The King in Yellow — Page 5
"Is it nonsense," I asked, managing to suppress what I felt, "is it nonsense when he says that the tassets and cuissards of the enamelled suit of armour commonly known as the 'Prince's Emblazoned' can be found among a mass of rusty theatrical properties, broken stoves and ragpicker's refuse in a garret in Pell Street?"
«È una sciocchezza,» chiesi, riuscendo a reprimere ciò che provavo, «è una sciocchezza quando dice che i tassetti e i cosciali della suit d'armatura smaltata comunemente nota come 'Prince's Emblazoned' si possono trovare in mezzo a una massa di oggetti di scena arrugginiti, stufe rotte e rifiuti di stracciaio in una soffitta di Pell Street?»
Hawberk's hammer fell to the ground, but he picked it up and asked, with a great deal of calm, how I knew that the tassets and left cuissard were missing from the "Prince's Emblazoned."
Il martello di Hawberk cadde a terra, ma lo raccolse e chiese, con grande calma, come sapessi che i tassetti e il cosciale sinistro mancavano dal «Prince's Emblazoned».
"I did not know until Mr. Wilde mentioned it to me the other day. He said they were in the garret of 998 Pell Street."
«Non lo sapevo finché il signor Wilde non me lo menzionò l'altro giorno. Disse che si trovavano nella soffitta del 998 di Pell Street.»
"Nonsense," he cried, but I noticed his hand trembling under his leathern apron.
«Sciocchezze,» esclamò, ma notai la sua mano tremare sotto il grembiule di cuoio.
"Is this nonsense too?" I asked pleasantly, "is it nonsense when Mr. Wilde continually speaks of you as the Marquis of Avonshire and of Miss Constance—"
«Anche questo è una sciocchezza?» chiesi amabilmente, «è una sciocchezza quando il signor Wilde continua a parlarmi di lei come del Marchese di Avonshire e della signorina Constance—»
I did not finish, for Constance had started to her feet with terror written on every feature.
Non finii, poiché Constance era balzata in piedi con il terrore impresso su ogni lineamento.
Hawberk looked at me and slowly smoothed his leathern apron.
Hawberk mi guardò e lentamente si lisciò il grembiule di cuoio.
"That is impossible," he observed, "Mr. Wilde may know a great many things—"
«È impossibile,» osservò, «il signor Wilde può sapere moltissime cose—»
"About armour, for instance, and the 'Prince's Emblazoned,'" I interposed, smiling.
«Sull'armatura, per esempio, e sul 'Prince's Emblazoned',» interloquii, sorridendo.
"Yes," he continued, slowly, "about armour also—may be—but he is wrong in regard to the Marquis of Avonshire, who, as you know, killed his wife's traducer years ago, and went to Australia where he did not long survive his wife."
«Sì,» continuò, lentamente, «sull'armatura anche—forse—ma sbaglia riguardo al Marchese di Avonshire, che, come sa, uccise il calunniatore di sua moglie anni fa, e andò in Australia dove non sopravvisse a lungo alla moglie.»
"Mr.
«Signor.
Vocabulary
- una
- A, an (feminine indefinite article)
- sciocchezza
- Foolishness, stupidity, or a foolish thing
- chiesi
- I asked (past tense of chiedere)
- riuscendo
- Managing to, succeeding in doing something
- reprimere
- To suppress, restrain, or hold back
- ciò
- That, this (demonstrative pronoun)
- che
- That, which, who (relative pronoun)
- provavo
- I felt or experienced (imperfect tense)
- quando
- When (temporal conjunction or adverb)
- dice
- He/she says or tells (present tense)
- della
- Of the, from the (preposition contraction)
- armatura
- Armor or suit of armor
- comunemente
- Commonly, usually, generally
- nota
- Known, famous (feminine adjective)
- come
- Like, as, how (conjunction or adverb)
- si
- Oneself, himself, herself (reflexive pronoun)
- possono
- Can be, are able to (present tense)
- trovare
- To find or locate something
- in
- In, into, within (preposition)
- mezzo
- Middle, center, or medium
- massa
- Mass, heap, large quantity
- di
- Of, from (preposition)
- oggetti
- Objects, things, items (plural)
- scena
- Scene, stage, or scenery
- arrugginiti
- Rusted, corroded (masculine plural adjective)
- stufe
- Stoves, heaters (plural noun)
- rotte
- Broken, damaged (feminine plural adjective)
- rifiuti
- Refuse, garbage, waste materials
- soffitta
- Attic or loft space in building
- Il
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- martello
- Hammer or mallet for striking
- cadde
- Fell, dropped (past tense of cadere)
- terra
- Earth, ground, land or soil
- ma
- But, however (coordinating conjunction)
- lo
- Him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
- raccolse
- Collected, gathered (past tense)
- chiese
- Asked, requested (past tense of chiedere)
- con
- With, accompanied by (preposition)
- grande
- Great, large, big in size
- calma
- Calm, serenity, or tranquility
- sapessi
- I knew (imperfect subjunctive)
- il
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- sinistro
- Left, sinister (adjective)
- mancavano
- Were missing, lacked (imperfect tense)
- dal
- From the, by the (preposition)
- Non
- Not, negative adverb for negation
- sapevo
- I knew, I didn't know (imperfect)
- finché
- Until, till (temporal conjunction)
- signor
- Mister, sir, gentleman (title)
- ne
- Of it, about it (partitive pronoun)
- me
- Me, to me (indirect object pronoun)
- menzionò
- Mentioned, brought up (past tense)
- altro
- Other, another, else or different
- giorno
- Day, daytime or period
- Disse
- Said, told (past tense of dire)
- trovavano
- Were found, they found (imperfect)
- nella
- In the, within the (preposition)
- Sciocchezze
- Foolishness, stupidities (plural noun)
- esclamò
- Exclaimed, cried out (past tense)
- notai
- I noticed, observed (past tense)
- la
- The, her (feminine singular article)
- sua
- His, her, its (possessive adjective)
- mano
- Hand, or manual labor
- tremare
- To tremble, shake or quiver
- sotto
- Under, beneath, below (preposition)
- grembiule
- Apron or work garment worn
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →