The King in Yellow — Page 4
If Hawberk knew how I loathe that word "lunatic," he would never use it in my presence.
Se Hawberk sapesse quanto detesto quella parola «pazzo», non la userebbe mai in mia presenza.
It rouses certain feelings within me which I do not care to explain.
Essa suscita in me certi sentimenti che non ho voglia di spiegare.
However, I answered him quietly: "I think I shall drop in and see Mr. Wilde for a moment or two."
Tuttavia, gli risposi con calma: «Credo che farò un salto a trovare il signor Wilde per qualche momento».
"Poor fellow," said Constance, with a shake of the head, "it must be hard to live alone year after year poor, crippled and almost demented.
«Povero uomo», disse Constance, scuotendo la testa, «dev'essere difficile vivere da solo anno dopo anno, povero, storpio e quasi demente.
It is very good of you, Mr. Castaigne, to visit him as often as you do."
È molto gentile da parte sua, signor Castaigne, visitarlo così spesso».
"I think he is vicious," observed Hawberk, beginning again with his hammer.
«Credo che sia vizioso», osservò Hawberk, riprendendo a lavorare col martello.
I listened to the golden tinkle on the greave plates; when he had finished I replied:
Ascoltai il tintinnio dorato sulle piastre degli schinieri; quando ebbe finito, risposi:
"No, he is not vicious, nor is he in the least demented.
«No, non è vizioso, né è minimamente demente.
His mind is a wonder chamber, from which he can extract treasures that you and I would give years of our lives to acquire."
La sua mente è una camera delle meraviglie, dalla quale può estrarre tesori per cui lei ed io daremmo anni della nostra vita».
Hawberk laughed.
Hawberk rise.
I continued a little impatiently: "He knows history as no one else could know it.
Continuai con una certa impazienza: «Conosce la storia come nessun altro potrebbe conoscerla.
Nothing, however trivial, escapes his search, and his memory is so absolute, so precise in details, that were it known in New York that such a man existed, the people could not honour him enough."
Nulla, per quanto insignificante, sfugge alla sua ricerca, e la sua memoria è così assoluta, così precisa nei dettagli, che se si sapesse a New York che esiste un tale uomo, la gente non saprebbe come onorarlo abbastanza».
"Nonsense," muttered Hawberk, searching on the floor for a fallen rivet.
«Sciocchezze», borbottò Hawberk, cercando sul pavimento un rivetto caduto.
Vocabulary
- Se
- If; conditional conjunction used to introduce hypothetical situations.
- sapesse
- (He/she/you) knew; past subjunctive of sapere.
- quanto
- How much; what quantity or degree of something.
- detesto
- I detest; present tense of detestare, meaning to hate.
- quella
- That (feminine); demonstrative adjective referring to feminine noun.
- parola
- Word; basic unit of language with meaning and sound.
- pazzo
- Crazy; mad; mentally unbalanced or eccentric person or state.
- non
- Not; primary negation word in Italian language.
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article or direct object pronoun.
- userebbe
- (He/she/you) would use; conditional of usare.
- mai
- Never; not ever; at no time whatsoever.
- in
- In; preposition indicating location, time, or manner.
- mia
- My; possessive adjective, feminine singular form.
- presenza
- Presence; the state of being in a particular place.
- Essa
- She; it; feminine singular personal pronoun.
- suscita
- (It) arouses; third person singular of suscitare.
- me
- Me; first person singular object pronoun in Italian.
- certi
- Certain; some; indefinite adjective indicating unspecified things.
- sentimenti
- Feelings; emotions or emotional responses to experiences.
- ho
- I have; present tense first person singular of avere.
- voglia
- Desire; wish; inclination to do something specific.
- di
- Of; preposition indicating possession, origin, or composition.
- spiegare
- To explain; to clarify meaning or make something understandable.
- Tuttavia
- However; nevertheless; despite this; but still.
- gli
- (To) him; indirect object pronoun or definite article plural.
- risposi
- I replied; past tense of rispondere, to answer.
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or possession.
- calma
- Calm; peacefulness; absence of agitation or disturbance.
- Credo
- I believe; present tense of credere, to think.
- farò
- I will do; future tense of fare, to make.
- un
- A; an; indefinite article masculine singular form.
- salto
- Jump; a leap or quick visit to somewhere.
- trovare
- To find; to locate or discover something sought.
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article in Italian.
- signor
- Mr.; sir; polite form of address for man.
- per
- For; preposition indicating purpose, duration, or beneficiary.
- qualche
- Some; a few; an unspecified small quantity.
- momento
- Moment; a brief period of time or point.
- Povero
- Poor; unfortunate; lacking money or resources.
- uomo
- Man; adult male human being or mankind.
- disse
- (She/he) said; past tense of dire, to say.
- scuotendo
- Shaking; present participle of scuotere, to shake.
- testa
- Head; the upper body part containing the brain.
- dev
- Must; contraction of deve or dovrebbe in Italian.
- essere
- To be; fundamental verb indicating existence or state.
- difficile
- Difficult; hard; requiring effort or skill to accomplish.
- vivere
- To live; to exist or remain alive.
- da
- From; by; preposition indicating origin or agent.
- solo
- Alone; solitary; without company or accompaniment.
- anno
- Year; period of twelve months or annual cycle.
- dopo
- After; following in time or sequence.
- storpio
- Crippled; disabled; unable to move properly.
- quasi
- Almost; nearly; approximately or seemingly very close.
- demente
- Demented; insane; suffering from loss of mental faculties.
- molto
- Very; much; to a great degree or extent.
- gentile
- Kind; gentle; displaying courtesy and consideration toward others.
- parte
- Part; portion; side or section of something.
- sua
- His; her; its; possessive adjective feminine form.
- visitarlo
- To visit him; infinitive with object pronoun attached.
- così
- So; thus; in this manner or way.
- spesso
- Often; frequently; many times or regularly.
- sia
- Is; be; present subjunctive of essere.
- vizioso
- Vicious; wicked; inclined toward bad behavior or habits.
- osservò
- (He/she) observed; past tense of osservare.
- riprendendo
- Resuming; beginning again; present participle of riprendere.
- lavorare
- To work; to labor or be employed.
- col
- With the; contraction of con il in Italian.
- martello
- Hammer; tool used for driving nails or striking.
- Ascoltai
- I listened; past tense of ascoltare, to listen.
- tintinnio
- Tinkling; ringing sound; melodious metallic noise.
- dorato
- Gilded; golden; covered with gold leaf or color.
- sulle
- On the; contraction of su le for feminine plural.
- piastre
- Plates; metal sheets or protective armor pieces.
- degli
- Of the; preposition article combination for masculine plural.
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