural); innocent and unsuspecting people
- era
- Was; third person singular imperfect of essere
- grande
- Great/big; large in size or importance
- vanità
- Vanity; excessive pride in one's abilities
- credere
- To believe; to think something is true
- essere
- To be; infinitive of the verb essere
- dotata
- Gifted/endowed; naturally talented with something
- talento
- Talent; natural skill or aptitude
- diplomazia
- Diplomacy; tactful skill in handling situations
- oscura
- Dark/obscure; mysterious or difficult to understand
- misteriosa
- Mysterious; full of secrecy and intrigue
- amava
- Loved; imperfect of amare, used to love
- contemplare
- To contemplate; to look at or consider thoughtfully
- suoi
- His/her (masculine plural possessive adjective)
- stratagemmi
- Stratagems; clever tricks or schemes
- più
- More; comparative adverb indicating greater degree
- trasparenti
- Transparent; obvious and easy to see through
- come
- As/like; conjunction for comparison
- meraviglie
- Wonders; marvelous or astonishing things
- bassa
- Low (feminine singular); of little height or quality
- Disse
- Said; third person singular past of dire
- lei
- She/her; third person singular feminine pronoun
- abbastanza
- Enough/quite; sufficiently or rather
- caldo
- Hot/warm; high temperature
- scuola
- School; place of learning and education
- signora
- Ma'am/Mrs.; respectful form of address for woman
- Molto
- Very/much; high degree adverb
- vero
- True/right; factually correct or genuine
- ti
- You (reflexive/object); second person singular pronoun
- veniva
- Was coming; imperfect of venire
- voglia
- Desire/urge; strong wish to do something
- andare
- To go; to move toward a place
- fare
- To do/make; basic action verb
- bagno
- Bath/bathroom; washing oneself or the room
- brivido
- Shiver; sudden tremor from cold or fear
- paura
- Fear; strong emotion caused by danger or threat
- attraversò
- Crossed/went through; past tense of attraversare
- accenno
- Hint/trace; slight suggestion or faint sign
- spiacevole
- Unpleasant; disagreeable or causing discomfort
- sospetto
- Suspicion; feeling that something is wrong
- Scrutò
- Scrutinized; examined closely and carefully
- viso
- Face; the front part of the head
- vi
- There/in it; locative or object pronoun
- lesse
- Read; third person singular past of leggere
- nulla
- Nothing; not anything at all
- Così
- So/thus; in this way or therefore
- disse
- Said; third person singular past of dire
- beh
- Well; filler word expressing hesitation or resignation
- vecchia
- Old woman; elderly female person
- allungò
- Extended/reached out; past tense of allungare
- mano
- Hand; body part at the end of the arm
- toccò
- Touched; past tense of toccare
- camicia
- Shirt; garment worn on the upper body
- ora
- Now; at this moment
- hai
- You have; second person singular of avere
- troppo
- Too much; exceeding the appropriate amount
- però
- However/but; adversative conjunction showing contrast
- lusingava
- Was flattering herself; imperfect of lusingare
- pensare
- To think; to consider or reflect mentally
- aver
- To have (truncated); auxiliary in compound tenses
- scoperto
- Discovered; past participle of scoprire
- asciutta
- Dry (feminine); not wet or damp
- senza
- Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- nessuno
- No one/nobody; not a single person
- sapesse
- Knew; imperfect subjunctive of sapere
- quello
- That; demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- aveva
- Had; third person singular imperfect of avere
- mente
- Mind; the thinking and cognitive faculty
- nonostante
- Despite/notwithstanding; in spite of something
- sapeva
- Knew; imperfect of sapere
- ormai
- By now/already; at this point in time
- parte
- Part/side; direction from which something comes
- tirava
- Was blowing/pulling; imperfect of tirare
- vento
- Wind; moving air current
- anticipò
- Anticipated; past tense of anticipare
- quella
- That (feminine); demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- avrebbe
- Would have; conditional of avere
- potuto
- Been able to; past participle of potere
- mossa
- Move; action or step taken strategically
- successiva
- Next/subsequent; the following one in sequence
- Alcuni
- Some; an indefinite number of people or things
- noi
- We/us; first person plural pronoun
- si
- Themselves/oneself; reflexive pronoun
- sono
- Are/have been; present of essere or avere
- versati
- Poured; past participle of versare, spilled onto
- acqua
- Water; clear liquid essential for life
- pompa
- Pump; device for drawing or moving water
- testa
- Head; upper part of the body
- mia
- My (feminine singular); first person possessive adjective
- ancora
- Still/yet; continuing up to the present moment
- bagnata
- Wet (feminine); soaked with water or liquid
- Vede
- You see; formal second person of vedere
- Zia
- Aunt; female relative, parent's sister
- seccata
- Annoyed; past participle of seccarsi, irritated
- pensiero
- Thought; mental idea or act of thinking
- trascurato
- Overlooked/neglected; past participle of trascurare
- quel
- That (before consonant); masculine singular demonstrative
- piccolo
- Small/little; of limited size or importance
- indizio
- Clue/indication; sign pointing to a conclusion
- indiretto
- Indirect; not straightforward or obvious
- mancato
- Missed; past participle of mancare, failed to catch
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