The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Page 28
A maid servant living alone in a house not far from the river, had gone upstairs to bed about eleven.
Una criada que vivía sola en una casa no muy lejos del río, había subido las escaleras para acostarse alrededor de las once.
Although a fog rolled over the city in the small hours, the early part of the night was cloudless, and the lane, which the maid's window overlooked, was brilliantly lit by the full moon.
Aunque una niebla se extendió sobre la ciudad en las primeras horas de la madrugada, la primera parte de la noche estaba despejada, y el callejón, que la ventana de la criada dominaba, estaba brillantemente iluminado por la luna llena.
It seems she was romantically given, for she sat down upon her box, which stood immediately under the window, and fell into a dream of musing.
Parece que ella era de inclinación romántica, pues se sentó sobre su baúl, que estaba justo debajo de la ventana, y cayó en un ensueño meditabundo.
Never (she used to say, with streaming tears, when she narrated that experience), never had she felt more at peace with all men or thought more kindly of the world.
Nunca (solía decir, con lágrimas abundantes, cuando narraba aquella experiencia), nunca se había sentido más en paz con todos los hombres ni había pensado más benévolamente del mundo.
And as she so sat she became aware of an aged beautiful gentleman with white hair, drawing near along the lane; and advancing to meet him, another and very small gentleman, to whom at first she paid less attention.
Y mientras estaba así sentada se percató de un anciano caballero hermoso de cabello blanco, que se acercaba por el callejón; y avanzando a su encuentro, otro caballero muy pequeño, a quien al principio prestó menos atención.
When they had come within speech (which was just under the maid's eyes) the older man bowed and accosted the other with a very pretty manner of politeness.
Cuando llegaron a estar a distancia de hablar (lo cual ocurrió justo bajo los ojos de la criada) el hombre mayor hizo una reverencia y se dirigió al otro con una manera muy bella de cortesía.
It did not seem as if the subject of his address were of great importance; indeed, from his pointing, it sometimes appeared as if he were only inquiring his way; but the moon shone on his face as he spoke, and the girl was pleased to watch it, it seemed to breathe such an innocent and old-world kindness of disposition, yet with something high too, as of a well-founded self-content.
No parecía que el tema de su discurso fuera de gran importancia; de hecho, por sus gestos, a veces parecía como si solo estuviera preguntando por su camino; pero la luna brillaba sobre su rostro mientras hablaba, y a la muchacha le complacía observarlo, parecía respirar una bondad tan inocente y anticuada de carácter, aunque con algo elevado también, como de una satisfacción propia bien fundada.
Vocabulary
- Una
- A, an (feminine singular indefinite article)
- criada
- Maid, female servant
- que
- That, which, who (relative pronoun or conjunction)
- vivía
- Was living, lived (imperfect tense of vivir)
- sola
- Alone (feminine singular adjective)
- en
- In, on, at (preposition of place)
- una
- A, an (feminine singular indefinite article)
- casa
- House, home
- no
- No, not (negation adverb)
- muy
- Very, quite (adverb of intensity)
- lejos
- Far, distant (adverb of distance)
- del
- Of the, from the (contraction of de+el)
- río
- River
- había
- Had, there was/were (imperfect of haber)
- subido
- Gone up, climbed (past participle of subir)
- las
- The (feminine plural definite article)
- escaleras
- Stairs, staircase
- para
- For, in order to (preposition of purpose)
- acostarse
- To go to bed, to lie down
- alrededor
- Around, approximately (adverb)
- de
- Of, from, about (preposition)
- once
- Eleven (number)
- Aunque
- Although, even though (conjunction)
- niebla
- Fog, mist
- se
- Itself, himself, herself (reflexive pronoun)
- extendió
- Spread, extended (preterite of extender)
- sobre
- Over, on, about (preposition)
- la
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- ciudad
- City
- primeras
- First (feminine plural adjective)
- horas
- Hours
- madrugada
- Early morning, dawn
- primera
- First (feminine singular adjective)
- parte
- Part, portion
- noche
- Night, evening
- estaba
- Was, were (imperfect of estar)
- despejada
- Clear, cloudless (feminine adjective)
- y
- And (conjunction)
- el
- The (masculine singular definite article)
- callejón
- Alley, narrow street
- ventana
- Window
- dominaba
- Overlooked, dominated (imperfect of dominar)
- brillantemente
- Brilliantly, brightly (adverb)
- iluminado
- Illuminated, lit up (past participle)
- por
- By, for, through (preposition)
- luna
- Moon
- llena
- Full (feminine adjective)
- Parece
- It seems, appears (present of parecer)
- ella
- She, her (subject pronoun)
- era
- Was, were (imperfect of ser)
- inclinación
- Inclination, tendency
- romántica
- Romantic (feminine adjective)
- pues
- Since, because, then (conjunction)
- sentó
- Sat, seated (preterite of sentar)
- su
- His, her, your, their (possessive adjective)
- baúl
- Trunk, chest (for storage)
- justo
- Just, exactly, right (adverb or adjective)
- debajo
- Below, underneath (adverb)
- cayó
- Fell, dropped (preterite of caer)
- un
- A, an (masculine singular indefinite article)
- ensueño
- Daydream, reverie
- Nunca
- Never (adverb of time)
- solía
- Used to, was accustomed to (imperfect of soler)
- decir
- To say, to tell
- con
- With (preposition)
- lágrimas
- Tears
- abundantes
- Abundant, plentiful (plural adjective)
- cuando
- When (conjunction or adverb)
- narraba
- Was narrating, told (imperfect of narrar)
- aquella
- That (feminine demonstrative adjective, distant)
- experiencia
- Experience
- nunca
- Never (adverb of time)
- sentido
- Felt, sensed (past participle of sentir)
- más
- More, most (comparative adverb)
- paz
- Peace
- todos
- All, every (masculine plural adjective)
- los
- The (masculine plural definite article)
- hombres
- Men, people
- ni
- Nor, neither (conjunction)
- pensado
- Thought (past participle of pensar)
- mundo
- World
- Y
- And (conjunction)
- mientras
- While, meanwhile (conjunction or adverb)
- así
- Thus, so, like this (adverb)
- sentada
- Seated, sitting (feminine past participle)
- percató
- Noticed, realized (preterite of percatarse)
- anciano
- Elderly, old (adjective or noun)
- caballero
- Gentleman, knight
- hermoso
- Beautiful, handsome (adjective)
- cabello
- Hair
- blanco
- White (adjective)
- acercaba
- Was approaching, nearing (imperfect of acercar)
- avanzando
- Advancing, moving forward (gerund of avanzar)
- a
- To, at (preposition)
- encuentro
- Meeting, encounter
- otro
- Other, another (masculine singular adjective)
- pequeño
- Small, little (adjective)
- quien
- Who, whom (relative pronoun)
- al
- To the, at the (contraction of a+el)
- principio
- Beginning, start, principle
- prestó
- Paid, lent (preterite of prestar)
- menos
- Less, fewer (comparative adverb)
- atención
- Attention
- Cuando
- When (conjunction)
- llegaron
- Arrived, reached (preterite of llegar)
- estar
- To be (temporary states or location)
- distancia
- Distance
- hablar
- To speak, to talk
- lo
- It, him (direct object pronoun)
- cual
- Which, who (relative pronoun)
- ocurrió
- Happened, occurred (preterite of ocurrir)
- bajo
- Under, low (preposition or adjective)
- ojos
- Eyes
- hombre
- Man, human being
- mayor
- Older, greater, larger (comparative adjective)
- hizo
- Did, made (preterite of hacer)
- reverencia
- Bow, reverence
- dirigió
- Directed, addressed (preterite of dirigir)
- manera
- Manner, way
- bella
- Beautiful, lovely (feminine adjective)
- cortesía
- Courtesy, politeness
- No
- No, not (negation)
- parecía
- Seemed, appeared (imperfect of parecer)
- tema
- Topic, subject, theme
- discurso
- Speech, discourse
- fuera
- Was, were; outside (imperfect subjunctive of ser or adverb)
- gran
- Great, grand (apocopated form of grande)
- importancia
- Importance
- hecho
- Fact, deed; done (noun or past participle)
- sus
- His, her, your, their (plural possessive adjective)
- gestos
- Gestures, expressions
- veces
- Times, occasions (plural of vez)
- como
- Like, as, how (conjunction or adverb)
- si
- If, whether (conjunction)
- solo
- Only, alone, single (adverb or adjective)
- estuviera
- Was, were (imperfect subjunctive of estar)
- preguntando
- Asking (gerund of preguntar)
- camino
- Path, road, way
- pero
- But, however (conjunction)
- brillaba
- Was shining, glowing (imperfect of brillar)
- rostro
- Face, countenance
- hablaba
- Was speaking, talked (imperfect of hablar)
- muchacha
- Girl, young woman
- le
- To him, to her, to you (indirect object pronoun)
- complacía
- Pleased, delighted (imperfect of complacer)
- observarlo
- To observe him/it (infinitive with pronoun)
- respirar
- To breathe
- bondad
- Kindness, goodness
- tan
- So, such, as (adverb of degree)
- inocente
- Innocent
- anticuada
- Old-fashioned, outdated (feminine adjective)
- carácter
- Character, nature
- aunque
- Although, even though (conjunction)
- algo
- Something, somewhat (pronoun or adverb)
- elevado
- Elevated, high, lofty (past participle or adjective)
- también
- Also, too, as well (adverb)
- satisfacción
- Satisfaction
- propia
- Own, proper (feminine adjective)
- bien
- Well, good (adverb)
- fundada
- Founded, well-founded (feminine past participle)
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