The Hound of the Baskervilles — Page 1

English → Spanish Chapter 1. Level 7/10

Mr. Sherlock Holmes

El Sr. Sherlock Holmes

Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table.

El Sr. Sherlock Holmes, que solía levantarse muy tarde por las mañanas, salvo en aquellas ocasiones no poco frecuentes en que había estado despierto toda la noche, estaba sentado a la mesa del desayuno.

I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before.

Me coloqué sobre la alfombra de la chimenea y recogí el bastón que nuestro visitante había dejado olvidado la noche anterior.

It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a "Penang lawyer."

Era un trozo de madera fino y grueso, con una cabeza abultada, del tipo conocido como «Penang lawyer».

Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inch across.

Justo debajo de la cabeza había una ancha banda de plata de casi una pulgada de anchura.

"To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the C.C.H.," was engraved upon it, with the date "1884."

«A James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., de sus amigos del C.C.H.», estaba grabado en ella, con la fecha «1884».

It was just such a stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry—dignified, solid, and reassuring.

Era exactamente el tipo de bastón que solía llevar el médico de familia a la antigua usanza: digno, sólido y tranquilizador.

"Well, Watson, what do you make of it?"

—Bien, Watson, ¿qué conclusiones saca usted de esto?

Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of my occupation.

Holmes estaba sentado de espaldas a mí, y yo no le había dado ninguna señal de lo que estaba haciendo.

"How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head."

—¿Cómo sabía usted lo que estaba haciendo? Creo que tiene ojos en la nuca.

"I have, at least, a well-polished, silver-plated coffee-pot in front of me," said he.

—Tengo, al menos, una cafetera de plata muy bien pulida delante de mí —dijo él.

"But, tell me, Watson, what do you make of our visitor's stick?

—Pero dígame, Watson, ¿qué conclusiones saca usted del bastón de nuestro visitante?

Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him and have no notion of his errand, this accidental souvenir becomes of importance.

Dado que hemos tenido la desgracia de no encontrarlo y no tenemos idea de cuál era su propósito, este recuerdo fortuito adquiere importancia.

Let me hear you reconstruct the man by an examination of it.

Permítame escucharle reconstruir la figura del hombre mediante un examen del mismo.

Vocabulary

Sr.: Abbreviation for 'Señor', meaning 'Mr.'.
que: Conjunction or relative pronoun meaning 'that' or 'which'.
solía: Past habitual form of 'soler', meaning 'used to'.
levantarse: Reflexive verb meaning 'to get up' or 'to rise'.
muy: Adverb meaning 'very' or 'quite'.
tarde: Adverb meaning 'late'; also noun for 'afternoon'.
por: Preposition meaning 'by', 'for', or 'through'.
mañanas: Plural noun meaning 'mornings'.
salvo: Preposition or adjective meaning 'except' or 'safe'.
aquellas: Feminine plural demonstrative pronoun meaning 'those'.
ocasiones: Plural noun meaning 'occasions' or 'opportunities'.
poco: Adjective or adverb meaning 'little' or 'few'.
frecuentes: Plural adjective meaning 'frequent' or 'common'.
había: Imperfect form of 'haber', meaning 'there was' or 'had'.
estado: Past participle of 'estar', meaning 'been'; also 'state'.
despierto: Adjective meaning 'awake' or 'alert'.
toda: Feminine form of 'todo', meaning 'all' or 'entire'.
noche: Noun meaning 'night'.
estaba: Imperfect form of 'estar', meaning 'was' (temporary state).
sentado: Past participle of 'sentar', meaning 'seated' or 'sitting'.
mesa: Noun meaning 'table'.
desayuno: Noun meaning 'breakfast'.
Me: Reflexive or object pronoun meaning 'me' or 'myself'.
coloqué: Preterite of 'colocar', meaning 'I placed' or 'I positioned'.
sobre: Preposition meaning 'on', 'over', or 'about'.
alfombra: Noun meaning 'rug' or 'carpet'.
chimenea: Noun meaning 'fireplace' or 'chimney'.
recogí: Preterite of 'recoger', meaning 'I picked up' or 'I collected'.
bastón: Noun meaning 'cane' or 'walking stick'.
nuestro: Possessive adjective meaning 'our'.
visitante: Noun meaning 'visitor' or 'guest'.
dejado: Past participle of 'dejar', meaning 'left behind' or 'abandoned'.
olvidado: Past participle of 'olvidar', meaning 'forgotten'.
anterior: Adjective meaning 'previous' or 'prior'.
Era: Imperfect form of 'ser', meaning 'it was'.
trozo: Noun meaning 'piece', 'chunk', or 'bit'.
madera: Noun meaning 'wood' or 'timber'.
fino: Adjective meaning 'fine', 'thin', or 'slender'.
grueso: Adjective meaning 'thick', 'heavy', or 'bulky'.
cabeza: Noun meaning 'head' or 'top part' of an object.
abultada: Adjective meaning 'bulging', 'swollen', or 'protuberant'.
tipo: Noun meaning 'type', 'kind', or 'sort'.
conocido: Adjective meaning 'known' or 'well-known'.
como: Conjunction or adverb meaning 'as', 'like', or 'how'.
Justo: Adverb or adjective meaning 'just', 'right', or 'fair'.
debajo: Adverb meaning 'below', 'underneath', or 'under'.
ancha: Feminine adjective meaning 'wide' or 'broad'.
banda: Noun meaning 'band', 'strip', or 'group'.
plata: Noun meaning 'silver' (the metal) or 'money'.
casi: Adverb meaning 'almost' or 'nearly'.
pulgada: Noun meaning 'inch', a unit of measurement.
anchura: Noun meaning 'width' or 'breadth'.
sus: Possessive adjective meaning 'his', 'her', 'their', or 'your'.
amigos: Plural noun meaning 'friends'.
grabado: Past participle of 'grabar', meaning 'engraved' or 'recorded'.
ella: Personal pronoun meaning 'she' or 'her'.
fecha: Noun meaning 'date' (calendar date).
exactamente: Adverb meaning 'exactly' or 'precisely'.
llevar: Verb meaning 'to carry', 'to wear', or 'to take'.
médico: Noun or adjective meaning 'doctor' or 'medical'.
familia: Noun meaning 'family'.
antigua: Feminine adjective meaning 'old', 'ancient', or 'former'.
usanza: Noun meaning 'custom', 'usage', or 'tradition'.
digno: Adjective meaning 'worthy', 'dignified', or 'deserving'.
sólido: Adjective meaning 'solid', 'sturdy', or 'firm'.
tranquilizador: Adjective meaning 'reassuring', 'calming', or 'soothing'.
Bien: Adverb meaning 'well' or 'good'; also 'fine'.
qué: Interrogative pronoun meaning 'what'.
conclusiones: Plural noun meaning 'conclusions' or 'findings'.
saca: Third-person singular of 'sacar', meaning 'draws out' or 'takes'.
usted: Formal second-person pronoun meaning 'you'.
esto: Neuter demonstrative pronoun meaning 'this'.
espaldas: Plural noun meaning 'backs' (body part) or 'behind'.
mí: Stressed personal pronoun meaning 'me' (after preposition).
le: Indirect object pronoun meaning 'to him', 'to her', or 'to you'.
dado: Past participle of 'dar', meaning 'given'.
ninguna: Feminine adjective meaning 'no', 'none', or 'not any'.
señal: Noun meaning 'sign', 'signal', or 'indication'.
lo: Neuter pronoun or direct object pronoun meaning 'it' or 'him'.
haciendo: Gerund of 'hacer', meaning 'doing' or 'making'.
Cómo: Interrogative adverb meaning 'how'.
sabía: Imperfect of 'saber', meaning 'knew' or 'used to know'.
Creo: First-person singular of 'creer', meaning 'I believe' or 'I think'.
tiene: Third-person singular of 'tener', meaning 'has' or 'have'.
ojos: Plural noun meaning 'eyes'.
nuca: Noun meaning 'nape of the neck' or 'back of the head'.
Tengo: First-person singular of 'tener', meaning 'I have'.
al: Contraction of 'a' and 'el', meaning 'to the'.
menos: Adverb meaning 'less' or 'at least'.
cafetera: Noun meaning 'coffee pot' or 'coffee maker'.
bien: Adverb meaning 'well' or adjective meaning 'good'.
pulida: Adjective meaning 'polished', 'shiny', or 'refined'.
delante: Adverb meaning 'in front', 'ahead', or 'before'.
dijo: Preterite of 'decir', meaning 'said' or 'told'.
Pero: Conjunction meaning 'but' or 'however'.
dígame: Imperative of 'decir' with pronoun, meaning 'tell me'.
Dado: Conjunction meaning 'given that' or 'since'.
hemos: First-person plural of 'haber', meaning 'we have'.
tenido: Past participle of 'tener', meaning 'had'.
desgracia: Noun meaning 'misfortune', 'disgrace', or 'bad luck'.
encontrarlo: Infinitive 'encontrar' with pronoun, meaning 'to find him/it'.
tenemos: First-person plural of 'tener', meaning 'we have'.
idea: Noun meaning 'idea' or 'notion'.
cuál: Interrogative pronoun meaning 'which' or 'what'.
era: Imperfect of 'ser', meaning 'was' (permanent state).
su: Possessive adjective meaning 'his', 'her', 'its', or 'your'.
propósito: Noun meaning 'purpose', 'intention', or 'goal'.
este: Masculine demonstrative adjective or pronoun meaning 'this'.
recuerdo: Noun meaning 'memory', 'souvenir', or 'reminder'.
fortuito: Adjective meaning 'fortuitous', 'chance', or 'accidental'.
adquiere: Third-person singular of 'adquirir', meaning 'acquires' or 'gains'.
importancia: Noun meaning 'importance' or 'significance'.
Permítame: Imperative of 'permitir' with pronoun, meaning 'allow me' or 'let me'.
escucharle: Infinitive 'escuchar' with pronoun, meaning 'to listen to you/him'.
reconstruir: Verb meaning 'to reconstruct' or 'to rebuild'.
figura: Noun meaning 'figure', 'shape', or 'form'.
hombre: Noun meaning 'man' or 'human being'.
mediante: Preposition meaning 'by means of' or 'through'.
examen: Noun meaning 'examination', 'test', or 'inspection'.
mismo: Adjective or pronoun meaning 'same', 'himself', or 'itself'.

← Previous Next →

Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.

Create free account →