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.
A primeira esposa de Fiódor Pavlovitch, Adelaïda Ivânovna, pertencia a uma família nobre bastante rica e distinta, também proprietária de terras em nosso distrito, os 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.
Como veio a acontecer que uma herdeira, que era também uma beldade, e além disso uma daquelas moças vigorosas e inteligentes, tão comuns nesta geração, mas às vezes também encontradas na anterior, pudesse ter se casado com um inútil tão raquítico e fraco, como todos nós o chamávamos, não tentarei explicar.
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.
Conheci uma jovem senhora da última geração "romântica" que, após alguns anos de uma paixão enigmática por um cavalheiro com quem poderia muito facilmente ter se casado a qualquer momento, inventou obstáculos intransponíveis à sua união, e acabou se lançando numa noite tempestuosa em um rio bastante fundo e rápido, de uma margem alta, quase um precipício, e assim pereceu, inteiramente para satisfazer seu próprio capricho, e para ser como a Ofélia 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.
De fato, se esse precipício, um lugar escolhido e predileto dela, fosse menos pitoresco, se houvesse em seu lugar uma margem plana e prosaica, muito provavelmente o suicídio jamais teria acontecido.
This is a fact, and probably there have been not a few similar instances in the last two or three generations.
Isso é um fato, e provavelmente não foram poucos os casos semelhantes nas últimas duas ou três gerações.
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.
A atitude de Adelaïda Ivânovna Miüsov foi, da mesma forma, sem dúvida, um eco das ideias alheias, e se deveu à irritação causada pela falta de liberdade mental.
She wanted, perhaps, to show her feminine independence, to override class distinctions and the despotism of her family.
Ela queria, talvez, demonstrar sua independência feminina, superar as distinções de classe e o despotismo de sua família.
Vocabulary
- primeira
- First; occurring before all others
- esposa
- Wife; a married woman
- pertencia
- Belonged to; was a member of a group
- família
- Family; a group of related people
- nobre
- Noble; of high aristocratic social rank
- bastante
- Quite, enough; to a considerable degree
- rica
- Rich, wealthy; having great financial resources
- distinta
- Distinguished, prominent; of notable social standing
- também
- Also, too; in addition to something else
- proprietária
- Owner, proprietress; female who owns property
- terras
- Lands, estates; tracts of ground or territory
- nosso
- Our; first-person plural possessive pronoun
- distrito
- District; an administrative territorial division
- veio
- Came; past tense of the verb vir
- acontecer
- To happen, occur; to come about naturally
- herdeira
- Heiress; female who inherits wealth or title
- beldade
- Beauty; a woman of exceptional physical attractiveness
- além
- Beyond, furthermore; in addition to something
- disso
- Of that; contraction of de and isso
- daquelas
- Of those; contraction of de and aquelas
- moças
- Young women, girls; female youth
- vigorosas
- Vigorous, energetic; strong and full of vitality
- inteligentes
- Intelligent; having great mental ability and sharpness
- tão
- So, such; to such a degree or extent
- comuns
- Common, frequent; occurring often or widespread
- nesta
- In this; contraction of em and esta
- geração
- Generation; people born around the same time
- vezes
- Times; instances or occasions of occurrence
- encontradas
- Found, encountered; discovered or come across
- anterior
- Previous, former; occurring before the present one
- pudesse
- Could, might; imperfect subjunctive of poder
- casado
- Married; having entered into matrimony
- inútil
- Useless, worthless; lacking purpose or value
- raquítico
- Rickety, feeble; physically weak and underdeveloped
- fraco
- Weak, feeble; lacking physical or moral strength
- todos
- All, everyone; every person without exception
- chamávamos
- We called, used to call; imperfect of chamar
- tentarei
- I will try; future tense of tentar
- explicar
- To explain; to make something clear and understandable
- Conheci
- I knew, I met; past tense of conhecer
- jovem
- Young; of a person in early life stage
- senhora
- Lady, Mrs.; respectful title for a woman
- última
- Last, final; occurring at the very end
- romântica
- Romantic; inclined toward idealized love and emotion
- após
- After; following in time or sequence
- alguns
- Some, a few; an unspecified small quantity
- anos
- Years; units of time equal to twelve months
- paixão
- Passion, love; intense emotion or strong feeling
- enigmática
- Enigmatic, mysterious; difficult to understand or interpret
- cavalheiro
- Gentleman; a courteous, honorable man
- quem
- Who, whom; interrogative or relative pronoun for people
- poderia
- Could, would be able; conditional of poder
- muito
- Very, much; to a great degree or extent
- facilmente
- Easily; without difficulty or great effort
- qualquer
- Any, whatever; no matter which one
- momento
- Moment; a very brief period of time
- inventou
- Invented, made up; created or fabricated something
- obstáculos
- Obstacles; things that block progress or passage
- intransponíveis
- Insurmountable; impossible to overcome or get past
- união
- Union; the joining together of two people
- acabou
- Ended up, finished; past tense of acabar
- lançando
- Throwing, launching; hurling herself into something
- numa
- In a; contraction of em and uma
- noite
- Night; the dark period between sunset and sunrise
- tempestuosa
- Stormy, tempestuous; characterized by violent weather
- rio
- River; a large natural flowing body of water
- fundo
- Deep, bottom; having great depth below surface
- rápido
- Fast, rapid; moving with great speed
- margem
- Bank, margin; the edge or border of a river
- alta
- High, tall; elevated above the normal level
- quase
- Almost, nearly; not quite but very close
- precipício
- Precipice, cliff; a dangerously steep drop or edge
- assim
- Thus, so, in this way; in such a manner
- pereceu
- Perished, died; came to a tragic end
- inteiramente
- Entirely, completely; to the fullest possible extent
- satisfazer
- To satisfy, fulfill; to meet a need or desire
- próprio
- Own, itself; belonging to oneself exclusively
- capricho
- Whim, caprice; a sudden impulsive desire or fancy
- fato
- Fact; something known to be true or real
- esse
- That; demonstrative pronoun referring to nearby thing
- lugar
- Place, location; a specific spot or area
- escolhido
- Chosen, selected; picked out from among options
- predileto
- Favorite; most preferred above all others
- dela
- Hers, of her; feminine third-person possessive form
- fosse
- Were, would be; imperfect subjunctive of ser
- menos
- Less, fewer; to a smaller degree or amount
- pitoresco
- Picturesque; visually charming and scenically attractive
- houvesse
- There were, had; imperfect subjunctive of haver
- plana
- Flat, level; having a smooth even surface
- prosaica
- Prosaic, mundane; dull and lacking imagination
- provavelmente
- Probably, likely; with a high degree of probability
- suicídio
- Suicide; the act of intentionally ending one's life
- jamais
- Never, ever; at no time whatsoever
- teria
- Would have; conditional tense of ter
- acontecido
- Happened, occurred; past participle of acontecer
- Isso
- That, this; neutral demonstrative pronoun
- foram
- Were, went; third-person plural preterite of ser/ir
- poucos
- Few; a small number of things or people
- casos
- Cases, instances; occurrences of a particular situation
- semelhantes
- Similar, alike; resembling one another closely
- últimas
- Last, final; most recent ones in a sequence
- duas
- Two; the number 2 in feminine form
- três
- Three; the number 3
- gerações
- Generations; successive groups born in different eras
- atitude
- Attitude, stance; a way of thinking or behaving
- mesma
- Same, herself; identical or the very one
- forma
- Form, way, manner; the shape or method of something
- sem
- Without; lacking or in the absence of something
- dúvida
- Doubt; uncertainty about the truth of something
- eco
- Echo; a reflection or repetition of something
- ideias
- Ideas; thoughts or concepts formed in the mind
- alheias
- Foreign, others'; belonging to or from other people
- deveu
- Owed, was due; past tense of dever
- irritação
- Irritation, annoyance; a feeling of impatience or anger
- causada
- Caused; brought about or produced by something
- falta
- Lack, absence; insufficiency of something needed
- liberdade
- Freedom, liberty; the state of being free
- mental
- Mental; relating to the mind or intellect
- queria
- Wanted, wished; imperfect tense of querer
- talvez
- Perhaps, maybe; expressing uncertainty or possibility
- demonstrar
- To demonstrate, show; to prove or display clearly
- independência
- Independence; freedom from control or reliance on others
- feminina
- Feminine; relating to women or female characteristics
- superar
- To overcome, surpass; to go beyond a barrier
- distinções
- Distinctions; differences that separate social classes
- classe
- Class; a social or economic group in society
- despotismo
- Despotism; cruel authoritarian rule or tyranny
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