The King in Yellow — Page 3
He laid down his hammer and read me the history of the suit, traced since 1450 from owner to owner until it was acquired by Thomas Stainbridge.
Dejó su martillo y me leyó la historia de la armadura, rastreada desde 1450 de propietario en propietario hasta que fue adquirida por Thomas Stainbridge.
When his superb collection was sold, this client of Hawberk's bought the suit, and since then the search for the missing greave had been pushed until it was, almost by accident, located in Paris.
Cuando su espléndida colección fue vendida, este cliente de Hawberk compró la armadura, y desde entonces la búsqueda de la greba desaparecida había continuado hasta que fue, casi por accidente, localizada en París.
"Did you continue the search so persistently without any certainty of the greave being still in existence?" I demanded.
—¿Continuó la búsqueda con tanta persistencia sin tener ninguna certeza de que la greba aún existiera? —exigí saber.
"Of course," he replied coolly.
—Por supuesto —respondió con calma.
Then for the first time I took a personal interest in Hawberk.
Fue entonces cuando por primera vez sentí un interés personal en Hawberk.
"It was worth something to you," I ventured.
—Le reportó algún beneficio —me aventuré a decir.
"No," he replied, laughing, "my pleasure in finding it was my reward."
—No —respondió riendo—, mi recompensa fue el placer de encontrarla.
"Have you no ambition to be rich?" I asked, smiling.
—¿No tiene usted ambición de ser rico? —pregunté sonriendo.
"My one ambition is to be the best armourer in the world," he answered gravely.
—Mi única ambición es ser el mejor armero del mundo —respondió con gravedad.
Constance asked me if I had seen the ceremonies at the Lethal Chamber.
Constance me preguntó si había visto las ceremonias en la Cámara Letal.
She herself had noticed cavalry passing up Broadway that morning, and had wished to see the inauguration, but her father wanted the banner finished, and she had stayed at his request.
Ella misma había visto caballería desfilando por Broadway esa mañana, y había deseado ver la inauguración, pero su padre quería que el estandarte estuviera terminado, y ella se había quedado a petición suya.
"Did you see your cousin, Mr. Castaigne, there?" she asked, with the slightest tremor of her soft eyelashes.
—¿Vio usted allí a su primo, el señor Castaigne? —preguntó, con el más leve temblor de sus suaves pestañas.
"No," I replied carelessly. "Louis' regiment is manœuvring out in Westchester County."
—No —respondí con indiferencia—. El regimiento de Louis está haciendo maniobras en el condado de Westchester.
I rose and picked up my hat and cane.
Me levanté y tomé mi sombrero y mi bastón.
"Are you going upstairs to see the lunatic again?" laughed old Hawberk.
—¿Va a subir a ver al lunático otra vez? —se rió el viejo Hawberk.
Vocabulary
- Dejó
- Left; abandoned; allowed (past tense of dejar)
- su
- His, her, its, your (formal) possessive adjective
- martillo
- Hammer; tool used for striking or driving nails
- me
- Me; indirect or direct object pronoun for first person
- leyó
- Read; past tense of leer (third person singular)
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article or direct object pronoun
- historia
- History; story; account of past events or narrative
- de
- Of; from; preposition indicating possession or origin
- armadura
- Armor; protective covering worn for defense in battle
- desde
- From; since; preposition indicating starting point in time
- propietario
- Owner; proprietor; person who owns something legally
- hasta
- Until; up to; preposition indicating endpoint or limit
- que
- That; which; relative pronoun or conjunction
- fue
- Was; past tense of ser (third person singular)
- adquirida
- Acquired; obtained; purchased or gained possession of
- por
- By; for; preposition indicating agent or reason
- Cuando
- When; at what time; conjunction or interrogative adverb
- espléndida
- Splendid; magnificent; impressive or brilliant in appearance
- colección
- Collection; group of objects gathered or assembled together
- vendida
- Sold; past participle of vender (feminine form)
- este
- This; that; demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- cliente
- Client; customer; person who buys services or goods
- compró
- Bought; purchased; past tense of comprar
- entonces
- Then; at that time; consequently or in that case
- búsqueda
- Search; hunt; act of looking for something
- desaparecida
- Disappeared; vanished; missing (feminine past participle)
- había
- Had; past tense of haber (third person singular)
- continuado
- Continued; kept going; past participle of continuar
- casi
- Almost; nearly; approximately or close to something
- accidente
- Accident; chance occurrence; unexpected or unplanned event
- localizada
- Located; found; discovered in a specific place
- ¿Continuó
- Did continue; interrogative past tense of continuar
- con
- With; in company of; preposition indicating accompaniment
- tanta
- So much; such a large amount or degree
- persistencia
- Persistence; determination; quality of continuing steadfastly
- sin
- Without; lacking; preposition indicating absence or negation
- tener
- To have; to possess; auxiliary or main verb
- ninguna
- None; not any; negative pronoun (feminine form)
- certeza
- Certainty; sureness; state of being sure or confident
- aún
- Still; yet; adverb indicating continuation or emphasis
- existiera
- Existed; might exist; subjunctive of existir
- exigí
- I demanded; insisted; past tense of exigir
- saber
- To know; to understand; infinitive verb
- Por
- For; by; preposition indicating reason or agent
- supuesto
- Of course; supposedly; naturally or certainly
- respondió
- Responded; answered; past tense of responder
- calma
- Calm; tranquility; peace or serenity state
- Fue
- It was; past tense of ser (third person)
- primera
- First; initial; coming before all others
- vez
- Time; occasion; instance or occurrence
- sentí
- I felt; experienced; past tense of sentir
- un
- A; an; indefinite article (masculine singular)
- interés
- Interest; concern; attraction or curiosity about something
- personal
- Personal; private; relating to a specific individual
- Le
- Him; her; you (formal); indirect object pronoun
- reportó
- Reported; brought; past tense of reportar
- algún
- Some; any; indefinite pronoun or adjective
- beneficio
- Benefit; profit; advantage or gain obtained
- aventuré
- I ventured; dared; past tense of aventurar
- decir
- To say; to tell; fundamental verb
- No
- No; not; negation or refusal
- riendo
- Laughing; smiling; present participle of reír
- mi
- My; possessive adjective (first person singular)
- recompensa
- Reward; prize; compensation for service or achievement
- el
- The; masculine singular definite article
- placer
- Pleasure; enjoyment; feeling of satisfaction or happiness
- encontrarla
- To find it; discover her; infinitive with pronoun
- ¿No
- Not; interrogative negation; question marker
- tiene
- Has; possesses; third person singular of tener
- usted
- You; formal second person pronoun
- ambición
- Ambition; drive; strong desire for success or power
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →