The Brothers Karamazov — Page 2
Fyodor Pavlovitch's first wife, Adelaïda Ivanovna, belonged to a fairly rich and distinguished noble family, also landowners in our district, the Miüsovs.
La primera esposa de Fyodor Pavlovitch, Adelaïda Ivanovna, pertenecía a una familia noble bastante rica y distinguida, también terratenientes en nuestro distrito, los Miüsov.
How it came to pass that an heiress, who was also a beauty, and moreover one of those vigorous, intelligent girls, so common in this generation, but sometimes also to be found in the last, could have married such a worthless, puny weakling, as we all called him, I won't attempt to explain.
Cómo pudo ocurrir que una heredera, que además era una belleza, y por si fuera poco una de esas jóvenes enérgicas e inteligentes, tan comunes en esta generación, pero que a veces también se encontraban en la anterior, pudiera haberse casado con semejante inútil enclenque y raquítico, como todos le llamábamos, no intentaré explicarlo.
I knew a young lady of the last "romantic" generation who after some years of an enigmatic passion for a gentleman, whom she might quite easily have married at any moment, invented insuperable obstacles to their union, and ended by throwing herself one stormy night into a rather deep and rapid river from a high bank, almost a precipice, and so perished, entirely to satisfy her own caprice, and to be like Shakespeare's Ophelia.
Conocí a una joven de la última generación «romántica» que, tras algunos años de una pasión enigmática por un caballero con quien podría haberse casado con toda facilidad en cualquier momento, inventó obstáculos insuperables para su unión y acabó arrojándose una noche tormentosa a un río bastante profundo y caudaloso desde una orilla alta, casi un precipicio, pereciendo así únicamente para satisfacer su propio capricho y parecerse a la Ofelia de Shakespeare.
Indeed, if this precipice, a chosen and favorite spot of hers, had been less picturesque, if there had been a prosaic flat bank in its place, most likely the suicide would never have taken place.
En efecto, si aquel precipicio, su lugar elegido y preferido, hubiera sido menos pintoresco, si en su lugar hubiera habido una orilla llana y prosaica, lo más probable es que el suicidio nunca hubiera tenido lugar.
This is a fact, and probably there have been not a few similar instances in the last two or three generations.
Esto es un hecho, y probablemente no han sido pocos los casos similares en las últimas dos o tres generaciones.
Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov's action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people's ideas, and was due to the irritation caused by lack of mental freedom.
La acción de Adelaïda Ivanovna Miüsov fue de manera similar, sin duda, un eco de las ideas ajenas, y se debió a la irritación provocada por la falta de libertad mental.
She wanted, perhaps, to show her feminine independence, to override class distinctions and the despotism of her family.
Quería, quizás, demostrar su independencia femenina, imponerse sobre las distinciones de clase y el despotismo de su familia.
Vocabulary
- primera
- First in order or rank
- esposa
- Wife; female marriage partner
- pertenecía
- Belonged to a group or place
- familia
- A group of related people; family
- noble
- Of high social rank or aristocratic origin
- bastante
- Quite; fairly; a sufficient amount
- rica
- Wealthy; possessing great financial resources
- distinguida
- Distinguished; highly respected and prominent socially
- también
- Also; in addition to something else
- terratenientes
- Landowners who possess large areas of land
- nuestro
- Our; belonging to us
- distrito
- A defined administrative or geographic area; district
- Cómo
- How; in what way or manner
- pudo
- Was able to; managed to do something
- ocurrir
- To happen; to take place or occur
- heredera
- Female heir who inherits property or title
- además
- Furthermore; in addition to what was said
- belleza
- Beauty; the quality of being attractive
- fuera
- Were; subjunctive past form of 'to be'
- poco
- Little; a small amount of something
- esas
- Those; feminine plural demonstrative adjective
- jóvenes
- Young people; youths of either gender
- enérgicas
- Energetic; full of energy and vigor
- inteligentes
- Intelligent; having or showing great mental ability
- tan
- So; as; used for comparison or emphasis
- comunes
- Common; frequent or widely shared among people
- esta
- This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- generación
- Generation; people born and living at same time
- pero
- But; conjunction showing contrast or opposition
- veces
- Times; instances or occasions of something occurring
- encontraban
- Were found; encountered or came across something
- anterior
- Previous; earlier or prior in time
- pudiera
- Could; subjunctive form expressing possibility or doubt
- casado
- Married; having entered into matrimony
- semejante
- Such; similar to; of the same kind
- inútil
- Useless; serving no practical purpose whatsoever
- enclenque
- Weak and sickly; frail in constitution
- raquítico
- Rickety; stunted and physically underdeveloped person
- todos
- Everyone; all people without exception
- llamábamos
- We called; we used to refer to someone
- intentaré
- I will try; future tense of 'to try'
- explicarlo
- To explain it; to make something understandable
- Conocí
- I met; I came to know someone
- joven
- Young; a young person
- última
- Last; final in a series or sequence
- romántica
- Romantic; idealistic or sentimental in nature
- tras
- After; behind; following in time or place
- algunos
- Some; a few; an unspecified number of
- años
- Years; units of time equal to twelve months
- pasión
- Passion; intense emotion or strong feeling
- enigmática
- Enigmatic; mysterious and difficult to understand
- caballero
- Gentleman; a man of good social standing
- quien
- Who; relative pronoun referring to a person
- podría
- Could; conditional form of 'to be able'
- toda
- All; entire; the whole of something
- facilidad
- Ease; the quality of being done easily
- cualquier
- Any; whichever; used before a noun
- momento
- Moment; a very brief period of time
- inventó
- Invented; created or fabricated something new
- obstáculos
- Obstacles; things that block or hinder progress
- insuperables
- Insurmountable; impossible to overcome or defeat
- unión
- Union; the act of joining two people together
- acabó
- Ended up; finished by doing something
- arrojándose
- Throwing oneself; hurling oneself into something
- noche
- Night; the period of darkness after sunset
- tormentosa
- Stormy; characterized by violent weather conditions
- río
- River; a large natural flowing body of water
- profundo
- Deep; extending far below the surface
- caudaloso
- Mighty; carrying a large volume of water
- desde
- From; since; indicating starting point in space
- orilla
- Shore; bank; the edge of a body of water
- alta
- High; tall; elevated above the surroundings
- casi
- Almost; nearly but not quite completely
- precipicio
- Precipice; a very steep or overhanging cliff
- pereciendo
- Perishing; dying; ceasing to exist or live
- así
- Thus; in this way; so
- únicamente
- Only; solely; exclusively for one purpose
- satisfacer
- To satisfy; to fulfill a desire or need
- propio
- Own; one's very own; belonging to oneself
- capricho
- Whim; a sudden impulsive desire or notion
- parecerse
- To resemble; to look or seem like someone
- efecto
- Effect; result; indeed when used in expressions
- aquel
- That; distant demonstrative adjective for masculine nouns
- lugar
- Place; a particular area or location
- elegido
- Chosen; selected from among various options
- preferido
- Preferred; favored above all other choices
- hubiera
- Had been; past subjunctive of 'to have'
- menos
- Less; fewer; to a smaller degree
- pintoresco
- Picturesque; visually charming or quaint in appearance
- llana
- Flat; level; plain and unvaried in terrain
- prosaica
- Prosaic; dull; lacking imagination or excitement
- más
- More; most; to a greater degree
- probable
- Probable; likely to happen or be true
- suicidio
- Suicide; the act of intentionally ending one's life
- nunca
- Never; at no time; not ever
- Esto
- This; neuter demonstrative pronoun referring to an idea
- hecho
- Done; made; also means 'fact' as a noun
- probablemente
- Probably; in all likelihood; most likely
- pocos
- Few; a small number of things or people
- casos
- Cases; instances or examples of something
- similares
- Similar; alike in characteristics or nature
- últimas
- Last; most recent; final ones in a sequence
- dos
- Two; the number 2
- tres
- Three; the number 3
- generaciones
- Generations; successive groups of people over time
- acción
- Action; the process of doing something
- manera
- Manner; way; method of doing something
- similar
- Similar; resembling something in nature or form
- sin
- Without; lacking or absent of something
- duda
- Doubt; uncertainty about something's truth or outcome
- eco
- Echo; a reflection or repetition of something
- ideas
- Ideas; thoughts or concepts formed in the mind
- ajenas
- Foreign; belonging to others; not one's own
- debió
- Must have; should have; obligation in the past
- irritación
- Irritation; annoyance or frustration caused by something
- provocada
- Provoked; caused or brought about by something
- falta
- Lack; absence of something needed or expected
- libertad
- Freedom; liberty; the state of being free
- mental
- Mental; relating to the mind or intellect
- Quería
- Wanted; wished; past imperfect of 'to want'
- quizás
- Perhaps; maybe; expressing uncertainty or possibility
- demostrar
- To demonstrate; to show or prove something clearly
- independencia
- Independence; freedom from control or influence of others
- femenina
- Feminine; relating to women or female characteristics
- imponerse
- To impose oneself; to assert one's authority
- sobre
- Over; about; on top of something
- distinciones
- Distinctions; differences or marks of social class
- clase
- Class; social group or category of people
- despotismo
- Despotism; cruel and absolute exercise of power
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