The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Page 6
Well, the child was not much the worse, more frightened, according to the sawbones; and there you might have supposed would be an end to it.
Ebbene, la bambina non stava molto peggio, solo spaventata, secondo il cerusico; e lì avreste potuto supporre che la cosa finisse.
But there was one curious circumstance.
Ma vi era una circostanza curiosa.
I had taken a loathing to my gentleman at first sight.
Avevo preso in odio quel gentiluomo al primo sguardo.
So had the child's family, which was only natural.
Lo stesso valeva per la famiglia della bambina, il che era del tutto naturale.
But the doctor's case was what struck me.
Ma fu il caso del medico a colpirmi.
He was the usual cut and dry apothecary, of no particular age and colour, with a strong Edinburgh accent and about as emotional as a bagpipe.
Era il solito speziale ordinario, di età e colorito indefiniti, con un forte accento di Edimburgo e più o meno emotivo quanto una cornamusa.
Well, sir, he was like the rest of us; every time he looked at my prisoner, I saw that sawbones turn sick and white with the desire to kill him.
Ebbene, signore, era come tutti noi; ogni volta che guardava il mio prigioniero, vedevo quel cerusico farsi pallido e nauseato dal desiderio di ucciderlo.
I knew what was in his mind, just as he knew what was in mine; and killing being out of the question, we did the next best.
Sapevo cosa passasse per la sua mente, proprio come lui sapeva cosa passasse per la mia; e poiché ucciderlo era fuori discussione, facemmo la cosa migliore possibile.
We told the man we could and would make such a scandal out of this as should make his name stink from one end of London to the other.
Dicemmo all'uomo che potevamo e avremmo fatto di questa vicenda uno scandalo tale da far puzzare il suo nome da un capo all'altro di Londra.
If he had any friends or any credit, we undertook that he should lose them.
Se aveva amici o una qualche reputazione, ci impegnammo a fargliela perdere.
And all the time, as we were pitching it in red hot, we were keeping the women off him as best we could for they were as wild as harpies.
E per tutto il tempo, mentre lo incalzavamo con foga, cercavamo di tenere le donne lontane da lui nel miglior modo possibile, poiché erano furiose come arpie.
Vocabulary
- Ebbene
- Well then; used to introduce a statement or conclusion
- la
- Definite article feminine singular: the
- bambina
- A young girl, female child
- non
- Negation word meaning not
- stava
- Was, third person singular imperfect of stare
- molto
- Very, much, a lot
- peggio
- Worse, in a worse condition or manner
- solo
- Only, just, alone
- spaventata
- Frightened, scared, female past participle of spaventare
- secondo
- According to; also means second
- il
- Definite article masculine singular: the
- cerusico
- Archaic term for a surgeon or barber-surgeon
- e
- And, coordinating conjunction
- lì
- There, in that place
- avreste
- You would have, second person plural conditional of avere
- potuto
- Been able to, past participle of potere
- supporre
- To suppose, to assume or imagine something
- che
- That, which, who; conjunction or relative pronoun
- cosa
- Thing, what; used in questions and statements
- finisse
- Would end, third person singular imperfect subjunctive of finire
- Ma
- But, however; adversative conjunction
- vi
- There, to you; pronoun or adverb
- era
- There was, third person singular imperfect of essere
- una
- Indefinite article feminine singular: a, an
- circostanza
- Circumstance, a particular condition or situation
- curiosa
- Curious, strange, or interesting female adjective
- Avevo
- I had, first person singular imperfect of avere
- preso
- Taken, past participle of prendere
- in
- In, into; common Italian preposition
- odio
- Hatred, strong dislike or aversion
- quel
- That, masculine singular demonstrative adjective
- gentiluomo
- Gentleman, a man of good social standing
- al
- To the, contraction of a and il
- primo
- First, the initial one in a sequence
- sguardo
- Glance, look, a quick visual impression
- Lo
- Him, it; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- stesso
- Same, self; used for emphasis or identity
- valeva
- Was worth, applied; imperfect of valere
- per
- For, through, by; common Italian preposition
- famiglia
- Family, a group of related people
- della
- Of the, feminine singular preposition-article contraction
- del
- Of the, masculine singular preposition-article contraction
- tutto
- Everything, all, completely
- naturale
- Natural, expected, normal in a given situation
- fu
- Was, third person singular past historic of essere
- caso
- Case, instance, situation or coincidence
- medico
- Doctor, physician; also adjective meaning medical
- a
- To, at; very common Italian preposition
- colpirmi
- To strike me, to hit or affect me
- Era
- Was, third person singular imperfect of essere
- solito
- Usual, customary, the same as always
- speziale
- Archaic term for apothecary or pharmacist
- ordinario
- Ordinary, common, unremarkable in appearance or manner
- di
- Of, from; very common Italian preposition
- età
- Age, the number of years one has lived
- colorito
- Complexion, skin color or overall coloring
- indefiniti
- Indefinite, vague, not clearly defined or specified
- con
- With; common Italian preposition
- un
- Indefinite article masculine singular: a, an
- forte
- Strong, loud, powerful adjective
- accento
- Accent, stress on a syllable or regional speech
- più
- More, most; comparative or superlative marker
- o
- Or; disjunctive conjunction
- meno
- Less, fewer; comparative of little
- emotivo
- Emotional, easily moved or affected by feelings
- quanto
- As much as, how much; comparison word
- cornamusa
- Bagpipe, a wind instrument with air reservoir
- signore
- Sir, mister, gentleman, form of address
- come
- Like, as, how; conjunction or adverb
- tutti
- Everyone, all of us; plural of tutto
- noi
- We, us; first person plural pronoun
- ogni
- Every, each; indefinite adjective
- volta
- Time, turn, occasion; ogni volta means every time
- guardava
- Was looking at; imperfect of guardare
- mio
- My, mine; masculine singular possessive adjective
- prigioniero
- Prisoner, captive, someone held against their will
- vedevo
- I used to see; imperfect of vedere
- farsi
- To become, to make oneself; reflexive of fare
- pallido
- Pale, having little color in the face
- nauseato
- Nauseated, disgusted, feeling sick with revulsion
- dal
- From the, by the; contraction of da and il
- desiderio
- Desire, wish, a strong longing for something
- ucciderlo
- To kill him; infinitive with direct object pronoun
- Sapevo
- I knew; first person singular imperfect of sapere
- passasse
- Was passing through; imperfect subjunctive of passare
- sua
- His, her, its; feminine singular possessive adjective
- mente
- Mind, the faculty of thought and reason
- proprio
- Just, exactly, own; used for emphasis
- lui
- He, him; third person singular masculine pronoun
- sapeva
- He knew; third person singular imperfect of sapere
- mia
- My, mine; feminine singular possessive adjective
- poiché
- Since, because, given that; causal conjunction
- fuori
- Outside, out of, beyond
- discussione
- Discussion, debate; fuori discussione means beyond question
- facemmo
- We made, we did; first person plural past historic of fare
- migliore
- Better, best; comparative of buono
- possibile
- Possible, feasible, capable of happening
- Dicemmo
- We said; first person plural past historic of dire
- all'
- To the; contraction of a and la or lo
- uomo
- Man, adult male human being
- potevamo
- We could; first person plural imperfect of potere
- avremmo
- We would have; first person plural conditional of avere
- fatto
- Done, made; past participle of fare
- questa
- This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- vicenda
- Affair, matter, story, sequence of events
- uno
- A, one; masculine indefinite article or number
- scandalo
- Scandal, a shocking or disgraceful public incident
- tale
- Such, such a; demonstrative adjective
- da
- From, by, since; common Italian preposition
- far
- To make, to cause; truncated form of fare
- puzzare
- To stink, to smell bad
- suo
- His, her, its; masculine singular possessive adjective
- nome
- Name, the word by which someone is known
- capo
- Head, chief, top; also end or beginning
- altro
- Other, another, else
- Se
- If; conditional conjunction
- aveva
- Had; third person singular imperfect of avere
- amici
- Friends, plural of amico
- qualche
- Some, any, a few; indefinite adjective
- reputazione
- Reputation, the opinion others hold of someone
- ci
- Us, to us, there; pronoun or adverb
- impegnammo
- We committed ourselves; past historic of impegnarsi
- fargliela
- To make him lose it; combined infinitive and pronouns
- perdere
- To lose, to misplace something
- E
- And; coordinating conjunction
- tempo
- Time, weather; fundamental noun of duration
- mentre
- While, as, during the time that
- lo
- Him, it; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- incalzavamo
- We were pressing, pursuing closely; imperfect of incalzare
- foga
- Ardor, eagerness, impetuous enthusiasm or energy
- cercavamo
- We were trying, seeking; imperfect of cercare
- tenere
- To keep, to hold
- le
- The, them; feminine plural article or pronoun
- donne
- Women, plural of donna
- lontane
- Far away, distant; feminine plural adjective
- nel
- In the; masculine singular preposition-article contraction
- miglior
- Best, better; truncated form of migliore
- modo
- Way, manner, method of doing something
- erano
- They were; third person plural imperfect of essere
- furiose
- Furious, enraged; feminine plural adjective
- arpie
- Harpies, mythological fierce creatures; also shrewish women
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