The Great Gatsby — Page 15
"What'll we plan?" She turned to me helplessly: "What do people plan?"
"Cosa pianificheremo?" Si girò verso di me senza speranza: "Cosa pianificano le persone?"
Before I could answer her eyes fastened with an awed expression on her little finger.
Prima che potessi rispondere, i suoi occhi si fissarono con un'espressione sbigottita sul suo mignolo.
"Look!" she complained; "I hurt it."
"Guarda!" si lamentò; "Mi sono fatta male."
We all looked—the knuckle was black and blue.
Guardammo tutti — la nocca era tutta nera e blu.
"You did it, Tom," she said accusingly. "I know you didn't mean to, but you did do it. That's what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a—"
"Sei stato tu, Tom," disse in tono accusatorio. "So che non intendevi farlo, ma l'hai fatto. Questo è quello che ottengo per aver sposato un bruto, un grande, grosso, massiccio esemplare fisico di—"
"I hate that word 'hulking,' " objected Tom crossly, "even in kidding."
"Odio quella parola 'massiccio,'" obiettò Tom con irritazione, "anche per scherzo."
"Hulking," insisted Daisy.
"Massiccio," insistette Daisy.
Sometimes she and Miss Baker talked at once, unobtrusively and with a bantering inconsequence that was never quite chatter, that was as cool as their white dresses and their impersonal eyes in the absence of all desire.
A volte lei e Miss Baker parlavano contemporaneamente, in modo discreto e con una beffarda incongruenza che non era mai del tutto chiacchiera, fredda come i loro abiti bianchi e i loro occhi impersonali nell'assenza di ogni desiderio.
They were here, and they accepted Tom and me, making only a polite pleasant effort to entertain or to be entertained.
Erano qui, e accettavano Tom e me, facendo solo un cortese e piacevole sforzo per intrattenere o essere intrattenute.
They knew that presently dinner would be over and a little later the evening too would be over and casually put away.
Sapevano che presto la cena sarebbe finita e poco dopo anche la serata sarebbe finita e accantonata con noncuranza.
It was sharply different from the West, where an evening was hurried from phase to phase towards its close, in a continually disappointed anticipation or else in sheer nervous dread of the moment itself.
Era nettamente diverso dall'Ovest, dove una serata veniva spinta in fretta da una fase all'altra verso la sua conclusione, in un'anticipazione continuamente delusa o in un puro e semplice terrore nervoso del momento stesso.
"You make me feel uncivilized, Daisy," I confessed on my second glass of corky but rather impressive claret. "Can't you talk about crops or something?
"Mi fai sentire incivile, Daisy," confessai al mio secondo bicchiere di un chianti sugherosissimo ma piuttosto imponente. "Non puoi parlare di raccolti o qualcosa del genere?
Vocabulary
- Cosa
- What; thing; matter or subject
- pianificheremo
- We will plan (future tense, first person plural)
- Si
- Oneself; reflexive pronoun or impersonal si
- girò
- Turned; rotated (past tense, third person singular)
- verso
- Toward; direction or approximately (time)
- di
- Of; from; preposition indicating possession or origin
- me
- Me; first person singular object pronoun
- senza
- Without; lacking or deprived of something
- speranza
- Hope; expectation of something desired or wished
- pianificano
- They plan (present tense, third person plural)
- le
- The; feminine plural article or pronoun
- persone
- People; human beings or persons collectively
- Prima
- Before; previously in time or order
- che
- That; which; relative or subordinating conjunction
- potessi
- Could; was able to (imperfect subjunctive)
- rispondere
- To answer; to respond or reply to
- suoi
- His; her; its; possessive adjective (plural)
- occhi
- Eyes; organs of sight (plural of occhio)
- si
- Oneself; reflexive pronoun or impersonal si
- fissarono
- Fixed; stared or gazed intently at
- con
- With; accompanying or in company of
- un
- A; an; indefinite article (masculine singular)
- espressione
- Expression; appearance conveying emotion or feeling
- sul
- On the; contraction of su + il
- suo
- His; her; its; possessive adjective (singular)
- Guarda
- Look; watch or observe (imperative)
- lamentò
- Lamented; complained or expressed sorrow about
- Mi
- Me; first person singular object pronoun
- sono
- Am; am (present tense, first person)
- fatta
- Made; done (past participle, feminine)
- male
- Bad; harm; evil or injury
- Guardammo
- We looked; watched (past tense, first person plural)
- tutti
- All; everyone or everybody (plural)
- la
- The; feminine singular article or pronoun
- era
- Was; past tense of essere (third person)
- tutta
- All; entire or whole (feminine form)
- nera
- Black; dark color (feminine form)
- blu
- Blue; color between green and purple
- Sei
- Are; present tense of essere (second person)
- stato
- Been; past participle of essere
- tu
- You; second person singular pronoun
- disse
- Said; spoke or uttered words (past tense)
- in
- In; within or inside location
- tono
- Tone; manner of speaking or pitch
- So
- I know; first person singular of sapere
- non
- Not; negation or denial particle
- intendevi
- Intended; meant or intended to do (past)
- farlo
- To do it; infinitive with object pronoun
- ma
- But; conjunction expressing contrast or exception
- hai
- Have; present tense of avere (second person)
- fatto
- Done; made or created (past participle)
- Questo
- This; demonstrative pronoun (masculine singular)
- quello
- That; demonstrative pronoun (masculine singular)
- ottengo
- I get; obtain or receive (present tense)
- per
- For; in order to or purpose
- aver
- To have; infinitive of avere
- sposato
- Married; wedded or united in marriage
- grande
- Great; large or big in size
- grosso
- Gross; big or thick in size
- massiccio
- Massive; bulky or solid in appearance
- esemplare
- Exemplary; outstanding or serving as model
- fisico
- Physical; relating to body or physics
- Odio
- I hate; first person of odiare
- quella
- That; demonstrative pronoun (feminine singular)
- parola
- Word; unit of language or speech
- obiettò
- Objected; raised objection or disagreed with
- irritazione
- Irritation; annoyance or state of being annoyed
- anche
- Also; too or likewise in addition
- scherzo
- Joke; something said in jest or humor
- Massiccio
- Massive; bulky or solid in appearance
- insistette
- Insisted; persisted firmly on something
- volte
- Times; occasions or instances (plural)
- lei
- She; her; third person feminine pronoun
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