The Picture of Dorian Gray — Page 2
In the centre of the room, clamped to an upright easel, stood the full-length portrait of a young man of extraordinary personal beauty, and in front of it, some little distance away, was sitting the artist himself, Basil Hallward, whose sudden disappearance some years ago caused, at the time, such public excitement and gave rise to so many strange conjectures.
En el centro de la habitación, sujeto a un caballete vertical, se encontraba el retrato de cuerpo entero de un joven de extraordinaria belleza personal, y frente a él, a poca distancia, estaba sentado el propio artista, Basil Hallward, cuya repentina desaparición algunos años atrás provocó, en su momento, tal agitación pública y dio lugar a tantas extrañas conjeturas.
As the painter looked at the gracious and comely form he had so skilfully mirrored in his art, a smile of pleasure passed across his face, and seemed about to linger there.
Mientras el pintor contemplaba la grácil y hermosa figura que había reflejado con tanta maestría en su arte, una sonrisa de placer cruzó su rostro y pareció querer detenerse en él.
But he suddenly started up, and closing his eyes, placed his fingers upon the lids, as though he sought to imprison within his brain some curious dream from which he feared he might awake.
Pero de repente se incorporó y, cerrando los ojos, posó los dedos sobre los párpados, como si tratara de aprisionar dentro de su mente algún curioso sueño del que temiera despertar.
"It is your best work, Basil, the best thing you have ever done," said Lord Henry languidly.
«Es tu mejor obra, Basil, lo mejor que has hecho jamás», dijo Lord Henry con languidez.
"You must certainly send it next year to the Grosvenor.
«Debes enviarlo sin falta el año que viene al Grosvenor.
The Academy is too large and too vulgar.
La Academia es demasiado grande y demasiado vulgar.
Whenever I have gone there, there have been either so many people that I have not been able to see the pictures, which was dreadful, or so many pictures that I have not been able to see the people, which was worse.
Cada vez que he ido allí, o había tanta gente que no podía ver los cuadros, lo cual era espantoso, o tantos cuadros que no podía ver a la gente, lo cual era peor.
The Grosvenor is really the only place."
El Grosvenor es realmente el único lugar adecuado.»
"I don't think I shall send it anywhere," he answered, tossing his head back in that odd way that used to make his friends laugh at him at Oxford.
«No creo que lo envíe a ningún sitio», respondió él, echando la cabeza hacia atrás de aquella manera extraña que solía hacer reír a sus amigos en Oxford.
"No, I won't send it anywhere.
«No, no lo enviaré a ningún sitio.
Vocabulary
- centro
- Center or middle of a space or area.
- habitación
- A room, typically a bedroom inside a building.
- sujeto
- Fastened, attached, or held in place securely.
- caballete
- An easel used to hold a painter's canvas.
- vertical
- Upright position, perpendicular to the horizontal plane.
- encontraba
- Was located or found in a specific place.
- retrato
- A portrait or painted likeness of a person.
- cuerpo
- The body, either human or physical form.
- entero
- Whole or entire, referring to a complete thing.
- joven
- A young person or someone youthful in age.
- extraordinaria
- Extraordinary, remarkable, or exceptional in some quality.
- belleza
- Beauty, the quality of being physically attractive.
- personal
- Personal, relating to a specific individual person.
- frente
- In front of, or facing something or someone.
- poca
- Little, a small amount of something.
- distancia
- Distance, the space between two points or objects.
- sentado
- Seated, in the position of sitting down.
- propio
- Own, belonging to or characteristic of oneself.
- artista
- An artist, a person who creates works of art.
- cuya
- Relative pronoun meaning 'whose', indicating possession.
- repentina
- Sudden, happening unexpectedly and without prior warning.
- desaparición
- Disappearance, the act of vanishing from sight.
- algunos
- Some, referring to an unspecified number of things.
- años
- Years, plural of 'año', a unit of time.
- atrás
- Ago or behind, indicating a past point in time.
- provocó
- Caused or provoked a reaction or event.
- momento
- A moment, a brief point in time.
- tal
- Such, used to indicate a degree or comparison.
- agitación
- Agitation, public unrest or excitement over something.
- pública
- Public, relating to or involving the general population.
- dio
- Past tense of 'dar', meaning 'gave' or 'led to'.
- lugar
- Place or location; 'dar lugar a' means to give rise.
- tantas
- So many, referring to a large number of things.
- extrañas
- Strange or unusual, out of the ordinary.
- conjeturas
- Conjectures, guesses made without sufficient evidence.
- Mientras
- While or as, indicating simultaneous actions occurring.
- pintor
- A painter, an artist who creates paintings.
- contemplaba
- Was contemplating or gazing at something attentively.
- grácil
- Graceful, slender, and elegant in movement or form.
- hermosa
- Beautiful, describing something or someone very attractive.
- figura
- Figure, the shape or form of a person's body.
- reflejado
- Reflected or captured an image faithfully in art.
- tanta
- So much, indicating a great degree of something.
- maestría
- Mastery or great skill in a craft or art.
- arte
- Art, creative work expressing ideas or beauty.
- sonrisa
- A smile, the expression of happiness on the face.
- placer
- Pleasure, a feeling of happiness or enjoyment.
- cruzó
- Crossed, moved quickly across a surface or space.
- rostro
- The face, especially when expressing emotions.
- pareció
- Seemed or appeared to be a certain way.
- querer
- To want or to love someone or something.
- detenerse
- To stop oneself or pause from continuing movement.
- repente
- Suddenly; 'de repente' means all of a sudden.
- incorporó
- Sat up or raised oneself from a lying position.
- cerrando
- Closing, in the act of shutting something.
- ojos
- Eyes, the organs used for seeing.
- posó
- Placed or rested gently on a surface.
- dedos
- Fingers, the digits of a human hand.
- sobre
- On top of or above something.
- párpados
- Eyelids, the skin that covers and protects the eyes.
- tratara
- Were trying or attempting to do something.
- aprisionar
- To imprison or trap something within a confined space.
- dentro
- Inside or within a space or container.
- mente
- Mind, the faculty of thought and consciousness.
- algún
- Some or any, an indefinite adjective before nouns.
- curioso
- Curious, strange, or interesting in an unusual way.
- sueño
- A dream or the state of sleeping.
- temiera
- Were afraid of or feared something happening.
- despertar
- To wake up or awaken from sleep or a dream.
- mejor
- Best or better, indicating superior quality or rank.
- obra
- A work, especially a piece of art or literature.
- hecho
- Done or made, past participle of 'hacer'.
- jamás
- Never or ever, a strong negative adverb of time.
- dijo
- Said, past tense of 'decir', to say or tell.
- languidez
- Languidness, a tone of relaxed or lazy indifference.
- Debes
- You must or should, expressing obligation or necessity.
- enviarlo
- To send it, the verb 'enviar' with pronoun attached.
- sin
- Without, indicating the absence of something.
- falta
- Fail; 'sin falta' means without fail, certainly.
- año
- Year, a period of twelve months.
- viene
- Comes; 'el año que viene' means next year.
- Academia
- The Academy, a formal institution for arts or learning.
- demasiado
- Too much or too, indicating excess of something.
- grande
- Big or large in size or importance.
- vulgar
- Vulgar or common, lacking refinement or taste.
- Cada
- Each or every, referring to individual items collectively.
- vez
- Time or occasion; 'cada vez' means each time.
- ido
- Gone, past participle of 'ir', to go.
- allí
- There, indicating a place away from the speaker.
- gente
- People, referring to a group of persons collectively.
- podía
- Could or was able to do something in the past.
- ver
- To see or to look at something.
- cuadros
- Paintings or pictures hung on a wall.
- cual
- Which, a relative pronoun referring to something mentioned.
- espantoso
- Dreadful, frightful, or terribly unpleasant.
- tantos
- So many, referring to a large number of people.
- peor
- Worse or worst, indicating inferior quality or degree.
- realmente
- Really or truly, emphasizing the truth of something.
- único
- Unique or only, the sole one of its kind.
- adecuado
- Adequate or suitable for a particular purpose.
- creo
- I believe or think, first-person present of 'creer'.
- envíe
- Send, subjunctive form of 'enviar' expressing doubt.
- ningún
- No or none, a negative adjective before masculine nouns.
- sitio
- Place or site, a location or spot somewhere.
- respondió
- Responded or replied to what someone had said.
- echando
- Throwing or tilting, in the act of moving.
- cabeza
- Head, the uppermost part of the human body.
- hacia
- Toward, indicating direction or movement to somewhere.
- aquella
- That, a demonstrative adjective pointing to something distant.
- manera
- Manner or way of doing something.
- solía
- Used to, indicating a habitual past action.
- hacer
- To make or do something.
- reír
- To laugh, the act of expressing amusement vocally.
- amigos
- Friends, people with whom one has a friendly relationship.
- enviaré
- I will send, future tense of 'enviar'.
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