The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete — Page 8
I could lick you with one hand tied behind me, if I wanted to."
Potrei batterti con una mano legata dietro la schiena, se volessi."
"Well why don't you _do_ it? You _say_ you can do it."
"E allora perché non lo _fai_? Tu _dici_ che puoi farlo."
"Well I _will_, if you fool with me."
"Beh, lo _farò_, se continui a provocarmi."
"Oh yes—I've seen whole families in the same fix."
"Oh sì — ho visto intere famiglie nella stessa situazione."
"Smarty! You think you're _some_, now, _don't_ you? Oh, what a hat!"
"Saccente! Credi di essere _qualcuno_, adesso, _vero_? Oh, che cappello!"
"You can lump that hat if you don't like it. I dare you to knock it off—and anybody that'll take a dare will suck eggs."
"Puoi sopportarti quel cappello se non ti piace. Ti sfido a farlo cadere — e chiunque accetti una sfida è un codardo."
"You're a liar!"
"Sei un bugiardo!"
"You're another."
"Lo sei tu."
"You're a fighting liar and dasn't take it up."
"Sei un bugiardo attaccabrighe e non hai il coraggio di sostenerlo."
"Aw—take a walk!"
"Aw — vattene a fare una passeggiata!"
"Say—if you give me much more of your sass I'll take and bounce a rock off'n your head."
"Senti — se continui con le tue impertinenze ti tiro un sasso in testa."
"Oh, of _course_ you will."
"Oh, _certo_ che lo farai."
"Well I _will_."
"Beh, lo _farò_."
"Well why don't you _do_ it then? What do you keep _saying_ you will for? Why don't you _do_ it? It's because you're afraid."
"E allora perché non lo _fai_? Perché continui a _dire_ che lo farai? Perché non lo _fai_? È perché hai paura."
"I _ain't_ afraid."
"Non ho _mica_ paura."
"You are."
"Invece sì."
"I ain't."
"No."
"You are."
"Sì."
Another pause, and more eying and sidling around each other. Presently they were shoulder to shoulder. Tom said:
Un altro silenzio, e ancora si squadravano e si aggiravano l'uno intorno all'altro. Ben presto si ritrovarono spalla a spalla. Tom disse:
"Get away from here!"
"Togliti di torno!"
"Go away yourself!"
"Togliti tu!"
"I won't."
"Non me ne vado."
"I won't either."
"Neanch'io."
So they stood, each with a foot placed at an angle as a brace, and both shoving with might and main, and glowering at each other with hate. But neither could get an advantage.
Così rimasero fermi, ciascuno con un piede piantato di traverso come puntello, spingendo entrambi con tutta la loro forza e lanciandosi occhiate cariche d'odio. Ma nessuno dei due riusciva a prevalere sull'altro.
Vocabulary
- Potrei
- I could; first person conditional of potere
- batterti
- To beat you; reflexive infinitive of battere
- con
- With; common preposition indicating accompaniment
- una
- A, an; feminine indefinite article
- mano
- Hand; part of the human body
- legata
- Tied, bound; past participle of legare
- dietro
- Behind, at the back of something
- schiena
- Back; rear part of the human torso
- se
- If; conditional conjunction introducing hypothetical clause
- volessi
- If I wanted; imperfect subjunctive of volere
- allora
- Then, so; connective adverb used in conversation
- perché
- Why, because; used for questions and explanations
- lo
- It, him; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- _fai_
- You do; second person singular of fare, emphasized
- _dici_
- You say; second person singular of dire, emphasized
- puoi
- You can; second person singular of potere
- farlo
- To do it; infinitive fare combined with object pronoun
- Beh
- Well; colloquial interjection expressing hesitation or agreement
- _farò_
- I will do; first person future of fare, emphasized
- continui
- You continue; present indicative or subjunctive of continuare
- provocarmi
- To provoke me; infinitive provocare with object pronoun
- visto
- Seen; past participle of vedere
- intere
- Entire, whole; feminine plural adjective of intero
- famiglie
- Families; plural of famiglia
- nella
- In the; contraction of preposition in and article la
- stessa
- Same; feminine adjective indicating identity or sameness
- situazione
- Situation; set of circumstances at a given moment
- Saccente
- Know-it-all, pedant; person who pretends to know everything
- Credi
- You believe; second person singular of credere
- _qualcuno_
- Someone, somebody; indefinite pronoun, here emphasized
- adesso
- Now, at this moment; common temporal adverb
- _vero_
- True, real; adjective, here used for emphasis
- cappello
- Hat; head covering worn for fashion or protection
- Puoi
- You can; second person singular present of potere
- sopportarti
- To put up with you; tolerate combined with pronoun
- quel
- That; masculine singular demonstrative adjective
- ti
- You, yourself; second person singular object pronoun
- piace
- It pleases, you like; third person singular of piacere
- Ti
- To you; indirect or direct object pronoun
- sfido
- I challenge; first person singular present of sfidare
- cadere
- To fall; verb describing losing balance or dropping
- chiunque
- Whoever, anyone; indefinite pronoun of generality
- accetti
- Accepts; third person singular subjunctive of accettare
- sfida
- Challenge, dare; act of challenging someone
- codardo
- Coward; person who lacks bravery or courage
- bugiardo
- Liar; person who tells lies habitually
- Lo
- It, him; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- attaccabrighe
- Troublemaker, brawler; person who picks fights readily
- coraggio
- Courage, bravery; strength to face danger or difficulty
- sostenerlo
- To support it, maintain it; infinitive with object pronoun
- vattene
- Go away; imperative of andarsene, informal command
- passeggiata
- Walk, stroll; leisurely walk taken for pleasure
- Senti
- Listen, hear; imperative of sentire, used to get attention
- tue
- Your; feminine plural possessive adjective
- impertinenze
- Impertinences, insolences; rude or disrespectful remarks
- tiro
- I throw; first person singular present of tirare
- sasso
- Stone, rock; small piece of rock or pebble
- testa
- Head; uppermost part of the human body
- _certo_
- Certainly, sure; adverb affirming something, here emphasized
- farai
- You will do; second person singular future of fare
- Perché
- Why, because; interrogative or causal conjunction
- _dire_
- To say; infinitive of dire, here emphasized
- paura
- Fear; feeling of anxiety caused by danger
- _mica_
- Not at all; colloquial intensifier of negation
- Invece
- Instead, on the contrary; adversative adverb
- altro
- Other, another; adjective or pronoun indicating difference
- silenzio
- Silence; absence of sound or noise
- ancora
- Still, yet, again; common temporal adverb
- si
- Oneself; reflexive pronoun used with reflexive verbs
- squadravano
- They were sizing each other up; imperfect of squadrare
- aggiravano
- They were circling; imperfect of aggirarsi, to wander around
- intorno
- Around; preposition or adverb of circular movement
- Ben presto
- Very soon, before long; idiomatic temporal expression
- ritrovarono
- They found themselves; past of ritrovarsi, to end up
- spalla
- Shoulder; joint connecting arm to the torso
- disse
- Said, told; third person singular past of dire
- Togliti
- Get out of the way; imperative reflexive of togliersi
- torno
- I return; first person singular present of tornare
- me ne vado
- I am leaving, I am going away; idiomatic expression
- Neanch'
- Neither, not even; elided form of neanche
- Così
- So, thus, in this way; common adverb of manner
- rimasero
- They remained, they stayed; past of rimanere
- fermi
- Still, motionless; adjective describing lack of movement
- ciascuno
- Each one, every one; indefinite pronoun of distribution
- piede
- Foot; lower extremity of the leg used for walking
- piantato
- Planted, firmly placed; past participle of piantare
- traverso
- Across, sideways; adverb or adjective indicating crosswise position
- come
- As, like, how; conjunction or adverb of comparison
- puntello
- Prop, support; object used to brace or hold something
- spingendo
- Pushing; gerund of spingere, continuous pushing action
- entrambi
- Both; pronoun or adjective referring to two people
- tutta
- All, entire; feminine singular adjective of tutto
- loro
- Their, them; third person plural pronoun or adjective
- forza
- Strength, force; physical or moral power
- lanciandosi
- Throwing at each other; reflexive gerund of lanciarsi
- occhiate
- Glances, looks; sharp or meaningful looks at someone
- cariche
- Charged, loaded; feminine plural adjective of carico
- odio
- Hatred; intense feeling of dislike or hostility
- nessuno
- Nobody, no one; negative indefinite pronoun
- riusciva
- Was able, managed; imperfect third person of riuscire
- prevalere
- To prevail, to get the upper hand over another
- sull'
- On the; contraction of su plus elided article l'
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