The Great Gatsby — Page 8
They had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together.
Avevano trascorso un anno in Francia senza alcun motivo particolare, poi avevano vagabondato qua e là senza pace ovunque la gente giocasse a polo e fosse ricca insieme.
This was a permanent move, said Daisy over the telephone, but I didn't believe it—I had no sight into Daisy's heart, but I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking, a little wistfully, for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game.
Era un trasferimento definitivo, disse Daisy al telefono, ma non ci credevo — non riuscivo a vedere nel cuore di Daisy, ma sentivo che Tom avrebbe continuato a vagare per sempre cercando, con una punta di malinconia, la tumultuosa drammaticità di qualche irrecuperabile partita di football.
And so it happened that on a warm windy evening I drove over to East Egg to see two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all.
E così accadde che in una calda sera ventosa guidai fino a East Egg per andare a trovare due vecchi amici che a malapena conoscevo.
Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay.
La loro casa era ancora più sontuosa di quanto mi aspettassi, un'allegra villa coloniale georgiana in rosso e bianco, con vista sulla baia.
The lawn started at the beach and ran towards the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sundials and brick walks and burning gardens—finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run.
Il prato iniziava dalla spiaggia e si estendeva verso la porta d'ingresso per quasi mezzo chilometro, scavalcando meridiane e vialetti di mattoni e giardini in fiore — finché, raggiunta la casa, risaliva lungo i fianchi in vivaci rampicanti come spinto dall'impeto della sua corsa.
The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon, and Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch.
La facciata era interrotta da una fila di porte finestre, che brillavano di riflessi dorati e spalancate sul caldo pomeriggio ventoso, e Tom Buchanan in abiti da equitazione se ne stava a gambe divaricate sul portico d'ingresso.
He had changed since his New Haven years.
Era cambiato dai tempi di New Haven.
Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty, with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.
Ora era un uomo robusto di trent'anni con i capelli color paglia, la bocca piuttosto dura e un atteggiamento sprezzante.
Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward.
Due occhi lucidi e arroganti avevano preso il sopravvento sul suo viso e gli conferivano l'aspetto di chi si sporge sempre in avanti con aggressività.
Vocabulary
- Avevano
- They had (past tense of avere)
- trascorso
- spent, passed (time)
- un
- a, an (indefinite article)
- anno
- year
- in
- in, at (preposition)
- Francia
- France (country)
- senza
- without (preposition)
- alcun
- any, some (negative/interrogative)
- motivo
- reason, motive, cause
- particolare
- particular, special, specific
- poi
- then, afterward, later
- avevano
- they had (past tense of avere)
- qua
- here (this place)
- là
- there (that place)
- pace
- peace
- ovunque
- everywhere, anywhere, wherever
- la
- the (feminine singular article)
- gente
- people, folk, persons
- fosse
- was, were (subjunctive past of essere)
- ricca
- rich, wealthy (feminine adjective)
- insieme
- together (adverb)
- Era
- was, were (past tense of essere)
- trasferimento
- transfer, relocation, moving
- definitivo
- definitive, final, permanent
- disse
- said, told (past tense of dire)
- al
- to the, at the (preposition+article)
- telefono
- telephone, phone
- ma
- but (conjunction)
- non
- not (negation)
- ci
- there, it (pronoun)
- credevo
- believed, thought (past tense of credere)
- riuscivo
- managed, succeeded (imperfect of riuscire)
- vedere
- to see, to view
- nel
- in the (preposition+article)
- cuore
- heart (organ, emotion)
- di
- of, about (preposition)
- sentivo
- felt, sensed (imperfect of sentire)
- che
- that, which (conjunction, pronoun)
- avrebbe
- would have (conditional of avere)
- continuato
- continued, kept on
- per
- for, by, through (preposition)
- sempre
- always, ever, forever
- cercando
- seeking, searching, looking for
- con
- with (preposition)
- una
- a, an (feminine indefinite article)
- punta
- tip, point, touch (small amount)
- malinconia
- melancholy, sadness, gloom
- qualche
- some, a few (indefinite pronoun)
- partita
- match, game, part
- football
- football, American football
- così
- so, thus, in this way
- accadde
- happened, occurred (past tense of accadere)
- calda
- hot, warm (feminine adjective)
- sera
- evening, night
- ventosa
- windy (adjective)
- guidai
- drove, guided (past tense of guidare)
- fino
- until, till, up to
- East
- East (direction)
- andare
- to go, to walk, to travel
- trovare
- to find, to discover
- due
- two (number)
- vecchi
- old, aged (plural adjective)
- amici
- friends (plural of amico)
- conoscevo
- knew, recognized (imperfect of conoscere)
- La
- the (feminine singular article)
- loro
- their, theirs (possessive)
- casa
- house, home, dwelling
- era
- was, were (past tense of essere)
- ancora
- still, yet, again
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